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TIHH 


MEDICAL  ADYANCE 


A  MONTHLY  MAGAZINE  OF 


HOM(EOPATHIC  MEDICINE. 


EDITED  AND  PUBUSHED 


HENEY  C.  ALLEN,  M.  D. 


VOLUME  XIX. 


ANN  ARBOR,  MICH.: 

THE   MEDICAL  ADVANCE  PUBLISHING  COMPANY. 

1887. 


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INDEX. 


ABNORMAL  Somnolf'noe.  Q.  W.  Wln- 
teiburn.  M.  D..  419. 
At'ODimm  N«pellu».  J.  A.  Wakeman,  M. 

D,« 
A  c:«.iTectlon.    T.  F.  Allen.  M.  D..  870. 
A  CoiT'Ction  that  does  not  Correct.   8. 

A.  Joues,  M.  O.,  467. 
Ao»m8.  £.  T.,  M.  D  .  n26. 
Addend  ixn  to  a  Repetition  of  tbe  Dose, 

by  CarruU  Duubam.    J.  C.  tiuerusey, 

M.  D:.  867. 
A  Foreign  Body  Lodged  in  the  Cornea. 

R  U.  Tipple,  M.D.,26>. 
Al  en.  Juo  V..  M.  D..  l»o. 
Allen.  T  F.  M.  l»..  HI.  870.  467. 
—  —  L«*tter  to  Horn.  Physician,  472. 
Allopathy  vs.  Uamameliii.    i<red.  Hoop* 

er.  M.  D^  462. 
Aloe.  171, 
Aluinen  (Alum).    J.  E.  Winans,  M.  D., 

436. 
Aluint  a.    E  A.  Fanington.  M.  D.,  431. 
American  lust,  of  Hom<eop*thy. 

Fiist  Day— Evening  Se»^lou,  48. 

Tbe  Pretsident's  Addre^8, 48. 

K>  port  of  Del<  gates.  6/. 

Second  Day—  »iomliig  Session,  64. 

Second  Day— Afternoon  Scssiou,  67. 

Burem  of  riurgery.  67. 

Bureau  nf  obstetrlcR.  69. 

eec<»nd  Dny— Evening  Session,  78. 

Third  Day—    orninic  8eMlun,  75. 

Chairmen  of  Btireaus.  77. 

Third  Day— Afiern  on  Session,  78. 

Bureau  of  Qynsecolngy  78. 

Bureau  of  P8e<loloKy.  79. 

Bureau  of  Ophthalmulogy  and  Otol- 
ogy. 83. 

Third  Day— Evening  Session.  84. 

Fimnh  Day— Mornlnx  Session,  85. 

Election  of  Offlcent.  88. 

Next  Place  of  Meeting.  ^8 

Bureau  of  -anltary  Science,  89. 

Fourib  Day— Afternoon  ^oMion,88. 

Bureau  of  Anatomy,  etc.  91. 

Bureau  of  PMychoIoglcal  Medicine,  91, 

Filth  Day— Closing  S»«Ion.  92. 

Bureau  of  (iynscology  for  *88  567. 
Ammonia  Salts.    £.  A.  Farrlngton,  H. 

D..  8. 
Amminium  Carbonicum.     E.  A.  Far- 
rlngton. M.  D..  4. 
Ammonium  Bromatum.    E.  A.  Farrlng- 
ton. M.  D..  6. 
Ammonium  Murlatlcum.     E.  A.  Far- 
rlngton. M.  D.,  6. 
A  Morbid  Desire.  G  E.  Clark,  M.  D.,888. 
AnasKt  belies.  846. 537. 
Aiisesthesla.  Local,  176. 
Anemone  Pulsatilla,  586. 
An  Al<ie  Constipation     C.  W.  Batler,  M. 

D.,  809. 


Antir'ptlcism.   Julia  M.  Plommer,  M»- 

D..  m. 
An  Explanation— Not  an  Apology.  S.  A. 

Jones.  M.  D..  568. 
An  Unmanaiceable   Dirty  Boy.     Thoi» 

Skii  ner.  M.  D.,  155. 
A  PeculUr  case.  A.  L.  Waltz.  M.  D..  512. 
Apocynum  can.  J.  E.  Winans.  M.  D.,497. 
Aral  la  rac.  166. 
Arnica  Montana.   J.  A.  Wakeman,  IC. 

D..  148. 
Arum  triphyllnm.    C.  Hering.  M.  D., 

182. 
Arumtri.    Edwin  West.  M.  D..  842. 
Arsenh  um  lodidum.  166 
Antenlcum  in  the  Treatment  of  Cardiac 

Diseases.    R.  Heam.  M.  D.,  241. 
A  huggestloo.     T.  P.  Wilson,  M  D  ,  102. 
Atr*  pa  lielladonna.    J.  A.  Wakeman, 

M.  D..  225. 
Aurum,  840. 
A  Verincation.   B.  LeB.  Baylies,  M.  D., 

87. 
Avery,  Miss  M.  B.,  M.  D..  385. 

BACTERIA  in  Disease.     A.  McNcU,^ 
M.  D..  406. 
Ball,  S  A  .  M.  D..  190. 
Barnvs  Lewis.  M.  D..  15,  665. 
Bartleit  Clarence.  M,  D.,  88, 67. 
Barton.  Clara.  5J9. 
Baryta  carb..»40. 
Baryta  murlatlca,  854. 
Bates,  J.  D..  M.  D..  884. 
Baylies.  B.  LeB..  M.  D..  28, 87. 180-  464. 
Beebe.  H.  R..  M.  D..  189. 
Bell.  J.  B..  M.  D.,  113  243. 
Biegler.  J.  A.  M  D.«  188. 
BigKar.  H  F.  M  D  .  '272,  287.  868. 
Bone.  Regeneration  of.    J.  Q.  Qilchrlstr 

M  D..5:J9. 
Brain.  Bullet  Wound  in.  847. 
Biomlum,  841. 

Brown.  Phoebe  D..  M.  D..  516. 
Brown,  T.  L..  M.  D  ,  188. 287. 
Bullet  Wound  of  the  Brain.  817. 
Butler.  C.  W.,  M.  D.,  H»8.  8b9. 
BuUer,  BenJ.  F.,  521. 

CAMPBELL.  J.  A..  M.  D..  190, 885. 
Cancer  of  the  Stomach.    W.-  A» 
Hawlcy.  M.  D.,  837. 
Cancer  of  the  Tongue,  J.  D.  Tyrrell,  M. 
D.,892. 

Kali  Cyanate.     E.  T.  Adams,  H. 

D.526. 
Cannes,  Meteorology  of,  550. 
Cardiao  Dlsvases,  21  •. 
Carleton.  E..  M  D..23L 
Cases  of  Chronic  Disease— Cured,  Thot. 

Skinner,  M  D.  lo5.817. 
Cases  Cured,  E.  B.  Grosvenor.  M.  D.,  892.^ 


Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


INDBX. 


Ill 


<3aiT.Q.H.,M.D.,68l. 
Catarrh  of  Bladder.    O.  E.  Clark.  8SS. 
Catarrhos  iE^ivuK.    Dr.  Mppinoott,  161. 
■Champlm.  H.  W..  M.  D..  »W 
CbaracterittioB.  Value  of.     B.  LeB.  Bay- 
Ues.  M.  D  .  464. 

.    Alfred  Pnllbrd.  M.  D..  670. 

Chelidonliim  m^Jus.  E.  A.  l^urlDgtoa, 

H.  L>..  42y. 
China  Oj.olDaU8,  J.  A.  Wakeman,  M.  D.» 

441 
Chloride  of  Ethyline,  858. 
Ohlorotis.  174. 

Chltin  sis.  H.  P.  Holmes.  M.  D..  88. 
Chroiiif.  Uioer.  G.  K  dark,  M.  D.,  888. 
Ciffara  and  Fire,  Low  s  by.  496. 
Clark  G  S.M.  D.  &8 
Clafeaiflcaiion  of  Tumors.  844. 
Clinical  Note*.  A  MCuahlng.  M.D..4U. 
Clinical  Medicine.  28. 155. 244  321. 888. 
Clinical  Notes.  K.  Kusbmoie.  M.  D..  r.O. 
Cimlcifuga-  orrigeudum,  W.  J.  Quern- 

8«y  M.  D..40. 
Cocainum,  8.  Lil<enihal,  M.  D.,  412. 
O.heu,  H.  W.,M  D..274. 
Colcbicum  Auiumnalt,  Geo.  Wigg,  M. 

D.802. 
Commeut  and  Critidam,  96, 188, 272,  li64, 

46-2. 560. 
Comfcto  k.  T.  QrUw.ld  M.  D  ,  885. 
Coud  n.  Kva  Q..  M.  D.  885. 
Omium.  811. 

Correi>T>ondence.  177.  266.  856,448. 
CowperibWMitf.  A.  C,  M.  D.,  ibS.  297. 
Cow  wlih  Pttndulou»  Tumor,  Thomas 

8kinner,  M.  D  .  86  . 
CrlD.«n,  H.  H.,  M  D.,  181.  191.  262,  852, 

Cruicher,  Howard.  M  D..  184  894. 

Cuprum  BU  ph.,  J.  D.  Tyrrell.  M.  D.,  14. 

Cuiare.42J 

Curt«  by  Dr.  Hesse,  of  Hambarg.  A.  Mo- 

NeU  k.  D..406. 
Dr.  Pr.  11     A.  McNeil,  M.  D..  514. 

—  Keports  of.  From  Which  We  Learn 
Nothing.    8.  Lilie.ithsK  M.  D.,  51tt. 

Cashing.  A  M..  M.  i>.,  414 

*•  n  ANGER  IN  TO  VST."  877. 
XJ    Datura     stramonium      S.    A. 
Farrington.  M.  D.,  427. 
De  Pries,  w.  p.,  m.  D..  110. 
Del  rinm  Tremens,  .78. 
Diphtheria.  1  t>. 

—  Therapeutics  of.  8.  L.  Baton.  M.  D..fi07. 
Diphtheria:    Can   Hom<sop«thj   Core? 

D.  aM»riow.M.D.96. 
DIph  heritio  Croup.  J.  A.  Gann,  M.  D., 

172. 
Di»eai«s  Peculiar  to  School  Life.  W. 

John  Harria.  M.  D.,  18. 
Doctrines  of  the  Orgauon,  Lewis  Barnes, 

M.  D^  15. 
I>oagla^s.  M  B..  M.  D  .  828. 
Dowling.  I.  W..  M.  D..  lOH 
«*  Dosing  Draughts,"  Frank  Kraft,  M.  D » 

8*11. 
Dry  Dressing  In  AUrgery.  H.  K^iapp.  M. 

Drysdale.  A.  E..  U.  D.,  177. 448. 546. 
Dubbs.  8.  R..  M  D..  190. 
Dulcamara.  170 
Durand.C.  8.  M.  D..424. 
**  Dyiiamliatio  '  or  Dematerialliation," 
¥  H.  KR>bm  M.  D..  272. 

Lewis  Barnes,  M.  D.,  566. 

DysmenlA,  817. 


I  editorial- 
Li    A  DifUculi  Problem  470. 
Conk  fV>.  Hospital.  Chicago  871. 

DiphihtTlH.  105. 

Uumce  tpaihic  Specl*Ii8tM.  471. 

Honioeiipathic  Teaching,  472. 

Hom^opnthy  Found  Wan  ing.  476. 

•'  How  u>  8uccecd  as  Physicians,"  185. 

Our  Pharmacies.  470. 

''Phosphorus   in    the   Treatment  of 
Kachiiih.'   174.  , 

The  American  Institute,  185. 

The  Beaten  i^rai'k.  3  1 

Ihe Late  t Craze . 28}). 

The  \^  Oman's  U  irooB  'pathio  Hospital 
ASNociatioii  of  Pniladelphia.  186. 
Eaton.  8.  L.  M.  D..  507. 
>diii»i*S  TaMe  1^2.  l»ii  *  87.  881. 
Edwaids.  Mrs.  L.  A..  M  D.  88L 
mils.  E.  R.   M.  D.  879 
Endo  t'eryicitiH.  Geo.  I  ogon.  M  D..  809. 
Erxotwm.  8.    ill  nihal.  M.  D.,  412. 
Eserine.  62. 
Bupatnrinm  perf.  v29. 
Buphorbium  off.  167. 
Ex  Pre  ideuu  ol  the  A.  I.  H..  191. 

tERRUM.  B  A.  Farrington,  M.D..2S9. 
Far  iiigton,  K.  A     M.  D  .  1. «  4.  6. 
1X8,  J09. 292,  289,  '294,  426. 427.  4  9, 

J.  M.  Ferriji.  M*.  D.,f2V 

Foielgii  sJketcheu.    H.  B.  Wilson,  M.  D.. 

4  6,MI.  ' 

For  MeiMHng.  606. 
FraicmenUry  Notes,  J.  D.  Tyrrell,  M.  D.. 

lo 

Fungi,  Poisonous.  Andidote  of.  549. 

/^  ANN.J.  A..  M.D.  172. 

I J    Gauite.  O.  B  .  M.  D..  491. 

Gilchri  t  J.  u.,  M.  D..  '25,  175,  289.  812, 

G  a-sH*  Breaking  Medicines.  870. 

Glov»-r.  U  (i..  M.  D  .  8.U 

G<M»dinan.  a  i«..  M.  D..  287. 

Green  Uia  rhcea.    U.  P.  Holmes.  M.  D., 

8;ii. 
Green.  W.  F..  M.  D.,  >84. 
GroKve»«or.  E  B.,  M.  D.  «9*2. 
Gro»»venor.  L. «:..  M   fi .  887. 
Gueriitiey.  Jon.  C.   M.  D..  867. 
Uuerll^ey.  W.J    M  D.  40. 551. 
Gun  .'-hot  W>«iindM. '2ft 
Gyi.secology,  88. 40. 809  817. 

nAGGART.D.,M.  D..'274  878. 
Hahu.  AMHOOiaUoii  of  Pa.,  491. 

Pnn-pi  diiigh  of  ftftl. 

HHrrin.  W  John.  M.  D..  18. 

Ilawley.  W.  A  .  M.  I).  887. 

Ha    Fever.    K.  Lippinoott  M.  D..161. 

Ht-atlsrhe:    Veratrum  album.     F.    E. 

viatts  M.  D.8  6. 
Hearn  R..lf  D.244 
HedgeM.  E.  W.  M  D..  877. 
Heriig.O..  M  D.  182.805.806.807.851. 
Higbee  C.  G.  M.D.1K7. 
HiKiory  of  a  Mammoth  OTSria'*  Tumor 

Siiotewiully  Reuioved.    E.  Carleton, 

M.  D..281. 
Holmes.  H  P..  M.  D.,  88, 2f 6. 881, 884. 
Hume.  882. 

HoutoB-ipathy  in  Kansas  .87. 
HomoBupaihy  In  Ohio,  287. 
HouiOB  pa  thy  In  Teiine»«ee.  282. 
Hon  OBo  aihfc  Recognition,  28. 
Hooper,  Fred..  M.  D ,  4ftc 


Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


IV 


INDEX. 


How  to  Get  Rich.  BenJ.  F  Bati6r,621. 
How  to  Suooeed  ts  Pbyslclaus.   Jamei 

B.Bell.  M.D.,  118. 
How  to  Tritantte.    L  H.  Wltte.  262. 
Hoyt.W..M.  D.,  168. 
Hubbell.  J.  B..  BC.  D..  287. 658. 
Humanity :  A  Poem,  461. 
Hyoacyamus  Niger.    E.  A«  Fairlngton, 

M.  D..  426. 

INDIVIDUALIZ  \TION.  827. 
Inoculation  to  Prevent  Yellow  Fever, 
H.B.Wil«on.M.D..885. 

In  re  Dr.  Haffgart  278.  

In  re  Potency  Question.  T.  F.  Pomeroy, 

M.  D ,  104.  ,  _ 

Intermittent  Fever:   Enpatorimn  perf. 

H.  O.  Glover.  M.  D..  829. 
lodol  in  Ear  Diseases,  181. 
Ivy  Poisouing  Treated  HomcBopathie- 
aUy.    H,E.^oglan,M.D.,828. 

JACKSON.  W.  H.  H..  M.  D.,  191. 
Jeanes,  Mrs.  Dr.,  288 
Jones.  8.  A.,  M.  D.,  276. 467, 628, 568. 
JousBet.P.,M.D..89«. 

KALI  BICH.  167.  _ 

Kail  bioh :  A  Verification,  H.  W. 
Champlin.  M.  D..  898. 
Kali  evanate.  S.  T.  Adams,  BC.  D.,  526. 

K4li  nit.  in  Diarrhoea,  G.  E.  Clark,  M.  D.» 

883. 
Kalmia  latifolia,  C.  Bering,  M.  D.»  806. 
Kennedy.  A.  L...  M.  D.,  110. 
Kem.J.T..M  D.,409 
Knapp.  H ,  M.  D..  848  885. 
Kraft.*^FraJik,  M.  D.,  69. 79, 89. 94, 821, 
Krebs.F.H..M.D.,278. 

LACHE8I8. 817.     ^^  ^    ,^ 
Lawton  C  H..  M.  D.,  108. 
Ledum,  C.  Bering,  M.  D..  35 1. 
iSSenthal.  8.,  M  1)..  838. 412,518. 586. 
Uppe.  A.,  M.  Dm  109 

Lippincott.E..M.D..16l.  ^ 

Lithium  carbonicum.  Dr.  Farrington,  1. 
Local  AnsBsthesia.  176. 
Logan.  OtK)rge,  M .  D.,  809. 
Loiterings  in  Europe,  Dr.  BIggar,  8*6 
Lycopodlum.169,498.  «  »*» 

Lycopodlumin  Tssnia  Solium.  B.LeB. 
Wlla.M.D.,87. 

—  "   M.  D..886. 

SB,  181. 


581. 

D.,885. 

L 

and  Note8>- 


.6. 
Ammonium  carbonicum.  4. 
Ammonium  muriaticum,  6. 
Ammonia  Sal'S,  8. 
Aralia  r«c.  If  6. 
Arnica  montaua,  148. 
Arsenicum.  244. 
Axseniimm  i<ididum,  166, 182. 
Artemesia,  416. 


Arum  triphyllum,  182,  842. 

Aurum,  840 

Bar>  ta  carb.  840. 

Baryta  mur,  854 

Be  ladonua.  22V 

Bromide  of  Ammonium,  415. 

Bromium,  84  . 

Chelidonlum  msjns,  429. 

China.  441. 

Colchicum  autumnale,802. 

Coniu'u,811. 

Cuprum  sulph,  14. 

Curare  87 

Datura  Stramonium,  427. 

DIo»>C(irsa,  4  7. 

Dulcamara,  170.  884. 

Eupatorium,  3J9. 

Eiiphorbinm  off.  167. 

Ferrum.  289. 

Gelsemlum.  148.  ,^^ 

Hydrocyanate  of  Potassa,  892, 526^ 

Byoscysmus  Niger,  426. 

Kali  bich.  167.898. 

KmH  f-yn.  526. 

Kali  hyd.  167. 

Kali  nit.  8  3.  _^ 

Kalmia  Latifolia,  806. 

Lachesis.  817. 

Ledum.  854 

Li  hium  carbonicum.  1. 

Lycopodlum  87.  69. 

Mercury.  209. 

Myo  Otis.  417. 

Naphthalin.  165. 

Natnim  mnr.  170. 171. 

Natrum  i^ulpb.  400. 

Nitric  Acid.  171. 891. 

Nux  vomica,  148. 

Opium.  v94. 

Ova  Testa.  417.' 

Picric  Acid.  188. 

Plumbum.  292. 

Prorlnum,  888. 417. 

Pulsatilla,  410.  411. 

Quinia  sttlph,  18 

Ratanhia.  415.  _ 

Rhododendron.  171, 806. 

Rhus  Tox.  174. 249. 

SAbadilla,  166. 170. 

Saocharum  al*s  18. 

Salicylic  Add.  2i0. 416. 

Sanguinaria  can,  167. 

Sepfa,  171.280,4.L 

Silirea,  172 

8plgelta,172.807. 

Siannum.  484 

Siramoaium,  173. 

Sulphur,  168  170.172. 

Sulphuric  Add,  188. 

Tabacum,  884. 

Thea  Chinensis,  18. 

Thi:Oa.  »»*. 

Veiatrum  alb.  896.  ^        «    a 

Medical   •  Sdence."  some  modem,  8.  A. 

Migraine.  Treatment  of,  B.  P.  Bolmea. 

M^'bwBaMdowii,  S.  Lilienthal.M.  D., 

888. 
Morbus  Basedowii,  85i 
Morohine  Injection.  280. 
Morrow.  D.B,  M.  Dm98. 
Mullen  oil.  416 

Mussy,  a  R..  M.  D..  8M.  ^    ^     ,      ^ 
Myopia  In  ChUdien.  R.  D.  Tipple,  M. 

D   444. 
McGuire.D.J..M.D.,W5. 
McLaren,  D.  C.  M.  D  ,  127.    _ 
mS^3uA..M.D..406.408.514. 


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INDEX. 


NAPHTHALIN.  1«6. 
Mafh.  E  B..  M .  D.,  109. 162, 190. 885. 
Natrnm  mur.,  17o.  171. 
Matrum  8ulpb..409. 
NelKOU.  C.Q,.M  D..82S. 
New  Jeney  State  Society.  Piocedingi  of. 

New  PubllcatloDS. 
Alden's  Matiifold  OyclypoBdia.  080. 
A  Clinic  1  Mrterla  Medfca.  479. 
American  Medicinal  PUrts,  882. 
CmrablHty  of  Insanity.  486. 
Element*  ot  Modem  Domestic  Medl* 
•  cine.  485 
Practical  Treatiae  on  Diseases  of  the 

Eve  883. 
A  Pirac  leal  Tivatlse  on  Ob«tetrl08. 881. 

on  the  Hair  and  Scalp,  484. 

A  mtem  of  Gyuecologr,  480. 
A  Treatise  on  Dinhthetla.  481 
A 1  ext  Book  of  Pathological  Anatomy 

and  »'ath<>gpneai8, 286. 
Bemd's  Physician's  Oifloe   Register. 

2Mt. 

Blakiston's  Physician's  Visiting  List, 

5811 
Diseases  of  the  Female  Urethra  and 

Blalder,'>77. 
Diseases  of  the  Vagina.  577. 
Diwa-es  of  the  Mammary  Glands,  577. 
Faulkner's  Homoeopathic  Physician*^ 

ViKhlng  l.lKt  580. 
GrlKg'a  Pbllcsophical  Classics.  579. 
Gynffioo|ogy.  Handt>ook  of  i-82. 
Handbook  of  General  and  Operative 

GyniBcrtlogy.  882 
Hegel's  Philosophy  of  the  State  and 

ot  History.  579. 
Humanity;  A  Poem,  by  Helmnth,  F78. 
Index  <vtalogue,  Surgeon  General's 

Office.  880. 
Insanity;   Its  Classification.  Diagnosis 

and  Treatment.  77. 
Lessons  in  Gynecology,  484. 
Literary  Revolution.  580. 
Magazine  of  American  History ,491. 581. 
Mavsage.  by  Taylor,  487. 
New  Growths  of  the  Uterus.  577. 
Otis  dapp  A  Son's  Visiting  List,  485. 
Quiz  compeud*.    Surgery,  Obstetrics, 

Sexual  Health.  486. 

The  Century.  4K7. 581. 

Proceedings  Ohio  State  Society,  487. 

Popular  Hdenoe,  490. 

VaK>- Renal  uhtnge  ts.  Brighfs  Di- 
sease, 578, 

What  to  do  first  in  Accidents  and 
Emergencies,  k'85. 

What  lo  do  m  Cases  of  Poisoning.  285. 

^  yeth's  Text  Book  on  Surgery,  fbO. 
Nitric  add.  171.891. 
Nitro  Muriatic  Acid.  508. 
Norton.  G  S..  M.  D  .  515. 
Notes  on  Diseases  of  the  Eye.  181.  262. 

852.445. 


OBITUARY. 
Bn>wn.T.  L.,M  D,287. 
Jeanes.  Mrs.  Dr.  J.,  288. 
Open  Letter  to  T.  F.  Allen,  M.  D..  467. 
Oleum  animale,  501. 
On  the  Therapeutic  Effect  of  Laminm 

Album.    8.  Ullenthal,  M.  D  ,  412 
Ophthalmology  and  Otology.  181.  262, 

Opium.  'E.AFakrrington,M.D..294. 


Organon.  Fundamentals  of,  M.  W.  Van- 

denban.  M.  D..  465. 
Orifidal  Suigery.  2x 
Original  Contrn)utions,  15. 118. 127. 198. 
Our  Exchanges  875. 
Our  Foreign  Letter  177, 266.  448. 
Our  Literature.    C.  R.  Muzzy.  M.  D..  865. 
Cur  New  Hospital.  867. 

PARDEE.  E  V.  D..  M.  D.,  111. 
Peck.  Geo.  B..  M.  D.,  IIL 
Peck,  E  H.,  M.  D..  526. 
Penetrating  Gun  Shot  Wounds  of  the 

.  C.W. 

,  M.  D.. 

M.  D., 

D.,292. 


loward 

Lewis 

tmedyt 

A.  E. 


Q 


UINIA  SULPH. 
D..  18. 


J.  D.  TyrwU.  M. 


REPERTORY  Work— An  IlIustratiTe 
Caxe.    R.  0.  Markham.  M.  D..88. 

Repetition  of  the  Dose.  Carroll  Dun- 
bam.  M.  D ,  18:). 

Red  Cross  Congresss.  1887. 568. 

Representation  by  States.  112. 

Rhododendron.  171. 805. 

Rhus  tox,  174. 

Rhus  tox— Noctumsl  Enuresis.  J.  M. 
Yuung,  M.  D.,  249. 

Rushmore.  E,  M.  D..  170. 493. 

SACOHARUM  ALB.    J.  D.  TyneU.  M. 
D.,  1*. 
Sabadllla,  166. 170. 

Salicylic  Add :  Additional  Proving.  220. 
Saogulnaria  can  167. 
Sanitary  Sdi-n.e.  18. 
Sdrrbus  of  the  Breast,  845. 
Sepia.  171.411.508. 
Sillcea.  172.  420 
Sepia  and    Sulphur.  A  Comparative 

Study.  K.  Ru  hmore,  M.  D.,  493. 
Skepticism  ofOonodt.  P.  F.  Wells. M. 

D.  56'). 
Skinner,  Thos.,  M.  D..  1.V.817,  864. 
SlegbtB.  H'B..M.D.,556. 
SleepieMsness.  297. 

—  Hepia.  421. 

—  Bella«lonna.  421. 
Societies,  48. 551. 

Some  Que  tsons  Answered.    S.  W.  Coh- 
en. M  D„  274. 
Spigella.  172.  807. 

Stannum.    E.  A.  Farrington.  M.  D..  484. 
Stomach.  Cancer  of,  887. 
Stramonium,  178, 427. 


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Tl 


INDEX. 


Strong.  T.  M^  M.  D .  78. 

<'8unfitroke''  in  the  Mountains.   0.  Q. 

Nelson  M.  D..82ft. 
Salphur.  168. 170. 172. 
Salphuric  Add— A.  Clinical  Study.    C. 

W.  Butler,  M .  D..  188. 
Sulphur  in  Diphtheritic  Croup.   J.  A. 

Ga  n.  M.  D  .  172 
Surfferj,25.  175.229.842. 
SurgerT.  Orlflcial.  25. 
Suisical  Notes.  25. 175, 229, 842, 587. 

TJENIA  SOLIUM,  87. 
Talcott.  S.  H..  M.  D.,  189. 
Tetanus  and  Nerr^  Stretching.  229. 
The  Advantsges  of  Coiisuiiing  a  Spe- 
cialist Early.    R.  D  Tipple.  M.  D.,  855. 
ThHi  <  hiiieuitis.    J.  D  T%  rrell.  M.  i>.,  18. 
The  CcUifomia  Homceopath,  877. 
The  Crank  of  an  Org^n.  276. 
The  Hahnemannian,  878. 
The  HahiiemAiinlan  Association,  94. 

FirKt  rhiy— Morning  Session.  95. 

First  Day—  \  fteri'Oon  SeMion.  95. 

Eirsi  Day— Et  ning  Session,  95. 

Second  Day— Morning  Session,  96. 

Second  D«y— Afternoon  8eH«iion«  97. 

8*  omd  Day— Kveniiig  desHiou.  97. 

Third  Day— Morning  Heskion,  97. 

Election  of  Offioers.  97. 

Next  Place  of  Meeting.  98. 
The  Medical  Record,  376, 674. 
The  Medical  VUUor  376. 
ThA  Mercurlea,  E.  A  Farrington,  M.  D., 

209. 
TheN.E  Medical  Oazette,  878. 
The  Rivista  Omi4>patica,  379. 
The  Tnerapeuti(«  oi  Sleep •esneas,  A.  C. 

Cowperihwalte,  M.  D.,  297. 
Thin- Walled  Cyntt,  27. 
Thnja  for  Pigwarts,  Howard  Crutohcr, 

M.  D..  394. 
Thyroidectomy,  175. 
Tinnitus  Aurium,  168. 
Tipide,  R.  a,  M.  D.,  265,  855, 444. 


Tismie  Remedies,  S.  B.  Nash,  M.  D.,  15Z 

Tongue,  Cancer  of,  J.  D.  Tyrrell,  M.  D., 
8^2. 

"Topical  applications  to  the  endom- 
etrium," Phil  Porter  M.  D..  572. 

Treatment  of  Migraine,  H.  P.  Holmes, 
M.  D.,  256. 

Trifqrer  J  ><nt  a  case  of,  Phoehe  D. 
Brown,  M.  D  ,  M6 

Two  Clinical  ('ases.  W.  Hoyt.  M.  D..  168. 

Two  Unusual  Ca^es,  A.  McNeil,  M.  D., 
178. 

TyneU.  J.  D..  M.  D.,  18. 14, 89Z 

UMBTUCAL  HERNIA, 848. 
UuJust  <Ytticlsm,  C.  H.  Lawton, 
M.  D .  108. 
Ursemia,  P.  Jousi>et,  M.  D.,  896. 

T^ERIFICATION.  A..  B.  L.  B.  Baylies, 

Veriflca'tlo'ns,  J.  T.  Kent.  M.  D.,  409. 
Vandeuburg,  W.  M.,  M.  D.,  465. 

WAKEM  AN,  J.  A.,  M.  D.,  8. 148, 187, 
22.\  441. 
Wallian.  H.  S.,  M.  D..  878. 
Water.  368. 

Walls.  A.  U,  M.  D.,  512. 
Wells,  P.  P.,  M.  D ,  560. 
We-^elhosn,  W.  P.,  M.  D.,  109. 
W*>t,  Edwin,  M.  D.,  812. 
What  Homos  •pathy  is  Not,  D.  C  Mc- 
Laren, M.  D..  127. 
What  They  Said,  106  187. 
WIgg  George.  M.  D..  802. 
W.ll5,  Rev.15avld.  J76. 
Wilson.  H.  B.,  M.  D  .835,466,641. 
Wilson,  T.  P.,  M.  D..  |o2. 
Winans.  J.  E..  M.  D..  486. 497, 581. 
W  interbum.  0.  W.,  M.  D.,  419. 
Witte,L.U.,-252. 

YELLOW  FEVER.  88\ 
Young.J.M.,M.  D.,249. 


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Vol.  XIX.       Ann  Arbor,  Michigan,  July,  1887.  No.  1. 


MATERIA  MEDICA. 


LITHIUM  CARBONIOUM. 


A  LECTURE  BY  PROF.  E.  A.  FARRINGTON.  M.  D. 


Lithium  carb.,  so  far  as  proved,  exerts  but  little  depreci- 
ating effect  on  the  vital  forces,  its  main  action  seems  to  be 
about  the  joints;  hence  its  efficacy  in  the  treatment  of 
rheumatism,  and  especially  of  gout 

Of  the  organs,  the  heart,  stomach,  kidneys  and  bladder 
are  principally  attacked;  debility  was  observed  in  connec- 
tion with  the  joint  affections. 

Mucous  membranes  are  at  first  irritated  and  dry,  and 
then  they  secrete  a  thick  mucus. 

The  skin  is  the  seat  of  an  annoying  itching,  and  finally 
becomes  raw,  sore,  or  rough  and  harsh,  as  in  barber's  itch. 

This  itching,  it  will  be  seen,  accompanies  the  rheumatic 
paina 

Studying  the  symptoms  seriatim,  we  have:  confusion  of 
the  head;  headache  on  vertex  and  temples,  on  awaking; 
eyes  pain,  as  if  sore,  could  hardly  keep  them  open;  menses 


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2  The  Medical  Advance.  July 

ceased  suddenly;  pain  from  left  temple  to  orbit,  better 
while  eating,  returns  after  eating;  black  motes  before  the 
eyes;  eyes  sensitive  after  reading  by  candle  light,  right 
half  of  objects  vanish;  pains  over  eyes;  temples  feel 
bound.     Here  it  is  like  Aurum  and  Titanium. 

Agreeably  to  its  effects  on  mucous  membranes,  the  con- 
junctivaB  are  dry  and  painful;  the  lids  feel  sore  while  and 
after  reading.  This  is  an  excellent  picture  of  conjunctivae 
asthenopia.     Here  it  is  similar  to  Alumina. 

Pain  behind  left  ear  toward  the  neck;  pains  from  throat 
to  left  ear. 

Nose  swollen,  red,  dry  in  the  nostrils,  or  mucus  drops  in 
the  open  air,  or  hangs  in  posterior  nares;  similar  to  Arsen- 
icum. In  scrofulous  or  rheumatic  persons,  it  is  part  of  the 
irritation  which  an  excess  of  urates  in  the  blood  causes. 

The  inspired  air  feels  cold;  similar  to  Kali  bichromicum 
and  Corallium  rubrum.  Solid  lumps  from  posterior  nares 
and  fauces,  worse  mornings.  Similar  to  Sepia,  Teucrium 
and  Kali  bichromicum.  Cough:  must  sit  up  in  bed;  worse 
lying  down;  comes  from  a  spot  in  the  throat. 

Gnawing  in  the  stomach  before  a  meal,  with  the  pain  in 
the  left  temple  to  orbit  Fullness  in  the  stomach;  can 
bear  no  pressure.  Fruit  and  chocolate  cause  diarrhoea; 
some  eructations. 

Tenesmus  of  the  bladder;  pains  at  the  neck  of  bladder; 
urine  turbid,  flocculent;  pains  down  ureter  and  into  sper- 
matic cord  and  testicle,  followed  by  red  turbid  urine  and 
mucous  deposit 

Menses  late  and  scanty;  pains  worse  in  left  side  of  body. 

The  heart  symptoms  are  so  closely  connected  with  the 
rheumatic  that  they  must  be  mentioned  together.  Bheu- 
matic  soreness  about  the  heart;  valvular  deposits;  feels 
worse  from  mental  agitation  which  causes  fluttering  of  the 
heart.  Similar  to  Natrum  mur.,  Sepia  and  Calcarea  ost 
In  valvular  deposit  compare  also  Kalmia  and  Ledum. 

Pains  in  the  heart  when  bending  forward.  Pain  in  heart, 
better  when  he  urinates;  jerks  or  shocks  about  the  heart 

Swelling,  tenderness  and  sometimes  redness  of  last  joints 
of  fingers. 


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1887  Ammonia  Salts.  3 

Whole  body  was  puflfy  and  iu  creased  in  weight 

The  flabby  fat  is  common  to  the  alkalies. 

Clumsy  in  walking;  weary  standing. 

Sometimes  intense  itching  of  the  sides  of  hands  and 
feet  at  night,  without  any  apparent  cause.  This  itching  is 
owing,  probably,  to  an  excess  of  urates  in  the  blood.  Hence 
in  chronic  rheumatism  and  gout.  The  pains  generally  worse 
in  joints,  especially  knees,  ankles  and  finger  joints.  Pains 
usually  go  down  the  limbs.  Similar  to  Kalmia  which  it 
resembles  in  rheumatism.  In  rheumatism  of  finger  joints 
compare  Calcarea  ost.,  Ledum,  Lycopodium,  Antimonium 
crud.,  and  Caulophyllum.  Lithium  carb.  certainly  acts 
well  in  the  relief  of  uric  deposits,  as  does  also  Calcarea 
ost,  Ammonium  phos..  Benzoic  acid,  Lycopodium  and 
Natrum  mur. 

Whole  body  feels  stiff;  feels  as  if  beaten.  Stiff  and  sore 
in  bones,  joints  and  arms.  Borders  of  nails  sore,  red; 
skin  grows  rapidly  and  adheres  to  roots  of  nails. 

Gettysburg  water  owes  its  efficiency  to  this  salt;  it  is 
hence  of  use  in  rheumatism. 

From  provings  it  is  also  of  use  in  ulcers  involving  the 
joints,  as  in  caries  of  the  spine,  hip,  etc.,  with  offensive 
pus  and  diarrhoea. 

Antidote  to  Lithium  carb.  is  lemon  juice. 

AMMONIA  SALTS. 

Ammonia  acts  like  Potash  and  Soda,  with  the  important 
difference,  however,  that  it  contains  so  much  water,  that  it 
attracts  but  little  from  the  tissues.  Its  solvent  action  on 
tissues  is  also  less  than  that  o^  Potash  and  Soda,  still  its 
high  diffusive  power  causes  it  to  easily  penetrate  the  skin, 
and  mucous  surfaces,  and  causes  finally  ulcers  and  slough- 
ing. This  fact  has  led  to  the  allopathic  use  of  Ammonia 
as  a  rubefacient;  it  raises  blisters  in  from  five  to  ten 
minutes. 

When  the  mucous  membranes  are  the  seat  of  attack,  a 
violent  inflammation  is  caused,  and  irritation  results,  with 
symptoms  varying  with  the  locality.  The  common  symp- 
toms are  burning,  rawness,  and  congestion  or  copious  mu- 
corlrhoea. 


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4  The  Medical  Advance,  July 

Taken  internally,  in  moderate  doses,  there  is  produced  a 
feeling  of  stimulation,  while  large  doses  develop  transient 
giddiness,  exhileration,  and  increased  pulse  force;  later, 
drowsiness,  and  then  coma  set  in.  Whether  or  not  uraemia 
is  dependent  upon  the  conversion  of  urea  into  ammonia 
carbonate  is  too  doubtful  a  question  to  admit  of  discussion 
here,  and  it  is  questionable  how  far  asphyxia  is  a  legitimate 
consequence  of  Ammonia  in  the  blood. 

Therapeutically:  Salts  of  Ammonia  are  antagonized  by 
Veratrum  vir..  Aconite,  Digitalis,  cold  and  other  cardiac 
sedatives. 

Its  action  is  favored  by  heat,  lodium,  Opium,  Valerian, 
Asafoetida,  Alcohol,  etc. 

Ammonia  antidotes  Hydrocyanic  acid. 

AMMONIUM   CARBONICUM. 

Ammonium  carb.,  or  smelling  salts,  is  suitable  to  stout 
persons;  especiaUy  women,  who  lead  a  sedentary  life;  who 
are  subject  to  catarrh,  particularly  during  winter.  Of  the 
parts  mostly  affected  we  note  the  mucous  membranes,  skin, 
joints,  glands,  heart,  etc.  As  shown  above  it  is  an  irritant 
to  the  tissues,  producing  an  inflammation  which  may  result 
in  gangrene.  The  vital  powers  are  sooner  or  later  affected, 
leading  to  coma  or  blood  changes,  which  permit  of  haemor- 
rhages of  dark  fluid  blood.  If  long  used  in  small  doses,  a 
sort  of  scurvy  ensues,  teeth  are  loose,  mucous  membranes 
soft,  bleeding  and  accompanied  by  hectic  fever.  The 
drowsy,  comatose  condition  is  interesting  as  suggesting 
Ammonium  carb.  in  low  states  of  vitality,  induced  by  some 
blood  poison,  as  scarlatina,  or  by  deficiency  of  oxygen  in 
the  system,  dependent  upon  chronic  bronchitis,  with  atony 
and  copious  mucus  through  the  lungs,  dilatation  of  the 
bronchi,  emphysema,  oedema  pulmonum,  etc  In  such 
cases  the  patient  is  weak,  sluggish,  coughs  but  rises  with 
diflSfeulty  or  not  at  all,  yet  loud  rftles  announce  plenty  of 
mucus;  drowsiness,  cool  surface,  muttering,  grasping  at 
flocks,  like  Antimonium  tart.,  Carbo  veg..  Arsenic,  etc. 
Ammonium  carb.  is  useful  for  carbonized  blood  when  it  is 
the  result  of  catarrh  of  lungs,  etc.,  in  old  or  atonic  patients. 


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1887  Ammonium  Carbonicum.  5 

when  the  inability  of  the  blood  to  appropriate  oxygen  is 
owing  to  insufficient  air  in  lungs,  from  dilated  bronchi,  re- 
laxed walls,  etc. 

When  the  case  is  one  of  scarlatina,  the  adynamia  is  just 
as  evident,  as  exhibited  in  the  dark  red  throat,  and  drowsi- 
ness; in  addition  there  are  swelling  of  cellular  tissue  of 
the  neck,  right  parotid  large,  nose  stuffed  up,  skin  red  with 
a  miliary  rash,  child  starts  from  sleep  in  a  fright,  can  not 
breathe  with  the  mouth  closed.  Compare  Lachesis  which 
is  inimical,  and  so  must  be  well  distinguished.  Belladonna, 
but  this  has  here  a  more  bright  red  throat  and  no  miliary 
rash.  Rhus  tox.  has  left  parotid  enlarged  and  more  rest- 
lessness.    Also  Ailantbus,  Nitric  acid  and  Sulphur. 

Cerebral  symptoms,  though  the  pulse  is  not  usually 
rapid,  mucous  membranes  affected,  nose  stuffed  up,  worse 
3  p.  M.     Compare  Kali  carb. 

Child  ceui  not  breathe  with  mouth  shut,  so  often  awakes 
as  if  smothering.  Compare  Lycopodium,  Chamomilla, 
Sambucus,  etc. 

Burning  water  from  nose,  throat  sore,  hoarseness.  Am- 
monium causi  is  best  in  aphonia  with  burning  rawness;  if 
also  i)aralytic  weakness,  look  to  Causticum. 

Cough  worse  3  a.  m.  as  from  dust  in  throat  or  with  heat 
and  burning  in  trachea  as  from  alcohol;  worse  every  win- 
ter; sputum  slimy,  contain  specks  of  blood,  with  burning 
and  heaviness  in  chest,  worse  ascending;  face  red;  body 
trembling;  freqyent  morning  sneezing.  Laurocerasus  also 
has  these  specks  of  blood.  No  remedies  are  superior  to 
the  Ammonias  in  winter  coughs. 

In  diphtheria  and  putrid  sore  throat;  nose  stopped  up; 
child  starts  from  sleep;  throat  bluish;  offensive  breath; 
drowsiness. 

Heart  and  circulation  primarily  affected;  palpitation 
and  asthma  at  every  exertion;  ebullitions  at  night, 
seems  as  if  heart  and  veins  would  burst;  when  in  warm 
room,  pale,  can  not  move,  must  sit  quiet  to  breathe;  dys- 
pnoea and  palpitation  on  exertion;  on  going  to  sleep  starts 
as  if  frightened,  can  not  breathe;  veins  of  hands  swell  and 


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6  The  Medical  Advance.  July 

then  are  blue  after  washing;  nosebleed  mornings  while 
washing  face.  Arsenic  is  similar  in  some  of  the  heart 
symptoms;  both  suit  in  large  heart,  especially  large  right 
ventricles.     Emphysema. 

Joints;  sprains  hot  and  painful,  use  after  Arnica.  Com- 
pare Sulphuric  acid  and  Ammonium  mur. 

Hiccough,  in  weak  patients. 

Headaches,  worse  pressing  teeth  together. 

Nightmare,  especially  with  chest  affections. 

Menses  preceded  by  cholera-like  symptoms;  come  too 
early;  flow  too  short;  also,  after  a  long  ride.  Blood  black- 
ish, clotted  and  acrid.  Magnesia  carb.  has  black  blood  but 
it  has  not  the  acridity  and  has  late  menses.  Yeratrum  alb. 
is  similar  in  cholera-like  symptoms.  Ammonium  carb.  has 
fatigue  during  menses,  worse  in  thighs,  with  yawning, 
toothache,  pain  in  small  of  back  and  chilliness. 

AMMONIUM   BROMATUM. 

Ammonium  brom.  has  been  successfully  employed  in 
scrofulous  ophthalmia,  eyes  red  in  the  morning,  with  white 
mucous  in  the  corners.  Uterine  haemorrhages;  with  hard, 
swollen  left  ovary;  feeling  of  a  band  around  the  head. 

Epilepsy. 

AMMONIUM   MURIATICUM. 

Ammonium  mur.,  or  Sal  Ammoniac,  differs  considerably 
from  the  carbonate.  It  is  said  to  be  best  suited  to  fat, 
sluggish  patients,  whose  body  is  corpulent,  but  whose  legs 
are  disproportionately  thin.  Like  its  relative  it  produces 
severe  inflammation  of  mucous  membranes,  and  so  rivals 
it  in  catarrhs.  But  for  some  reason,  perhaps  from  the 
contained  Chlorine,  the  circulation  of  the  blood  seems 
more  affected  than  in  the  carbonate. 

There  is  beating  as  if  in  the  arteries;  ebullitons  of  blood 
with  anxiety  and  weakness,  as  if  paralyzed;  face  reddens 
during  an  animated  conversation.  Flushes  of  heat  in  these 
attacks  followed  by  sweat,  mostly  on  face,  palms  of  hands 
and  soles  of  feet.  Heat,  with  bloated  face,  worse  in  warm 
room,  etc.     Compare  Phosphorus. 

The  nervous  system  is  affected  by  the  Ammonium  mur. 


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1887  Ammonium  Muriaticum.  7 

Chills  and  fever  returning  every  seven  days,  but  parox- 
ysm ends  in  copious  sweat 

Pain  in  left  hip  as  if  tendons  were  too  short  Compare 
Natrum  mur.,  Causticum,  etc.  Must  limp  when  walking; 
gnawing  in  bone  when  sitting.  Sciatica  worse  sitting, 
somewhat  better  when  walking,  entirely  relieved  when 
lying  down. 

Neuralgic  pains  in  stump  of  amputated  limb.  [Cepa] 

Tearing,  stitching,  ulcerative  pains  in  the  heels,  better 
at  times  from  rubbing;  worse  at  night  in  bed.  Compare 
Pulsatilla,  inflamed  heels.  Causticum,  Sabina,  Manganese, 
can  not  bear  weight  on  heel.  Antimonium  crud.,  sore  to 
pavement  Graphites,  Sepia,  ulcers  on  heel.  Natrum 
carb.  blisters.    Ignatia,  heels  burn  at  night:  Calcarea  carb. 

Joints:  it  causes  a  feeling  of  tension  and  contractions  of 
the  tendons  and  so  has  proved  useful  is  chronic  sprains. 
Morning  stiffness;  better  walking  in  open  air. 

The  neuralgic  and  tensive  pains  in  the  groins  have  suc- 
cessfully suggested  the  drug  in  uterine  and  ovarian  affec- 
tions. Pain  in  the  left  groin  as  if  sprained;  stitches;  sore- 
ness as  if  swollen. 

Leucorrhoea;  like  white  of  an  egg,  or  brown,  slimy;  after 
urination. 

Uterus  displaced  or  enlarged;  stools  crumble;  menses 
black,  clotted;  blood  from  bowels  or  cholera-like  vomiting 
and  purging;  menses  early  and  profuse,  worse  at  night 

Mucous  membranes:  coryza,  one  nostril  stopped  up;  nose 
stopped  at  night;  inside  of  nose  sore  as  in  scarlatina.  This 
symptom  suggests  Ammonium  mur.  in  scarlatina.  Com- 
pare Arum  triph..  Nitric  acid,  Lycopodium,  Silicea,  etc. 

Burning  in  the  eyes,  better  at  twilight. 

Throat  so  swollen,  can  not  open  mouth;  phlegm  so  viscid 
can  not  hawk  it  up.     Tonsils  throb;  glands  in  neck  throb. 

Cough  accompanies  many  groups  of  symptoms.  Cough 
dry,  from  tickling  in  the  throat;  cough  violent,  with  mouth 
full  of  water. 

Coldness  between  the  scapula  with  chest  affections. 
Heaviness  on  chest  in  bed,  which  awakes  him  at  3  a.  m. 
Sensation  as  if  swollen  morsel  had  lodged  in  chest  Hoarse- 


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8  The  Medical  Advance.  July 

ness;  burning  in  the  larynx.  Though  very  similar  to  the 
carbonate,  we  note  here  stitches  in  scapula  when  breath- 
ing; burning  in  spots  in  chest;  beating  like  a  pulse  in 
small  spots;  not  an  uncommon  set  of  symptoms  in  those 
subject  to  vascular  fullness  of  the  chest,  and  bronchitis  in 
winter. 

Skin:  Face  bums  from  an  eruption;  he  can  not  sleep 
until  he  applies  cold  water.  Skin  peels  off  between  fingers; 
blisters  on  wrist  forming  scabs. 

Chronic  congestion  of  liver,  with  depression  of  spirits; 
stools  glassy,  mucous  coated,  green  mornings. 

Chills  every  seventh  day. 


ACONITUM  NAPELLUS. 


J.  A.  WAKEMAN.  M.  D..  CentraUa,  111. 


Hahnemann  informs  us  that  the  moral  symptoms  of 
a  drug  are  very  important,  and  should  ever  be  taken  into 
account  in  prescribing  for  our  patients.  If  patients  be 
quiet,  and  resigned,  Aconite  will  do  but  little  good.  "  Men- 
tal uneasiness,  worry,  or  fever,  accompanying  a  most 
trivial  ailment,  such  as  inflammation  of  the  eyelid,'*  is 
characteristic. 

Inconsolable  anguish,  pittous  bowlings,  lamentations  and 
reproaches,  from  trifling  causes;  disheartening  apprehen- 
sions, despair,  loud  moaning  and  weeping,  bitter  com- 
plaints and  reproaches.  Great  anxiety  attended  by  palpi- 
tation of  the  heart,  oppressea  breathing,  increased  heat  of 
the  body  and  face,  and  great  nervousness  in  all  the  limbs, 
with  a  strong  tendency  to  be  angry,  and  to  quarrel. 

Fitful  humor,  at  one  time  sad,  depressed,  irritable  and 
despairing;  at  another  time  gay,  excited,  and  disposed  to 
dance;  laughter  and  tears  in  alternation. 

"  In  the  majority  of  cases  the  mind  remains  clear  and 
unaffected." 

Shyness  and  hatred  of  every  one;  excessive  timidity,  and 
moroseness. 

"  Sensation,  as  if  thinking  took  place  in  the  pit  of  the 
stomach  (predominant  action  of  the  solar  plexus)." 


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1887  Aconiium  Napellus.  9 

Afraid  to  go  out  of  the  house;  afraid  of  a  crowd;  fears 
he  will  not  recover;  predicts  the  day  of  death;  "com- 
plaints caused  by  fright  and  the  fear  remains." 

Aggravations  in  the  evening,  and  at  night;  can  not  lie 
on  the  left  side  in  affections  of  the  chest;  worse  on  rising 
up;  the  red  face  then  becomes  pale  as  death;  worse  in  a 
warm  room;  and  better  out  of  doors. 

Acts  strongly  upon  the  nervous  system,  as  is  manifest 
by  the  peculiar  feelings  of  tingling,  prickling,  numbness, 
creeping  and  crawling. 

Rapid  and  general  failure  of  strength;  attacks  of  faint- 
ing, chiefly  on  rising  from  a  recumbent  position;  deadly 
paleness  of  countenance  and  shuddering. 

Dry,  cold  air  causes  many  of  the  affections  for  the  relief 
of  which  this  medicine  is  so  useful;  feels  chilled  through 
and  through,  can  not  get  warm;  chilly  all  the  time,  and  at 
same  time  feverish. 

Local  or  general  congestions;  chilly  all  the  time,  pulse 
small,  hard  and  frequent,  great  agitation  and  fear,  excess- 
ive thirst  for  cold  water;  helps  to  equalize  the  circula- 
tion, and  moderate  the  intensity  of  the  succeeding  fever» 
thus  preventing  localization  of  inflammation. 

In  acute  diseases  with  a  super-excitation  of  the  nervous 
system;  has  been  sick  several  days,  gets  neither  better  nor 
worse,  remedies  only  palliate,  do  not  cure.  Stop  all  treat- 
ment for  several  hours,  then  give  Aconite,  and  see  it  cure. 

This  condition  is  perhaps  better  expressed,  in  a  note, 
which  we  find  from  Hartmann,  wherein  speaking  of  this 
remedy,  he  makes  the  following  remarks:  "In  acute  dis- 
eases, when  all  remedies  which  seem  to  be  indicated  are 
ineffectual,  or  affect  too  powerfully  without  improvement. 
Aconite  often  removes  very  quickly  this  hyper-excitation 
of  the  nervous  system;  by  this  treatment,  the  remedies 
which  are  indicated  act  more  favorably." 

In  spasmodic  and  inflammatory  croup,  it  is  our  best 
remedy,  and  it  will  cure  some  cases,  when  the  stridula 
is  during  expiration,  as  all  homoeopathic  physicians  know, 
in  a  very  few  minutes;  but  if  during  inspirationy  Spongia 
is  the  remedy.     True  membranous,  or  diphtheritic  croup 


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10  The  Medical  Advance,  July 

can  not  be  controlled  by  it,  and  it  should  not  be  depended 
upon. 

Aconite  has  a  specific  action  on  serous  membranes,  and 
is  one  of  the  best,  if  not  the  very  best  remedy  in  most 
cases  of  puerperal  peritonitis;  in  the  treatment  of  these 
cases,  when  given  low,  and  in  doses  repeated  every  one  or 
two  hours,  it  has  served  me  remarkably  well,  rarely  having 
lost  a  case  where  I  have  had  charge  from  the  first  Our 
good  friend,  Dr.  Gardner,  of  Philadelphia,  at  a  reception 
at  Dr.  W.  M.  Williamson's,  in  February,  1853,  in  response 
to  a  toast,  assured  us  that  Aconite  was  a  specific  in  puer- 
peral peritonitis,  and  I  have  found  his  statement  entitled 
to  much  confidence. 

The  symptoms  given  by  Hering,  indicating  this  remedy, 
are:  suppression  of  the  lochia;  mammsB  lax,  empty;  skin 
hot  and  dry;  pulse  hard,  contracted  and  frequent;  eyes 
wild,  staring,  glistening;  tongue  dry,  abdomen  inflated, 
sensitive;  which,  taken  in  connection  with  the  anguish, 
fear,  restlessness,  etc.,  so  characteristic  of  this  drug,  gives 
us  a  correct  picture  of  the  condition  of  our  poor  patient 

Guernsey,  in  speaking  of  this  disease,  makes  use  of  the 
following  language:  "In  cases  of  pure  puerperal  peritoni- 
tis the  lochial  discharge  will  sometimes  continue  undis- 
turbed, while  in  cases  of  inflammation  of  the  uterus, 
either  in  that  of  inner  surface  or  its  muscular  tissue,  or  of 
both,  the  lochia  may  be  much  diminished,  or  even  entirely 
suppressed;  and  yet  in  these  latter  cases  the  young  physi- 
cian will  be  most  wofully  deceived,  who  allows  himself  to 
believe  there  is  no  child-bed  fever  because  he  finds  no  par- 
ticular swelling  or  tenderness  of  the  abdomen. 

The  grave  nature  of  this  disease  and  the  great  liability 
of  the  diagnosis  being  faulty,  justifies,  nay  demands  that 
it  be  as  carefully  studied  as  possible,  and  the  physician 
should  have  a  realizing  sense  of  his  responsibility  how- 
ever painful  it  may  be  to  him." 

Suppressed  discharges,  as  the  lochial,  menstrual,  and 
lacteal,  if  caused  by  anger,  or  fear,  will  usually  be  restored 
by  this  remedy,  and  remove  the  evil  consequences  of  such 
suppression. 


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1887  Aconitum  Napellus,  11 

It  is  the  first  remedy  in  nearly  all  acute  inflammatory 
aflfections,  in  the  first  stage,  indicated  by  chilliness,  heat, 
thirst,  skin  dry  and  hot;  chilliness  increased  by  moving, 
as  is  also  the  pain,  anguish  and  restlessness;  worse  at 
night,  pulse  small,  hard  and  frequent,  with  fear  of  ap- 
proaching death.  It  is  especially  indicated  in  fevers  when 
there  is  blindness,  giddiness,  nausea,  paleness  of  the  face 
in  raising  the  head  from  the  pillow,  and  all  the  movements 
are  made  in  an  excited  and  hurried  manner,  and  attended 
with  trembling. 

These  symptoms  are  often  well-marked  in  the  cases  of 
young  children,  who,  in  haste  to  drink,  will  seize  the  tum- 
bler and  spill  the  water  over  themselves.  Water  is  the 
only  thing  relished,  everything  else  has  a  bitter  taste. 

Spasms  of  the  larynx,  nearly  always  come  on  in  the 
night,  wake  the  patient  from  sleep,  choking  and  strangling, 
with  great  sense  of  suflPocation,  jumps  out  of  bed,  runs  to 
a  window  and  opens  it  to  get  breath.  Here  it  has  never 
failed  to  relieve  my  cases  promptly,  and  I  have  seen  many 
of  them.  Patient  thinks  he  will  surely  die,  and  is  much 
frightened. 

Gastralgia,  with  vomiting  of  bitter,  green,  bilious  matter, 
with  spasmodic  pains  in  the  stomach,  with  burning  from 
the  stomach  up  through  the  oesophagus  to  the  mouth,  often 
with  copious  sweating,  and  relieved  by  pacing  the  room 
hurriedly. 

Colic  forces  him  double,  yet  relieved  in  no  position, 
often  attended  by  bilious  vomiting.  Gastric  derangement, 
constipation  and  fear  that  it  will  kill  him.  In  these  colics, 
and  gastralgias,  I  have  always  used  it  in  the  third  and  re- 
X>eated  every  five,  ten,  or  thirty  minutes  as  required. 

Retention  of  urine  in  children;  they  cry  and  scream, 
apparently  suffering  much.  Here,  also.  Aconite  has  seldom 
failed  me;  it  usually  relieves  the  pain,  which  is  soon  fol- 
lowed by  a  free  discharge. 

Dysuria.  Aconite  has  never  failed  to  be  of  benefit  in 
cases  with  the  following  symptoms:  frequent  inclination  to 
pass  urine,  with  great  pain  and  difficulty  in  doing  so,  the 
discharge  being  at  the  same  time  very  small  in  quantity, 


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12  The  Medical  Advance,  July 

often  passes  only  in  drops,  presenting  a  dark  red,  muddy 
appearance;  these  symptoms  will  generally  yield,  or,  at 
all  events,  become  materially  relieved  by  its  employment. 

In  some  cases  its  use  may  be  followed  to  great  advantage 
by  Cantharides. 

(Suppression  of  urine,  often  met  with  in  aged  people,  in 
the  last  stages  of  some  acute  affection,  has  been  more  fre- 
quently removed  by  Sulphur,  in  my  hands,  than  by  any 
other  remedy.) 

Pain  in  the  side,  in  advanced  pregnancy,  with  fear  of  ap- 
proaching death,  usually  in  the  splenic,  but  may  be  in  the 
hepatic  region,  is  usually  relieved  by  Aconite. 

It  has  haemoptysis  with  intense  fear,  and  great  arterial 
excitement,  chilliness,  or  even  violent  shaking  chill,  aggra- 
vated by  uncovering  or  moving,  anguish  as  of  approaching 
death. 

When  rheumatism  is  translated  to  the  heart,  giving  rise 
to  alarming  symptoms,  I  have  always  used  Aconite  low, 
and  repeated  the  dose  at  short  intervals;  if  it  fails  to 
control  the  symptoms,  its  use  may  be  followed  by  Arse- 
nicum. 

In  the  early  stages  of  enteritis  mucosa  of  young  chil- 
dren, it  is  a  valuable  remedy,  and  if  it  does  not  control 
the  disease,  it  doubtless  modifies  its  future  course,  both 
in  severity  and  duration.  Its  use  should  be  continued  for 
several  days,  and  if  used  low,  at  first,  higher  attenuations 
should  be  tried  before  changing  to  another  drug. 

Its  action  predominates  on  the  left  side.  It  often  re- 
lieves the  cough  of  old  smokers,  which  is  usually  worse  in 
a  warm  room,  and  at  night. 

It  relieves  the  nervousness  following  child-birth;  and  is 
indispensable  in  the  breast  or  milk  fever,  with,  or  without 
excessive  lochia. 

In  nearly  all  cases  of  ephemeral  fever,  it  is  the  only 
remedy  necessary,  removing  all  unpleasant  symptoms  in  a 
few  hours.     Here  I  prefer  the  30th  or  the  200th. 

In  scarlet  rash,  purpura  rubra,  this  is  the  specific  rem- 
edy, rarely  necessary  to  give  any  other.  Have  seen  many 
cases  of  this  affection  in  Ohio  and  southern  Illinois;   it  is 


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1887  Fragmentary  Notes.  13 

usually  confounded  with  scarlet  fever,  and  Belladonna  pre- 
scribed, which  will  do  little  or  no  good.  It  is  easily  dis- 
tinguished from  scarlatina  by  the  dark  redness  of  the  erup- 
tion,  and  pressure  of  the  finger  leaves  no  white  imprint. 
There  is  more  of  a  papular  appearance  to  the  eruption  than 
is  usually  present  in  scarlatina. 

It  controls  many  of  the  diseased  conditions  following 
scarlet  fever,  when  it  should  be  used  low,  and  in  sensible 
doses,  which  bear  repetition. 

I  have  seen  it  control  copious,  continuous,  and  exhaust- 
ing sweats;  in  which  condition  sponging  the  patient  with 
water  as  hot  as  can  be  borne,  often  helps. 

It  will  cure  colic  in  horses,  when  they  turn  upon  their 
backs,  extend  their  legs  into  the  air,  and  wriggle  like  a 
dog.     It  will  also  cure  thumps  in  horses. 


FRAGMENTARY  NOTES. 


J.  D.  TYRRELL,  M.  D.,  Toronto.  Ontario. 


THEA  CHINENSI8. 

Mrs.  W ,  reports  that  every  time  she  drinks  a  good 

strong  cup  of  tea,  she  has  startings  just  as  she  is  ''  going 
oflP  to  sleep."  Dreams  she  is  falling  off  some  high  place, 
or  sliding  off  a  roof,  and  wakes  up  in  fear.  This  symptom 
is  so  constant  and  so  troublesome  that  she  has  given  up  the 
use  of  tea — she  always  used  best  uncolored  Japan. 

SACCHARUM  ALB.— QUINIA  8ULPH. 

Called  to  see  Miss  M ,  suffering  from  periodic  head- 
ache; gave  her  Lachesis  75m.  (Fincke),  two  powders,  an 
hour  apart,  followed  by  Saccharum  album  in  solution,  one 
teaspoonful  every  fifteen  minutes;  dissolving  a  few  pel- 
lets of  pure  Saccharum  alb.  in  water,  churning  it  violently 
with  a  spoon.  Next  day  I  found  her  down  stairs,  and  much 
better;  but  she  accused  me  of  giving  her  Quinia  sulph. 
I  never  gave  her  or  any  one  else  a  dose  of  crude  Quinine 
as  I  do  not  keep  it  lower  than  200th,  and  do  not  believe  in 
violation  of  our  law. 


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14  The  Medical  Advance.  July 

She  said  that  as  soon  as  she  began  taking  the  medicine 
in  the  tumbler  (Saccharum  alb.),  she  became  deathly  sick 
and  faint  J  thought  she  would  die,  could  not  raise  her  head^ 
and  felt  as  if  she  would  sink  bodily  through  the  bed.  Each 
dose  made  this  symptom  more  pronounced,  and  it  ceased 
only  when  she  stopped  taking  Saccharum  alb. 

The  Sulphate  of  Quinine  always  produced  that  symptom 
no  matter  how  her  physician  disguised  it,  or  how  small  a 
dose  he  gave,  hence  she  thought  I  had  given  her  the  drug. 
This  Quinine  symptom  is  a  true  one,  and  I  regard  its  pro- 
duction by  Saccharum  alb.  as  equally  genuine;  and  have 
made  note  of  it  (as  is  my  rule),  for  future  and  further  veri- 
fication by  proving  or  clinically.  Some  of  our  most  val- 
uable symptoms  are  elicited  by  individual  provers,  and 
also  by  provers  when  in  peculiar  conditions,  but  are  never- 
theless valuable.  Just  as  we  recognize  validity  of  peculiar 
mental  or  physical  peculiarities  in  like  persons,  or  still 
finer  shades  of  distinction  in  twins  which  none  but  close 
observers  can  or  do  distinguish,  so  must  we  allow  for  per- 
sonality,  as  it  were,  in  drugs  and  the  more  closely  they  are 
similar  the  more  carefully  must  we  search  for  the  delicate 
lines  and  shadings  that  go  to  make  a  tru^  portrait  The 
other  remedies  having  like  symptoms  are — and  I  thank 
Drs.  Berridge  and  Skinner  for  the  information — Bella- 
donna, Dulcamara,  Bhus  tox.,  and  Lachesis,  which  have 
" feeling  of  sinking  through  bed" 

Arensicum  alb.  has  *^  every  time  she  awoke  from  sleep,  a 
faint  and  sinking  sensation  as  if  bed  had  gone  from  under 
her  and  she  had  alighted  on  the  floor"  I  have  since  found 
this  last  in  "The  Homoeopathic  World,"  January  1887, 
page  46. 

CUPBUM   SULPH. 

A  lady  remarked  in  my  presence,  that  she  coidd  not  use 
powdered  Cupri  sulph.  for  "stamping"  fancy  work,  be- 
cause it  made  her  facQ  hurt  and  swell  so  she  could  scarcely 
see  and  her  lips  became  everted,  ^*  turned  inside  out"  she 
said.  I  purposed  finding  out  a  more  detailed  account,  but 
have  not  yet  succeeded. 


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1887  Doctrines  of  the  Organon.  15 

DOCTRINES  OF  THE  ORGANON. 


PRIMARY  AND  AFTER-EFFECTS. 


LEWIS  BARNES,  M.  D.,  Delaware,  O. 


We  are  told  in  section  63  that  "Every  drug  ♦  ♦  *  pro- 
daces  a  certain  change  in  the  state  of  health  of  the  body," 
and  that  "this  is  called  primary  effect;'*  that  there  is  a 
reaction  of  the  vital  force  which  "endeavors,  to  oppose 
this  eflPect  *  *  *  and  it  is  called  after-effect  or  counter-effect" 
And  that  (§64)  "during  the  primary-effect  *  *  *  our  vital  ^ 
force  seems  to  be  only  receptive  or  passive,"  "compelled,  as 
it  were  to  receive  the  impression  made  upon  it  by  the  drug," 
but  that  afterwards  "  it  seems  to  rally,"  "  and  the  result 
may  be  twofold," — first,  "the  exact  counterpart  of  the 
primary  effect;"  second,  "where  nature  affords  no  exact 
opposite  condition,"  the  vital  force  appears  "  to  put  forth 
its  superior  strength"  to  extinguish  the  effect  of  the  drug 
and  to  establish  "the  normal  state  of  health,  which  is  the 
after-effect,  or  curative-effecf 

The  "  twofold  "  action  referred  to,  called  counter-effect  and 
after-effect,  amount  to  the  same  thing,  for  in  (§65)  they 
are  no  less  than  four  times  employed  thus  together. 

Hence  our  drugs  are  to  be  so  given  that  the  so-called  pri- 
mary effects  must  correspond  with  the  symptoms  of  disease. 
They  are,  indeed,  the  chief,  if  not  the  only  forces  of  the 
drugs,  those  that  come  afterwards  in  an  opposite  or  coun- 
ter form  being  the  opposing  powers  of  the  vital  force. 
The  point  here  is,  that  cure  results,  not  really  from  the 
drug,  but  from  vital  action  excited  by  it;  this  is  opposite 
the  disease,  because  it  is  against  the  drug  which  acts  like 
or  with  the  disease.  But  medicines  given  in  seeming  op- 
position to  disease  are  really  in  opposition  to  the  vital 
force,  which  is  acting  or  reacting  against  the  disease.  This 
action  of  the  drug,  therefore,  may  serve  to  check  disease 
in  a  measure,  that  is  to  palliate  it,  but  in  so  doing  it  weak- 
ens and  impairs  the  vital  force,  which  is  the  only  really 
curative  agency.  And  thus  permanent  mischief  is  likely 
to  result. 


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16  The  Medical  Advance,  July 

Sucb  is  the  clearly  expressed  doctrine  of  the  Organon.  It  is 
not  my  present  purpose  either  to  approve  or  deny  its  truth, 
but  simply  to  show  what  the  Hahnemannian  teaching  is, 
and,  as  far  as  his  authority  is  concerned,  to  settle  the  vexed 
question  as  to  whether  cures  are  wrought  by  the  primary 
or  secondary  effects  of  drugs.  The  point  is  clearly  in  favor 
of  the  primary  as  the  essential  agency.  It  is  important  to 
have  this  fixed  in  the  mind.  If  any  one  is  in  doubt  about 
it  he  should  examine  the  sections  above  quoted  and  see,  for 
a  serious  matter  hangs  upon  it. 

The  matter  is  this:  Our  provings  appear  to  be  made 
up  of  an  indiscriminate  mixture  of  primary  and  secondary 
effects — drug  effects  and  counter-effects  of  the  vital  forces, 
those  that  are  like  and  those  that  are  unlike.  Here  lies 
before  me  now,  while  writing  this,  a  published  account  of 
a  proving,  in  one  of  our  very  best  magazines.  A  drug,  no 
matter  what,  or  what  potency,  was  taken — three,  six  and 
nine  doses — on  three  successive  days.  Would  the  primary 
and  secondary  mix  during  that  time?  Let  us  wave  that, 
for  we  have  ten  pages  of  symptoms  recorded  day  by  day 
for  seventy-four  days — all  given  as  medicinal  effects  of  the 
drug!  recorded  as  guides  for  its  use!  What  a  mixture  of 
primary  and  secondary,  allopathic  and  homoeopathic,  even 
supposing  them  all  to  be  driig  effects!  How  much  of  our 
Materia  Medica  has  been  composed  in  a  similar  way? 
Perhaps  you  will  say  that  it  is  reliable  and  proper  for  all 
that,  and  will  appeal  to  cures  in  favor  of  your  statement. 
I  have  nothing  at  present  to  say  in  reply  except  that  it  vio- 
lates the  clear  teaching  of  the  Organon. 

I  am  aware  that  it  is  said  (§  112)  that  after-effects  "are 
rarely  if  ever  perceived  after  moderate  doses  administered 
to  healthy  persons  for  the  purpose  of  experiment;  and 
they  are  altogether  absent  after  minute  doses."  This  looks, 
at  first  sight,  as  if  all  effects  might  be  chargeable  to  the 
drug  as  primary.  But  it  maybe  answered  that  the  implied 
reason  why  they  do  not  appear  is  because  they  are  too  weak 
to  be  "perceived."  We  may  conclude,  therefore,  that  if 
counter-effects  do  appear,  it  is  evidence  that  they  belong  to 
the  vital  force,  and  not  to  the  drug;  and  have  no  proper 
place  in  the  drug  record. 


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1887  Docirines  of  the  Organon,  17 

We  are  told  further  (§  115),  that  some  drugs  produce 
effects  which  appear  to  be  counterparts  of  other  symptoms, 
but  which  "  are  not  to  be  regarded  as  actual  after-effects  or 
counter-effects  of  the  vital  force,  because  they  merely  vin- 
dicate an  alternation  or  fluctuation  of  the  various  stages  of 
the  primary  effect" 

These  contrary  symptoms,  moreover,  appear  only  "  in 
regard  to  certain  minor  features,"  and  in  characteristically 
important  ones.  And  since  they  constitute  a  mere  ''  fluc- 
tuation," they  should  appecur  in  close  connection  with  the 
characteristic  primary  effects.  If  they  appear  some  hours 
afterwards,  can  they  be  called  fluctuations?  If  some  days 
after,  are  they  not  "after-effects"?  If  new  symptoms  ap- 
pear after  days  or  weeks,  whether  contrary  to  those  of  the 
first  days,  weeks,  etc.,  or  not,  should  they  not  be  assigned 
to  reactions  of  the  system  instead  of  being  counted  as  pri- 
mary effects  of  the  drug?  This  is  upon  the  idea  that  they 
come  in  consequence  of  the  drug.  But  who  knows  or  can 
know  that  such  is  the  case?  After-effects  are  not  necessa- 
rily counter  or  contrary.  Most  symptoms,  the  most  impor- 
tant ones,  indeed,  have  no  opposites.  Such  are  all  the 
pains.  Their  opposites  are  mere  absences — states  of  ease 
— which  are  not  recorded  among  symptoms.  Such  are 
mental  disturbances,  the  most  important  of  all,  since  their 
opposites  are  normal  states.  But  when  the  system  is  im- 
paired or  disordered  by  a  drug,  or  any  evil  agent,  its  reac- 
tion may  appear  in  many  disordered  states,  depending  per- 
haps upon  its  comparatively  weaker  or  stronger  points. 
Why  count  them  as  characteristics  of  the  drug? 

After-effects  may  be  called  responses  of  the  system,  and 
each  system  may  respond  in  its  own  way,  each  somewhat 
differently  from  every  other,  just  as  each  man's  mind  may 
respond  differently  from  other  minds— to  the  same 
invading  influence.  After-effects,  therefore,  should  not  be 
assigned  to  the  drug  so  much  as  to  the  peculiarities  of  the 
"prover,"  which  may  not  appear  in  another  person,  or  per- 
haps in  the  same  person  at  another  time.  This  is  an  im- 
portant reason  why  the  experiences  of  provers  should  not 


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18  The  Medical  Advance,  July 

be  recorded  as  parts  of  a  Materia  Medica,  unless  they  have 
been  repeatedly  observed  in  diflferent  pei^sons. 

I  am  aware  that  these  facts  will  be  unpalatable  to  many 
of  our  enthusiastic  friends,  who  do  not  wish  to  have  their 
terribly  redundant  Materia  Medica  stirred  up  and  shaken. 
Once,  at  a  meeting  of  the  American  Institute,  I  was  pri- 
vately expostulated  with  by  one  of  our  noblest  college 
professors,  for  comparing  the  ideas  of  members  with  pure 
facts.  He  said  they  did  not  like  to  be  held  to  the  strict 
rules  of  evidence.  Bpt  the  time  is  at  hand  when  they 
must  be.  We  shall  never  stand  upon  solid  ground  until  our 
system  is  developed  this  way. 


SANITARY  SCIENCE. 


DISEASES  PECULIAR  TO  SCHOOL  LIFE.* 


W.  JOHN  HARRIS.  M.  D..  St.  Louis,  Mo. 


Among  the  most  common  diseases  met  with  in  school 
children  are  diseases  of  the  eyes,  caused  chiefly  by  over 
exertion,  or  from  study  when  the  body  is  in  a  weakened 
condition.  Bad  or  imperfect  light  may  be  another  cause 
of  near  sightedness,  also  sitting  in  an  improper  position 
during  study;  but  most  probably  the  main  cause  of  eye 
difficulties  is  excess  of  study  at  the  formative  period  of 
life;  when  all  the  tissues  are  in  a  tender  state  and  are  thus 
not  in  a  condition  to  withstand  the  extra  demand  made 
upon  them. 

To  save  the  children's  eyes  from  undue  strain,  large 
print  and  good  paper  should  always  be  furnished  and  a 
suitable  light  should,  if  possible,  come  from  the  left  hand 
side  of  the  scholars,  as  every  one  may  observe  from  his  or 
her  own  experience  how  much  better  position  this  is  for 
study. 

There  seems  to  be  an  increase  in  the  number  of  pupils 
suflPering  with  short-sightedness;  hence  every  precaution 


•From  a  paper  read  before  the  Mo.  Inst.  Session,  1887. 


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1887  Diseases  Peculiar  to  School  Life.  19 

that  can  be,  should  be  adopted  to  remedy  these  diseases 
arising  from  imperfect  accommodation. 

Where  there  seems  to  be  an  inherited  tendency  to  eye 
troubles  greater  care  than  usual  should  be  observed. 
Teachers  should  try  as  far  as  possible  to  instill  the  follow- 
ing rules  into  the  minds  of  the  scholars,  especially  the 
older  ones: 

Study  with  light  coming  from  the  left  band  or  back. 

Don't  study  in  a  dazzling  light,  as  with  the  sun  shining 
on  the  desk. 

Position  should  be  erect;  neither  stooping  nor  lying 
down. 

Never  study  in  a  poor  light. 

Do  not  study  late  at  night  nor  very  early  in  the  morning. 

After  fevers  or  prolonged  sickness  of  any  kind,  great 
care  should  be  exercised  in  returning  to  the  regular  stu- 
dies. 

This  rule  should  be  strictly  enforced  after  scarlet  fever 
or  measles. 

The  fine  type  to  be  found  in  some  of  the  text-books  and 
atlases  is  very  injurious  to  the  eyesight  of  any  one,  but 
especially  so  to  young  and  growing  children. 

The  position  that  children  take  in  learning  to  write  is 
often  a  very  improper  and  unfortunate  one,  and  needs  con- 
stant watching  on  the  part  of  the  teacher  before  this  habit 
can  be  overcome. 

Curvature  of  the  spine  fi'equently  has  its  beginning  dur- 
ing the  period  of  school  life,  and  above  all  other  causes  of 
spinal  weakness  I  desire  special  importance  to  be  given  to 
that  class  of  cases  due  to  the  straiu  of  position. 

From  long  standing  at  recitations  children  are  constantly 
inclined  to  rest  themselves  by  throwing  the  weight  of  the 
body  on  one  foot,  thus  curving  the  spine  towards  the  oppo- 
site side.  This  condition  usually  escapes  the  attention  of 
the  mother  until  the  frame,  fully  set  by  complete  bony 
dex)08its,  cramps  the  lungs  and  other  organs  of  the  body, 
thus  impeding  proper  and  healthy  action  of  the  heart  and 
preventing  thorough  circulation. 

As  the  development  of  the  brain  gives  the  skull  its  for- 


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20  The  Medical  Advance.  July 

matioD,  so  the  perfect  expansion  of  the  lungs  produces  a 
well  developed  chest  The  growth  and  shape  of  the  skele- 
ton is  undoubtedly  influenced  by  the  activity  of  its  muscles; 
symmetrically  developed  muscles  will  produce  straight 
bones,  for  this  means  an  equal  pressure  on  both  sides  of 
the  bone — hence  it  is  not  pulled  over  to  one  side. 

The  remedy  for  crooked  bones  lies  in  the  early  and 
equal  development  of  the  muscles  by  proper  physical 
training;  and  any  school  that  educates  children  intellec- 
tually, at  the  expense  of  physical  growth,  fails  of  its  end. 

Not  for  a  moment  would  I  decry  anything  that  will  tend 
towards  the  most  thorough  education  of  the  intellect;  my 
aim  is  simply  to  direct  attention  to  the  fact  that  study  can 
be  accomplished  without  cramped  positions;  and  that  weak 
spines  are  not  at  all  necessary  to  the  proper  education  of 
either  girls  or  boys. 

The  life  of  the  young  school  girl  from  twelve  to  fifteen 
years  of  age  is  probably  the  most  important  period  of  her 
whole  existence.  Usually  her  health  is  made  or  unmade 
during  this  time,  and  her  condition  is  such  that  it  requires 
peculiar  consideration  on  the  part  of  the  teacher. 

As  soon  as  menstruation  actually  takes  place  the  girl 
should  be  required  to  remain  in  bed,  if  possible,  for  the 
first  day  during  every  recurring  period  for  the  first  year, 
so  that  during  the  time  of  rest  thus  imposed,  the  more 
active  congestion  of  the  pelvic  organs  may  pass  off.  If 
instead  of  this  needed  rest  she  be  compelled  to  stand  dur- 
ing long  recitations,  there  is  induced  the  commencement 
of  uterine  displacements,  as  evidenced  by  the  dragged  out 
feeling  so  commonly  complained  of.  The  mucous  mem- 
brane remains  in  a  state  of  partial  congestion,  to  be  aggra- 
vated with  each  returning  menstrual  epoch. 

During  the  growing  period  every  advantage  should  be 
given  to  the  physical  development  of  the  girl,  or  it  will  be 
impossible  for  her  to  become  a  strong  and  useful  woman. 

Now  is  the  time  to  stop  altogether  the  regular  school 
duties  and  studies,  and  let  the  child  be  free  from  care  for 
one  year.  She  may  engage  in  light  studies  at  home,  be 
instructed  in  household  duties,  and  take  proper  exercise 


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1887  Diseases  Peculiar  to  School  Life.  21 

both  indoors  and  out  to  strengthen  the  body  as  much  as 
possible.  Give  her  plenty  of  sleep,  not  much  study,  and 
no  dissipation  by  going  oat  to  parties  late  at  night;  and 
she  will  more  than  make  up  for  her  absence  when  she 
returns  to  her  regular  school  duties. 

A  years'  delay  in  the  studies  of  any  girl  is  of  small 
moment  compared  to  the  advantage  of  being  strong.  With 
many  I  do  not  think  there  would  really  be  any  serious  loss 
of  time,  if  they  were  allowed  to  remain  out  of  school  for 
the  first  year  of  menstrual  life;  since  they  would  learn 
faster  and  retain  what  they  did  acquire  very  much  better 
if  they  were  in  a  condition  to  study.  Many  of  the  studies 
that  young  girls  are  compelled  to  wade  through  are  en- 
tirely unnecessary;  and  are  only  learned  one  day  to  be  for- 
gotten the  next 

The  dreas  of  young  girls  particularly  through  the  grow- 
ing period  should  be  such  that  it  does  not  interfere  in  any 
way  with  the  proper  development  of  the  abdominal  mus- 
cles. With  use  the  muscles  of  the  back  and  abdomen 
should,  and  would  be,  as  strong  in  girls  as  in  boys.  Sleep 
should  be  regular  and  long  enough  to  rest  both  body  and 
mind.  School  children  should  as  a  rule  sleep  from  nine  at 
night  till  seven  o'clock  the  next  morning;  this  gives  ample 
time  for  the  morning  bath,  and  dressing,  after  which  break- 
fast can  be  taken  slowly. 

When  a  child  goes  to  bed  at  eleven  or  twelve  o'clock  and 
rises  late  the  next  morning  it  is  a  scramble  to  get  off  to 
school,  and  breakfast  is  scarcely  taken  at  all;  then  before 
noon  time,  comes  the  wretched  faint  feeling  from  lack  of 
food,  headache  follows  and  no  appetite  for  dinner. 

In  our  High  Schools,  the  plan  of  twenty  minutes  for 
lunch  and  then  resuming  studies  till  two  or  two  thirty  is 
most  unfortunate  for  the  pupils.  The  old  plan  of  recess 
from  twelve  till  half -past  one  o'clock  is  by  far  the  best  one, 
and  will  I  hope  be  again  adopted. 

The  tendency  is  all  the  time  to  overcrowd  the  children 
with  study  and  to  do  this  now  even  the  meal  hours  must 
be  shortened, — there  can  be  no  greater  mistake.  Often  we 
do  not  see  the  effects  of  such  a  pernicious  course  at  once. 


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22  The  Medical  Advance,  July 

but.  just  at  the  time  when  the  young  woman  or  young  man 
should  be  able  to  withstand  the  demands  of  every  day 
business,  or  household  life,  the  physical  and  mental  force 
fail. 

The  organization  in  youth  is  so  dangerously  elastic  that 
the  result  of  these  intellectual  excesses  is  not  sometimes 
seen  till  years  after. 

When  a  young  girl  incurs  spinal  disease,  or  other 
serious  trouble,  from  some  slight  fall,  which  she  ought  not 
to  have  felt  for  an  hour;  or  some  business  man  breaks 
down  in,  what  should  be,  the  prime  of  life,  from  some  slight 
over  anxiety,  and  which  should  have  left  no  trace  behind, 
the  careful  physician  will  see  but  the  effect  of  mistaken 
school  training,  that  weakened  where  it  should  have 
strengthened,  and  stunted  where  it  should  have  ripened. 
No  child  can  study  properly  when  the  body  is  but  poorly 
nourished,  and  I  believe  the  lack  of  proper  nourishment  at 
noon  is  very  often  the  cause  of  headaches  from  which  many 
school  children  suffer. 

During  the  fall  season  the  usual  custom  of  opening  school 
about  the  second  week  in  September  will  often  seem  to  de- 
velop malarial  fever  in  school  children.  This  I  attribute 
to  the  sudden  change  in  their  mode  of  living.  They  are 
brought  from  a  life  of  activity  out  doors  to  one  of  compar- 
ative quiet  and  confinement  all  at  once,  at  a  season  when 
malarial  fevers  are  more  apt  to  prevail.  Unusual  caution 
should  be  taken  to  prevent  this  trouble  coming  on. 

Particular  care  should  be  taken  to  prevent  the  spread  of 
contagious  diseases  through  the  medium  of  school  life. 

As  soon  as  measles,  scarlatina,  diphtheria,  or  small-pox, 
appear  in  any  family,  the  other  children,  should  there  be 
any,  must  remain  away  from  school  and  every  precaution 
should  be  taken  to  prevent  the  carrying  of  disease  germs 
in  the  clothing  when  the  children  go  out  of  doors.  The 
sick  child  should  be  completely  isolated  from  all  other 
children  that  may  be  in  the  house,  not  only  for  their  pro- 
tection, but  in  justice  to  all  others  with  whom  they  may 
come  in  contact,  both  on  the  street  or  in  street  cars. 

As  to  the  length  of  time  that  should  elapse  before  it  is 


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1887  Diseases  Peculiar  to  School  Life.  23 

perfectly  safe  for  the  children  to  return  to  school  after  the 
disease  is  over;  that  must  be  decided  somewhat  from  the 
severity  of  the  attack.  If  the  disease  has  been  at  all  a 
malignant  one  it  will  be  safe  to  say  that  three  weeks  should 
pass,  after  the  child,  that  has  been  sick,  has  completely  re- 
covered,  before  any  other  children  of  the  household  should 
be  allowed  to  attend  school 

This  gives  ample  time  for  the  possibility  of  the  disease 
to  manifest  itself  in  any  other  member  of  the  family. 

It  would  be  most  unwise  to  allow  children  to  attend 
school  before  we  have  had  sufficient  opportunity,  and  time, 
to  discover  whether  the  disease  is  in  their  systems,  even  if 
they  have  not  come  down  with  it  themselves. 

There  is  a  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  communica- 
bilityof  whooping-cough,  by  children  carrying  it  to  school. 
While  I  do  not  think  the  disease  can  be  carried  in  the 
clothing  like  small-pox,  yet  from  some  cases  that  have 
recently  come  under  my  notice,  I  am  inclined  to  think  that 
one  child  may  carry  the  disease  to  another  previous  to  the 
cough  beiug  recognized  in  the  one  ^ho  has  been  the  means 
of  spreading  it 

Many  peo-ents  need  to  be  informed  of  the  great  necessity 
for  strictly  carrying  out  these  rules  for  the  prevention  of 
contagious  diseases;  and  circulars  should  be  issued,  by  all 
school  boards,  and  distributed  free  every  season,  stating 
the  reasons  for  these  rules,  as  a  matter  of  self-protection. 

One  of  the  most  desirable  advances  is  the  appointment, 
in  all  our  large  cities,  of  a  medical  inspector. 

A  lady  should  be  appointed  to  examine  into  all  cases 
where  the  female  pupils  are  not  able  to  attend  school,  also 
to  see  whether  there  are  any  girls  in  a  condition  unfit  to 
attend  to  their  scho<5l  duties,  and  if  there  are,  have  them 
sent  home  until  sufficiently  recovered  for  them  to  return 
to  their  studies  withcnit  any  danger  to  health. 

Such  a  plan  as  this  is  now  in  operation  in  some  of  the 
eastern  states,  and  also  in  Paris,  where  a  young  woman, 
having  a  medical  education,  has  been  appointed  medical 
inspector.  Her  duties  are  to  see  that  the  girls  are  not 
overworked,  and  that  they  perform  their  tasks  under  the 


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24  The  Medical  Advance.  July 

best  sanitary  conditions  possible.  This  is  a  good  step  for- 
ward in  the  direction  of  practical  school  sanitation.  In 
most  localities  attendance  upon  school  is  inforced  at  cer- 
tain periods  when  the  girls  should  be  privileged  to  remain 
at  home;  and  to  accomplish  this  most  desirable  end  I 
would  earnestly  recommend  that  each  Board  of  Education 
should  appoint  a  suitable  lady  medical  officer,  with  specific 
duties  for  the  district  under  her  supervision. 

What  we  are  aiming  at  is  to  have  the  girls  grow  up  into 
strong,  healthy,  educated  women,  and  many  suggestions 
can  be  given  to  the  mothers  by  the  visiting  medical  officer, 
that  will  materially  help  to  bring  about  this  desirable  end. 

Woman's  sphere  should  yet  be  enlarged,  her  occupation 
in  many  departments  ought  to  be  better  remunerated,  and 
her  education  ought  still  to  be  further  perfected  in  her 
special  lines  of  duty;  but  education  that  tends  to  injure  her 
should  be  avoided,  since  instead  of  rendering  her  strong, 
capable  and  more  self-reliant,  it  is  calculated  by  misdirec- 
tion to  make  her  weak,  incapable  and  helpless,  during  the 
years  of  her  life  when  she  most  needs  strength. 

In  some  districts,  also,  a  physician  might  advantageously 
be  appointed  as  medical  examiner  to  look  after  the  boys, 
and  decide  all  doubtful  cases  of  contagious  diseases.  As 
already  stated  boys  need  special  instruction  particularly 
adapted  to  their  future  mode  of  life. 

Educated  mechanics  is  the  present  and  future  need  of 
the  coimtry,  and  while  it  may  be  beyond  our  power  to  im- 
prove the  education  of  those  men  already  in  the  labor  field, 
it  should  be  the  aim  of  all  school  boards  so  to  direct  the 
course  of  studies  that  all  boys  leaving  our  public  schools 
may  grow  up  into  intelligent  healthy  manhood.  Then  may 
end  all  strikes. 

There  is  great  need  that  all  boys,  particularly,  be  care- 
fully and  thoroughly  instructed  as  to  the  physiological 
effects  of  alcohol  upon  the  human  organism.  With  proper 
and  cai'ef ul  instruction  as  to  the  scientific  use  of  alcoholic 
liquors  much  of  the  abuse  that  now  prevails  may  be  pre- 
vented. The  only  sure  and  certain  remedy  is  a  more 
general  diffusion  of  hygienic  knowledge. 


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1887  Orificial  Surgery.  25 

SURGERY. 


SUKGICAL  NOTES. 


J.  G.  GILCHRIST.  M.  D..  Iowa  City  ,Ia.  ,Editob. 


Orificial  Surgery.— E.  H.  Pratt,  M.  D.,  Chicago.  W. 
T.  Keener,  pp.  141,  $1.00.  This  little  manual  is  one  of  the 
most  original  in  its  subject-matter  that  has  appeared  in 
many  a  day.  There  can  be  no  question  that  the  writer  has 
developed  a  great  fact,  one  that  h€U3  hitherto  had  very  in- 
sufficient attention  given  it:  at  the  same  time  is  this  not  a 
little  "strong,"  to  put  it  mildly?  "In  all  pathological  con- 
ditions, surgical  or  medical,  which  linger  persistently  in 
spite  of  all  efforts  at  removal,  from  the  delicate  derange- 
ments of  brain  substance  that  induce  insanity,  and  the 
various  forms  of  neursBsthenia,  to  the  great  variety  of  mor- 
bid changes  repeatedly  found  in  the  coarser  stractures  of 
the  body,  there  will  invariably  be  found  more  or  less  irri- 
tation of  the  rectum,  or  the  orifices  of  the  sexual  system, 
or  both.  In  other  words,  I  believe  that  all  forms  of  chronic 
diseases  have  one  common  predisposing  cause,  and  that 
cause  is  a  nerve-waste  occasioned  by  orificial  irritation  at 
the  lower  openings  of  the  body."  No  one  who  has  wit- 
nessed the  acute  local  suffering  and  reflex  disturbances  oc- 
casioned by  rectal  fissures,  urethral  caruncle,  and  the  like, 
can  question  the  fact  that  serious  disturbances  of  health 
can  originate  in  these  intrinsically  trivial  lesions,  but 
at  the  same  time,  there  are  few,  I  think,  who  would 
be  willing  to  accept  the  Doctor's  exceedingly  broad 
statement  without  essential  modification.  The  clinical 
reports  appended  are  of  interest  and  value,  and  will 
scarcely  fail  to  direct  the  attention  of  all  practitioners  to 
this  sadly  neglected  field ;  nevertheless,  it  is  equally  cer- 
tain, that  the  Doctor's  methods  and  theories  will  undergo 
considerable  change  in  course  of  time,  leaving  enough  to 
entitle  him  to  the  thanks  of  the  fraternity.  Of  course 
radicalism  and  enthusiasm  are  necessary,  in  all  depart- 
ments of  human  thought  and  action,  but  it  is  not  that  qual- 


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26  The  Medical  Advance,  July 

ity  which  survives;  it  is  the  conservatism  growing  out  of 
these  that  remains.  The  Doctor,  moreover,  should  strive 
to  find  some  terms  to  take  the  place  of  "  force  of  the  circula- 
tion "  and  the  like,  which  are  not  pleasant  to  professional 
ears.  There  can  be  no  question  that  the  practitioner  who 
fails  to  avail  himself  of  Dr.  Pratt's  work,  will  rob  his  pa- 
tients, very  often,  of  a  restoration  of  health  and  comfort; 
those  who  are  wise  enough  to  buy  his  book,  and  practice 
his  methods,  will  surely  have  occasion  often  to  make  hum- 
ble acknowledgments  to  him  for  a  truly  invaluable  assist- 
ance. 


Penetrating  Gun-shot  Wounds  of  the  Abdomen. — 
One  of  the  most  concise  and  yet  eminently  classical  papers 
on  this  subject,  was  read  by  Dr.  Nancrede  of  Philadelphia, 
at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  American  Surgical  Associa- 
tion, May,  1887  {Ann.  Surg,  June,  1887).  The  writer  is 
eminently  qualified  to  speak  with  authority,  as  apart  from 
his  high  standing  cu9  a  surgeon,  he  was  the  first  in  this 
country,  probably,  to  propose  laparotomy  in  the  treatment 
of  such  injuries.  It  seems  but  yesterday  when  a  perforat- 
ing gun-shot  of  the  abdomen,  or  indeed  any  of  the  great 
cavities,  was  considered  to  be  an  accident  from  which  re- 
covery was  not  to  be  expected,  more  particularly  if  one  or 
more  of  the  viscera  was  injured.  Now  quite  a  different 
significance  attaches  to  such  accidents,  at  the  same  time 
those  who  are  not  fully  informed  are  quite  prone  to  give 
a  far  too  favorable  prognosis.  Unquestionably  a  perforat- 
ing wound  of  the  abdomen,  involving  the  viscera,  is  quite 
certain  to  result  in  death  if  treatment  is  purely  expectant; 
but  the  fatal  result  may  be  precipitated  by  a  laparotomy, 
if  cases  are  not  selected,  and  the  operator  is  not  fully  com- 
petent. Death  may  be  caused  by  shock,  haemorrhage,  both 
combined,  or  peritonitis.  Dr.  Nancrede  thinks  haemor- 
rhage and  shock,  in  many  cases,  may  be  considered  cause 
and  effect.  At  all  events,  those  who  have  had  much  to  do 
with  surgery,  know  how  diflScult  it  is,  at  times,  to  differen- 
tiate haemorrhage  from  shock,  and  more  particularly  when 
both  are  co-existent,  to  determine  which  assume  greater 


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1887  Thin- Walled  Cysts,  27 

prominence:  certainly  when  hsemorrhage  is  evidently  active, 
laparotomy  and  ligature  of  the  source  of  the  bleeding  are 
primary  and  imperative  indications,  so  much  so  that  any 
surgeon,  even  if  of  moderate  attainments  and  experience, 
would  scarcely  be  justified  in  pursuing  a  merely  expectant 
policy.  Our  writer  says,  however:  "When  a  skilled  operator 
cannot  be  secured,  in  exceptionally  favorable  cases  the  at- 
tempt may  be  made  and  succeed,  but  most  cases  will  do  better 
left  to  nature,  than  operated  on  by  a  bungling  surgeon." 
This  is  true  in  every  word,  from  an  old  school  point  of 
view,  and  to  some  extent  from  a  homoeopathic.  But  the 
success  of  an  operation  by  old  school  practitioners  very 
largely  depends  upon  the  skill  of  the  operator,  and  the  con- 
sequent care  and  thoroughness  with  which  all  details  are 
carried  out,  with  little  if  any  attention  to  medicinal  treat- 
ment, not,  however,  from  a  depreciation  of  its  value,  but 
from  want  of  therapeutic  knowledge.  How  different  from 
our  standpoint!  We  do  not  by  any  means  ignore  operative 
skill,  and  careful  manipulation,  but  our  resources  are  so 
extensive  in  therapeutics,  that  often  inferior  surgeons 
secure  surprising  results,  under  circumstances  where  the 
old  school  practitioners  would  expect  certain  failure.  I 
know  this  sounds  "  quackish,"  and  perhaps  is  not  in  good 
taste,  but  a  somewhat  extensive  experience  in  abdominal 
surgery  enables  me  to  state  with  the  utmost  positiveness 
that  good  after-treatment  will  often  more  than  atone  for 
poor  or  indifferent  operative  work.  Arnica  should  always 
be  given  after  such  operations  as  we  are  now  considering, 
and  Arsenic  takes  its  place  when  the  first  symptoms  of 
septicaemia  are  observed.  With  these  two  agents  alone 
results  will  be  obtained  far  more  brilliant  than  the  best  of 
those  who  have  not,  or  will  not  have— such  potent  agencies 
at  hand.  Good  surgery  is  of  course  to  be  desired,  but 
good  therapeutics  will  often  give  a  result  that  the  best  sur- 
gery could  not  hope  for  or  expect. 


Thin-walled  Cysts, — Dr.  E.  F.  Weir  {Ann.  Surg.,  June, 
1887)  in  speaking  of  operations  on  bursal  cysts,  relates  the 
following :  ^'ExtiTrpatian  of  a  sub-hyoid  bursa.     The  tumor 


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28  The  Medical  Advance,  July 

had  existed  for  fifteen  years  in  a  young  man  of  twenty-two, 
and  had  attained  the  size  of  a  small  egg.  It  had  been  tapped 
and  injected  with  Iodine  at  another  hospital  four  months 
before.  Appreciating  the  difficulty  of  dissecting  out  these 
troublesome  thin-walled  cysts  satisfactorily,  I  empted  this 
one  with  a  trocar  and  canula,  and  then  injected  into  it 
melted  parafine  (which  liquifies  at  a  point  much  below 
boiling  heat),  and  subsequently  cooled  it  with  a  small  bag 
of  ice.  The  whole  procedure  did  not  occupy  five  minutes, 
and  by  its  aid  I  was  enabled,  after  exposing  the  cyst,  by 
dividing  the  skin  and  thyro-hyoid  muscles,  to  remove  with 
great  ease  the  entire  sac,  even  up  to  its  attachment  at  the 
posterior  border  of  the  hyoid  bone,  which  part  would  un- 
doubtedly have  escaped  me  had  the  cyst  remained  flaccid 
instead  of  being  rendered  a  hard  dense  mass." 

Homoeopathic  Keoognition. — The  last  number  of  the 
Annals  of  Surgery  (June,  1887)  reprints  the  report  of  Dr. 
C.  M.  Thom€U3,  of  Philadelphia,  to  the  Homoeopathic  Med- 
ical Society  of  Pennsylvania,  of  six  cases  of  supra-pubic 
lithotomy!  This  is  a  most  unusual  occurrence  and  leads 
one  to  speculate  on  the  possibility  of  a  near  apt)roach  of 
the  millenium. 

CLINICAL  MEDICINE. 


REPERTORY  WORK:    AN  ILLUSTRATIVE  CASE. 


R.  C.  MARKHAM.  M.  D.  Jackson,  Mich. 


Mr.  Blank,  aged  forty,  is  a  merchant  He  is  not  only  at 
the  head  of  a  large  business  that  demands  his  time  often 
into  the  night,  but  is  an  active  church  worker,  a  prominent 
member  of  the  school  board,  and  has  been  largely  instru- 
mental in  organizing  a  free  public  library. 

He  is  a  small  spare  man  of  nervous  temperament.  For 
several  months  he  has  been  running  down,  and  for  the  first 
time  in  his  life  has  deemed  it  necessary  to  consult  a  physi- 
cian. It  seemed  all  the  more  prudent  to  do  this  since  a 
sister  had  recently  passed  from  a  condition,  not  unlike  his 
own  in  many  ways,  into  insanity.    He  is  pale  and  thin  with 


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1887        Repertory  Work:  An  Illustrative  Case.  29 

a  nervoue,  anxious  expression.  He  complains  of  a  dull, 
aching  pain  in  the  lumbar  region,  which  he  forgets  when 
walking  about  in  the  open  air.  He  has  no  appetite.  He 
has  bitter  taste  in  the  mouth.     His  bowels  are  sluggish. 

If  disturbed  by  any  excitement  in  the  evening  he  has 
difficulty  in  falling  asleep.  Otherwise  his  best  sleep  is  be- 
fore two  A.  M.  about  which  time  or  a  little  later  he  awakens 
and  sleeps  very  little  afterwards.  He  gets  up  tired  and  ex- 
hausted.   He  feels  better  in  the  afternoon. 

Ordinary  work  is  performed  with  great  effort  and  ex- 
haustion. 

He  has  grown  forgetful  of  things  read  unless  unusual 
effort  is  made  to  retain  them.  He  is  sensitive  to  draughts 
of  air.  The  hands  and  feet  are  cold  and  clammy.  He  can 
not  sit  in  easy  repose  as  is  usual  with  him,  but  moves  the 
hands  and  feet,  changing  from  one  position  to  another  fre- 
quently. 

We  now  open  our  repertory  and  translate  our  case  into 
repertory  language,  and  for  convenience,  we  will  number 
the  symptoms  we  wish  to  work;  and,  to  make  our  case  plain, 
will  make  no  effort  to  abridge  it 

We  have  the  following  translation,  and  under  each 
rubric  are  the  remedies  covering  it,  as  found  in  the  reper- 
tories used,  with  their  relative  values  shown  by  the  type. 
The  large  capitals  show  that  the  remedy  hcu9  been  verified 
a  great  many  times  under  this  rubric,  and  this  is  true  only 
in  a  less  degree  where  the  small  capitals  are  used,  and  so 
on  in  a  descending  scale  through  the  four  kinds  of  type 
used  by  BOnninghausen  to  show  the  relative  value  of  reme- 
dies. In  summing  up  my  case  I  designate  these  as  first, 
second,  third  and  fourth  value  of  symptoms. 

So  in  the  choice  of  a  remedy  we  must  take  this  into  con- 
sideration, other  things  being  equal. 
1.  Waking  too  early. 

Aeon.,  Alum.,  Ambr.,  Amm.  mur.,  Aug.,  Ant.  crud.,  Ani 
'tart,  Arn.,  Ars.,  Asaf.,  AuR.,  Bar.,  Bov.,  Bry.,  Calad., 
Calc,  Cann.,  Canth.,  Caps.,  Carbo  veg.,  Caust.y  Cham., 
Chin.,  Oocc.,  Coff.,  Com,  Oreos.,  Oroc.,  Cycl.,  Dros.,  Dulc., 
Euphr.,  Ferr.,  Ghraph,,  Quaj.,  Hell,  Hep,,  Ign.,  Jod.,  KALL, 


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30  The  Medical  Advance.  July 

Lack,,  Lye,  M.  arct.,  M.  austr.,  Maon.,  Mang.,  Merc.^  Mezer.^ 
MuR.  AC.,  NATE.,  Natr.  mur.,  NUr.,  Nitr.  aa,  N.  VOM., 
Olean.,  Phos.,  Ph.  ac,  Plat,  Plumb.,  Puis.,  KAN.  BULB.,. 
Ran.  seel,  Rhod.,  Khus,  Sabad.,  Sabin.,  Samb.,  Sassap., 
Scill,  Selen.,  Sep.,  Sil.,  Spong.,  Staph.,  Sulph.,  Sulph.  ac, 
Thuj.,  Verai,  Verb.,  Viol.  tr. 

2.  Aggravation  from  exertion  of  mind. 
Agar.,Ambr.,  Amm.,  Anac,  Aug.,  Arg.,  Am.,  Ars.,  Asar., 

Aur.,  Bell,  Bov.,  Calad.,  CALC,  Carbo  veg.,  Cham.,  Chin., 
Cina.,  Cooc,  CoflP.,  Colch.,  Cupr.,  Dig.,  Hell.,  IGNAT., 
Jod.,  Kali.,  Lach.,  Laur.,  Lyc,  Mgs.,  M.  arct.  M.  aitstr., 
Magn.,  Magn.  mur.,  Mang.,  ife??.,  Natr.,  Natr.  mur.,  N. 
mosch.,  N.  VOM.,  Oleand.,  Par.,  Peir.,  Phosph.,  Ph.  ac. 
Plat.,  Pills.,  Ran.  bulb.,  Sabad.,  Selen.,  SEP.,  Sil.,  Stann., 
Staph.,  Sulph.,  Tar.,  Vit,  Zinc. 

3.  Nervous  debility. 

Aeon.,  Alum.,  Ambr.,  Amm.,  Ang.,  Arn.,  Ars.,  Asar.,  Aur., 
Bar.,  Bell.,  Bry.,  Calc.,  Camph.,  Carbo  an.,  Carbo  veg., 
Cham.,  CHIN.,  Cic.,  Cocc,  Coff.,  Colch.,  Con.,  Croc.,  Cupr., 
Dig.,  Graph.,  Hell.,  Hep.,  Hyosc,  Iqnat.,  Jod.,  Lach., 
Laur.,  Led.,  Lyc,  M.  arct.,  M.  austr.,  Mar.,  Merc,  Mosch., 
Mur.  ac,  Natr.,  Natr.  mur.,  Nitr.,  Nitr.  ac,  N.  mosch.,  N. 
VOM.,  Op.,  Petr.,  Phosph.,  Ph.  ac,  Plat.,  PULS.,  Rhus, 
Sabin.,  Sassap.,  Sec.  corn.,  Selen.,  Sep.,  SIL.,  Spig.,  Spong., 
Stann.,  Staph.,  Stram.,  Sulph.,  Sulph.  ac,  Valer.,  Veratr., 
Viol,  od.,  Vii,  Zinc 

4.  Eemedies  acting  on  lumbar  region. 

Aeon.,  Agar.,  Alum.,  Ambr.,  Amm.,  Amm.  mur.,  Anac, 
Ang.,  Ant.  crud..  Ant.  tart,  Arg.,  Arn.,  Ars.,  Asaf.,  Asar., 
Aur.,  Bar.,  Bell.,  Bov.,  Bry.,  Calc,  Camph.,  Cann.,  Canth., 
Carb.  an.,  Curb,  veg.,  CAUST.,  Cham.,  Chel,  Chin.,  Cic, 
Cina.,  Clem.,  Cooc,  Coff.,  Colch.,  Coloc,  Con.,  Creos., 
Cycl.,  Dig.,  Dros.,  Dufc., EUPHOEB.,  Ferr.,  Graph.,ReU., 
Hep.,  Hyosc,  Ignai,  Jod.,  Kali.,  Lack,  Laur.,  Led.,  LYC, 
M.  arct.,  M.  austr.,  Magn.,  Magn.  mur.,  Mang.,  Mar.,  Men., 
Merc,  Mezer!,  Mosch.,  Mur.  ac,  Natr.,  Natr.  mur.,  Nitr., 
Nitr.  ac,  N.  vom.,  Oleand.,  Par.,  Petr.,  Phosph.,  Ph.  ac, 
Plat,  Plumb.,  PuLS.,  Ran.  bulb..  Ban.  seel,  Eheum,  Bhod., 
Khus,  KUTA,  Sabad.,  Sabin.,  Samb.,  Sassap.,  Sec.  corn., 


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1887        Repertory  Work:  An  Illustrative  Case,  31 

Selen.,  Seneg.,  SEP.,  Sil.,  Spig.,  Spong.,  Stann.,  Staph., 
Sfcram.,  Stroyit,  SULPH.,  Tar.,  Thvj.,  Valer.,  Verat,  Verb., 
Viol,  od,  Viol,  tr.,  Vit.,  Zinc. 

5.  Aggravation  from  a  draught  of  air. 

Aeon.,  Anac,  BELL.,  Calc,  Caps.,  Causi,  Cham.,  Chin., 
Coloc,  Graph.,  Hep.,  Ignat,  Kali.,  Lach.,  Led.,  M.  austr., 
Merc,  Mur.  ac,  Natr.,  Nitr.  ac,  N.  vom,,  Phosph.,  Puis., 
Rhus,  Sarsap.,  Selen.,  /Sep.,  SIL.,  Spig.,  Sulph.,  Valer., 
Verb. 

6.  Aggravation  in  the  morning. 

Agon.,  Agar.,  Alum.,  Ambr.,  Amm.,  AMM.  MUR,  Anac, 
Aug.,  Ant.  crud..  Ant.  tart.,  Arg.,  Arn.,  Ars.,  Asaf.,  Asar., 
AUR,  Bar.,  Bell,  Bism.,  Bor.,  Bov.,  Bry.,  Calad.,  CALC, 
Cann.,  Canth.,  Caps,,  Carb,  an,,  CARBO  VEG.,  Causl, 
Cham.,  CHEL.,  Chin.,  Cic,  Cina.,  Clem,,  Cocc,  Coff., 
Colch.,  Coloc.,  Con.,  Creos.,  CROC,  Cupr,,  Cycl.,  Dig,, 
Dros.,  Dulc,,  Euphorb,,  Euphr.,  Ferr.,  Oraph,,  Guaj., 
Hell,  Hep.,  Hyosc,,  Ignat.,  Jod,,  Tpec,  Kali.,  Lach.,  Laur., 
Led.,  Lye.,  Mgs.,  M.  arct.,  M.  austr.,  Magn.,  Magn.  mur., 
Mang.,  Mar.,  Men.,  Merc,,  Mezer,,  Mosch.,  Mur.  ac,  Natr., 
NATR  MUR,  NITR,  Nitr.  ac,  N.  mosch.,  N.  VOM., 
Oleand.,  Op.,  Par.,  Petr.,  PHOSPH.,  Ph.  ac.  Plat.,  Plumb., 
Puis.,  Ran.  bulb..  Ran.  seel.  Rheum,  RHOD,  RHUS, 
Ruta,  Sabad.,  Sabin.,  Samb.,  Sarsap.,  SCILL.,  Sec.  corn., 
Selen,,  Seneg.,  Sep.,  Sil,  Spig,,  Spong.,  Stann,,  Staph., 
Stram.,  Stroni,  Sulph,,  Sul,  ac,.  Tar.,  Thuj,,  Valer,,  Verat., 
Verb.,  Viol  od,,  Viol,  tr.,  Vit,  Zinc. 

7.  Remedies  occasioning  bitter  taste. 

AcoN.,  Alum.,  Ambr.,  Amm.,  Am7n.  mur,,  Anac,  Aug., 
Ant  crud..  Ant.  tari,  Arn.,  Ars.,  Asaf,,  Asar.,  Aur.,  Bar., 
Bell,  Bism.,  (Bor.,)  Bov.,  BRY.,  Calc,  Camph.,  Cann,, 
Canth.,  Carb.  an.,  Carb.  veg.,  Causi,  CHAM.,  Chel.,  Chin., 
Cocc.,  Coff.,  Colch.,  Coloc,  Con.,  Creos.,  Croc,  Cupr.,  Dig., 
Dros.,  Dulc,  Euphorb.,  Euphr.,  Ferr.,  Oraph,,  Hell,  Hep,, 
Hyosc,  Ignat.,  Jod.,  Ipec.,  Kali.,  Laur,,  Led.,  Lyc,  M. 
arci,  Magn.,  Magn.  mur.,  Mang.,  Mar.,  Men.,  MERC, 
Mezer.,  Mur.  ac,  Natr.,  Natr.  mur.,  Nitr.  ac,  N.  mosch., 
N.  VOM.,  Oleand.,  Op.,  Par.,  Petr.,  Phosph,,  Ph.ac,  Plumb., 
PULS.,  Ran.  bulb.,  Rheum,  Rhodod.,  Rhus,  Ruta.,  Sabad., 


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32  The  Medical  Advance.  July 

SabtTL,  Sarsap.,  Scill.,  Sec.  corn.,  SEP.,  Sily  Spong,,  Stann., 
Staph.,  Stram.,  Stroni,  Sulph.,  Sul.  ac.,  Tar.,  Thuj,,  Valer., 
VERATE.,  Verb.,  Viol,  tr.,  Zinc. 

8.  Want  of  appetite. 

Aeon.,  Agar.,  Alum.,  Ambr.,  Amm.,  Amm.  mur.,  Anac, 
Ang.,  Ant.  crud.,  Ant  tart.,  Arg.,  Abn.,  Ars,,  Asaf.,  Aur., 
Bar.,  Bell.,  Bar.,  Bov.,  Bry.,  Causi,  Oalad.,  Calc,  Cann., 
Canth.,  Caps.,  Carb.  an.,  Carb.  veg.,  Cham.,  Chel.,  CHIN., 
Cic,  Clem.,  Cocc,  Coflf.,  Colch.,  Coloc.,  Con.,  Creos.,  Croc., 
Cupr.,  CYCL.,  Dig.,  Dros.,  Dale,  Euphorb.,  Euphr.,  Ferr., 
Graph.,  Ouaj.,  Hell,  Hep.,  Hyosc,  Ignat.,  Jod.,  Ipec, 
Kali,  Lach.,  Laur.,  Led.,  Lyc,  Mgs'.,  M.  arct,  M.  austr., 
Magn.,  Magn.  mur.,  Mang.,  Mar.,  Merc,  Mezer.,  Mosch., 
Mur.  ac.,  Natr.,  Natr.  mur.,  Nitr.,  Nitr.  ac,  N.  mosch.,  N. 
VOM.,  Oleand.,  Op.,  Petr.,  Phosph.,  Ph.  ac.,  Plat.,  Plumb., 
PuLS.,  Ran.  bulb..  Ran.  seel.,  Rheum.,  Rhod.,  RHUS,  Ruta, 
Sabad.,  Sabin.,  Sarsap.,  Scill.,  Sec.  com.,  Selen.,  Seneg., 
SEP.,  SIL.,  Spig.,  Spong.,  Stann.,  Staph.,  Stram.,  Stront, 
Sulph.,  Sul.  ac,  Thuj.,  Valer.,  Veratr.,  Verb.,  Viol,  tr., 
Zinc. 

9.  Pale  face. 

Aeon.,  Alum,,  Ambr.,  Amm.,  Amm.  mur.,  Anac,  Ant. 
TART.,  Am.,  ARS.,  Bell,  Bism.,  Bor.,  Bov.,  Bry.,  Calc, 
Camph.,  Cann.,  Canth.,  Caps.,  Carb.  an.,  Carbo  veg.,  Caust., 
Cham.,  CheL,  CHIN.,  Cic,  CINA.,  Clem.,  Cocc,  Colch., 
Coloc,  Con.,  Creos.,  Croc,  Cupr.,  Dig.,  Dros.,  Dulc, 
Euphorb.,  Euphr.,  Ferr.,  Graph.,  nell,  Hep.,  Hyosc,  Ig- 
nat,  Jod.,  Ipec,  Kali,  Lach.,  Laur.,  Led.,  Lyc,  Mgs.,  M. 
arct,  Magn.,  Magn.  mur.,  Mang.,  Mar.,  Merc,  Mezer., 
Mosch.,  Natr..  Natr.  mur.,  Nitr.,  Nitr.  ac,  N.  mosch.,  N. 
VOM.,  Oleand.,  Op.,  Par.,  Petr.,  Phosph.,  PHOS.  AC,  Plat., 
Plumb.,  Puls.,  Rheum,  Rhus,  Sabin.,  Samb.,  Sec  corn., 
Selen.,  SEP.,  Sil.,  Spig.,  Spong.,  Stann.,  Staph.,  Stram., 
SULPH.,  Sulph.  ac,  Veratr.,  Zinc 

10.  Amelioration  when  walking  in  the  open  air. 

Aeon.,  ALUM.,  Ambr.,  Amm.,  Amm.  mur.,  Anac,  Aug., 
Ant  crud.,  Arg.,  Arn.,  Ars.,  Asaf.,  Aran.,  AuR.,  Bar.,  Bell., 
Bism.,  Bor.,  Bov.,  Bry.,  Calc,  Caps.,  Carbo  veg.,  Caust, 
Cic,  Cina.,  Con.,  Dulc,  Graph.,  Hep.,  Hyosc,  Ignai, 


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1887        Repertory  Work:  An  IlhiatraUve  Case.  33 

Kali.,  Laur.,  Lyc,  M.  arct,  M.  austr.,  Magn.,  Magn.  mur., 
Mang.,  MetL,  Merc,  Mezer.,  Mosoh.,  Mur.  ac,  Natr.,  Natr. 
mur.,  Nitr.,  Nitr.  ac.,  Op.,  PhospK  Ph  ac,  Plat,  Plumb., 
PULS.,  Rhod.,  Rirus.,  Ruta.,  Sabin.,  Sarsap.,  Selen.,  Seneg., 
Sep.,  Spig.,  Spang.,  Stann.,  Staph.,  Stront,  Sulph.,  Sulph. 
ac,  Tar.,  Thuj.,  Veratr.,  Verb.,  Viol,  tr.,  Zinc 

11.  Cold  feet. 

Aeon.,  Alum.,  Ambr.,  Anac,  Ars.,  Aur.,  Bell.,  Bufo., 
CALC,  CARBO  AN.,  CAUST.,  Chenop.,  Chin.,  Cinnab., 
Cist,  Cocc,  CON.,  Creos.,  Daph.,  Dig.,  Dros.,  Ferr.,  Gels., 
GRAPH.,  Hipp.,  Hipp,  m.,  HyoBC,  Jod.,  IPEC,  KALI 
C,  Kali  chl.,  Lach.,  Lact,  Laur.,  Lyc,  Mgn.  s.,  Mang., 
Merc,  Merc  cor.,  Mez.,  Mur.  ac,  NATR.  C,  Natr.  m., 
NITR.  AC,  Oleand.,  Petr.,  Phosph.,  Plat,  Plb.,  RHOD., 
Samb.,  Sare.,  ScilL,  SEP.,  SIL.,  Stann.,  Staph.,  Stront^ 
Sulph.,  Sulph.  ac.  Tart,  Verat,  Zinc 

12.  Coldhanda 

Aeon.,  Ambr.,  Apis.,  Ars.,  Aur.,  Bar.  c.  Bell.,  Benz.  ac, 
Carbo  veg.,  Caust,  Cham.,  Chin.,  Cocc,  Cupr.,  Dig.,  Dros., 
Elaps.,  Gels.,  Hell.,  Hep.,  Hipp,  m.,  Hyosc,  lod.,  IPEC, 
Kali  c,  Lach.,  Lyc,  Merc,  Mez.,  Natr.  c,  Natr.  m.,  Nitr. 
ac,  Nitr.,  Nux  m.,  Nux.,  Ox.  ac,  Petr.,  Phosph.,  Ran.  b., 
Rhus.,  Rumex.,  ScilL,  SEP.,  Sulph.,  Tabac,  Tart,  Thuj., 
Verat,  Zinc 

13.  Restlessness  of  legs  and  feet 

Actea.  r.,  ANAC,  Ars.,  Bar.  c,  Carbo  v.,  Caust,  Chin., 

.  Con.,  Croc,  Ferr.,  Glon.,  Graph.,  Kali  c,  Lach.,  Lyc,  Mgn. 

c,  Mgn.  m.,  Meph.,  Merc,  Mosch.,  Natr.  m.,  Natr.  a,  NITR. 

AC,  Ox.  ac.  Plat,  Prun.,  Psor.,  Rhus.,  Sep.,  Sil.,  Sulph.^ 

Zinc 

14  Perspiration  of  feet. 

Aeon.,  Amm.  c,  Aug.,  BAR  C,  CALC,  Cannab.,  Canth.,. 
CARBO  VEG.,  Cocc,  Creos.,  Cupr.,  Cycl.,  Graph.,  HELL.,. 
Hep.,  lod.,  KALI  C,  Lact,  LYC,  MGN.  M.,  Merc,  Natr. 
m.,  Nitr.  ac,  Petr.,  Phosph.,  Phos.  ac,  Plb.,  Puis.,  Sabad.,. 
ScilL,  SEP.,  SIL.,  Staph.,  SULPH.,  Thuj.,  Zinc 

In  looking  over  our  fourteen  rubrics  we  find  about  all 
the  remedies  embraced  in  the  repertory  running  into  our 

0 


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34  The  Medical  Advance.  July 

case,  and  it  seems  very  uncertain  what  our  choice  is  to  be. 
To  make  this  uncertainty  and  confusion  plain  I  arrange  all 
the  remedies  running  into  the  case  in  an  alphabetical  list 
and  then  go  through  the  rubrics,  drawing  a  line  after  each 
remedy  every  time  found  in  a  rubric,  properly  underscor- 
ing and  numbering  it,  to  show  its  value  in  the  summing  up 
of  the  case. 

In  this  case  I  have  excluded  all  remedies  that  did  not 
run  into  it  ten  times,  and  have  preserved  the  abstract  ex- 
hibited on  this  and  next  page,  for  comparison  and  refer- 
ence. 

We  glance  over  our  case  now  and  see  that  Lye.,  Nitr.  ac, 
Sep.,  and  Sulph.,  run  highest  into  it 

Lye.  appears  thirteen  times,  with  nine  characteristics. 
Nitr.  ac.,  the  same  number  of  times  with  an  equal  number 
of  characteristics,  but  not  of  the  same  rank. 

Other  things  being  equal.  Lye.  outranks  Nitr.  ac.  in  the 
case.  Looking  further  we  find  Sep.  and  Sulph.,  having  all 
the  symptoms  of  our  case.  In  the  value  of  symptoms,  Sep. 
takes  precedence,  having  thirteen  characteristic  marks, 
eight  of  them  occupying  first  place. 

Before  opening  our  Materia  Medica,  Sepia  becomes  our 
choice  of  remedies  with  the  evidence  plainly  before  us. 
Turning  now  to  our  Materia  Medica  we  find  our  choice 
confirmed  there. 

1.  Waking  too  early.  1 

2.  Aggravation  from  exertion  of  mind. 

3.  Nervous  debility.  l 

4.  Remedies  acting  on  lumbar  region.  1 

5.  Aggravation  from  draught  of  air. 

6.  Aggravation  in  morning. 

7.  Remedies  occasioning  bitter  taste. 

8.  Want  of  appetite. 

9.  Pale  face. 

10.  Amelioration  when  walking  in  the  open  air.  j 

11.  Cold  feet.  i 

12.  Cold  hands. 

13.  Restlessness  of  legs  and  feet 

14.  Perspiration  of  feet.  j 


Bonninghausen. 


I 


Lippe. 


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1887        Repertory  Work:  An  Illuatrative  Case. 


35 


1 

2 

6 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

— 

TOTAL. 

0 

Are 

1_ 

1_ 

L 

L 

1_ 

1 

1 
1 

1 

12 
10 
11 

2 

1 
0 

2 
2 
3 

3 

1 
3 

6 
6 
6 

Aur 

1_ 

1 

L 

"- 

1 

BelL 

1 

L 

i. 

t 

1_ 

L    L 

1 

Calc 

1 

l^ 

L 

L 

L 

NlIl 

* 

^ 

. 

1_ 

12     3 
12     2 
10     2 

6 
0 
0 

1 
6 

2 
2 
4 
3 
2 
2 
0 
2 
2 
0 
1 
4 
3 

1 
8 
4 

4 
1 
3 

6 



4 
6 
6 
2 
5 
4 

Carbo  v... 

1 

1 

L 

M  •-!  > 

1 

1 

1_ 

Caust 

1 

X 

i_ 

L 

. 

l^ 

1 

1 
1 

I 

1 
1 

1 

1^ 
1_ 

1 

Chin «. 

1 

1_ 

= 

L 

i^ 

L 

1        1 

1 

1 

1 
1 
1 
1 
1 

i 

12 
10 
10 
12 
13 
11 
12 
10 
13 
11 
10 
11 
14 
12 
14 
12 

4 

1 
0 

Con 

l_ 

L 

^^ 

L. 

. 
L 

- 

1 
1 

Ign 1    1 

1 

L 

, 

1^ 

_z 

1 
Kali =^. 

1 

L 

L 

,. 

3 

4 

1 
Lye 1    1 

1_ 

L 

L 

2       5 
1       3 
1       5 
6       1 

1 
Natr.  c...     EE 

1 

L 

L 

__ 

_a 

Nat.nu..J    1 

1^ 

t_^ 

L 

tm 

1 
N.  vom...     z^ 

1 

^ 

1    1      I 

1 
Nltr.ac...i    L 

1 

1 

L'  L 

-^ 

- 

-^ 

i_ 

1 

1 

1 
1 

1 

■ 

1 

2 

1 

2 
3 

Plat 

L 

1^ 

2^ 

Puis i    1  1    L 

^    L 

1^    1^ 

2       3 

1  1    4 

Rhus 

1 

L 

L 

i_ 
1^ 

— ^ 

. 

-^ 

i_ 

1 
1^ 

1 
1 

1 

2 
8 

3 
2 
3 

2 
3 

2 
2 

1 

4 

1 
2 
6 
10 

Sep 

1 

1_ 

i_ 

L 

L 

Sil 

1 

1_ 
1 

— 

1 
L 

1 

1 

— ^ 

1 

1 

1^ 

I 
1 

1 
1^ 

Sulph.-... 

. 

L 

L 

3       4 

Zinc 

!. 

i_ 

1 

— 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

0 

NoTB.— The  numerals  from  i  to  14,  inclusive,  at  top  of  table,  represent  the  different  symo- 
toms  as  numbered  on  last  page. 

The  value  of  the  symptom  is  indicated  in  above  table  by  underscoring  the  figure  l.  Thus  = 
indicates  the  highest  value  (corresponding  to  GAPS);  =  indicates  one  degree  less  (correspond^ 
ing  to  SMALL  CAPS);  —  indicates  a  still  lesser  value  (corresponding  tx)  Italics) :  while  the  un- 
scored  figure  Is  the  lowest  degree  (corresponding  to  the  usual  Roman  type). 

For  example:  Ars.  has  12  of  the  14  symptoms,  of  which  2  are  of  the  highest  degree.  2  of 
the  2d  degree,  3  of  the  3d  degree,  and  6  of  the  4th  or  lowest  degree. 


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36  The  Medical  Advance.  July 

Sepia  is  therefore  given  our  patient,  with  some  advice.  At 
the  end  of  a  week  he  was  sleepinfjf  better,  appetite  return- 
ing, pain  in  back  less,  work  not  so  burdensome  and  general 
appearance  better.  This  prescription  was  made  March  14, 
1887.  Our  patient  has  been  under  observation  until  now 
May  15,  1887,  and  improvement  being  continuous  has  re- 
ceived no  more  medicine.  He  has  continued  his  usual 
work  and  it  is  fair  to  presume  that  our  prescription  was 
the  simillimum  of  the  case. 

There  is  much  of  an  instructive  character  to  glean  from 
this  case.  First,  we  learn  what  a  great  help  even  incom- 
plete repertories  are  in  the  choice  of  the  curative  remedy. 

By  this  scheme  all  drugs  embraced  by  the  repertory,  pass 
before  us  for  inspection.  We  guess  at  nothing.  If  we  do 
not  find  the  indicated  remedy,  the  case  is  not  fully  taken, 
our  Materia  Medica  is  incomplete,  or  the  fault  rests  with 
an  imperfect  repertory. 

Sepia  is  here  brought  into  prominence  as  a  valuable 
remedy  in  nervous  exhaustion,  a  sphere  in  which  the  pro- 
fession at  large  have  not  so  regarded  its  usefulness.  I  can 
not  emphasize  its  value  too  highly  wherever  the  totality  of 
the  symptoms  calls  for  it,  and  they  often  will  in  this  class 
of  troubles. 

Our  abstract  places  in  easy  and  ready  comparison  a  list 
of  valuable  medicines  for  a  class  of  troubles  of  which  this 
case  is  a  representative.  As  our  cases  vary  in  the  totality 
of  their  symptoms,  one  or  another  of  these  may  come  into 
first  place  and  be  our  choice. 

We  get  some  notion  also  of  the  order  in  which  remedies 
are  likely  to  be  useful. 

We  are  thus  able  to  verify  the  observations  of  Hering  as 
recorded  under  relationship,  in  his  condensed  Materia  Me- 
dica, and  possibly  add  others  of  our  own. 

I  need  not  add  that  the  careful  working  of  our  compli- 
cated cases,  gives  us  a  greater  familiarity  with  the  marvel- 
ous resources  of  our  therapeutic  storehouse,  and  makes 
off-hand  prescribing  far  easier  and  more  successful. 

Only  the  abstract  of  our  cases  need  be  preserved  and  the 
record  of  the  case  can  be  kept  on  the  back  of  this  and  filed 
away  in  an  ordinary  letter  file  devoted  to  this  purpose. 


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1887  A  Verification.  37 

I  hope  this  case  may  call  out  valuable  suggestions  from 
those  long  familiar  with  repertory  work,  and  also  prove  a 
help  to  those  yet  unacquainted  with  its  advantages. 

And  last,  but  not  least,  I  trust  it  will  add  to  the  demand 
for  a  repertory,  that  shall  be  fully  up  to  our  present  state 
of  therapeutic  measures  as  represented  in  our  drug  prov- 

ings. 

■  ^»»  ■ 

A  VERIFICATION. 


fi.  LbB.  BAYLIES,  M.  D.,  Brookiyo,  N.  Y. 


T^NIA  Solium:  Lycopodium. — The  son,  seven  years  old, 
of  C.  K.,  who  was  himself  subject  to  tape-worm  for  several 
years,  was  first  observed  at  year  ago  to  pass  portions  of  the 
worm  daily,  joints  often  escaping  involuntarily.  Since  last 
summer  he  took  repeatedly,  at  intervals  of  a  week,  Lyco- 
podium 45m,  several  times,  omitting  it  for  several  months, 
till  May  4th  last,  when  he  presented,  beside  the  worm,  the 
following  symptoms,  which  had  formerly  been  to  some 
extent  relieved  by  this  medicine:  Marked  irascibility ;  aver- 
sion to  be  looked  at;  voracious  at  times,  capricious  appe- 
tite; pain  in  the  abdomen  often  relieved  by  eating;  abdom- 
inal distension  worse  in  the  afternoon;  boring  with  the 
fingers  in  the  nostrils. 

Lycopodium,  millionth  (Fincke),  one  dose  dry  on  the 
tongue,  followed  by  Sac.  lac.,  and  five  days  later  another 
powder  if  symptoms  require.  He  took  both  doses  and  the 
day  after  the  last  powder  voided  a  tape-worm  of  great 
length,  which  was  inspected  by  a  Vienna  graduate  of  phar- 
macy with  the  aid  of  a  microscope,  and  found  complete,  the 
head  and  all.  A  few  days  after  the  passage  of  the  worm 
I  found  the  boy  well  and  cheerful,  without  any  distension 
of  the  abdomen,  and  he  continues  perfectly  well  (June  8, 
1887). 

CuRABE.— Constant  hawking,  with  trickling  of  clear,  al- 
buminous mucus  down  the  throat  In  post-nasal  catarrh. 
Cured  many  patients. 


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38  Tlie  Medical  Advance.  July 

GYNAECOLOGY. 


CHLOROSIS. 


H.  P.  HOLMES.  M.  D.,  Sycamore.  111. 


Case. — Miss  Y.  applied  for  treatment  January  26.  Com- 
menced complaining  last  August,  and  since  that  time  has 
been  constantly  under  treatment  by  two  of  our  best  allo- 
pathic physicians.  The  only  result  of  this  treatment  has 
been  to  let  her  grow  worse  continually.  She  has  been 
treated  for  prolapsus  uteri  which  was  brought  on,  as  she 
supposed,  by  over  lifting.  For  this  condition  she  has  been 
subjected  to  local  treatment  and  applications  and  has  worn 
a  pessary  for  the  past  month. 

The  patient  is  a  blonde,  medium  height  and  build  and 
usually  has  a  waxy  complexion;  now  her  skin  is  rather 
pale  and  of  a  greenish-yellow  color.  Careful  questioning 
brought  out  the  following  symptoms: 

She  complains  principally  of  nervousness  and  palpita- 
tion of  the  heart  These  symptoms  began  last  August  at 
which  time  she  felt  frequent  sharp  pains  through  the 
heart,  accompanied  by  rapid  beating  and  sensation  of 
great  anxiety.  Has  had  more  or  less  sharp  pains  around 
the  heart  ever  since.  Is  very  restless  at  night  and  during 
sleep.  Feels  very  tired  on  awaking  in  the  morning. 
Twitches  and  jerks  a  great  deal  and  moans  in  her  sleep. 
During  her  visit  to  me  her  head,  chin  and  hands  trembled 
and  jerked  almost  continually.  Her  bowels  are  very  cos- 
tive, with  very  difficult  movements.  Brick  dust  sediment 
in  the  urine.  Back  aches  a  great  deal,  low  down  across 
the  sacrum.  Her  menstrual  periods  have  been  irregular 
and  the  flow  very  scanty.  There  is  a  slight  leucorrhoeal 
flow,  whitish  or  yellowish  in  color,  and  recently  there  has 
been  a  dragging  or  bearing  down  feeling  in  the  pelvis. 
She  cries  very  easily  and  sweats  a  great  deal,  especially 
while  eating. 

I  ordered  the  pessary  removed  until  there  was  further 
evidence  of  its  being  needed.    On  account  of  the  promi- 


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nence  of  the  nerrous  symptoms,  crying  and  sweat  while 
eating,  I  prescribed  Ignatia  200  four  times  daily. 

February  3. — Reported  but  little  if  any  better.  In  the 
meantime  a  more  careful  study  of  her  symptoms  convinced 
me  Sepia  was  her  remedy,  and  I  gave  her  the  3x,  a  dose 
forenoon  and  afternoon,  and  the  200  on  rising  and  retiring. 

February  11. — Reported  as  follows:  Have  not  had  palpi- 
tation at  all,  and  there  is  less  pain  around  the  heart.  Some 
days  does  not  have  the  pain  at  all.  Is  not  nearly  so  nervous. 
Sleeps  much  better  and  feels  more  rested  in  the  morning. 
Her  mother  says  she  is  less  restless  at  night  and  a  great 
deal  less  nervous  during  the  day  time.  Has  not  felt  any 
sensation  of  prolapse  and  has  not  worn  the  pessary.  This 
is  her  menstrual  week,  and  while  she  has  considerable 
pain  it  is  not  so  severe  as  usual.  Her  bowels  now  move 
regularly,  although  they  are  still  costive.  Urine  not  so 
high  colored  and  no  sediment  Back  ache  continues,  but 
not  nearly  so  severe.  Sweats  just  about  the  same,  mostly 
while  eating.    Sepia  200  continued  four  times  daily. 

February  18. — Has  taken  a  slight  cold,  but  feels  better 
in  every  way.     Placebo. 

March  9. — She  seems  quite  well.  Has  gained  in  flesh, 
and  her  complexion,  which  before  was  a  sickly  yellowish* 
green,  is  now  quite  rosy  and  healthy  looking.  She  is  in 
excellent  spirits  and  declares  herself  quite  well.  Her  fam- 
ily are  delighted  with  the  results  of  her  treatment  and 
think  her  rapid  and  positive  improvement  something  won- 
derful. 

From  this  case  we  may  learn : 

(a)  TJiat  a  diagnosis  made  up  from  physical  examina- 
tions and  objective  symptoms  is  not  always  the  best  indi- 
cation for  the  successful  treatment  of  the  case. 

(b)  That  a  mistaken  diagnosis  leads  to  a  wrong  course 
of  treatment  by  our  regular  (?)  brethren. 

(c)  That  "  the  totality  of  these  symptoms,  this  outwardly 
reflecied  image  of  the  inner  nature  of  the  disease,  i.  e.,  of 
the  suffering  vital  force,  must  be  the  chief  or  only  means 
of  the  disease  to  make  known  the  remedy  necessary  for  its 
cure,  the  only  means  for  determining  the  selection  of  the 
appropriate  remedial  agent." — Organon,  §  7. 


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40  The  Medical  Advance,  July 

(d)  That  it  is  better  to  note  down  the  totality  of  symp- 
toms  and  prescribe  the  trae  simillimum  than  to  be  well  up 
in  diagnosis  and  not  to  know  what  to  do  for  your  patient. 


CIMICIFUG A  CORRIGENDUM. 


WM.  JEFFERSON  GUERNSEY,  M.  D.,  Philadelphia. 

In  the  August  (1886)  number  of  the  St  Louis  Periscope, 
p.  290,  appeared  an  article  by  myself,  entitled  "Homoeo- 
pathic Prophylactics,"  a  little  paper  prepared  for  the 
"International  Hahnemannian  Association."  At  the  bot- 
tom of  p.  292,  in  said  article,  will  be  found  a  reference  to 
the  use  of  Oimicifuga  as  a  means  of  rendering  labor  short 
and  easy.  I  am  glad  that  I  therein  intimated  that  I  had 
not  experimented  with  it  myself,  and  regret  that  I  did  not 
wait  until  1  had  thus  proven  its  value  (or  cussedness,  as  I 
now  believe)  before  rushing  it  into  print  It  is  not  a  new 
suggestion,  and  doubtless  every  practitioner  has  heard  it 
recommended  for  that  purpose,  but  my  California  friend* 
laid  such  stress  upon  its  value  that  I  did  not  hesitate  to 
give  it  the  prominence  it  seemed  to  demand.  Since  that 
date  I  have  had  some  sad  experiences  with  it,  and  it  is 
with  a  sole  desire  of  warning  others  not  to  use  it  that  I 
now  write. 

I  determined  to  prescribe  it  in  ten  cases  and  note  the 
result  I  administered  it  as  advised,  using  the  one  thous- 
andth potency  (Tafel),  which  I  knew  to  be  good,  until  the 
thought  occurred  to  me  that,  as  my  friend  was  a  low  dilu- 
tionist,  I  would  not  follow  in  his  successes  unless  I  em- 
ployed the  potency  he  had  doubtless  used,  and  then  gave 
to  two  cases  the  3x  (Boericke). 

Case  I,  was  confined  before  I  could  reach  the  house, 
although  found  without  delay.  I  was  in  great  glee  until  I 
learned  that  this  had  been  her  usual  programme,  a  fact  I 
had  neglected  to  ascertain. 

Case  II,  said  she  thought  she  had  "rather  a  better  time 
of  it,"  but  if  so  I  am  thankful  it  did  not  fall  to  my  lot  to 
attend  her,  as  she  was  on  this  occasion  sick  twelve  hours 

•Dr.  Breyfogle,  of  San  Francisco. 


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1887  Cimicifuga-Corrigendtim,  41 

after  I  arrived  (having  been  in  agony  for  hours  before), 
and  from  which  condition  I  finally  relieved  her  by  use  of 
the  forceps,  a  procedure  I  much  dislike. 

Case  III,  said  she  was  longer  and  sobered  more  than 
ever  before. 

Case  lY,  had  an  exceedingly  long  and  difficult  labor. 

Case  V,  said  she  thought  her  labor  was  rather  easier,  but 
as  I  had  attended  her  only  eighteen  months  before,  I 
thought  that  she  appeared  to  suffer  more  than  at  the  last 
labor,  the  suffering  of  which  she  may  have  partly  forgot- 
ten "in  joy  that  a  man  was  born." 

Cases  VII,  VIII  and  X  deserve  no  special  mention,  save 
that  they  were  not  favorably  affected  by  the  remedy. 

It  is  with  cases  VI  and  IX  that  I  have  most  to  say,  and 
it  is  an  interesting  fact  that  those  two,  the  most  difficult 
cases,  should  have  received  different  potencies,  one  the  3x 
and  the  other  the  M.  Before  labor:  Severe  labor-like 
pains,  preventing  sleep  and  lasting  at  intervals  for  several 
weeks — both  cases.  (Some  of  the  others  had  similar  pains, 
though  less  severe.)  During  labor:  When  labor  finally 
set  in,  which  was  much  over  the  calculated  time,  the  pains 
were  terribly  severe  and  ineffectual;  she  would  cry  out  in 
perfect  frenzy,  because  her  child  could  not  be  bom,  and 
upon  examination  but  little  progress  could  be  detected. 
After  labor:  Severe  after-pains;  sleeplessness;  chilliness 
on  motion;  fever;  cold  sweat;  cessation  of  lochia;  copious, 
frequent,  watery,  frothy  stools,  accompanied  by  pain  and 
followed  by  prostration;  craving  for  beer;  marked  despon- 
dency (thinks  she  will  die);  headache;  viscid  mucus  in 
mouth  as  well  as  throat,  which  is  very  offensive  to  patient 
and  exceedingly  difficult  to  detach,  causing  nausea;  urine 
dark,  scant,  and  brownish;  delirium  one  night  (one  case 
only);  cough;  sensitiveness  to  noise;  one  patient  had  a 
clock  stopped  that  had  hung  inoffensively  at  the  opposite 
end  of  her  bed-room  for  years;  complete  anorexia;  abdom- 
inal pain  (indescribable),  with  soreness  there.  The  above 
is  a  picture  of  both  cases,  though  one  was  much  more 
severe;  the  symptoms  were  grave  and  were  difficult  to 
remove — Verat.  being  of  more  service  than  any  other  drug 


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42  The  Medical  Advance.  July 

in  relieving  the  diarrhoea  and  oold  sweat  and  generally  low 
condition  and  restoring  the  lochia.  While  attending  the 
first  case  I  wrote  to  Dr.  G.  Garleton  Smith,  stating  symp- 
toms, having  all  the  time  in  my  mind  the  fear  that  I  had 
caused  the  trouble,  but  neglecting  to  mention  to  him  the 
fact  of  using  the  drug.  His  reply  was,  "  Use  Cimicif uga;  it 
has  all  the  symptoms."  Imagine  my  wrath.  No  antidote 
could  be  found  in  the  books,  so  I  concluded  to  try  a  differ- 
ent potency  and  gave  the  200  in  water  with  a  relief  of  some 
symptoms. 

Whether  the  western  climate  has  aught  to  do  with  my 
friend's  successes  in  this  matter  is  a  question — at  all  events 
it  is  not  a  drug  for  Philadelphians  to  trifle  with. 

The  only  prophylactic  that  I  know  to  be  of  real  value  i& 
the  indicated  homoeopathic  medicine.  Few  pregnant 
females  are  exempt  from  some  aches  and  pains  or  abnor- 
mal mental  conditions,  and  these  symptoms  furnish  the 
sole  indication  for  the  remedy  that  will  lighten  labor. 
This  others  have  proven.  This  I  have  again  and  again 
tested,  and  upon  it  hang  my  sole  hopes  of  ameliorating 
that  which  can  never  be  cured,  O  woman!  for  "in  sorrow 
thou  shalt  bring  forth  children." 

[At  the  time  the  paper  was  read  we  were  astonished  that 
so  good  a  Homoeopath  and  so  accurate  a  prescriber  as  Dr» 
Ouernsey,  should  have  adopted  such  an  empirical  recom- 
mendation, on  the  ipsi  diocit  of  any  man.  That  Cimicifuga 
will  work  wonders  as  an  ante-parturient,  when  indicated^ 
no  one  who  has  ever  given  it  a  trial  will  for  a  moment 
doubt  But,  like  Caulophyllum,  Pulsatilla,  Viburnum 
opulus,  and  many  others,  it  must  be  prescribed  on  its 
symptomatic  indications,  or  it  is  worthless,  even  positively 
injurious.  To  give  Cimicifuga,  or  any  other  remedy,  for 
dystocia,  as  such,  is  empiricism,  pure  and  simple.  The 
abnormal  conditions,  the  aches  and  pains,  mental  and 
physical,  of  the  pregnant  woman,  are  the  only  true  guides, 
in  such  cases,  and  rightly  interpreted  and  carefully  pre- 
scribed for  will  certainly  conduce  to  a  normal  and  painless, 
labor.  If  every  physician  who  now  prescribes  Cimicifuga 
as  a  specific  for  difficult  labor,  will  adopt  a  systematic  ex^ 


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1887  American  Insiituie  of  Homceopaihy.  43 

perimentation  with,  say  twenty-five  cases,  as  did  Dr. 
Guernsey,  and  carefully  record  the  results,  he  will  see  a 
new  light  in  his  obstetrical  world. — Ed.  ] 


SOCIETIES. 


AMERICAN  INSTITUTE  OF  HOMCEOPATHY. 


FIRST  DAY.— EVENING  SESSION. 

The  Fortieth  Annual  Session  and  Forty-fourth  Anniver- 
sary of  the  American  Institute  of  Homoeopathy  was  held 
at  the  Grand  Union  Hotel,  Saratoga  Springs,  New  York, 
on  June  27,  28,  29,  30,  and  July  1, 1887. 

At  8:20  p.  M.,  sharp,  the  gavel  of  the  President  called 
the  Institute  to  order,  and  the  announcement  was  made 
that  the  Institute  was  now  ready  to  proceed  to  business. 

After  prayer  by  the  Kev.  Dr.  Joseph  Carey,  of  Bethesda 
church,  Saratoga,  Dr.  S.  J.  Pearsall  was  inbroduced,  who, 
on  behalf  of  the  local  committee,  extended  the  hospitali- 
ties of  the  Springs.  President  Orme  accepted  the  invita- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  Institute,  and  returned  thanks. 

The  President  then  read  his  annual  address,  which  was 
well  received,  being  at  many  points  interrupted  by  ap- 
plause. It  was  a  masterly  effort,  and  held  the  vast  audi- 
ence throughout. 

The  President's  Address. 

Our  Earth  has  borne  us  once  again  around  our  Sun,  and 
once  again  our  Institute  has  come  to  this  delightful  ren- 
dezvous— where  all  things  worked  so  well  one  year  ago. 

I  should  be  worse  than  graceless  were  I  to  allow  one 
moment  to  pass  on  this  occasion  without  referring  to  your 
generous  action  with  regard  to  myself  at  your  last  meeting. 
Prostrated  by  an  illness  that  deprived  me  of  the  pleasure 
I  had  so  fondly  anticipated,  of  taking  my  Institute  friends 
by  the  hand,  I  was  reflecting  upon  my  deprivation  when 
the  surprising  intelligence  was  flashed  to  me  by  your  direc- 
tion, that  you  had  elected  me  to  the  most  exalted  position, 
in  my  view,  in  the  medical  world — that  in  which  I  now 


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44  The  Medical  Advance.  July 

appear  before  you.  It  was  medidixe  by  telegraph  you  sent 
me,  and  well  it  did  its  intended  work;  it  cheered,  it  com- 
forted, it  inspired  and  strengthened  me:  It  cheered  me  to 
know  that  I  was  not  forgotten  in  my  illness  and  enforced 
absence;  it  comforted  me  to  find  that  I  had  such  friends, 
with  such  confidence  in  me,  and  a  desire  to  show  it;  it 
inspired  me  with  a  feeling  of  gratitude  and  with  a  deter- 
mination to  do  my  utmost  to  make  this  year  of  our  noble 
Institute,  in  which  I  have  had  the  pleasure  of  twenty-eight 
years  of  membership,  the  best,  if  possible,  in  its  history; 
it  strengthened  and  encouraged  me  to  be  assured  that  I 
should  have  the  support,  in  my  efforts,  of  a  worthy  body 
of  men  and  women,  such  as  forget  not  friends  during 
absence — and  now  it  is  a  supreme  gratification  to  me  to  be 
able  to  stand  before  you,  to  meet  you  face  to  face,  and  to 
tell  you,  with  earnest  soul,  that  the  honor  you  have  done 
me,  and  the  kindness  you  have  shown  to  me,  shall  never, 
never  be  forgotten. 

The  imperious  shadow  which  has  darkened  the  doorways 
of  so  many  private  circles  during  the  past  year,  has 
appeared  also  at  the  portals  of  our  Institute,  and  has  beck- 
oned away  some  of  our  truest  and  best — some  of  our  most 
loved  and  cherished.  Your  necrologist  will  give  the  roll 
of  these,  with  proper  notice  of  each — but  there  has  passed 
from  among  us  one  who  should  receive  more  than  the 
ordinary  mention — for  he  was  not  an  ordinary,  but  a  pre- 
eminent man:  When  we  were  compelled  to  yield  up  Dr. 
Alvan  Edmund  Small,  we  felt  that  we  were  suffering  an 
inestimable  loss.  He  was  an  early  member  of  the  Insti- 
tute, one  of  its  presidents,  a  "Senior"  and  a  veteran.  He 
was  an  early  and  a  late  teacher  as  a  professor,  and  an  early 
and  a  late  author  of  works  that  will  live  long  after  him. 
He  was  honored  in  many  ways,  and  he  wore  his  honors,  as 
he  performed  his  duties,  well.  The  world  would  be  better 
for  the  life  of  more  of  such  men,  as  it  is  better  for  his. 
We  may  "emulate  his  virtues,"  which  were  many,  and 
which  we  know,  but  we  may  not  be  called  upon  to  "  avoid 
his  vices,"  for  if  such  there  were  we  knew  them  not. 

We  cannot  forbear  mingling  our  sorrows  as  we  meet 


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1887  American  InsiUute  of  Homoeopathy.  45 

together  and  miss  our  old  and  good  friends  and  comrades 
who  have  labored  long  and  faithfully  with  us — but,  as  in 
other  fields  in  the  battle  of  life,  when  our  ranks  are  broken 
we  must  close  up,  even  if  with  saddened  hearts  and 
press  on. 

THE  PROGRESS  OF  HOMCEOPATHY. 

during  the  past  year  has  not  only  been  satisfactory,  but 
cheering.  It  will  scarcely  be  necessary,  however,  to  refer 
to  this  in  detaiL  The  twenty-six  journals  of  our  school 
that  visit  your  tables,  laden  with  the  best  that  the  litera- 
ture of  the  profession  affords,  have  acquainted  you  with 
this.  Your  bureau  of  organization,  registration  and  sta- 
tistics will  present  you  with  statistics  showing  our  growth, 
and  the  number  and  importance  of  our  institutions. 

SIGNS  OF  PROGRESS. 

In  eighteen  hundi'ed  and  twenty-five  there  were  in  the 
United  States  probably  about  ten  thousand  physicians,  all 
told.  There  are  now  probably  about  eighty  thousand  non- 
homoeopathic  physicians,  an  increase  of  eight  fold. 

In  the  same  year,  eighteen  hundred  and  twenty-five, 
appeared  in  the  person  of  Dr.  Gram,  the  first  convert  from 
old  medicine  to  homoeopathy,  in  America.  Now  there  are 
about  ten  thousand  homoeopathic  physicians  in  this  country 
— an  increase  of  ten  thousand  fold! 

At  this  rate  of  increase,  how  long  will  it  require  for 
homoeopathy,  instead  of  ''dying  out,"  to  become  the 
majority  school?  Would  it  not  have  already  become  so, 
if  the  old  school  had  not  adopted  so  much  from  the  new 
method,  and  modified  its  own? 

Forty  years  ago  we  had  no  colleges  or  other  institutions. 
Now  we  have  thirteen  flourishing  colleges,  with  many 
hundreds  of  matriculates  and  graduates  annually.  We 
have  a  large  number  of  hospitals,  asylums,  dispensaries, 
pharmacies,  etc.,  and  perhaps  one  hundred  and  fifty  socie- 
ties, the  number  of  all  of  which  is  constantly  increasing. 

The  attempt  to  ignore  such  progress  and  such  strength 
is  indeed  like  ''kicking  against  the  pricks." 

But  these  figures  do  not  fairly  represent  our  progress. 
It  is  not  enough  to  consider  that  the  number  of  our  prac- 


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46  The  Medical  Advance.  July 

titioners  has  increased  in  a  maryelous  degree  during  the 
past  forty  years,  and  that  all  of  our  institutions  have 
sprung  up  within  this  time,  but  we  must  also  take  note  of 
the  wonderful  mitigations  in  the  severities  of  old  school 
practice,  which  we  all  claim  have  been  largely  due  to  the 
influence  of  our  school.  We  may  also  claim,  with  pride 
and  pleasure,  that  we  have  contributed  largely  to  the 
improvement  of  the  therapeutic  methods  of  ''old  physic" 
— albeit  these  contributions  have  too  often  been  appropri- 
ated without  thanks,  or  even  acknowledgement  of  their 
source. 

It  is  no  honor  to  prominent  teachers  of  another  school 
that,  while  they  have  endeavored  to  belittle  our  art,  pre- 
tending that  we  have  contributed  little  to  the  general  store 
of  medical  knowledge,  they  have  made  large  and  import- 
ant drafts  upon  our  improved  therapeutics — presenting 
them  as  original  discoveries.  The  distinguished  physi- 
cians referred  to  are  well,  very  well  known  to  us  all.  Some 
men  have  been  immortalized  by  their  genius,  some  by  their 
folly,  some  by  their  research  and  knowledge,  and  some  by 
their  audacious  plagiarisms. 

The  increasing  general  respect  shown  to  our  system, 
with  the  larger  share  of  official  positions  held  by  members 
of  our  school,  are  not  among  the  least  of  the  evidences  of 
the  progress  we  are  making;  while  the  large  bequests  and 
contributions,  state  and  private,  for  the  establishment  and 
endowment  of  hospitals  and  asylums,  to  be  under  homoeo- 
pathic administrations,  show  appreciation  of  the  merits  of 
our  method  of  practice,  and  are  certainly  encouraging. 

That  the  dominant  school  has  failed  to  obtain  the  desired 
control  of  medical  legislation  in  many  of  the  states,  is 
another  indication  of  the  strength  of  our  influence. 

The  wonderful  progress  of  the  new  school  in  this  country 
as  compared  with  that  in  Europe,  is  due  in  large  degree  to 
our  freedom  from  the  military  domination  which  prevails 
there.  With  us,  that  succeeds  which  appears  reasonable, 
and  can  show  its  superiority;  while  there,  if  a  new  method 
does  not  chance  to  meet  with  the  approval  of  the  medical 
department  of  the   military  system — which  controls  all 


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1887  American  Institute  of  Homoeopathy,  47 

such  matters — no  quarter  is  likely  to  be  shown.  We 
should  therefore  jealously  guard  our  birthright,  and  not 
allow  a  military  dictatorship  in  our  more  civil  govemmeni 
Our  committee  on  medical  legislation  will  look  to  this. 
"Eternal  vigilance  is  the  price  of  liberty,"  and  we  should 
not  fail  in  this  while  there  are  those  who  would  wrest  from 
us  our  rights. 

In  connection  with  a  review  of  the  progress  of  homoeo- 
pathy, and  in  order  to  show  the  various  changes  of  ground 
which  its  opponents  have  been  forced,  from  time  to  time, 
to  make,  it  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  take  a  brief  retro- 
spect, so  that  we  may  compare  the  past  with  the  present: 

THE  ERA  OF  THE  CHARGE  OF  "  FALLACY." 

In  the  early  days  of  homoeopathy  it  was  looked  at 
askance.  It  was  new,  therefore  it  was  suspicious.  It 
opposed  existing  theories  and  practice,  therefore  it  was  a 
fallacy.  Being  such,  although  not  investigated,  it  was  not 
to  be  tolerated.  Those  who  adopted  it  were  simply  to  be 
tabooed.  Its  practitioners,  however  thoroughly  accom- 
plished as  physicians  and  as  gentlemen,  were  now  to  be 
excluded  from  professional  recognition  and  denied  the 
courtesies  and  assistance  of  those  who  had  been  their  pro- 
fessional brethren.  Feeling  became  amazingly  bitter. 
Epithets  were  used  with  regard  to  those  who  accepted  the 
new  "heresy"  that  were  neither  professional  nor  jKjlite, 
that  we  can  afford  to  forgive,  and  that  need  not  be  repeated 
here.  But  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  it  was  this 
unseemly  and  unprofessional  ostracism  on  the  part  of  the 
majority  that  forced  the  minority,  for  their  own  protection 
and  improvement,  to  form  associations  of  their  own,  and 
thus  to  become  known  as  a  sect.  Let  the  responsibility 
for  this  division  in  the  profession,  if  evil  it  be,  rest  where 
it  properly  belongs. 

But  time  and  experience  brought  more  sober  reflection, 
and  some  of  the  wiser  heads  remembered,  upon  being  re- 
minded of  the  fact  by  other  wiser  heads,  not  only  in  the 
profession,  but  among  the  laity,  that  the  exclusion  of 
brethren  on  account  of  fallacy,  real  or  supposed,  was  itself 
a  demonstrated  error-  -that  attempts  of  this  kind  had  been 


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48  The  Medical  Advance.  July 

made  from  the  most  ancient  times,  not  only  in  medicine, 
but  in  religion  as  well,  and  that  disaster  had  generally 
attended  such  blunders.  It  was  recalled  that  we  have  no 
infallible  and  authorized  censors  in  these  matters,  and  that 
the  assumption  of  such  right,  in  a  liberal  age,  was  insuffer- 
able.  Examples  were  shown  to  be  not  infrequent  of  the 
fact  that  those  who  assumed  to  be  in  x)ossession  of  all 
knowledge  were  lamentably  ignorant,  and  it  was  made 
manifest  that  what  was,  at  one  time,  declared  to  be  hereti- 
cal and  monstrous,  was,  at  another  time,  accepted  as  de- 
monstrated truth.  Besides,  it  had  to  be  admitted  that 
people  even  have  a  right  to  adopt  and  entertain  fallacies 
until  these  can  be  overcome  by  argument  and  enlighten- 
ment— not  by  coercion. 

So  this  cry  of  "fallacy"  ceased— but  not  the  prejudice. 
Some  other  pretext  must  be  devised  for  holding  oflE  the 
erring  brethren.    Then  came 

THE  ERA  OF  THE  CEY  OF  "  EXOLUSIVISM." 

It  was  asserted  with  regard  to  those  who  accepted  the 
doctrine  of  aimilia,  similibus  curanlur — whatever  else  they 
might  know  or  believe — that  they  "practiced  upon  an  ex- 
clusive dogma,  to  the  rejection  of  the  aids  actually  fur- 
nished by  experience,  and  by  the  sciences  of  anatomy, 
physiology,  chemistry,  etc.,"  and  on  this  account  were  un- 
worthy of  professional  fellowship.  A  vain  attempt  again! 
As  our  colleges  and  our  journals  increased  in  number  and 
in  strength,  it  was  found  to  be  impossible  to  maintain  this 
position — for  was  it  not  daily  and  constantly  proved  that 
all  of  the  branches  of  medicine  and  surgery  that  were  ever 
taught  in  any  colleges  or  journals,  were  as  thoroughly 
taught  and  as  fully  insisted  upon  in  these?  Was  not  the 
charge  simply  a  slander? 

So,  with  a  position  thus  untenable,  the  era  of  the  cry  of 
"exclusivism"  was  not  of  long  duration.  The  leaders  of 
the  prejudiced  opposition  must  make  another  shift,  how- 
ever, and  show  some  other  reason  for  refusing  to  extend 
that  courtesy  and  to  render  that  assistance  which  common- 
sense  and  humanity  sometimes  demanded — and  then  was 
coined  the  charge,  if  possible,  more  futile  still,  that  homoe- 
opathists  were 


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1887  American  InstUtde  of  Homoeopathy.  49 

"TRADING  UPON  A  NAME." 

and  therefore  must  be  denied  the  benefits  of  affiliation! 
Not  beinj?  experts  as  controversialists,  it  did  not  at  first 
occur  to  them  that  there  was  involved  in  this  imputation 
the  important  admission  that  this  "  name "  had  grown  so 
potent  that  numbers  sought  its  shade  and  its  advantage — 
that  it  had  not  died,  and  was  not  "  dying  out  I  '* 

The  era  of  an  aspersion  so  illogical,  so  puerile,  as  well 
as  so  devoid  of  truth — so  slanderous  and  so  dishonorable 
to  its  utterers,  could,  of  course,  not  be  of  long  continuance, 
and  so  we  have  passed  on  to  the  era — even  the  present  era 
— of  the  charge,  the  dreadful,  heinous  charge  of 

**  SECTARIANISM." 

Those  who  have,  under  one  pretext  or  another,  and  after 
one  misrepresentation  or  another,  held  that  homoeopathists 
should  not  be  regarded  as  regular  physicians,  and  fit  per- 
sons with  whom  to  consult,  finding  that  the  despised  here- 
tics would  not  die  in  accordance  with  their  prophecies,  and 
could  not  be  obliterated  by  being  ostracised  and  maligned 
— but  that  they  rather  grew  in  strength,  popularity  and 
importance,  notwithstanding  all  this  improf  essional  opposi- 
tion— and  that  loss  was  suflPered  by  refusing  consultation 
with  them — resolved  upon  another  change  of  attitude:  In 
order  to  make  a  show  of  reason  for  a  still  hostile  position 
and  at  the  same  time  invite  a  surrender  by  the  erring  party, 
it  was  at  last,  and  is  now  declared,  that  opposition  is  not 
made  to  us  upon  the  former  scores,  but  that  our  offence  is 
that  we  are  a  sec/,  and  have  a  sectarian  name — averring 
that  we  may  practice  what  we  please  if  we  only  give  up 
our  odious  distinctive  title. 

Let  us,  then,  since  we  are  fairly  confronted  with  this 
last  ground  of  complaint,  consider  to  what  degree  of  atten- 
tion it  is  really  entitled: 

Is  it  really  so  sinful  to  be  a  sectarian — especially  when 
the  formation  of  the  sect  was  a  necessity,  as  has  been 
shown,  from  the  improper  action  of  the  complaining  ma- 
jority? Is  there  not,  somehow,  a  sect  called  "regulars" 
or  "  fdlopathists,"  as  well  as  one  called  homoeopathists? 


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50  The  Medical  Advance.  July 

And  might  not  "  regular "  be  considered  a  good  name  to 
trade  upon?  Have  not  sects  existed,  and  to  the  advantage 
and  progress  of  civilization,  since  the  earliest  times  of 
which  we  have  any  history?  Does  it  not  seem  as  though 
we  owe  nearly  all  the  advancement  that  has  been  made  in 
religion,  science,  art,  politics  and  medicine,  to  the  work 
that  has  been  done  by  sects  or  schools?  Where  should 
we  be  but  for  them  and  their  enthusiastic  labors?  We 
read  in  Josephus  that  "  the  sect  called  Christians  is  not 
extinct  unto  this  day,"  and  the  term  sectarian  has,  long 
since,  ce<  has  lost  all 

its  terroi 

The  fi  ititution  of 

the  Unit  its  people 

to  asseml  hey  choose 

— ^for  it  i  »  of  those 

who  hole  secuted,  to 

unite  the  „  bjects  and 

their  common  good.  Sectarianism,  of  which  all  history  is 
full,  should  rather  be  encouraged  than  suppressed — the 
people  being  benefitted,  if  parties  su£Fer,  and  it  is  a  marked 
evidence  of  weakness  in  the  opposition  that  the  best  point 
they  can  make  against  us  is  the  pitiful  one  that  we  bear  a 
special  name — when  we  have  a  reason  for  it  that  is  so 
good. 

Let  us  then  be  a  sect,  if  we  must,  and  continue  to  ad- 
vance the  cause  of  medical  science,  as  we  have  done;  but 
let  us  not  be  factious,  as  have  been  some  of  our  prejudiced 
opponents.  Let  us  be  a  liberal  sect,  working  in  our  own 
sphere,  holding  the  even  tenor  of  our  way,  while  we  treat 
with  respect,  and  wish  God-speed  to  all  other  sects  who 
think  they  can  do  better  work  by  laboring  honestly  upon 
other  lines — and  let  us  use  no  undignified  or  unbecoming 
epithets. 

Who  can  estimate  the  loss  to  medical  science,  especially 
in  the  departments  of  materia  medica  and  therapeutics,  if 
the  work  of  homoeopathists,  as  a  sect,  could  be  stricken 
from  the  record?  We  may  be  a  sect,  striving  in  our  own 
way  for  the  advancement  of  the  profession  that  we  love  so 


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1887  American  Insiiiuie  of  Homceopathy.  51 

well — but  we  need  not  be  a  faction,  obstructing  others, 
defaming  others,  bringing  reproach  upon  us  all,  and  re- 
tarding general  progress.  We  should  be  liberal,  as  our 
Institute  is  liberal — tolerating  a  variety  of  views  upon 
various  subjects. 

We  surely  may,  as  a  body,  lay  just  claim  to  being  lib- 
eral. While  united  upon  similia,  we  embrace  some  who  are 
regarded  by  other  some  as  entertaining  vagaries  of  woeful 
tendencies.  We  include  the  "  high  "  and  the  "  low,"  the 
dynamizationist  and  the  strict  materialist;  those  who  think 
we  should  adhere  to  the  ideas  and  teachings  of  a  '^  master" 
of  half  a  century  ago,  and  those  who  think  we  should  keep 
abreast  of  the  tenets  and  teachings  of  more  modem  times^ 
using  the  measures  of  any  and  every  school  when  avaiU 
able;  and  I  do  not  know  but  we  may  even  tolerate  a  few 
who  are  disposed  to  think  that  we  might  now  afford  to- 
yield  to  the  seductive  wooing  of  the  other  side,  and  dis- 
pense with  our  characteristic  title! 

Yes,  Homoeopathists  of  all  phases  of  thought  are  welcome 
under  the  canopy  of  our  Institute.  The  homoeopathist  who 
cannot  find  himself  in  congenial  companionship  here,  must 
be  a  victim  of  some  misapprehension,  have  some  fancied 
grievance,  or  be  of  so  fault-finding  a  nature  as  to  have  na 
just  claim  upon  our  attention. 

While  we  are  a  sect,  in  a  proper  sense,  and  from  the^ 
necessity  of  the  case,  we  are  not  a  sect  in  an  evil  sense,  or 
from  a  desire  to  be  separate  from  the  general  profession  of 
which  we  are  a  part — any  more  than  is  the  allopathic 
branch,  which  can  be  called  regular  only  as  a  distinguish- 
ing designation,  and  not  on  account  of  any  essential  regu- 
larity in  its  method  of  practice. 

That  it  is  reprehensible  to  be  a  member  of  a  sect,  per  ae^ 
is  a  preposterous  proposition. 

Notwithstanding  all  the  affectation  of  holy  horror  upon 
the  subject,  it  is  not  a  sin,  it  is  not  a  crime,  it  is  not  a  vice^ 
to  be  one  of  a  sect  united  in  an  honorable  cause. 

Specialization  is  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  develop- 
ment fmd  of  progress,  and  a  liberal  profession  should  not 
unreasonably  oppose  the  formation  or  existence  of  as 


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62  The  Medical  Advance,  July 

many  sects  or  schools  as  can  be  found  to  do  good  work, 
but  all  of  these  should  be  regarded  as  parts  of  one  brother- 
hood— all  alike  laboring  for  the  common  benefit  of  human- 
ity. 

The  profession  being  divided  into  schools,  and  the  dis- 
tinctions being  known,  however  imperfectly,  it  is  only  fair 
and  honorable  that  each  member  should  allow  the  com- 
munity to  know  with  which  branch  of  the  profession  he  is 
aligned,  that  persons  may  select  or  avoid,  as  they  choose. 

But  the  era  of  the  charge  of  sectarianism — a  charge  that 
is  weak  in  itself,  and  that  accomplishes  no  purpose,  must 
soon  pass — indeed  is  passing — and  we  now  see  the  dawn  of 

THE  ERA  OF  TOLERATION, 

when  we  may  look  for  more  of  common  sense,  more  of 
courtesy,  and  more  of  consistency.  It  is  coming  to  be 
realized  that,  while  there  may,  and  probably  from  the  na- 
ture of  things,  must  be  sects,  there  can  still  be  common 
respect  and  co-operation.  We  can  see  the  foreshadowing 
of  a  better  day  in  the  tone  of  some  of  the  leading  men  of 
the  old  school,  who,  with  more  wisdom  than  some  of  their 
confrhreSj  recognize  the  true  situation.  That  liberal,  and 
sensible,  and  even  kind  words  are  used  toward  us  by  repre- 
sentatives of  a  school  which  was  wont  to  treat  us  only  with 
contumely,  is  a  harbinger  of  a  better  time  coming.  As 
illustrations  of  the  character  of  expressions  referred  to, 
may  be  given  the  following: 

The  New  England  Medical  Monthly  published  last  year 
a  communication  from  Professor  Bomaine  Curtis,  of  the 
Chicago  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  on  "Ra- 
tional Medicine  and  Homoeopathy  in  Relation  to  Medical 
Ethics,"  which  closes  with  these  paragraphs: 

"  To  conclude,  it  is  impossible  at  present  to  indicate  the  grounds 
for  reconciliation  between  these  pathies  from  the  scientific  basis 
of  coming  medical  practice,  but  I  have  no  doubt  that  there  will  be 
such  a  reconciliation,  and  good  grounds  for  it. 

"  The  medical  profession  are  well  acquainted  with  the  new  code, 
which  assumes  that  ethics  among  gentlemen  needs  no  particular 
definition,  and  includes  a  feature  denying  that  it  is  a  penal  offence 
to  hold  a  consultation  with  a  homoeopath. 

"  Nearly  all  the  criticisms  of  this  code  show  a  most  profound 


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1887  American  Institute  of  Homoeopathy,  53 

ignorance  ot  homoeopathy,  and  regular  medicine  as  well.  The 
man  who  thinks  there  i.s  more  science  and  less  art  in  one  or  the 
other  is  only  a  man  ignorant  of  the  status  of  rationalism  in  medi- 
cine as  well  as  its  scientific  possibilities.  Persecution  has  made 
homceopathy  rich,  and  kept  not  a  few  of  its  professional  rivals 
poor.  It  pays  in  no  possible  way  to  persecute  or  pretend  to  ignore 
homoeopathy,  or  to  say  that  it  is  a  system  of  charlatanry.  Even 
if  this  were  true,  it  would  not  pay  to  say  so,  and  it  pays  less  be- 
cause it  is  not  true.  The  often  repeated  assertion  that  '  a  physi- 
cian to  be  a  homoeopath  must  be  lirst  either  a  kHave  or  a  fool '  has 
no  foundation  in  fact,  and  has  been  worth  its  millions  to  the  hom- 
oeopathic profession.  The  system  is  old  enough  now  to  live  on  its 
merits,  and  free  consultations  and  free  intercourse  and  common 
medical  societies  will  put  homoeopathy  on  its  merits,  and  advance 
the  cause  and  science  of  medicine  and  its  much  doctored  ethics." 

And  the  Pacific  Record  of  Medicine  and  Pharmacy  shows 
wisdom  by  giving  the  finishing  toach  to  an  editorial  in  the 
following  well-tempered  suggestions: 

"  We  are  of  the  old  school,  educated  in  the  strictest  interpreta- 
tion of  its  dogmas,  and  for  nearly  half  a  century  have  obeyed  its 
dictum,  but,  perhaps,  *the  sunset  of  life  gives  us  mystical  lore,* 
and  we  realize  how  much  more  is  to  be  gained  by  a  courteous 
acquiesence  in  something  we  cannot  help  than  an  unsuccessful 
contest  against  the  inevitable.  Let  us  modify  our  code-  let  us  ex- 
tend to  members  of  other  schools,  if  not  the  hand  of  fellowship 
and  communion,  at  least  the  olive  branch  of  peace,  and  recognize 
them  as  followers  of  Him  *  who  came  to  he^l  the  sick.'" 

These  sentiments  come  to  us  from  the  two  extremes  of 
our  broad  land. 

Others  are  coming  to,  upon  the  same  line,  and  we  have 
only  to  continue  on  in  our  dignified  and  consistent  coarse 
to  secure  the  respect  of  the  most  obdurate  of  the  opposi- 
tion. 

And  now,  what  response  are  we  to  make  to  the  over- 
tures of  the  liberal  and  progressive  members  of  the  old 
school — that  large,  growing  and  respectable  portion  who 
adhere  to  the  ethics  of  the  "new  code?"  A  very  simple 
one: 

Tour  new  code  is  our  old  code— the  code  of  the  Golden 
Rule — the  code  of  common  sense  and  of  humanity — the 
code  we  have  held  to  and  have  been  controlled  by,  all  the 
while.    Our  Institute  defines  the  term  regular  physician  as 


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54  The  Medical  Advance.  July 

"  a  graduate  of  a  regularly  chartered  medical  college.  The 
term  also  applies  to  one  practicing  the  healing  art  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  laws  of  the  country  iu  which  he  re- 
sides." Any  one  thus  belonging  to  the  profession  is  in 
duty  bound  to  respond  to  calls  for  assistance  from  any 
medical  brother,  or  from  patients  who  may  wish  his  coun- 
sel in  connection  with  another  physician— and  he  has  not 
a  right  to  decline  on  the  pretext  that  he  is  of  a  different 
school.  The  medical  profession  has  long  been  divided  into 
schools — probably  always  will  be— the  laws  of  the  land 
recognize  it  as  one  thus  divided;  but  it  should  not  be  di- 
vided in  purpose,  nor  should  its  members  fail  to  answer, 
with  alacrity,  calls  to  co-operate  in  the  interest  of  suffering 
fellow-beings.  Whatever  our  differences  may  be,  or  what- 
ever alignments  we  may  choose  to  make,  let  us  all  remem- 
ber the  object  of  our  art,  and  let  us  all,  eschewing  bicker- 
ings, so  act  as  to  uphold  the  dignity  and  honor  of  our  pro- 
fession, and  thus  command  the  respect  of  the  world  at 
large. 

Homoeopathists,  then,  having  no  thought  of  relinquish- 
ing their  distinctive  title,  under  present  conditions, 

WHAT  IS  THE  TRUE  BASIS  OF  HARMONY? 

First,  the  Golden  Bule;  second,  the  acceptance,  by  the 
profession  at  large,  of  the  definition  adopted  by  the  Amer- 
ican Institute  of  Homoeopathy,  of  the  term,  "  regular  phy- 
sician;*' third,  the  recognition  and  co-operation  of  mem- 
bers of  different  schools,  under  the  above  conditions. 
These  three  articles  constitute  the  basis,  and  the  only 
sound  basis,  for  the  future  harmonization  of  the  medical 
profession. 

The  duty  of  making  suggestions  is  one  which  I  shall 
allow  to  rest  but  lightly  upon  me.  There  are,  however, 
several  recommendations  which  seem  called  for,  and  which 
it  would  show  a  remissness  to  omit: 

All  along  through  the  controversy  concerning  Homoeo- 
pathy, charges  which  are  entirely  in  conflict  with  the  truth 
have  been  made  against  those  represented  by  this  national 
body.     These  have  been  repeated  from  the  chairs  of  medi- 


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1887  American  Institute  of  Homceopathy.  55 

oal  professors,  through  medical  journals,  by  the  general 
press,  and  from  mouth  to  ear  among  the  laity.  Our 
journals  have  not  so  general  a  circulation,  and  our  per- 
sonal denials  and  disproofs  of  these  unjust  aspersions  can- 
not reach  so  far — so  that,  with  many,  the  misrepresenta* 
tions  of  the  enemy  have  passed  unchallenged,  and  with 
some  it  is  not  even  known  that  the  false  statements  re- 
ferred to  have  met  with  the  repeated  and  emphatic  refuta- 
tions which  they  have  received.  In  view  of  these  and 
other  facts,  I  recommend  the  adoption  by  the  Institute  of 
a  declaration  or  resolutions  in  effect  as  follows: 

Resolved,  1st  That  the  American  Institute  of  Homoeo- 
pathy adheres,  as  it  has  always  done,  to  its  object,  as  de- 
clared by  its  founders  in  the  first  article  of  its  Constitu- 
tion, namely:  "the  improvement  of  homoeopathic  thera- 
I)eutics,  and  all  other  departments  of  medical  science," 
and  that  it  is  proud  of  its  achievements  up  to  this  time. 

2d.  That  the  imputations  cast  upon  the  character  and 
intelligence  of  the  early  Homoeopathists  (who  were  con- 
verts from  the  old  school  practice),  by  many  of  the  pro- 
fession, were  the  result  of  ignorance  and  prejudice,  were 
unprofessional  and  unworthy  of  the  members  of  a  scien- 
tific and  liberal  profession. 

3d.  That  the  charge  made  at  a  later  date  by  the  Ameri- 
can Medical  Association  that  members  of  the  homoeopathic 
school  "practiced  upon  an  exclusive  dogma,  to  the  rejec- 
tion of  the  aids  furnished  by  experience,  and  by  the 
sciences  of  anatomy,  chemistry,  physiology,  etc.,"  is  abso- 
lutely devoid  of  foundation  in  fact. 

4th.  That  the  still  later  charge  by  some  of  the  profes- 
sion (the  above  having  been  demonstrated  to  be  unten- 
able), that  Homoeopathists  "trade  upon  a  name,"  is  not 
only  a  slurring  attempt  to  check  a  winning  cause,  but  is  a 
positive  calumny. 

5th.  That  the  most  recent  and  present  position  of  a  por- 
tion of  the  medical  profession,  that  Homoeopathists  are 
blameworthy  for  consorting  under  a  denominational  name, 
thus  constituting  a  "  sect,"  is  a  flimsy  pretext,  and  an  in- 
sufficient excuse  for  refusing  to  extend  to  them  the  usual 
courtesies  of  the  profession. 


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56  The  Medical  Advance.  July 

6th.  That  the  responsibility  for  the  division  of  the  pro- 
fession into  schools,  as  far  as  Homoeopathists  are  concerned, 
rests  upon  those  who,  by  an  illiberal  and  unprofessional 
course — refusing  to  examine  into  the  doctrines  of  the  new 
school,  and  aspersing  and  ostracising  its  followers — ren- 
dered the  closer  association  of  the^e  latter  a  necessity. 

7th.  That  there  is  no  demerit  in  belonging  to  a  sect,  pro- 
vided it  be  engaged  in  a  good  cause,  and  its  methods  be 
tempered  with  liberality;  and  that  it  will  be  expedient  for 
Homoeopathists  to  continue  to  be  a  sect  until  their  work 
shall  have  been  accomplished,  in  securing  a  proper  con- 
sideration of  the  doctrine  of  similia  similibus  curantur. 

8th.  That  inasmuch  as  the  position  of  the  homoeopathic 
school  has  been  largely  misrepresented,  all  fair-minded 
editors  of  medical  and  other  journals  are  requested  to  give 
space  in  their  pages  for  these  resolutions. 

INTERNATIONAL  MEETING. 

From  your  delegates  you  will  learn  of  the  successful  and 
interesting  International  Congress  of  Homoeopathists  at 
Basle,  in  Switzerland,  last  August  Our  country  was  hon- 
ored by  being  selected  as  that  in  which  the  next  quin- 
quennial meeting  shall  be  held.  While  it  is  perhaps  too 
early  for  us,  as  a  body,  to  make  any  arrangements  con- 
cerning this  meeting,  which  will  probably  be  held  in  con- 
nection with  the  session  of  our  Institute,  it  may  be  well 
for  us,  as  individuals,  to  consider  about  means  for  making 
the  next  the  grandest  of  all  of  our  international  gatherings. 

INTERNATIONAL  HOMCEOPATHIC  PHARMACOPCEIA. 

At  the  meeting  referred  to,  among  other  excellent  papers 
presented,  was  one  by  Mr.  John  M.  Wyburn,  F.  C.  S.,  of 
London.  It  was  important,  as  it  discussed  a  subject  upon 
which  this  Institute  should,  in  my  judgment,  take  action, 
namely,  "the  need  of  an  International  Pharmacopoeia." 
The  argument  in  that  paper  is  complete,  and  need  not  be 
enlarged  here.  We  claim  to  have  a  system  which  is  a  re- 
finement in  medicine,  and  we  should  aim  at  exactness  and 
uniformity.  That  Homoeopathists  of  all  countries  should 
have  a  uniform  standard  for  the  preparation  of  their  medi- 


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1887  American  InsiUuie  of  Homceopathy.  57 

cines,  goes  without  saying.  I  content  myself,  therefore, 
with  an  emphatic  recommendation  that  the  committee  of 
this  Institute  upon  a  Homoeopathic  Pharmacopoeia  be  in- 
structed to  co-operate  with  similar  committees  of  homoeo- 
pathic societies  of  other  nationalities  in  the  production  of 
a  pharmacopoeia  that  shall  be  regarded  as  an  authoritative 
and  standard  worL 

PRECISION  IN  MEDICATION. 

It  may  be  questioned  whether  we  have  availed  ourselves, 
as  we  should  have  done,  of  the  results  of  the  original  re- 
searches of  our  bureau  of  pharmacology.  This  work  has 
been  in  the  right  direction,  and  should  be  prosecuted  fur- 
ther. We  have  much  valueless  material  among  our  treas- 
ures, and  the  work  of  elimination  should  proceed.  The 
demonstration  of  the  fact  that  the  principal  vehicle  for  our 
triturations  is  often  found  to  contain  more  foreign  medic- 
inal material  than  it  is  possible  there  could  be  of  the  sub- 
stance triturated  in  some  of  the  attenuations,  should  cer- 
tainly awaken  more  attention  than  it  has  done;  and  every 
care  should  be  observed  in  securing  vehicles  for  our  tritu- 
rations and  dilutions  that  are  as  near  to  absolute  purity  as 
possible. 

It  is  by  reviewing  our  own  work,  and  correcting  our  own 
errors,  that  we  shall  not  only  make  real  progi-ess,  but  that 
we  shall  secure  the  respect  of  the  scientific  world. 

We,  as  a  school,  claiming  to  have  a  more  definite  and 
accurate  method  in  prescribing,  should  aim  at  the  utmost 
degree  of  precision  as  regards  our  Materia  Medica  and 
therapeutic  appliances.  On  this  account  we  should  prove 
carefully,  repeatedly,  scientifically — under  test  conditions 
— and  hold  fast  to  that  which  is  good.  We  have  many 
articles  that  we  know  to  be  good,  and  we  should  learn  fur- 
ther of  their  qualities,  avoiding  a  waste  of  time  upon 
questionable  substances.  Hahnemann's  words  should  be 
well  considered  when  he  says  ( Orgauon,  §  122) :  "  No  other 
medicines  should  be  employed  (in  provings)  except  such 
as  are  perfectly  well  known,  and  of  whose  purity,  genuine- 
ness and  energy  we  are  thoroughly  assured." 

Let  us  build  further  and  more  securely  upon  foundations 


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58  The  Medical  Advance.  July 

already  laid,  and  not  allow  ourselves  to  be  enticed  too  far 
into  the  proving  of  new  and  perhaps  valueless  or  unneeded 
materials.  Unless  an  article  promises  to  be  useful  in 
spheres  in  which  we  require  new  remedies,  let  us  give 
what  time  we  have  to  spare  in  improving  our  knowledge  of 
the  full  value  of,  say,  fifty  or  one  hundred  of  our  best  rem- 
edies. It  is  probable  that  this  number  will  cover,  as  far  as 
we  are*  able  to  cover,  the  needs  of  our  profession,  and 
"  more  is  vain  where  less  will  suflSce." 

Already  the  gardens,  the  fields,  the  mountains,  the  plains, 
the  seas,  and  even  the  bowels  of  the  earth  have  been  ex- 
plored with  a  view  to  discover  drugs  to  prove,  until  we  have 
listed  over  one  thousand  substances  which  are  called  medi- 
cines. Some  of  these  are  of  such  a  character  that  to  name 
them  would  be  indelicate,  to  think  of  thec»  disagreeable, 
to  administer  or  to  take  them,  revolting.  The  profession 
suffers  from  a  knowledge  that  such  materials  are  included 
in  our  medical  armamentarium.  Let  us  cease  researches 
in  such  directions,  and  rather  apply  ourselves  to  the  work 
of  expurgation. 

We  are  all  aware  that  there  is  a  limit  to  human  capabil- 
ity, and  that  it  is  beyond  the  capacity  of  the  most  compre- 
hensive intellect  to  compass  a  knowledge  of  the  full  value 
of  one-tenth  the  number  of  medicines  advertised  by  our 
pharmacies.  I  am  moved,  therefore,  to  suggest  to  our  bu- 
reau of  Materia  Medica  that  it  might  be  well  to  take  up 
the  subject  of  determining,  by  such  methods  as  may  be 
devised,  upon  a  certain  number  of  the  most  valuable  rem- 
edies we  have,  in  order  that  study  may  be  chiefly  confined 
to  them.  We  suffer  now  from  an  embarrassment  of  wealth; 
the  student  is  confused.  We  have  scattered  too  much,  and 
we  should  now  combine  and  concentrate.  Our  state  and 
other  societies  should  co-operate  with  our  bureau  of  Mate- 
ria Medica,  and  our  standing  committee  upon  drug  prov- 
ings.  We  may  then  expect  good  and  trustworthy  results — 
such  as  we  may  point  to  with  pride. 

In  connection  with  this  subject  of  precision  in  our  work, 
a  suggestion  to  our  standing  committees  on  "  pharmacy  " 
and  *'  drug  provings  *'  may  not  be  amiss,  to  the  effect  that 


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1887  American  Institute  of  Homoeopathy,  69 

it  might  be  well  to  consider  anew  the  best  forms  of  medic- 
inal substances  for  provings  and  for  use — recommending, 
when  other  things  are  equal,  or  nearly  so,  those  prepara- 
tions which  are  most  stable  and  of  definite  strength. 
When  our  early  provings  were  made,  our  devoted  pioneers 
had  not  the  chemical  preparations  of  the  active  principles 
of  medicines  which  we  now  have.  We  should  improve 
with  the  progress  of  science.  A  grain  of  sulphate  of  mor- 
phia is  the  same  definite  quantity  of  medicine  the  world 
over.  It  is  not  so  with  a  grain  of  opium  or  twenty-five 
drops  of  laudanum.  A  grain  of  santonine  also  represents 
a  definite  amount  of  medicinal  power,  while  it  is  not  so 
with  a  given  number  of  drops  of  cina. 

Chemical  compounds  have  much  advantage  in  the  qual- 
ity of  definiteness,  and  among  these  we  have  many  of  our 
best  and  most  trustworthy  remedies. 

Tinctures  and  powders  are  known  to  be  variable  in 
strength,  even  under  the  most  careful  gathering  and  prep- 
aration, and  these  differences  are  multiplied  indefinitely  in 
the  attenuations.  We  should  overcome  every  element  of 
inexactness  as  speedily  as  possible,  and  it  may  be  well  to 
consider  if  the  fluid  extracts,  reduced  to  a  definite  degree 
of  medicinal  strength,  may  not  be  better  preparations,  in 
some  cases,  than  the  tinctures. 

THE  CYCLOPEDIA  OF  DRUG  PATHOGENESY. 

This  Institute,  in  conjunction  with  the  British  Homoeo- 
pathic Society,  has  commenced,  and  been  for  several  years 
engaged  in,  the  good  work  of  securing  precision  in  the  mat- 
ter of  provings,  under  an  admirable  scheme,  approved  by 
both  associations;  and  all  work  in  the  line  of  provings 
should  be  in  accordance  with  the  instructions  laid  down  by 
the  two  bodies  which  have  undertaken  the  editing  and 
issue  of  the  Cyclopsedia  of  Drug  Pathogenesy. 

It  is  manifest  that  the  Institute  is  committed  to  this 
work,  which  has  an  editor  and  consultative  committeemen 
from  each  of  the  nationalities  immediately  concerned  in 
the  undertaking,  and  that  it  is  in  honor  bound  to  continue 
its  financial  support  of  the  Cyclopaedia,  as  resolved  last 
year,  to  the  end. 


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60  The  Medical  Advance  July 

OUR  INSTITUTE. 

And  now,  in  closing,  a  word  with  regard  to  our  grand  old 
organization — the  oldest  national  medical  association  in 
our  counti'y — the  largest  homoeopathic  society  in  the  world. 
May  we  not  justly  feel  proud  as  we  take  a  retrospect  of  its 
history,  or  as  we  view  its  present  condition  and  prospects? 
Are  our  hearts  not  stirred  as  we  think  of  the  noble  men 
who  founded  it  when  courage  was  required  for  the  undertak- 
ing— who  counseled  together,  and  who  fostered  it  through 
many  trials  and  discouragements?  May  we  not  take  pride 
in  the  long  range  of  its  annual  volumes  of  Transactions^ 
with  their  many  valuable  papers  and  discussions,  showing 
original  work  and  research  of  high  order?  May  we  not 
feel  gratification  as  we  consider  the  quality  of  its  member- 
ship, past  and  present?  Would  we  not  be  glad  to  have  the 
world  look  in  upon  us  to-day? 

And  while  we  thus  pai'donably,  as  we  believe,  exult  (in 
our  own  house)  in  our  past  history  and  our  encouraging 
condition,  let  us  resolve  upon  still  better  things.  Let  us 
gather  certainly  and  regularly  at  these  meetings,  bringing 
our  own  contributions,  and  being  benefited  by  those  of 
others;  let  us  cultivate  fraternal  feelings;  and  let  us,  at 
every  gathering,  beside  doing  good  work  for  the  cause  of 
medicine  and  humanity,  have  a  genuine  love-feast! 


On  motion,  Vice-President  Dr.  A.  E.  Wright  referred  the 
address  to  a  committee  consisting  of  Drs.  Helmuth,  Hall 
and  James. 

The  Treasurer's  report  was  read  by  Dr.  E.  M.  Kellogg, 
in  brief,  as  follows: 

On  hand  beginning  of  fiscal  year 8  340.21 

Receipts  since  then 3,375.50 

Total  receipts 3,715.71 

Disbursements 3,209.63 

Balance  on  hand 606.08 

As  recipient  of  subscriptions  to  the  Cyclopeedia  of  Drug 
Pathogenesy,  he  had  received  $730.75,  of  this  amount  he 
had  expended  for  Part  IV  $255.55  and  $279.18  for  Part  V, 


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1887  American  Institute  of  Homoeopathy.  61 

leaving  a  balance  to  the  credit  of  the  Cyclopaedia  fund  of 
$196.32. 

On  motion  the  report  was  accepted  and  referred  to  Drs. 
D.  S.  Smith,  Chicago,  J.  H.  McClelland,  Pittsburgh,  and 
Horace  Packard,  Boston. 

Dr.  Burgher  read  the  report  of  the  Executive  Committee 
in  reference  to  a  number  of  important  changes  necessitated 
by  the  sectional  plan.  Among  these  subsequently  acted 
on  and  adopted  are  the  following  (proper  changes  having 
been  made  in  the  by-laws): 

That  all  papers  presented  in  each  sectioD,  together  with  the 
discussion  thereon,  shall  be  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Publica- 
tion. 

That  the  President  shall  appoint  the  chairman  of  all  bureaus 
for  the  ensuing  year,  and  shall  announce  all  such  appointments  no 
later  than  the  Thursday  morning  session. 

That  Sec.  14  of  Art.  7  shall  not  apply  to  sectional  meetings,  but 
for  this  session  each  section  may  adopt  rules  governing  its  own 
papers  and  discussions. 

The  report  of  the  Bureau  of  Organization,  Begistration 
and  Statistics  was  then  taken  up,  the  chairman,  T.  Frank- 
lin Smith,  M.  D.,  New  York,  presenting  the  following  re- 
port: 

Number  of  medical  societies  reporting,  123;  number  of 
medical  societies  not  reporting,  27;  number  of  national 
societies,  5;  number  of  sectional  societies,  2;  number  of 
state  societies,  31;  number  of  local  societies,  112;  number 
of  hospitals,  houses,  etc.,  reporting,  43;  number  of  hos- 
pitals not  reporting,  14;  the  hospitals  report  a  bed  capacity 
of  4,239;  whole  number  of  patients  treated,  13,862t  number 
cured,  5,935;  number  relieved,  4,471;  number  died,  910, 
showing  the  very  low  mortality  of  1^  per  cent. ;  number  of 
dispensaries  reporting,  34;  number  of  dispensaries  not  re- 
porting, 12;  number  of  patients  treated  therein,  142,629; 
number  of  prescriptions,  376,886;  number  of  colleges  re- 
porting, 14;  number  of  students,  1,171;  number  of  gradu- 
ates during  the  past  year,  372;  number  of  alumni,  7,732; 
number  of  journals,  24.  Dr.  Smith  also  urged  upon  the 
members  the  necessity  of  sending  in  their  photographs  for 
the  proposed  group  picture. 


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62  The  Medical  Advance.  July 

The  report,  together  with  the  recommendations,  was 
adopted,  and  Dr.  Smith  requested  to  remain  in  charge  of 
the  bureau  for  the  next  year. 

Dr.  Strong  announced  that  he  had  been  engaged  in  in- 
dexing the  Transactions  from  the  beginning  and  now 
lacked  only  six  volumes  to  complete  the  work.  It  would 
probably  be  a  volume  of  75  or  100  pages  and  complete  as 
to  authors  and  titles. 

Dr.  Kinne  moved  that  this  matter  of  indexing  be  re- 
ferred to  the* Publication  Committee,  they  to  recommend 
as  to  its  expediency,  during  the  present  session. 

Report  of  Delegates. 

Dr.  Moffatt  of  the  Brooklyn  Homoeopathic  Hospital  re- 
ported that  that  institution  was  very  prosperous.  He  also 
reported  for  the  Brooklyn  Home  for  Consumptives.  This 
is  now  in  its  sixth  year,  and  it  has  been  very  effectual  in 
its  treatment.  He  also  represented  the  Homoeopathic 
Society  of  Kings  County. 

Dr.  Wright  reported  on  the  work  of  the  Homoeopathic 
Hospital  of  Buffalo.  It  has  been  organized  since  1873.  A 
training  school  for  nurses  has  been  instituted  during  the 
past  year,  and  it  had  been  his  pleasure  a  few  evenings  since 
to  deliver  the  introductory  lecture. 

Dr.  Beckwith,  of  Cleveland,  said  that  the  hospital  at  that 
place  had  about  seventy-five  beds.  They  also  had  a  train- 
ing school  in  connection. 

Dr.  T.  F.  Allen  spoke  of  the  Laura  Franklin  Hospital, 
of  New  York.  It  was  built  and  endowed  with  $200,000. 
It  has  treated  112  patients,  and  lost  but  4  The  hospital 
is  free.  #• 

Dr.  Millie  J.  Chapman  represented  the  Pittsburg  Homoe- 
opathic Hospital.  During  the  year  1,114  patients  were 
treated,  867  cured,  73  relieved,  67  died;  the  gross  mortality 
was  between  5  and  6  per  cent.,  including  coroners'  cases. 

Dr.  J.  C.  Burgher  reported  for  the  dispensary  connected 
with  the  Pittsburgh  Hospital. 

Dr.  H.  C.  Allen,  of  Ann  Arbor,  said  that  in  Michigan, 
during  the  last  year,  homoeopathic  societies  had  been  or- 


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1887  American  Institute  of  Homoeopathy,  63 

ganized  in  nearly  every  congressional  district,  by  the  club- 
bing together  of  two  or  more  counties.  The  hospital  at 
the  University  was  filled  to  overflowing  all  the  time.  He 
regretted  the  absence  of  Dr.  Walsh,  of  Detroit,  who  could 
give  the  particulars  of  the  new  Newberry  and  McMillan 
Hospital  projected  for  that  city,  the  gift  of  these  two  gentle- 
men who  had  endowed  it  with  $200,000. 

Dr.  B.  W.  James  reported  for  the  Children's  Hospital  in 
Philadelphia     This  institution  is  doing  good  work. 

Dr.  Canfield  represented  the  Woman's  Homoeopathic 
Medical  Association  of  Chicago;  and  also  the  Ladies'  Med- 
ical Society,  which  latter  body  is  the  largest  society  of 
medical  women  in  the  country,  numbering  twenty-two 
members. 

Dr.  Custis  represented  the  National  Homoeopathic  Hos- 
pital at  Washington.  This  has  been  in  existence  for  four 
years,  but  they  have  only  occupied  the  clinical  portion  of 
the  building  for  the  last  eighteen  months.  The  walls  of 
the  building  were  given  by  Congress,  and  the  ladies  of 
Washington  have  fitted  it  up.  It  has  33  beds,  and  an 
average  of  20  patienta 

Dr.  Packard  reported  for  the  Massachusetts  Homoeo- 
pathic Hospital.  It  has  not  a  dollar  of  debt;  has  received 
during  the  year  in  legacies  and  donations  upwards  of  $50,- 
000,  with  $80,000  invested.  It  has  a  training  school  in 
successful  operation;  also  a  home  for  nurses.  Beports  165 
medical  and  260  surgical  cases. 

Dr.  Kinne,  in  his  usual  felicitous  manner,  reported  for 
the  New  Jersey  State  hospital  at  Paterson. 

Dr.  Warren  represented  the  Homoeopathic  Medical 
Society  of  Western  Massachusetts. 

Dr.  Packer  represented  the  Vermont  State  Homoeopathic 
Society — about  sixty  members. 

Dr.  Byan  reported  for  the  Homoeopathic  Medical  Society 
of  Delaware. 

Dr.  Norton,  of  New  York,  reported  for  the  New  York 
County  Medical  Society.    The  membership  is  over  200. 

Dr.  Boyer,  of  Pottsville,  Pa.,  reported  for  the  Schuylkill 
County  Society. 


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64  The  Medical  Advance,  July 

Dr.  Weaver,  of  Philadelphia,  reported  a  ward  society  in 
the  northern  part  of  Philadelphia. 


SECOND   DAY.— MORNING  SESSION. 

The  Institute  was  somewhat  tardy  in  assembling.  Shortly 
after  the  gavel  rapped  to  order,  Dr.  Peck  called  attention 
to  the  laxity  on  the  part  of  the  members  of  the  Institute 
in  replying  to  inquiries  made  of  them  as  to  their  alma 
mater,  etc.,  for  directories.  He  said  that  a  neglect  or  re- 
fusal to  do  this,  especially  when  the  publishers  sent  out 
their  requests  with  a  postal  card  for  reply,  puts  the  mem- 
ber on  the  footing  of  a  quack.  He  said  that  in  consequence 
of  this  neglect  many  members  were  not  published  in  the 
Polk  Directory.     Motion  made  in  due  form. 

Dr.  Wm.  Owens  amended  by  including  the  entire  pro- 
fession. 

Dr.  H.  C.  Allen  approved  of  the  motion.  He  had  been 
informed  by  a  publisher  in  his  own  state  that  of  the  re- 
quests sent  to  physicians  he  had  received  replies  from 
about  one-third.  It  is  a  very  discouraging  task  to  under- 
take to  compile  a  directory  for  the  accommodation  of  the 
profession. 

Dr.  O.  S.  Runnels  said  that  if  he  thought  any  good  could 
come  from  the  movement  he  would  support  it 

The  motion  was  carried. 

Dr.  D.  S.  Smith,  of  Chicago,  made  a  partial  report  of  the 
Board  of  Censors.  He  reported  the  following  applications 
for  membership: 

Albert  Clay  pool,  Toledo,  O.;  J.  P.  Hershberger,  Lancaster,  O.; 
L.  P.  Sturtevant,  Conneaut,  O.;  E.J.  Gooding,  Boston,  Mass.;  A.  J. 
Harvey,  Newport,  Me.;  F.  B.  Percey,  Brookline,  Mass.;  Burt  J. 
Maycock,  Buffalo;  T.  W.  Swalm,  Pottsville,  Pa.;  Lamson  Allen, 
Southbridge,  Mass.;  J.  P.  Sutherland,  Boston;  Henry  P.  Holmes, 
Lanslngburgh;  Mary  H.  Baynum,  Boston;  A.  H.  Birdsall,  Brook- 
lyn; Homer  V.  Halbert,  Chicago;  J.  B.  Robinson,  Boston;  W.  H. 
Stone,  Providence,  R.  I.;  Sayer  Hasbrouck,  Providence,  R.  I.;  Cyn- 
thia M.  Nordstrom,  Maiden,  Mass.;  R.  W.  Southgate,  Rockland, 
Mass.;  Geo.  E.  Perey,  Salem;  8.  W.  Hopkins,  Lynn.  Mass.;  L.  B. 
Richards,  Stafford  Springs,  Conn.;  S.  H.  Knight,  W.  T.  Helmuth, 
Jr.,  New  York;  L.  W.  Reading,  Hatboro,  Pa.;  M.  Dills,  Carlisle, 


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1887  American  InstHute  of  Honiceopathy.  65 

Ky.;  E.  R.  Freeman,  Wapokoneta,  O.;  W.  H.Tobey,  Boston;  A.  B. 
Klnne.  Syracuse;  H.  K.  Macomber,  Pasadena,  Cal.;  L.  W.  Thomp- 
son, W.  C.  Goodno,  Philadelphia;  J.  W.  Thompson,  Pittsburgh;  M. 
W.  Vandenburg,  Ft.  Edward,  New  York;  H.  F.  Ivins,  Jr.,  Phila- 
delphia; G.  S.  Adams,  Westboro,  Mass.;  Thos.  A.  Docking,  Oak- 
land, Cal.;  Curtis  O.  Swinney,  J.  H.  Rile,  Edgar  B.  Brltton,  Balti- 
more. 

Dr.  Allen  moved  that  the  new  applicants  present  be  ex- 
tended the  freedom  of  the  floor  for  debate  until  the  evening 
session.     Carried. 

The  report  of  the  Committee  on  Drug  Provings  was 
taken  up. 

Dr.  Sherman,  of  Milwaukee,  said  that  as  the  chairman 
of  the  committee  was  not  present  there  was  no  general  re- 
port. Instead,  however,  he  had  a  list  of  provings  which 
had  been  made  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  Chas.  Mohr  of 
Adonis  ver.,  Chininum  ars.,  and  Lilium  tig. ;  these  drugs 
had  been  proved  by  twelve  provers.  Referred  to  the  pub- 
lication committee.  Dr.  Martin  Deschere  was  appointed 
on  the  committee  in  place  of  E.  M.  Hale,  whose  time  expires. 

The  report  of  the  committee  on  Pharmacy  was  then  made 
by  the  chairman,  C.  W.  Butler,  of  Montclair,  N.  J.  The 
experiments  have  been  made  in  regard  to  the  physical 
properties  and  the  pathogenesy  of  drugs.  The  provings 
outnumbered  those  of  last  year.  The  object  is  to  ascer- 
tain the  drug  power  evolved. 

Dr.  Sutherland  presented  a  summary  of  the  work  done 
by  Dr.  Conrad  Wesselhoef  t,  of  Boston,  which  was  in  the 
nature  of  a  table  showing  the  comparative  value  of  Mer- 
curius  sol.  in  various  powers  as  proved  by  a  number  of 
students  of  the  Boston  University  School  of  Medicine. 

"The  Discovery  of  the  Cause  why  Prolonged  Grinding 
makes  Triturations  Dark,"  was  the  subject  of  the  second  re- 
port by  Dr.  Wesselhoeft.  It  adhered  to  the  doctrine  o| 
limited  divisibility  of  matter  attributing  the  constant  dark- 
ening of  the  triturations  to  the  mortars  in  which  they  are 
prepared. 

Dr.  Lewis  Sherman  presented  a  summary  of  work  done 
during  the  past  two  years  in  the  physical  properties  of 


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66  The  Medical  Advance.  July 

triturations,  briuging  facts  determined  by  experience,  partly 
by  observation  and  by  reflection. 

A  vote  of  thanks  was  tendered  the  provers  who  aided 
the  bureau  in  its  observations. 

The  report  of  the  committee  on  medical  education  waa 
then  presented  by  Dr.  T.  Y.  Kinne  of  Paterson,  N.  J.  He 
said  the  report  had  been  divided  into  four  departments: 
preparatory,  collegiate,  post  graduate  and  the  relation  of 
the  state  to  medical  education.  It  was  a  scholarly  produc* 
tion  throughout  In  giving  his  "own  diagnosis,'*  he  said 
that  the  fault,  in  his  opinion,  seemed  to  be:  first,  we  are 
too  much  engrossed  with  self;  second,  we  do  not  maintain 
our  rights;  third,  we  do  not  realize  that  only  in  union  there 
is  strength. 

The  following  resolutions  were  presented  in  the  report: 

Resolved,  That  the  president  shall  appoint  a  special  committee 
of  eig^ht,  he  being  ex-officio,  to  which  shall  be  referred  all  reports,. 
request<«  and  resolutions  concerning  medical  ^ucation,  provided 
they  do  not  require  immediate  action. 

Resolved,  That  this  committee  shall,  during  the  coming  year,, 
formulate  a  plan  and  course  of  study,  both  preparatory  and  pro- 
fessional, and  present  such  plan  at  the  next  meeting  of  the  Insti- 
tute for  its  action. 

Resolved,  That  this  special  committee  shall  be  the  standing 
committee  on  Medical  Education  for  the  ensuing  year. 

On  motion  the  resolutions  were  referred  to  the  publiea- 
tion  committee. 

Dr.  Millie  J.  Chapman  then  gave  the  address  of  the 
Bureau  of  Obstetrica 

Dr.  L.  H.  Willard,  chairman  of  the  Bureau  of  Surgery^ 
presented  his  address. 

Dr.  B.  W.  James  moved  that  the  discussion  of  the  papers 
in  the  Bureau  of  Medical  Education  be  taken  up. 

Dr.  J.  E.  James  thought  it  would  be  better  to  wait  until 
after  the  meeting  of  the  Inter-collegiate  committee. 

Dr.  Beckwith  wanted  to  have  the  resolutions  taken  up  at 
once,  as  he  thought  there  were  people  interested  in  this 
subject  outside  of  the  colleges. 

Dr.  Dudley  thought  that  it  would  be  better  for  the  In- 
stitute to  express  its  views  to  the  Inter-collegiate  com«- 


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mittee  rather  than  to  have  the  Inter-collegiate  committee 
express  its  views  to  the  Institute. 

The  motion  of  Dr.  B.  W.  James  prevailed. 

On  motion  the  resolutions  and  recommendations  were  re- 
ferred to  the  committee  on  Medical  Education. 

The  Board  of  Censors  reported  the  following  applicants 
for  membership: 

Henry  E.  Jewell,  Nevada,  Mo.;  Edward  H.  Jewitt, 
Cleveland,  O.;  Joseph  Waldo  Jewitt,  New  Haven,  Conn.; 
Wm.  Greene  Hanson,  Everett,  Mass. ;  Sarah  J.  MiUsop, 
South  Manchester,  Conn. 

Becess  until  3  p.  m. 

SECOND  DAY. — AFTERNOON  SESSION. 

The  afternoon  session  was  divided  between  two  bu- 
reaus— Surgery  and  Obstetrics — which  met,  the  former 
in  the  main  hall,  and  the  latter  in  the  club-room  adjoining. 

Bureau  of  Surgery, 
Clarbncr  Bartlstt.  M.  D..  SteKOffrapher. 

The  Bureau  of  Surgery  met  in  the  ball-room:  Dr.  L.  H» 
Willard,  chairman,  presiding. 

The  first  paper  read  was  by  Dr.  Willard,  and  treated  of 
the  Causes,  Symptoms  and  Diagnosis  of  Hip  Diseases. 

This  was  followed  by  a  paper  written  by  Dr.  W.  L.  Jack- 
son, of  Boston,  on  Pathology  of  Hip  Disease.  In  Dr.  Jack- 
son's absence  the  paper  was  read  by  Dr.  Jones,  of  West 
Chester,  Pa. 

Dr.  J.  E.  James,  of  Philadelphia,  read  a  paper  on  th& 
Medical  Treatment  of  Hip  Joint  Disease.  Mechanical  Treat- 
ment  of  Hip  Joint  Disease  was  spoken  of  by  Dr.  G.  A.  Hall^ 
of  Chicago. 

The  closing  communication  of  the  bureau  was  by  Dr. 
Wm.  Tod  Helmuth,  on  the  Operative  Treatment  of  Hip 
Joint  Disease. 

The  discussion  which  followed  was  opened  by  Dr.  N. 
Schneider,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio.  He  expressed  as  his  opin- 
ion that  the  vast  majority  of  cases  of  hip  disease  occurred 
in  persons  of  scrofulous  or  strumous  constitutions.     Some 


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68  The  Medical  Advance.  July 

few  cases  occurred  as  the  result  of  injury.  He  considered 
rest  a  very  important  factor  in  the  treatment  of  this  dis- 
ease. Nature  endeavors  to  procure  rest  for  the  patient  by 
producing  fixation  of  the  joint  by  muscular  contraction. 
We  should  also  endeavor  to  prevent  too  much  contraction. 
This  we  may  do  by  counter  extension.  He  did  not  ^vo- 
cate  the  use  of  braces  until  the  stage  of  convalescence.  He 
also  urged  the  value  of  proper  medication.  [The  anti- 
psoric  treatment  of  Hahnemann.  ] 

Dr.  J.  H.  McClelland  said  that  he  believed  most  cases  of 
hip  joint  disease  could  be  brought  under  either  one  of  two 
classes,  viz.,  acute  or  chronic.  The  acute  cases  he  believed 
to  originate  from  injury;  the  chronic  from  a  weakened 
constitution.  The  treatment  that  he  advocated  was  rest, 
and  extension  and  counter  extension.  He  also  advocated 
the  use  of  certain  medicines  as  being  very  important 

Dr.  S.  B.  Parsons,  of  St  Louis,  spoke  of  the  heavy  death 
rate  following  the  operation  of  resection  of  the  joint,  as 
practiced  by  certain  allopathic  surgeons,  and  referred  to 
the  successful  results  attained  by  himself  and  other  homoeo- 
pathic surgeons  when  the  operative  procedure  was  aided  or 
assisted  by  homoeopathic  medication. 

Dr.  Joseph  R  Jones,  of  West  Chester,  Pa.,  advocated  the 
use  of  the  plaster  cast  in  country  practice. 

Dr.  John  C.  Morgan,  of  Philadelphia,  said  that  he  be- 
lieved that  hip  disease  was  as  frequently  the  cause  of  tuber- 
culosis as  a  tuberculous  constitution  was  of  hip  disease. 

Dr.  Van  Lennep,  of  Philadelphia,  stated  that  he  was  an 
ardent  advocate  of  early  operation  in  cases  of  hip  disease 
and  he  agreed  with  Dr.  Helmuth  as  to  the  methods  of,  and 
indications  for,  operation. 

Dr.  Sidney  F.  Wilcox,  of  New  York,  exhibited  a  new 
brace,  devised  by  himself  for  the  treatment  of  hip  disease. 
He  also  pointed  out  the  imperfection  in  other  braces,  which 
the  one  invented  by  him  was  intended  to  avoid. 

Dr.  L.  H.  Willard,  of  Allegheny,  exhibited  a  splint, 
which  he  had  used  in  the  treatment  of  cases  in  the  Pitts- 
burgh hospital  He  thought  it  a  very  efficient  brace  that 
could  be  produced  at  a  very  slight  expense. 


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The  discussion  was  further  continued  by  Drs.  8.  F.  Ful- 
ton of  New  York,  M.  O.  Terry  of  Utica,  J.  C.  Morgan  of 
Philadelphia,  W.  Tod  Helmuth  of  New  York,  A.  Claypool 
of  Toledo,  G.  A.  Hall  of  Chicago,  and  A.  von  Gottschalk  of 
Providence,  R.  I. 

Bureau  of  Obstetrics. 
Frank  Kkaft,  M.  D.,  Stenographer. 

Promptly  at  3  o'clock  Dr.  Millie  J.  Chapman  called  the 
sectional  Bureau  of  Obstetrics  to  order  in  the  club-room 
adjoining  the  assembly  room  proper,  there  being  but  little 
sitting  room  left,  and  within  a  half  an  hour  of  the  opening 
standing  room  was  sought  for.  From  the  beginning  the 
best  of  order  prevailed,  and  the  discussion  which  followed 
the  conclusion  of  the  reading  of  all  the  papers  was  tem- 
perate, to  the  point,  and  instructive. 

The  president  stated  that  Dr.  Phoebe  J.  B.  Waite,  of 
New  York,  had  expected  to  be  present  and  read  her  paper, 
but  owing  to  the  dangerous  illness  of  her  sister  she  was 
obliged  to  forego  that  pleasure  and  instead  had  sent 
it,  which  Dr.  George  B.  Peck,  the  secretary,  thereupon 
read.  The  subject  of  the  paper  was  Renal  Complications 
in  Gestation.  The  subject  was  presented  in  terse  and  ex- 
cellent style. 

Dr.  Emily  V.  D.  Pardee,  of  South  Norwalk,  Conn.,  read 
her  own  paper  on  Nervous  Complications  of  Gestation, 
which  was  received  with  applause,  and  much  interest  was 
manifested  in  the  discussion  which  ensued  at  a  later  hour. 

A  paper  was  read  prepared  by  Dr.  C.  G.  Higbee,  of  St. 
Paul,  on  Mechanical  Complications  of  Gestation.  In  his 
absence  the  paper  was  read  by  Dr.  Peck.  It  was  filled 
with  statistics  well  authenticated,  and  was  listened  to  with 
marked  attention. 

Dr.  Geo.  B.  Peck  then  read  his  paper  on  Accidental 
Complications  of  Gestation.  This  was  also  a  well-pre- 
pared essay,  and  handled  the  subject  in  a  creditable  man- 
ner. The  comparison  of  the  treatment  of  allopathic  phy- 
sicians with  those  of  our  school,  showed  disastrously  for 
the  former.  Dr.  Peck  has  taken  the  pains  to  compile  a 
series  of  statistics  gathered  from  the  experience  of  one 


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70  The  Medical  Advance.  July 

hundred  reputable  homoeopathic  physicians  who  possess 
an  average  experience  of  seventeen  and  ooe-third  years;  he 
was  therefore  in  position  to  speak  by  the  card  in  reporting 
his  percentages.  His  essay  treated  in  a  succinct  manner 
of  the  complications  attending  the  puerperal  state  such  as 
hysteria,  chorea,  epilepsy,  cholera,  typhus  fever,  yellow 
fever,  intermittent  fever,  typhoid  fever,  scarlatina,  puer- 
peral scarlatina,  measles,  variola,  heart  disease,  pleurisy, 
emphysema,  pneumonia  and  phthisis. 

Dr.  T.  F.  Allen  reported  the  case  of  a  lady  in  her  second 
pregnancy  near  the  eighth  week  who  had  fallen  down  a 
flight  of  stairs,  carrying  on  her  arm  at  the  time  her  two- 
year-old  child.  In  falling  she  had  so  thrown  herself  as  to 
save  her  child,  but  had  fractured  her  leg  and  badly  bruised 
her  nose  and  lip.  The  leg  was  properly  attended  to,  but  it 
was  the  mother's  constant  fear  that  her  unborn  child  would 
have  club  feci  Instead  of  this,  however,  it  had  when  bom 
no  marked  change  except  a  horribly  bruised  nose  and  lip, 
as  if  in  recent  conflict  with  a  pugilist 

Dr.  T.  L.  Brown  was  pleased  and  interested  with  all  the 
papers  presented.  He  believed,  however,  that  in  many 
instances  too  much  medication  was  given;  that  some  pa- 
tients suffered  considerably  with  drug  sickness  instead  of 
other  ailments.  He  narrated  a  case  of  a  lady  who  had  been 
treated  for  years  for  all  conceivable  diseases,  but  without 
permanent  benefit  When  she  came  into  Dr.  Brown's 
hands  he  concluded  that  it  was  a  drug  disease  and,  without 
telling  her  so,  put  her  on  some  large  sized  blank  pills,  and 
from  that  time  on  she  improved  and  ultimately  recovered. 
She  considered  it  the  best  medicine  she  had  ever  taken. 

Dr.  Wm.  Owens  reported  a  case  of  supposed  tumor, 
which  proved  to  be  an  accumulation  of  foecal  matter,  and, 
upon  discharging,  the  tumor  disappeared. 

Dr.  Gause  had  been  consulted  some  months  since  by  a 
husband  concerning  the  supposed  pregnancy  of  the  wife 
of  the  applicant,  which,  however,  seemed  after  a  certain 
time  to  disappear,  although  up  to  that  time  there  was  ap- 
parently every  indication  of  the  usual  condition  of  preg- 
nancy.    This  had  again  recently  been  repeated  and  the 


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1887  American  Institute  of  Homoeopathy.  71 

Doctor  was  anxious  to  see  if  the  supposed  pregnancy  would 
again  disappear  at  the  same  relative  period  of  time. 

Dr.  Bushrod  W.  James  said  that  in  his  practice,  some 
fifteen  years  ago,  he  had  had  two  cases  of  tumors  in  the 
ovarian  region,  both  in  the  left  side,  and  were  cystic  in 
character;  pregnancy  ensuing,  of  course  much  alarm  was 
felt  for  the  result  The  one  case  went  to  full  term  and  was 
delivered  all  right,  and  the  patient  is  living  to-day.  The 
growth  disappeared  after  the  parturition.  The  second  case 
caused  much  trouble.  It  was  sufficiently  large  to  come 
down  and  produce  obstruction.  After  delivery  everything 
went  along  all  right  However,  this  tumor  has  reappeared 
and  is  continually  growing. 

Dr.  Brown  desired  to  call  attention  to  a  statement  he 
saw  recently  that  the  pulse  of  a  pregnant  woman  was  the 
same  standing,  sitting  or  lying  down. 

Dr.  Pemberton  Dudley  said  that  he  had  made  the  exper- 
iment  mentioned  by  Dr.  Brown  on  48  young  men,  students 
at  his  college,  and  had  found  that  the  pulse  of  these  gen- 
tlemen was  the  same  standing,  sitting  or  lying  down. 

Dr.  Owens  reported  the  case  of  a  lady  of  40  years  of  age 
who  had  come  to  him  with  what  was  supposed  to  be  a  large 
dropsical  tumor.  Dr.  Owens  had  several  times  been  on 
the  point  of  tapping  the  tumor.  By  accident  this  lady  fell 
while  in  her  kitchen  and  immediately  a  greenish  fluid 
began  to  discharge  from  vagina  and  she  had  been  getting 
better  ever  since. 

Dr.  Nickelson  reported  a  case  of  supposed  tumor,  patient 
dying  before  he  had  made  a  diagnosis.  At  the  post  mortem 
it  was  discovered  to  be  a  case  of  jaundice,  although  the 
outward  appearance  of  the  body  gave  no  indications  of  it 
It  was  reidly  a  case  of  arsenical  poisoning. 

Dr.  H.  Tyler  Wilcox  reported  a  remarkable  case  of  fibroid 
tumor  of  many  years'  standing  which  eight  or  ten  physi- 
cians had  given  up,  and  had  advised  her  not  to  touch  as  it 
would  prove  of  no  advantage  to  her.  She  made  use  of 
electricity  and  had  the  gratification  of  seeing  the  patient 
recover,  who  was  so  grateful  as  to  send  her  several  other 


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72  The  Medical  Advance.  July 

patients,  one  in  the  Indian  Territory.  She  used  the  Faradio 
current 

Dr.  T.  F.  Allen  narrated  an  amusing  instance  of  a  phys- 
ician in  the  east  who  had  married  late  in  life  and  presumed 
that  pregnancy  had  occuned,  and  an  elaborate  trousseau 
was  procured  for  the  anticipated  event.  Another  physi- 
cian being  called,  found  it  a  mistake.  Some  idea  of  the 
magnitude  of  the  preparations  may  be  had  when  it  is  stated 
that  the  infant's  trousseau  was  sold  second-hand  for  about 
$800. 

Dr.  O.  S.  Eunnels  was  reminded  of  a  case  which  had 
died,  he  believed,  because  proper  interference  had  not 
been  resorted  to  to  bring  about  a  premature  delivery. 
Under  similar  circumstances  he  would  not  now  hesitate  to 
take  active  steps  to  bring  about  this  condition  of  affairs. 

Dr.  Vandenburg  reported  a  case  of  ptyalism  which  had 
resisted  all  medicinal  efforts,  And  only  terminated  with 
gestation. 

Dr.  Gregg  Custis  called  attention  to  Argentum  nit.  in 
albuminuria,  a  remedy  which  he  had  found  eminently  ser- 
viceable in  such  cases. 

Dr.  H.  C.  Allen  said  that  the  late  Dr.  H.  N.  Guernsey 
had  once  told  him  that  in  morning  sickness  to  look  for  a 
psoric  diathesis—or  scrofula  in  the  family  history — and 
that  to  get  at  the  bottom  of  this  give  a  dose  of  Psorinum, 
to  be  followed,  possibly  at  a  later  stage,  with  a  dose  of 
Sulphur,  and  that  in  his  experience  this  advice  had  proven 
of  great  aid  to  him;  he  therefore  gave  it  to  those  where  a 
latent  psoric  taint  might  be  suspected,  and  the  indicated 
remedy  failed  to  relieve. 

Dr.  Candee  mentioned  the  case  of  a  lady  whose  life  had 
undoubtedly  been  saved  by  prompt  measures,  such  as  Dr. 
Bunnels  had  regretted  not  to  have  used  in  his  case. 

Dr.  Weaver  detailed  the  case  of  a  lady  with  albuminuria 
during  her  gestation.  His  object  was  to  show  that  the 
birth  of  the  child  did  not  always  bring  about  a  cessation 
of  the  evils,  as  in  the  case  in  point  convulsions  set  in  after 
the  child  was  delivered  and  were  distinctly  traceable  to 
albuminuria. 


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1887  American  Institute  of  Homoeopathy.  73 

Dr.  Streets  had  been  present  at  a  post  mortem  recently 
and  was  astonished  to  find  an  atrophied  condition  of  the 
liver. 

Mrs.  Dr.  Culvert  closed  the  discussion  with  a  narration 
of  an  interesting  case  of  pregnancy  in  an  elderly  lady 
married  to  a  gentleman  of  70.  This  patient  was  brought 
to  bed  with  the  usual  premonitory  symptoms,  but  the  ftdl 
term  was  passed  without  result  Eighteen  months  from 
date  of  conception  a  foetus  was  bom  weighing  but  one 
pound.  The  question  arose  then,  was  it  a  foetus  or  a  full- 
term  child  carried  beyond  term  and  thus  become  atro- 
phied? The  subsequent  pregnancy  of  this  same  patient 
pursued  a  similar  course. 

SECOND    DAY. — EVENING  SESSION. 

Vice-President  A.  R.  Wright,  presiding. 

Dr.  Smith  of  the  Board  of  Censors  read  the  list  of  appli- 
cants and  recommended  their  election.  The  vote  being 
taken  the  election  was  unanijnous. 

The  report  of  the  Bureau  of  Clinical  Medicine  and  Spe- 
cial Therapeutics  was  then  taken  up,  Dr.  J.  W.  Dowling 
chairman.  The  subject  was  "  Diseases  of  the  Kidney  and 
Bladder." 

Dr.  Dowling  read  a  voluminous  paper  on  the  subject. 
He  gave  a  clear  and  concise  statement  regarding  the  rapid 
strides  made  in  the  knowledge  of  these  diseases  and  the 
advancement  in  the  treatment.  They  have  all  been  made 
in  our  own  school.  Surgery  has  done  much.  The  abdo- 
men is  now  opened  with  impunity  and  in  some  cases  the 
whole  kidney  has  been  removed.  He  was  convinced  that 
more  could  be  done  in  arresting  the  progress  of  diseases 
of  the  kidney  and  bladder  and  the  establishment  of  a  fair 
condition  of  health,  by  a  proper  diet  and  by  properly  regu- 
lating the  habits  of  life,  than  by  medicinal  treatment. 

In  his  address  he  reported  a  conversation  overheard  on 
the  balcony  of  the  Grand  Union  fourteen  years  ago  be- 
tween John  Morrissey  and  some  other  parties.  Mr.  Mor- 
rissey  was  boasting  of  his  good  health,  although  many  ex- 
pert physicians  had  examined  him  and  pronounced  him 


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sufferiog  from  Bright*8  disease.  Dr.  Dowling  argued  from 
the  fact  that  Mr.  Morrissey  did  ultimately  die  of  Bright's 
disease,  that  if  he  had  continued  in  the  good  habits  which 
he  was  obliged  to  adopt  when  going  into  training  for  a 
prize  fight,  that  his  life  would  have  been  prolonged.  Also, 
that  undoubtedly  Bright*s  disease  was  held  in  abeyance 
during  the  training  period.  But  unfortunately  Morrissey 
went  back  to  his  tea,  coffee,  tobacco  and  stimulants. 

Dr.  Clarence  Bartlett,  of  Philadelphia,  read  a  paper  en- 
titled The  Nervous  System  and  the  Eyes  in  their  Rela- 
tion to  the  Urinary  Organs.  This  paper  dealt  chiefly  with 
the  nervous  and  eye  symptoms  associated  with  Bright's 
disease.  He  quoted  cases  showing  that  frequently  the 
only  symptoms  giving  rise  to  annoyance  to  the  patient,  were 
severe  headaches.  In  some  cases  convulsions  or  paralytic 
seizures  constituted  the  first  warning  of  trouble.  He 
closed  his  pa|)er  by  referring  to  one  case  in  which  the  first 
symptom  was  visual  disturbance,  and  to  another  of  sup- 
posed Bright*s  disease  of  ten  years'  standing,  which  made 
a  spontaneous  recovery. 

Heredity  as  a  Factor  in  the  etiology  of  Bright's  Dis- 
ease was  the  title  of  a  paper  read  by  Dr.  A.  L.  Kennedy, 
of  Boston.  He  introduced  his  paper  by  saying  that  it 
grew  out  of  a  question  asked  by  a  student  of  the  Boston 
University  School  of  Medicine,  whether  Bright's  disease 
was  hereditary?  The  answer  had  been  in  the  main  in  the 
negative.  Dr.  Kennedy  thereupon  proceeded  to  recite  the 
discovery  by  Dr.  Eichard  Bright,  of  England,  of  the  dis- 
ease  which  now  bears  his  name,  and  throughout  his  paper 
maintained  the  correctness  of  the  answer  given  the  stu- 
dent, though  he  mentioned  a  number  of  exceptions. 

Are  Senile  Changes  in  the  Kidney  a  Necessary  Concomi- 
tant of  Old  Age?  was  read  by  Dr.  J.  M.  Schley  of  New 
York  city.  The  paper  was  well  received  and  its  conclu- 
sions as  summed  up  by  the  essayist,  are  as  follows:  Few 
persons,  male  or  female,  reach  the  stage  of  profound  senile 
changes  in  this  section  of  the  country  without  manifesting 
some  form  of  nephritis;  also  that  after  we  pass  the  age  of 
forty-five  we  meet  with  changes  in  the  kidneys,  and  the 


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1887  American  InstHute  of  Homoeopathy.  75 

higher  we  climb  on  the  ladder  of  life  the  more  frequent 
are  these  morbid  conditions  found.  After  seventy  it  is  one 
of  the  greatest  rarities  to  find  a  healthy  secreting  kidney. 
If  we  Bhoidd  examine  such  cases  carefully  I  am  quite  sure 
we  would  find  disease  where  health  seemed  to  exist  By 
appropriate  diet  and  clothing  such  troubles  maybe  held  in 
abeyaDce  for  years.  The  microscope  is  the  surest  medium 
to  rely  on  for  a  diagnosis  and  prognosis. 

Dr.  Dowling  read  a  paper  by  Asa  S.  Couch,  M.  D.,  of 
Fredonia,  N.  Y.,  on  'Illuminated  Clinical  Cases.* 

On  motion  the  remaining  papers  of  this  bureau  were  re- 
ferred to  the  Publication  committee. 

Dr.  T.  F.  Allen  said  that  in  his  examination  of  the  sym- 
otomatology  of  the  cases  of  nephritis,  he  had  found  in  the 
majority  of  the  cases  where  a  mercurial  was  indicated — 
such  as  nocturnal  perspiration,  sensitiveness  to  the  open 
air,  furred  tongue,  one-sided  headache,  especially  right 
side,  pressure  on  the  vertex,  vertigo — that  a  Proto  Iodide 
of  Mercury  is  best  Mercurius  cor.  is  rarely  called  for,  it 
seems  only  indicated  when  there  is  more  or  less  of  refiex 
bladder  trouble,  and  heat  and  pressure  in  the  rectum. 

He  had  also  found  an  extremely  useful  remedy  in  sub- 
acute nephritis,  to  be  Colchicum.  His  attention  had  been 
first  attracted  to  it  by  a  patient  complaining  of  being  un- 
able to  lie  on  his  back  with  the  legs  stretched  out;  this  lat- 
ter position  causing  soreness  in  the  region  of  the  back, 
and  a  feeling  of  weakness  in  the  stomach — in  the  pit  of  the 
stomach  as  it  is  usually  called.  He  had  found  under  this 
remedy  that  the  pains  in  the  kidneys  and  the  gastric 
symptoms  would  alternate  with  a  distress  in  the  head. 
Picric  acid  he  had  found  a  good  remedy  to  follow  Colchium. 

Dr.  Dillow  was  invited  to  address  the  Institute  on  this 
subject  which  he  did  at  some  length.  Drs.  John  C.  Mor- 
gan, Bushrod  W.  James  and  T.  Griswold  Comstock  also 
participated  in  the  discussion. 


THIRD   DAY. — MORNING   SESSION. 

Immediately  after  the  call  to  order,  the  Board  of  Cen- 
sors reported  the  following  names  for  membership,  who 
were  thereupon  duly  elected: 


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76  The  Medical  Advance.  July 

Charles  Deady,  New  York;  Louis  Faust,  Schenectady;  F.  B. 
Dake,  Nashville,  Tenn.;  D.  H.  Riggs,  Washington,  D.  C;  Wm.  F. 
Hobart,  Chicago;  R.  T.  White,  Chicago;  C.  A,  Wilson,  Allegheny; 
SoUis  Runnels,  Indianapolis,  Ind.;  A.  M.  Linn,  Des  Moines,  la.; 
Willis  G.  Pope,  Keeseville,  N,  Y.;  Emily  F.  Swett,  Medina,  N.  Y.; 
R.  Ludlam,  Jr.,  Chicago,  111.;  John  W.  Dowling,  Jr.,  New  York; 
George  B.  Dowling,  New  York;  Addie  B.  Crowley,  Geneva,  N.  Y.; 
William  S.  Pearsall.  New  York;  Edward  E.  Snyder,  Binghamton; 
David  E.  Spoor,  Schenectady,  N.  Y.;  Joseph  O.  Reed,  Middletown^ 
N.Y. 

The  Auditing  Committee  reported  tbroufi^li  its  chairman. 
Dr.  D.  S.  Smith,  that  they  had  examined  the  accounts  of 
the  Treasurer  and  found  them  correct 

Dr.  Pemberton  Dudley,  on  behalf  of  the  Committee  on 
Medical  Literature,  presented  his  report,  to  the  eflfect  that 
there  were  now  twenty-four  journals  in  the  school,  enumer- 
ating them. 

Dr.  T.  F.  Allen:  I  protest  against  the  returning  of  the 
New  York  Medical  Times  as  a  homoeopathic  journal.  It 
persistently  and  steadily  fights  Homoeopathy,  in  season  and 
out  of  season.  It  has  villified  the  course  of  all  true  Homoe- 
opaths, and  has  editorially  been  attacking  the  endowment 
for  the  new  hospital  at  New  York.  I  therefore  move  that 
the  New  York  Medical  Times  be  erased  from  the  proceed- 
ings of  this  Institute,  and  that  it  be  not  returned  as  a 
homoeopathic  journal. 

Seconded  by  Drs.  G.  E.  Sparhawk  and  Pemberton  Dud- 
ley. 

Dr.  Packer:  When  I  want  to  read  allopathic  literature  I 
go  to  an  allopathic  journal;  but  I  dislike  to  read  allopathic 
literature  and  have  it  palmed  off  as  homoeopathic.  This 
move  should  have  been  made  long  af;:o. 

Being  put  to  vote,  it  was  carried. 

The  report  of  the  Committee  on  Medical  Literature  was 
then  accepted  and  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Publica- 
tion. 

The  Committee  on  President's  Address  reported  that 
they  were  heartily  in  sympathy  with  the  sentiments  ex- 
pressed in  the  address,  and  recommended  that  the  sugges- 
tions of  the  President  should  be  adopted. 


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1887  American  Institute  of  Homceopathy,  77 

Dr.  A.  R  Wright,  Vice-President,  presented  to  the  In- 
stitute, in  the  name  of  the  President,  a  gavel  of  Georgia 
pine,  which  bears  a  medallion  portrait  of  Hahnemanii,  and 
a  silver  plate  suitably  inscribed. 
On  motion  of  Dr.  T.  Y.  Kinne,  it  was 

Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  this  Institute  be  tendered  Presi- 
dent Orme  for  his  gift  of  this  beautiful  gavel  for  the  use  of  the 
American  Institute  of  Homoeopathy,  and  expressing  the  hope  that 
it  may  be  kept  by  us,  long  rapping  successive  stages  of  progress 
on  our  triumphal  march  to  the  haven  of  rest,  and,  finally,  at  the 
final  rap  of  the  Great  Gavel,  may  it  gather  us  together  in  our  eter- 
nal home.    Selah! 

Dr.  S.  P.  Hedges  then  read  his  address  on  the  Bureau 
of  Gynsecology,  which  was  an  exhaustive  paper  on  the 
progress  in  his  department  during  the  past  year. 

He  was  followed  by  an  able  address  from  Dr.  C.  D. 
Crank,  chairman  of  the  Bureau  of  Paedology,  in  which  he 
reviewed  the  literature  and  improved  methods  of  treatment, 
calling  special  attention  to  the  increased  interest  mani- 
fested in  the  hygienic  care  of  children. 

The  President  then  announced  the  chairmen  of  the  fol- 
Bureaus  and  Committees: 

Organization,  etc,—T.  F.  Smith,  M.  D. 

Surgery,— John  E.  James,  M.  D. 

Obetetric8,r-GeoTge  B.  Peck,  M.  D. 

Clinical  Medicine,— George  E.  Gorham,  M.  D. 

Gynascology.—VhW  Porter,  M.  D. 

Pcedology.—B,  F.  Dake,  M.  D. 

Ophthalmology,  etc.— George  M.  Dillow,  M.  D. 

Materia  Medica,—A,  R.  Wright,  M.  D. 

Psychological  Medicine,— J,  D.  Buck,  M.  D. 

Sanitary  Science,— K,  R.  Stout,  M.  D. 

Anatomy  and  Physiology,—^,  von  Gottschalck,  M.  D. 

Committee  on  PTiarmacy.— Lewis  Sherman,  M.  D. 

Medical  Education,— 1,  G.  Comstock,  M.  D. 
Medical  Literature,— Vexnbeiion  Dudley,  M.  D. 
Medical  Legislation,— J ,  H.  McClelland,  M.  D. 
Railroad  Fare,—U.  C,  Allen,  M.  D. 

Dr.  T.  L.  Brown,  of  Binghamton,  N.  Y.,  presented  the 
following: 

Resolf>ed,  That  when  one  homoeopathic  college  refuses  to  grad- 
uate a  medical  student,  knowing  him  to  be  incompetent,  every 
other  college  of  our  school  should  carefully  respect  that  decision. 


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78  The  Medical  Advance.  July 

Resolved^  That  by  so  doing  the  colleges  protect  the  people  and 
deserve  their  support  and  confidence. 

On  motion,  these  resolutions  were  referred  to  a  commit- 
tee consisting  of  Drs.  H.  D.  Paine,  John  E.  James,  and  T. 
Y.  Einne,  to  report  at  this  session. 

The  address  of  the  Bureau  of  Ophthalmology,  Otology 
and  Laryngology  was  read  by  Dr.  Geo.  8.  Norton,  of  New 
York,  in  the  absence  of  the  chairman.  It  contained  a  gen- 
eral returns  of  the  progress  in  this  department  during  the 
past  year. 

Dr.  J.  C.  Morgan,  of  Philadelphia,  oflFered  the  following, 
which  was  adopted: 

Resolved,  In  cases  of  vacancy  occurring  in  any  bureau  or  com- 
mittee, after  the  announcement  of  the  same  hy  the  President,  the 
chairman  shall  have  authority  to  fill  the  same,  giving  prompt  no- 
tice thereof  to  the  Oeneral  JSecretary  of  the  Institute,  who  shall 
include  such  names  in  subsequent  publications. 

Becess  till  3  p.  m. 


THIRD  DAY.— AFTEBNOON  SESSION. 

This  session  was  divided  into  three,  namely,  that  of  the 
Bureau  of  Gynsecology,  of  Paedology,  and  of  Ophthalmol- 
ogy. 

Bureau  of  GynaBcolosy* 

T.  M.  Strong,  M,  D.,  Steuographer. 

Dr.  S.  p.  Hedges,  of  Chicago,  chairman,  called  the  Bu- 
reau to  order,  and  at  once  proceeded  to  business. 

The  paper  of  Dr.  K  T.  Blake,  of  England,  on  "Dilata- 
tion  of  the  Cervix  Uteri  as  a  Curative  Measure,"  was  read 
by  Dr.  Porter.  The  methods  of  dilatation  were  naturally 
divided  into  two  sorts,  immediate  and  delayed.  The  man- 
ner of  dilating  by  divergents,  dilators,  and  other  methods, 
bougies,  etc.,  were  falling  into  disuse  on  account  of  tedious 
action,  pain,  and  liability  to  produce  cellulitis. 

Dr.  C.  G.  Higbee's  paper  was  on  "  Topical  versuM  Inter- 
nal Treatment  of  Uterine  Disorders."  He  assumed  that 
each  had  its  place  and  is  all-sufficient  in  certain  cases,  but 
that  there  were  cases  when  a  combination  of  both  was  nec- 
essary.   He  referred  to  a  case  of  long  standing  uterine 


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1887  American  InstUuie  of  Homceopaihy,  79 

disease  which  was  cured  by  the  "  faith  cure  "  ageDcy,  and 
was,  in  his  opinion,  a  proof  of  what  he  had  many  times 
suggested:  that  many  forms  of  uterine  disease  are  of  nerv- 
ous origin  and  can  be  cured  by  any  treatment,  locals  in- 
ternal,  or  mental,  when  properly  administered.  Hygienic 
care  in  the  treatment  was  strenuously  insisted  upon. 

Dr.  Phil  Porter  presented  a  paper  on  "  Pessaries,  the 
Internal  Uterine  Support"  The  conclusions  reached  were: 
While  differences  of  opinion  exist  in  regard  to  the  expedi- 
ency of  employing  pessaries,  personal  experience  will  show 
their  importance. 

Dr.  L.  A.  Phillips,  of  Boston,  read  a  paper  on  the  "  Sur- 
gical Treatment  of  Uterine  Disorders."  Like  all  Homoe- 
0{>athist6,  he  was  quite  conservative  on  the  subject  of 
operations,  but  recommended  that  surgical  procedure  be 
but  the  result  of  thorough  preparation,  combined  with 
treatment 

Dr.  B.  Ludlam,  of  Chicago,  read  a  most  interesting  and 
practical  paper  on  "  Hot  Water  as  a  Topical  Application 
in  Uterine  Disorders."  The  peculiar  merits  of  this  treat- 
ment are  that  it  is  safe,  available,  effective,  and  does  not 
interrupt  or  modify  the  action  of  remedies. 

Dr.  C.  B.  Kinyon,  of  Bock  Island,  111.,  presented  a  pa- 
per on  "Intra-Uterine  Medication  and  Stems."  It  com- 
manded the  attention  of  the  Bureau. 

Dr.  O.  S.  Bunnels,  of  Indianapolis,  read  a  paper  on  the 
local  action  of  iodoform,  iodine,  tannin,  hydras tis,  and 
astringents  generally^. 

Mrs.  H.  Tyler  Wilcox,  M.  D.,  indorsed  the  remarks  and 
the  paper  of  Dr.  Higbee,  and  stated  that  she  had  excellent 
results  from  the  use  of  electricity  in  the  absorption  and 
destruction  of  a  fibroid.  She  also  hoped  the  Institute 
would  consider  the  woman's  dress  reform. 

Bureau  of  PsBdolosy. 
Frank  Kraft.  M.  D.,  Stenographer. 

The  chairman.  Dr.  C.  D.  Crank,  at  first  a  little  dubious 
about  the  success  of  the  Bureau,  was  not  a  little  gratified 
to  find  the  chairs  filling  rapidly,  until  toward  the  close  not 
an  empty  one  stood  in  the  room. 


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Dr.  B.  F.  Dake,  as  Secretary,  read  the  papers  of  absen- 
tees, first  reading  his  own  paper  on  "  Infantile  Eczema,  its 
Etiology,  Diagnosis,  and  Pathology."  Following  this  came 
the  paper  by  Dr.  Wm.  E.  Leonard,  of  Minneapolis,  on 
"  The  Therapeutics  of  Infantile  Eczema." '  This  paper,  as 
its  name  implies,  was  devoted  in  the  main  to  the  therapeu- 
tics of  infantile  eczema.  The  author  divided  the  remedies 
into  three  great  groups  or  classes:  those  of  the  most  prob- 
able service,  those  of  the  least  but  of  still  well-earned 
merit,  and  those  concerning  which  we  have  as  yet  insuffi- 
cient data.  Class  1  contained  eleven  remedies:  Class  2, 
twenty  remedies;  and  class  3,  twenty.  The  use  of  elec- 
tricity was  also  touched  upon  in  a  masterly  way. 

"The  Skin  Diseases  of  Infancy  and  Early  Childhood: 
External  Treatment,"  by  P.  E.  Arcularius,  M.  D.,  New 
York,  "Suppressed  Infantile  Eczema,"  by  T.  C.  Dun- 
can, M.  D.,  Chicago,  in  which  the  essayist  said  that  there 
is  a  general  opinion  in  our  profession  that  a  suppressed 
disease  is  not  a  cure,  and  that  not  only  harm  results  from 
smothering  a  disease  but  also  discredit  to  the  practitioner; 
but  if  a  disease  cannot  be  cured,  is  it  justifiable  to  suppress 
it? 

The  essayist  clearly  points  out  the  danger  of  such  pro- 
cedure. 

Dr.  Wm.  H.  Bigler,  of  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  presented  a 
paper  on  "The  Relation  of  Vaccination,  Dentition  and 
Eruptive  Fevers,  to  Infantile  Eczema." 

Dr.  Wm.  Owens  read  a  review  of  all  the  papers  pre- 
sented. 

Dr.  Gregg  Custis,  Washington,  said  he  had  had  quite  a 
number  of  cases  of  infantile  ezcema  and  be  had  learned  to 
leave  out  external  treatment  He  believed  that  about  the 
greatest  enemy  infantile  ezcema  had,  was  water— not  inti- 
mating by  that  that  dirt  was  a  wholesome  thing;  but  that 
this  daily  or  twice  or  thrice  daily  washing  of  the  child  all 
over  simply  sets  up  each  time  new  sources  of  irritation. 
He  advised  washing  only  for  absolute  cleanliness.  When 
a  chronic  case  comes  to  him  now  he  inquires  concerning 
the  early  history  of  the  patient,  and  if  there  was  any  erup- 


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1887  American  Institute  of  Homoeopathy.  81 

tion  suppressed.    He  has  found  Lycopodium  the  best  pro- 
phylactic remedy. 

Dr.  Beebe  said  that  it  is  not  always  an  easy  matter  to  de- 
termine whether  this  affection  was  a  parasitic  or  a  consti- 
tutional disease — whether  the  parasite  was  the  cause  of 
the  disease,  or  disease  the  cause  of  the  parasite.  Un- 
doubtedly where  it  is  truly  a  parasitic  disease  external 
treatment  is  of  some  advantage,  aside  from  cleanliness. 
He  has  had  some  good  results  in  eczema  following  vaccin- 
ation. He  has  looked  up  the  literature  on  the  question  of 
disease  being  transmitted  by  vaccination  and  so  far  had 
failed  to  corroborate  the  usual  superstition  on  that  point. 

Dr.  Boyer,  Potts ville,  said  it  had  been  noticed  in  a  sup- 
pressed eczema,  the  affections  following  usually  centre  on 
the  mucous  membrane — either  a  vomit,  cough,  diarrhoea, 
or  possibly  an  inflammatory  trouble  elsewhere.  He  had 
found  Lycopodium  frequently  indicated;  and  also  Iodide 
of  Arsenic.  For  cleanliness  he  advised  Castile  soap — 
Fels'  of  Philadelphia.  He  had  also  given  a  preparation  of 
tar  with  good  results. 

Dr.  Yandenburg  said  that  in  spite  of  what  had  been  said 
he  was  still  quite  in  the  dark  as  to  what  was  meant  by  sup- 
pressing a  disease.  How  shall  we  know  when  an  eczema 
is  suppressed? 

Dr.  Boyer  said  that  he  meant  by  suppression  of  eczema 
the  disappearance  of  such  eczema  from  the  application  of 
outward  astringents  or  other  medicinal  substances  which 
have  the  power  of  drying  up  the  secretions  on  the  surface. 

Dr.  Yandenburg  said  that  he  had  used  external  applica- 
tions and  with  beneficial  results  and  knew  of  no  case  where 
trouble  had  followed.  This  outward  application  was  an 
ointment  of  the  oxide  of  zinc.  For  internal  treatment  he 
preferred  the  Graphites  and  in  other  cases  he  preferred  a 
Graphites  Cerate. 

Dr.  T.  F.  Smith  has  had  quite  a  number  of  cases  with  a 
result  similar  to  that  stated  by  Dr.  Custis.    He  never  uses 
ointments,  but  has  used  Graphites  internally.     Has  known 
eruptions  to  return  after  five  or  six  years, 
p 


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82  The  Medical  Advance.  July 

Dr.  Boyer  referred  to  a  case  which  had  been  suppressed 
for  sixteen  years  by  mercurial  preparations. 

Dr.  Yandenberg  found  Mercurius  decidedly  beneficial  in 
parasitic  eczema,  such,  for  instance,  as  taken  from  cats. 

Dr.  Dudley  has  never  had  very  much  fear  of  suppressing 
a  disease  which  is  so  often  referred  to.  He  did  not  doubt 
that  grave  results  might  and  did  follow  such  procedure, 
but  he  didn't  think  that  because  an  eczema  disappears 
and  then  comes  back  again  years  hence,  that  it  is  to  be  re- 
garded that  the  disease  had  been  suppressed.  That  is 
simply  a  new  attack  of  the  disease. 

Dr.  Schley  has  had  considerable  experience  in  eczema- 
tous  troubles  and  believed  one  of  the  most  important 
things  was  to  make  a  proper  and  satisfactory  diagnosis. 
There  are  two  kinds  of  these  diseases,  local  and  constitu- 
tional. How  can  doses  of  Sulphur  affect  a  parasite  that 
grows  underneath  the  skin  and  that  can  only  be  killed  by 
some  topical  application?  He  did  not  believe  in  the  sup- 
pression of  eczema;  it  is  a  mutable  thing  that  comes  and 
goes,  apparently  just  as  it  pleases.  He  had  seen  at  least  a 
hundred  cases  of  the  genuine  psoriasis  yet  apparently  wellf 
but  come  back  after  a  time  as  bad  as  ever.  These  cases 
requii*ed  external  as  well  as  internal  treatment 

Dr.  Brown  did  not  believe  in  treating  a  disease  by  name, 
but  solely  by  its  symptoms.  He  had  observed  that  these 
eczematous  troubles  quite  generally  have  a  scrofulous  base, 
and  instead  of  making  topical  applications  to  cure  that  kind 
of  a  diathesis,  he  believed  the  proper  manner  of  reaching  it 
would  be  by  internal  treatment.  But  when  an  ointment 
was  required  boiled  lard  had  given  him  the  best  effects. 

Dr.  Custis  said  that  Dr.  Schley  like  every  otlier  special- 
ist was  not  in  a  position  to  judge  of  the  sequelae  to  a  sup- 
pressed eczema;  the  patient  with  an  eruption  will  seek  out 
a  dermatologist  who  will  make  his  applications  and  the 
eruption  disappears.  Subsequently,  however,  when  some 
new  train  of  symptoms  arises  it  is  not  the  specialist  who  is 
consulted  but  the  family  physician;  hence,  the  specialist 
rarely  if  ever  sees  the  result  of  bis  applications. 

Dr.  H.  C.  Allen  felt  called  upon  to  take  exceptions  to 


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1887  Americfin  Inatittite  of  Homoeopathy.  SS 

some  of  the  remarks  touching  the  suppression  of  disease. 
Hahnemann  was  just  as  correct  as  any  of  us  with  regard  to 
the  pathology  of  eruptive  diseases,  when  he  taught  his 
theory  of  chronic  diseases.  There  is  much  truth  in  the 
psoric  theory.  It  is  an  important  factor  in  the  treatment 
of  all  chronic  diseases  which  no  Homoeopath  can  overlook 
and  succeed.  We  are  not  to  use  a  remedy  to  relieve  a  dis- 
ease by  name,  but  we  must  take  the  totality  of  the  symp- 
toms. If  we  carefully  follow  Hahnemann's  advice  we  can 
give  the  potentized  remedy — not  necessarily  Sulphur — but 
the  indicated  remedy,  for  a  certain  train  of  symptoms,  and 
that  little  itch  insect  will  be  made  so  exceedingly  uncom- 
fortable that  he  will  vacate,  and  it  will  be  made  so  decided- 
ly unpleasant  for  him  as  a  habitation  that  he  cannot  come 
back  again. 

Dr.  Sturtevant  accorded  with  Dr.  Schley  in  believing 
that  a  correct  diagnosis  was  the  first  essential.  He  made 
it  a  special  feature  in  his  cases  to  enquire  after  the  urin- 
ary secretion.  He  was  satisfied  that  to  suppress  an  eczema 
was  a  hazardous  procedure. 

Dr.  Owens  confessed  to  using  both  internal  and  external 
treatment  and  has  had  no  bad  results,  but  he  knew  from 
other  cases  that  the  suppression  had  brought  about  serious 
difficulties.  He  mentioned  a  case  of  twenty  years  standing 
where  an  eruption  appeared  in  warm  weather  and  disap- 
peared in  cold  or  wet  weather  to  be  replaced  by  rheuma- 
tism. 

Dr.  Schley  reiterated  his  previous  statement  that  in  his 
fourteen  years  of  general  practice  in  New  York  he  had  not 
known  of  a  single  case  in  which  bad  results  had  followed 
the  use  of  topical  applications  to  a  skin  disease. 

Dr.  B.  F.  Dake  related  a  c€ise  of  partial  deafness  as  th& 
result  of  a  suppressed  skin  disease. 

Bureau  of  Ophthalmology  and  Otology. 
Claukncb  Bartlett.  M.  D.,  Stenoffrapber. 

The  Bureau  of  Ophthalmology  and  Otology  met  in  th& 
mpper  club-room  at  3  p.  m.,  Dr.  Qeo.  S.  Norton,  of  New^ 
York,  presiding.     Papers  were  read  as  follows: 


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84  The  Medical  Advance,  [J^y 

"  Sarcoma  and  Carcinoma  of  the  Choroid,"  by  C.  H.  Vilas, 
M.  D.,  of  Chicago. 

"A  Clinical  Study  of  the  Verbascum  Thapsus,"  by  H.  P. 
Bellows,  M.  D.,  of  Boston. 

"Fibroid  Polypi  of  the  Nose  and  Throat,"  by  Dr.  E.  H. 
Linnell,  of  Norwich,  Conn. 

Dr.  G.  S.  Norton  read  a  paper  on  the  "  Importance  of 
the  Ophthalmoscope  in  the  Diagnosis  of  Tumors  of  the 
Brain."  The  investigation  of  the  subject  by  the  specialists 
has  shown  this  to  be  a  most  important  question  for  the 
general  practitioner,  as  well  as  the  neurologists. 

Dr.  B.  W.  James,  of  Philadelphia,  read  a  paper  on 
"  Cataract,"  which  was  filled  with  practical  hints,  and  of 
interest  not  only  to  specialists,  but  to  the  general  practi- 
tioner as  well. 

These  papers  were  discussed  by  Drs.  J.  E.  James,  G.  S. 
If orton,  E.  H.  Linnell,  A.  M.  Cushing,  B.  W.  James,  Clarence 
Bartlett,  A.  B.  Norton  and  J.  C.  Morgan.  At  5:30  p.  m. 
the  bureau  adjourned. 

THIRD   DAY. — EVENING  SESSION. 

The  Bureau  of  Materia  Medica  was  called.  Dr.  H.  M. 
Hobart,  Chicago,  chairman. 

The  first  paper  of  the  evening  was  by  Dr.  C.  L.  Cleve- 
land, Cleveland,  O.,  entitled  "Causes  and  Besults  of 
Sleeplessness."  "Difference  Between  Coma,  Delirium 
and  other  forms  of  abnormal  Somnolence,"  was  read  by  Dr. 
Geo.  W.  Winterburn,  of  New  York,  as  well  also  as  "  Bem- 
edies  for  ordinary  Sleeplessness,"  both  papers  being  in  the 
author's  usually  forcible  style,  and  well  received. 

Dr.  Cowperthwaite  presented  "  Remedies  for  Disturbed 
Sleep  from  Reflex  Troubles,"  a  paper  containing  valuable 
therapeutic  hints. 

"  Groups  of  Remedies  for  Sleeplessness  from  Diseases 
of  the  Brain,"  was  a  short  paper  by  Dr.  T.  F.  Allen. 

Dr.  Hobart's  "  Physiology  of  Sleep,"  was  interesting  and 
instructive. 

By  special  request  Dr.  Winterburn  read  "Dreams,"  a 
contribution  by  S.  Lilienthal,  M.  D.,  San  Francisco. 


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1887  American  Institute  of  Homceopathy.  85 

The  discussion  was  opened  by  Dr.  T.  F.  Allen,  who 
stated  that  for  ordinary  sleeplessness  he  had  found  Alcohol 
in  minute  doses  an  excellent  aid.  He  was  followed  by  Dr. 
J.  C.  Morgan  and  Dr.  G.  8.  Norton,  the  latter  main- 
taining that  some  defect  of  the  eye  is  very  often  the  cause 
which  had  taught  him  to  look  at  that  organ  first  of  all  in 
pronounced  cases  of  insomnia. 

Dr.  H.  C.  Allen  ascribed  much  of  the  prevalent  sleep- 
lessness to  the  inordinate  use  of  tobacco,  tea  and  coffee. 

Dr.  Ghas.  Mohr  recited  several  cases  to  show  that  he  had 
not  as  yet  failed  to  find  the  remedy  when  studying  his 
Materia  Medica  closely. 

Dr.  A.  M.  Gushing  spoke  of  Gannabis  Indica  for  the  in- 
somnia of  drunkards. 

The  discussion  was  prolonged  to  a  late  hour,  when  on 
motion  the  report  was  accepted  and  referred  to  Gommittee 
on  Publication. 

The  Board  of  Gensors  made  a  partial  report  by  present- 
ing for  future  action  the  names  of  a  number  of  candidates. 


FOURTH   DAY.— MORNING   SESSION. 

The  first  hour,  as  per  program,  being  devoted  to  genered 
and  miscellaneous  business,  the  Board  of  Gensors  reported 
for  election  the  following  candidates,  who  were  thereupon 
duly  elected: 

Arthur  Grosvenor,  Chicago.  111.;  Melvin  D.  Smith,  Middlebury, 
Vt.;  Alfred  W.  Bailey,  Atlantic  City,  N.  J.;  William  B.  Putnam, 
Hodsick  Falls,  N.  Y.;  Charlotte  M.  Fay,  Springfield,  Mass.;  Jacob 
C.  La  Dow,  Mechanicsville,  X.  Y  ;  S.  H.  Blodgett,  Cambridge.  Mass. 

The  special  committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  resolu- 
tion of  T.  L.  Brown,  M.  D.,  reported  that, 

"  This  Institute  condemns  the  action  of  any  college  which  grad- 
uates an  unsuccessful  candidate  from  another  school  unless  he 
attends  at  least  one  full  course  of  lectures  at  the  college  where  he 
applies  for  a  degree.  H.  D.  Paine,  M.  D., 

Theo.  Y.  Kinne.  M.  D., 
Jno.  E.  James,  M.  D., 

Committee," 

On  motion  the  report  was  accepted  and  adopted. 


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86  The  Medical  Advance,  July 

Dr.  T.  M.  Strong  presented  his  report  on  foreign  corres- 
pondence, showing  increased  activity  among  the  members 
of  the  homoeopathic  school  throughout  foreign  countries. 
He  also  stated  that  he  had  received  a  paper  in  German 
from  Dr.  Bojamis,  but  after  having  had  the  same  translated 
believed  it  too  voluminous  to  go  into  the  proceedings.  He 
therefore  moved  that  Dr.  Bojamis  be  made  a  corresponding 
member  of  the  Institute,  which  was  so  ordered. 

0.  8.  Eunnels,  M.  D.,  presented  an  oral  report  of  his 
appointment  as  delegate  to  the  International  Convention 
held  during  the  past  year  at  Basle,  Switzerland.  The  next 
quinquennial  convention  will  meet  in  this  country  in  1891. 
President  Orme  appointed  Drs.  I.  T.  Talbot,  Boston;  J.  P. 
Dake,  Nashville;  J.  W.  Dowling,  New  York;  B.  W.  James, 
Philadelphia;  E.  Ludlam,  Chicago;  O.  S.  Bunnels,  Indian- 
apolis, and  T.  G.  Comstock,  St.  Louis,  as  a  standing  com- 
mittee to  make  arrangements  for  this  convention. 

Letters  of  regret  were  read  from  the  following  members: 

1.  T.  Talbott,  Boston ;  J.  P.  Dake,  Nashville ;  J.  C.  Sanders, 
Cleveland;  T.  P.  Wilson,  Ann  Arbor;  L.  B.  Wells,  Utica;  Milton 
Hammond,  Baltimore;  P.  L.  Hatch,  Minneapolis;  S.  Lilienthal, 
San  Francisco;  A.  I.  Sawyer,  Monroe;  Joseph  Jones,  San  Antonia; 
C.  E.  Fisher,  Austin:  J.  S.  Mitchell,  Chicago:  F.  Parke  Lewis,  Buf- 
falo; J.  A.  Campbell,  St.  Louis. 

The  full  Committee  on  Medical  Education  for  ensuing 
year  is  as  follows: 

Dr.  T.  G.  Comstock,  chairman;  Drs.  T.  Y.  Kinne,  R.  W.  McClel- 
land, C.  B.  Kinyon,  D.  H.  Beckwith,  L.  H.  Willard,  and  O.  S.  Run- 
nels. 

On  motion  of  Dr.  Beckwith  it  was 

Resolved,  That  no  member  shall  serve  on  more  than  one  bureau, 
or  standing  committee,  during  any  one  year. 

The  special  committee  on  pharmacopoeia  presented  its 
report  through  Dr.  A.  C.  Cowperthwaite,  in  the  absence  of 
Dr.  Dake,  chairman,  recommending  that  Drs.  Lewis  Sher- 
man, J.  W.  Clapp  and  F.  E.  Boericke  be  appointed  a  com- 
mittee to  confer  with  the  committee  of  the  International 
Convention,  the  British  pharmacopoeia  to  be  a  basis  for  a 
new  one. 

Dr.  Beebe  then  read  his  address  as  chairman  of  the 


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1887  American  Institute  of  Homoeopathy,  87 

Bureau  of  Sanitary  Science,  "Facts  and  Fallacies  of  Cli- 
matology." 

The  full  Bureau  of  Surgery,  as  reported  by  its  chairman, 
is  as  follows: 

John  E.  James,  Chairman;  Drd.  Wm.  Tod  Helmuth,  J.  H.  McClel- 
land, Chas.  M.  Thomas.  L.  H.  Wlllard.  I.  T.  Talbott.  N.  Schneider, 
Geo.  A.  Hall,  S.  B.  Parsons,  and  Sidney  F.  Wilcox.  Subject:  "  Sur- 
gery of  the  Intestinal  Tract." 

The  full  Bureau  on  Ophthalmology  and  Otology,  as  re- 
ported by  its  chairman,  is  as  follows: 

J.  E.  Jones,  Chairman;  Drs.  Henry  C.  Houghton,  Bushrod  W. 
James,  H.  K.  Bennett,  F.  Parke  Lewis,  Geo.  S.  Norton,  W.  John 
Harris,  Chas.  Deady,  W.  H.  Winslow.  Subject:  "Acute  Inflamma- 
tion of  the  Eye,  Ear  and  Throat." 

Dr.  B.  F.  Dake,  Chairman  of  Bureau  of  Paedology,  re- 
ports the  following  associates: 

Drs.  C.  D.  Crank,  Clarence  Bartlett,  R.  N.  Tooker,  Martin  Des- 
chere,  C.  H.  Goodman. 

In  the  absence  of  the  chairman,  Dr.  Selden  H.  Talcott ' 
presented  the  address  of  the  Bureau  of  Psycological  Med- 
icine, "Habits  which  tend  to  the  Production  of  Insanity." 
This  was  an  able  paper  and  was  well  received,  as  was  also 
the  paper  of  Dr.  J.  D.  Buck  which  followed,  on  "The 
Physio-philosophy  of  Habit" 

The  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Medical  Legislation 
reported  the  full  committee  as  follows: 

J.  H.  McClelland,  Chairman;  Drs.  F.  H.  Orme,  J.  H.  Smith,  C.  E. 
Fisher,  H.  M.  Paine.  H.  Pitcalrn.  W.  J.  Merrick,  Seldon  H.  Tal- 
cott, H.  R.  Stout,  J.  B.  G.  Custis. 

Dr.  Geo.  B.  Peck,  chairman  of  Bureau  of  Obstetrics, 
reported  the  following: 

Geo.  B.  Peck,  chairman;  Drs.  Julia  H.  Smith,  Sheldon  Leavitt, 
C.  G.  Higbee,  \V.  C.  Richardson,  T.  F.  H.  Sprengr,  L.  P.  Sturtevant, 
J.  B.  G.  Custis,  Emily  T  V.  Pardee,  and  Edward  P.  Scales.  Sub- 
ject: "Accidental  Complications  of  Gestation." 

Bureau  of  Begistration  and  Organization  will  be  consti- 
tuted as  follows: 

T.Franklin  Smith,  chairman;  Drs.  I.  T.  Talbott,  R.  B.  House, 
C.  E.  Fisher,  E.  M.  Hale,  Wm.  E.  Leonard,  C.  S.  Ford,  C.  P.  Eager. 

Board  of  Censors  report  the  following  additional  names: 


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88  The  Medical  Advance,  July 

Lyman  A.  Clark,  Cambridge,  N.  Y.;  and  J.  Arthur  Bullock, 
Wilkesbarre,  Pa. 

Dr.  John  C.  Morgan  read  his  address  as  chairman  of 
the  Bureau  of  Anatomy,  Physiology  and  Pathology. 

The  hour  of  noon  haying  been  reached,  the  special  order 
was  called — the  election  of  oflScers  and  selection  of  place 
for  next  meeting — with  the  following  results: 

President,  A.  C.  Cowperthwaite,  Iowa  City,  Iowa;  vice-presi- 
dent, N.  Schneider,  Cleveland.  Ohio;  treasurer,  E.  M.  Kellogg,  New 
York  city;  general  secretary,  Pemberton  Dudley,  Philadelphia; 
provisional  secretary,  T.  M.  Strong,  Ward's  island.  New  York. 
Next  place  of  meeting:  Niagara  Falls,  New  York. 

The  Board  of  Censors  of  the  past  year  was  re-elected  as 
follows: 

Drs.  R.  B.  Rush,  R.  F.  Baker,  T.  F.  Smith,  H,  B.  Claake,  Mary 
A.  B.  Woods. 

The  Bureau  of  Psychology,  Mental  and  Nervous  Diseases 
reported  the  following  members: 

J.  D.  Buck,  chairman;  Drs.  S.  H.  Talcott,  F.  W.  Boyer,  N.  E. 
Paine,  H.  M.  Brigham,  C.  S.  Kinne,  A.  P.  Williamson,  W.  H.  Hol- 
comb,  J.  G.  Baldwin,  W.  M.  Butler. 

Bureau  of  Gynsecology  reported  the  following  members: 

Philip  Porter,  chairman;  Drs.  L.  A.  Phillips,  E.  M.  Hale.  T.  G. 
Comstock,  R.  Ludlam,  S.  P.  Hedges,  A.  Claypool,  M.  Betts,  N. 
Schneider,  and  L.  L.  Danfortb. 

On  motion  a  committee  of  five  was  ordered  appointed  to 
draft  a  series  of  resolutions  commemorative  of  the  good 
will  towards  our  retiring  secretary  in  recognition  of  his 
long  and  faithful  services;  also  that  the  same  be  properly 
engrossed. 

Becess  until  3  p.  m. 


FOURTH   DAY. — AFTERNOON  SESSION. 

The  afternoon's  wort  was  divided  into  three  bureaus,* 
meeting  in  separate  apartments. 


*  The  Bureau  of  Psychological  Medlciue.  and  also  of  Anatomy,  Physiology  and 
Pathology  were  reported  respectively  by  Drs.  Strong  and  Bartlett.  As  the  late- 
ness of  the  hour  for  adjourning  precluded  the  personal  copying  of  notes  taken 
by  these  reporters,  we  have  been  compelled  to  accept  in  lieu  the  meagre  news- 
paper reports.— Ed. 


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1887  American  Institute  of  Homoeopathy,  89 

Bureau  of  Sanitary  Science. 
Frank  Kraft,  M.  D.,  SteDOgrapher. 

Dr.  Beebe,  chairman,  called  the  bureau  to  order;  Dr. 
Jones,  of  Albany,  secretary. 

Dr.  Wm.  Owens,  Cincinnati,  read  a  paper  on  "Influences 
of  the  Climate  in  Disturbances  of  the  Nervous  System." 

This  was  followed  by  "Ocean  and  Seashore  Climate," 
read  by  Dr.  Bushrod  W.  James. 

Dr.  Joseph  Jones,  San  Antonia,  sent  in  a  synopsis  of 
"The  Influences  of  Climate  in  Affections  of  the  Lungs." 

Dr.  G.  H.  Wilson,  Meriden,  Conn.,  reported  a  paper  on 
"Influence  of  Climate  in  Diseases  of  Alimentary  Canal 
and  its  Appendages." 

"Influence  of  Climate  in  Disturbances  of  Circulation — 
Secretion  and  Excretion,"  was  sent  in  by  Dr.  Geo.  M. 
Ockford,  Lexington,  Ky. 

"  The  Study  of  High  Altitudes  in  Eelation  to  Disease," 
by  Dr.  A.  S.  Everett,  of  Denver,  was  read  by  the  secretary. 

Dr.  H.  E.  Stout,  of  Jacksonville,  Fla.,  read  a  valuable 
paper  on  "Observations  on  Florida  Climate."  which  was 
listened  to  with  marked  interest. 

The  secretary.  Dr.  C.  E.  Jones,  then  read  his  own  paper 
on  "Influence  of  Climate  in  Bronchial  Affections." 

These  papers,  together  with  one  by  the  chairman,  "Facts 
and  Fallacies  in  Climatology,"  were  then  reviewed  by  Dr. 
Beckwith,  who  devoted  himself  almost  entirely  to  the  paper 
of  Dr.  Stout,  complimenting  him  upon  the  excellent  work 
he  had  done.  He  was  certain  that  the  State  of  Florida 
had  one  advantage  over  States  at  the  North,  and  that  con- 
sisted in  the  fact  that  the  Florida  house  is  open  and  not 
hermetically  sealed;  hence  the  patients  and  citizens  there 
get  fresh  air,  although  the  temperature  sometimes  fell  30 
or  40  degrees  in  24  hours,  all  the  residents  have  to  do  is 
to  use  a  little  more  clothing.  As  to  malaria,  he  was  not  so 
confident  of  the  correctness  of  Dr.  Stout*s  position.  His 
experience  in  Florida  had  been  different.  The  water 
closets  of  the  hotel  at  whicli  he  stopped  were  not  well 
trapped,  and  he  therefore  attributed  much  of  malaria  and 
other  diseases  to  bad  drainage  and  defective  sewerage. 


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90  .  The  Medical  Advtince.  July 

This  was  not,  perhaps,  the  case  with  Jacksonville,  but  he 
had  found  it  in  other  parts  of  the  State.  Dr.  Beckwith 
cited  a  case  of  asthma  (in  Cleveland,  Ohio)  occurring  in  a 
man  working  in  a  planing  mill,  which  was  so  desperate 
that  he  gave  him  10  drops  tincture  of  Aconite  mixed  with 
a  four  ounce  solution  of  gum  arabic  and  cured  him. 

Dr.  Jones  put  a  number  of  questions  to  Dr.  Stout  con- 
cerning the  climate  of  Hernando  and  Orange  Counties,  and 
in  the  region  about  Tampa  Bay. 

Dr.  Stout  said  they  were  all  good  points  and  that  patients 
will  do  as  well  in  one  place  in  Florida  as  in  another,  but 
they  must  hunt  the  places  themselves.  You  cannot  pre- 
scribe one  town  or  one  county  for  a  person.  Individuali- 
zation must  be  exercised.  The  Gulf  coast  presents  some 
advantages  over  the  Atlantic  coast  in  severe  bronchitis  and 
in  female  troubles  also;  but  aside  from  that  he  saw  no  very 
great  difference  in  one  place  over  another  in  Florida. 

Dr.  Dudley  had  read  somewhere  of  people  in  Florida 
taking  a  quinine  pill  before  a  meal  instead  of  saying  grace. 

Dr.  Brown  complimented  Dr.  Stout  on  his  valuable 
paper  and  admired  his  advocacy  of  fresh  air,  sunlight  and 
exercise. 

Dr.  Jones  made  some  few  remarks  in  explanation  and 
verification  of  the  statement  set  out  in  his  paper  to  the 
effect  that  the  altitude  of  Saratoga  in  certain  places  was 
beneficial  for  pulmonary  sufferers. 

Dr.  Fisher  (Canada)  said  there  was  one  subject— that  of 
sewerage — which  should  have  more  attention  everywhere. 
He  referred  to  the  La  Neur  system  of  drainage  which  had 
been  in  use  in  London  for  many  years — which  is  properly 
a  pneumatic  system — by  which  the  sewerage  is  pumped 
directly  out  of  the  houses  into  certain  reservoii's.  By  the 
use  of  chemicals  this  waste  material  is  transformed  into  a 
very  valuable  fertilizing  agent. 

Dr.  Kinne  said  he  never  had  the  asthma,  though  every- 
body else  told  him  he  had.  He  had  been  south  five  times, 
and  noticed  that  the  symptoms  of  the  patients  were  aggra- 
vated in  proportion  to  the  humidity  of  the  atmosophere. 
The  thermometer  was  no  guide  at  all;  it  was  the  hygrome- 
ter and  barometer  that  settled  the  business. 


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1887  American  Institute  of  Homcpopathy,  91 

Dr.  Fisher  remarked  that  in  the  east  it  had  not  been  un- 
common to  send  phthisical  patients  to  Montreal.  He 
wanted  to  know  if  any  one  present  had  ever  hetird  of  a 
sailor  having  asthma. 

Dr.  Adams  answered  that  he  had  treated  sailors  repeat- 
edly for  asthma. 

Dr.  Gx)rham  said  he  had  spent  two  years  of  his  profes- 
sional life  in  Cheyenne,  which  is  100  miles  north  of  Den- 
ver, and  while  there  had  had  three  patients  in  his  care 
who  had  suffered  with  asthma,  one  of  whom  being  a  gen- 
tleman living  east  of  Chicago.  He  was  relieved  almost 
immediately,  but  on  returning  home  each  time  was  again 
seized,  to  find  relief  only  at  Cheyenne. 

Other  members  took  part  in  the  discussion,  so  that  the 
interesting  proceedings  were  not  adjourned  until  7  o'clock. 


The  Bureau  of  Psychological  Medicine  was  presided 
over  by  Dr.  Selden  Talcott,  in  the  absence  of  the  chair- 
man. The  papers  heretofore  read  in  general  session  by 
Drs.  Talcott  and  Buck  were  then  taken  up  and  exhaustively 
discussed. 


The  Bureau  of  Anatomy,  Physiology  and  Pathology  was 
under  the  chairmanship  of  Dr.  J.  C.  Morgan.  "  Malarial 
Pathology"  was  the  subject  for  discussion. 


The  evening  was  given  up  to  the  social  element,  the 
Assembly  hall  having  been  cleared  and  made  ready  for 
Terpsichorean  exerciser  The  banquet  promised  in  the 
program  failed  of  materialization — there  being  in  its  stead 
what  under  the  circumstances  was  far  preferable,  a  bounte- 
ous lunch  which  remained  spread  for  the  Institute  mem- 
bers and  their  ladies  until  midnight 

The  retiring  president.  Dr.  F.  H.  Orme,  of  Atlanta,  Ga„ 
and  Mrs.  Orme  held  a  reception  in  the  parlor  of  the  Grand 
Union,  where  the  individual  members  and  guests  were 
presented. 


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92  The  Medical  Advance.  July 

FIFTH   DAY.— CLOSING   SESSION. 

Notwithstanding  the  lateness  of  the  hour  when  the  social 
feature  adjourned  last  night  (or  this  morning)  a  fair  num- 
ber of  members  put  in  their  appearance  when  the  Presi- 
dent called  the  Institute  to  order. 

During  the  first  "Miscellaneous  Business"  hour  the 
Board  of  Censors  made  its  final  report  and  the  Institute 
elected  the  following  candidates: 

Lyman  A.  Clark,  Cambridge,  N.  Y.;  J.  Arthur  Bullard,  Wilkes- 
barre,  Pa.;  Eugene  H.  Porter,  New  York;  Mary  F.  Munson,  Los 
Angeles,  Cal. 

This  making  a  toted  of  eighty-one  new  members  added 
to  the  rolls  during  this  session. 

Dr.  J.  B.  Gregg  Custis,  of  Washington,  D.  C,  presented 
the  report  of  the  Committee  on  Medical  Legislation  show- 
ing that  in  many  states  Homoeopathy  still  lingered  in  bon- 
dage while  in  others  it  was  doing  well.  On  the  whole  the 
outlook  was  promising. 

Dr.  Cowperthwaite,  presented  the  report  of  the  commit- 
tee on  railroad  fares,  suggesting  that  members  should  util- 
ize return  certificates  to  a  greater  degree  than  formerly, 
and  not  rely  on  round  trip  tickets,  thus  aiding  very  mater- 
ially the  committee  on  railroad  fares. 

On  motion  the  executive  committee  was  given  authority 
to  change  the  next  place  of  meeting,  should  circumstances 
seem  to  justify  it,  and  Drs.  A.  E.  Wright,  D.  G.  Wilcox, 
E.  S.  Cobum,  Phil  Porter  and  E.  H.  Wolcott  were  ap- 
pointed the  local  committee  of  arrangements. 

On  motion,  it  was  resolved  that  hereafter  papers  in  gen- 
eral or  sectional  meeting  shall  not  consume  more  than  fif- 
teen minutes  in  the  reading. 

That  not  more  than  one-half  of  the  time  allotted  to  the 
report  of  the  bureau  shall  be  taken  up  in  the  reading  of 
papers;  papers  whose  authors  are  present, being  read  first, 
the  other  papers  to  be  read  only  at  the  pleasure  of  the 
meeting. 

A  report  of  the  special  committee  on  transactions  recom- 
mended that  the  present  form  be  continued. 


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1887  American  Institute  of  Homceopathy.  93 

The  committee  on  a  testimonial  to  Dr.  J.  C.  Burgher  re- 
X)orted  as  follows: 

Whereas,  John  C.  Burgher,  M.  D.,  has  rendered,  faithful  and 
efficient  service  as  secretary  of  the  American  Institute  of  Homoeo- 
pathy for  the  past  seven  years. 

Resolved,  That  on  his  retirement  from  this  office,  the  Institute 
desires  to  place  on  record  its  high  appreciation  of  the  laborious 
work  thus  accomplished;  its  recognition  of  the  uniform  courtesy 
extended  to  its  members,  and  the  promptness  in  performance  of 
the  various  duties  of  his  office. 

Resolved,  That  these  resolutions,  properly  engrossed,  be  sent  to 
Dr.  Burgher. 

H.  D.  Paine,       R.  Ludlam, 
H.  M.  Smith,      Phil  Porter, 
D.  S.  Smith,  Committee. 

Henry  D.  Paine,  M.  D.,  necrologist,  presented  his  report 
mentioning  the  deaths  of  the  following  members: 

C.  Theo.  Liebold,  New  York;  R.  Sargent,  Philadelphia;  J.  P. 
Dake,  Jr.,  Xashville;  Henry  Detwiler,  Easton,  Pa.;  A.  E.  Small, 
Chicago;  H.  B.  Easton,  Rockford,  Me.;  R.  R.  Gr^g,  Buffalo;  David 
Cowley,  Pittsburgh;  Chas.  Bossert,  New  York. 

Dr.  Kinne  moved  the  following  resolution: 

That  the  hearty  thanks  of  this  institute  are  due  our  esteemed 
president  for  his  uniform  courtesy,  justice  and  decision  in  presid- 
ing over  our  deliberations,  and  we  assure  him  that  through  life  we 
shall  carry  memories  of  our  pleasant  meeting  and  follow  him  with 
our  prayers  for  his  continued  health  and  life. 

Adopted  by  a  rising  vote. 

Dr.  T.  F.  Smith  referred  to  the  death  of  Drs.  Detwiler 
and  Bossert. 

Dr.  George  S.  Norton  delivered  a  glowing  panegjrric 
upon  Dr.  C.  T.  Liebold,  of  New  York  City. 

Bemarks  were  also  made  by  Drs.  Morgan,  D.  S.  Smith, 
D.  H.  Beckwith,  A.  E.  Wright,  J.  B.  G.  Custis  andE.  Lud- 
lam. 

Besolutions  of  thanks  were  extended  to  the  proprietor  of 
the  hotel  for  the  oare  and  courtesy  extended  to  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Institute,  and  to  the  press  for  its  full  and  more 
than  usually  accurate  reports. 

Dr.  Orme  expressed  his  deep  appreciation  of  the  cour- 
tesy of  the  Institute  in  their  aotion  of  last  year  in  electing 


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94  The  Medical  Advance.  July 

him  president  while  detained  at  home  on  account  of  sick- 
ness, and  for  their  renewed  expressions  of  kindness  and 
good  will  shown  to  him  during  the  present  session  as  pre- 
siding officer. 

Whereupon,  no  further  business  appearing  for  this  ses- 
sion, the  Fortieth  Annual  Session  of  the  American  Insti- 
tute of  Homoeopathy  was  adjourned  sine  die. 


THE  HAIIXEMAXNIAN  ASSOCIATION. 
[Reported  by  Frank  Kraft,  M.  D.] 


MORNING   SESSION. 

The  Eighth  Annual  Session  of  this  Association  was  held 
at  Ocean  Hotel,  Long  Branch,  N.  J.,  on  June  21st,  22d 
and  23d. 

The  meeting  was  called  to  order  by  the  President,  who 
thereupon  read  his  Annual  Address,  which  was  referred  to 
a  committee  consisting  of  Drs.  Lee,  Butler  and  Sawyer. 

The  annual  reports  of  the  Secretary  and  Treasurer  were 
read  and  approved;  the  latter  reporting  the  receipt  from 
all  sources  of  $331.17,  and  expenditure  of  S230.62;  against 
the  balance  of  $100.65,  however,  there  was  an  indebtedness 
of  $164.15. 

Dr.  Rushmore  reported  his  appointment  as  delegate 
from  the  N.  J.  Horn.  Sbite  Society,  and  stated  that  a  strong 
reaction  had  taken  place  in  that  Society  in  favor  of  un- 
mixed Homoeopathy. 

Dr.  Sawyer  made  a  similar  report  from  his  (the  Indiana) 
State  Society. 

A  number  of  letters  were  read  from  absent  members, 
one  of  whom.  Dr.  Thos.  Skinner,  of  England,  accompany- 
ing his  regrets  with  a  substantial  token  of  regard. 

On  motion  of  Dr.  Butler  the  resignation  of  Dr.  Samuel 
Swan  was  made  the  first  order  of  business  for  to-morrow. 

Dr.  Wesselhoeft  read  the  report  of  the  Committee  on 
By-Laws  with  several  proposed  alterations.  Their  con- 
sideration was  postponed  until  to-morrow. 

The  Board  of  Censors  made  a  partial  report,  and  the 
Secretary  attempted  to  show  that  Dr.  Frank  Powel  had 


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1887  The  Hahnemannian  Association.  96 

not  been  elected  last  year,  the  published  Transactions  to 
the  contrary  notwithstanding;  bathe  was  corrected  by  Dr. 
Lee  who  explained  how  it  had  occurred. 

On  motion  it  was  ordered  that  the  Board  of  Censors  re- 
port no  names  to  the  Association  upon  whom  they  were  not 
prepared  to  report  favorably.  The  following  names  were 
then  read  and  elected: 

Drs.  (Jeo.  H.  Carr,  Bradford  LeB.  Baylies,  E.  T.  Adams.  Har- 
riett H.  Cobb,  Cbas.  E.  Chase.  Theodore  S.  Keith,  FJoni  A.  Wad- 
dell,  Joseph  D.  Tyrrell,  Samuel  L.  Eaton,  W.  J.  H.  Emory,  Morris 
r.  Wheeler,  Jas.  W.  Thomson.  John  V.  Allen,  Frank  Powel,  Nathan 
Cash,  W.  H.  Baker. 

AFTERNOON  SESSION. 

The  first  paper  read  in  the  Bureau  of  Materia  Medica 
was  by  Ad.  Lippe,  M.  D.,  on  "Progressive  Materia  Medica: 
How  it  is  Developed."  Following  this  came  "  Errors  in 
Drug  Proving,"  by  P.  P.  Wells,  M.D.;  "Homoeopathy  and 
its  Relations  to  the  Germ  Theory,"  by  Harlyn  Hitchcock, 
M.  D.;  "Tissue  Remedies,"  by  K  B.  Nash,  M.  D.;  each  of 
which  received  thorough  and  instructive  discussion. 


EVENING  SESSION. 

The  Auditing  Committee  on  the  Treasurer's  accounts 
reported  and  report  received  and  adopted. 

Dr.  Lee  suggested  that  the  Proceedings  be  hereafter 
published  as  a  monthly  journal,  under  the  editorial  man- 
agement of  the  Secretary. 

Drs.  Bell  and  Nash  suggested  that  it  be  published  as  a 
supplement  to  the  Advance. 

The  subject  was  finally  referred  to  a  committee  consist- 
ing of  Drs.  Custis,  Butler  and  Bell. 

The  special  order  for  considering  the  resignation  of  Dr. 
Swan  was  then  re-considered  and  the  Association  went 
into  a  Committee  of  the  Whole,  which  recommended  that 
the  resignation  be  accepted. 

second  DAT. — MORNINO  SESSION. 

In  a  letter  to  the  Association  Dr.  Tyrrell  suggested  that 
a  new  translation  of  the  Organon  be  brought  out  under  the 


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96  The  Medical  Advance.  July 

auspices  of  the  Association,  and  on  motion  Drs.  Wells, 
Lippe  and  Wesselhoeft  were  appointed  a  committee  on  the 
Translation  of  the  Organon. 

The  Committee  on  By-Laws  then  took  up  its  recom- 
mendations with  the  following  changes  as  the  result: 

Sections  1  and  2  remain  unchanged. 

Sec.  3.  Applications  for  membership  may  be  received  at  any 
regular  meeting.  They  shall  be  endorsed  by  three  members  of  the 
Association  who  are  in  good  standing,  such  endorsement  shall  be 
made  not  upon  the  general  reputation  of  the  applicant  but  upon 
the  positive  knowledge  of  one  of  the  endorsers.  It  shall  be  the 
duty  of  the  Chairman  of  the  Board  of  Censors  to  send  the  names 
of  applicants  to  the  members  of  the  Association  at  least  six 
months  before  the  next  annual  meeting. 

Sec.  4.  The  application  shall  be  in  the  possession  of  the  Chair- 
man of  the  Board  of  Censors  for  the  period  of  six  months  before 
the  annual  meeting  and  the  applicant  shall  place  in  the  hands  of 
the  Chairman  at  least  three  months  before  the  annual  meeting  an 
original  thesis  consisting  either  of  an  original  proving,  or  a  clin- 
ical report  of  three  cases  treated  by  him  or  her.  If  the  applicant 
is  elected  his  or  her  thesis  shall  be  referred  to  the  Committee  of 
Publication;  if  rejected  the  thesis  shall  be  returned  to  him  or  her. 

Seo.  6.  The  name  of  any  applicimt  for  membership  in  this 
Association  which  has  been  rejected  by  a  unanimous  vote  of  the 
Board  of  Censors  shall  not  be  presented  to  the  Association  for 
action  in  any  case;  but  in  case  of  the  rejection  of  any  applicant  by 
a  majority  vote  of  the  Board  of  Censors  the  minority  of  that  Board 
may  report  the  name  of  such  applicant  to  the  Association  for  final 
action. 

Sec.  7.  The  annual  dues  of  this  Association  shall  be  $5.00,  pay- 
able in  advance.    [No  initiation  fee.] 

The  Board  of  Censors  report  the  following  names  which 
are  duly  elected: 

Drs.  J.  H.  Allen,  H.  P.  Holmes,  D.  H.  Riggs,  F.  C.  Hood,  Jarvis 
U.  Woods. 

The  report  of  the  Bureau  of  Materia  Medica  was  then 
resumed. 

Dr.  W.  P.  DeFries  (a  non-member)  presented  the  Asso- 
ciation with  a  paper  on  "Confirmations";  "Verifications," 
read  by  Dr.  J.  A.  Biegler,;  "Salicylic  Acid  and  Melilo- 
tus  Alba"  (new  provings)  were  read  by  Dr.  H.  C.  Allen; 
also  a  paper  by  Dr.  A.  McNeil,  entitled  "A  Number  of 
Verifications." 


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1887  The  Hahnemannian  Association.  97 

AFTERNOON  SESSION. 

"  Provings  of  Sanicula/'  from  Drs.  Sherbino  and  Gund- 
lach,  read  by  title;  also  a  paper  on  "SeriacaBarlowii."  On 
motion  of  Dr.  Wells  the  latter  paper  was  rejected.  "Bep- 
ertory  of  Gonorrhoea  with  Concomitant  Symptoms  of  the 
Genital  and  Urinary  Organs,"  by  S.  A.  Kimball,  M.  D. 
The  introduction  was  read  and  its  purport  explained  by  the 
author.  "  A  Few  Experiences  with  Dulcamara  on  Women," 
by  W.  P.  Wesselhoeft,  M.  D.,  was  followed  by  Dr.  A.  Mc- 
Neil's paper,  **  Characteristics  of  Dulcamara." 

The  Committee  on  Publication  of  the  Transactions  re- 
X)orted  that  they  could  not  recommend  the  independent 
journal  suggestion,  and  the  publication  of  the  Transactions 
was  finally  referred  to  the  Publishing  Committee,  Drs. 
Wesselhoeft,  Butler  and  Ballard. 

Committee  on  President's  Address  submitted  its  report, 
through  Dr.  Butler. 

The  election  of  offiers  made  special  order  for  to-morrow 
morning. 

EVENING  SESSION. 

W.  S.  Gee,  M.  D.,  appointed  Chairman  of  Bureau  of 
Materia  Medica. 

The  greater  portion  of  the  evening  was  occupied  in 
listening  to  the  report  of  a  committee  from  the  Woman's 
Homoeopathic  Hospital  Association  of  Philadelphia.  After 
this  the  Bureau  of  Surgery  was  opened  with  Dr.  J.  B.  Bell, 
Chairman  pro  tern.  "History  of  a  Mammoth  Ovarian 
Tumor  Successfully  Removed,"  by  E.  Carleton,  M.  D.,  was 
followed  by  a  paper  on  "  AntisepticiBm,"  by  Dr.  Plum- 
mer,  of  Boston,  one  of  the  ablest  papers  presented  at  the 
session. 


THIBD  DAY. — MORNING   SESSION. 

The  election  of  officers  being  the  special  order  of  busi- 
|nes8,  was  then  taken  up  with  the  following  result: 
W.  P.  Wesselhoeft,  M.  D.,  Boston,  President. 
C.  W.  Butler, -M.  D.,  Montclair,  Vice-President. 
W.  A.  Hawley,  M.  D.,  Syracuse,  Treasurer. 
E.  A.  Ballard,  M.  D.,  Chicago,  Secretary. 
G 


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98  The  Medical  Advance.  July 

The  Bureau  of  Clinical  Medicine  was  well  represented, 
many  voluntary  papers  being  presented.  "A  Study  of 
Sulphuric  Acid,"  by  C.  W.  Butler,  M.  D.,  was  most  excel- 
lent Valuable  papers  were  also  read  by  Drs.  Ed.  Bush- 
more,  J.  A.  Biegler,  C.  H.  Lawton  and  the  Chairman,  E. 
W.  Sawyer. 

The  Board  of  Censors  made  a  final  report  by  presenting 
the  names  of  Wm.  Morris  Butler  and  Rufus  L.  Thurston, 
for  membership,  and  the  same  were  duly  elected. 

The  Bureau  of  Obstetrics  and  Diseases  of  Women  and 
Children,  E.  P.  Hussey,  M.  D.,  Chairman,  was  also  well 
represented,  papers  being  read  by  Drs.  Julius  Schmitt, 
Ed.  Rushmore,  E.  A.  Ballard,  Samuel  Long  and  the  Chair- 
man. Many  were  read  by  title  and  referred  for  publica- 
tion. 

A  new  Bureau,  that  of  The  Philosophy  of  Homoeopathy, 
was  added  to  the  list,  of  which  Dr.  Ad.  Lippe  was  made 
first  Chairman.  A  report  was  promised  at  the  next  meet- 
ing. 

After  some  routine  business  a  most  successful  meetiAg 
was  adjourned  to  meet  at  Niagara  Falls — Canadian  side  if 
found  practicable — and  Dr.  E.  P.  Hussey,  of  Buffalo,  made 
Chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Arrangements. 


COMMENT  AND  CRITICISM. 


DIPHTHERIA  :  CAN  HOMCEOPATHY  CUBE? 


D.  B.  MOEROW,  M.  D..  St.  Louis.  Mo. 


Last  week  the  Missouri  Institute  of  Homoeopathy 
concluded  a  pleasant  and  withal  profitable  session.  A 
paper  on  the  treatment  of  diphtheria  by  Dr.  Kershaw, 
in  which  the  author  recommended  vigorous  treatment, 
as  if  treating  a  snake  bite — milk  and  whiskey  every 
two  hours  to  keep  the  strength  up,  and  Gelsemium  and 
Mercurius  cyan,  without  indications  or  potencies,  as  the 
best  remedies — developed  the  fact,  in  the  discussion,  that 
most  of  the  members  present  were  sceptical  as  to  homoeo- 
pathic cures  of  diphtheria.    One  gentleman  said,  "it  made 


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1887  Diphiheria:  Can  Homceopaihy  Cure  f  99 

him  tired  to  hear  of  continued  homcBopathio  suooessee  and 
no  failures."  Another  was  applauded  for  a  similar  senti- 
ment Another  said,  ''  if  the  patient  gets  well,  I  tell  the 
parents  it  had  sore  throat;  if  it  dies  I  put  diphtheria  on 
the  death  certificate.  *'  Steam  and  inhalation  "  were  thought 
by  seyeral'the  best  treatment,  and  it  was  thought  these 
oases  would  probably  have  recovered  without  eyen  the  use 
of  steam.  It  was  further  claimed  that  no  remedy  in  its 
pathogenesis,  was  a  similar  to  the  prostration,  the  blood 
disorganization  and  paresis  of  diphtheria.  A  committee 
was  appointed  to  make  microscopic  examinations  of  blood, 
pus,  membranes,  etc.,  of  diphtheria  patients  during  the 
year  for  the  purpose  of  determining  its  pathology  and 
correct  diagnosis,  and  to  enable  us  to  scientifically  treat 
this  "  curse  of  the  civilization  of  the  19th  century."  The 
president  said  '*  some  thought  diphtheria  should  be  pre- 
vented, since  it  could  not  be  cured."  Being  a  very  new 
member  not  used  to  that  kind  of  Homoeopathy,  and,  withal, 
modest,  I  did  not  make  my  little  speech.  Drs.  Schott  and 
Morgan  defended  Homoeopathy  and  maintained  that  this 
dread  disease  could  be  cured. 

Most  of  these  gentlemen  are  authors,  teachers  in  colleges, 
and  honored  with  government  employ.  If  they  hold  such 
opinions,  what  may  we  expect  of  theii*  students?  I  want  to 
remark  that  the  law  of  Homoeopathy,  is  founded  in  experi- 
mental fact;  a  law  of  nature — as  true  as  any  proposition 
in  Euclid — and  that  it  has  been  demonstrated  as  many 
times.  And  I  believe  that  it  may  be  made  still  more  cer- 
tain, so  that  even  '*  this  dread  curse  of  the  civilization  of 
the  19th  century,"  may  be  cured.  Can  it  be  possible  that 
all  the  gentlemen  who  have  reported  cures  were  mistaken 
in  their  diagnosis,  and  simply  cured  a  catarrhal  sore  throat? 
What  is  the  cause  of  the  discomfiture  of  these  gentlemen? 
Probably  it  is  this:  to  solve  a  problem  in  Euclid  or  algebra, 
you  need  all  the  terms,  else  you  reason  from  false  premises 
and  arrive  at  false  conclusions.  That  would  not  disprove 
the  truths  of  mathematics.  A  million  such  blunders,  would 
only  prove  that  they  were  blunders.  So  in  treating  disease 
the  physician  wants  to  get  all  the  terms  of  the  proposition^ 


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100  The  Medical  Advance.  July 

the  totality  of  the  symptoms,  and  give  to  each  its  proper 
\reight,  else  he  reasons  from  false  premises  and  arrives  at 
hnmilating  results,  which  is  no  fault  of  the  law  of  the 
similars.  A  million  such  failures  would  only  prove  that 
they  were  blunders;  so  that  it  would  appear  a  man  is  not 
necessarily  a  falsifier  because  he  reports  cures  of  diph- 
theria. Any  disease  should  be  treated  vigorously  when  the 
doctor  is  consulted  and  the  most  vigorous  thing  he  can  do 
is  to  give  the  simillimum  of  the  case  in  hand  regardless  of 
its  pathology. 

I  too,  would  prevent  diphtheria,  but  would  not  do  it  by 
nosing  about  among  people's  closets  and  ash  pits,  but  by 
curing  the  chronic  miasms  inhereivt  in  families  that  per- 
mitted me  to  practice  for  them.  It  would  be  killing  the 
golden  goose,  bAt  save  ourselves  a  great  deal  of  worry,  and 
many  possible  heartaches  to  our  patrons. 

These  miasms  classified  by  Hahnemann  as  psora,  syphilis 
and  sycosis,  are  the  probable  factors  that  make  most  of 
our  bad  cases  and  often  make  the  *'  doctor  a  ninny."  It 
may  be  necessary  to  cure  the  miasm,  before  we  can  cure 
the  acute  disease  present  For  instance:  I  was  called  to  a 
lad,  suffering  from  intermittent  fever.  Natrum  mur.  was 
clearly  indicated,  and  was  exhibited,  but  the  fever  was  not 
arrested  for  some  days.  Looking  critically  at  my  patient, 
his  tongue,  enlarged  tonsils  and  saw  teeth,  gave  a  suspicion 
of  syphilitic  taint.  Mercurius  iod.  was  exhibited  for  24 
hours.  When  returning  to  Natrum  mur.  the  fever  was  im- 
mediately cured. 

A  baby,  bottle  fed,  suffered  with  constipation,  vomiting 
and  colic;  worse  nights.  Various  things  palliated  but  noth- 
ing cured.  When  she  went  "to  teeth"  Mercurius  was  in- 
dicated; receiving  it  she  immediately  grew  strong  and  well. 
Two  of  the  older  children  had  scarlatina  with  diphtheritic 
patches,  vomiting,  purging  and  cold  sweats.  Baryta  carb. 
seemed  indicated  but  it  took  Mercurius  iod.  to  cure.  When 
the  permanent  teeth  appeared  in  the  older  children  syph- 
ilis was  apparent  A  second  baby  was  attacked  just  as  the 
previous  one.  Very  costive,  pale,  colicky  at  night  A  few 
doses  of  Mercurius  cor.  200,  removed  the  whole  trouble, 


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1887  Diphtheria:  Can  Homceopaihy  Cure?  101 

and  the  baby  grew  stroDg  and  well.  The  improvement  was 
attributed  by  the  parents  to  the  food  I  ordered  for  it 

A  lady  came  to  me  for  nearly  a  year  for  some  chronic 
troubles;  remedies  were  clearly  indicated,  and  the  symp- 
toms prescribed  for  disappeared,  but  something  else  would 
immediately  appear.  She  said  her  parents  were  healthy. 
Later  the  mother  came  for  treatment  for  indigestion,  con- 
stipation and  hemorrhoids.  A  close  examination  discovered 
an  eruption  of  warts  and  that  her  hemorrhoids  were  syco- 
tic  excrescences.  That  solved  the  problem  of  her  daughter. 
Such  experiences,  no  doubt,  occur  to  every  physician,  and 
should  be  remembered  when  these  severe  acute  diseases 
present  themselves  for  treatment. 

My  failure  to  cure  the  first  baby  was  because  I  was  try- 
ing to  solve  my  problem  without  all  the  factors  and  not 
because  the  law  of  the  similars  is  not  true.  If  homoeopathic 
doctors  would  study  the  symptoms  more  and  pathology  less, 
and  report  all  verifications,  homoeopathic  practice  would  be 
made  a  certitude,  and  the  greatest  benefit  would  be  con- 
ferred on  humanity. 

Is  it  wrong  to  mention  the  name  of  the  Sage  of  Coethen 
at  a  homoeopathic  meeting? 


[Dr.  Morrow  makes  a  valuable  and  a  practical  sugges- 
tion, one  that  strikes  directly  at  the  cause  of  many  if  not 
all  of  our  failures,  not  only  in  the  treatment  of  diphtheria 
but  of  all  other  affections,  both  acute  and  chronic.  We 
neglect  to  take  into  account  all  the  factors  of  the  case,  and 
then  attribute  the  failure  to  a  defective  law  of  cure.  It  is 
so  much  easier  to  say  *'  the  law  of  the  similars  is  limited 
in  its  action,"  or  "  I  do  not  believe  it  applicable  to  every 
case,"  than  it  is  to  follow  Hahnemann's  instructions  and 
obtain  *'all  the  factors"  obtainable  by  writing  out  the 
symptoms.  We  venture  to  say  that  not  more  than  one 
homoeopathic  physician  in  twenty  ever  tries  to  obtain  "  all 
the  factors  "  of  his  cases  in  Hahnemann's  way,  and  yet  the 
majority  of  us  are  prone  to  attribute  our  failures  to  defects 
in  the  law.  The  case  must  be  written  in  detail,  if  we  would 
obtain  "all  the  factors"  upon  which  to  base  a  prescription 


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102  Tfie  Medical  Advance,  July 

that  will  core;  and  the  excuse,  "want  of  time,"  for  neg- 
lecting the  most  vital  part  of  the  duty  of  the  therapeutist, 
is  not  a  valid  ona  To  take  the  case  properly  may  require 
a  little  more  time  at  the  first  examination,  but  much  less 
at  each  subsequent  one,  than  to  take  it  "on  the  fly,"  a  la 
Allopathy.  When  we  violate,  as  Dr.  Morrow  says,  one  of 
the  first  principles  of  our  art,  we  should  not  expect  to 
achieve  the  highest  attainable  success.  If  our  homoeo- 
pathic physicians  would  carefully  apply  this  simple  rule, 
there  would  be  no  necessity  for  the  appointment  of  com- 
mittees to  make  "  microscopical  examination  of  the  blood  " 
or  to  ascertain  the  nature  of  the  microbe  which  causes 
diphtheria  or  Asiatic  cholera.  Neither  would  it  be  neces- 
sary to  complain  about  the  potencies,  as  they  would  cure 
their  patients  with  almost  any  potency  if  they  selected  the 
proper  remedy;  nor  would  it  be  necessary  to  longer  per- 
petuate the  farce  of  dividing  the  school  into  two  imaginary 
factions,  the  "  high  "  and  "  low  dilutionists,"  as  all  would 
then  select  their  remedies  in  the  same  way.] 


A  SUGGESTIOX. 


Editor  Advance. — It  is  now  some  fourteen  years  since 
Mr.  Cleave  issued  his  "Biographies  of  Homoeopathic  Phy- 
sicians and  Surgeons."  Many  of  your  readers  will  no  doubt 
remember  the  circumstances  under  which  that  work  was 
published.  Encountering  at  the  outset  the  most  violent 
and  uncalled  for  opposition,  Mr.  Cleave  was  pursued  and 
obstructed  at  every  step  in  his  work.  Homoeopathic  Edi- 
tors and  doctors  tried  to  make  it  appear  that  the  proposed 
work  was  a  bare  faced  fraud,  and  the  profession  was  loudly 
warned  to  avoid  it.  In  spite  of  all  this  a  large  and  elegant 
volume  was  issued  and  though  shorn,  through  malice,  of 
much  of  its  value,  it  is  to-day  one  of  the  most  valuable 
books  in  our  literature.  The  energy  and  labor  of  its  com- 
piler was  crowned  with  deserving  success.  But  when  I 
turn  to  the  interesting  part  of  this  book,  I  am  saddened  at 
the  fact  that  the  folly  of  these  men  kept  out  so  many  de- 
sired biographies.     Many  a  time  have  I  had  occasion  to 


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1887  Unjust  CrUicism.  103 

look  up  the  history  of  some  member  of  our  profession  and 
found  with  sorrow  that  this  "  Encycopcedia  "  of  our  doc- 
tors does  not  contain  all  it  should.  I  paid  fifteen  dollars 
for  Cleave's  work,  and  I  would  not  take  thrice  that  for  it 
Now  I  have  this  suggestion  to  make:  Inasmuch  as  no  such 
opposition  as  met  this  first  effort  is  likely  to  arise,  espe- 
cially as  the  chief  offenders  are  not  now  connected  with 
our  journals,  and  as  the  need  of  a  true  Encyclopoedia  of 
our  homoeopathic  workers — doctors,  editors,  laymen,  etc., 
etc.,  is  as  great  as  ever  and  particularly  as  much  valuable 
material  is  being  constantly  lost,  let  us  have  such  a  work 
projected  and  with  a  willingness  and  harmony  befitting 
such  a  project  let  us  all  take  hold  and  help  get  it  out,  if 
possible,  before  the  end  of  the  year.  If  those  who  approve 
the  suggestion  would  communicate  with  the  editor  of  this 
journal  we  might  soon  ascertain  if  the  proposition  is  desir- 
able or  feasible.     In  my  mind  there  is  no  question  of  it. 

T.  P.  Wilson. 

Ann  Arbob.  June  5. 1887. 

UNJUST  CRITICISM. 


Sditor  Advance :— The  May  number  of  the  American  Medical 
Journal,  of  St.  Louis,  contains  an  editorial  criticising  our  ''Is 
Similia  Similibus  Curantur  a  Universal  Law,"  etc.  Although 
we  do  not  think  it  wise  to  enter  into  a  controversy,  and  as  a  rule 
will  not  answer  criticisms,  this  attack  is  so  uncalled-for  and  so 
unjust  that  we  can  not  let  it  pass  unnoticed. 

In  the  first  place  let  us  define  our  position.  We  are  thoroughly 
Homoeopathic  and  Hahnemannian;  we  believe  in  the  single  rem- 
edy and  the  minimum  dose;  that  Similia  Similibus  Curantur  is 
the  only  curative  law  known  among  men,  that  it  is  universal  in  its 
application,  and  as  immutable  as  God  himself.  Yet,  while  we  be- 
lieve this,  and  in  our  own  consciousness  knaw  it  to  be  the  truth, 
we  accord  to  every  man  the  right  to  think  for  himself  and  to  form 
his  own  opinion  according  to  the  best  light  God  has  given  him. 
We  are  not  prejudiced;  on  the  other  hand  we  seek  eumestly 
for  the  truth.  We  do  not  write  to  antagonize  any  individual,  but 
to  combat  error. 

An  honest  criticism,  having  for  its  object  the  development  of 
that  which  is  highest  and  best,  we  love;  but  we  have  nothing  but 
pity  for  that  man  who  substitutes  ridicule  for  argument,  and  with 
the  breath  of  sarcasm  extinguishes  the  torch  that  might  lead  some 


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104  The  Medical  Advance,  July 

other  soul  up  to  the  light.  There  are  those  who  have  compre- 
hended the  beauty  and  grandeur  of  the  homoeopathic  law; 
these  will  enjoy  our  article,  and  these  truths  (like  the  diamond 
of  the  purest  water)  will  lose  none  of  their  beauty  by 
having  the  light  thrown  upon  them  from  different  directions. 
Again,  there  are  always  those  who  need  to  be  strengthened  and  en- 
couraged; they  also  would  appreciate  it.  Had  our  article  been 
written  for  the  A,  M,  /.,  we  would  not  have  been  surprised,  and 
ought  to  have  expected  some  such  analysis  of  the  subject,  but  it 
was  not ;  the  criticism  is,  therefore,  wholly  uncalled  for. 

It  is  unjust:  1st.  Dr.Younkin  publishes  it  in  his  own  journal  and 
nine-tenths  of  its  readers  will  never  see  our  paper.  2nd.  He  starts 
out  with  a  misstatement,  citing  two  cases  given  as  illustrations, 
and  says  we  offer  them  as  proof.  This  is  a  mistake;  perhaps  not 
intentional,  but  if  Dr.Younkin  intended  to  be  just,  why  did  he  leave 
out  of  case  one  a  sentence  that  would  have  commended  itself  to 
every  thoughtful  physician  of  whatever  school,  viz:  After  ascer- 
taining that  the  mother  had  such  a  craving  for  the  vegetable  in 
question,  we  reasoned  thus: 

"  This  article  of  diet  may  not  only  be  homoeopathic  to  the  case, 
but  there  is  evidently  a  demand  in  the  system  (that  of  the  mother) 
for  some  element  of  nutrition  contained  in  the  cabbage.'' 

The  Doctor  may  be  very  skillful  in  his  own  department,  but  it 
will  be  apparent  to  every  homoeopathic  physician  who  reads  his 
criticism  that  he  has  no  knowledge  whatever  (not  even  thea,  b, 
c)  of  Homoeopathy,  it  would  be  folly  for  us  to  attempt  a  discus- 
sion of  this  subject  with  him.  What  he  needs  (if  he  wishes  to 
enter  the  field  of  homoeopathic  literature)  is  an  instructor.  There 
is  a  good  homoeopathic  college  in  St.  Louis.  We  advise  him  to 
attend.  We  will  gladly  furnish  any  one  so  desiring  a  copy  of  the 
paper  referred  to.  C.  H.  Lawton. 

Wjlminoton,  Delaware. 


Editor  Advance, — Your  editorial  in  the  February  num- 
ber puts  the  'Potency'  question  just  where  it  belongs  and 
has  always  belonged.  He  is  a  good  homoeopathic  doctor 
and  a  true  one  toOj  who  knows  how  to  use  the  x>otencie8, 
but  he  is  a  vara  avis.  Strange  that  a  matter  so  little  un- 
derstood and  so  really  unimportant  in  the  abstract,  should 
be  the  entering  wedge  to  split  our  school  in  twain;  but  ab- 
stractions as  to  doctrines  and  theories  have  always  been 
the  most  prolific  factors  of  disturbance  and  contention  as 
they  have  been  of  the  grossest  injustice  and  persecution. 

T.  F.  POMEROY,  M.  D. 


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1887  Editorial  105 

EDITORIAL. 


**Wben  we  havo  to  do  with  an  art  whose  end  is  the  saving  of  human  life,  any  neglect  to 
make  onrselves  thoronghly  masters  of  it  becomes  a  crime."— Hahnemann. 


Diphtheria. — The  homoeopathic  treatment  of  Diph- 
theria should  not,  and,  in  fact,  does  not  differ  so  materially 
from  the  treatment  of  any  other  constitutional  affection  as 
to  render  it  distinctive.  The  exudation — the  characteristic 
diafz^nostic  sign — is  simply  an  external  manifestation  of  an 
internal  derangement,  hence  should  not  be  interfered  with 
by  local  applications.  It  is  the  physician's  "  sign  board  " 
marking  the  progress  of  invasion  or  decline  of  the  internal 
constitutional  disease  and  its  suppression  or  obliteration 
by  topical  applications  is  an  empirical  expedient  entirely 
foreign  to  all  true  homoeopathic  or  scientific  treatment  It 
is  a  relic  of  Allopathy,  and  the  success  which  our  allo- 
pathic brethren  meet  in  its  employment  certainly  does  not 
warrant  the  abandonment  of  our  therapeutic  law  for  such 
doubtful  methods;  and  so  long  as  Homoeopaths  adopt  the 
allopathic  mode  of  treatment  they  must  expect  to  meet 
with  allopathic  success.  In  the  March  issue  of  the  South- 
em  Journal  Dr.  W.  H.  Holombe  thus  discourses  of  local 
treatment: 

The  earlier  Homoeopaths  discountenanced  local  measures  al- 
most altogether,  on  the  theory  that  all  local  or  external  manifesta- 
tions of  disease  were  the  products  of  the  internal  derangements  of 
the  vital  force,  and  would  disappear  spontaneously  when  the  in- 
terior morbid  processes  were  rectified.  There  is  a  great  truth  in 
this  idea,  but  it  is  carried  to  an  illogical  extreme  when  we  are  for- 
bidden to  arrest  a  disease  entering  from  without  on  the  very 
threshold  of  life.  This  is  repeatedly  done  when  we  destroy  the 
syphilitic  sore  in  its  earliest  external  manifestation;  and  this  also 
can  be  done  when  the  diphtheritic  deposit  appears  first  in  the 
throat,  without  fever,  in  children  who  have  been  recently  exposed 
to  the  infection.    *    *    *    * 

It  is  entirely  different,  however,  when  diphtheria  begins  with 
intense  fever  and  constitutional  disturbance,  previous  to  the  mani- 
festation of  local  disease.  Then  the  membranous  deposit  is  pushed 
out  from  within,  stratum  after  stratum,  and  its  removal  by  me- 
chanical or  chemical  means  is  of  no  more  service  to  the  patient 
than  would  be  the  removal  of  the  pustules  from  the  face  of  a 


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106  The  Medical  Advance.  July 

small-pox  victim.  It  is  like  throwing  water  on  the  front  of  a 
house  while  its  interior  is  on  fire. 

Is  any  membranous  deposit  ever  formed  in  any'other  way 
than  by  being  "pushed  out  from  within,  stratum  after 
stratum"? 

In  these  cases  you  cannot  arrest  the  spread  of  the  deposit  by  any 
external  means  whatever.  In  fact,  the  deposit  does  not  spread  at 
all,  any  more  than  the  small -pox  or  measles  spreads  from  one  part 
of  the  skin  to  another.  It  only  keeps  coming  out  all  along  the 
mucous  membrane,  by  an  exudative  process,  moving  from  within 
outwards.  You  are  told  that  Alcuhol,  Lime  Water,  Lactic  Acid, 
or  solution  of  Pancreatine,  and  other  things,  are  splendid  solvents 
of  the  diphtheritic  membrane.  You  apply  them  faithfully.  The 
membrane  really  becomes  thinner,  and  perhaps  even  disappears. 
But  you  have  in  fact  done  nothing  for  the  patient.  The  deposit 
is  not  the  disease,  but  only  an  effect  of  it,  and  while  you  are  work- 
ing on  the  surfaces  the  enemy  rages  within  unextinguished. 

All  true  followers  of  Hahnemann,  Hering  and  Dunham 
"  discountenance  local  measures."  The  use  of  medicated 
topical  applications  in  Diphtheria,  or  for  that  matter  in 
any  other  disease,  is  not  only  a  violation  of  our  principles 
of  practice,  but,  so  far  as  the  disease  is  concerned,  worse 
than  useless.  What  utter  nonsense  to  talk  of  eradicating 
syphilis,  "when  we  destroy  the  syphilitic  sore  its  earliest 
external  manifestation."  Has  not  the  virus  already  been 
coursing  tlirough  the  circulation  for  fifteen  or  twenty  days 
before  it  makes  its  external  appearance  in  the  form  of  an 
idcer?  As  well  attempt  to  eradicate  the  disease  by  remov- 
ing the  pustule  of  vaccination,  the  eruption  of  variola  or 
the  rash  of  scarlatina  after  the  period  of  incubation,  as  to 
remove  the  constitutional  affection  in  syphilis  or  Diph- 
theria by  suppressing»or  destroying  the  local  manifesta- 
tion. Dr.  Holcombe  says  that  in  one  form  of  Diphtheria, 
local  treatment  "  is  like  throwing  water  on  the  front  of  a 
house  while  its  interior  is  on  fire,"  and  yet  in  another  form 
it  is  to  be  used.  The  Doctor  is  a  little  "mixed;"  appar- 
ently he  is  attempting  to  ride  two  theories  at  once,  and 
after  a  desperate  struggle  lands  on  the  allopathic  side  of 
the  question,  in  the  mud. 

Qen.  James  Longstreet  once  called  upon  me  and  asked  the 
question:  "Can  you  manage  a  case  of  diphtheria  without  local 
treatment  ?  "    I  told  him  I  could.    *•  Come  and  see  my  daughter," 


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1887  Editorial  107 

said  he;  and  I  carried  that  child  through  as  terrible  a  case  as  I 
ever  witnessed  with  nothing  but  internal  medication.  The  Gen- 
eral told  me  that  he  had  lost  three  children  under  allopathic  treat- 
ment. Several  doctors  came  three  times  a  day  and  directed  their 
concentrated  effort  upon  the  exterior  treatment  of  local  disease. 
They  declared  that  every  trace  of  diphtheria  was  eradicated  from 
the  mucous  membrane.  When  they  had  achieved  their  local  vic- 
tory the  children  were  all  dead. 

In  the  unanswerable  objections  to  topical  treatment  in 
the  above  quotations,  are  to  be  found  the  only  grains  of 
truth  in  this  well  written  but  pernicious  article.  Would  it 
not  be  advisable  for  Gen.  Longstreet  or  some  one  else,  to 
ask  a  similar  question  and  obtain  a  similar  pledge  from 
every  homoeopathic  physician  in  the  land  when  called  to 
treat  either  a  mild  or  malignant  case  of  Diphtheria? 
What  a  commentary  on  the  results  of  the  topical  treatment 
of  Allopathy  is  here  given;  "after  every  trace  of  Diph- 
theria was  eradicated  from  the  mucous  membrane,  the  chil- 
dren were  all  dead."  And  yet  it  is  for  such  empiricism 
that  our  professed  Homoeopaths  forsake  their  law  of  cure, 
and  publish  their  ignorance  to  the  medical  world  by  say- 
ing, "we  have  not  the  suitable  means  to  apply  it"  Why 
profess  to  believe  in  a  law  at  all? 

The  febril  stage  which  is  sometimes  very  severe,  but  generally 
of  short  duration,  I  meet  with  Belladonna  2  or  3x,  and  if  there  is 
much  arterial  tension  1  alternate  it  with  Veratrum  viride  in 
stronger  doses.  At  the  same  time  I  evacuate  the  alimentary  canal 
with  a  purgative  dose  of  Mercurius  dulc  Ix,  or  by  an  enema. 

I  then  attempt  to  counteract  the  morbid  processes  going  on  in 
the  interior.  I  judge  of  these  processes  by  their  effects.  **  By  their 
fruits  ye  shall  know  them."  Two  remedies  are  approximately 
homoeopathic  to  these  processes.  Mercury  and  the  Bichromate  of 
Potash.  The  former  1  have  used  in  all  its  shapes,  Protoidide, 
Biniodide,  Bichloride  and  Cyanuret.  There  is  little  difference  be- 
tween them.  The  Kali  Bichromicum  is  more  reliable  than  the 
mercurials,  from  its  affinity  for  the  nasal  and  laryngeal,  as  well  as 
for  the  buccal  membranes. 

If  no  decidedly  beneflcial  results  are  obtained  in  a  reasonable 
time,  I  drop  the  Mercury  and  substitute  Nitric  acid,  in  dose  just 
sufficient  to  acidulate  the  water. 

This  remedy,  recommended  many  years  ago  by  our  friend.  Dr. 
Dake,  has  displayed  a  wonderful  influence  in  some  of  my  cases  of 
diphtheria. 


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108  The  Medical  Advance.  July 

If  the  case  progresses  from  bad  to  worse,  and  the  symptoms  of 
blood  poisoning  and  its  consequences  become  more  and  more  ap- 
parent, I  think  we  have  no  Homoeopathic  remedies  more  suitable 
than  Lachesis  and  Arsenic. 

Now  all  this  I  call  approximate  Homoeopathy.  And  in  the  ab- 
sence of  a  direct  specific  for  diphtheria,  the  best  thing  we  can  do 
is  to  sustain  the  vital  powers  and  keep  our  patient  from  dying  of 
exhaustion  until  nature  can  expel  the  disease  and  repair  the  dam- 
ages it  has  made. 

This  is  evidently  what  Dr.  Holcombe  calls  the  homoeo- 
pathic treatment  of  Diphtheria.  But  the  only  possible  ex- 
cuse for  calling  it  homoeopathic  is  because  it  is  found  in  a 
homoeopathic  journal  and  homoeopathic  remedies  are  used. 

This  coidd  not  be  more  empiric  were  it  prescribed  by 
Dr.  Palmer  himself.  Well  may  Homoeopathy  exclaim, 
"  save  me  from  my  friends."  This  certainly  is  treating 
Diphtheria,  not  the  patient  nor  the  symptoms  of  the  pa- 
tient and  would  be  just  as  successful  in  yellow-fever  or 
Asiatic  cholera  as  in  Diphtheria.  Dr.  Holcombe  says,  "I 
call  this  approximate  Homoeopathy."  It  would  have  been 
nearer  the  truth  to  have  called  it  "approximate"  Allopathy, 
for  even  the  first  elements  of  Homoeopathy  are  wanting. 
Ever  since  this  scourge  has  received  a  distinctive  appella- 
tion our  allopathic  friends  have  been  in  search  of  "a  direct 
specific  for  Diphtheria,"  and  for  this  will-o'-the-wisp  Dr. 
Holcombe  is  still  seeking.  Fatal  dream!  fatal  not  only  to 
his  hopes  but  to  his  unfortunate  patients.  Well  might 
Hahnemann  say:  "  When  we  have  to  do  with  an  art  whose 
end  is  the  saving  of  human  life,  any  neglect  to  make  our- 
selves thoroughly  masters  of  it  becomes  a  crime." 


WHAT  THEY  SAID. 


J.  W.  Dowling,  M.  D.,  (New  York): 

"Mr.  President:  I  rise  to  nominate  for  the  high  office  of  Presi- 
dent of  the  American  Institute  of  Homoeopathy,  Prof.  A.  C.  Cow- 
perthwaite,  M.  D.,  of  Iowa  City,  Iowa,  Dean  of  Homoeopathic  Me- 
dical College  connected  with  Iowa  University;  author  of  a  valua- 
ble work  on  Materia  Medica;  Professor  of  Materia  Medica  in  the 
before  mentioned  University;  for  many  years,  the  able,  courteous, 
energetic,  untiring  chairman  of  the  railroad  and  steamboat  com- 


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1887  What  They  Said.  109 

mittee  for  this  Institute;  a  good  and  successful  practitioner;  his 
wife  informs  me,  a  good  husband,  and  a  devoted  father;  an  active 
church  member,  and  a  devout  christian— or  if  not  the  latter,  with 
.  his  associations  as  a  prominent  member  of  this  Institute,  he  ought 
to  be. 

I  would  mention  the  fact  that  I  read  this  over  to  the  Doctor  and 
asked  him  if  there  was  anything  he  wished  to  add.  He  modestly 
answered,  no.  I  then  asked  him  if  he  knew  anything  against  him- 
self. He  emphatically  answered,  "No;  except  that  I  was  bom  in 
New  Jersey." 

I  immediately  declined  nominating  him,  when  he  explained  this 
by  saying  his  birth  in  that  state  was  an  accident.  His  mother  was 
visiting  the  sea  shore  at  the  time.  His  parents  hailed  from  Penn- 
sylvania.   I  forgave  him,  and  trust  the  Institute  will." 

Ad.  Lippe,  M.  D.,  (Philadelphia): 

^  I  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  in  traumatic  injuries,  e.  g.,  a 
blow  on  the  face  by  a  snow-ball  or  anything  else,  the  only  remedy 
I  have  ever  seen  efficient  is  Symphytum  officinale.  I  have  had  bad 
cases  where  HomoBopathists  have  tried  Arnica  and  everything 
else;  and  in  spite  of  all  remedies  used,  the  inflammation  continued. 
In  every  Instance  I  have  cured  them  with  a  single  dose  of  Sym- 
phytum. I  have  used  it  these  many  long  years,  with  complete 
success." 

W.  P.  Wesselbceft,  M.  D.  (Boston): 

"  I  believe  that  when  we  have  three  points  for  anything  that 
object  will  stand— whether  those  points  be  proven  symptoms  or 
we  find  them  in  disease.  We  have  the  tripod  and  it  will  stand.  I 
made  a  cure  with  Magnesia  phos.  very  similar  to  one  reported  by 
Dr.  Nash,  and  I  think  a  better  one  has  never  been  made  with  any 
other  remedy.  This  was  the  case  of  an  old  lady  of  76  years  with 
neuralgic  troubles.  I  had  observed  that  Magnesia  phos.  had  its 
pain  entirely  on  the  right  side;  that  it  was  almost  always  supra 
orbital  in  the  face,  .darting,  intermittent;  that  the  menstrual 
pains  are  very  much  like  Pulsatilla  pains,  only  that  Magnesia 
phos.  is  relieved  by  warmth  while  Pulsatilla  is  aggravated  by  heat. 
This  old  lady  had  suffered  perfect  torture  off  and  on  for  three 
years.  She  received  at  different  times,  at  intervals  of  three  or  four 
days  to  two  months,  three  times  Magnesia  phos.  To-day  she  is  en- 
tirely cured  and  has  not  had  a  toothache  since.  Bight  side  of  the 
head  and  body.  I  think  the  abdominal  pains  are  not  so  much 
right-sided;  but  the  so-called  ovarian  pains  are  right-sided." 

Eugene  B.  Naah,  M.  D.  (Cortland,  N.  Y.): 
''Cactus  given  to  a  Cactus  patient  will  cure  him  no  matter 
whether  Cactus  was  ever  proved  or  not.    I  advocate  proving  the 
remedy  first,  but  if  we  have  discovered  a  symptom  which  is  re- 


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^   -  I 


110  The  Medical  Advance.  July 

peated  in  the  patient,  don't  reject  it  simply  because  it  is  clinical. 
I  hunt  for  my  remedies  in  the  Materia  Medica,  but  if  I  find  that 
some  other  man  has  cured  several  times  with  another  and  an  un- 
proven  remedy  and  it  proved  successful,  that  is  the  next  thing  I. 
go  for— but  only  the  next  thing." 

W.  P.  DeFriez,  M.  D.  (Woburn,  Mass.): 

**  I  had  the  case  of  a  woman  65  years  old,  fat,  phlegmatic,  light 
hair  and  fair  complexion;  would  have  no  stool  for  five  or  six  days, 
then  a  copious  loose  stool.  This  condition  of  the  bowels  had  ex- 
isted for  four  years.  After  four  doses  of  Corallium  rubrum  30,  in 
water,  given  every  four  hours  she  had  a  formed  stool  on  the  third 
day,  and  no  recurrence  of  diarrhoea  for  the  past  eight  months. 
Another  case:  Miss  M.,  aged  90,  dark  hair  and  eyes.  Came  from 
Ireland,  1880;  had  always  been  well  till  the  autumn  of  1884,  when 
her  menses  became  irregular,  going  over  her  time  one  or  two 
weeks.  Finally  she  had  a  very  scanty  flow  which  appeared  regu- 
larly but  the  discharge  lasted  only  an  hour  and  was  followed  by 
intense  throbbing  in  temples,  vertigo  with  inability  to  stand  last- 
ing from  Ave  to  ten  hours.  I  saw  her  Sept.  12, 1886,  and  from  the 
symptoms  '  menstruation  lasted  but  an  hour,  though  regular,'  I 
gave  her  one  dose  of  Euphrasia,  dry  on  the  tongue.  This  was 
given  her  the  day  after  her  menses.  Twenty-eight  days  from  Sept. 
11th,  she  again  menstruated,  the  flow  lasting  about  six  hours  un- 
accompanied by  headache,  vertigo,  or  other  unpleasant  symptoms. 
The  next  menstrual  period  continued  four  days,  and  from  the  first 
and  only  dose  of  Euphrasia  to  the  present  date  (June  10th,  1887) 
she  has  menstruated  regularly  and  the  discharge  is  normal  in  color 
and  amount." 

A.  L.  Kennedy,  M.  D.: 

"  What  will  be  the  final  outcome  of  the  germ  theory  ?  Will  the 
claim  now  so  strongly  urged  by  many  be  substantiated,  and  even- 
tually universally  accepted  by  the  medical  profession;  or  will  it 
prove  but  another  waif  on  the  sea  of  scientific  pathology  which 
like  its  predecessors  bade  fair  in  its  approadh  to  sweep  all  before 
it,  but  like  them  is  destined  to  break  harmlessly  upon  the  impres- 
sionless  shore  of  truth  and  silently  to  retreat  to  swell  the  ocean  of 
past  endeavor.  However  much  the  establishment  of  the  germ 
theory  or  any  other  theory  may  modify  our  views  concerning  the 
etiology,  diagnosis  and  prognosis  of  disease,  it  certainly  cannot 
effect  us  as  Homoeopathists  in  regard  to  the  medical  treatment, 
for  Homoeopathy  is  already  of  record  in  too  many  cases  of  verit- 
able cures  of  disease  of  every  phase  and  degree  of  severity  to  be 
overthrown  by  any  theory,  no  matter  how  popular  or  well  estab- 
lished it  may  appear  to  be.  We  need  have  no  inore  fear  of  failure 
of  the  law  of  cure  than  ^at  the  sun  will  not  rise  on  the  morrow 
or  that  the  earth  will  not  blossom  and  bring  forth.*' 


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1887  What  They  Said.  Ill 

Dr.  T.  F.  Allen  (New  York): 

"A  lady  in  her  second  pregnancy,  about  eight  weeks  advanced 
perhaps,  fell  down  about  half  a  flight  of  city  stairs,  carrying  on 
her  arm  her  child  which  was  about  two  years  old.  She  tumbled 
in  an  indiscriminate  sort  of  fashion,  biuised  her  nose  and  cut  hor 
upper  lip,  but  in  falling  she  held  her  baby  out  of  reach  of  harm, 
but  doubling  her  own  leg  under  her  in  such  fashion  as  to  fracture 
it  near  the  patella.  She  was  placed  under  Dr.  Helmuth's  charge 
and  made,  a  very  slow  recovery.  But  the  curious  part  of  it  is  that 
throughout  her  gestation  she  was  continually  grieving  because 
her  child  would  be  club-footed,  and  during  her  labor  she  cried 
almost  incessantly.  When  born  the  child  was  well  formed  in  all 
its  parts  but  had  a  most  horribly  bruised  lip  and  nose,  like  a  prize 
fighter.  She  hadn't  thought  of  the  baby  having  a  bruised  lip,  but 
had  put  her  mind  simply  on  the  injury  to  her  leg.*' 

Dr.  Geo.  B.  Peck  (Providence): 

''Phthisis  as  a  complication  of  gestation  has  been  treated  by  49 
of  my  correspondents  (physicians)  of  whom  only  18  furnished  any 
verified  facts.  These  relate  however  to  81  cases.  Concerning  67 
mothers  we  are  told  that  each  of  20  under  the  care  of  one  practi- 
tioner was  benefited,  all  their  children  being  plump;  that  succes- 
sive pregnancies  averted  the  disease  in  a  lady  under  the  care  of 
another— no  mention  being  made  of  the  fate  of  the  off-spring. 
That  17  under  the  care  of  two  physicians  improved  until  after  de- 
livery, but  the  doctor  who  reported  five  of  that  number  adds 
'rapid  development  of  the  disease  followed:*  that  9  treated  by 
a. fifth  lived  though  one  lost  her  child  in  eight  hours;  and  that  2 
treated  by  different  gentlemen  survived  each  two  years,  the  chil- 
dren living  when  last  heard  from.  One  of  these  is  at  present  a 
Boston  lawyer  with  lungs  as  hard  as  a  rock,  although  he  was 
troubled  with  a  loose  cough  accompanied  by  a  yellow  expectora- 
tion for  a  time." 

Dr.  Emily  V.  D.  Pardee  (South  Norwalk,  Conn,): 

"  In  the  vomiting  of  early  pregnancy,  lying  with  the  shoulders 
and  hips  elevated  will  give  relief —a  linen  compress  saturated  with 
French  brandy  strapped  tightly  over  the  gastric  region  with  adhe- 
sive plaster,  acts  mechanically  in  holding  the  muscles  quiet,  and 
will  sometimes  do  wonders  in  these  cases;  it  is  on  the  same  prin- 
ciple as  our  Pilgrim  Fathers  and  Mothers  covered  their  stomachs 
with  shoemaker's  wax,  so  that  when  the  old  Mayflower  rolled  and 
rocked  with  a  high  sea  they  could  keep  right  on  singing.  *  *  * 
Ready-made  infant  clothes  are  a  curse.  The  mothers  should  be 
ntged  to  prepare  for  the  expected  guest,  especially  when  such 
guest  is  not  altogether  welcome.  It  invites  loye,  occupies  the 
mind  and  lessens  the  time  to  mope  and  brood.*' 


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112  The  Medical  Advance.  July 

EDITOR'S  TABLE. 


Wanted.— I  want  to  form  a  partnership  with  an  older  physi- 
cian, or  buy  a  practice.  Best  of  references,  and  good  reasons  for 
desiring  to  change.  Please  Address  Y.  Z.  Care  Medioal  Ad- 
vance. 


For  Sale.— Good  house  and  lot,  with  bam  on  rear,  one-half 
block  from  Main  street,  and  one  of  the  best  locations  in  a  city  of 
orer  1,200  inhabitants.  Office  in  house.  No  other  homoeopathic 
physician.  Practice  averaging  $2,500  to  $3,000  a  year.  For  sale 
cheap  and  on  easy  terms.  Will  introduce  successor.  Address  H. 
L.  T.    Care  Medical  Advance. 


For  Sale.— a  growing  practice  worth  $3,500  a  year  in  cash,  in 
a  city  of  Illinois,  which  is  the  county  seat.  2,500  inhabitants,  good 
schools,  churches,  hotels,  street-lights,  etc.  Will  sell  either  with 
or  without  property  of  any  kind  and  introduce  successor.  Address 
A.  B.    Care  Medical  Advance. 


Representation  by  States.— The  following  list  of  members 
by  States  attending  the  recent  sessions  of  the  American  Insti- 
tute was  taken  from  returns  made  to  Dr.  T.  F.  Smith,  of  the 
Bureau  of  Registration:  Cal.  3,  Conn.  6,  Del.  3,  D.  of  C.  1,  Fla.  1, 
Ga.  1,  111.  11,  Ind.  2,  Iowa  2,  Ky.  1,  Me.  2,  Md.  2,  Mass.  28,  Mich.  7, 
Minn.  1,  Mo.  3,  N.  J.  7,  N.  Y.  59,  Ohio  12,  Penn.  28,  R.  I.  6,  Yt.  4, 
Wis.  2,  Canada  1.    Totall92. 

Wanted.— At  the  Brooklyn  Homoeopathic  Hospital,  109  Cum- 
berland St.,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  an  Ambulance  Surgeon.  Apply  at 
once  to  Charles  L.  Bonnell,  M.  D.,  Chief  of  Staff,  stating  references 
and  time  and  place  of  graduation. 

Removals.— Wm.  C.  Right,  to  Oberlin,  Kansas.— K.  L.  Hickox, 
A2A%  Main  street.  Little  Rock,  Arkansas.— R.  M.  Nichols,  to  She- 
boygan Falls,  Wisconsin.— A.  C.  Nivison,  to  Waupun,  Wisconsin. 
— I.J.  Schott,  to  Plainfield,  Illinois.— Miss  R.  Pike,  to  Norway, 
Maine.— F.  C.  Stewart,  to  Wabash,  Indiana.— D.  B.  Neal,  to  522 
Main  street.  Little  Rock,  Arkansas,— J.  Lang,  to  Dallas,  Texas.— 
E.  Dilliard,  to  455  Washington  Boulevard,  Chicago.— Mrs.  Ida 
Smith,  to  Lewistown,  Pennsylvania.— H.  P.  Phillips,  to  2904  Pine 
street,  St.  Louis,  Missouri.- L.  R.  P.  Knox,  to  1701  Lucas  avenue, 
St.  Louis,  Missouri.— W.  L.  Hartman,  to  Antwerp.  New  York.— E. 
C.  Briggs,  to  Clay  Cottage,  Washington  avenue,  Pittsburgh,  Penn- 
sylvania.—Wm.  C.  Richardson,  to  Turner  Building,  304  N.  Eighth 
street,  St.  Louis,  Missouri.- M.  M.  Howells.  to  Harwtell,  Ohio.- 
Drs.  H.  W.  Andrews  and  J.  Medley  (St.  Louis,  *87)  have  been  ap- 
pointed to  the  medical  staff  of  the  Woman's  Homoeopathic  Hos- 
pital Association,  Philadelphia. 


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AX  ADVOCATE  OF 

HOMCEOPATHIC  MEDICINE. 

H.  C.  ALLEN.  M.  D.,  EcUtor  and  PablUher. 


The  Editor  is  not  responsible  (or  the  opinions  of  contributors.  Personalities, 
being  foreign  to  sclentlAo  discussion,  must  be  excluded. 

To  accommodate  both  reader  and  publisher  this  Journal  will  be  sent  until 
arrears  are  paid  and  it  is  ordered  discontinued. 

The  date  to  which  subscriptions  are  paid  will  be  found  on  the  address. 


Vol.  XIX.     Ann  Arbor,  Michigan,  August,  1887.  No.  2 


ORIGINAL  CONTRIBUTIONS. 


HOW  TO  SUCCEED  AS  PHYSICIANS.* 


JAMES  B.  BELL,  M.  D.,  Boston.  Mass. 


Mr,  President  and  Colleagues:  Having  been  invited  by 
your  President  to  address  yon  at  this  time,  I  felt  it  to  be 
an  honor  not  to  be  declined;  but  I  hope  that  you,  on  your 
part,  will  not  expect  much,  but  will  be  rather  like  the  phil- 
osophic Irishman  who  went  to  the  neighboring  market 
town  to  sell  his  cow.  On  his  return  towards  evening  a 
neighbor  met  him,  and  said:  "  Well,  Pat,  did  you  sell  your 
cow  for  as  much  as  you  expected?"  "No,"  says  Pat,  "I 
didn't;  an'  faith  I  didn't  expect  to."  So  if  you  do  not  get 
much,  please  remember  that  you  did  not  expect  to. 

1  would  not  be  here,  however,  if  I  did  not  feel  that  I  had 
something  to  say;  some  convictions  to  express;  some  little 
contribution  to  make  to  the  welfare  of  our  beloved  profes- 
sion; and  if  I  seem  in  anything  to  be  too  serious,  or  to  be 


*  Address  before  the  Rhode  Island  UomoBopathio  Medical  Society. 


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114  The  Medical  Advance.  August 

inclined  to  preach,  I  beg  you  not  to  take  it  all  for  your- 
.  selves,  but  to  leave  some  for  me,  for  the  only  way  I  know 
of  to  say  anything,  is  to  say  it  right  out  of  my  heart  and 
life,  and  to  talk  to  others  just  as  I  talk  to  myself. 

The  subject  which  engages  my  thought  at  the  present 
time  is,  "How  to  Succeed  as  Physicians,"  purposing  to 
give  you  in  my  answer  the  results  of  my  observation  for 
twenty-five  years  and  more,  upon  the  causes  of  success  and 
failure  among  the  professors  of  the  healing  art. 

I  would  answer,  first  of  all:  Dignify  your  office;  lake  a 
lofly  view  of  your  calling.  Look  not  upon  it  for  a  moment 
as  a  trade,  or  as  a  competing  business  with  others.  Of 
course,  it  is  your  means  of  livelihood;  but  there  is  an  old 
promise:  "  Seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  right- 
eousness, and  all  these  things  shall  be  added  unto  you." 
And  it  is  just  this  point  which  I  wish  to  maintain,  that  to 
the  physician  who  looks  upon  his  profession  as  a  sacred 
trust,  and  a  calling  loved  for  itself,  these  more  material 
and  necessary  rewards  will  come. 

The  average  judgment  of  the  community  about  any  man 
(unless  he  is  a  bank  cashier,  or  treasurer  of  a  corporation) 
is  pretty  nearly  just;  and  the  people  always  know  the  tone 
of  mind  and  habit  of  thought  and  action  of  their  physi- 
cians. If  he  is  devoted  to  his  work  from  lofty  motives, 
they  know  it;  if  he  pursues  it  chiefly  for  gain,  they  know 
it;  if  he  is  lazy,  careless  or  weak,  they  know  it;  if  he  is 
studious,  faithful  and  self-reliont,  they  know  it  So,  as  we 
cannot  conceal  the  facts,  and  have  to  trust  to  the  people 
after  all,  we  might  as  well  do  it  boldly  and  aim  high,  leav- 
ing all  the  rest  to  them. 

There  is  no  chance  here  for  the  demagogism  of  the  poli- 
tician, with  organs  and  orators  to  beguile  the  people  of 
their  just  views  of  character.  It  will  help  us  in  maintain- 
ing this  position  to  always  regard  ourselves  as  belonging 
to  an  ancient  and  noble  profession,  all  the  good  works  of 
which,  and  all  the  great  and  noble  minds  which  have 
adorned  it,  belong  to  U8  as  much  as  to  those  who  deny  the 
truth  of  the  only  law  of  therapeutics.  I  am  indebted  to 
Dr.  Jones,  of  Taunton,  for  this  thought,  which  I  think  he 


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1887  How  to  Succeed  as  Physicians.  115 

expressed  at  your  summer  meeting;  but  it  will  bear  re- 
peating. 

There  is  a  certain  '* esprit  de  corps''  among  the  best 
men  in  both  schools,  which  we  should  all  do  well  to  emu- 
late— a  lofty  tone  of  professional  honor  and  duty,  both  to 
the  community  and  to  brother  physicians  of  either  school. 
There  are  physicians  in  the  allopathic  school  whom  I 
thoroughly  respect,  no  matter  how  much  I  differ  from 
them,  for  following  a  true  ideal  of  professional  life  and 
service,  and  I  rejoice  to  see  them  honored  in  so  doing. 

Let  us  come  up,  now,  on  this  higher  ground,  and  through 
this  clearer  air,  "  view  the  landscape  o'er."  Hippocrates 
will  give  us  our  first  outlook  by  means  of  the  celebrated 
oath  attributed  to  him,  and  which  makes  all  true  physi- 
cians kin.  The  first  part  of  the  oath  is  taken  up  with  an 
adjuration  to  all  the  deities,  faithfully  to  fulfill  all  the  re- 
quirements to  the  best  of  his  knowledge  and  power.  Next 
follows  the  avowal  of  gratitude,  and  its  scrupulous  perfor- 
mance to  the  highest  degree,  towards  his  preceptor  and  all 
his  family  (with  us  the  alma  mater  would  to  some  degree 
take  the  preceptor's  place)  regarding  him  as  a  parent,  and 
his  children  as  relatives,  engaging  to  tecu^h  the  science  to 
them,  without  fee,  to  its  full  extent,  as  he  would  to  his  own, 
and  that,  Tfithout  previous  assumption  of  this  oath,  he 
would  teach  the  science  to  no  one. 

In  the  next  clause  of  the  oath,  be  promises  to  act  faith- 
fully toward  the  sick,  prohibiting  all  that  could  harm  them, 
and  never  prescribe  poison  or  remedies  for  procuring  abor- 
tion. He  purposes  to  live  a  chaste  and  pious  life,  to  ob- 
serve profound  secrecy  in  his  profession  as  to  family  mat- 
ters, to  avoid  all  corrupt  influences  with  either  sex  whether 
bond  or  free,  in  the  employment  of  aphrodisiacs;  and  in 
case  he  should  act  in  opposition  to  the  above,  he  prays  that 
he  may  neither  live  long,  be  successful  in  his  pursuits,  or 
become  celebrated  in  his  profession;  but  that  if  he  scrupu- 
lously observe  those  things,  the  reverse  may  be  his  des- 
tiny. 

That  has  the  true  ring  after  two  thousand  years,  and  will 
give  the  same  true  sound  two  thousand  years  hence.  Times 


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and  manners  have  changed,  and  will  change,  but  principles 
will  remain  the  same.  Hahnemann  has  not  expressed  him- 
self anywhere  so  briefly,  but  his  whole  life  and  writings 
breathe  a  lofty  devotion  to  the  art  of  healing,  so  that  as 
followers  of  Hipprocrates  and  Hahnemann  also,  we  are 
doubly  bound  to  these  sentiments. 

There  is  reason  enough  for  all  this  on  the  highest  moral 
grounds;  but  1  have  undertaken  at  this  time  to  show  that 
this  attitude  is  necessary  for  all  true  success.  We  see,  then, 
that  this  is  a  lofty  vantage  ground.  It  gives  the  physician, 
even  though  young  in  his  profession,  a  position  of  dignity 
and  power  with  the  people.  He  can  speak  as  one  having 
authority,  because  he  will  always  speak  from  principle  and' 
not  from  policy,  and  can  enforce  his  commands  with  vigor 
because  they  are  for  the  patient's  good,  and  not  for  his  own. 
I  wish  I  could  sound  this  forth  in  every  medical  college  in 
the  land,  especially  our  own,  so  that  every  graduate  may  go 
out,  not  with  his  aim  tixed  upon  what  he  is  going  to  gety 
but  on  what  he  is  going  to  be  and  do,  I  have  a  hearty 
sympathy  with  students  who  have  struggled  through  years 
of  privation  to  reach  the  coveted  diploma,  but  I  do  not  the 
less  deprecate  the  mercenary  tone  that  often  prevails 
among  them  in  the  discussion  of  their  plans  and  prospects. 

But  to  return  to  the  subject.  One  of  the  worst  mistakes 
a  physician  can  make  is  to  humor  the  whims  and  notions 
of  the  patient  which  are  in  the  least  injurious  to  him,  or  a 
departure  from  sound  principles,  whether  of  hygiene,  or  of 
medicine.  "Thou  shalt,"  and  "thou  shalt  not,"  with  a 
good  reason,  if  necessary,  or  giving  none  at  all,  as  may  be 
best,  will  conquer  a  firmer  place  in  the  regard  of  patients 
than  any  weak  complaisance  which  puts  the  physician's 
knowledge  and  authority  on  a  level  with  those  of  his  pa- 
tients. It  needs  a  firm  band  upon  the  tiller  to  make  a 
good  helmsman;  an  unswerving  hand  upon  the  rein  to 
make  a  good  horseman;  and  patients  need  to  be  guided  as 
much  as  a  yacht  or  a  horse,  for  their  own  safety.  A  rather 
amusing  instance  of  the  appreciation  of  this  occurred  to 
me  a  little  while  ago,  and  which  is  so  much  to  the  point, 
that  I  will  quote  it.     One  of  my  patients  was  seriously  ill 


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1887  How  to  Succeed  as  Physicians.  117 

at  a  distance,  and  I  wafl  obliged  at  last  to  visit  her.  Her 
treatment  required  an  immediate  change,  as  well  as  some 
firm  directions  for  the  sick  room.  All  was  arranged  gently 
and  quietly,  when  she  said  in  a  weak  voice:  "I  am  thank- 
ful to  see  somebody  who  does  not  say,  *I  guess  so.' "  Such 
is  our  privilege,  colleagues.  Knowing  our  duty,  to  do  it, 
and  reap  an  immediate  reward  in  the  confidence  and  obe- 
dience of  our  patients.  All  may  be  as  gentle  as  we  please. 
The  ''suaviter  in  modo''  is  good.  Let  it  be  as  soft  as  the 
mother's  firm  "  No,"  to  her  child,  but  let  there  be  also  the 
"foriHer  in  re"  as  strong  as  strength  of  principle  and  con- 
viction can  make  it  We  owe  this  to  our  patients,  whether 
they  know  it  or  not.  It  belongs  to  them,  whether  they  wish 
it  or  not.  When  you  lie  down  in  peace  to  sleep  upon  the 
steamer  for  Europe,  you  know  that  some  one  owes  you 
guidance  through  the  night;  and  your  safety  lies  in  the 
fact  that  nothing  you  can  do  or  say  will  cause  the  compass 
to  move  a  single  hair  to  the  right  or  left,  but  that  all  will 
be  done  that  lies  in  human  wisdom  and  power  to  bring  you 
to  your  desired  haven.  This  our  patients  have  a  right  to 
demand  of  us,  and  we  a  duty  to  enforce  it  upon  them. 

We  have  also  a  duty  to  instmci  our  patients,  and  a  lofty 
professional  aim  gives  us  also  the  authority  to  do  it.  This 
office  is  intimately  connected  with  the  former  one  just 
dwelt  upon.  I  would  rather  have  a  hundred  patients  who 
are  well  instructed  in  the  principles  of  our  school,  as  well 
as  in  its  diet  and  regimen,  and  therefore  who  intelligently 
believe  in  it,  than  a  thousand  who  come  and  go,  as  caprice 
leads  them  from  one  physician  to  another,  and  one  school 
to  another.  It  has  never  been  my  ambition  to  create  a 
personal  following  as  such,  by  any  subsidiary  motives  what- 
ever, but  rather  a  body  of  intelligent  and  true  believers  in 
the  Homoeopathy  of  Hahnemann,  and  who  will  be,  there- 
fore, just  as  true  to  any  other  representative  of  it  as  they 
will  to  me  and  thus  sustain  the  school  and  widen  its  in- 
fluence. Spend  a  little  more  time  with  your  patients,  if 
necessary,  and  impress  your  principles  and  convictions 
upon  them,  that  they  may  at  least  see  that  you  have  some. 

Again  the  professional  position  which  I  am  advocating, 


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118  The  Medical  Advance,  August 

both  obliges  us  and  enables  us  to  take  a  dignified  stand  as 
to  our  remuneration.  Eight  here  is,  I  think,  a  weak  and 
sensitive  spot,  and  I  purpose  to  press  upon  it  firmly.  It 
may  be  more  intimately  connected  with  our  standing  in  the 
community  than  we  think.  If  the  laborer  is  not  "  worthy 
of  his  hire,"  what  is  he  worth?  The  people  will  answer 
the  question.  If  the  doctor  thinks  his  services  of  little 
value,  or  less,  perhaps,  than  those  of  his  neighbors,  the 
people  will  think  so  too,  and  will  value  him  upon  the  same 
scale.  Any  discount  made  upon  a  just  bill,  when  the  deb- 
tor is  fully  able  to  pay,  or  any  concession  in  fees,  except 
for  "  sweat  charity,"  puts  a  lower  value  upon  your  time 
and  your  acquirements,  and  makes  them  less  valuable  and 
less  sought  for  by  the  very  persons  who  would  thus  belittle 
them,  and  degrades  the  profession  at  once  to  a  commercial 
and  competitive  business.  This  rule  is  as  good  for  the 
younger  members  of  the  profession  as  for  the  older  ones, 
though  it  may  be  more  difficult  for  them  to  enforce.  Of 
course  I  am  not  counseling  exhorbitant  charges.  The  fee 
bill  of  any  locality  represents  the  consensus  of  the  profes- 
sion as  to  what  constitutes  a  fair  remuneration  in  accord- 
ance with  the  expense  and  scale  of  living  in  that  place. 
Should  any  of  your  neighbors  positively  disregard  it,  and 
be  often  quoted  to  you  as  a  reason  for  your  doing  the  same, 
you  have  only  to  say  that  he  best  knows  the  value  of  his 
own  services,  and  the  point  will  not  be  lost,  for  it  was  prob- 
ably visible  before.  A  firm  insistance  upon  this  point  will 
not  create  the  impression  that  the  value  of  our  services  is 
wholly  measurable  by  money.  This  only  measures,  in 
some  degree,  the  value  of  our  time.  The  gentleness,  pa- 
tience, faithfulness,  interest  and  sympathy  have  still  to  be 
paid  for  with  love  and  good  will. 

But  if  we  are  to  take  this  lofty  stand,  and  direct,  insinict 
and  enforce  our  vahie,  what  manner  of  persons  must  we  be? 

Well,  first  of  all,  we  must  know.  It  is  not,  indeed,  with- 
in the  power  of  any  man  to  hold  within  his  grasp  the  whole 
realm  of  knowledge — anatomical,  physiological,  hygienic, 
chemical,  surgical,  obetetrical,  therapeutic,  and  all  the  aux- 
illiary  branches,  nor  to  know  all  that  is  being  done  in  all 


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1887  How  io  Succeed  as  Physicians.  119 

those  branches  in  the  way  of  progress  and  disoovery.  The 
task  does,  indeed,  look  immense,  bnt  there  is  a  way  of  get- 
ting over  it  in  a  practical  manner.  "  Where  there  is  a  will 
there  is  a  way,"  you  know.  A  good  general  knowledge  of 
all  those  topics,  must,  of  course,  exist  as  the  foundation. 
The  rest  of  the  secret  consists  in  the  constant  consulting 
of  the  best  and  most  recent  text-books  as  occasions  occur, 
with  as  much  general  reading  of  them  and  the  journals  as 
time  and  strength  will  permit.  Some  one  has  said  that 
knowledge  does  not  so  much  consist  in  perfectly  knowing 
things,  as  in  knowing  where  to  look  for  the  knowledge 
when  you  want  it  Any  lawyer  will  give  an  opinion  upon 
a  question  of  common  law,  with  a  little  reflection,  but  not 
upon  statute  law,  without  consulting  the  "Bevised."  We 
need  not  be  ashamed  to  occupy  the  same  position.  With  a 
sufficient  stock  of  knowledge  to  meet  any  emergency,  we 
may  be  at  liberty  to  refresh  the  memory  upon  the  most 
important  points  at  any  time.  And  the  progressive  man 
and  true  student  will  always  do  this;  thus  refreshing  his 
mind  with  contact  with  other  vigorous  minds,  and  increas- 
ing at  the  same  time  his  permanent  stock  of  wisdom.  His 
own  experience  thus  becomes  the  more  valuable  as  it  is 
compared  with  other  experiences.  Authors  often  have  to 
consult  their  own  works  for  the  same  purposes  that  we  do. 
But  all  this  cannot  be  done  without  books.  And,  right 
here,  I  want  to  say  that  I  believe  good  books  and  live 
journals  to  be  the  best  investment  the  physician  can  make 
from  any  point  of  view.  How,  especially,  is  the  Homoeo- 
pathic physician  to  select  the  similar  remedy  unless  his 
library  contains  all  the  available  materia  medicas  and  the 
best  repertories  of  the  same?  Books  furnish  the  very  life 
blood  of  the  physician.  How  often  have  I  been  saddened 
and  disheartened  by  finding  among  physicians  a  library 
that  did  not  cost  half  as  much  as  the  kit  of  tools  of  a  good 
carpenter,  nor  nearly  as  modern.  The  carpenter  is  wiser 
in  his  generation  than  they.  We  think  nothing  of  several 
hundreds  of  dollars  for  an  outfit  for  driving,  while  we  hesi- 
tate at  half  the  sum  for  medical  literature.     It  is  better,  in 


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120  The  Medical  Advance.  August 

the  long  run,  to  go  on  foot  with  a  full  brain,  than  in  a  car- 
riage and  pair  with  an  empty  one. 

We  must  read  then,  but,  we  must  observe.  Some  men 
will  learn  more  from  one  case  than  others  will  from  a 
dozen.  All  the  arts  and  sciences  are  progressing,  chiefly 
by  observation.  The  anatomist,  the  botanist,  the  etymolo- 
gist, the  geologist,  and  all  the  other  "ists,"  are  just,  observ- 
ing, comparing,  watching  all  the  time,  taking  nothing  for 
granted,  but  piling  up  solid  facts.  Who  will  do  that  for 
us?  Not  alone  a  few  bright  men  here  and  there;  we  must 
all  do  it,  and  do  it  accurately  and  without  prejudice  or  pre- 
conceived ideas  of  how  things  ought  to  be.  The  inductive 
philosophy  must  be  our  only  guide,  and  our  task  to  find 
out  how  things  are. 

Then,  we  must  record  our  observations.  Memory  is  not 
trustworthy  about  those  things.  No  great  science  was  ever 
advanced  by  a  report  of  observations  from  memory.  I 
know  that  we  are  busy  and  tired,  but  it  does  not  take  any 
longer  to  make  a  few  good  notes  upon  a,  case  than  it  does 
to  chat  about  the  weather,  politics,  or  the  races.  With 
chronic  cases,  this  is  especially  valuable  and  also  indispen- 
sable. If  we  observe  well,  we  shall  record  well;  keeping 
those  points  that  are  most  valuable  rather  than  those  that 
are  less  so.  If  we  do  all  this,  we  may  remark  in  passing 
that  we  shall  not  only  be  doing  the  best  we  can  for  our 
patients,  but  if  we  bring  our  knowledge  into  meetings  like 
this,  and  into  journals,  we  shall  be  adding  to  the  common 
stock,  and  conferring  a  permanent  benefit  upon  the  world. 
And  then,  finally,  we  will  prescribe  with  care.  We  will 
make  as  few  hasty  and  imperfect  selections  as  possible. 
Of  course,  some  of  these  are  unavoidable.  People  send  for 
"more  medicine,"  or  for  "medicine  for  the  baby,"  or  for 
some  "medicine  for  a  cold,"  or  something  for  the  "colicj," 
and  we  have  to  do  the  best  we  can  to  evolve  a  known  quan- 
tity from  an  unknown  one;  but  generally  it  will  be  our  own 
fault  if  we  do  not  obtain  the  "  totality  of  the  symptoms," 
and  faithfully  select  the  similar  remedy. 

See  how  the  carpenter,  the  mechanic,  works;  all  is  true, 
fitted  and  finished.     We  watch  him  and  see  that  the  joints 


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1887  How  to  Succeed  as  Physicians.  121 

are  good,  or  his  beariDgs  right,  and  we  say  he  is  a  good 
workman.  I  heartily  respect  the  man  and  his  work;  but 
should  not  ours  be  as  good?  We  have  a  law  as  true  and 
broad  as  any  law  in  physics,  and  we  can  do  our  best  every 
time  to  work  up  to  it  according  to  the  present  state  of  our 
knowledge.  If  our  ideal  of  the  profession  is  what  I  have 
pointed  out,  we  will  try  to  make  our  work  like  that,  and 
shall  not  feel  satisfied  when  we  fall  short  of  it  When  we 
make  hasty  prescriptions,  and  do  not  know  what  we  gave 
last,  nor  all  the  symptoms  of  the  patient,  or  the  fitness  of 
the  remedy,  we  are  not  as  good  workmen  as  our  brother, 
the  mechanic,  and  not  deserving  of  as  much  credit  as  he. 
These  are  homely  truths,  but  I  think  they  are  wholesome. 
Whoever  goes  with  me  thus  far,  I  will  cordially  give  him 
the  right  hand  of  fellowship,  if  I,  too,  am  worthy  to  do  so; 
but  now  I  want  to  take  him  with  me  a  little  farther,  to  the 
serenest  mountain  top  of  all — that  of  pure  Homoeopathy. 
I  would  like  to  assume  that  we  are  all  there  already,  but  as 
the  climbing  is  hard,  and  the  way  often  rugged,  some  may 
not  have  reached  it  The  conscientious  prescribing,  ac- 
cording to  the  law  of  similia  similibus  curantur,  is  no  holi- 
day work,  but  is  one  that  tries  the  industry,  patienc6,  and 
earnestness  of  purpose  of  the  most  stout-hearted  and  faith- 
ful. Allopathic  practice  is  mere  boy's  play,  as  far  as  pre- 
scribing is  concerned.  A  narcotic,  a  febrifuge,  an  astrin- 
gent, a  stimulant,  a  tonic,  or  an  antiseptic,  according  to  the 
whim  of  the  doctor,  the  request  of  the  patient,  or  prevail- 
ing fashion  in  medicine — and  all  is  done.  But,  to  faith- 
fully elucidate  the  sym^ptoms  according  to  the  method  laid 
down  by  Hahnemann,  to  recognize-  those  which  are  char- 
acteristic, and  on  those  to  make  the  final  selection,  requires 
thought  and  labor.  We  cannot  shut  our  eyes  to  the  fact 
thdt  for  this  and  other  reasons,  a  real  danger  threatens  our 
school,  and  that  is  no  less  than  a  complete  departure  from 
the  law  of  cure.  The  question  is  not  at  all  one  of  poten- 
cies, or  dilutions,  high  or  low,  but  of  one  no  less  vital  than 
the  practical  abandonment  of  the  law  itself.  This  comes 
chiefly  from  the  fact  that  two  great  errors  persistently 
haunt  bur  minds,  both  yours  and  mine,  and  when  we  think 


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122  The  Medical  Advance.  August 

we  have  put  them  entirely  aside,  they  will  still  come  back 
again  like  clouds  after  the  sun,  and  darken  our  way. 

These  errors  are:  First,  that  there  exist  somewhere, 
somehow,  specifics  for  diseases;  and,  second,  that  there 
exists  some  relation  between  the  quantity  of  the  drug  and 
the  cure  of  the  disease.  The  latter  grows  out  of  the  for- 
mer, but  both  nullify  the  law.  If  they  were  true,  we  should 
only  need  to  have  one  medicine  for  each  disease,  by  name, 
and  to  learn  the  exact  amount  to  antidote  each  disease,  and 
and  the  practice  of  medicine  would  become  very  easy.  Our 
chief  difficulty  would  then  be  found  in  the  diagnosis;  but 
it  would  do  no  great  harm  if  we  did  antidote  a  measles 
when  we  ought  to  have  antidoted  a  bronchitis,  or  a  scarla- 
tina when  it  should  have  been  a  tonsilitis. 

But  let  us  study  the  first  error  more  fully,  as  this  is  the 
most  fundamental  of  all. 

There  are  two  ways  of  studying  nature  or  acquiring 
truth.  One  is  the  philosophy  of  Aristotle,  "  old  and  always 
false," — the  deductive,  or  thinking  out  a  theory,  and  then 
finding  facts  to  fit  it;  guessing  and  presuming  how  things 
ought  to  be,  then  gathering  a  few  facts  that  do  or  seem  to 
prove4hat  they  are  so.  This  philosophy  has  brought  most 
of  the  errors  into  all  the  sciences,  and  all  branches  of  hu- 
man knowledge.  It  prejudices  the  mind  at  the  outset  with 
a  bias  toward  one  set  of  ideas,  then  n^akes  all  observations 
partial  and  partisan,  as  well  as  incomplete  and  superficial. 
It  assumed  that  Scripture  and  observation  taught  that  the 
sun  revolved  around  the  earth,  and  the  whole  expanse  of 
the  heavens  had  to  bend  into  a  crystal  sphere  to  fit  the 
theory.  It  is  assumed  countless  theories  in  all  the  scien- 
ces, and  especially  in  medicine,  which  are  all  now  wrecks 
upon  the  hard  rocks  oifact.  It  now  assumes  the  doctrine 
of  specifics  in  medicine, — mercury  for  syphilis,  quinine 
for  ague,  and  a  few  others,  although  the  list  of  even  ap- 
parent specifics  is  very  small.  Nevertheless,  the  search 
goes  on  for  this  "  will-o'-the-wisp."  Our  journals  are  full 
of  the  exclammation,  "I  have  found  it!"  "I  have  found 
it! "  All  this  comes  from  this  delusive  deductive  philoso- 
phy which  leads  us  to  assume  that  diseases  are  specific 


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1887  How  to  Succeed  as  Physicians,  123 

entities,  or /Am^s;  and  that  there  onght  to  be  specific  anti- 
dotes or  destroyers  of  these  things;  and  that  therefore  these 
assumptions  are  true,  as  a  few  carelessly  observed  facts 
might  seem  to  indicate. 

The  other  philosophy  is  that  of  Bacon,  the  induciite. 
This  inquires  always  and  only  how  things  are.  It  seeks 
only  for  fad;  and  when  those  are  abundantly  obtained, 
proceeds  to  deduce  the  laws  which  they  indicate.  You  re- 
member the  story  of  the  German,  the  Frenchman  and  the 
Englishman,  who  were  to  produce  a  competitive  descrip- 
tion of  the  giraffe.  The  German  sought  diligently  through 
all  the  libraries;  the  Frenchman  shut  himself  up  with  his 
coffee  and  absinthe,  and  proceeded  to  evolve  the  giraffe 
from  his  inner  consciousness;  the  Englishman  went  to 
Africa  to  study  him  in  his  native  wilds.  The  Frenchman 
represents  the  c?eductive,  the  Englishman  the  inductive 
philosophy. 

Now  what  has  the  latter  taught  us  concerning  disease? 
Why,  that  it  is  a  state  of  wrong  action  in  the  individual,  a 
perversion  of  the  natural  life  force  into  changed  and  un- 
natural manifestations;  and  that  these  changes,  though 
capable  of  classification  as  to  their  general  features,  will 
present  endless  diversities  in  their  individual  instances. 
It  has  tatlght  by  pure  experiment  that  these  individual  in- 
stances of  perverted  action  are  to  be  restored  again  to 
natural  action  by  the  administration  of  substances  which 
possess  the  power  of  producing  exactly  similar  disturb- 
ances in  the  healthy  body.  And,  further,  pure  experiment 
has  taught  that  our  only  grasp  upon  disease  is  upon  the 
symptoms  of  the  sufferer;  and  that  only  those  medicines 
will  restore  health  which  will  meet  those  symptoms  by  a 
likeness  in  their  totality;  and  that  the  more  complete  and 
perfect  the  likeness  of  the  drug  to  those — not  of  the  gen- 
.eral  disease  as  classified,  but  to  those  of  the  individual  suf- 
ferer— the  more  rapid,  safe  and  pleasant  the  cure.  Theo- 
retical and  pathological  similarity  will  not  do.  Assumed 
nature  of  the  interior  causes  will  not  do.  It  must  be  indi- 
vidual likeness.  We  are  all  brothers  in  Adam ;  but  I  can- 
not wear  your  hat,  or  sit  for  your  photograph,  any  more 


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124  Tfte  Medical  Advance,  August 

than  I  can  cure  all  pneumonias  with  Phosphorus,  or  all 
typhoid  fevers  with  Rhus.  This  is  the  law.  We  know  not 
the  why  or  the  how,  but  experiment  all  the  time  proves  it 
to  be  true.  It  is  the  nature  of  things,  and  we  cannot  fight 
against  it.  We  must  come  into  harmony  with  things  aa 
they  are.  Sit  down  with  an  intelligent  worker  in  metals^ 
and  he  will  tell  you  just  what  he  can  do  with  steel,  iron,, 
copper,  lead,  tin;  what  methods  of  working  he  must  follow; 
to  what  uses  they  are  fitted.  All  this  he  knows  from  pura 
experiment,  and  he  never  thinks  of  trying  to  do  with  them 
what  their  nature  and  properties  forbid.  But  that  is  what 
we  try  to  do  when  we  try  to  cure  disease  by  any  other 
method,  or  upon  any  other  theory  or  conception  than  the 
law  of  the  individual  similarity.  Why  not  sit  humbly  at 
the  feet  of  nature  and  learn  her  methods  and  laws,  and 
work  in  accordance  with  them  ? 

Bruno  says:  "Si  le  medecin  est  le  ministre  de  la  Nature^ 
il  est  le  roi  des  malades"  "  When  the  art  of  medicine  is 
the  minister  of  nature  it  is  the  king  of  disease."  Have  yott 
some  sacred  place  where  you  guard  some  precious  jewels- 
with  a  lock  of  beautiful  and  intricate  construction?  Have 
you  lost  the  key?  And  do  you  go  to  the  locksmith  and 
say,  I  have  a  lock  and  want  a  key?  Do  not  keys  open 
locks?  Ah,  yes;  but  you  must  have  the  key  for  the  lock — 
the  only  key.  I  have  a  case  of  diphtheria.  One  case  in 
the  family  was  seen  almost  too  late  for  the  curative  remedy 
which  was  Kali  bichromicum.  Another,  neglected  and 
overlooked,  was  really  too  late  for  any  response  to  the 
chosen  remedy.  But  this  one  has  only  just  been  taken^ 
severely,  indeed,  and  promising  to  be  malignant  like  the 
others.  The  fauces  are  brownish  red;  the  patches  are  be- 
ginning on  ihe  right  and  extending  to  the  left;  the  throat 
is  sore,  dry  and  worse  after  sleep.  The  pain  and  soreness 
are  much  worse  from  swallowing  warm  or  hot  drinks.  How  • 
many  keys  will  fit  this  lock?  Only  one.  And  that  will  fit 
every  lock  just  like  this,  and  no  other.  The  key  is  Lyco- 
podium.  The  wards  fall  back  at  its  magic  touch,  and  the 
precious  jewel  of  health  is  brought  into  the  sunlight  None 
of  the  mercurial  keys  could  fit  that  lock.     Lachesis  is  bent 


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1887  How  to  Succeed  as  Physicians.  125 

just  the  other  way  for  the  most  part,  and  will  not  even 
enter  the  key-hole.  Should  not  we  be  as  fifood  workmen 
as  the  locksmith? 

Now  see  the  deductive  philosophy  work  at  this  problem. 
At  the  International  Congress  at  Basle,  Dr.  Bojanus  re- 
ported upon  the  state  of  Homoeopathy  in  Bussia.  He  gives 
a  detailed  account  of  the  attempt  of  Dr.  Dittmann,  of  St. 
Petersburg,  "  to  show  the  superiority  of  the  Homoeopathic 
treatment  of  diphtheria,"  which  was  then  raging.  Dr.  D. 
first  recommended  Mercurius  cyanatus  30th,  as  an  infalli- 
ble remedy  against  this  terrible  disease;  and  he  entreated 
the  Emperor  to  let  him*havo  a  hospital  where  he  could  put 
this  method  in  practice,  and  thus  test  Homoeopathy.  Now, 
yon  see  what  he  assumes.  That  this  "  terrible  disease  "  has 
an  antidote;  and  that  this  antidote  is  in  his  hands,  and  is 
an  'infallible  remedy."  He  ignores  the  law  and  assumes 
that  one  key  will  fit  all  the  locks;  and  yet  you  would  call 
him  a  high-potency  man  too.  He  uses  Hahnemann's  thir- 
tieth; but  how  does  that  make  the  remedy  similar  to  the 
individual  case?  He  might  give  grains  of  the  crude  or  the 
hundred-thousandth,  and  it  would  not  make  the  remedy 
similar  to  every  case  of  diphtheria,  or  perhaps  to  any  case 
that  came  into  his  hands.  All  the  cases  which,  unaided, 
Nature  could  not  cure  would  die,  and  this  would  be  called 
a  trial  of  Homoeopathy,  because  a  remedy  was  used  in  the 
thirtieth  potency  which  has  caused  a  sickness  similar  to 
some  cases  of  diphtheria.     It  is  not  Homoeopathy  at  all. 

I  took  this  case  as  an  example,  just  because  my  eyes 
happened  to  alight  upon  it.  But  the  journals  of  our  school 
are  full  of  just  such  statements  and  claims,  just  as  the  allo- 
pathic journals  are,  and  based  upon  exactly  the  same  false 
reasoning.  The  old  school  has  been  on  a  wild  goose  chase 
after  specifics  for  two  thousand  years.  What  encourages 
them  to  this  search?  Why, occasionally  one  happens  to  give 
a  new  medicine  in  a  case  to  which  it  is  homoeopathic,  and 
cures  it.  The  case  is  published,  and  straightway  all  cases 
of  like  name  get  the  same  medicine.  Dr.  Fox,  of  New 
Tork,  writes  a  lengthy  article,  complaining  of  his  school, 
because  every  case  of  chronic  skin  disease  which  comes  to 


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126  The  Medical  Advance.  August 

him  has  had  Arsenic,  and  all  because  somebody  cured  a 
case  of  a  certain  form  of  skin  disease  in  London,  twenty 
years  ago,  with  Arsenic.  They  are  still  voting  for  Jackson. 
Dr.  Perry,  of  Boston,  happened  to  cure  a  case  of  angina 
faucium,  many  years  ago,  in  a  fat,  flabby  woman,  with  a 
gargle  of  cayenne  pepper.  He  immediately  reported  it  in 
the  city  society,  and  hence  came  the  epidemic  of  Capsicum 
gargle  for  all  kinds  of  sore  throats  which  reigned  in  New 
England  for  years.  Of  course,  the  few  cases  to  which  it 
was  homoeopathic  were  cured,  and  that  kept  np  the  use 
of  it 

Oh,  my  friends,  why  can  we  not  apply  the  commonest 
facts  of  our  daily  life  to  show  us  individuality^  individu^ 
alHy,  everywhere,  and  equally  in  the  sick  and  their  reme- 
dies? What  other  touch,  however  human  and  loving,  can 
replace  that  of  the  vanished  hand?  What  voice  however 
sweet,  can  thrill  like  that  one  which  you  shall  hear  no 
more?  What  friend'  can  replace  any  living  friend,  even 
though  they  be  twin  brothers?  The  microscope  is  an  op- 
tical  instrument;  can  it  replace  the  telescope?  The  laws 
of  light  forbid.  The  brunette  does  not  wear  the  same  colors 
as  the  blonde.  The  laws  of  color  and  artistic  taste  do  not 
allow  it  The  organist  must  give  us  harmony  according 
to  the  beautiful  laws  of  sound.  Is  our  law  any  less  im- 
perative or  less  beautiful  than  the  other  laws  of  nature  ? 
We  find  perfect  fitness  and  adaptedness  in  them  all;  and 
only  as  we  follow  strictly  the  law  of  cure  can  we  reach  our 
ideal  of  success. 

But  one  moment  for  the  other  error,  which  supposes  that 
the  quantity  of  the  drug,  instead  of  the  quality,  has  some- 
thing to  do  with  the  cure.  Do  you  remember  the  first  ex- 
plosion of  Hell  Gate?  After  years  of  labor  in  excavating^ 
drilling,  and  placing  the  explosives,  fuses  and  wires,  at  the 
appointed  time,  General  Newton's  little  daughter,  seven 
years  old,  pressed  her  tiny  finger  gently  upon  a  little  but- 
ton. The  electricity  flashed  along  the  wires;  the  terrible 
dynamite  burst  into  flame  and  power,  and  the  work  was 
done.  Did  that  little  girl's  finger  do  the  work?  or  was  it 
done  any  better,  when  ten  years  later,  the  little  girl,  now 


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1887  JVhat  Homceopaihy  is  Not  127 

grown  to  a  young  woman,  again  touched  the  key  with  the 
same  magic  results?  See  the  organist  before  the  mighty 
organ,  with  its  pneumatic  action,  and  its  great  lungs  driven 
by  steam  or  water.  His  delicate  and  skillful  touch  brings 
forth  volumes  of  harmony  and  tone  that  fill  the  whole  great 
building.  Now  we  see  at  once  in  these  cases,  that  the  visi- 
ble agent  only  sets  free  other  mighty  forces  by  a  slight  ex- 
ercise of  power. 

It  is  just  the  same  in  the  care  of  the  sick.  The  only  fit 
and  suitable  remedy  touches  the  secret  springs  which  it 
alone  can  reach,  and  the  vital  force,  set  free  from  whatever 
has  enthralled  it,  springs  up  in  power  and  beauty  to  re- 
store health  and  harmony  to  the  organism. 

How  much  of  the  remedy  is  needed?  If  it  fits,  only 
very,  very  little;  how  little,  sometimes,  we  do  not  yet  know. 
If  it  does  not  fit,  no  amount  is  great  enough  to  press  the 
secret  button. 

Now,  my  colleagues,  we  get  something  of  a  glimpse  of 
our  task.  Let  us  grasp  these  principles  firmly  in  our 
deepest  consciousness;  and  although  it  means  work,  work, 
workf  yet  our  enthusiasm  over  the  daily  results  will  not  let 
our  zeal  flag.  I  can  give  you  my  personal  assurance  of 
that. 

Gladly  would  I  say  more  upon  this  congenial  theme,  but 
I  am  afraid  I  already  remind  you  of  that  good  old  lady 
who  had  always  lived  among  the  hills  of  New  Hampshire, 
and  skrimped  and  pinched  for  her  scanty  living.  At  last 
she  took  a  little  journey  to  the  sea-shore,  and  when  from  a 
little  eminence  she  finally  looked  out  upon  the  broad  ex- 
panse of  the  Atlantic,  lifting  up  her  hands  she  exclaimed: 
"Well!  I  am  thankful,  at  last,  to  see  something  there  is 

enough  of." 

■  ^•»  ■ 

WHAT  HOMCEOPATHY  IS  NOT 


D.  C.  MCLAREN,  M.  D.,  Brantford.  Ont. 


So  much  of  allopathic  and  eclectic  procedure  has  of  late 
come  to  be  grafted  on  Homoeopathy  that  a  clearing  away  of 
these  barnacles  which  hinder  the  good  ship's  progress, 
seems  a  matter  of  urgent  necessity. 


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128  The  Medxoal  Advance.  August 

To  make  a  begiuniDg,  let  us  oonsider  that  huge  mistake 
— alternation.  Originally  bom  of  ignorance,  it  has  been 
wet-nursed  by  indolence  and  finally  pampered  into  large 
and  dangerous  proportions  by  weak  human  pride  and  folly. 
That  it  is  both  generically  and  in  every  individual  case  the 
result  of  ignorance,  would  seem  not  to  require  demonstra- . 
tion  to  educated  and  thoughtful  men.  Such  a  demonstra- 
tion is,  however,  logical,  mathematical  and  entirely  incon- 
trovertible. It  was  definitely  enunciated  some  2000  years 
ago  by  Euclid  in  the  axiom,  that  no  more  than  one  straight 
line  can  ever  be  drawn  between  two  points.  ^  That  is  to  say, 
in  all  human  affairs  there  is  but  one  right  and  true  way  of 
doing  anything,  while  the  wrong  ways  are  both  numerous 
and  broad,  so  that  **  many  go  in  thereat"  It  may  be  safely 
held  as  a  truism  that  whatever  is  wrong  is  harmful;  so  we 
have  the  spectacle  of  professed  healers  actually  doing 
harm  to  those  under  their  treatment. 

But  not  alone  in  the  comparatively  harmless  way  of 
alternation  does  the  weak  but  well-meaning  brother  offend 
against  the  flag  under  which  he  sails.  As  one  sin  leads  to 
another  in  the  moral  sphere,  just  as  surely  and  often  more 
swiftly  does  the  folly  of  alternation,  involving  as  it  does 
the  neglect  of,  or  interference  with,  the  true  curative,  lead 
to  thickening  dilemmas  from  which  rash  and  absurd  allop- 
athic measures  seem  to  be  the  only  escape. 

In  the  foregoing  paragraph  I  have  used  the  expression 
"  well-meaning."  Let  me  state  here  that  I  consider  the 
fraternity  of  Homoeopaths,  as  a  body,  most  honest,  well 
intentioned,  and  truly  philanthropic,  not  faultless  indeed, 
for  none  are  that,  but  in  the  main  adhering  to  principle 
with  what  light  they  have  and  only  straying  by  reason  of 
defective  education  which,  it  is  the  office  of  this  and  kin- 
dred Institutes  and  good  journals  to  rectify. 

Considerable  bad  practice  results  from  Homoeopaths 
'  viewing  diseases  and  their  causes  through  the  spectacles  of 
old  school  pathology.  This  is  so  great  a  source  of  error, 
and  one  into  which  the  oldest  and  keenest  minds  are  at 
times  liable  to  fall,  that  full  discussion  of  the  matter  will 
undoubtedly  be  of  benefit     The  dominant  school  teaches 


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1887  What  Hoinceopathy  Is  Not  129 

that  diseases  are  produced  from  without  by  material  agen- 
cies acting  on  the  human  system — this,  however  crudely 
stated,  is  the  starting  point  of  their  pathology.  Now,  pa* 
contra,  Homoeopathy  teaches  that,  with  the  rare  exceptions 
of  some  surgical  conditions  and  foreign  or  poisonous  sub- 
stances getting  into  the  alimentary  canal,  all  diseases  are 
primarily  dynamic;  that  is  to  say,  they  either  arise  wholly 
within  the  system  as  some  variation  or  deflection  of  the 
vital  force,  or  else  they  arise  from  the  effect  of  some  imma- 
terial influence  or  miasm,  which  acting  dynamically  from 
without  disturbs  the  equilibrium  of  the  vital  force.  In- 
stances of  the  latter  are  the  often  serious  illnesses  produced 
by  unmerited  insult,  by  fright,  and  even  by  sudden  joy.  It 
may  be  objected  that  the  discovery  of  microbes,  bacilli  and 
spirillse  militate  against  the  Hahnemannian  doctrine,  but 
while  it  might  be  urged  that  so  long  as  the  dominant  school 
is  divided  even  as  to  the  amount  of  credence  to  be  given  to 
these  discoveries,  let  alone  deductions  therefrom.  Homoeo- 
paths need  not  be  disturbed  thereby:  it  is  so  easy  to  de- 
molish any  possible  objections  on  that  score,  that  the  ques- 
tion were  as  well  faced  now  for  the  sake  of  treatment 
involved.  Admit  the  material  germ  theory  and  we  are 
forced  to  adopt  the  use  of  so-called  germicides,  and  resolv- 
ing and  evacuating  drugs  for  the  purpose  of  purifying  the 
blood  and  improving  the  secretions. 

But,  candidly,  what  relation  do  the  microbes  hold  to 
cholera,  or  the  microcci  to  diphtheria?  It  is  inconceivable 
that  they  are  anything  but  the  product  of  disease,  not  its 
cause.  Such  diseases  are  never  cured  on  the  opposite 
theory  of  expulsion  of  these  abnormal  substances  and  im- 
purities, any  more  than  a  common  cold  can  be  cured  or 
even  shortened  by  the  most  frequent  and  perfect  blowing 
of  the  nose.  The  unquestionably  better  results  of  our 
theory  and  practice  are  strikingly  shown  in  eveiy  epidemic 
of  diphtheria  and  typhoid  in  this  country,  and  the  several 
epidemics  of  cholera  in  the  old  world.  It  must  be  suffici- 
ently obvious  that  the  diseases  of  mankind  caused  by 
external  morbid  noxiousness  are  originally  simple  dynamic 
changes  of  the  life-character  of  the  organism. 


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130  The  Medical  Advance.  Angost 

The  logical  steps  leading  up  to  the  diniamic  theory  of 
disease  are  as  follows:  Firstly,  life  is  in  no  respect  con- 
trolled by  the  physical  laws  which  govern  inorganic  sub- 
stances, e.  g.,  the  vitality  of  a  plant  keeps  its  leaves  green 
and  fresh,  but  express  the  green  juice,  expose  it  to  the 
sunlight,  and  it  will  quickly  fade;  fresh  foaming  beer  is 
soon  changed  at  blood  heat  into  vinegar,  but  in  the  human 
stomach  the  same  degree  of  heat  will  check  the  fermenta- 
tion, render  it  harmless  and  even  nutritive. 

Non-recognition  of  this  important  truth  leads  the  old 
school  to  expect  exactly  the  same  chemical  and  mechanical 
results  within  the  system  as  without,  hence  they  continu- 
ally combat  acidity  of  the  stomach  and  of  the  secretions 
by  the  administration  of  alkalies,  ignorant  of  the  simple 
fact  well  known  to  Homoeopaths  that  so  decided  an  anti- 
acid  as  carbonate  of  lime,  when  administered  by  ingestion, 
produces  sour  sweats  with  marked  frequency  and  regular- 
ity. Hence  life  can  never  be  demonstrated  by  comparison 
with  anything  in  this  world  but  itself.  The  material  sub- 
stances composing  the  human  organism  are  not  governed 
in  their  living  composition  by  the  same  laws  to  which  inor* 
ganic  substances  are  subject,  but  follow  simply  the  laws 
peculiar  to  their  vitality,  and  this  suspends  the  else  all 
pervading  forces  of  fermentation  and  decomposition  and 
so  maintains  a  state  of  health. 

It  follows,  therefore,  that  the  forces  which  control  inor- 
ganic matter,  since  they  have  no  share  in  the  maintenance 
of  health,  cannot  be  regarded  as  factors  in  the  production 
of  sickness.  That  is  to  say,  as  a  general  rule,  a  dynamic 
change  of  vitality  is  the  prime  factor  in  every  case  of 
disease. 

This  logical  conclusion  becomes  the  premise  for  the 
question  of  treatment.  If  a  sickness  can  be  proved  to  be 
of  chemical  origin,  let  the  treatment  be  chemical.  But  it 
has  been  shown  that  no  disease  can  have  any  origin  other 
than  dynamic;  therefore  treatment  to  be  true,  logical  and 
successful  must  also  be  dynamic. 

Hence  Homoeopathy  is  not  materialistic,  either  in  path- 
ology or  treatment;  this  is  not,  as  a  rule,  disputed  even  by 


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1887  What  Homceopathy  Is  Not  131 

those  who  act  differently  in  the  matter  of  internal  treatment, 
but  there  is  a  widespread  belief  that  in  regard  to  external 
applications  and  topical  medication,  this  rule  does  not  hold 
good,  or  that  it  may  be  safely  disregarded.  The  question 
arises  at  once,  do  sick-making  drugs  act  on  the  human 
system  mechanically  or  chemically,  or  in  any  other  way 
than  dynamically?  The  same  reasoning  as  above,  proves 
that  they  must  act  dynamically,  and  in  that  way  only.  So 
in  the  matter  of  external  applications,  the  bugbear  of  ix)s- 
sible  capillary  absorption  steps  down  and  out,  the  dynamics 
of  the  remedy  evidently  affecting  the  vital  force  in  a  man- 
ner peculiarly  its  own.  Witness  the  experiments  by  old 
school  physicians  at  Grenoble,  France,  in  1885,  when  sev- 
eral patients  were  visibly  and  distinctly  affected  by  drugs 
in  sealed  bottles,  held  at  a  distance  from  the  subject 
What  but  the  dynamics — the  hidden  force — of  the  drug 
could  have  produced  such  distinct  and  marked  results? 

Local  applications,  both  in  surgical  and  non-surgical 
cases,  should,  therefore,  when  used  at  all,  be  as  distinctly 
homoeopathic,  that  is,  similar  to  the  disease  as  the  internal 
remedy.  Arnica  and  Calendula  dressings  are  in  very  gen- 
eral use  among  Homoeopaths  for  bruising,  contrusions  and 
lacerations  of  the  flesh.  But  how  many  of  us  apply  a 
dressing  of  Hamamelis  for  ordinary  burns,  or  Cantharis 
when  blisters  are  forming,  and  such  other  remedies  as 
Kreosote  and  Urtica  urens?  How  many  know  the  virtues 
of  soap,  both  externally  and  internally,  for  those  deep 
ulcers  caused  by  severe  bums?  In  these  cases  and  in  the 
non-surgical  sores  and  ulcers,  where  there  is  much  more^ 
necessity  for  medicinal  dressings  than  in  purely  surgical 
lesions,  the  perfection  of  our  art  as  well  as  the  greatest 
comfort  and  speediest  cure  to  the  pationt  demand  thai 
locally  as  well  as  internally,  the  treatment  should  be 
strictly  homoeopathic.  All  other  treatment,  antiseptic 
dressings,  lead  ointments,  applications  of  iodine  and  mer> 
curials  are  distinctly  non-homoeopathic  and  as  such  should 
be  avoided  by  us. 

It  is  conceded  by  all  Homoeopaths,  even  by  those  who 
resort  to  such  methods,  that  the  treatment  of  disease 


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132  The  Medical  Advance.  August 

according  to  the  indication  contraria  is  distinctly  non- 
homoeopatliic.  Under  this  head  we  place  the  use  of  opium 
and  morphine  to  subdue  pain,  tonics  and  stimulants  to 
build  up  the  debilitated  and  purgatives  to  overcome  con- 
stipation. These  common  instances  do  not  need  to  be 
pointed  out,  for  all  recognize  them  as  un-homoeopathic;  but 
what  of  the  administration  of  frequent  doses  of  Aconite 
tincture,  or  even  the  Ix,  in  catarrhal  fevers?  Whatever 
the  result  sought,  the  effect  is  primarilly  that  of  benumb- 
ing by  capillary  contraction,  and  secondarily  an  increase  of 
fever  and  possibly  a  subsequent  sweat  And  yet  that  sort 
of  practice  is  so  common  and  so  many  of  our  men  have  an 
itching  finger  for  the  Aconite  bottle,  that  it  is  extremely 
difficult  to  convince  people  that  it  is  at  least  very  question- 
able Homoeopathy. 

Another  contrary  mode  of  treatment  associated  in  the 
public  mind  with  Homoeopathy,  is  that  by  electricity  and 
galvanism.  By  these  means  chronic  debility  and  partial 
paralysis  are  for  a  time  overcome  and  the  muscles  stimu- 
lated, only  to  be  followed  by  a  greater  degree  of  weakness 
or  paralysis— even  a  fatal  result  having  been  brought  about 
in  one  such  case  known  to  the  writer.  Nervous  troubles 
are  without  doubt  often  quelled  by  the  use  of  electricity, 
only  to  return  in  a  more  aggravated  form,  or  if  the  treat- 
ment have  been  continued  long  enough,  the  entire  disap- 
peafance  of  the  primary  malady  is  sure  to  be  followed 
sooner  or  later  by  a  more  incurable  and  deeper  seated  dis- 
ease. These  electric  forces  in  the  crude  form  have  pre- 
cisely the  same  mode  of  action  as  the  anodynes  and  stimu- 
lants of  the  old  school. 

In  conclusion,  all  routine  prescribing,  all  prejudice  in 
favor  of  one  remedy  over  another,  all  hap-hazard  work,  can 
at  best  only  be  regarded  as  a  carricature  6i  Homoeopathy 
— not  the  genuine  article. 

•   mm 

Arum  tuipiiyllum.— Child  has  headache,  puts  hand  on  back 
of  head  and  cries;  a  raw  spot  appears  on  the  lip,  corners  of  mouth, 
or  on  nose,  emitting  ono  drop  of  blood.  The  urine  is  scanty.  This 
raw  spot  njay  occur  on  the  hand,  when  the  child  bores  and  digs  at 

it.  c.  irg. 


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1887  Nofes  on  Picric  Acid,  133 

MATERIA  MEDICA. 


NOTES  ON  PICRIC  ACID. 


PROK.  E.  A.  FARRINGTON,  M.  D. 


No  newly  introduced  medicine  claims  more  deserved  at- 
tention  than  Picric  acid.  The  drug  causes  first  congestions, 
soon  followed  by  weariness  and  mental  inactivity  which 
denote  an  intense  action  on  the  vital  powers.  This  weari- 
ness progresses  from  a  slight  fatigue  on  motion  to  paral- 
ysis, and  is  accompanied  with.  indiflPerence,  want  of  will 
power  to  do  anything  and  a  desire  to  lie  down  and  rest. 
Animals  poisoned  with  the  acid  suffered  from  paralysis  of 
the  hind  legs,  impeded,  slow  breathing,  great  muscular 
weakness,  etc.  Post  mortems  discovered  the  cortex  cerebri, 
cerebellum,  medulla  and  spine  a  soft  pulpy  mass;  the  blood 
was  fluid,  dark  brown,  and  greasy  with  shining  particles, 
the  latter,  too,  from  disorganized  red  blood  corpuscles;  the 
urine  was  rich  in  phosphates  and  uric  acid,  poor  in  sul- 
phates and  urates;  albumen  and  glucose  were  also  found 
in  the  urine;  the  liver  was  full  of  fat  granules,  and  its 
borders  dark  with  stagnant  blood.  This,  and  the  yellow 
skin,  show  a  probable  action  on  the  liver. 

Compare  Phosphorus,  Argentum  nit,  Arsenic.  Phos- 
phorus also  resembles  Picric  acid  in  causing  fatty  changes 
in  the  blood,  kidneys,  and  also  in  softening  of  the  brain 
and  spine.  The  sexual  symptoms  are  similar;  both,  too, 
may  be  useful  in  brain  fag  from  study,  over  mental  exer- 
tion, etc.  Both  have  hot  head,  tingling,  formication,  numb- 
ness, weak  back  and  legs,  burning  in  spine  and  trembling, 
congestive  vertigo,  great  general  nerve  weakness  even  with 
organic  changes  in  the  nerve  centers,  especially  with  soft- 
ening of  the  spine,  jerking  of  muscles  with  backache,  dart- 
ing pains  here  and  there. 

Phosphorus  causes  more  irritable  weakness,  oversensi- 
tive to  external  impressions;  hence  the  senses  are  often 
acute,  or  if  failing,  photopsies  are  present,  loud  noises  in 
the  ears,  sensitive  to  odors,  to  electric  changes,  etc. 


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134  The  Medical  Advance.  August 

Sadness,  followed  by  anxiety,  restlessness;  worse  at  twi- 
light. Excitable,  head  weak,  cannot  think,  worse  from  loud 
noise,  music,  etc.,  again  displaying  the  irritable  weakness; 
the  backache  is  a  feeling  as  if  it  would  break  on  motion; 
burning  in  spots,  better  from  rubbing;  the  sexual  excite- 
ment is  very  strong  but  the  erections  are  not  so  intense  as 
under  Picric  acid;  not  so  much  like  priapism,  although  the 
lasciviousness  is  more  marked  in  Phosphorus;  even  in  ex- 
treme cases  when  all  irritation  has  ceased  the  history  shows 
that  it  once  characterized  the  case. 

Such  a  picture  of  disintegration  forcibly  bespeaks  the  use 
of  Picric  acid  in  spine  and  brain  diseases,  in  typhoid  con- 
ditions, and  in  other  conditions  in  which  the  red  blood  is 
impoverished  and  imperfectly  regenerated.  When  the 
symptoms  are  related  in  detail,  it  will  be  seen  that  this  acid 
is  destined  to  prove  invaluable  in  overworked  patients  es- 
pecially if  overtaxed  mentally,  and  how  often  are  we  called 
to  treat  men  whom  close  study  or  perplexing  business  mat- 
ters  have  broken  down.  We  find  when  Picric  acid  is  the 
remedy,  that  there  is  headache,  dull,  pressive  with  aggra- 
vation from  using  the  mind;  dull  occipital  pains;  heaviness 
extending  down  the  spine;  no  desire  to  study  or  work;  al- 
ways tired;  heavy  feeling;  great  weakness  of  legs  or  back, 
with  soreness  of  muscles  and  joints;  burning  along  the 
spine,  worse  when  studying.  In  other  patients  with  cerebro- 
spinal affections  we  note,  restless  sleep,  disturbed  by  pri- 
apismic  erections;  severe  pains  in  neck  and  occiput  to 
supraorbital  notch,  and  then  down  into  the  eyes;  hot  feel- 
ing in  lower  dorsal  and  lumbar  regions;  heavy,  dull  pains; 
aching,  dragging  in  lower  lumbar  region  and  legs,  worse 
from  motion;  tired  sensation  in  lumbar  region  and  legs 
when  awaking;  legs  heavy  and  weak;  heavy,  numb,  with 
crawling,  trembling,  pricking  as  from  needles;  lips  tingle; 
heavy  tingling  feeling  and  formication  in  head.  Prostra- 
tion on  least  motion  or  exertion,  sexual  desire  increased, 
terrible  erections,  are  common  symptoms  in  spinal  disease. 

Nux  vomica  sometimes  resembles  Picric  acid  in  cerebro- 
spinal affections,  but  the  irritability  (akin  to  that  in  Phos- 


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1887  Notes  on  Picric  Acid.  135 

phorus),  the  prominence  of  gastric  symptoms,  etc.,  dis- 
tinguish ii 

Oxalic  acid  more  than  Phosphorus  resembles  Picric  acid 
in  its  extreme  picture  of  spinal  softening;  weak  loins,  hips, 
and  legs;  numb  back  (Picric  acid  has  more  heaviness); 
numb  limbs,  legs  blue  and  cold  (Picric  acid  only  cold); 
weak  and  numb,  worse  walking  up  stairs;  limbs  stiff,  par- 
oxysms of  dyspnoea  (as  in  spinal  meningitis).  Picric  acid 
seems  to  have  more  symptoms  of  sclerosis. 

Now,  Oxalic  acid  causes  characteristic  pains  in  small 
spots,  etc. ;  pains  are  always  worse  thinking  thereon,  more 
nearly  related  that  any,  even  Phosphorus  or  Sulphur,  which 
causes  similar  congestion,  heaviness,  paraplegia,  with  numb- 
ness and  tingling,  heat  in  the  spine. 

Phosphorus  has  more  erethism  and  would  be  far  more 
preferable  when  sexnal  excesses  from  genital  irritation  and 
lasciviousness  were  the  cause,  and  in  the  remote  depres- 
sion, the  paralysis  and  other  evidences  of  nervous  exhaus- 
tion will  surpass  the  scope  of  either  Sulphur  or  Picric  acid. 
In  more  torpid  cases  Sulphur  and  Picric  acid  are  indicated. 

Phosphoric  acid  is  something  similar  to  Picric  acid.  It 
suits  when  there  is  cerebro-spinal  exhaustion  from  over- 
work; the  least  study  causes  heaviness  of  limbs,  and  even 
numbness  and  vertigo;  confusion  of  thought,  tingling, 
formication  especially  of  small  of  back;  back  and  legs  weak, 
yet  no  pain  except  a  subjective  sense  of  burning.  Emis- 
sions even  during  a  stool;  genitals  relaxed. 

Argentum  nit.  is  thought  to  be  similar  especially  in  blood 
changes.  Its  cerebro-spinal  symptoms  are,  however,  so 
unique  that  they  cannot  be  easily  misunderstood;  vertigo, 
dreads  passing  a  projecting  object,  fears  it  will  fall  on  him; 
nervous,  anxious,  timid;  backache,  worse  on  first  rising; 
bones  at  sacrum  give  out;  limbs  tremble.  Impotence;  sex- 
ual organs  shrivelled. 

Alumina  is  distinguished  by  the  pains  in  soles  on  step- 
ping as  though  soft  and  swollen;  burning  in  spine  as  from 
a  hot  iron;  when  walking  in  the  dark  with  eyes  closed  he 
staggers;  costive  from  inert  rectum;  nates  go  to  sleep. 

Silicea  is  quite  similar  to  Picric  acid  in  nervous  exhaus- 


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136  The  Medical  Advance.  August 

tion.  Jones,  quotiug  Dunham,  remarks  that  Silicea  is  use- 
ful when  patient  dreads  exertion,  mental  or  physical,  but 
warmed  up  to  it  when  started.  In  spinal  troubles  there  is 
the  well  know  constipation ;  legs  feel  as  if  they  had  lost 
their  power;  numbness  of  fingers  and  toes,  limbs  go  to  sleep 
easily. 

Zinc  causes  nervous  exhaustion;  its  backache  is  worse 
at  last  dorsal  vertebra  and  is  worse  sitting;  burning  along 
spine;  formication  in  calves;  weak  limbs;  weak  back  and 
limbs  with  goneness  when  hungry,  especially  at  11  a.  m.; 
all  nervous  symptoms  worse  from  wine. 

Of  the  remedies  causing  violent  erections  compare  Can- 
tharis,  said  to  be  an  inconstant  symptom.  Phosphorus,  Capsi- 
cum, Agaricus,  Pulsatilla,  Mygale,  Platinum,  Opium,  Hyos- 
cyamus.  Stramonium,  Ambra  gris..  Zinc,  Physostigma,  Piper 
methys.,  Petroleum,  Selenium,  which  has  priapism  without 
curvature  of  the  penis.  This  with  Cantharis,  Capsicum, 
Cannabis  ind.,  Mygale  and  Pulsatilla  are  excellent  in 
erections  with  gonorrhoea,  though  Cantharis,  Mygale  and 
Pulsatilla  may  be  used  in  cases  of  cerebral  or  spinal  affec- 
tions. 

Silicea,  has  priapism  with  spinal  affections. 

Oxalic  acid,  erections  with  dullness  in  occiput. 

(Enanthe  crocata,  semi-priapism  as  in  epileptics. 

Nux  vomica,  Cicut€^  Staphisagria,  Thuja,  Graphites, 
Fluoric  acid,  Lachesis,  Kali  carb.,  many  erections  with 
spasmodic  constriction  of  the  cord. 

Moschus,  a  small  retracted  penis  in  an  octogenarian  sud- 
denly attains  its  former  size;  an  impotent  man  becomes 
natural,  excited  desires,  etc. 

Natrum  carb.,  a  kind  of  priapism  toward  morning,  emis- 
sion and  no  desire. 

Natrum  mur..  Magnesia  mur.,  erections  and  burning  in 
penis.     * 

Bhus  tox.,  erections  even  with  spinal  diseases;  Sulphur, 
etc 

Of  these  the  following  may  be  studied  in  spinal  affec- 
tions: Phosphorus,  Silicea,  Bhus  tox..  Oxalic  acid,  Staph- 
isagria, Lachesis,  Moschus,  Natrum  carb..  Kali  carb.,  Na- 


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1887  Noies  on  Picric  Acid.  137 

trnm  mur.,  Nux  vomica,  Pulsatilla,  My  gale,  Agaricus,  Pla- 
tinum, Physostigma,  and  Zinc. 

In  old  people,  Fluor  acid,  Ambra,  with  numbness. 

With  sexual  excesses,  Phosphorus,  Nux  vomica.  Staph- 
isagria.  Kali  carb.,  Agaricus,  and  Zinc. 

With  lasciviousness.  Phosphorus,  Cantharis,  Lachesis, 
Platinum,  Stramonium,  Hyoscyamus,  Nux  vomica.  Thuja, 
Natrum  carb.,  and  Piper  methys. 

When  nervous,  better  when  occupying  the  mind,  etc.. 
Sulphur,  Staphisagria,  Moschus. 

Head. — Vertigo;  congestive,  with  headache  and  nausea, 
worse  stooping,  rising,  walking  or  going  up  stairs;  head- 
ache, dull,  bursting,  full,  heavy,  sharp  pains,  throbbing; 
worse  studying,  stooping  or  moving  eyes,  any  motion;  bet- 
ter in  open  air,  from  rest  or  binding  head  up  tightly. 

Eyes. — Sight  dim,  blurred  from  mucus;  pupils  dilated, 
sparks  before  the  eyes;  inflamed,  dry,  burning,  smarting 
with  feeling  of  sticks  in  eyes,  worse  working;  lids  heavy, 
thick  matter  in  canthi,  worse  from  lamplight 

Ears. — Bum,  are  puflfy;  crawling  as  from  worms. 

Nose. — Epistaxis  with  heat  and  congestion  of  head;  nose 
full  of  mucus,  can  breathe  only  with  mouth  open,  better 
in  open  air. 

Mouth. — Saliva  frothy,  stringy;  taste  sour,  bitter. 

Throat. — Bough,  scraped,  better  from  eating;  hot,  red; 
sore  on  empty  deglutition,  worse  after  sleep;  thick,  white 
mucus  on  tonsils;  on  swallowing  throat  feels  as  if  split; 
sensation  of  a  plug  when  swallowing  saliva. 

Stomach. — Thirst;  appetite  increased  or  diminished; 
eructations  sour,  with  frontal  headache;  bitter  water  brash; 
nausea,  5  a.  m.  ;  death-like,  faint,  worse  rising  and  moving 
around,  with  vertigo,  with  headache;  stomach  pressure, 
weight,  wants  to  belch  but  seemingly  powerless  to  do  so. 

Stool. — Destroys  epithelium  of  intestines. 

Diarrhoea  thin,  yellow,  oily,  with  straining,  with  burning; 
smarting  at  anus  and  prostration. 

Urging  to  stool  unsuccessful. 

Kidneys. — Cortex  congested;  urine  contains  sugar;  Sp. 


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138  The  Medical  Advance,  August 

gr.  1030;  is  albuminous,  dark-red;  excess  of  uric  acid  and 
phosphates,  diminution  of  sulphates  and  urates. 

Skin. — Yellow,  also  eyes,  dso  urine.  Papules  on  face 
becoming  small  furuncles. 

Limbs. — Feet  cold,  chilly,  cannot  get  warm,  followed  by 
clammy  sweat. 

General  Symptoms. — Chilliness  predominates.  Heat  in 
head  and  spine;  throbbing,  jerking  of  the  muscles  with 
severe  chills;  and  great  pains  between  the  hips;  dull, 
heavy,  dragging,  darting  pain  here  and  there  into  bones. 


SULPHURIC  ACID— A  CLINICAL  STUDY.* 


CLARENCE  WILLARD  BUTLER.  M.  D.,  Montclalr.  N.  J. 


In  the  study  of  any  drug,  either  in  its  pathogenetic  or 
its  clinical  records,  we  find  certain  symptoms,  conditions 
or  modalities  which  are  marked  and  peculiar,  and  some 
one  or  more  of  which  will  usually  be  present  in  the  dis- 
eased conditions  in  which  this  agent  will  prove  curative. 

These  symptoms  while  seemingly  trivial  and  often  abso- 
lutely without  significance  to  the  etiologist  or  the  patholo- 
gical anatomist  (at  least  in  the  present  state  of  our  medical 
knowledge)  are  in  the  highest  degree  important  to  the 
therapeutist,  since  they  are  the  determining  traits,  the  spe- 
cial characteristics  which  serve  to  distinguish  the  indivi- 
dual from  others  of  its  genits. 

It  is  well,  therefore,  that  before  we  proceed  to  a  study  of 
special  diseases  or  of  the  diseases  of  special  organs,  that 
we  should  give  our  attention  to  these  general  characteris- 
tics of  Sulphuric  acid. 

As  the  first  general  characteristic  then  that  I  shall  men- 
tion, the  Sulphuric  acid  patient  is  weak  and  exhausted. 
This  is  not  only  a  sense  of  weakness  but  a  condition  of 
actual  weakness.  Either  the  disease  is  one  where  such 
weakness  is  an  integral  factor,  or  the  sense  of  exhaustion 
is  out  of  proportion  to  the  pathological  condition  present 
or  both  conditions  may  obtain, — an  exhausting  disease  with 

*  Hahnemannian  Association,  June,  1887. 


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disproportionate  weakness.  A  weakness  which  seems  to 
depend  upon  some  deep  seated  dysorasia  as  Dr.  H.  N. 
Guernsey  puts  it. 

Again,  we  find  in  the  Sulphuric  acid  patient  a  sensation 
of  general  tremulousness.  A  sensation  of  trembling  all 
over  without  actual  trembling.  This  sensation  of  trembling 
without  actual  trembling  has  been  promptly  relieved  by 
Oelsemium,  but  with,  the  Gelsemium  patient  the  sense  of 
weakness  is  greater  than  the  actual  weakness,  which  is  not 
true  of  Sulphuric  acid.  Theridion  has  this  symptom  re- 
corded in  its  provings,  but  I  am  not  aware  that  it  has  re- 
ceived clinical  confirmation. 

Sulphuric  acid  has  a  characteristic  kind  of  pain.  It  is  a 
pain  which  commences  moderately,  increases  gradually  to 
a  certain  height  and  then  suddenly  ceases. 

This  will  call  to  your  minds  at  once  the  suddenly  ap- 
pearing and  as  suddenly  disappearing  pains  of  Belladonna 
— the  gradually  increasing  and  gradually  decreasing  pains 
of  Stannum,  etc.  (I  have  several  times  observed  where 
Ciolocynthis  was  the  curative  remedy  in  neuralgias  of  the 
abdomen,  that  the  pains  commenced  suddenly  and  severely 
and  gradually  disappeared.  In  one  case  1  relieved  promptly 
with  a  single  dose  of  Colocynthis  cm.,  a  severe  toothache 
starting  in  a  carious  molar  of  the  lower  jaw  on  the  right 
side,  and  extending  to  the  remaining  teeth  on  that  side  of 
the  jaw,  being  led  to  my  choice  of  Colocynthis  by  this  sud- 
denly appearing  and  gradually  disappearing  pain. ) 

The  Sulphuric  acid  patient  is  always  in  a  hurry.  He 
can  not  do  things  fast  enough,  and  is  impatient  or  even 
angry  because  things  move  so  slowly. 

There  is  in  Sulphuric  acid  an  intolerance  of  water  which, 
although  it  is  usually  noticed  in  gastric  troubles,  is  suffi- 
ciently peculiar,  so  that  I  mention  it  among  the  general 
characteristics.  It  is  this:  Water  can  not  be  tolerated  be- 
cause it  chills  the  stomach,  unless  some  alcoholic  spirits 
are  added  to  it,  when  it  is  borne  without  discomfort 
Sometimes  the  water  is  vomited  unless  it  is  thus  mixed 
with  an  alcoholic  liquor,  but  this  does  not  always  occur. 

Mind. — In  mental  or  brain  diseases  Sulphuric  acid  de- 


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140  The  Medical  Advance.  August 

serves  no  special  mention.  The  general  mental  condition 
of  the  patient  is  one  of  taciturnity  with  irritability  and 
previshness  when  things  don't  go  to  suit  him;  or  even  this 
may  be  intensified  to  violent  anger  when  he  is  crossed, 
especially  in  his  every  day  avocations,  when  things  go  too- 
slowly.  For  instance;  a  drunken  groom,  though  usually 
kind  to  his  horses  and  fond  of  them,  when  in  the  dys- 
peptic condition  would  become  violently  angry  and  kick 
and  beat  them  if  they  did  not  move  about  just  to  suit  him, 
which  I  have  repeatedly  relieved  with  Sulphuric  acid. 

Head. — The  vertigo  of  Sulphuric  acid  is  as  if  things 
were  moving  about  him  in  a  circle;  it  is  worse  while  sit- 
ting and  relieved  while  lying  down  and  in  the  open  air. 
With  other  conditions  there  may  be  dullness  or  heaviness, 
or  stitches  here  and  there  through  the  head.  The  scalp  is 
sensitive  to  the  touch,  with  suppurative  pains  in  it  Gross 
noticed  in  his  proving  a  severe,  pressive  right-sided  head- 
ache with  the  characteristic  gradual  increase  and  sudden 
disappearance.  Guided  by  this  peculiarity,  many  headaches 
have  been  cured  with  this  drug.  {Vide  Eaue's  Eecord^ 
1873  page  99. )  This  is  the  only  head  symptom  of  especial 
prominencfe. 

Eyes. — Dr.  Berridge,  of  London,  has  cured  the  following: 
symptom :  Feeling  as  of  a  lump  in  the  outer  canthus  of  the 
right  eye;  on  closing  the  eye  it  seemed  to  move  to  the 
inner  canthus  and  upon  opening  it  to  return.  (Kane's  Eec- 
ord,  1875  page  40.)  This  is  very  nearly  like  sympton^ 
106,  as  recorded  in  Allen's  Encyclopedia  of  Pure  Materia 
Medica. 

Face. — The  face  of  the  Sulphuric  acid  patient  is  pale^ 
puffy,  with  sunken  eyes  (perhaps  watery)  and  a  general 
expression  of  despondency  with  irritability.  In  severe 
cases  it  may  be  bluish  or  livid  with  the  expressions  of  pain 
and  suffering;  while  in  extreme  condition  it  has  the  true 
Hippocratic  countenance. 

Mouth. — The  teeth  of  your  chronic  patient  will  lose 
their  polish  and  become  white  and  brittle.  In  toothache 
this  remedy  has  proven  a  valuable  agent.  The  great  char- 
acteristic is  the  gradually  increasing  and  suddenly  ceasing 


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pain.  (For  brilliant  cures  vide  N.  A.  J.  Horn.,  vol.  XIX, 
p.  417. )  Additional  indications  will  be  tbe  location  which 
is  usually  in  the  lower  jaw;  the  aggravations  from  biting 
on  any  hard  substance  and  from  cold;  and  the  relief  from 
warmth.  It  may  be  confined  to  a  single  tooth  but  usually 
effects  several  at  once.  Sulphuric  acid  is  a  frequently 
needed  remedy  in  all  forms  of  stomatitis  ulcerosa,  espe- 
cially in  the  apthse  of  children  suffering  from  exhausting 
diseases,  and  in  the  same  trouble  occuring  in  the  latter 
stages  of  long  continued  illnesses.  As  special  indications 
I  will  give:  The  condition  of  general  weakness;  the  extent 
of  the  apthous  patches  which  invade  the  whole  buccal 
cavity;  their  white  or  yellowish  appearance;  the  intense 
burning  pain  in  them  which  is  aggravated  by  cold  water 
and  relieved  by  dilute  alcoholic  spirits.  There  is  ptyalism 
of  stringy,  ropy  mucus,  an  exceedingly  foul  breath  and  a 
dry  mouth. 

In  a  severe  form  of  thrush  it  is  indispensable.  The 
above  indications  will  sufficiently  point  to  the  use  of  the 
remedy  in  this  disease. 

Mercurius  and  Borax  while  similar  in  some  degree  to 
Sulphuric  acid  in  these  troubles,  lack  the  profound  weak- 
ness of  the  latter  drug,  and  Arsenicum  which  resembles  it 
even  more  closely,  has,  with  its  exhaustion,  a  restlessness 
which  the  Sulphuric  acid  has  not,  and  will  be  further  dis- 
tinguished by  the  conditions  of  aggravation  and  ameliora- 
tion. The  stringy,  ropy  mucus  and  the  dry  mouth  remind 
us  of  Kali  bich.,  but  your  Kali  bich.  patient  loves  water 
and  is  relieved  by  ii 

Throat. — Considering  how  many  and  severe  symptoms 
are  produced  by  this  drug  in  the  mouth  and  oesophagus,  it 
is  rather  surprising  to  find  how  few  are  recorded  as  pro- 
duced in  the  pharynx,  and  I  should  expect  to  find  its 
sphere  of  usefulness  in  throat  diseases  very  limited  with 
the  indications  for  its  use  furnished  principally  by  con- 
comitant symptoms.  A  few  symptoms  may  be  mentioned 
which,  other  things  being  equal,  may  call  for  its  use  in 
such  diseases. 

Uvula   and   root  of  the  palate  oedematous,   "pharynx 


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dark  red,"  "  constriction  of  the  pharynx,"  "  burning  in  the 
pharynx,"  McNeil  in  his  admirable  work  on  diphtheria^ 
recommends  it  for  this  disease  giving  the  following  symp- 
toms as  indications.  "Excessive  salivation;  fetor  oris; 
difficulty  of  swallowing;  liquids  return  through  the  nose; 
ulcerations  of  the  throat  with  large  exudations,  grayish  or 
yellowish,  sticky  and  tenacious,  accompanied  with  great 
weakness  and  a  sensation  of  trembling  all  over  without 
actual  trembling.*'  Clinical  experience  with  it  seems  to  be 
lacking,  however. 

Stomach. — The  provings  show  severe  dysphagia  as  a 
prominent  symptom  of  Sulphuric  acid, — and  there  are 
many  pains  on  swallowing,  the  most  of  which  would  seem 
to  depend  upon  oesophagitis.  In  this  uncommon  disease  it 
should  prove  a  remedy  of  great  value,  for  it  produces  symp- 
toms upon  every  part  of  the  oesophagus  and  varying  in 
degree  from  sensitiveness  and  soreness  to  the  most  ex- 
cruciating burning.  Persons  poisoned  by  the  pure  acid 
have  thrown  off  casts  of  various  portions  of  this  tube,  even 
to  and  including  portions  of  the  mucus  membrane  of  the 
stomach  itself.  The  general  characteristics  of  the  drug 
will  point  to  its  use,  especially  the  sensitiveness  to  water, 
with  relief  from  dilute  alcohol  and  the  extreme  exhaustion. 
As  special  indications,  we  shall  find  burning  pains  extend- 
ing from  the  throat  to  the  stomach  with  severe  pm'n/rom 
the  pit  of  the  stomach  through  between  the  shoulder  blades. 

Digestion  is  slow  with  the  patient  needing  this  drug,  and 
the  patient  has  many  symptoms  of  an  old  and  "  tough " 
dyspepsia — a  gastro-intestinal  catarrh. 

Exceptionally  we  find  hunger,  but  as  a  rule  there  is  a 
loss  of  appetite.  If  your  patient  eats  he  has,  commencing 
at  once,  a  sensation  as  of  a  stone  in  the  stomach,  with 
severe  cramping  pains  so  that  he  is  obliged  to  stop  eating. 
He  often  vomits  his  food  as  soon  as  he  takes  it.  Has  much 
heart-burn  with  bitter  eructations;  sour  eructations,  with 
regurgitation  of  food  and  of  bitter  liquids;  or  liquids  so 
sour  that  the  teeth  are  set  on  edge.  A  sensation  of  great 
weakness  through  the  abdomen  which  is  especially  severe 
after  stooL    Hiccough  and  many  times  vomiting  which  is 


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bitter  or  sour.  The  epigastrium  is  sensitive  to  touch  and 
pains,  severe  pains,  burning  pains,  run  from  there  through 
between  the  shoulder  blades.  Muoh  thirst,  but  water  chills 
the  stomach  unless  alcoholized.  Sometimes  water  can  not 
be  retained  by  this  irritated  stomach  unless  mixed  with 
alcoholic  liquors.  Now  this  peculiarity  of  the 'thirst,  the 
sensitiveness  of  the  stomach  with  the  relief  mentioned,  is 
the  great  '^  key-note  "  for  its  use  in  such  cases,  but  it  need 
not  necessarily  be  present  and  you  will  see  amply  sufficient 
indications  among  those  mentioned  to  determine  your 
choice  without  it.  Of  course  the  presence  of  any  of  the 
general  characteristics  will  make  the  choice  more  certain 
and  more  easy. 

With  the  above  conditions  the  patient  may  be  consti- 
pated, or  have  the  diarrhoea  peculiar  to  Sulphuric  acid. 
You  see  these  dyspepsias  to  which  Sulphuric  acid  is  hom- 
oeopathic are  old  cases,  where  there  has  been  an  irritated 
stomach  and  bowel  for  a  long  time.  Such  cases  are  often 
found  in  hard  drinkers — steady  every  day  drinkers.  With- 
out doubt  Nux  vomica  has  often  been  given  when  Sul- 
phuric  acid  was  indicated,  both  because  of  the  routine 
habit  of  giving  Nux  vomica  to  all  cases  of  alcoholism, 
acute  or  chronic,  and  because  of  the  similarity  of  many  of 
their  symptoms.  Sulphuric  acid  is  probably  more  often 
indicated  than  any  other  drug  in  the  gastric  troubles  of 
chronic  alcoholism,  and  vies  with  Nux  vomica  and  Gelse- 
mium  in  acute  cases — i.  e.,  the  physical  disturbances  pro- 
duced by  a  debauch.  It  may  not  be  unprofitable  here  to 
compare  the  three  in  such  cases. 


SULPHURIC  ACID. 

Suitable  in  chronic  al- 
coholism especially  old 
topers  who  drink  the  **Kot 
and  mighty "  liquors,  as 
brandy,  gin,  whiskey,  etc. 

Irritable  when  things 
don't  go  to  suit  him.  Ta- 
citurn. 

I>ul]ne8s  throughout 
the  head.  Stitches  here 
and  there  in  the  head. 


OBLSEKIUM. 

Moderate  drinkers 
who  have  exceeded 
their  allowance— cham- 
pagne drinkers.  Fine 
wine  and  liquor  drink- 
ers. 

Restless,  even  lively, 
disposition.  Penitent 
mood. 

Heavy,  dull  occipital 
pain,  relieved  by  pres- 
sure and  by  stimulants. 
Dull  confused  head. 


NUX  VOMICA. 

Results  of  excesses, 
especially  in  young  or 
moderate  drinkers.  Beer 
drinkers  (also  Sulphur) 
—Whiskey  drinkers. 

Cross,  quarrelsome 
disposition. 

Dull  frontal  headache 
relieved  by  hard  pressure. 
Confused  head. 


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Thirst  In  the  morn- 
ing he  wants  whiskey  or 
brandy.  Can  not  drink 
water  unless  he  adds  al- 
coholic liquor,  because  it 
chills  his  stomach  and  he 
▼omits  it. 

Tongue  red,  or  coated 
whitish.  Breath  offensive. 

Bowels  constipated: 
with  great  pain  in  the 
rectum  on  defacatlng;  or 
bowels  loose  with  pasty, 
or  watery  offensive  stools. 
Weakness  in  the  abdo- 
men after  stool. 

Haemorrhoids.  Exter- 
nal, moist,  sensitive,  with 
stitching  burning  pain. 

Nausea,  severe  with 
vomiting  or  food;  of  wa- 
ter; of  txmr  bitter  mucus 
and  water. 

Eructations  sour;  bit- 
ter; sweetish.   Hiccough. 

No  appetite.  Heavy 
presslve  pain  In  stomach 
on  eating.  Burning,  or 
coldness  at  the  pit  of  the 
stomach. 

Frequent  luinatlon 
'  with  pain  in  the  urethra 
on  passing  the  last  drops. 
Old  sinners  with  enlarged 
{trostate. 

Tremulousness  with- 
out actual  trembling,  gen- 
eral and  sevete. 


Moderate  thirst, 
craves,  stimulants,  but 
wants  fine  liquors  or 
wines.  Wants  **  long 
drinks,"  e.  g..  cham- 
pagne cocktails,  gin  or 
whiskey  fizzes.  Cold 
water  Is  gratefid. 

Tongue  coated  yel- 
low.  Breath  offensive. 

Bowels  not  marked- 
ly affected. 


Nausea  not  promi- 
nent   Vomiting  rare. 


Little  appetite.  In- 
definite pains  through 
the  abdomen  relieved 
by  stimulants. 

Frequent  free  urina- 
tion with  relief  of  symp- 
toms, especially  the 
headache. 

Tremulousness  with- 
out trembling.  May  be 
general  or  confined  to 
single  groups  of  mus- 
cles.   Not  severe. 


Thirst,  can  usually  but 
not  always  retain  water. 
Wants  a  "  fixed  up " 
dnnk;  don't  know  what 
exactly,  and  is  not  always 
able  to  retain  It  when  he 
drinks  it. 

Thick,  dirty  coat  upon 
the  tongue.  Breath  offen- 
sive. 

Bowels  constipated 
with  ineffectual  urging  to 
stool. 


Haemorrhoids,  exter- 
nal or  internal,  painful 
after  stool . 

Incipient  nausea.  Vom- 
iting bitter;  of  food. 


Eructations.  Hiccough 
after  stimulants. 

No  appetite.  Heavi- 
ness and  pain  in  the 
stomach  on  eating. 


Spasmodic  stangury. 
Dull  pain  in  the  prostate 
with  urging  to  defacate 
or  to  urinate. 


There  is  much  vomiting  under  Sulphuric  acid.  Vomi- 
ting of  food,  of  water,  of  the  ingesta,  of  curded  milk,  of 
glairy  fluids,  of  both  bright  and  dark  blood,  of  blackish 
substances  and  even  the  ominous  coffee-ground  vomiting. 
In  cancer  of  the  stomach  it  should  prove  an  excellent  pal- 
liative. In  one  case  whercv  I  diagnosed  this  disease,  a 
diagnosis  confirmed  by  an  allopathic  and  one  of  our  bright- 
est young  homoeopathic  surgeons,  great  relief  was  afforded 
to  many  distressing  symptoms,  especially  the  vomiting  of 


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curded  milk  (milk  being  his  principdl  diet)  the  ooflPee- 
ground  vomiting  and  the  sense  of  exhaustion.  It  takes 
nothing  from  the  reputation  of  the  remedy  that  a  post 
mortem  examination  revealed  the  fact  that  there  was  no 
cancer  at  all,  since  I  prescribed  for  my  patient  as  I  found 
him, — nof  for  the  name  of  a  disease  which  I  erroneously 
supposed,  to  exist. 

Stool. — Sulphuric  acid  is  suited  to  a  severe  form  of 
entero-colitis  occuring  in  children,  especially  during  den- 
tition. The  stools  are  frequent,  of  slimy  mucus  or  chopped 
saffron  yellow  stools,  are  accompanied  with  great  exhaus- 
tion, apthae,  vomiting  of  curded  milk,  sour  vomiting  and  in 
spite  of  the  utmost  cleanliness  the  person  of  the  child 
smells  sour. 

In  adults  there  is  found  with  or  without  the  dyspeptic 
symptoms  already  mentioned,  a  diarrhoea  of  whitish  or 
thin  mucus  mixed  with  blood,  or  a  soft  and  pasty  stool. 
After  the  evacuation  there  is  a  sensation  of  great  weakness 
in  the  abdomen  which  is  quite  characteristic  of  the  remedy. 
Constipation  too  is  cured  by  Sulphuric  acid.  In  this  con- 
dition the  stools  are  hard,  dark  and  nodular — like  sheeps 
dung.  The  patient  suffers  from  hemorrhoids  so  that  it 
seems  to  him  that  the  rectum  is  being  torn  asunder  during 
defacatiou.  Many  cases  of  hemorrhoids  have  been  cured 
by  this  drug.  So  has  fissure  of  the  anus.  In  addition  to 
the  above  mentioned  tearing  sensations  while  defacating 
the  following  symptoms  will  call  for  its  use  in  these  dis- 
tressing diseases.  Piles;  external,  moist,  sensitive  to  touch; 
with  itching  at  the  anus;  with  sticking  pains  in  the  tumor; 
with  lancinating  pains  running  upward  from  the  anus  (like 
Ignatia.  Nitric  acid);  with  needle-like  pains  at  the  anus 
(like  Arsenicum.) 

Kidneys  and  Urine. — Acute  nephritis  has  been  pro- 
duced by  Sulphuric  acid,  the  urine  containing  both  blood 
and  albumen.  Particular  indications  for  its  use  in  this 
disease  seem  lacking  and  its  choice  will  be  determined  by 
accompanying  symptoms. 

Dr.  G.  Oehme  in  his  review  of  remedies  found  useful  in 
diabetes  through  fifty  years,  speaks  of  one  case  as  having 


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146  The  Medical  Advance.  August 

been  much  improved  by  Sulphuric  acid,  and  mentions  the 
following  symptoms  as  having  been  present:  "Vomiting 
of  water;  sour  stomach;  destroying  the  teeth  and  intoler- 
ance of  solid  food." 

Dr.  Hering  says:  "Pain  in  the  bladder  if  the  desire  to 
urinate  is  not  at  once  satisfied,"  calls  for  Sulphuric  acid. 
(Pain  in  the  kidneys  from  the  same  cause,  Conium.) 

In  hernia  scrotalis  we  may  expect  aid  from  this  remedy 
when  there  is  great  disposition  of  the  hernia  to  "come 
down"  with  pressing,  forcing  or  stitching  pains  in  the 
hernia  and  violent  pains  at  the  inguinal  ring.  Aggravation 
from  walking,  coughing  and  breathing.  Belief  from  quiet^ 
especially  sitting. 

Dr.  Guernsey  recommends  it  for  the  hernia  of  infants 
where  there  seem  to  be  no  symptoms  present  except  a  pro- 
found weakness  of  the  little  patient. 

Sexual  Organs. — Upon  the  sexual  apparatus  of  both 
sexes  this  drug  seems  to  produce  irritation  without  sexual 
appetite.  Thus  we  have  in  the  male  erections  without 
amorous  thoughts,  and  emissions  without  voluptuous  sen- 
sations. In  the  female  a  desire  for  coition  felt  in  the  ex- 
ternal genitals,  without  much  excitement  from  coition. 

Dr.  H.  N.  Guernsey,  than  whom  no  more  acute  and  ac- 
curate observer  has  ever  graced  our  school  of  medicine,  has 
recommended  Sulphuric  acid  in  the  following  diseases  of 
women,  the  choice  depending  wholly  upon  the  general 
characteristics  of  the  drug.  Menorrhagia,  metrorrhagia, 
dysmeno^rhoea,  vulvitis  and  after  pains.  Also  in  prolapsus 
vaginflB,  when  the  parts  look  greenish  and  smell  badly — a 
dangerous  condition.  Also  in  uterine  displacements  with 
early  and  profuse  menstruation,  great  acidity  of  the  stom- 
ach, a  desire  to  do  every  thing  in  a  hurry,  great  weakness 
and  a  sensation  of  trembling  without  actual  trembling. 

Chest  and  Lungs. — Sulphuric  acid  has  a  decided  affin- 
ity for  the  air  passages  and  has  produced  laryngitis,  bronchi- 
tis, pneumonia  and  consumption  of  the  lungs.  The  physi- 
cal signs  of  these  various  disorders  have  been  observed  by 
competent  witnesses,  and  many  symptoms  objective  and 
subjective  recorded.    These  will  be  found  in  Allen's  En- 


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1887  Sulphuric  Acid— A  Clinical  Study.  147 

cyclopedia  of  Pure  Materia  Medica  and  since  this  is  a  clin- 
ical study  of  the  drug  they  would  be  out  of  place  here. 
Clinical  records  in  these  diseases  are,  considering  its  un- 
doubted affinity  for  these  organs  and  the  serious  and  well 
authenticated  lesions  produced  by  it  in  them,  astonishingly 
meagre.  This  probably  is  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that 
these  severe  lung  diseases  were  produced  in  oases  of  pois- 
oning by  the  drug  and  where  the  observers  were  more  in- 
tent upon  the  diagnostic  signs  of  the  disease  than  upon  the 
determining  indications  for  the  use  of  the  remedy,  and  we 
find  accordingly  that  the  symptoms  reported  are  too  gen- 
eral for  the  special  uses  of  the  therapeutist  Our  choice 
of  this  remedy  therefore  in  any  of  the  diseases  mentioned 
must  be  for  the  present  determined  by  its  general  charac- 
teristics, or  by  the  Sulphuric  acid  indications  in  accom- 
panying disorders. 

There  are,  however,  some  few  symptoms  which  will  help 
us  to  individualize  and  these  I  will  mention.  There  is  a 
cough  deserving  of  especial  mention.  It  is  a  short,  dry, 
hacking  cough,  which  is  constant  and  fatiguing.  The 
larynx  is  sensitive  to  touch,  with  husky  weak  voice,  or 
hoarseness  even  to  complete  aphonia.  With  the  cough  is 
a  gasping  for  breath  and  a  whistling  respiration,  and  it  is 
worse  in  the  open  air. 

Also  there  is  a  violent  paroxysmal  loose  cough,  with 
copious  expectoration,  slimy,  constant  expectoration,  offen- 
sive in  odor  and  accompanied  with  a  foul  breath.  It  is 
worse  in  the  morning  when  the  patient  often  vomits  with 
the  violent  paroxysms  of  coughing.  Bespiration  may  be 
hurried,  short,  difficult,  with  pain  in  the  cervical  muscles — 
pains  in  the  chest,  with  anxiety — or  respiration  may  be 
weak,  slow  and  irregular. 

Haemoptysis  from  slight  exertion — from  walking  slowly* 
Many  slight  haemorrhages  from  the  lungs,  from  slight  ex- 
ertions. 

The  chest  feels  weak.  Sense  of  exhaustion  more  pro- 
nounced through  the  chesi  There  are  many  pains  in  var- 
ious parts  of  the  chest;  sticking,  burning,  scraping,  draw- 
ing, tearing  pains.    One  pain,  however,  should  be  espe- 


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148  The  Medical  Advance,  August 

cially  remembered  for  it  is  a  valuable  indication  for  this 
drug  whenever  it  is  present  This  is  a  sudden  violent  pain 
in  the  upper  left  chest  going  through  to  the  scapula  on  that 
side. 

In  pneumonia  it  seems  to  especially  aflfect  the  lower 
lobes  of  the  lungs,  and  is  suited  to  severe  cases  with  a 
gangrenous  tendency. 

In  consumption,  Baue  especially  mentions  the  pain 
through  to  the  shoulder-blade,  and  von  Bonninghausen 
says  it  is  suited  to  profuse  haemorrhages  from  the  lungs. 

In  this  connection  I  will  mention  the  sweats  of  Sulphuric 
acid.  The  patient  sweats  easily  on  slight  exertion.  Sweats 
profusely  at  night,  more  upon  the  upper  part  of  the  body. 
He  has  cold  sweats,  or  sour  smelling  sweats.  Emaciation 
commences  early  in  those  poisoned  by  this  drug  and  pro- 
gressing gradually  becomes  extreme.  It  is  accompanied 
with  great  weakness,  as  are  all  other  conditions  indeed. 

In  regard  to  potency,  my  own  experience  has  been  with 
the  higher  potencies  only.  I  can  not  speak  for  any  others 
but  these  have  served  me  well. 

Sulphuric  acid  does  not  repeat  well,  as  would  be  ex- 
pected from  the  severe  nature  of  the  diseased  conditions 
to  which  it  is  homoeopathic,  its  action  is  often  seemingly 
slow,  but  you  can  not  hurry  it  by  repeating  your  doses,  and 
I  am  convinced  from  my  own  experience  that  you  will 
usually  fail  of  the  best  obtainable  results  by  so  doing. 

With  one  word  of  caution  I  have  done.  When  giving 
Sulphuric  acid  to  a  patient  with  consumptive  tendencies, 
or  to  one  already  attacked  with  the  disease,  do  not  give  too 
high  a  potency,  do  not  repeat,  and  exercise  the  greatest 
watchfulness,  for  it  will  often  act  so  violently  as  to  be  dan- 
gerous. _ 

ARNICA  MONTANA. 


J.  A.  WAKEMAN,  M.  D.,  Centralla,  III. 


This  is  also  a  polychrest  remedy  of  great  importance. 
Morally:  he  is  peevish;  extremely  sensitive;  quarrel- 
some; often  present  in  young  children,  who  are  ill-behaved; 


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1887  Arnica  Montana.  149 

cannot  touch  tbem;  will  not  permit  you  near  them;  never 
show  their  tongue;  hypochondrical;  hopeless;  dispondent. 

Useful  in  plethoric,  red-faced  individuals,  predisposed 
to  apoplexy;  mechanical  injuries,  wounds,  bruises;  given 
internally,  and  used  in  a  very  weak  solution  locally — when 
it  is  almost  invariably  used  too  strong  to  get  its  best  re- 
sults, and  may  do  much  harm  by  getting  up  irritation, 
itching,  and  even  vesication  of  the  surface  to  which  it  is 
applied:  and  is  apt  to  do  so,  if  the  surface  is  kept  moist 
and  covered  by  compresses. 

Sometimes  we  iind  patients  manifesting  a  great  propen- 
sity to  scratch,  and  as  soon  as  the  itching  part  is  scratched, 
the  itching  starts  up,  often,  in  some  remote  part  of  the 
body,  or  limbs,  keeping  him  active  in  tracing  it  up — great 
desire  to  scratch,  will  scratch  head,  wall,  bed  or  other 
things.  Head  hot,  and  all  other  portions  of  the  body  and 
limbs  cool;  painful  glandular  swelling;  boils,  where  it  is 
both  curative  and  prophylactic,  and  in  conjunction  with 
Sulphur  will  cure  most  persons  who  have  a  chronic  pre- 
disposition to  these  troublesome  swellings. 

Blue-red  ecchymosis,  after  bruises;  bites  and  stings  of 
insects;  patient  sees  cats,  dogs  and  snakes  tearing  his  flesh; 
l)ed-sore8  as  preventative,  in  which  case  chamois  skins 
should  be  laid  on  all  the  time,  which  should  be  carefully 
washed,  dried  and  rubbed  soft,  every  day,  and  the  Arnica 
solution  used  very  weak;  ten  drops  of  tincture  to  a  pint  of 
water  I  think  strong  enough.  Parts  should  be  bathed  twice 
a  day,  and  let  the  part  get  perfectly  dry  before  it  is  again 
lain  on. 

Is  useful  in  corns,  bunions,  soreness  and  scalding  of  the 
feet  from  sweating  too  freely,  and  becoming  scalded  from 
long  marches;  a  weak  solution  applied  after  bathing  in 
warm  water.  I  always  think  it  advisable  to  give  a  dose 
or  two  to  my  lady  patients  immediately  following  parturi- 
tion, as  a  precautionary  measure;  it  certainly  does  relieve 
the  soreness  and  lameness  consequent  upon  the  gi'eat  strain, 
physical  exertion  and  fatigue  of  the  muscular  system,  and 
often,  I  fancy,  prevents  more  serious  trouble — certainly  a 
safe  measure. 


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150  Ttie  Medical  Advance.  August 

The  pains  are  worse  at  night;  aggravated  by  motion;  in 
damp  cold  weather. 

It  acts  prominently,  on  the  left  upper,  and  the  lower 
right,  extremity. 

Always  think  of  this  remedy  in  falls  upon  the  head  in 
young  children,  when  a  dose  or  two  of  Arnica  200th  should 
be  given,  whether  there  is  nausea  or  vomiting  present  or 
not,  then  permit  the  child  to  sleep  an  hour  or  two,  when  it 
usually  awakens  quite  well.  Also  the  most  frequently  in- 
dicated remedy  in  violent  concussion  of  the  brain,  produc- 
ing insensibility,  stertorous  respiration,  insensible  and 
dilated  pupils,  soon  followed  by  nausea,  vomiting  and 
usually  involuntary  discharge  of  urine. 

Case.  Willie,  aged  eight  years,  was  thrown  from  a  run- 
away horse,  falling  upon  his  head,  and  found  soon  after 
with  the  following  symptoms:  breathing  slow  and  stertor- 
ous; pulse  a  little  accelerated,  but  small  and  feeble;  par- 
tially arouses  occasionally  in  a  petulent  mood,  talks  hur- 
riedly and  in  an  incoherent  manner;  eyes  closed  and  in- 
sensible to  light,  but  the  pupils  are  widely  dilated;  no  in- 
voluntary discharges.  Examination  of  the  head  revealed 
a  V  shaped  incision  fully  three  inches  long  over  the  region 
of  the  posterior  fontanel le,  extending  to,  and  exposing  the 
bone,  the  inequalities  of  the  lambdoidal  suture  and  the 
serrations  of  which  could  be  distinctly  felt;  but  a  careful 
examination  revealed  no  fracture.  It  was  cleansed  and 
properly  dressed,  a  weak  solution  of  Arnica  applied  locally 
and  the  same  remedy  in  the  6th  potency  given  every  three 
hours. 

.  The  second  day  we  had  nausea  and  vomiting;  the  boy 
conscious  when  awake,  but  his  sleep  is  heavy,  and  it  is 
difficult  to  arouse  him,  when  he  complains  of  ringing  in 
his  ears;  pulse  frequent  for  ten  beats,  then  one  or  two 
omissions,  followed  by  eight  or  ten  slow  pulsations  and 
this  regular  irregularity  continued  for  several  days. 

The  same  treatment  was  continued,  with  a  gradual  im- 
provement from  day  to  day,  and  he  fully  recovered  in  eight 
or  ten  days,  with  no  permanently  bad  effects  from  the  in- 
jury. 


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1887  Arnica  Montana,  151 

Hydrocephalus,  with  eflPusion,  may  be  benefitted  by  its 
uses,  when  the  symptoms  correspond.  Bed  and  all  sur- 
faces lain  on,  feel  too  hard;  must  change  position  frequently 
to  get  any  rest;  in  this  respect,  resembling  Bhus  tox. 

Bheumatic  affections  in  which  Arnica  is  beneficial,  pains 
usually  commence  low  and  work  upward,  as  from  the  ex- 
tremities to  the  hips,  or  shoulders. 

Infiammation  of  the  eye,  following  mechanical  injuries, 
such  as  cinders,  chips  of  steel,  or  iron,  or  insects  will  yield 
promptly  to  a  very  weak  solution  of  the  tincture  in  a  cup  of 
soft  water. 

A  morbid  susceptibility  to  the  topical  application  of  this 
drug  exists  in  some  patients — as  I  have  several  times,  in 
cases  of  fractures  of  the  extremities,  seen — besides  closely 
resembling  those  of  pemphigus,  produced  by  its  use  as  an 
external  application;  hence  the  importance  of  using  a  weak 
solution,  and  not  applying  too  often  nor  too  long. 

An  occasional  flow  of  tears,  "hot  as  fire,"  indicates  this 
remedy;  also,  when  the  mouth  has  a  taste  as  of  bad  eggs; 
eructations  from  the  stomach,  and  flatus  from  the  bowels 
has  the  same  odor. 

After  pains  sometimes  relieved  by  it;  also  when  they 
come  on  as  soon  as  the  child  is  applied  to  the  breast;  and 
locally  may  do  good  for  excoriation  of  the  nipples. 

Applied  to  the  nipples,  never  saw  a  strong  solution  do 
any  good,  and  never  saw  a  weak  one  do  much;  this  condi- 
tion often  depends  upon  a  psoric  constitution  that  must  be 
cured  before  the  nipples  will  get  well. 

Pleurodynia,  spurious  or  bastard  pleurisy,  even  when 
fever  is  present,  which  is  not  a  usual  accompaniment,  it  is 
one  of  the  most  useful  remedies,  if  not  the  best;  pains  are 
of  a  tearing  character  and  shoot  like  lightning,  shut  off  the 
breath,  patient  can  scarcely  speak,  aggravated  by  motion, 
deep  breathing  impossible,  comes  on  instantaneously,  and 
may  last  for  hours,  fears  even  the  possibility  of  being 
touched,  pressing  pain,  perhaps  more  frequently  in  the  left 
side,  but  often  in  the  right;  in  these  cases  the  200th  has 
never  failed  to  relieve  my  cases  within  an  hour,  often  in 
ten  minutes,  except  once,  when  Cimicifuga  cured. 


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152  The  Medical  Advance.  August 

These  cases,  when  fever  is  present,  so  closely  resemble 
pleurisy,  that  they  must  be  correctly  diagnosed  in  order  to 
be  successfully  treated,  for  we  rarely  find  this  remedy  the 
one  indicated  in  inflammation  of  the  pleura. 

In  threatened  abortion,  brought  on  by  lifting,  concus- 
sions from  falls,  excessive  and  long-continued  exertion  on 
foot,  at  any  stage  of  pregnancy;  pains  in  the  sacrum, 
lower  part  of  the  abdomen,  and  through  the  pelvis,  at 
times  extending  down  the  thighs;  great  soreness,  aggra- 
vated by  the  least  motion;  all  parts  lain  on  painful,  on  ac- 
count of  the  bed  being  too  hard;  cannot  sit  up  at  all;  no 
haemorrhage;  with  or  without  dilatation  of  the  os;  a  very 
useful  remedy  and  usually  relieves  very  promptly.  One 
case  where  Belladonna,  Nux  vomica  and  Chamomilla 
had  each  failed,  was  arrested  in  two  hours,  and  an  im- 
provement set  in,  in  ten  minutes  after  the  first  dose. 


TISSUE  REMEDIES.* 


E.  B.  NASH,  M.  D..  Cortland,  N  Y. 


In  a  lecture  on  CJolocynthis  Dr.  J.  T.  Kent  speaks,  by 
way  of  comparison,  of  Magnesia  phos.  as  an  excellent  rem- 
edy in  colic.  I  do  not  remember  his  exact  words,  but  do 
remember  that  while  both  of  these  remedies  have  the 
crampy,  doubling-up  pains  for  which  Colocynth  has  so  long 
and  often  been  found  promptly  remedial.  Magnesia  phos. 
has  also  in  almost  as  marked  a  degree  as  Arsenicum,  relief 
from  heat  Not  only  is  this  so  in  Magnesia  phos.,  but  also 
in  some  other  neuralgic  pains  and  affections  for  which 
Magnesia  phos.  has  been  found  efficacious.  So  if  Colo- 
cynth fails  me  in  neuralgias,  where  the  pains  are  crampy, 
I  look  sharp  for  the  amelioration  from  heat,  and  if  it  ap- 
pears, Magnesia  phos.  generally  cures. 

Not  long  ago  I  was  called  to  a  case  of  facial  neuralgia  of 
long  standing  which  had  been  treated  by  a  Begular  with 
anodynes,  large  doses  of  Belladonna  being  the  last  one 
used;  and  in  such  doses  that  the  muscles  of  accommoda- 


•Read  before  the  Hahnemannian  Association,  June,  1887. 


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1887  Tissue  Remedies.  153 

tion  in  the  eye  were  so  paralyzed  that  the  patient  could 
not  recognize  the  friends  taking  care  of  her.  Upon  exam- 
ining her  case,  I  found  that  the  only  way  in  which  I  could 
get  any — even  momentary — relief,  was  by  hot  applications 
to  the  painful  nerve.  Here  was  a  good  opportunity  to  try 
Magnesia  phos.  I  gave  it  in  the  12th  trit,  a  small  powder 
dissolved  in  water,  and  teaspoonful  doses  at  intervals  of 
two  or  three  hours.  A  few  doses  soon  relieved  her  of  the 
pain,  and  in  a  few  days  more  she  had  recovered  from  the 
weakness  consequent  upon  such  long  suffering. 

Now,  what  of  the  Tissue  Eemedies  of  Schtlssler?  Shall 
we  refuse  to  use  them  because  they  have  not  been  proved? 
I  say,  yes,  if  we  cannot  find  our  remedy  among  those  that 
have  been  proved;  if  not,  use  them  especially  if  their  clin- 
ical use  in  the  potentized  form  has  proved  repeatedly  suc- 
cessful. Many  of  the  most  reliable  symptoms  in  our 
Materia  Medica  have  been  discovered  ab  usu  in  morbis; 
like  that  of  Pulsatilla,  with  which  I  perfectly  relieved  an 
old  man  suffering  from  enlarged  prostrate  (after  he  had 
been  aspirated  twice  to  empty  the  bladder)  on  the  symp- 
tom, "  after  micturation,  even  a  few  drops  cause  spasmodic 
pains  in  the  neck  of  the  bladder  extending  to  the  thighs." 
I  was  led  to  it  by  Lippe  in  his  excellent  article  on  Prostatic 
Disease  in  the  Homoeopathic  Physician,  Digitalis  and 
Causticum  have  served  me  equally  well  when  indicated. 

This  valuable  symptom  is  now  in  Bering's  Condensed 
Materia  Medica,  but  is  not  found  in  Lippe,  Allen  or 
Cowperthwaite,  and  has  never,  so  far  as  I  know,  been  pro- 
duced in  proving.  A  diamond  discovered  by  accident  is 
as  truly  a  diamond  as  though  you  had  been  hunting  for  it; 
•  so  these  clinical  gems  in  the  Materia  Medica  are  no  less 
gems  because  we  have  not  a  full  proving  of  the  drug  to 
which  they  belong.  This  is  especially  so  if  they  appear 
during  the  i  use  of  the  potentized  drug.  If  a  symptom  or 
diseased  condition  is  cured  or  removed  with  a  remedy  from 
the  30th,  or  even  the  12th  potency  upward,  and  that  re- 
peatedly, I  "  check  it  down " ;  it  is  entitled  to  my  confi- 
dence. I  believe  it  almost  impossible  to  cure  with  the  30th 
potency,  or  even  to  remove  any  symptom  or  set  of  symp- 


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154  The  Medical  Advance.  August 

toms  to  which  it  is  not  homoeopathic;  or,  in  other  words, 
the  antipathic  remedy  in  such  a  potency  will  produce  no 
curative  eflPect  at  all.  So  if  a  cure  does  follow  the  ad- 
ministration of  such  a  potency,  the  remedy  must'have  been 
homoeopathic  to  the  symptoms,  and  a  thorough  proving  of 
the  remedy  will  corroborate  it.  One  thing  must  be  remem- 
bered, viz. :  that  while  cures  must  verify  provings,  provings 
(if  carried  far  enough)  must  also  verify  cures  that  are 
made  accidentally. 

Now,  am  I  advocating  empiricism?  Not  a  bit  of  it!  Let 
me  be  understood:  head  first  is  the  way  a  child  should  be 
born;  but  if  it  comes  breech  first,  it  is  a  child  all  the  same. 
Provings  first  and  cures  afterwards  is  the  right  way,  but  if 
cures  come  first,  accept  them,  and  make  the  provings  after- 
wards. Such  cures  are,  sometimes,  wonderful,  leading  us 
to  most  valuable  therapeutic  agents. 

Now,  with  regard  to  these  Tissue  Remedies.  Let  any 
honest  investigator  study  the  symptoms  of  Ferrum  as  laid 
down  in  the  homoeopathic  Materia  Medica;  it  has  vertigo, 
congestion  to  head,  penetrating,  hammering  pain,  red  face, 
epistaxis,  etc.,  and  then  study  it  in  its  action  on  the  lungs; 
note  the  oppression,  haemoptysis  with  bright  red  blood, 
interscapular,  pains,  together  with  the  fact  that  Hempel 
mentions  that  those  who  live  in  the  vicinity  of  iron  springs 
and  drink  the  water  are  subject  to  local  congestions,  pul- 
monary phthisis,  spitting  of  blood,  etc. ;  add  to  all  this  the 
well-known  action  of  Phosphorus  upon  the  lungs,  and  then 
judge  whether  the  bio-chemic  theory  or  the  homoeopathic 
law  for  applying  Ferrum  phos.  in  local  congestions  of  the 
head  or  any  other  part  lays  best  claim  to  our  confidence  as 
guiding.  Calcarea  phos.,  Natrum  sulph.  and  mur.,  and 
Silica  are  well  proven  and  have  been  long  used  in  many 
of  the  diseases  for  which  Schtlssler  recommends  them. 
No  doubt  they  affect  the  tissues;  so  does  every  remedy, 
vegetable,  animal  or  mineral,  which  changes  disease  into 
healthy  action,  or  vice  versa.  But  whether  they  cure  by 
virtue  of  supplying  any  lack  of  chemical  elements  in  the 
tissues,  rather  than  by  correcting  a  condition  of  the  system 
which  in  health  is  able  to  select  all  these  elements  neces- 


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1887  Cases  of  Chronic  Disease.  155 

sary  to  its  well-being  is  very  doubtful,  to  say  the  least 
Every  true  Homoeopath  knows  that  the  lack  of  bone  devel- 
opment, for  which  Calcarea  phos.  is  remedial,  is  readily  cor- 
rected by  the  use  of  this  remedy  in  the  30th,  200th,  or  even 
higher  potencies.  How  much  of  the  lacking  chemical 
element  would  be  supplied  in  a  month,  provided  the  child 
took  a  grain  of  the  30th  three  times  a  day?  Let  the  Mil- 
waukee Bureau  answer. 

While  time  and  research  will  bring  many  facts  to  light 
that  will  corroborate  the  truth  of  similia  similibus  curaiu 
iur,  and  one  of  them  will  be  that  the  Tissue  Remedies  of 
Schllssler  are  wonderful  remedies;  another,  that  they  will 
cure  in  the  potentized  form  all  diseases  to  which  they  are 
homoeopathic  and  no  others. 


CLINICAL  MEDICINE. 


CASES  OF  CHRONIC  DISEASE -CURED:  AN  UNMANAGE- 
ABLE DIRTY  BOY. 


THOMAS  SKINNER.  M.  D.,  London.  England. 


As  the  case  I  am  now  abont  to  relate  has  remained  per- 
fectly well  since  April,  1886,  and  for  a  year  before  that 
date,  I  am  safe  to  look  upon  the  case  as  cured.  The  lad 
belongs  to  a  first-class  family  and  had  the  promise  of  a 
civil  appointment  in  India,  although  when  I  was  consulted 
he  was  only  ten  years  of  age.  As  a  matter  of  course,  un- 
less he  was  cured  of  his  dirtiness,  and  his  indifference  to 
what  others  thought  of  him,  the  acceptance  of  the  appoint- 
ment was  an  impossibility,  as  his  studies  could  not  be  pur- 
sued, leave  alone  his  habits  which  were  intolerable  in  any 
civilized  society. 

A.  B.  C.  was  ten  years  of  age  when  I  was  consulted  by 
his  parents  in  London  on  the  29th  of  December,  1881.  The 
parents  informed  me  that  tjie  master  and  mistress  of  a 
public  boarding  school  had  threatened  to  send  him  home, 
as  they  could  not  do  with  a  boy  with  such  filthy  habits  as 
A.  B.  C.     The  medical  attendant  of  the  school  was  of  opin- 


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156  The  Medical  Advance.  August 

ion  that  medicine  could  be  of  no  avail  in  such  a  case,  that 
the  boy  was  simply  incorrigible,  and  deserved  a  good  birch- 
ing! The  doctor  at  one  time  put  it  down  to  neglect  and 
indifference  about  the  motions  of  his  bowels,  and  prescribed 
an  occasional  dose  of  "  Eno's  fruit  salt,"  which  only  made 
matters  worse,  and  no  more  attempts  at  cure  were  made. 
The  corporal  punishment  was  decidedly  objected  to  by  the 
patient  and  his  friends.  What  then  was  to  be  done?  The 
lad  must  either  leave  the  school  and  give  up  all  thoughts 
of  a  lucrative  appointment  in  India  or  be  cured.  Allopathy 
sung  out  non  possumus, — while  Homoeopathy  held  out  its 
dove  with  the  olive  branch,  and  in  mercy  healed  the  youth 
of  all  his  troubles,  and  they  were  many.  The  poor  fellow 
was  more  sinned  against  than  sinning. 

On  cross-examination  of  his  mother,  I  found  that  when 
four  years  of  age  he  used  to  pick  up  dung  and  eat  it  with 
avidity,  and  he  was  not  ashamed  to  own  his  weakness,  on 
the  contrary,  he  laughed  when  taunted  with  it,  so  that  there 
was  no  shaming  him  out  of  it  Almost  his  whole  life  he 
has  been  in  the  custom  of  constantly  boring  his  nostrils 
with  his  fingers  until  they  bleed.  He  does  so  still,  but  he 
used  to  eat  whatever  he  picked  fi*om  his  nose.  He  does 
not  now  eat  dung  or  what  he  picks  from  his  nose.  He  has 
never  been  known  to  pass  worms  of  any  kind.  He  is 
hungry  at  all  times,  eats  greedily  and  bolts  his  food;  ex- 
cellent digestion.  He  suffers  from  snuffles  and  is  liable  to 
chronic  nasal  catarrh  every  winter  and  spring,  and  he  then 
snores  loudly  when  asleep.  All  his  life,  or  the  greater  part 
of  it,  he  has  had  enlarged  tonsils.  The  same  wretched  weak- 
ness showed  itself  in  bed  as  well,  which  made  the  school-mis- 
tress and  chambermaids  anything  but  friendly  towards  A. 
B.  C.  His  schoolfellows  tried  to  shame  him  by  giving  him 
all  manner  of  disgusting  names,  but  his  only  protection  (?) 
was  to  laugh  back.  Hair  and  complexion  fair,  disposition 
fretful,  easily  moved  to  tears,  and  decidedly  mischievous. 
According  to  his  mother,  "He  has  talent!"  A  mother 
could  not  say  less!  "  but  he  is  disinclined  for  mental  work^ 
he  won*t  work  or  apply  his  brains  in  useful  thought — only 
in  mischief.     He  is  careless  and  indifferent  to  duty  and 


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1887  Ccises  of  Chronic  Disease,  157 

work.  Good  on  the  wbole,  but  1  never  know  what  may 
happen.  The  flesh  struggles  hard  against //*e  spin/."  The 
mother's  husband  is  in  the  church!  Lastly — and  this  is 
the  point  on  which  my  skill  and  judgment  were  required 
to  be  exercised — A.  B.  C.  was  continually  soiling  the  in- 
terior of  his  trousers  and  setting  up  such  an  unconscion- 
ably unpleasant  odor  all  round,  that  his  fellow  scholars 
would  not  sit  on  the  same  form  with  him,  nor  would  they 
even  associate  or  play  with  him  in  the  yards  or  on  the  lawn. 

It  was  for  this  misfortune  that  the  school-physician  pre- 
scribed "Eno's  fruit  salt"  God  forgive  him!  for  he  evi- 
dently knew  not  what  he  was  doing. 

December  29,  1881.  I  diagnosed  the  cause  of  all  the 
boy's  misfortunes,  bodily,  mentally  and  socially  to  be 
paralysis  of  the  sphincter  ani.  I  do  not  often  trouble  my- 
self about  the  pathology  of  a  case;  and  in  the  present  in- 
stance, although  some  may  think  that  I  am  doing  so  and 
prescribing  according  to  the  pathology  of  the  case,  I  am 
doing  nothing  of  the  kind.  A.  B.  C.'s  weakness  or  misfor- 
tune is  put  down  as  filthiness  engendered  or  encouraged 
by  bad  habits  and  indifference,  whereas  it  is  due  to  a  mor- 
bid weakness  inherent  in  the  boy's  constitution.  It  is  a 
disease,  and  not  a  dirty  habit  or  vice,  as  was  ignorantly 
judged  by  his' school-mates,  his  masters,  and,  shall  I  add, 
by  his  physician?  In  the  first  place,  I  have  to  convert  the 
mis-named  bad  habit  into  what  it  really  is,  and  the  only 
conclusion  to  which  I  can  come,  is  that  I  have  along-stand- 
ing paralysis  of  the  sphincter  ani  with  which  to  deal 
— ^a  paralysis  which  is  no  part  of  paraplegia,  nor  of  pyre- 
xeia,  but  purely  idiosyncratic.  Pathologists  would  say  that 
it  might  depend  upon  the  presence  of  worms,  or  of  accum- 
ulation of  faeces,  or  of  morbid  secretions,  or  of  some  mor- 
bid something  irritating  some  portion  of  the  mucous  mem- 
brane of  the  ascending,  transverse,  or  descending  colon,  or 
rectum,  in  sympathy  with  the  sphincter  ani,  and  thus  caus- 
ing it  to  become  relaxed  or  contracted.  So  much  for  pa- 
thology, the  only  part  of  which  worth  anything,  is  the  fact, 
that  in  A.  B.  C.  the  sphincter  ani  had  long  been  function- 


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168  ITie  Medical  Advance,  August 

♦ 
ally  non  est     Now  for  the  remedy.     According  to  my 
Repertory  with  interpolated  notes,  I  find  under: 

Paralysis  of  sphincter  ani,  Aconite,  Alcohol,  Atropinum, 
Belladonna,  Causticum,  Colocynthis,  Hyoscyamus,  Kali 
cyan.,  Laurocerafius,  Lycopodium,  Mancinella,  Opium,  Phos- 
phorus, Kuta,  Stramonium,  Sulphur,  and  Zinc. 

Sensation  as  if  paralyzed.  Coca,  Sabina. 

Not  feeling  satisfied  with  any  of  these  remedies,  I  had 
to  go  back  to  my  old  school  experience,  and  in  that  expe- 
rience I  remembered  that  of  all  the  medicines  having  a 
direct  control  over  the  sphincter  ani,  Nux  vomica  stands 
second  to  none.  Belladonna  next,  and  Secale  cor.  is  **  not 
a  bad  third."  Of  course,  this  is  a  clinical  observation  en- 
tirely, but  I  never  object  to  a  well  observed  clinical  observa- 
tion where  never  more  than  one  medicine  at  a  time  is  al- 
ways prescribed  by  the  observer,  which  was  my  own  case 
as  an  Allopath  from  1854  till  1874 — twenty  years.  In  said 
experience,  Nux  stood  at  "  the  top  of  the  poll "  in  paralysis 
of  the  sphincter  ani;  Belladonna  in  paralysis  of  the 
sphincter  vesicae,  especially  in  the  incontinence  of  chil- 
dren when  deeply  asleep.  Nux  vomica  is  not  in  my  list 
of  remedies  for  paralysis  of  the  sphincter  ani,  but  whether 
clinical  or  pathogenetic,  I  made  up  my  mind  to  commence 
with  Nux,  and  the  more  so,  because  of  the  determined  mis- 
chievous  character  of  A.  B.  C,  and  because  he  always  cried 
like  a  child  when  asked  to  go  to  his  books. 

On  December  29,  1881,  I  placed  upon  his  tongue  one 
dose  of  Nux  vomica  cm.  (F.  C.)  and  the  same  was  to  be 
repeated  every  night  at  bed  time  until  he  had  greater  con- 
trol over  the  sphincter  ani.  As  my  patient  and  his  family 
reside  more  than  a  hundred  miles  from  London,  the  greater 
part  of  my  prescribing  had  to  be  accomplished  by  means 
of  correspondence. 

January  3,  1882.  His  mother  reports  A.  B.  C.  as  much 
better  and  brighter,  but  the  bowels  are  still  very  trouble- 
softe.  Continue  Nux  cm.  another  week,  each  night  at  bed- 
time. 

January  11.    The  bowels  are  decidedly  less  involuntary. 


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1887  Cases  of  Chronic  Disease.  159 

and  the  stools  are  less  offeDsive.     Stop  Nux,  and  let  it  work. 

February  3.  As  the  nasal  irritation  and  discharge  and 
the  other  symptoms  of  Cina  were  to  the  front,  he  received 
a  dose  of  the  Im.  (F.  C),  and  the  week  following  one  dose 
of  the  30m.  (FL).  The  latter  is  made  by  continued  fluxion 
the  same  as  Fincke's  but  corrected  in  the  notation  to  the 
centesimal  scale,  which  affected  a  great  though  temporary 
change  for  the  better  in  his  canine  appetite,  and  the  nasal 
catarrh  and  irritation;  in  so  much  so,  that  the  school- 
master and  mistress  were  supprised  at  the  improvement, 
and  the  doctor  was  chagrined  when  he  heard  of  it 

February  27.  As  A.  B.  C.  still  had  the  greatest  diffi- 
culty in  applying  his  mind  to  his  lessons,  and  had  a  de- 
cided aversion  to  them  from  the  impossibility  of  concen- 
trating his  attention  to  mental  work,  I  gave  him  one  dose 
of  Baryta  carb.  50m.  (F.  C.)  and  Sac  lac  every  alternate 
nighi 

April  6.  His  mother  reports  that  he  is  "  a  new  man  al- 
together.*' "  He  has  complete  control  over  his  evacuations, 
but  he  still  cries  like  a  child  when  asked  to  go  to 'his  les- 
sons." Being  somewhat  at  a  loss  what  to  prescribe,  and 
knowing  that  all  the  family  were  extremely  psoric,  I  gave 
him  one  dose  of  Sulphur  cm.  (F.  C),  which  was  followed 
by  an  aggravation  of  his  peevishness  with  sleeplessness,  so 
I  sent  him  Sulphur  2cm.  (F.  C),  one  dose  at  bedtime.  His 
sleep  returned,  "  but  he  still  weeps  when  asked  to  do  any- 
thing which  he  does  not  like,  especially  to  sit  down  to  his 
lessons."  This  girlish  mental  weakness  puzzled  me  much, 
and  I  observe  in  my  notes  of  the  case  the  following  medi- 
cines which  had  occurred  to  my  mind,  neimely :  Belladonna, 
Calcarea,  Ignatia,  Platinum,  Pulsatilla,  Staphisagria  and 
Tarentula;  and  in  children,  Chamomilla  and  Cina;  also 
from  homesickness,  Phosphoric  acid.  Homesickness  was 
not  the  key-note,  as  it  was  the  same  with  A.  B.  C.  when  at 
home.  As  he  now  had  inflammation  of  the  gums  and  a 
bad  gum-boil,  and  as  many  of  his  past  and  present  symp- 
toms were  covered  by  Staphisagria,  I  gave  him  on  June 
19,  Staphisagria  20m.  (F.  C.)  to  be  taken  at  the  hour  of 
sleep.    On  the  28th  of  June,  reported  very  much  better. 


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160  The  Medical  Advance.  August 

and  on  July  13,  A.  B.  C.  "  continues  quite  well  since  last 
powder." 

August  18.  Beturn  of  the  difficulty  of  retaining  his 
f jgeces.  "  The  stools  pass  suddenly  before  he  is  aware  of  it. 
They  are  green,  slimy  and  oflFensive.  He  snores  in  his 
sleep  and  suffers  from  nocturnal  salivation."  I  sent  him 
one  dose  of  Nux  160m.  to  be  taken  at  bed-time,  and  since  that 
dose  was  taken  "he  has  not  had  one  involuntary  passage." 

N.  B. — Nor  has  he  had  up  till  now — July  4, 1887, — about 
five  years. 

In  conclusion,  I  may  briefly  summarise  the  remainder  of 
the  case  by  stating  that  up  till  April,  1886,  he  got  an  oc- 
casional dose  of  Baryta  carb.  50m.  or  cm.  (F.  C.)  the  in- 
terval at  first  once  a  week,  then  once  a  fortnight,  and  ulti- 
mately once  a  month.  Since  the  14th  of  April,  1886,  he 
has  required  no  medicine,  and  has  all  but  finished  his 
studies  at  college.  The  tearfulness  seemed  to  take  its  de- 
parture soon  after  the  dose  of  Staphisagria  20m. 

On  looking  over  my  notes  I  failed  to  have  recorded  a 
very  curious  incident  in  the  case  of  this  rather  remarkable 
youth,  A.  B.  C.  He  was  a  great  coward,  and  like  most 
cowards  he  was  fond  of  striking  those  younger  than  him- 
self, and  even  dumb  animals.  A.  B.  C.  took  a  fiendish  dis- 
like to  a  noble  and  quiet,  inoffensive  dog,  the  property  of 
the  school-master,  and  he  was  more  than  once  found  in  the 
back  yard,  beating  and  kicking  this  poor  animal.  When 
asked  the  reason  why,  he  could  give  no  reason  for  his 
action.  As  A.  B.  C.  was  in  consequence  threatened  wi*h 
expulsion  from  the  school,  his  mother  appealed  to  me,  and 
not  in  vain.  I  sent  Belladonna  20m.  (F.  C),  one  dose,  at 
bed-time,  dry  on  the  tongue.  A.  B.  C.  has  never  since 
**  assaulted  others  "  younger  than  himself,  and  the  dog  and 
he  became  excellent  friends. 

Whatever  interpretation  may  be  placed  on  the  above 
facts,  whether  related  to  each  other  as  mere  coincidences, 
— all  I  can  say  is,  that  they  are  very  happy  coincidences 
for  the  lad  and  his  friends,  carping  critics  who  look  upon 
"Hull's  Jahr"  as  an  authority  in  characteristics,  to  the 
contrary  notwithstanding.     Let  them  carp! 


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1887  Catarrhus  ^stivus.  161 

CATAliRHUS  iESTlVUS  -(HAY  FEVER). 


E.  LIPPINCOTT,  M.  D.,  Memphis,  Tenn. 


In  the  Jane  issue  of  this  journal  is  an  article  entitled 
"Hay-fever  or  Pollen  Poisoning,"  by  J.  E.  Jones,  M.  D., 
West  Chester,  Pa. 

From  his  standpoint  he  has  arrived  at  a  different  con- 
ception of  its  pathology,  from  the  one  now  accepted  by 
those  who  have  thoroughly  investigated  and  know  whereof 
they  write.  I  agree  with  him  that  hay-fever  should  not  be 
classed  as  a  fever,  but  where  is  his  authority  for  the  term 
"  Pollen  Poisoning,"  or  from  what  pathological  condition 
he  bases  his  assertion  is  beyond  my  comprehension.  In 
reference  to  his  remark,  that  "  the  text-books  will  give  the 
structural  changes,  etc,"  I  have  yet  to  see  the  first  one  that 
gives  any  definite  idea  of  the  structural  changes.  Again 
"  the  cause  of  this  disease  is  now  almost  universally  con- 
ceded to  be  the  poisoning  of  the  exposed  mucous  mem- 
branes by  the  contact  of  certain  pollens  of  various  plants, 
carried  by  the  air  and  deposited  upon  their  surfaces." 
Dr.  Jones  can  claim  priority  in  this  assertion  with  me,  as 
I  never  before  knew  that  the  exposed  mucous  membranes 
of  hay-fever  victims  were  poisoned  by  pollen,  or  even  pois- 
oned at  all.  That  pollen — but  not  pollen  alone — is  an  irri- 
tant, and  that  pollen  and  other  irritants,  coming  in  contact 
with  an  already  diseased  condition  of  the  nasal  mucous 
membrane,  gives  rise  to  the  various  symptoms  and  condi- 
tions denominated  hay-fever  is  undoubted,  but  by  what 
process  of  reasoning — certainly  not  an  a  priori  reasoning 
— he  can  demonstrate  that  the  mucous  membranes  of  hay- 
fever  victims  are  in  any  way  poisoned,  is  incomprehensible. 
If  poisoned,  why  is  it  that  the  victim  does  not  still  mani- 
fest constitutional  effects  of  the  poisoning  after  the  objec- 
tive manifestations  have  disappeared,  or  after  a  frost  or 
cold  weather  has  set  in?  The  conditions  that  existed  pre- 
vious to  the  onset  of  the  malady,  still  exist  after  the  effects 
from  pollen  and  other  irritants  have  disappeared,  but  gener- 
ally in  a  somewhat  aggravated  form  due  to  the  irritation. 


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162  The  Medical  Advance,  August 

Again,  "  these  graius  of  pollen  ore  deposited  on  the  eyes, 
nose  and  mouth  of  every  one,  but  do  not  alike  poison  all, 
hence  it  is  evident  that  there  must  be  a  peculiar  condition 
of  the  system,  an  idiosyncrasy,  which  in  certain  cases  per- 
mits the  poisoning  to  take  place,  and  in  others  equally  ex- 
posed, it  does  not  irritate."  What  peculiar  condition  of  the 
system,  and  why  peculiar,  or  what  form  of  constitutional 
diathesis  is  not  stated  by  him.  If  Dr.  Jones  will  use  a 
reflector  or  head  mirror,  a  nasal  speculum  and  throat 
mirrors,  and  carefully  examine  the  nasal  and  pharyngeal 
cavities  of  hay-fever  victims  at  a  time  when  there  are  no 
outward  manifestations  of  the  disease— either  before  or 
after  an  attack — he  will  find  a  turgescence,  or  an  hyperses- 
thetic  condition  of  the  nasal  mucous  membrane,  or  a  hyper- 
trophy of  the  tissue  covering  the  inferior  turbinated  bones 
and  the  lower  part  of  the  septum,  or  a  nasal  stenosis,  or 
polypus,  or  some  diseased  condition  of  the  mucous  mem- 
brane, showing  a  local,  structural,  or  functional  disease  of 
the  nasal  or  naso-pharyngeal  cavities,  wherein  lies  the 
prime  or  latent  cause  of  hay-fever.  This  diseased  condi- 
tion of  the  nasal  or  naso-pharyngeal  cavities  is  the  result 
of  repeated  colds,  or  a  former  catarrh,  or  catarrhal  fever  or 
other  diseased  conditions  of  these  cavities,  which  leave  the 
mucous  membrane  in  a  sub-acute  inflammatory  condition, 
and  consequently  highly  susceptible  to  external  influences. 
The  tissue  covering  the  inferior  turbinated  bones,  and  the 
lower  part  of  the  septum,  is  a  highly  vascular  erectile  tis- 
sue. This  tissue  is  under  the  control  of  the  vaso-motor 
nerves,  and  is  highly  sensitive  to  impressions  applied 
locally  to  the  part,  as  well  as  to  other  portions  of  the  body. 
The  effects  of  a  cold  in  the  head,  or  of  a  draft  of  air  strik- 
ing the  body,  will,  in  some  instances,  cause  this  tissue  to 
become  engorged  and  occlude  one  or  both  nostrils.  The 
engorgement  of  this  tissue  as  a  result  of  a  draft  of  air,  or 
sudden  chilling  of  the  body,  etc.,  causes  the  distressing 
sensations  arising  from  and  accompanying  a  cold  in  the 
head.  A  remaining  engorged,  or  sub-acute  inflammatory, 
or  higher-sensitive  condition  of  the  membrane  covering 
the  nasal  cavities — a  rhinitis— as  a  result  of  the  above 


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1887  Catarrhus  ^stivus.  163 

operative  causes,  is  irritated  by  the  contact  of  the  pollen  of 
various  plants,  by  dust,  smoke,  fumes,  gas,  foul  air,  heat, 
the  emanations  from  various  drugs  and  perfumes,  etc., 
which  develops  a  rhinorrhcea,  and  also  what  is  popularly 
but  erroneously  denominated  hay-fever.  An  inflamed, 
turgescent,  or  hyperaesthetic  condition  of  this  tissue — al- 
though slight,  and  not  suflBcient  to  cause  any  special  annoy- 
ance, or  attract  the  attention  of  the  patient — may,  through 
atmospheric  and  other  influences,  increase  its  susceptibility 
to  irritation  in  a  marked  degree,  or  result  in  permanent 
hypertrophy  of  the  tissue,  and  consequent  nasal  stenosis. 
The  irritation,  reflected  from  this  tissue,  through  the  sym- 
pathetic nerves  to  other  parts  and  organs,  is  the  exciter  of 
the  varied  and  distressing  symptoms  and  conditions  exper- 
ienced by  hay-fever  victims,  among  which  are  hay  asthma 
(so  called).  Hence,  if  the  lesion  of  hay  asthma  is  trace- 
able to  the  nasal  cavity  is  it  not  reasonable  to  suppose  that 
the  lesion  of  almost  all  other  forms  of  asthmatic  troubles 
might  be  traceable  to  a  diseased  condition  of  this  cavity. 
Such  has  been  the  result  of  my  investigations  in  cases  of 
asthma.  In  seeking  for  the  cause  of  hay-fever,  the  nose 
has  been  generally  overlooked.  The  importance  of  an  un- 
obstructed nasal  passage,  free  nasal  respiration,  and  a 
healthy  condition  of  the  nasal  mucous  membrane  can  only 
be  realized  and  appreciated  when  one  attempts  to  eat,, 
drink,  sleep,  or  talk  with  the  cavities  closed.  I  think  I 
have  demonstrated  why,  "  In  the  same  individual,  at  one 
time,  there  is  no  perceptible  effect  from  a  continued  expo- 
sure when  at  another  time,  the  most  violent  symptoms  are 
produced  and  ever  after,  the  least  exposure  increases  the 
susceptibility;"  but  I  fail  to  see  the  point  in  Dr.  Jones 
illustration,  whereby  there  is  any  connection  or  similarity 
between  the  causes  of  hay-fever  and  Khus  poisoning. 
Hay-fever  is  the  result  of  an  irritant  coming  in  contact 
with  a  diseased  mucous  membrane,  developing  an  entirely 
different  condition  from  that  of  a  poisonous  plant  coming 
in  contact  with  healthy  skin,  or  healthy  mucous  membrane. 
Some  people  are  only  susceptible  to  the  poisonous  influence 
of  the  ivy  vine  when  perspiring,  or  more  susceptible  at 


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164  The  Medical  Advance.  August 

that  time.  This  accouots  for  their  being  more  susceptible 
at  one  time  than  another.  And,  dear  reader  or  International, 
do  not  waste  valuable  time  in  giving  Anaoardium,  Bella- 
donna, Bryonia,  Bhus  tox.,  high  or  low,  or  any  of  the  many 
recommended  remedies  or  the  local  appliances  for  Ivy  or 
Sumac  poisoning,  except  a  strongly  saturated  solution  of 
the  crystals  of  hypo-sulphite  of  sodium.  This  preparation 
if  used  at  the  onset  or  soon  thereafter,  frequently  applied, 
will  cure  the  patient  in  from  one  to  three  days,  quicker 
than  by  internal  medication  and  the  poisoning  will  not  re- 
appear, except  from  a  renewal  of  the  cause. 

Dr.  Daly,  Pittsburgh,  Penn.,  reported  three  cases  of  hay 
asthma  cured,  two  of  which  were  cases  of  hypertrophy  of 
the  nasal  mucous  membrane,  and  one,  a  case  of  polypus; 
the  cure  in  each  case  being  obtained  by  removing  the  mor- 
bid condition  in  the  nasal  cavity. 

Dr.  F.  H.  Bosworth,  of  New  York,  says:  "Of  the  sixty 
cases  of  hay-fever  which  I  have  personally  examined,  I 
have  seen  none  in  which  there  was  not  notable  obstructive 
lesion  in  the  nasal  cavities." 

Hay-fever  is  not  prevalent  in  those  localities  where 
catarrhal  diseases  prevail. 

The  treatment  of  hay-fever  resolves  into  two  forms,  viz.: 
First,  palliation,  cure,  or  prevention  of  the  existing  attack. 
Second,  cure  during  the  interim  of  attacks  by  a  removal  of 
abnormal  growths,  and  other  organic  changes,  as  far  as 
possible  and  practicable,  allowing  free  nasal  respiration, 
and  restoring  the  diseased  condition  of  the  nasal  and  naso- 
pharyngeal mucous  membranes  to  their  pristine  state, 
whereby  pollen  and  other  irritants  will  not  excite  an  attack. 

Prevention  of  an  attack  by  a  removal  to  a  sanitary  resort, 
— among  which  are.  the  White  Mountain  region;  Lake 
Chautauqua;  Put  in  Bay;  Fire  Island;  the  Island  of 
Mackinaw;  the  shores  of  Lake  Superior;  Cobbs  Island; 
the  summits  of  the  Alleghanies  and  Adirondacks;  Lookout 
Mountain;  Roane  Mountain;  Colorado  Springs;  the  Rocky 
and  Sierra  Nevada  Mountain  country,  as  well  as  other  ele- 
vated regions,  and  a  sea  voyage — gives  immunity  from  the 
disease  by  virtue  of  the  absence  of  pollen  and  other  irri- 


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tants,  and  of  the  rarefied  and  pure  condition  of  the  atmos- 
phere, wherein  pollen,  etc,  are  not  carried,  and  an  absence 
of  various  emanations  in  contradistinction  to  the  humid 
atmosphere  of  the  residence  of  the  victim  wherein  all  the 
above  mentioned  irritants  float  and  other  exciting  causes 
operate.  To  a  Homoeopathist,  with  a  knowledge  of  the 
causes,  diseased  conditions,  the  proper  local  and  general 
measures  and  the  correct  simillimum,  there  is  no  necessity 
of  making  refugees  of  hay-fever  patients.  Palliation  and 
cure  of  the  existing  attack,  is  sometimes  difficult,  owing  to 
the  existence  of  the  prime  cause  and  the  irritants  con- 
stantly operating  to  renew  the  attacks,  but  in  a  majority  of 
cases  it  can  be  accomplished. 

Nuphihalin, — Tbis  medicine  is  a  substance  distilled 
from  the  coal-tar  oil.  Dr.  von  Grauvogl  used  it  in  em- 
physema pulmonum,  bronchial  catarrh,  and  bronchial 
asthma.  This  remedy  is  applicable  to  more  cases  of  hay- 
fever,  and  better  results  are  obtained  from  its  use  in  all 
stages,  than  from  any  other  remedy.  In  the  early  stages 
it  generally  aborts  or  cuts  short  the  disease.  It  is  some- 
times necessary  to  repeat  the  dose  occasionally  thereafter. 
I  introduced  its  use  to  the  profession  in  hay-fever,  in  1885, 
and  have  had  the  gratification  of  having  many  physicians 
bear  testimony  of  their  success  with  it.  From  clinical 
verifications  the  indications  for  its  use  are:  Fullness,  pres- 
sure, stuffed  up  and  aching  feeling  in  frontal  sinus  and 
forehead,  with  itching  in  the  mouth,  nose,  ears  and  eyes, 
severe  paroxysms  of  sneezing,  profuse  coryza  and  lachry- 
mation,  irritating  the  anterior  nares,  causing  redness,  heat, 
swelling  and  soreness  of  the  nose;  stuffed-up,  raw  feeling 
in  frontal  sinus;  the  coryza  so  abundant  that  it  drips  from 
the  nose;  frequent  sneezing  with  sensation  as  though  one 
might  sneeze  at  any  moment  In  the  majority  of  cases  of 
Rose  cold  I  use  no  other  remedy.  In  some  forms  of  asthma, 
as  well  as  the  asthmatic  form  of  hay-fever,  I  have  found  it 
curative  where  there  was  labored  inspiration;  desire  to 
have  doors  and  windows  open ;  tendency  to  throw  off  bed 
clothing  on  account  of  feeling  too  warm;  a  bloated,  full 
feeling  with   tenderness   in   epigastric  region  so  that  no 


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166  The  Medical  Advance.  August 

weight  or  pressure  can  be  borne  there;  stuflfed-up,  op- 
pressed feeling  in  chest,  more  especially  on  left  side  and 
in  region  of  sternum;  tendency  to  unloosen  clothing  around 
abdomen  on  account  of  tenderness,  fullness  and  oppression. 

Arsenicum  lod,  is  by  some  considered  a  prophylactic. 
Its  prophylactic  powers  lie  in  its  ability  to  remove  the  pre- 
existing diseased  condition  and  pre-disposing  cause.  I 
have  but  little  faith  in  the  prophylactic  powers  of  any  drug 
in  this  disease,  except  upon  these  grounds.  It  is  indicated 
in  persons  of  pale,  delicate  complexion,  prone  to  glandular 
enlargements,  puffiness  of  eyelids;  burning  sensation  in 
nostrils  and  throat,  sneezing,  profuse  coryza,  the  discharge 
thin  and  acrid;  difficult  breathing  through  the  nose,  worse 
in  the  morning  and  after  meals;  lachrymation,  itching  of 
the  eyes,  nose,  mouth  and  ears;  eyes  and  nose  red;  rawness 
and  dryness  of  throat  with  hoarseness  and  asthmatic 
breathing. 

Sabadilla. — Great  itching  and  irritation  of  the  schnei- 
derian  membrane,  with  violent  paroxysms  of  sneezing; 
copious,  watery  discharge  from  the  nose  and  eyes;  fever; 
severe  frontal  headache;  lachrymation  in  the  open  air, 
and  when  looking  at  a  bright  light;  redness  of  the  eye- 
lids; dryness  of  the  mouth  without  thirst;  muffled  cough, 
worse  on  lying  down;  dry,  spasmodic  cough;  chilliness 
with  heat  of  the  face;  painful  lameness  in  the  knee  joints; 
heaviness  and  pain  in  the  limbs  towards  mid-day  and  in 
the  evening;  gi-eat  sensibility  to  cool  air;  agitated,  uure- 
freshing  sleep.     Dr.  Bayes  has  used  it  with  success. 

Aralia  vac, — Frequent  sneezing;  copious,  watery,  acrid 
discharge,  excoriating  the  nasal  passages;  smarting  sore- 
ness of  the  posterior  nares  and  alsenasi;  suflFocative  catarrh 
with  extreme  sensitiveness  to  a  draft,  the  least  current  of 
air  causing  sneezing;  warm,  salty  taste  in  the  mouth;  awak- 
ens with  suffocative  breathing;  inability  to  lie  down;  dry, 
wheezing  respiration  with  rapidly  increasing  dyspnoea; 
loud  whistling  breathing,  worse  during  inspiration ;  relief 
of  the  asthma  by  bending  forward  with  elbows  on  the 
knees;  dry,  wheezing  cough  ejecting  yellow  thread  like 


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pieces  of  tougb  mucus;  sensitiveness  to  slight  changes  of 
temperature. 

Kali  bich, — Sneezing;  fluent  acrid  discharge,  excoriating 
the  mucous  membrane  from  nostrils  to  throat;  pinching 
pain  across  the  bridge  of  the  nose,  relieved  by  hard  pres- 
sure; headache  in  left  supra  orbital  ridge;  hoarseness  and 
oppressed  breathing;  wheezing  cough,  with  expectoration 
of  tough,  stringy  mucus;  cough  excited  by  eating  or  drink- 
ing; loss  of  smell. 

Kali  hyd, — Incessant  sneezing  for  an  hour  or  more  every 
morning  on  rising;  aching,  heavy,  pressing  pain  between 
the  eyes;  lachrymation  when  sneezing;  at  night  nose  be- 
came stopped  up,  feels  sore  to  touch.  This  trouble  had 
appeared  two  years  consecutively  at  the  same  time.  Kali 
hyd.  Ix  trit.,  one  powder  every  four  hours,  cured  in  a  week 
and  there  was  no  return  of  the  attacks.  By  J.  H.  Lowrey, 
M.  D.,  Neola,  Iowa.  I  would  add;  burning,  corrosive, 
watery  discharge  from  nostrils;  swelling  and  redness  of 
nose;  purulent  discharge  from  the  eyes,  con*osive  tears, 
swelling  of  the  eyelids;  painful  throbbing  in  frontal  region; 
oppression  of  breathing;  viofent  suffocative  cough;  hoarse- 
ness, rawness  and  burning  in  the  nasal  and  respiratory  or- 
gans; wheezing  breathing;  choking  sensation  when  awak- 
ing; profuse,  white,  frothy  and  stringy  expectoration;  gen- 
eral aching  and  frontal  headache. 

Sanguinaria  can. — Frequent  sneezing  aggravated  by 
odors;  watery  acrid  discharge  with  much  burning;  de- 
praved smell;  pain  in  frontal  sinuses;  dry  cough;  oppres- 
sion, pain  and  soreness  in  upper  part  of  chest  with  difficult, 
wheezing  breathing;  wheezy,  whistling  cough;  asthma 
with  inclination  to  take  a  deep  breath  during  the  parox- 
ysm; cough  Worse  at  night. 

Euphorbiumoff. — Sneezing;  cough;  chilliness  and  heat 
alternating;  inflamed  eyelids  glued  together  at  night;  dry- 
ness of  the  mouth  and  throat;  oppression  of  the  chest;  dry, 
deep,  hollow,  hoarse  cough,  with  irritation  of  the  larynx; 
general  prostration  with  desire  to  sit  or  lie  down ;  worse 
from  draft  of  air  or  dust. 
The  above  medicines  are  given  in  the  order  of  their 


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168  The  Medical  Advance,  August 

promineDce  and  are  the  principal  ones,  coupled  with  local 
and  general  measures  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  the  case, 
with  which  to  relieve  an  attack.  The  following  med- 
icines: Aeon.,  Ars.  alb.,  Arum  tri.,  Camph.,  Cepa,  Cocaine, 
Euphr.,  Gels.,  Graph.,  Grind,  rob.,  Hydr.,  Ipec,  Lob., 
Mer.  proi,  Merc,  sol.,  Nux  vom.,  Phos.,  Puis.,  Sang, 
nii,  Spig.,  Sticta  and  Sulph.,  I  have  used  for  complica- 
tions that  arose,  or  as  intercurrents,  or  for  conditions  that 
presented  when  I  first  saw  the  patient. 

To  prevent  a  recurrence  of  attacks,  it  is  necessary  to  ex- 
amine carefully,  to  ascertain  the  character  and  extent  of 
any  abnormal  conditions  of  the  nasal  and  naso-pharyngeal 
cavities  at  a  time  when  the  victim  is  free  from  hay-fever 
and  its  effects,  and  to  treat  the  same  with  the  purpose  of 
restoring  these  cavities  to  a  normal  state.  Various  meas- 
ures are  required,  the  treatment  depending  upon  the  indi- 
viduality of  each  case.  Among  the  measures  useful  are 
electricity,  removal  of  growths  and  other  abnormal  condi- 
tions with  the  knife,  or  cautery,  or  local  applications  of 
Iodine,  Glycerine,  Fluid  Hydrastis,  Pinus  canadensis. 
Tannin,  Hyposulphate  of  Sodium,  etc. 

These  local  and  general  measures  are  frequently  useful 
and  essential,  but  without  internal  medication  we  cannot 
hope  to  cure.  Kali  bich.,  Merc,  prot.,  Sang,  can.,  Hy- 
drastis, Ars.  iod.,  Graphites  and  Corall.  rub.,  are  the  reme- 
dies suited  to  the  majority  of  cases;  and  there  are  other 
remedies  suited  to  catarrhal  conditions  wliich  may  be  re- 
quired. 

^•^ 

TWO  CLINICAL  CASES. 


VV.  HOVT.  M.  D..  Hlllsboro.  Ohio. 


Case  L— Tinnitus  Aurium:  Sulphur.— TA^y  27,  '87.    Mr. 

H ,  an  attorney-at-law,  presented  himself  for  treatment, 

whereupon  I  collected  the  following  symptoms.  Has  been 
troubled'with  a  rumbling  and  roaring  in  left  ear  as  of  a 
train  of  cars  while  running,  at  a  great  distance.  Has 
been  afflicted  thus  for  six  months,  and  until  about  six 
weeks  ago  it  troubled  him  only  after  retiring,  but  during 


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1887  Two  Clinical  Cases.  169 

the  last  six  weeks  the  rumbling  and  roaring  has  so  in- 
creased that  it  troubles  him  constantly,  even  when  reading 
or  talking. 

Soon  after  the  commencement  of  his  trouble  he  began 
treatment  with  a  reputable  allopathic  physician,  and  con- 
tinued until  above  date.  Upon  investigation,  found  he  had 
been  using  glycerine  and  boracic  acid  locally,  besides  con- 
stitutional treatment  Found  the  meatus  auditorius  ex- 
ternus  irritated,  and  the  membrana  tympani  rough  and  dull 
in  appearance. 

Hearing  not  affected  except  more  sensitive  than  usual, 
and  as  he  expressed,  "hears  too  much." 

He  received  one  dose,  Sulphur  50m.  dry  upon  the  tongue 
and  no  other  medicine.  On  the  following  day  made  a  trip 
to  one  of  our  cities,  and  after  retiring  that  night,  to  his 
surprise  and  utter  astonishment  found  all  symptoms  had 
vanished. 

May  31.  No  rumbling  or  roaring,  consequently  no  med- 
icine.   Up  to  date,  June  8th,  patient  was  perfectly  well. 

Case  II. — Lycopodium. — February  10,  '87.     Mrs.  J , 

age  37  years,  dark  hair  and  eyes,  of  rather  sallow  com- 
plexion. Has  had  pain  in  left  hypochondriac  region  for  a 
long  time,  pain  not  severe.  Has  not  been  well  for  four 
weeks.  Was  attacked  with  shortness  of  breath,  termina- 
ting in  paroxysms  of  coughing.  Paroxysms  every  day, 
commencing  regularly  at  7  p,  m,  and  lasting  until  11  p,  w. 
During  the  attack  of  coughing  expectoration  thick  like 
tchite  of  an  egg,  and  very  free  (half  pint)  during  each 
coughing  spell,  with  but  very  little  during  the  remainder  of 
the  time.  Shortness  of  breath  continues  after  cough  ceases; 
gets  out  of  breath  easily.  Pulse,  88;  temperature  normal. 
Not  muck  appetite,  but  eats  a  little  at  every  meal.  Bowels 
constipated.  Gave  Lycopodium  30,  every  two  hours  during 
each  forenoon. 

February  12.  Husband  reported  that  she  was  doing 
nicely,  as  the  paroxysms  were  not  so  severe  nor  of  so  long 
duration.     Sac.  lac. 

February  23.  Husband  reports  again.  Has  no  cough, 
but  some  pain  in   left  hypochondriac  region.     Appetite 


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170  The  Medical  Advance.  August 

good,  rests  well,  and  stronger  in  every  way. 

Gave  Lycopodium  50m.  one  dose,  and  she  said  she  "felt 
the  medicine  go  all  through  her." 

February  24.  Feels  some  of  her  old  symptoms,  such  as 
palpitation  of  the  heart,  followed  by  weakness  and  great 
prostration  after  stool.  Latter  symptom  is  an  old  one  that 
has  troubled  her  for  a  long  time.  Placebo.  At  last  report 
she  was  gaining  in  flesh  and  doing  her  own  house  work. 


CLINICAL  NOTES.* 


E.  RUSHMOKE.  M.  D.,  Plalnfleld,  N.  J. 


CaseL — Sahadilla. — Chilliness  with  yawningand  lachry- 
mation  followed  with  heat,  after  suppression  of  intermit- 
tent fever  with  Quinine.     Sabadilla  5m. 

Case  II. — Nairum  mur. — Mental  depression,  restless 
sleep,  waking  early  and  feeling  troubled;  he  fears  becom- 
ing sick  like  his  father  who  lately  died.  He  knows  he 
ought  not  to  feel  troubled,  but  says  he  cannot  help  it;  he 
dreads  business  care.  Palpitation  of  the  heart.  Improved 
at  once  by  Natrum  mur.  cm.,  one  dose,  which  was  repeated 
a  month  later  in  50m.  potency,  and  the  patient  then  re- 
mained well  for  three  months.  The  symptom^s  return  at 
intervals  of  about  three  months,  but  are  always  removed 
by  a  single  dose  of  Natrum  mur.  in  varying  potency. 

Case  III. — Dulcamara, — Muco-purulent  urine,  with  gen- 
eral left-sided  sensitiveness,  especially  of  the  abdomen. 
Dulcamara  in  various  potencies,  from  900  to  cm. 

Case  IV. — Sulphur. — After  getting  chilled,  aching  as  if 
pounded  in  the  muscles,  joints  and  back;  cold  hands  and 
feet;  pulling  sensation  at  both  sides  of  the  sternum  on 
breathing  deeply;  cough  with  expectoration,  worse  on  ris- 
ing in  the  morning  and  from  hurried  exertion,  befter  from 
lying  down,  with  pain  in  the  middle  of  the  chest.  Lying 
on  the  right  side  causes  a  little  catch  in  the  breath  as  if 
to  cough,  but  he  does  not.  Bad  taste  in  the  morning;  at 
night,  hot  feet  and  general  perspiration.     Pulse,  95;  tem- 


•  Hahnemanniaii  Association,  June,  1887. 


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1887  Clinical  Notes,  171 

perature,  102.   Family  consumptive.   Sulphur  cm.  (Fincke) 
one  dose,  removed  all  the  symptoms. 

Case  V. — Rhododendron. — Painful  inflammatory  swell- 
ing  of  left  testis,  immediately  following  the  shock  of  get- 
ting into  a  hot  bath.     Rhododendron  300  Jenichen. 

Case  VI.  —  Nafmm  mur. — After  intermittent  fever 
treated  with  Quinine,  frequent  chilliness,  with  numbness 
in  the  abdomen  on  walking,  numbness  of  the  finger  tips 
and  stifiFness  of  the  tongue.     Natrum  mur.  50m. 

Case  VII. — Nairum  mur. — Chill  at  10:30  a.  m.,  then 
heat,  nearly  constant  headache.  Much  thirst  before  the 
chill  and  during  the  heat.  Stiffness  and  aching  in  the 
l)ones  the  day  before  the  chill.  No  vomiting.  Perspira- 
tion at  night.  Natrum  mur.  50m.,  three  powders  twelve 
hours  apart  cured  without  recurrence  of  paroxysm. 

Case  VIII. — S(^pia. — A  lady  subject  to  hemorrhoids  has 
not  been  able  to  sleep  for  many  weeks  from  pain  in  the 
<5alveB,  a  numbness  and  drawing,  the  legs  tend  to  draw  up 
at  the  knee.  She  is  wakened  by  the  pain  with  a  jerk  of 
the  limbs  after  an  hour's  sleep,  or  it  comes  as  soon  as  she 
loses  herself  in  sleep.  She  has  it  in  the  day  time  also  if 
she  lies  down  to  sleep.  Sepia  cm.,  one  dose,  cured  her 
quickly. 

Case  IX. — Aloe. — Intense  pain  and  soreness  in  the 
rectum  after  stool  with  protrusion  of  piles,  and  throbbing 
at  the  anus;  the  pain  lasts  several  hours,  is  worse  from 
touch,  and  temporarily  relieved  by  cold  water.  Aloe  cm. 
(Fincke),  three  powders  two  hours  apart,  removed  all  the 
symptoms. 

Case  X. — NUric  acid. — Piles,  old,  bleeding,  painful  after 
stool.  Nitric  acid  cm.  Nearly  four  months  later  she  re- 
ported that  there  had  been  no  bleeding  since  taking  the 
medicine,  and  that  she  is  better  and  stronger  than  she  has 
been  for  five  years. 

Case  XI. — Natrum  mur. — Fullness  of  the  head,  she 
wants  to  hold  it  with  the  hands.  Pain  at  the  heart,  numb- 
ness of  the  left  arm  and  hand,  vertigo  on  rising,  aching  and 
sore  feeling  at  the  nape  with  pain  extending  all  down  the 
Bpine.     She  is  worse  from  mental  exertion.     Lets  objects 


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172  The  Medical  Advance.  August 

fall  from  hands.  Natrum  mur.  50m.,  one  dose.  She  wrote 
in  two  weeks,  that  she  believed  she  was  well;  she  would 
not  have  thought  it  possible  for  so  little  medicine  to  do  so 
much  good. 

Case  XII. — Silicecu — Headache,  low  in  the  occiput, 
seems  to  come  in  waves,  with  dickering  of  objects  before 
the  eyes  and  coldness  in  the  nape,  extending  to  the  face; 
great  sensitiveness  to  cold  air.  Silicea  cm.,  one  dose, 
cured. 

Case  XIII. — Sulphur. — Severe  pain  in  the  region  of  the 
liver  all  night;  pressing,  tearing,  boring,  as  of  a  blunt  in- 
strument going  through  to  the  back.  The  pit  of  the  stom- 
ach is  very  sensitive  to  pressure.  Sulphur  cm.  relieved  in 
fifteen  minutes,  and  quickly  cured. 

Case  XIV. — Spigelia. — Notwithstanding  the  alleged 
preference  of  Spigelia  for  the  left  side  of  the  face,  it  has 
acted  well  in  right-sided  prosopalgia  in  the  1000  and  5m. 
potencies,  where  the  heart  symptoms  seemed  to  call  for  it; 
the  patient  saying  it  was  the  only  thing  that  helped  her. 

SULPHUR  IN  DIPHTHERITIC  CROUP. 


.JOHN  A.  GANN,  M.  D .  Wooster,  O. 


A  little  paragraph  apparently  intended  simply  to  fill  out 
a  page  in  your  most  excellent  Advance,  merits  more  than 
the  passing  notice  it  seems  to  have  obtained. 

The  loss  during  the  past  few  years  of  a  few  cases  of 
croup  following  diphtheria  made  me  eager  for  any  means 
that  would  enable  me  to  more  successfully  cope  with  such 
an  almost  invincible  enemy — a  disease,  reccjgnized  by  the 
experienced  as  terribly  trying;  and  demanding  the  most 
energetic  measures. 

Associating  the  idea  of  massiveness  with  the  idea  of 
energy,  how  naturally  did  we  appeal  to  the  almost  stifling 
vapors  of  bromine  and  lime,  or  add  strangling  doses  of 
acetized  sanguinaria,  or  the  kali  salts,  hoping  by  this  mas- 
sing of  effort  in  some  way  to  baffle  our  enemy  and  save  our 
patient. 


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1887  Two  Unusual  Cases.  173 

That  the  above  means  have  done  good  must  be  true,  "for 
thus  it  is  written  by  the  prophets."  But  the  many  failures 
acknowledged  by  others  who  have  faithfully  tried  these 
means,  prove  that  the  cures  may  have  been  post  instead  of 
propter  hoc. 

There  is  a  stage  in  the  progress  of  diphtheria  when  the 
dangerous  symptoms  seem  to  have  disappeared — the  coat- 
ing gone  from  the  throat,  the  child  cheerful  and  even  play- 
ful, and  the  family  rejoicing  in  the  hope  of  a  speedy  re- 
covery. But  within  twenty-four,  or  possibly  forty-eight  or 
more  hours,  a  little  cough  is  heard,  and  it  is  decided  that 
somehow  the  "  child  has  taken  cold,"  and  the  doctor  gives 
some  simple  remedy  with  the  hope  "  it  will  soon  be  all 
right  again."  Night  comes  on,  with  the  child  more  rest- 
less, until  about  midnight  when  the  clarion  notes  of  croup 
ring  out,  proclaiming  the  citadel  of  life  again  attacked. 

What  shall  be  done?  Is  there  any  pain?  Generally 
none.  Is  there  any  coating  in  the  throat?  None,  but  the 
throat  is  more  or  less  dry  and  shiny.  The  little  patient 
says  it  is  "  well,"  though  obstructed  respiration  with  its 
accompanying  symptoms  tell  a  different  story. 

"What  thou  doest  do  quickly,"  for  already  valuable  time 
has  been  lost  while  treating  the  case  for  a  simple  cough. 
Put  the  little  one  on  Sulphur  high,  and  you  will  witness 
the  victory  of  the  infinitesimals. 


TWO  UNUSUAL  CASES. 


A.  McNeil,  M.  D.,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 


Case  I. — Delirium  Tremens:  Stramonium.  December 
23, 1886, 1  was  called  in  the  morning  to  see  Mr.  B — ,  set.  30; 
has  been  drinking  very  hard  for  seven  weeks,  and  has  not 
slept  for  some  time.  He  has  not  yet  had  hallucinations 
but  he  is  in  terror,  which  is  plainly  depicted  on  his  coun- 
tenance as  well  as  expressed  by  him.  His  terror  was  such 
that  he  begged  for  immediate  relief  in  an  almost  unmanly 
way,  although  I  have  since  learned  that  he  is  of  more  than 
usual  courage.     He  could  not  keep  still  a  second,  remind- 


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174  The  Medical  Advance.  August 

ing  me  very  much  of  a  case  of  poisoning  by  the  seeds  of 
Jamestown  weed  I  once  saw  in  which  the  victim  was  in 
this  constant  motion.  This,  both  in  my  patient  and  in  the 
poisoning  was  not  spasmodic  but  resulted  from  the  mental 
condition.     He  could  not  bear  to  be  left  alone  a  moment. 

I  gave  him  Stramonium  200  in  water  every  two  hours. 
When  I  again  saw  him,  in  the  evening,  his  mind  was  clear^ 
no  fears  tormented  him,  and  he  felt  quite  natural.  I  gave 
him  Sac.  lac. 

The  next  morning  all  signs  of  mania-a-potu  had  passed 
away,  but  symptoms  of  a  cold  were  discovered  for  which  I 
gave  Bryonia  200  with  good  result  No  more  Stramonium 
was  required. 

Case  II.— Chlorosis:  Rhus  tox.  March  4, 1887.  MoUie 

B ,  8Bt.  15,  has  been  sick  ten  months  so  that  she  could 

not  do  even  a  little  house-work.  Her  color  was  that  so  path- 
ognomic of  this  disease.  Menses  suppressed  all  of  this 
time  and  no  menstrual  eflfort  was  discoverable.  Previous 
to  her  sickness  had  been  regular  for  five  months. 

She  is  bloated  in  the  face,  has  an  enormous  appetite  so 
that  she  eats  enormously  at  each  meal  and  in  a  half  hour 
is  as  hungry  as  ever.  Is  constantly  chilly.  Must  eat  be- 
tween meals  and  get  up  at  night  to  eat.  The  bloating  is 
worse  in  the  morning.  Has  had  a  few  herpes  hydroalis. 
When  in  bed  she  has  pains  in  the  knees  which  compel  her 
to  change  her  position  frequently  for  relief.  She  then 
goes  to  sleep  again.  Gave  her  Bhus  tox.  200,  twelve  pow- 
ders, three  a  day. 

Improvement  set  in  immediately  and  continued  till  April 
21st.  During  this  interval  she  received  Sac.  lac.  only.  She 
now  received  Bhus  tox.  10,000,  one  powder. 

This  was  again  followed  by  improvement  so  that  on  the 
27th  she  reported  having  on  the  23d  washed  for  three  and 
a  half  hours,  then  scrubbed  and  did  housework  all  day 
without  much  fatigue.  Her  appetite  is  normal;  color  much 
better,  no  pains  in  her  legs,  in  fact  with  the  exception  of 
non-return  of  menses  is  well.     Sac.  lac.  only. 

May  11.  Her  menses  have  returned,  are  normal,  no  more 


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1887  Surgical  Notes.  175 

chilliDGss,  but  her  feet  burD,  must  put  them  outside  of  the 
bed  clothes.     Sulphur  200,  one  powder. 

Was  this  a  cure  or  a  recovery?  I  am  sure,  and  unhesi- 
tatingly pronounce  it  a  cure.  No  change  was  or  could  be 
made  in  her  food,  mode  of  life,  or  condition. 

I  am  not  aware  that  Rhus  tox.  has  ever  been  given  for 
chlorosis  before.  I  did  not  give  it  for  chlorosis,  but  for 
the  totality  of  the  symptoms  and  a  cure  resulted  according 
to  the  km\  ^ 

SURGERY. 


SURGICAL  NOTES. 


J.  G.  GILCHRIST.  M.  D..  Iowa  Ci!^,  la.  Editor. 

Thyroidectomy. — There  are  few  of  the  major  operations, 
about  which  more  has  been  written  of  late,  and  about  which 
there  is  more  conflicting  testimony,  than  removal  of  the 
thyroid  in  whole  or  in  part.  It  is  singular  that  there 
should  be  so  much  uncertainty,  and  such  want  of  uniform- 
ity in  technique  of  the  operations,  when  the  frequency  of 
the  operation  is  recalled.  Some  tell  us  complete  removal 
(of  the  whole  gland),  almost  invariably  results  fatally;  very 
many  assert  that  removal  of  any  considerable  portion  of  the 
gland  results  in  cachexia  strumipriva;  some  have  advised 
opening  the  capsule,  and  rapidly  tearing  out  the  paren- 
chyma; others  dissecting  the  gland  out,  and  ligating  ves- 
sels as  they  are  reached;  and  still  others  dividing  the  isth- 
mus, and  then  removing  each  half  separately,  ligating  the 
pedicles  containing  the  main  vessels  en  masse.  For  a  long 
time  it  looked  as  though  the  results  of  numerous  opera- 
tions in  Europe,  so  generally  disastrous  in  various  ways, 
would  forbid  such  procedures  entirely,  but  later  investiga- 
tions seem  to  give  a  different  verdict.  The  trouble  seems 
to  have  been  in  not  giving  sufficient  prominence  to  racial 
peculiarities.  Thus  T.  F.  Chavasse,  M.  D.,  (Birmingham, 
Eng. )  gives  the  result  of  four  cases,  one  complete,  and  three 
partial  excisions,  in  all  of  which  recovery  was  perfect,  with 
none  of  the  sequelse  noted  in  Geimany  and  France.    He 


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176  2'he  Medical  Advance.  August 

says  {Ann.  Surg.  July,  1887):  "The  occurrence  of  opera- 
tive mjrxoedema  (cachexia  strumipriva)  bo  ably  described 
by  Beverdin  and  Kocher,  may  possibly  be  intimately  asso- 
ciated with  the  previous  family  history,  with  the  habitat, 
the  diet  and  every-day  surroundings  of  the  patient  The 
investigations  at  present  engaging  the  attention  of  the  Lon- 
don Clinical  Society,  may  throw  some  new  light  upon  this 
important  subject,  but  at  present  I  am  doubtful  if  the  con- 
dition will  be  found  to  occur,  after  partial  or  complete 
thyroidectomy,  in  English  speaking  patients,  previously 
healthy,  with  a  degree  of  frequency  that  will  make  it  a 
matter  of  practical  importance."  Those  who  have  seen  the 
class  of  people  on  whom  foreign  surgeons  are  usually  called 
upon  to  operate,  can  readily  conceive  that  there  may  be 
much  truth  in  the  rfbove  conclusions.  I  have  had  the 
privilege  of  operating  three  times,  once  complete  extirpa- 
tion, once  partial,  and  once  confined  to  one  lobe.  The  re- 
sults were,  recovery  in  two  cases,  death  in  one  from  ex- 
treme tracheal  stenosis  and  acute  oedematous  inflamma- 
tion of  glottis  and  larynx.  The  successful  cases  were  not 
under  observation  su£Sciently  long  to  determine  as  to 
sequelae,  but  after  three  months  there  were  no  symptoms  of 
myxoedema  in  either.  As  to  methods  of  operating,  noth- 
ing need  be  said  at  this  time,  beyond  the  fact  that  pre- 
liminary tracheotomy  is  thought  now  to  be  undesirable, 
provoking  more  complications  than  it  averts. 


Local  Anesthesia. — The  advantages  of  cocaine  has  but 
slowly  been  appreciated  by  general  surgeons,  and  indeed 
the  best  methods  of  using  it  are  yet  to  be  discovered.  Some 
use  solutions  of  various  strengths,  either  applied  to  tlie 
surface  or  injected  subcutaneously;  others  use  the  crystals 
without  any  vehicles.  In  several  cases  of  urethral  surgery 
I  have  employed  it  with  very  satisfactory  results.  In  two 
cases  of  internal  urethrotomy  a  small  amount,  about  the 
size  of  a  grain  of  wheat  was  crowded  into  the  meatus  with 
a  probe,  and  allowed  to  dissolve  in  the  slight  secretion 
found  there.  In  the  first  case,  after  ten  minutes  the  stric- 
ture was  cut,  but  the  patient  complained  of  the  pain  as 


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1887  Our  Foreign  Letter.  177 

being  quite  sharp.  About  half  an  hour  afterwards,  the 
whole  organ  seemed  insensitive,  and  the  ansBsthesia  con- 
tinued for  some  two  hours.  In  the  second  case,  the  same 
amount  was  used,  but  no  attempt  was  made  to  pass  the 
urethrotome  for  at  least  half  an  hour.  In  this  case  there 
was  not  the  slightest  pain.  It  is  said  that  to  procure  a 
satisfactory  ansBsthesia  of  the  urethra,  the  cocaine  should 
be  injected  into  the  urethra,  well  back  of  the  point  where 
incision  is  to  be  made,  on  the  theory  that  the  ansdsthesia 
must  start  near  the  source  of  nerve  supply,  that  is,  on 
the  proximal  side  of  tissue  to  be  operated  on;  in  other 
words,  that  ansdsthesia  wiU  only  *' travel  in  the  direction  of 
nerve-supply."  This  is  an  error,  as  many  cases  can  show. 
In  operating  on  mucous  passages,  the  cocaine  can  be  placed 
anywhere  on  the  mucous  surface,  and  anaasthesia  will  soon 
extend  throughout  its  length. 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


OUR  FOREIGN  LETTER. 


Those  interested  in  the  efficacy  of  M.  Pasteur*s  anti-rabic 
inoculations  will  have  been  much  interested  iu  the  report 
of  the  committee  appointed  to  investigate  the  subject  by 
the  British  Parliament  The  committee  included  many 
names  to  whom  we  must  concede  the  merit  of  eminence, 
though  we  may  differ  from  their  therapeutic  principles; 
among  others,  Sir  James  Paget,  Sir  Joseph  Lister,  Dr. 
Quain,  Sir  Henry  Boscoe  and  Dr.  George  Fleming.  The 
selection  of  members  must  be  admitted  to  have  been  ex- 
tremely judicious  since  every  aspect  of  medicine  and  its 
allied  sciences  was  well  represented.  Thus  Paget  may  be 
accepted  as  a  good  representative  of  practical  surgery; 
while  Sir  Joseph  Lister  is  illustrious  from  his  great  dis- 
covery of  anti-sepsis;  Dr.  Quain  represents  medicine  pur 
et  simple;  Sir  Henry  Boscoe  is  a  distinguished  scientific 
chemist,  to  which  profession  M.  Pasteur  also  belongs,  and 
Dr.  George  Fleming  is  at  the  head  of  the  veterinary  de- 
partment   Had  we  been  consulted  in  the  formation  of  the 


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178  The  Medical  Advance.  August 

committee  we  should,  of  course,  have  added  a  representa- 
tive of  Homoeopathy  to  investigate  this  most  homoeopathic 
of  questions. 

The  committee  with  its  able  young  Secretary,  Mr.  Victor 
Horsley,  who  has  distinguished  himself  so  early  and  so 
greatly  by  his  demonstrations  of  pre-historic  surgery,  pro- 
ceeded  dn  April,  1886,  to  Paris.  They  found  that  90  per- 
sons had  been  submitted  to  M.  Pasteur's  inoculations:  of 
these  24  were  bitten  on  naked  parts  of  the  body  by  ani- 
mals undoubtedly  rabid;  31  had  been  bitten  by  dogs  not 
clearly  proved  to  have  been  rabid,  and  the  remaining  36, 
though  bitten  by  dogs  undoubtedly  rabid,  received  their  in- 
juries in  parts  protected  by  clothes  which  would  intercept 
the  virus.  Of  the  whole  90  not  one  has  hitherto  died  after 
the  15  months.  The  committee  is  of  opinion  from  the 
perusal  of  existing  statistics  that  out  of  these  90  persons, 
8  would  have  died  had  they  not  been  inoculated;  we  may, 
therefore,  accept  the  fact  that  M.  Pasteur  on  this  occasion 
saved  8  lives. 

Out  of  2,634  persons  inoculated  by  M.  Pasteur,  his  crit- 
ics place  the  number  of  deaths  at  40,  and  amoDg  the  num- 
ber is  included  7  who  died  from  the  bites  of  wolves,  and 
4  who  probably  died  of  some  other  disease  than  hydro- 
phobia. Making  allowance  for  uncertainties  which  cannot 
now  be  decided,  the  committee  believes  that,  including  the 
deaths  from  the  bites  of  rabid  wolves,  the  proportion  of 
deaths  in  the  2,634  persons  bitten  by  animals  other  than 
wolves,  was  between  1  and  1.2  per  cent — a  proportion  far 
lower  than  the  lowest  estimate  of  those  not  submitted  to 
M.  Pasteur's  treatment  and  showing  the  saving  of  not  less 
than  100  lives. 

Unfortunately  the  variety  of  inoculation  named  by  M. 
Pasteur  intensive  and  deemed  by  M.  Pasteur  to  be  neces- 
sary in  persons  in  which  the  bites  are  numerous  and  on 
exposed  parts  of  the  body,  cannot  be  applied  without  a 
certain  amount  of  risL  Of  624  cases  treated  by  the  inten- 
sive method,  6  died;  this  is  not  a  larger  proportion  than  in 
the  ordinary  method,  but  the  symptoms  attending  death  in 
some  of  them  {hydraphobie  avec  paralysie)  were  such  as 


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1887  Our  Foreign  Letter.  179 

to  lead  to  the  suspicion  that  death  was  caused  by  the  inoc- 
tdations  and  not  by  the  disease.  *  These  accidents  it  must 
be  admitted  are  most  unfortunate,  for  it  may  be  doubted 
whether  the  salvation  of  any  number  of  lives  justifies  the 
direct  causation  of  deaths  in  any  one  case.  Taking  the  re- 
port, however,  as  a  whole,  it  must  be  considered  highly 
favorable  to  M.  Pasteur,  and  inoculation  in  rabies  must 
henceforth  be  ranked  with  vaccination  in  small-pox  as  an 
additional  pendant  to  Hahnemann's  great  discovery  of 
similia  similubus  curantur.  All  things  considered,  the 
Queen  has  cause  to  be  thankful  that  she  has  reached  the 
fiftieth  year  of  her  reign  and  the  sixty-eighth  of  her  life 
with  so  few  of  the  ills  which  flesh  is  heir  to.  The  undoubted 
taint  of  insanity  transmitted  to  her  by  George  III,  prob« 
ably  the  result  of  a  long  course  of  "breeding  in  and  in"  has 
only  manifested  itself  in  a  morbid  dwelling  upon  the  grief 
caused  her  by  the  loss  of  her  consort,  which  has  induced 
her  to  multiply  his  statues  and  mausoleums  to  an  unneces- 
sary extent;  otherwise  she  may  be  considered  a  fairly  good 
life,  and  has  every  prospect  of  extending  her  reign  to  the 
length  of  her  grandfathers  if  not  to  that  of  Henry  IIL 

Apropos  of  the  jubilee,  it  is  really  remarkable  that  so 
vast  a  concourse  of  people,  numbering  at  the  lowest  com- 
putation many  hundreds  of  thousands,  should  have  been  at- 
tended with  only  two  fatal  accidents.  One  was  that  of  a 
boy  who,  falling  from  a  scafiFolding  erected  within  the  pre- 
cincts of  St  George's  Hospital,  alighted  on  tbe  vault  of  his 
cranium,  sustaining  by  contre-coup  a  fracture  of  the  base 
of  the  skull,  from  which  he  expired  some  hours  afterwards. 
The  other  was  a  policeman  who  was  kicked  on  the  head  by 
a  horse,  upon  which  was  mounted  ore  of  the  guards  of 
honor  taking  part  in  the  procession. 

Most  of  your  readers  must,  at  some  period  of  their  career, 
have  experienced  how  severe  is  the  struggle  through  which 
a  young  medical  practitioner  has  to  pass,  before  he  is  able 
to  establish  equilibrium  in  his  finances.  It  is  di£Scalt  to 
believe  that  members  of  any  other  profession,  trade  or  cal- 
ling are  encompassed  with  greater  difficulties  at  tbe  outset 
A  young  medical  man,  however  able  or  well-informed,  soon  - 


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180  The  Medical  Advance.  August 

finds  that  the  public  considers  youth  and  an  evident  free- 
dom from  the  tricks  of  trade  far  more  damning  than  the 
grossest  ignorance  or  addiction  to  the  worst  vices;  good 
clothes,  a  fine  house  and  furniture,  a  carriage,  and  that 
most  expensive  of  all  luxuries — a  wife,  are  expected  of  him 
as  a  matter  of  course;  receipts  fpr  some  years  are  slender, 
so  that  all  this  outlay  has  to  be  made  with  borrowed  money, 
often  at  exorbitant  interest  Many  medical  men  shirk  pri- 
vate practice  altogether,  and  spend  their  lives  passing  from 
one  small  appointment  to  another.  I  have  been  glad,  there- 
fore, to  see  that  the  attention  of  the  profession  in  England 
has  of  late  been  turned  to  the  many  ways  in  which  the 
medical  practitioner  is  victimized.  I  have  long  been  aware 
from  private  sources  of  information,  of  the  very  great  in- 
jury which  is  done  to  struggling  practitioners  by  the  abuse 
of  the  hospital  system.  The  public  when  they  talk  of  the 
noble  conduct  of  the  eminent  medical  consultant  who  gives 
his  time  gratuitously  to  visiting  the  great  hospitals,  are 
probably  not  aware  that  the  hospital  physician  is  indirectly 
far  more  than  indemnified  for  his  loss  of  time — that  in 
fact  any  physician  who  is  able  to  secure  his  appointment 
may  consider  that  his  fortune  is  made.  To  say  nothing  of 
the  vast  succession  of  patients  and  students  who  are  dis- 
charged all  over  the  country  to  act  as  walking  advertise- 
ments of  the  'kind  doctor '  etc.,  there  is  the  board  of  Boyal 
and  other  influential  personages,  and  lastly  but  not  least, 
there  are  the  numberless  circulars,  prospectuses  and  appeals 
for  charity,  all  bearing  the  names  of  the  staff  in  letters  of 
titanic  dimensions.  The  poor  struggling  practitioner  who, 
whenever  he  attempts  to  secure  his  very  modest  charges 
for  his  services,  finds  that  his  patients  coolly  betake  them- 
selves to  the  hospitals,  where,  as  they  very  often  insolently 
inform  him  "they  can  get  much  better  treatment  for  noth- 
ing at  all,"  may  be  excused  for  not  joining  in  the  general 
chorus  of  self -laudation. 

The  remedy,  of  course,  lies  in  our  own  hands;  medical 
advice,  if  we  consider  the  cost  of  education,  etc.,  represents 
money-value  as  tangibly  as  does  a  loaf  of  bread  or  a  pair 
of  shoes,  and  medical  men  should,  therefore,  absolutely 
refuse  to  give  advice  without  payment  of  some  kind. 

A.  E.  Dbysdale,  M.  D. 


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1887         Notes  an  Diseases  of  the  Eye  and  Ear.  181 

OPHTHALMOLOGY  AND  OTOLOGY, 


NOTES  ON  DISEASES  OF  THE  EYE  AND  EAR. 


H.  H.  CRIPPEN,  M.  D.,  Detroit,  Mich. 


Magnesium  in  Eye  Diseases. — While  at  the  New  York 
Ophthalmic  Hospital  my  attention  was  called  to  the  use  of 
Magnesia  carb.  in  the  treatment  of  blepharitis  marginalis. 
Cases  have  since  been  reported  in  which  the  same  remedy 
(200th)  has  not  only  cut  short  a  crop  of  styes  but  eradi- 
cated the  tendency  to  their  recurrence. 

My  only  successful  experience  with  Magnesium  has  been 
with  the  sulphate  in  the  case  of  a  boy,  aged  16,  whose  right 
lower  eyelid  presented  three  small  warts,  non-polypoid  in 
character.  Subjective  constitutional  symptoms  were  ab- 
sent,  but  the  enlargement  of  the  tonsils  and  of  the  cervical 
glands  gave  evidence  of  a  dyscrasia.  Magnesia  sulph.  6x 
caused  the  complete  disappearance  of  the  verrucoB  in  one 
month. 

Aubert  reports  in  the  Revue  de  Th&rapeidic  for  April 
the  case  of  a  woman  whose  face  was  covered  with  warts 
but  there  were  none  on  her  hands.  He  gave  her  a  drachm 
and-a-balf  of  the  sulphate  of  magnesium  daily  and,  after  a 
fresh  crop  of  warts  had  come  out,  they  all  disappeared  in 
a  month  and  a  half.  Eoux  jJso  reports  a  case  where  large 
and  numerous  warts  disappeared  in  fifteen  days  after  the 
administration  of  the  drug  daily. 


loDOL  IN  Ear  Diseases. — lodol  will  be  found  an  excel- 
lent substitute  for  iodoform  in  topical  applications  to  puru- 
lent aflfections  of  the  ear.  It  may  be  best  used  by  trit- 
urating with  an  equal  quantity  of  boracic  acid.  It  is  in- 
odorous, much  to  be  preferred  to  iodoform  and  in  its  use 
more  rapid  progress  will  be  observed  than  in  the  use  of 
the  latter  drug.  There  will  be  found  occasionally,  among 
the  chronic  inflammations  of  the  middle  ear,  a  class  of 
cases,  however,  in  which  so  large  a  proportion  of  mucous 
mingles  with  the  discharge  that  powdered  applications  of 


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182  The  Medical  Advance.  August 

an  J  description  are  worse  than  useless.  The  mucous  dis- 
charge, instead  of  dissolving  the  powder,  simply  saturates 
it  and  the  whole  dries  into  a  hardened  mass  which  requires 
undue  force  to  dislodge  it.  In  such  cases  I  use  in  the  ex- 
ternal auditory  canal  a  x)ellet  of  absorbent  cotton  saturated 
with  Eucalyptol  (one  drachm  to  the  ounce  of  petrolina). 
The  scent  of  the  drug  is  agreeable  and  entirely  overcomes 
any  odor  from  the  otorrhoea. 


Arsenicum  Iodidum.— In  the  memoir  of  Dr.  Thomas 
Nichol,  in  the  New  England  Medical  Oazeiie,  will  be  found 
a  report  on  the  use  of  Arsenicum  iodidum  in  diseases  of 
the  eye. 

The  orbital  group  is  very  scanty,  for,  so  far,  the  drug  has  only 
produced  weakness  of  the  eyes  with  burning  pain,  with  a  feeling 
as  if  lachrymation  would  set  in;  and  Hering  gives,  as  additional 
indications,  "smarting  about  the  eyes;  secretion  from  the  Meibo- 
mian glands;  coryza.**  Hale  was  the  first  to  recommend  it  in 
chronic  scrofulous  ophthalmia :  and  Dr.  W.  H.  Bigler,  of  Phila- 
delphia, has  used  it  with  marked  success  in  scrofulous  ophthalmia, 
with  tendency  to  ulceration  of  the  cornea,  in  the  great  number  of 
cases  occurring  in  the  eye-department  of  the  dispensary  connected 
with  the  Homoeopathic  Hospital  of  Philadelphia.  Dr.  Bigler  con- 
siders that  the  remedy  has  a  range  almost  identical  with  that  of 
Arsenicum  album,  with  the  addition  of  the  more  pronounced  iodine 
dyscrasia,  and  he  furnishes  the  following  excellent  indications  for 
its  use:  **The  patient  is  ill-nourish*  d,  but  not  necessarily  ema- 
ciated, with  the  pale,  pasty  complexion,  and  hard,  distended  ab- 
domen, so  characteristic  of  a  scrofulous  diathesis.  The  skin  easily 
becomes  sore  from  a  trifling  wound  or  hurt,  remaining  red  and 
irritable  for  a  long  time,  but  without  suppuration.  The  red  and 
shining  skin  around  the  hard  and  brittle  finger-nails  seems  con- 
stantly to  threaten  the  formation  of  a  panaritium.  The  glands  of 
the  neck  are  swollen,  but  not  painful.  The  eyelids,  moat  fre- 
quently the  upper  ones,  are  oedematous  and  swollen,  and  are  spas- 
modically closed  on  account  of  the  intense  photophobia,  which  also 
compels  the  child  to  hang  its  head,  or  to  bury  its  face  in  the  nurse's 
lap  or  arms.  The  tarsal  margins  are  tumefied  and  red,  and  become 
excoriated  in  consequence  of  the  acrid  discharge.  Lachrymation 
on  endeavoring  to  open  the  lids  is  generally  very  profuse  and  ex- 
coriating. The  injection  of  the  ball  is  not,  generally,  very  intense, 
but  is  deep  seated,  as  in  all  corneal  affections.  The  phlyctenule 
are  on  the  cornea,  or  on  the  limbus  corner,  an4  tend  to  break  down 
into  superficial  ulcerations.    If  these  phlyctenulse  are  confined  to 


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1887  EepetUim  of  the  Dose.  183 

the  conjunctiva,  the  remedy  is  rarely  indicated.  There  is  also,  as 
in  Arsenicum  album,  an  acrid  watery  discharge  from  the  nose,  ex- 
coriating the  nostril  and  upper  lip.  The  child  seems  to  suffer 
more  from  itching  of  the  lids  than  from  pain,  for  it  will  violently 
rub  its  eyes  with  its  fists,  with  evident  relief,  for  a  time,  of  the 
symptom  that  caused  the  action.  Add  to  these  a  fretful  restless- 
ness, night  and  day,  and  we  complete  the  picture  of  a  case  of  scrof- 
ulous ophthalmia  that  will  most  probably  be  benefited  by  Arsen- 
icum iodidum.  I  use  the  third  decimal  in  water,  a  tablespoonful 
every  three  hours,  for  days  or  weeks  at  a  time,  without  aggrava- 
tion, and  without  anything  to  induce  me  to  go  higher."— Penn. 
Pom,  Trans,,  1880, 

The  writer's  experience  has  been  solely  in  its  use  in 
blepharitis,  with  red,  tumefied  and  excoriated  lids.  Very 
obstinate  cases  with  crusts  about  the  nose  and  upper  lip 
and  swollen  lymphatic  glands. 


COMMENT  AND  CRITICISM. 


REPETITION  OF  THE  DOSE. 


The  following  letter  from  Carroll  Dunham  on  this  im- 
portant question  has  been  kindly  furnished  us  by  Dr.  But- 
ler, and  will  be  read  with  interest  by  every  Homoeopath: 

107  Fourth  Ave.,  New  York, } 
January  12, 1876.  ] 

Dear  Doctor, — I  wish  that  I  could  give  you  some  rule  for  "repeti- 
tion of  the  dose/'  but  I  cannot.  It  seems  to  me  that  patients  dif- 
fer very  much  as  to  the  duration  of  good  effects  of  a  dose,  and  this, 
whether  the  disease  be  acute  or  chronic,  and  whether  the  potency 
be  high  or  low.  If  you  will  read  Hahnemann's  Organon  (new 
edition  just  out,  translated  by  C.  Wesselhoeft,  M.  D.,  and  far  supe- 
rior to  the  former  editions),  you  will  see  that  he  advises  to  repeat 
sometimes  once  a  week  and  sometimes  every  five  minutes.  If  the 
case  be  a  severe  acute  one,  likely  to  run  a  rapid  course,  and,  espe- 
cially if  1  see  the  patient  early,  I  repeat  at  short  intervals,  some- 
times as  short  as  every  ten  minutes,  until  some  effect  is  produced, 
and  then  cease.  For  example,  a  patient  came  in  from  a  long  drive 
with  chill  and  congestion  of  lungs.  1  gave  Aconite  200  every  ten 
minutes  for  an  hour.  Then  chill  was  over  and  respiration  free. 
From  experience  with  this  patient,  for  many  years,  I  an  confident 
that  I  aborted  a  case  of  bronchitis.  I  never  shall  know  whether 
one  dose  would  not  have  done  as  well,  but  think  it  would  not. 

Where  it  is  not  reasonable  from  the  nature  of  the  case  to  expect 


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184  The  Medical  Advance.  August 

a  speedy  effect,  and  where  the  symptoms  are  not  urgent,  I  give  a 
dose  once  in  12,  24, 36, 48,  72,  etc.,  hours. 

Many  patients,  in  acute  and  chronic  ailments,  find,  for  them« 
selves,  the  duration  of  action  of  a  dose  and  tell  me:  •*  1  begin  to 
get  worse  after  so  many  hours,  and  then  a  second  dose  sets  me  im- 
proving again."  The  number  of  hours  differ  in  different  patients, 
though  the  disease  may  be  the  same. 

Not  long  ago  (three  months)  a  young  doctor  came  for  a  pre- 
scription for  renal  colic;  pains  very  severe,  paroxysms  frequent, 
twenty  or  thirty  per  day,  lasting  from  twenty  to  forty  seconds.  Had 
had  it  many  months;  only  slight  relief  from  remedies.  1  selected 
Berberis,  and  advised  a  very  high  potency— one  dose— then  wait 
twenty-four  hours.  If  not  at  all  better,  to  repeat.  If  better  or 
decidedly  worse,  not  repeat.  He  took  Berberis  41m.  (Fincke.)  Was 
a  little  better  next  day,  still  better  second  day,  pain  not  felt  on 
fourth  day,  and  has  never  had  a  twinge  since  I  This  is  an  extreme 
and  unusual  case.  You  see  I  cannot  give  you  any  positive  rule, 
and  do  not  think  it  a  matter  of  prime  importance.  The  selection 
of  remedy  (the  »i7igle  remedy),  is  the  great  matter,  next  comes  the 
potency.  Yours  truly,  Carroll  Dunham. 

Dr.  C  W.  Butleu,  Moutclair,  N.  J. 


Editor  Advance.—For  the  benefit  of  some  gentlemen  in  the 
State  of  Michigan  who  do  not  recognize  any  difference  between 
the  results  of  the  two  great  schools  of  medical  practice,  and  who 
violate  every  principle  of  right  and  justice  by  refusing  to  admit 
"physicians  and  surgeons  of  the  homoeopathic"  belief  into  the 
charge  of  state  asylums,  I  copy  a  mmor  editorial  which  appeared 
in  The  Chicago  Times  on  the  morning  of  June  9th  (while  the 
American  Medical  Association  was  in  convention  in  this  city). 
Two  days  before  The  Times  led  a  furious  attack  upon  the  defend- 
ers of  the  "old"  code  for  refusing  to  consult  with  physicians  of  so 
called  irregular  schools,  and  warned  the  gentlemen  about  to  assem- 
ble that  any  hostile  legislation  would  be  absolutely  useless.  It 
says: 

At  the  Chester  miinols)  penitentiary,  where  the  medical  practice  is  of  the 
allopathic  kind,  the  percentage  of  time  lost  by  islckness  is  four  times  as  great  as 
it  is  at  the  Jol let  penitentiary,  where  the  prisoners  are  doctored  on  homoeopathic 
principles.  The  Times  states  this  as  a  fact,  just  as  It  would  state  any  other  fact. 
The  convention  of  **  regular "  physicians  will  probably  furnish  an  explanation 
to  it. 

Stating  this  as  a  fact,  "just  as  it  would  state  any  other  fact,"  is 
amusing. 

Let  some  of  the  intelligent  people  of  Michigan  read  the  "fact" 
in  the  pages  of  The*  Advance  and  tell,  if  they  can.  Why  it  is  a 
fact. 

Some  genius  will  arise  to  call  it  "  an  inexplicable  coincidence," 
and  for  his  especial  benefit  I  take  the  trouble  of  republishing  it. 
Is  this  not  rubbing  it  in  ?  Howard  Crutcher. 

Chicauo,  June,  1887. 


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1887  Editorial  186 

EDITORIAL. 


"Wben  we  hftve  to  do  with  %n  art  whose  end  Is  the  saving  of  human  life,  any  neglect  to 
make  oorselves  thoroughly  masters  of  It  becomes  a  crime."— Habnkmaitn. 


"How  TO  Succeed  as  Physicians."— The  leading  article 
in  this  issue,  by  Dr.  James  B.  Bell,  of  Boston,  should  be 
read  by  every  homoeopathic  physician.  His  plea  for  the 
elevation  of  the  profession,  and  especially  for  the  elevation 
of  Homoeopathy  to  the  purity  of  Hahnemann's  standard, 
will  benefit  every  reader,  and  without,  any  apology  we  ask 

for  it  a  careful  perusal. 

♦        *        « 

The  American  Institute.— The  late  session  was  well 
attended,  the  discussions  harmonious  if  not  instructive, 
and  the  sectional  plan  of  work  fairly  successful.  If  any 
adverse  criticism  be  made,  there  was  too  much  time  occu- 
pied in  reading  the  papers  in  full,  especially  the  papers  of 
absentees,  and,  as  a  consequence,  too  little  devoted  to  prac- 
tical discussion.  This  was  soon  seen,  generally  acknowl- 
edged, and  promptly  corrected  for  future  sessions.  In  the 
Bureau  of  Clinical  Medicine,  the  etiology,  pathology,  and 
differential  diagnosis  of  the  "Diseases  of  the  Kidneys" 
were  exhaustively  given;  in  fact  never  excelled  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  Institute.  These  model  papers  will  tell  us  how 
to  make  a  correct  diagnosis  even  if  they  fail  to  help  us 
cure  our  patients. 

But  what  shall  we  say  for  the  emasculated  Bureau  of 
Materia  Medica,  the  distinctive  feature  of  our  school? 
Shorn  of  its  legitimate  duties,  the  proving  and  reproving 
of  drugs,  its  members  have  been  compelled  to  make  the 
best  shift  possible.  Its  papers  on  "Sleep:  Its  Aboormal- 
ities  and  Therapeutics,"  were  very  interesting  and  well 
received,  but  should  have  been  promptly  sent  to  the  Bureau 
of  Clinical  Medicine,  where  they  properly  belong.  This 
was  not  the  fault  of  the  Bureau,  but  of  the  Institute  which 
delegated  the  legitimate  duties  of  the  Bureau  to  the  Per- 
manent  Committee  on  Drug  Proving.  This  committee  has 
become  exceedingly  scientific  ( ?).    Instead  of  the  prom- 


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186  The  Medical  Advance.  August 

ised  proTings,  the  Institute  is  each  year  regaled  with  the 
difficulties  attending  the  effort  to  obtain  provings  on  the 
new  plan,  and  each  year  the  Institute  appears  to  be  entirely 
satisfied  with  the  statement  and  the  repetition  of  the  old 
promise.     How  long  this  farce  is  to  continue,   no  man 

knoweth.  * 

«        ♦        ♦ 

The  Women's  Homceopathic  Hospital  Association  of 
Pennsylvania  is  at  present  attracting  considerable  atten- 
tion in  the  medical  circles  of  the  City  of  Brotherly  Love, 
on  account  of  the  attempt  of  the  Board  of  Managers  to 
enforce  the  rules  of  the  Hospital,  which  exclude  the  use  of 
crude  drugs  as  palliatives.  The  objectionable  rules  are 
the  following: 

No  medicines,  except  strictly  homoeopathic  potentized  remedies, 
shall  bo  allowed  for  use  in  the  dispensaries  or  in  any  department 
of  the  Hospital. 

The  use  of  alcoholic  liquors  in  any  form  will  not  be  allowed  in 
the  dispensary  or  any  department  of  the  Hospital. 

In  1884  Mr.  Charles  Beed  very  generously  gave  $40,000 
for  the  erection  of  a  homceopathic  hospital  for  women,  and 
on  October  15, 1884,  the  corner-stone  was  laid,  the  late  Dr. 
H.  N.  Guernsey  delivering  the  address.  In  this  address 
he  voices  not  only  his  own  sentiments  and  convictions,  but 
the  wishes  of  the  generous  donor  as  well,  that  this  was  to 
be  strictly  a  homceopathic  hospital,  and  these  rules  were 
formulated  accordingly.  Yet,  in  spite  of  these  regulations, 
the  rules  were  violated,  and  when  remonstrated  with  by 
the  President  of  the  Board  eight  of  the  nine  lady  physi- 
cians resigned  in  a  body,  and  their  resignations  were 
promptly  accepted.  The  reason  given  for  this  action  was 
"interference  with  professional  opinion  by  the  lay-mem- 
bers of  the  Board."  After  the  resignation  an  overhauling 
of  "the  closets  and  out-of-the-way  corners  reveals  vials  of 
castor  oil,  carbolic  acid,  quinine  pills,  ergotine  pilb, 
morphia,  one-sixteenth  grain  pills  and  a  bottle  of  pills  com- 
pounded of  belladonna,  strychnia,  quinine  and  hyoscya- 
mus."  We  think  it  time  these  physicians  resigned,  if  this 
is  what  they  were  palming  off  in  a  homoeopathic  hospital 
as  Homoeopathy. 


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1887  What  They  Said.  187 

One  of  our  esteemed  Gotemporaries,  in  commenting  on 
this  action,  assumes  that  ''the  Board  being  presumably 
ignorant  of  what  constitutes  Homoeopathy,  may  be  ex- 
cused." Oh,  no,  not  for  that  reason!  We  had  the  pleas- 
ure, a  few  weeks  ago,  of  a  personal  interview  with  several 
of  these  ladies,  and  we  found  them  very  far  from  "igno- 
rant of  what  constitutes  Homoeopathy."  So  far  from  being 
ignorant,  if  the  Professors  of  Materia  Medica  and  Practice 
in  some  of  our  homoeopathic  colleges  understood  the  phil- 
osophy of  the  science  as  well,  very  few  of  their  students 
would  go  forth  armed  with  the  hypodermic  syringe.  We 
wish  every  homoeopathic  physician  in  the  land  could  dis- 
tinguish the  genuine  from  the  spurious  as  quickly  as  some 
of  the  members  of  the  Board,  and  for  one  we  render  them 
our  grateful  thanks  for  their  decisive  action.  Would  to 
God  that  morphine  and  all  other  palliative  drugs  were 
banished  from  every  homoeopathic  hospital  in  the  country. 

This  may  not  be  a  "shot  that  will  ring  round  the  world," 
but  it  is  a  grand  step  in  the  direction  of  right,  of  justice, 
and  of  truth  that  will  not  soon  be  forgotten. 


WHAT  THEY  SAID. 


Dr.  C.  G.  Higbee  (St  Paul): 

"Three  years  ago  I  was  called  to  a  lady  in  the  third  month  of 
gestation;  she  had  the  appearance  of  suffering  from  wounds  or  in- 
juries from  which  there  was  no  relief.  I  learned  that  when  this 
lady  was  four  years  old  a  brute  of  a  man  had  committed  rape  upon 
and  nearly  killed  her;  of  this  the  husband  knew  naught  and  the 
lady  had  but  a  faint  remembrance.  Here  was  a  mechanical  obstruc- 
tion to  gestation  of  years  duration.  All  my  efforts  were  directed 
to  aiding  nature,  to  relax  the  constricted  organs  and  tissues. 
Local  application  of  hot  water  was  freely  reported  to  over  the 
bladder  and  uterus,  and  as  injections  in  the  vagina  and  rectum. 
Also  appropriate  medical  treatment.  It  is  my  very  good  fortune 
to  record  that  the  uterus  was  relaxed  and  raised  above  the  brim  of 
the  pelvis,  that  gestation  went  on  to  term,  and  I  delivered  her  of 
a  male  child  that  is  still  living." 

Dr.  Phoebe  J.  B.  Waite  (New  York): 
**  If  women  were  tobacco  users  we  should  insist  upon  total  ab- 
stinence from  that  poisonous  weed.  But  without  being  themselves 


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188  The  Medical  Advance.  August 

voluntary  users  of  tobacco,  hundreds  of  delicate  wives  are  victims 
to  this  pernicious  habit  in  others,  living  and  dying,  begetting  and 
bearing  children  in  an  air  loaded  with  the  fumes  of  this  vile  drug, 
to  the  misery  of  their  own  lives  and  the  permanent  detriment  of 
their  offspring.  It  is  little  less  than  absurd  to  expect  prophylactic 
remedies  to  overcome  the  influences  of  such  glaring  evils,  which 
should  be  met  and  regulated  by  hygienic  care  on  the  one  hand  and 
husbandly  care  on  the  other." 

Dr.  T.  L.  Brown  (Binghamton,  N.  Y.): 

I  secured  a  very  important  case,  many  years  ago,  and  through 
this  one  case  a  number  of  others  were  brought  to  me.  I  never 
knew  until  months  afterwards  how  I  happened  to  be  selected.  It 
was  this  way:  One  night,  at  quite  a  late  hour,  I  was  called  to  see 
the  family  of  a  prominent  New  Hampshire  official  temporarily 
staying  in  our  town,  and  to  whom  I  was  a  perfect  stranger.  After 
I  had  discharged  myself,  and  quite  a  while  afterwards  I  learned 
that  as  soon  as  this  gentleman  found  that  he  required  a  physician, 
instead  of  asking  the  landlord  of  his  hotel,  or  appealing  at  some 
drug  store  for  the  name  of  a  doctor,  he  took  a  carriage  and  drove 
to  the  house  of  the  postmaster.  "  I  want  a  doctor,"  said  he.  "Tell 
me  which  one  of  the  doctors  of  this  city  takes  the  largest  number 
of  journals  ?  "  The  postmaster  referred  him  to  me.  As  the  gentle- 
man was  leaving  the  house  he  said  to  the  postmaster:  "A  man 
who  takes  the  journals  of  his  profession  is  well  read  and  up  with 
the  times;  and  that  is  the  doctor  I  want  to  treat  me  and  my 
family.'' 

Dr.  A.  C.  Cowperthwaite  (Iowa  City,  Iowa): 

The  Ilomceopathist  too  often  makes  of  sleep  too  prominent  a 
condition,  and  forgets  that  it  is  only  one  of  a  group  of  symptoms 
which  together  makes  the  totality.  Often  all  other  symptoms  are 
ignored  and,  as  sleep  is  so  greatly  to  be  desired,  and  is  so  pleaded 
for  by  the  patient,  the  physician's  efforts  are  put  forth  solely  to 
accomplish  that  purpose.  If,  under  such  circumstances,  one  or 
two  of  the  most  prominent  remedies  for  sleeplessness  do  not  pro- 
duce the  desired  effect,  he  is  too  apt  to  begin  at  once  tampering 
with  the  bromides  or  valerian,  or  some  other  hypnotic  in  material 
doses,  thus  bringing  discredit  upon  the  system  which  he  pretends 
to  practice,  but  which  he  fails  to  understand.  This  may,  in  most 
instances  at  least,  be  avoided  if  all  the  symptoms  which  are  asso- 
ciated with  the  sleeplessness  were  carefully  weighed  and  a  medi- 
cine selected  that  would  cover  their  totality. 

Dr.  J.  A.  Biegler  (Rochester,  N.  Y.): 
I  always  look  for  an  aggravation  from  Phosphorus  in  thirty-six 
hours.    I  have  a  case  of  typhoid  fever  where,  by  the  stools,  the 


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1887  What  They  Said.  189 

affgravation  of  the  fever  in  the  afternoon  and  other  symptoms, 
Phosphorus  was  indicated.  As  I  expected  to  be  here,  I  told  the 
young  man  who  is  taking  care  of  my  business  during  my  absence: 
"I  have  given  Phosphorus;  that  is  a  remedy  that  must  not  be  in- 
terfered  with,  neither  must  it  be  repeated.  I  expect  the  tem- 
perature to  rise  inside  of  thirty-six  hours,  then  there  will  be  a  fall." 
And  so  it  has  proved.  The  temperature  first  fell  to  lOr  but  ulti- 
mately reached  103(^  It  was  very  easy  to  see  that  the  patient 
was  worse.  But  the  remedy  was  not  interfered  with.  The  next 
morning  the  temperature  was  99%%  and  from  that  time  on  the 
patient  has  been  steadily  recovering. 

Dr.  B.  LeB.  Baylies  (Brooklyn): 

In  a  case  of  strangulated  hernia,  for  which  I  operated,  I  desire 
to  state  that  some  hours  after  the  operation  the  patient  was  in  a 
profuse  sweat,  very  rapid  respiration,  small  pulse,  thirst  for  small 
quantities  of  water,  intense  thirst  all  of  which  unmistakably  pointed 
to  Arsenicum.  I  gave  one  single  dose  of  the  cm.  and  in  a  short 
time,  within  a  few  hours,  the  shock  had  passed  over,  and  the  fol- 
lowing day  the  reaction  had  been  complete.  The  general  condi- 
tion was  good,  except  an  indication  for  Colocynth— sharp,  cutting 
pain  in  the  left  iliac  fossa,  for  which  I  gave  a  single  dose  of  Ck>lo- 
cynth  45m.  That  removed  that  symptom,  and  after  that  the  bowels 
moved  for  the  first  time,  and  recovery  took  place  rapidly. 

Dr.  H.  E.  Beebe  (Sidney,  O.): 

Man,  a  child  of  Nature  lives,  moves  and  has  his  being  at  the 
bottom  of  a  vast  ocean  of  vital  air  that  is  susceptible  to  great  varia- 
tions in  its  tides  and  currents.  All  need  its  life-sustaining  proper- 
ties. This  ocean  and  its  phenomena  are  a  complex  study;  besides 
the  many  elements  of  life,  it  contains  swarms  of  microscopical 
living  organisms,  hardly  out-numbered  by  those  of  the  watery  sea. 
Death  and  eternal  silence  would  reign  over  all  the  earth  if  it  were 
deprived  of  the  atmosphere  surrounding  it.  It  is  truly  the  breath 
of  the  planet  and  is  the  principal  agent  in  Life's  laboratory.  *  *  * 
Health  resorts  are  apt  to  be  the  last  resorts  of  both  patient  and 
doctor.  *  *  The  patient  should  seldom  leave  home  unless  able 
to  care  for  himself.  The  American  physician  does  not  study 
climate  and  health  resorts  as  his  European  brother  does.  *  *  * 
It  is  doubtful  if  any  climate  could  cure  or  permanently  benefit 
tubercular  phthisis  in  the  second  pr  last  stages. 

Dr.  Selden  H.  Talcott  (Middletown,  N.  Y.): 

The  habit  of  too  early  rising  is  one  of  the  saddest  and  surest 
means  by  which  insanity  may  be  acquired.  One  of  the  most 
striking  differences  between  civilization  and  savagry,  between  the 
environments  of  organized  society  and  the  freedom  of  the  forest. 


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190  The  Medical  Advance.  August 

is  this  enforced  habit  of  too  early  rising  on  the  part  of  the  young: 
to  this  habit  we  may  justly  ascribe  many  of  the  unfortunate 
experiences  of  youth,  and  many  cases  of  early  insanity  of  resistiye 
melancholy,  of  abject  dementa  have  arisen  from  this  deplorable 
cause.  The  free  and  lazy  subject  gets  up  when  he  gets  ready,  and 
rarely  or  never  becomes  insane.  The  habit  of  early  rising  is  en- 
forced most  vigorously  among  those  who  live  in  farming  com- 
munities. And  it  is  a  well-known  fact  that  farmers  and  farmers' 
wives  become  insane  more  readily  and  more  numerously  than  do 
the  members  of  any  other  class  of  the  general  population,  while 
some  have  ascribed  the  prevalence  of  insanity  among  farmers  to 
overwork,  to  anxiety  and  to  monotony  of  living,  we  think  there  is 
a  possibility  that  this  abnormal  tendency  to  mental  aberration 
among  those  who  live  in  rural  districts  may  be  put  down,  in  part 
at  least,  as  a  righteous  retribution  for  robbing  the  boys  of  neces- 
sary sleep. 

Dr.  John  V.  Allen  (Philadelphia): 

I  had  a  case  of  hives  in  a  young  horse.  When  I  was  first  called 
I  gave  him  one  dose  of  the  Sulphur  cm.  in  the  evening,  and  the 
following  morning,  along  towards  noon  he  was  apparently  no 
better.  He  was  unmistakably  in  great  agony;  he  was  rolling,  and 
rubbing,  and  biting,  and  kicking.  He  had  rubbed  the  skin  off  In 
many  places  in  great  patches.  They  had  tied  him  so  he  could  not 
do  himself  much  hurt.  1  then  decided  to  give  him  a  dose  of  Urti- 
caria urens  1  m.,  and  the  next  morning  the  horse  was  tied  simply  with 
one  rope,  and  he  was  allowed  to  lie  down.  The  whole  trouble 
seemed  to  disappear  after  the  dose  was  given,  and  he  got  well 
right  away,  and  was  afterwards  turned  out  to  pasture. 


EDITOR'S  TABLE. 


Dr.  Fisher,  of  Montreal,  was  the  only  member  from  the  Do- 
minion. 


Diphtheria.— Dr.  E.  B.  Nash,  of  Cortland,  N.  Y.,  is  preparing 
a  new  work  on  Diphtheria. 

Erratum.— In  July  number,  page  95,  second  line  from  bottom, 
the  name  of  Dr.  J.  Hall,  senior,  should  be  substituted  for  that  of 
Dr.  Tyrrell. 

Personal.— Dr.  James  A.  Campbell,  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  has  gone  to 
the  sea  shore  for  a  needed  recreation.  He  will  probably  remain  at 
Block  Island,  R.  I.,  for  two  months. 

I)R8.  S.  A.  Ball,  of  New  York,  and  S.  R.Dubbs,  of  Doylestown, 
Pa.,  were  the  only  two  members  attending  who  were  present  at 
the  organization  of  the  Institute,  April  10, 1844. 


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1887  Editor's  Table.  191 

Organization.— A  new  society  has  recently  been  organized  at 
Brockton,  Mass.,— Tlie  Plymouth  Co.  Horn.  Med.  Society,— of  which 
Dr.  Giles  B.  Dickerman,  of  Abington,  is  President. 

Women's  Homceopathic  Association  of  Pa.— The  new  hos- 
pital building  at  aoth  street  and  Susquehanna  Ave.,  Phila.,  is  now 
completed  and  open  for  the  reception  and  treatment  of  women 
and  children. 


Dr  H.  H.  Crippen,  from  the  New  York  Ophthalmic  Hospital, 
formerly  of  the  Bethlem  Royal  Hospital,  London,  England,  for- 
merly with  Dr.  D.  J.  McGuire  of  Detroit,  has  located  at  33  Adams 
East,  Detroit  Mich. 

The  following  Ex-Presidents  of  the  Institute  were  in  atten- 
dance: Drs.  D.  8.  Smith,  Wm.  Tod  Helmuth,  H.  D.  Paine,  R.  Lud- 
1am,  D.  H.  Beckwith,  J.  W.  Dowling,  J.  C.  Burgher,  B.  W.  James, 
T.  F.  Allen,  O.  8.  Runnels. 

University  of  Iowa. — Since  the  publication  of  the  Announce- 
ment, the  Board  of  Regents  have  appointed  Dr.  J.  G.  Gilchrist 
Professor  of  Surgery,  and  Dr.  C.  H.  Cogswell,  Professor  of  Ob- 
stetrics and  Diseases  of  Children. 


Wanted.— At  the  Brooklyn  Homoeopathic  Hospital,  109  Cum- 
berland St.,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  an  Ambulance  Surgeon.  Apply  at 
once  to  Charles  L.  Bonnell,  M.  D.,  Chief  of  Staff,  stating  references 
and  time  and  place  of  graduation. 

The  Caligraph.— The  Advance  desires  to  thank  the  Ameri- 
can Writing  Machine  Co.,  of  Hartford,  for  the  use  of  a  caligraph 
furnished  at  Long  Branch  and  Saratoga,  which  rendered  satisfac- 
tory service  in  getting  out  the  Proceedings. 

Appointment.— Dr.  W.  H.  H.  Jackson,  of  Oil  City,  Pa.,  has  re- 
cently been  appointed  surgeon  at  that  place  for  the  Lake  Shore  and 
Michigan  Southern  Railroad.  From  his  known  ability  this  ap- 
pointment will  be  sure  to  redound  creditably  to  all  concerned. 

For  Sale.— a  well  established  homoeopathic  practice  of  35,000 
a  year  in  a  county  seat  of  3,000  population.  Will  sell  office  fixtures, 
medicines,  instruments  and  a  few  books.  No  charge  for  good  will. 
Will  introduce  successor.  Reasons  for  selling:  change  ol  profes- 
sion.   Address  at  once  Dr.  W.  F.  Green,  Miles  City,  Montana  Ty. 

Announcement.— Prof.  E.  H.  Pratt  will  give,  prior  to  the 
opening  of  the  Chicago  HomoBopathic  Medical  College,  a  prelimi- 
nary course  of  one  week,  on  Oriflcial  Surgery.  This  course  is  de- 
signed solely  for  practitioners  who  desire  instruction  in  this  branch 
of  surgery,  in  order  to  apply  it  in  their  own  practice.    For  exact 


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/ 


192  The  Medical  Advance.  August 

data,  and  other  particulars,,  address  £.  H.  Pratt,  M.  D.,  Central 
Music  Hall,  Chicago. 

REM0VAL8.--W.  A.  Frost,  M.  D.,  to  Tecumseh,  Mich.— W.  Tou- 
kin,  M.  D.,  to  938  north  10th,  Philadelphia.— E.  Beckwith,  M.  D.,  to 
Albany,  Oregon.  -R.  B.  House,  M.  D.,  to  3  Mitchell  Block,  Spring- 
field, Ohio.— Wm.  C.  Wight,  M.  D.,  to  Avoca,  Iowa.— U.  W.  Reed, 
M.  D.,  to  Wolf  Lake,  Indiana.— J.  F.  Hurlbut,  M.  D.,  to  Duluth, 
Minn.— C.  D.  Crank,  M.  D.,  to  231  Auburn  Ave.,  Mt.  Auburn,  Cin- 
cinnati, O.— G.  S.  Barrows,  M.  D.,  to  Marion,  Kansas  .—Mrs.  J.  A. 
Pickering,  M.  D.,  to  342  Monroe  Ave.,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 


PUBLISHER'S  PAGE. 


It  is  not  only  invalids  and  children  who  delight  in  Mellin's 
Food,  but  a  large  class  of  consumers  whose  digestive  organs  re- 
quire delicate  treatment.  The  Food  is  so  nourishing  and  so  deli- 
cious that  those  with  any  delicacy  of  constitution  will  find  it  bet- 
ter than  medicine,  and  the  concentration  of  nourishing  properties. 
During  the  prevalent  heated  term  its  use  cannot  be  over-estimated 
in  infantile  disorders. 

"  Beef  Tea  contains  nothing  which  can  form  grape  sugar,  and 
in  fact  is  a  pleasant  stimulating  beverage  or  food  adjunct;  but 
without  food  value  practically.  (For  what  food  value  it  has  is  so 
infinitesimal  that  it  is  not  worth  counting).  But  when  it  has 
added  to  it  a  food  such  as  your  Lactated  Food  [Wells,  Richardson 
&  Co.]  it  has  a  distinct  measurable  food  value.  Consequently  such 
food  should  be  given  with  beef  tea,  and  the  compound  forms  a 
valuable  food"— FotTiergill, 

Carnrick's  Soluble  Food  thoroughly  nourishes  the  child  in 
bone,  muscle  and  fat-forming  elements  without  the  addition  of 
milk  or  any  other  food  substance,  and  is  the  only  food  prepared 
for  children  that  can  make  this  claim.  It  is  jcomposed  of  equal 
parts  of  powdered  milk  and  wheat. 

Colden's  Liquid  Beef  Tonig  has  been  established  15  years, 
and  its  worth  is  as  well  established.  It  is  an  invaluable  aid  in 
medical  practice,  differing  essentially  from  all  other  Beef  Tonics. 
Its  range  of  action  embraces  all  cases  of  debility. 

Horsford's  Acid  Phosphate  mixed  with  a  little  iced  water 
and  sugar  makes  a  delicious  beverage  for  these  superheated  days 
of  August.  This  aside  from  its  medicinal  properties,  which  are 
pronounced  and  well  known. 

Murdogk's  Liquid  Food  which  is  so  extensively  and  success- 
fully employed  in  the  Murdock  Free  Hospital,  with  its  150  free 
beds,  as  well  as  in  other  hospitals  and  private  practice,  is  so  well . 
known  that  a  mere  reference  to  it  will  recall  the  wonderful  recov- 
eries brought  about  by  its  aid. 


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AN  ADVOCATE  OP 

HOMOEOPATHIC  MEDICINE. 

H.  C.  AXLEN,  M.  D.,  Editor  and  PablUher. 


The  Editor  is  not  responsible  for  the  opinions  of  contributors.  Personalities, 
being  foreign  to  scientific  discussion,  must  l>e  excluded. 

To  accommodate  both  reader  and  publisher  this  journal  will  be  sent  until 
arrears  are  paid  and  it  is  ordered  discontinued. 

The  date  to  which  subscriptions  are  paid  will  be  found  on  the  address. 


Vol.  XIX.  Ann  Arbor,  Michigan,  September,  1887.         No.  3 


ORIGINAL  CONTRIBUTIONS. 


ANTISEPTICISM. 


JULIA  MORTON  PLUMMER,  M.  D.,  Boston. 


('*  I  had  hoped  to  be  able  to  present  at  this  time  a  thorough  and  complete  study 
of  the  germ  theory  in  its  relation  to  surgery,  but  the  time  at  my  command  for 
this  work  has  proved  altogether  too  little.  I  do  not  come  here,  however,  as  an 
entirely  childless  person.  I  have  adopted  an  infant,  and  one  of  which  I  am  not 
the  least  bit  ashamed.  Like  other  adopted  children,  1  think  you  may  find  this  a 
nmch  better  one  than  the  original  stock  could  have  produced.  One  of  our  grad- 
uates at  the  Boston  University  School  of  Medicine  chose  this  as  the  topic  of  her 
thesis  and  has  produced  so  broad  and  excellent  a  review  of  the  whole  subject  that 
I  asked  the  privilege  of  presenting  it  to  you  as  my  own  by  adoption  and  endorse- 
ment "-^(m.  B.  Bell  M.  D..  J.  H.  JL.,  1887.) 

The  history  of  antiseptic  surgery  is  as  old  as  the  history 
of  wounds;  for  however  crude  the  methods,  or  scant  the 
resources  employed,  any  attempt  to  improve  the  condition 
of  a  wound,  even  by  so  simple  a  method  as  cleanliness, 
must  in  so  far  be  regarded  as  antiseptic. 

In  modem  phraseology,  however,  the  term  antiseptic 
surgery  has  a  more  clearly  defined  application,  and  seems 
in  danger  of  suffering  undue  restriction  at  the  hands  of 


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194  The  Medical  Advance.  Sept 

those  who  would  appropriate  it  exclusively  to  the  method 
of  Lister. 

The  reason  for  this  appropriation  lies  doubtless  in  the 
fact  that  until  Lister  no  one  had  offered  anything  which 
deserved  the  name  of  a  method. 

All  that  had  gone  before  was  but  a  struggle  toward  the 
thing  which  he  attained.  The  earlier  efforts  were  at  best 
but  fragmentary  and  incomplete,  nor  could  they  be  gath- 
ered into  a  systematic  whole  because  they  lacked  an  intel- 
ligent scientific  basis. 

That  Listerism  is  a  method,  no  one  denies.  That  it  is 
based  on  scientific  principles  has  been  generally  conceded 
And  yet,  notwithstanding  the  high  place  which  has  been 
granted  to  it,  the  voice  of  the  surgical  world  is  by  no 
means  unanimous  in  making  Listerism  and  antiseptic  siir- 
gery  synonymous  terms. 

There  are  those  who  think  so  wide  a  field  as  the  antisep- 
tic treatment  of  wounds  cannot  fairly  be  monopolized  by 
any  one  arbitrary  system,  and  that  there  is  much  which  is 
quite  outside  the  precise  prescription  of  Listerism,  but 
which  nevertheless  fairly  deserves  the  name  of  antiseptic 
surgery. 

All  antiseptic  treatment  of  wounds  has  been  based  in 
general  on  a  belief  that  in  some  way  or  other  the  atmos- 
pheric air,  either  per  se,  or  means  of  its  contained  parti- 
cles, is  the  source  of  all  putrefactive  changes  and  wound 
accidents. 

As  to  the  precise  method  of  this  causation,  authorities 
have  differed. 

The  theory  that  the  atmosphere  acted  by  chemical  means 
was  probably  the  one  most  generally  accepted,  previous  to 
the  experiments  of  Pasteur  to  whom  we  are  indebted  for 
our  present  light  upon  the  subject,  and  for  the  establish- 
ment of  the  fact  that  the  air  if  pure  would  not  cause  fer- 
mentation nor  putrefaction,  but  that  these  changes  are 
caused  by  invisible  particles  in  the  atmosphere — these 
particles  being  the  germs  of  minute  animal  and  vegetable 
organisms.    It  is  upon  this  fact  that  the  germ  theory  of 


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1887  Aniisepticism.  195 

putrefaction  is  founded,  and  here  rests  the  basis  of  Lister's 
method  and  of  all  germicidal  antiseptics. 

Previous  to  the  discovery  of  this  principle  Lister  had 
struggled  ceaselessly  and  fruitlessly  against  an  enemy  of 
whose  nature  he  was  ignorant.    He  had  fought  in  the  dark. 

The  new  knowledge  furnished  a  light  in  which  the  enemy 
stood  revealed.  Now  he  could  adapt  the  means  to  the  end. 
If  the  germs  of  living  organisms  in  the  air  are  the  cause 
of  putrefaction  in  wounds,  then  kill  the  germs,  and  first 
and  last  prevent  their  coming  in  contact  with  the  wound. 

But  the  discovery  of  the  underlying  principle  was  only 
one  step  toward  the  final  result. 

To  perfect  a  method  which  should  completely  meet  these 
indications,  was  the  work  of  time,  and  Lister  developed 
his  work  by  successive  stages. 

At  the  first  he  made  applications  more  complicated  and 
less  successful  than  those  which  he  now  recommends,  and 
for  years  he  gradually  simplified  the  means  which  he  ad- 
vocated. 

The  employment  .of  an  antiseptic  paste  of  chalk,  the  use 
of  costly  plasters  to  effect  occlusion,  metallic  papers,  car« 
bolized  oil,  rapidity  of  dressing  under  compresses  of  car- 
bolized  oil  or  water,-  -all  these  had  in  turn  given  him 
favorable  results,  but  he  achieved  practical  and  complete 
success  after  he  began  to  employ  the  antiseptic  gauze  and 
carbolized  spray^  according  to  the  well  known  Listerian 
formula,  which  has  so  profoundly  modified  the  surgery  of 
our  time,  and  which  is,  therefore,  now  so  familiar  that  it 
need  not  be  quoted  here. 

The  reception  with  which  it  has  met  has  undoubtedly 
varied,  but  certainly  it  has  come  to  the  whole  surgical 
world  with  that  tremedous  appeal  which  belongs  always  to 
a  discovery  that  offers  relief  for  a  desperate  evil. 

The  eagerness  with  which  Listerism  was  welcomed  by 
the  German  operators,  almost  without  exception,  can  be 
readily  understood  when  we  consider  their  woful  confes- 
sions as  to  the  condition  of  their  great  hospitals  and  their 
dreadful  mortality  lists,  prior  to  the  Listerian  epoch;  e,  g.. 


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196  The  Medical  Advance,  Sepi 

NoBsbaum,  in  speaking  of  his  own  clinic,  which  he  had  con- 
trolled  for  twenty-one  years,  says: 

**For  decades  Pyaemia  had  been  a  constant  resident  there. 
Almost  all  cases  of  amputation  and  compound  fracture  died  of  it; 
indeed  the  question  was  often  asked  how  did  one  dare  to  operate 
in  such  a  deadly  place.  In  1872  hospital  g^angrene  set  in,  and  by 
1874  nearly  80  per  cent,  of  wounds  and  ulcers  were  attacked  by  it. 
Erysipelas  was  to  be  found  in  almost  every  bed.  A  genuine  prima 
reunio  was  never  seen." 

This  confession  is  but  one  of  many,  and  suggests  a  con- 
dition which  was  no  exception  to  the  general  rule.  It  was 
to  such  a  desperate  condition  that  Listerism  came  with  its 
promise  of  better  things.  And  where  it  was  received  and 
obeyed,  it  seemed  to  fulfill  its  promise. 

To  quote  again  from  Nussbaum : 

**  Those  alone  who  witnessed  the  sad  sight  can  appreciate  the 
magic  change  brought  to  us  by  the  teachings  of  Lister,  for  through 
it  thousands  have  been  saved  who  without  it  would  certainly  have 
succumbed  to  death.  *  *  *  Visit  now  my  clinics,  and  you  find 
the  patients  lying  comfortable  and  cheerful  in  their  beds:  neither 
erysipelas  nor  phlebitis  are  to  be  found;  gangrene  is  no  longer 
dreaded;  pyiemia  has  vanished;  compound  fractures  heal  without 
difficulty;  amputation  and  plastic  operations  heal  constantly  per 
primam  intentio7iem.  The  mortality  record  is  reduced  by  one- 
half." 

This,  too,  is  but  on'e  of  many  similar  testimonies  to  the 
wonderful  transformation  wrought  by  the  new  doctrine, 
and  so  overwhelming  were  the  results,  and  so  unanswera- 
ble the  statistics  of  improvement,  that  for  a  time  wonder 
and  enthusiasm  crowded  from  men's  minds  every  other 
emotion,  and  in  the  first  blaze  of  the  new  light  it  seemed 
as  if  the  enemy  was  forever  vanquished  and  the  ultimatum 
reached. 

Many  surgeons  adopted  the  new  teaching  at  once  and  in 
toto,  while  others  tested  and  accepted  one  detail  after  an- 
other, until  gradually  the  method  found  its  way  into  the 
inractice  of  the  most  conservative  operators. 

The  precise  history  of  its  acceptance  by  various  leading 
surgeons,  and  the  statistics  of  their  increased  success,  is 
of  great  interest,  but  it  is  too  long  to  find  place  here. 


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1887  AnUseptici'sm.  197 

It  need  only  be  said  that  in  the  decade  following  its  in- 
troduction such  men  as  Keith,  Spencer  Wells,  Cheyne, 
Shroeder,  and  Volkman  were  among  those  who  used  the 
system  and  gave  testimony  in  its  favor. 

Especially  was  the  advantage  of  the  new  method  appar- 
ent in  the  increased  success  of  certain  operations  which 
had  previously  given  so  large  a  death  rate  as  to  ma^e  them 
a  terror  both  to  surgeon  and  patient,  notably  the  opening 
of  the  abdominal  cavity  and  the  opening  of  large  joints. 

In  these  fields  a  world  of  new  possibilities  seemed 
opened,  and  courage  and  success  entered  it  hand  in  hand. 
Perhaps  the  most  complete  illustration  of  this  success  is 
seen  in  the  statistics  of  the  Scotch  ovariotomist,  Keith, 
before  and  after  his  adoption  of  the  new  method. 

In  the  fourteen  years  before,  the  mortality  from  Keith's 
operations  had  been  one  in  seven.  Alter  his  adoption  of 
complete  Listerism  he  operated  on  eighty  successive  cases 
without  a  death.  So  far  only  success!  But  the  history 
does  not  end  here.  Soon  a  significant  fact  appears.  Here 
and  there  in  the  various  surgical  journals  we  begin  to  find 
recommendations  of  new  and  different  antiseptic  agents. 
Something  to  take  the  place  of  the  lauded  carbolic  acid! 
Something  better  than  this  which  was  supposed  to  be  the 
best! 

Looking  more  deeply  to  see  how  and  why  this  should  be, 
we  find  these  recommendations  coming  largely  from  men 
who  have  themselves  thoroughly  used  and  proved  the  Lis- 
terian  method,  and  whose  search  for  a  new  and  better  an- 
tiseptic agent  is  based  on  some  positive  objection  to  the 
carbolic  acid;  e,  g,,  it  is  reported  in  May,  1878,  that  in  the 
University  Clinic  of  Berlin,  under  Professor  Langenbeck, 
the  antiseptic  treatment  as  advocated  by  Professor  Lister 
is  but  partially  carried  out;  and  that  it  is  only  in  excep- 
tional cases  that  the  carbolic  spray  is  used,  the  thymol  solu- 
tion being  lately  employed,  as  far  less  irritating  to  the  skin 
and  free  from  the  danger  of  carbolic  acid  poisoning. 

We  also  read  concei-ning  Volkmann,  of  Halle,  in  Decem- 
ber, 1878,  that  although  he  still  used  the  carbolic  acid  for 
cleansing  the  skin  preparatory  to  the  operation,  he  substi- 


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198  The  Medical  Advance,  Sept 

tuted  either  thymol  gauze  or  benzoated  cotton  for  direct 
application  to  the  wound,  as  being  less  irritating  than  the 
carbolic  acid. 

Yet  eight  months  previous  to  this  time  Volkmann  had 
been  reported  among  those  using  the  extreme  Lister 
'  method. 

Gradually  this  consciousness  of  danger  from  the  use  of 
carbolic  acid  became  more  clearly  defined  and  more  deeply 
felt,  and  soon  found  vehement  expression  in  an  article  by 
Billroth,  of  Vienna,  in  his  Chirurgische  Klinilc.     He  says: 

"It  is  a  peculiarity  of  many  people  to  deny  the  existence  of  un- 
pleasant occurrences  which  have  not  yet  happened  to  themselves. 
There  are  many  surgeons  who  deny  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as 
death  from  chloroform.  May  kindly  fortune  long  preserve  to  them 
this  happy  belief  I 

There  are  also  many  surgeons  who  do  not  believe  that  there  is 
such  a  thing  as  dpath  from  carbolic  acid,  and  yet  the  carbolic  acid 
death  is  much  more  freciuent  than  the  chloroform  death." 

He  then  goes  on  to  show  that  he  has  made  a  most  pains- 
taking and  exhaustive  trial  of  the  method. 

Thinking  that  the  unfavorable  results  in  some  of  his 
earlier  cases  might  be  due  to  possible  impurity  of  his  car- 
bolic acid,  he  caused  some  to  be  prepared  of  chemical 
purity,  but  the  results  were  the  same.  He  then  sent  to 
England  for  a  supply  from  the  same  manufacturer  from 
whom  Lister  obtained  his,  but  with  only  this  difference: 
that  the  absorption  was  in  some  cases  more  rapid  and  the 
results  more  intense. 

Then  follows  a  record  of  cases  of  carbolic  acid  poisoning. 
First,  those  in  which  the  symptoms,  although  of  the  grav- 
est and  most  alarming  character,  had  gradually  yielded 
after  the  complete  removal  of  the  carbolic  acid  and  the 
application  of  stimulants,  and  in  which  the  patients  for- 
tunately were  saved.  Then  five  fatal  cases,  of  which  it 
need  only  be  said  that  they  form  a  clinical  picture  so  uni- 
form and  so  characteristic  as  to  leave  no  room  for  doubt 
as  to  the  real  cause  of  death.  Somnolence,  vomiting,  dark 
olive  green  urine,  unconsciousness,  death.  So  the  record 
reads  in  every  case. 


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1887  Antisepticism.  199 

He  affirms  that  the  danger  does  not  lie  in  the  spray 
alone,  nor  in  the  washing  out  of  wounds,  but  that  even  the 
laying  on  of  the  dry  Lister  gauze  is  sufficient  with  many 
persons  to  produce  an  intense  olive  green  color  of  the 
urine. 

"In  view  of  the  above  circumstances/'  says  Billroth,  "it  may 
readily  be  understood  why  I  should  not  be  very  enthusiastic  for 
the  antiseptic  method,  from  which,  thus  far,  carbolic  acid  is  insep- 
arable." 

A  little  later  we  find  from  another  quarter  a  similar  rec- 
ognition of  the  same  danger. 

Professor  Bursh,  of  Bonn,  in  an  address  on  "  Carbolism," 
states  that  the  attention  of  surgeons  has  of  late  been  fre- 
quently directed  to  the  deleterious  effects  upon  the  system 
of  the  absorption  of  external  applications  of  carbolic  acid. 
He  speaks  of  the  precautions  which  he  has  been  accus- 
tomed to  adopt  on  the  appearance  of  the  first  symptoms  of 
carbolism,  yet  says  he  has  found  that  severe  cases  of  a 
threatening  or  even  fatal  character  may  occur  without  any 
premonitions. 

Then  follows  an  account  of  a  fatal  case  from  his  own 
practice,  a  case  in  which  the  operation  itself  was  but  the 
simplest — the  opening  of  an  abscess — and  in  which,  owing 
to  the  tender  age  and  leuco-phlegmatic  habit  of  the  patient, 
the  washing  out  of  the  cavity  with  the  ordinary  five  per 
cent  solution  was  omitted,  and  only  a  two  per  cent,  carbol- 
ized  spray  was  used,  followed  by  the  carbol-gauze  dressing. 
Yet  on  the  second  day  restlessness,  nausea,  vomiting,  dark 
olive  green  urine,  symptoms  of  collapse,  small  pulse,  sink- 
ing temperature,  followed  by  death,  fifty  hours  after  the 
operation. 

Here  is  still  another  case  which  was  reported  at  the 
meeting  of  the  Clinical  Society  of  London,  May  13,  1881, 
where  rapid  death  followed  an  osteotomy  of  the  tibia  in  a 
rachitic  boy  of  eight  years.  He  passed  through  the  oper- 
ation welj  enough,  slept  through  the  night,  and  ate  a  light 
breakfact.  At  11  a.  m.,  however,  vomiting  and  diarrhoea 
came  on,  and  continued  till  evening,  when  collapse  set  in, 
followed  by  death,  thirty-six  hours  after  the  operation. 


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200  The  Medical  Advance.  Sept 

Even  Professor  Lister  himself,  who  presided  at  the 
meeting,  agreed  with  the  decision  that  this  death  was 
caused  by  carbolic  acid,  and  reported  the  case  of  a  lady 
who  was  seized  with  vomiting,  which  did  not  cease  until 
the  carbolic  acid  was  removed  and  a  boracic  dressing  used 
in  its  place.  Another  attempt  to  substitute  the  carbolic 
acid  was  followed  by  the  same  results. 

These  experiences  and  others  like  them  prepcured  the 
way  for  the  culmination  of  thought  and  expression  on  this 
subject  which  took  place  at  the  International  Medical  Con- 
gress for  1881,  held  in  London  during  the  month  of  Au- 
gust. 

At  one  of  the  meetings  Listerism  was  under  discussion, 
and  Professor  Keith,  of  Edinburgh,  was  one  of  the  speak- 
ers. It  will  be  remembered  that  Keith  has  already  been 
quoted  as  a  warm  disciple  of  Lister,  and  as  illustrating  by 
his  remarkable  success  in  ovariotomy  more  than  any  other 
surgeon  the  value  of  the  Listerian  method. 

"On  this  occasion,"  says  the  record,  ** his  few  slowly  uttered 
words  had  somewhat  the  effects  of  a  bomb  on  the  minds  of  his 
hearers:  for  he  assured  them  that  for  several  months  he  had  aban- 
doned the  antiseptic  treatment  altogether. 

It  is  true  that  he  had  eighty  successive  recoveries  under  the 
Lister  method,  which  in  itself  was  a  wonderful  showing;  but  out 
of  the  next  twenty-five  cases  he  lost  seven.  Of  these,  one  died  of 
acute  septicemia,  in  spite  of  the  most  thorough  antiseptic  precau- 
tions, and  three  of  unquestionable  carbolic  acid  poisoning. 

He  said  that  out  of  the  eighty  successful  cases,  many  came  too 
near  dying;  that  a  large  number  got  a  high  temperature,  105%  106*, 
107'  Fahrenheit  the  evening  after  the  operation,  'but/  he  said, 
*  they  happened  to  pull  through.' 

He  then  said  that  for  the  past  four  months  he  had  abandoned 
the  antiseptic  method,  relied  on  perfect  cleanliness,  care  in  con- 
trolling hemorrhage,  and  thorough  drainage,  and  his  cases  were 
giving  him  much  less  trouble,  with  more  satisfactory  results. 

Then  Professor  Keith  stopped  for  a  few  moments  as  if  realii^ing 
that  the  whole  world  of  surgery  was  awaiting  his  utterances.  It 
was  an  interval  of  complete  silence,  but  of  intebse  excitement. 
He  soon  raised  his  head  to  his  audience,  saying,  *  Gentlemen,  I 
have  felt  it  my  duty  to  make  these  statements,  for  they  are  true/ 
and  seated  himself. 

The  Congress  could  have  been  no  less  surprised  when  Lister 
himself  said  in  his  address  that  he  very  much  doubted  whether  in 


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1887  AnttaepUcism.  201 

the  hands  of  a  skillful,  careful  operator  it  were  not  better  to  dis- 
pense with  the  antiseptic  plan,  in  consideration  of  the  rapidity 
with  which  wounds  of  the  peritoneum  heal,  and  the  remarkable 
absorbent  power  of  that  membrane,  and  its  ability  to  take  care  of 
its  own  exudates. 

A  general  discussion  followed,  and  among  the  many  exclama- 
tions in  different  tongues  those  of  a  German  seemed  prominent: 
*MeinGott!  Listerism  ist  todt!  Fort  m it  dem  spray!  Fort  mit 
dem  acid  carbolique! ' " 

This  general  and  public  disparagement  of  carbolic  acid 
seemed  to  give  fresh  impetus  to  the  search  for  a  substitute, 
and  since  that  time  a  long  succession  of  antiseptic  sub- 
stances has  claimed  the  surgeons'  attention.  Iodoform, 
Thymol,  Eucalyptus  Oil,  Bichloride  of  Mercury,  Bismuth, 
Boracic  Acid,  Benzoic  Acid,  Salicylic  Acid,  Phenyle,  Boro- 
glyceride,  Chlorinated  Soda,  Sulphuric  Acid,  Permanga- 
nate of  Potash,  and  so  on  almost  ad  infinitum.  Some  of 
these,  as  Iodoform  and  Bichloride  of  Mercury,  have  been 
guilty  of  producing  toxic  effects,  even  in  a  fatal  degree. 
Others  have  proved  unsatisfactory  in  their  power  as  ger- 
micides, and  the  end  is  not  yei 

A  careful  perusal,  however,  of  the  surgical  literature  of 
the  intervening  years,  and  even  up  to  the  present  time, 
shows  a  strong  and  steady  tendency  toward  the  abandon- 
ment of  the  Listerian  formula. 

The  plea  of  the  present  is  for  "Principles  not  Para- 
phernalia." 

This  sentiment  is  echoed  in  a  recent  letter  from  Keith, 
which  embodies,  perhaps,  his  latest  published  opinion  on 
the  subject    He  writes  under  date  of  March  16, 1886: 

"  The  secret  of  abdominal  surgery— the  secret  of  all  surgery- 
consists  in  carrying  out  the  antiseptic  principle.  You  may  do 
this  in  a  simple  way,  or  you  may  do  it  in  a  complicated  way.  All 
instruments,  sponges,  etc.,  should  be  disinfected.  A  weak  car- 
bolic solution  applied  to  the  wound  can  do  no  harm— nor  good. 
You  may  safely  use  hot  water. 

I  use  a  simple  dressing  of  gauze,  8  or  10  folds,  soaked  in  a  1  to  8 
carbolic  acid  arid  glycerine.  Over  this  some  ordinary  cotton  wool, 
a  flannel  bandage,  and  nothing  else.  Use  this  and  you  will  never 
use  anything  else,  and  don't  look  at  it  for  a  week  or  ten  day?." 

LawBon  Tait  still  continues  his  splendid  ovariotomy  rec* 

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202  2%e  Medical  Advance,  Sept. 

ord — a  series  of  139  consecutive  cases  performed  in  the 
year  ending  May,  1886,  and  without  a  single  death.  Free- 
dom from  Listerian  details  is  one  of  Mr.  Tait's  strong 
points,  and  the  principles  by  which  he  attains  his  success 
are  graphically  suggested  in  the  following  letter,  written 
by  him  March  15,  1886: 

"  I  still  use  tap  water,  and  nothing  else.    It  is  never  boiled.   My 
instruments  are  prepared  by  being  washed  in  soap  and  water 
merely.    I  use  no  elaborate  dressings  for  the  wound,  never  uning. 
anything  at  all,  except  absorbent  cotton  wool." 

Mr.  Tait  attributes  his  success  to  the  following:  The 
non-use  of  antiseptics;  increased  personal  experience;  in- 
creased attention  to  all  the  minute  details;  cleanliness  and 
discipline  in  the  hospital. 

Mr.  Savory,  senior  surgeon  at  St.  Bartholomew's,  the 
largest  of  the  London  hospitals,  rejects  the  antiseptic 
treatment  and  relies  upon  cleanliness  alone. 

Bantock,  of  the  Samaritan  Hospital,  operates  without 
the  spray. 

Holmes,  at  St.  George's,  discards  the  use  of  antiseptics, 
except  in  diseases  of  the  joints. 

Hutchinson,  at  the  London  Hospital,  also  works  without 
Listerism. 

Dr.  Bryant,  of  London,  writes: 

"I  am  as  yet  no  convert  to  the  theory  on  which  Listerism  is 
based, nor  to  the  great  value  of  the  special  practice  based  upon  it." 

Wm.  Tod  Helmuth,  of  New  York,  says: 

"Antiseptic  surgery,  as  we  now  regard  it,  is  bemg  more  thor- 
oughly investigated  and  improved,  while  the  details  of  Listerism 
are  being  gradually  abolished." 

B.  F.  Betts,  of  Philadelphia,  says: 

"What  I  desire  is  that  we  should  strive  after  cleanliness,  with- 
out the  necessity  for  the  employment  of  germicidal  agents  within 
the  peritoneal  cavity,  as  the  toxic  eifects  of  such  solutions  must 
weigh  against  the  recovery  of  the  patient.  Both  the  carbolic  and 
sublimate  solutions  deprive  the  peritoneal  layer  of  some  of  its 
epithelial  covering,  and  so  conduce  to  the  formation  of  those  ad- 
hesions between  contiguous  surfaces  which  lead  to  fatal  restilts  in 
dome  cases." 


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1887  AnHsepticism.  203 

Another  Philadelphia  surgeon  says: 

"Medicine,  like  moat  other  sciences,  has  been  retarded  in  its 
growth  by  the  accumulation  of  all  sorts  of  useless  details.  Some 
of  these  incrustations  still  clog  the  advance  of  abdominal  surgery, 
and  will  be  given  up  with  a  notable  diminution  in  the  percentage 
of  mortality.  I  refer  to  the  use  of  carbolic  acid  and  mercuric 
solutions  at  the  operating  table,  and  to  the  continued  use  of  any 
elaborate  abdominal  dressing. 

The  use  of  antiseptics  within  the  peritoneal  cavity  is  full  of 
dangers  and  inconsistencies;  for  the  reason  that  if  used  in  a 
strength  sufficient  to  certainly  prevent  sepsis,  the  patient  is  very 
often  killed  along  with  the  germs." 

Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  best  opinion  of  the 
present  time  seems  to  be  so  unanimously  against  these 
things,  the  literature  of  the  new  year  contains  a  single 
voice  on  the  other  side,  which,  for  the  sake  of  fairness, 
should  find  place  in  this  summary. 

The  Board  of  a  Boston  Maternity  Hospital  is  but  now 
congratulating  itself  upon  the  recent  introduction  of  the 
most  extreme  antiseptic  precautions  into  its  service,  and 
the  improved  results  which  are  already  manifest  therefrom. 

The  details  of  this  new  departure  are  too  numerous  to 
be  fully  quoted  here,  but  include  the  most  rigid  disinfec- 
tion of  the  hands  of  all  attendants,  as  well  as  all  instru- 
ments and  utensils;  also  the  bedding,  clothing,  and  geni- 
talia of  the  patient,  in  all  of  which  the  bichloride  of  mer- 
oury  plays  an  important  part  before,  during  and  after 
labor.  The  following  fact  alone  is  sufficient  to  suggest 
the  freedom  with  which  the  drug  is  used.  A  vaginal 
douche  of  the  mercuric  solution  is  employed  at  the  be- 
ginning of  every  labor,  and  a  second  is  advised  at  the 
close  of  the  first  stage  whenever  circumstances  permit. 

One  cannot  help  wondering  if  the  benefit  derived  from 
this  practice  is  sufficient  to  compensate  for  the  physiolog- 
ical inconsistency  of  carefully  removing  just  at  the  criti- 
cal moment  the  whole  supply  of  vaginal  mucus  which 
nature  has  provided  as  a  lubricant  for  the  advancing  head! 

And  more  than  this,  the  practice  seems  to  imply  a 
strange  unconsciousness  of  a  danger  which  is  now  well 
established  and  clearly  recognized,  viz.,  that  of  toxic  effects 


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204  '         ThS  Medical  Advance.  Sept. 

from  the  free  and  frequently  repeated  use  of  this  potent 
drug. 

There  seems  to  be  a  happy  trust  in  the  minds  of  its  em- 
ployers that  when  it  is  used  as  an  antiseptic  it  will  confine 
itself  to  antiseptic  action. 

This  is  stated  with  keen  sarcasm  in  an  article  from  the 
Homeopathic  World,  called  "  Mercurius  Corrosivus  in  the 
hands  of  the  Allopaths": 

"The  discovery  having  been  made  that  this  substance  is  one  of 
the  most  powerful  of  all  destroyers  of  living  organisms,  it  was  at 
once  dubbed  the  antiseptic  par  excellence,  and  carbolic  acid  being 
at  the  time  not  a  little  discredited  because  of  its  frequent  and 
sometimes  fatal  toxic  effects,  corrosive  sublimate  came  rapidly  to 
the  front.  ^Antiseptic '  was  its  name,  and  the  idea  that  it  could  do 
any  thing  more  than  act  as  an  'antiseptic'  did  not  appear  to  have 
occurred  to  the  allopathic  mind. 

The  scientific  having  decided  that  it  was  an  antiseptic,  it  would 
really  be  impertinent  on  the  part  of  the  drug  to  do  any  thing  else 
than  *antisept,*  the  idea  being  that  when  an  agent  is  tuted  as  any- 
thing, it  must  do  that  same  thing  and  nothing  else." 

Such  is  the  inference,  that  the  action  of  a  drug  depends 
on  what  it  is  "  used  as,"  and  not  on  its  own  inherent  prop- 
erties. 

And  now  the  new  antiseptic  agent,  mercurius  corrosivus, 
is  behaving  in  the  same  unseemly  way  as  its  brother  germ- 
destroyer,  carbolic  acid. 

It  was  most  irritating  to  have  the  unruly  substance  be- 
have as  it  had  always  done,  and  not  as  it  was  expected  to 
do  by  the  antiseptic  surgeons. 

These  oflfended  dignitaries  could  hardly  believe  their 
experience  at  first,  and  the  Lancet  published  in  February 
last  an  editorial  note  on  what  it  thought  fit  to  term  *' Alleged 
Dangers  in  the  use  of  Mercurius  Corrosivus  as  an  Anti- 
septic Agent." 

As  a  proof  that  facts  are  stronger  than  theories,  and  that 
the  alleged  danger  has  later  become  authenticated,  even  to 
the  mind  of  the  Lancet,  we  notice  that  in  October,  1886, 
that  periodical  contains  a  report  of  thirty  fatal  cases  from 
the  use  of  bichloride  of  mercury  as  an  antiseptic. 

It  seems  a  significant  fact  that  this  same  report  of  thirty 


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1887  Antisepticism.  205 

fatal  cases,  "mostly  in  parturient  women,"  should  be 
quoted  in  one  of  our  own  journals  of  precisely  the  same  date 
as  that  other  one,  which  records  the  recent  introduction  of 
the  dangerous  drug  into  the  obstetric  service  of  a  Boston 
hospital. 

Happily,  however,  the  assurance  comes  to  us  at  the  same 
time  from  another  quarter: 

"  Regarding  bichloride  of  mercury,  it  is  sufficient  to  say  that  its 
use  has  been  very  much  curtailed  in  all  maternity  hospitals,  even 
as  a  vaginal  wash;  the  danger  line  here  is  a  very  broad  one,  de- 
pending on  that  most  variable  of  all  factors,  the  individual  sus- 
ceptibility." 

Seeing,  therefore,  by  the  testimony  of  many  witnesses 
that  the  prevailing  opinion  and  practice  in  high  places 
tends  more  and  more  toward  a  disregard  of  those  minute 
and  elaborate  details  which  were  for  a  time  considered  of 
such  vital  importance,  it  would  be  of  the  utmost  interest 
to  understand  the  theoretical  position  of  those  men  who 
reject  Listerism  and  its  equivalents,  and  whose  success  has 
so  brilliantly  vindicated  their  practice. 

Probably  m  many  instances  no  such  theory  has  been 
formulated,  the  use  and  subsequent  non-use  of  the  method 
resting  on  purely  empirical  grounds. 

But  not  so  with  all.  Fortunately  for  us  some  have  theo- 
retically defended  their  position,  and  the  key-note  of  this 
•defense  is  found  most  clearly  and  concisely  stated  in  the 
writings  of  Tait  who  says: 

"For  my  present  purpose  it  is  enough  for  me  to  assume,  as  I  do 
most  fully,  that  the  germ  theory  has  been  completely  substanti- 
ated, and  that  no  known  process  of  putrefaction  does  occur  save 
by  the  admission  of  resting  spores  or  swarm  spores  of  some  of  the 
many  minute  living  organisms  which  are  Invariably  associated 
with  putrefactive  changes.  But  concerning  this,  there  is  another 
constant  position  associated  with  these  phenomena.  The  mate- 
rials upon  which  the  experiments  have  been  made,  of  infinite 
variety  of  kind  and  constitution,  have  all  been  dead,  and  no  one 
has  yet  pretended  that  by  the  admission  of  germs  to  living  matter 
he  has  produced  the  phenomena  of  the  putrefactive  changes  which 
constantly  result  in  matter  which  is  dead. 

It  will,  therefore,  be  seen  that  the  application  of  the  facts  of 
the  germ  theory  of  putrefaction  to  the  phenomena  of  diseases  of 
the  living  tissue,  is  met  at  once  by  an  overwhelming  difficulty. 


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206  The  Medical  Advance.  Sept 

Granting  that  the  same  germs  which  would  inevitably  produce 
putrefaction  in  a  dead  infusion  of  beef  are  constantly  admitted  to 
wounds,  there  is  not  the  slightest  particle  of  evidence  that  they  do 
produce  any  change  whatever  upon  living  tissue. 

The  difficulty,  therefore,  is  that  what  we  call  vital  action,  for 
want  of  a  name  based  upon  a  better  understanding  of  what  it  is, 
places  living  tissue  in  an  altogether  different  category  from  tissue 
in  which  the  phenomena  of  life  are  no  longer  present. 

Now,  this  is  consonant  with  every-day  experien<  e.  If  a  decay- 
ing hyacinth  bulb  or  a  rotting  apple  be  examined,  the  presence  of 
the  minute  forms  of  life  is  found  to  be  absolutely  confined  to  those 
parts  where  the  changes  have  been  effected,  while  those  parts  to 
which  the  rot  has  not  extended  are  found  absolutely  free  from 
them.  And  the  difficulty  of  the  adoption  of  the  germ  theory  is 
simply  this:  that  its  advocates  have  assumed  that  the  invasion  of 
the  germs  is  the  cause  of  the  decadence  of  the  vital  phenomena^ 
and  the  ultimate  death,  while  there  is  the  alternative  .still  undis- 
cussed and  certainly  undismissed,  that  the  decadence  of  th6  vital 
powers  due  to  some  cause  possibly  yet  unknown,  is  that  .which 
gives  the  germs  the  potential  ascendency,  and  enables  them  to  do 
what  during  full  vital  action  they  were  wholly  unable  to  accom- 
plish." 

While  this  theory  is,  as  Tait  himself  says,  "undis- 
cussed," it  nevertheless  bids  fair  to  remain  "  undismissed,'^ 
for  this  reason:  It  accommodates  itself  to  two  obstinate 
facts. 

First — The  fact  that  marvellous  results  have  been  and 
are  constantly  attained  without  any  of  the  special  precau- 
tions supposed  to  be  necessary  by  the  advocates  of  the 
Listerian  system — without  spray,  carbolized  solution  for 
sponges  and  instruments,  or  protective  carbolized  gauze — 
in  short,  without  any  effort  to  exclude  or  kill  the  omni- 
present and  omnipotent  germ. 

Second, — The  fact  that  in  numberless  instances  the  most 
rigid  application  of  these  same  details  and  precaations 
has  been  absolutely  powerless  to  save  the  patients  from 
death  by  septicaemia. 

Yet  both  these  facts  are  utterly  at  variance  with  the  Lis- 
terian theory,  for  if  that  were  true,  then  every  slightest 
wound  would  give  ample  scope  for  the  deadly  germ,  nor 
could  any  non-"  antiseptic "  surgery  hope  for  success. 
And,  moreover,  if  it  were  true,  then  perfect  Listerism 
would  be  omnipotent  against  septicaemia. 


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1887  Aniisepticism.  207 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  if  it  is  not  true,  how  are  we  to 
explain  the  marvellous  success  which  followed  upon  its 
introduction,  and  which  seems  to  have  resulted  from  its 
use? 

Concerning  ovariotomy  Tait  and  Bantock  believe  the  ex- 
planation to  be  found  largely  iH  the  fact  that  the  introduc- 
tion of  Listerism  was  contemporaneous  with  the  abandon- 
ment of  the  clamp,  and  the  adoption  of  the  intra-peritoneal 
method  of  treating  the  pedicle,  and  that  this,  rather  than 
Listerism,  was  the  cause  of  the  increased  success. 

In  other  fields  it  is  reasonable  to  question  whether  the 
improved  results  are  due  to  the  antiseptic  action  of  the 
substances  used,  or  to  some  other  action. 

It  is  amply  shown  that  these  substances  are  not,  and 
cannot  be,  confined  to  their  germicidal  sphere,  and  it  is 
also  well  known  that  in  their  drug  action  many  of  them 
have  a  direct  curative  relation  to  wounded  tissue. 

Moreover,  it  is  admitted  that  carbolic  acid  in  its  local 
application  tends  to  prevent  inflammation  and  suppuration 
by  virtue  of  its  inhibitory  power  over  the  white  blood  cor- 
puscle. 

It  therefore  remains  to  be  proved  whether  the  improved 
results  are  due  to  the  germicidal,  the  curative,  or  the  anti- 
phlogistic properties  of  the  so-called  antiseptic  agent. 

But  above  all,  and  more  than  all,  in  every  department  of 
surgical  work  it  becomes  us  to  acknowledge  cleanliness  as 
the  most  potent  source  of  our  present  success;  and  the 
lasting  glory  of  Listerism  will  be  the  part  it  has  played  in 
teaching  us  this  lesson.  Therefore  we  must  not  forget  the 
debt  of  gratitude  we  owe  to  this  same  combination  of  elab- 
orate details,  for  while  not  in  itself  the  ultimatum,  it  has 
yet  proved  of  inestimable  value  as  the  means  by  which 
advanced  ground  has  been  reached.  It  seems  to  have 
been  an  essential  factor  in  the  educational  process  by 
which  the  present  stand-point  has  been  attained.  So  des- 
perate and  difficult  a  task  is  it,  to  teach  mankind  that  ab- 
solute cleanliness,  which  is  indeed  "akin  to  godliness  I" 

Listerism,  with  its  manifold  washings  and  deansings 
and  anointings,  reminds  one  of  the  old  religious  cere- 


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208  The  Medical  Advance.  Sopt. 

monial  of  the  Jews,  and  seems  to  have  served  an  analogous 
purpose. 

And  now  that  we  have  caught  its  spirit,  and  have  been 
lifted  by  it  to  a  new  and  better  standard,  why  should  we 
cling  longer  to  the  cumbersome  scaffolding  by  which  our 
present  height  has  been  re*ached? 

And  if  this  is  a  vital  question  to  surgeons  of  other 
schools  than  our  own,  how  much  more  vital  is  it  to  us, 
since  in  the  adoption  of  this  clumsy  warfare  we  either 
neglect  entirely  or  render  impotent  our  own  finer  and 
surer  weapons. 

Not  that  the  two  distinct  fields  of  medicine  and  surgery 
can  ever  be  made  one;  not  that  the  law  of  "Similia"  even, 
can  render  surgery  unnecessary;  but  rather  that  Homoeop- 
athy has  a  field  in  surgical  conditions — a  field  in  which 
theoretically  it  is  recognized,  but  practically  it  is  ignored. 

For  is  not  the  principle  of  Homoeopathy  ignored,  and 
its  efficacy  denied,  when  with  the  internal  administration 
of  the  potentized  remedy,  outward  application  is  also  made 
to  sensitive,  absorbent  surfaces  of  other  and  cruder  sub- 
stances, the  relation  of  which  to  the  internal  remedy  has 
not  been  considered,  and  which  may  even  be  antagonistic 
to  it!  And  as  a  result  of  this  confusion  of  forces,  the  finer 
is  overwhelmed  by  the  grosser,  the  remedy  fails  to  act, 
faith  in  its  power  is  lessened,  and  dependence  on  external 
measures  increased. 

Precisely  at  this  point  it  is  in  the  power  of  Listerism 
and  the  usages  resulting  from  it  to  hinder  the  ultimate 
application  of  Homoeopathy  to  the  great  field  of  surgical 
diseases. 

For  all  such  dependence  on  external  and  material  means 
must  result  in  a  corresponding  lack  of  that  earnest  research 
which  still  is  necessary  for  the  development  of  our  thera- 
peutic resources  in  relation  to  surgery. 

It  is  a  significant  fact  that  with  the  great  and  growing 
literature  of  our  school  we  can  show  but  one  volume  de- 
voted to  surgical  therapeutics.  Yet  this  one  volume  is  in 
itself  a  reproach  and  an  appeal,  suggesting,  as  it  does, 
what  might  be  done  if  the  patient  attention  of  all  surgeons 


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1887  The  Mercuries.  209 

should  be  more  steadfastly  turned  in  this  direction.  Gil- 
christj  its  author,  in  his  earnest  preface,  touches  a  key- 
note which  ought  to  serve  as  an  inspiration  to  this  end.  He 
says: 

"When  the  great  Valentine  Mott  felt  compelled  to  apologize  to 
his  class«  that  he  was  obliged  to  pertorm  surgical  operations  from 
want  of  therapeutic  knowledure,  it  was  supposed  that  certain  con- 
ditions which  then  made  a  truly  formidable  catalogue  would 
always  demand  instrumental  treatment. 

Even  now  the  list  is  large  enough,  but  the  truer  physician  can- 
not avoid  a  feeling  of  pride  in  comparing  the  list  of  curable  sur- 
gical diseases  of  to-day  with  that  of  half  a  century  past.  To  still 
further  shorten  this  list  and  hasten  the  time  when  a  surgical  oper- 
ation for  the  cure  of  a  morbid  affection  will  be  justly  considered 
a  confession  of  ignorance  and  incapacity,  all  true  HomoBopaths 
will  gladly  lend  their  aid." 

Listerism,  followed  materially  and  literally,  must  tend 
to  delay  this  time  and  arrest  the  development  of  our  sur- 
gical therapeutics.  But  stripped  of  its  grosser  details  and 
grasped  as  a  principle,  the  soul  of  which  is  ideal  cleanli- 
ness,^  it  furnishes  a  most  favorable  soil  for  the  growth  and 
perfection  of  Homoeopathy  in  surgery. 


MATERIA  MEDICA. 


THE  MERCURIES.* 


A  LECTURE  BY  PROF.  E.  A.  FARRINGTON,  M.  D. 


Mercury  has  long  been  known  to  the  Arabs,  from  whom, 
it  is  said,  the  Moors  brought  it  into  Spain.  Paracelsus 
had  the  honor,  however,  of  introducing  it  as  an  officinal 
medicine. 

Its  history  is  but  a  ^ad  repetition  of  many  other  power- 
ful and  valuable  medicaments,  which  have  been  abused 
greatly  to  the  detriment  of  humanity.  Its  poisonous  effects 
are  destructive  to  health  and  even  to  life.     A  long  and 


•  The  Advance  is  indebted  for  the  above  lecture  to  Dr.  E.  Fomias,  of  Philar 
delphla,  who  was  a  private  student  of  Professor  Farrlngton,  and  possesses  a 
number  of  his  manuscripts. 
N 


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210  The  Medical  Advance.  Sept 

painful  train  of  symptoms  follows  its  excessive  administra* 
tion. 

The  several  preparations  with  which  we  have  to  do,  are: 

1.  Mercurius  vivns  (quicksilver). 

la.  Mercurius  solubilis  (a  black  oxide  with  some  nitric 
acid  and  ammonia). 

2.  Mercurius  dulcis  (Calomel).     Hg  CI. 

3.  Mercurius  corrosivus,  Hg  CI. 

4.  Mercurius  aceticus. 

5.  Mercurius  cyanatus. 

6.  Mercurius  protojodatus  (yellow  iodide).     Hg  I. 

7.  Mercurius  bijodatus,  (red  iodide).     Hg  I,. 

8.  Mercurius  prsBcipitatus  ruber  (red  precipitate). 

9.  Mercurius  sulphuricus  (sulphate  of  mercury). 
10.     Cinnabaris  (sulphide  of  mercury). 

Generally  stated,  there  is  metallic  taste,  gums  swollen,, 
tender,  dark  red;  tongue  swells,  breath  fetid,  increased 
saliva,  which  is  rich  at  first  but  becomes  watery  and  con- 
tains f ai  Salivary  glands  become  swollen  and  painful  and 
later  stomacace  sets  in,  progressing  even  to  sloughing  and 
caries  of  the  jaw.  Individual  susceptibility  and  certain 
diseased  states  modify  the  mercurial  symptoms.  Thus, 
children  are  not  easily  salivated,  neither  are  those  who  are 
suffering  from  some  inflammation;  but  if  scrofulous,  symp- 
toms will  soon  develop.  Body  wastes,  blood  becomes  im- 
poverished, less  fibrin,  albumen,  etc.,  and  has  a  fatty  ma- 
terial; fever  sometimes  with  pustular  eruption;  tremor 
worse  in  upper  extremities  extending  all  over;  sleepless- 
ness; loss  of  memory,  delirium,  headache,  even  convulsions; 
ulcers  form  on  legs.  Skin  all  over  is  brownish.  The 
tremor  of  Mercury  at  first  looks  like  chorea,  later  like 
delirium  tremens,  or  like  paralysis  agitans. 

Mercury  attacks  the  entire  organism,  but  its  primary 
action  is  in  the  vegetative  sphere.  Here  it  increases  ab- 
sorption and  also  the  secretion  of  the  glands  everywhere. 
Both  the  quantity  and  quality  of  these  secretions  are 
changed.  They  become  increased,  thinner  and  more  fluid, 
acrid  and  excoriating,  oily,  as  in  the  sweat;  thus  differing 
from  Hepar  and  Conium  with  their  thickened  secretions* 


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1887  The  Mercuries.  211 

And,  also,  from  Euphrasia  in  ophthalmia,  which  gives  a 
very  similar  picture  to  Mercury,  but  with  thick,  acrid  pus 
instead  of  thin,  acrid  pus. 

These  changes  are  wrought  by  a  lessening  of  the  plas- 
ticity of  the  secretions  and  by  the  actual  substitution  of 
minute  particles  of  mercury  in  the  place  of  the  displaced 
plastic  materials.  It  is,  therefore,  more  than  a  poetical 
license  to  speak  of  the  mercury  in  one*s  bones.  The  al- 
bumen of  the  blood  escapes  through  the  kidneys,  and  thus 
we  have  albuminuria.  Mercury  has  been  found  in  the 
blood,  urine,  saliva,  and  in  every  tissue,  even  in  the  foetus, 
and  urine  of  infants  whose  nurse  took  the  Mercury. 

Mercury,  at  first,  according  to  Kaspar,  causes  by  its 
stimulating  action  an  excitation  amounting  even  to  inflam- 
mation and  suppuration.  This  is  followed  by  torpidity  and 
weakness  even  to  exhaustion.  These  various  remarks  show 
just  where  Mercury  stands  in  inflammations.  It  follows 
Belladonna,  and  stands  parallel  with  Hepar,  Arsenic,  La- 
chesis,  Silicea,  and  Sulphur. 

In  erethism  it  resembles  Belladonna,  and  Arsenic,  and 
thus  far  is  opposite  to  Lachesis  and  Silicea.  It  differs 
from  Belladonna  and  Hepar  in  that  it  is  only  applicable 
after  pus  has  formed.  And  it  differs  further  from  Bella- 
donna because  it  acts  on  the  sensorium  secondarily  to  its 
changes  in  the  vegetative  sphere.  So  it  may  follow  Bella- 
donna in  a  cerebral  affection,  but  never  precede  it  And, 
we  must  also  have  decisive  symptoms  of  the  glands,  nutri- 
tion, state  of  gums,  etc.,  hence,  the  general  value  of  the 
mercury  symptom  so  often  quoted  as  a  key-note  "scorbutic 
gums."  Silicea  is  its  substitute  when  pus  discharges  and 
refuses  to  cease.  And  Sulphur  may  be  needed  whenever 
Silicea  fails.  Arsenic  resembles  Mercury  because  it  causes 
erethism  with  destruction  of  tissue,  (opposite  to  Lachesis, 
Carbo  veg.,  etc. )  formation  of  pus,  etc.  Both  Mercury  and 
Arsenic  are  excellent  in  pyaemia. 

The  changes  wrought  in  absorption  and  secretion  neces- 
sarily lead  to  a  retarding  of  nutrition,  emaciation,  laxity, 
skin  and  mucous  membranes  earthy  or  pale.  Tissues 
spongy,  especially  the  gums.     Tendency  to  haemorrhage. 


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212  The  Medical  Advance.  Sept 

Bone  diseases.  The  blood  loses  its  plasma  and  the  tone  of 
the  vessels  themselves  is  depressed.  Hence  the  pulse  is 
frequent  but  feeble,  or  slow  and  soft  These  forms  of  pulse 
are  very  characteristic. 

The  congestions  and  inflammations  give  place  later  to 
hypersemia  and  stases,with  exudations.  These  venous  stases, 
owing  to  the  impoverished  fluid  blood,  readily  lead  to  cel- 
lular infiltration  or  dropsies.  Associated  with  these  nutri- 
tives changes  is  an  erethism,  which  sometimes  seems  to 
mask  the  depression  and  produce  an  appearance  of  in- 
creased strength. 

Secondary  to  these  phenomena  are  the  nerves:  depres- 
sion, restlessness;  lack  of  motor  power,  the  motions  are 
tremulous  like  paralysis  agitans.  Loss  of  speech,  dys- 
phagia, etc.  The  mind  suflFers  from  irritability,  mania,  and, 
finally,  imbecility.  The  neurilemma  (as  a  parallelism  with 
the  periosteum)  may  be  inflamed,  giving  rise  to  neuralgise, 
notably  aggravated  by  changes  in  the  temperature  and  at- 
mospheric humidity.  So,  similarly,  the  spinal  membranes 
may  be  attacked,  and  we  have  thus  a  valuable  remedy  in 
spinal  meningitis,  myelitis,  etc.  ( If  syphilitico-mercurial, 
consult  symptoms  of  Kali  hyd.;  also,  Sulphur.) 

Upon  serous  and  fibrous  tissues.  Mercury  acts  so  as  to 
cause  secretions;  as  in  the  joints,  serous  cavities,  sheaths 
of  muscles,  under  the  periosteum,  etc.  Hence,  its  utility 
in  articular  rheumatism,  pleuritis,  peritonitis,  periostitis, 
etc. 

The  liver  is  enlarged  by  Mercury,  and  often,  from  incom- 
plete reproduction,  fatty  liver  results.  (Compare:  Picric 
acid,  Aurum,  Nitric  acid,  Phos.,  etc.)  Many  of  its  hepatic 
symptoms  are  due  to  a  catarrh  of  the  duodenum,  extending 
into  the  hepatic  duct. 

Mercurius,  then,  is  to  be  thought  of  for  patients  who 
have  a  tendency  to  mucous  and  bloody  discharges;  to  sup- 
purations; to  enlarged  lynaphatic  glands;  who  are  erethis- 
tic,  who  are  anxious,  restless,  especially  evenings^  with  fear 
of  loss  of  reason;  irritable;  desire  to  flee,  with  nightly 
auxiety,  and  whose  manner  and  speech  is  hurried.  Ebulli- 
tions with  trembling  on  the  least  exertion. 


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1887  The  Mercuries.  213 

"Dyscrasise:  syphilis;  soft  chancres  with  lardaceous  bases 
and  increasing  rapidly  in  breadth  and  depth,  tending  to  be- 
come  indolent,  spongy  and  to  bleed.  Circumference  red 
and  edges  puffed.     Pustular  syphiloderms. 

Mercurius  cor.  is  to  be  substituted  when  the  local  in- 
flammation is  very  severe,  with  serpiginous  ulcers,  threat- 
ening the  destruction  of  the  penis;  pus  stains  linen  look- 
ing like  melted  tallow.  Arsenic  comes  in  here  when  the 
phagadenic  inflammation  persists  with  danger  of  gangrene. 
(See  also  Lachesis. )  Nitric  acid  also  develops  phagadenic 
chancres,  but  with  irregular  edges,  exuberant  granulations 
and  bleeding  from  least  touch. )  It  is  far  superior  to  Merc, 
sol.  in  syphilis  of  mouth  and  throat,  hence  to  secondary 
syphilis. 

Merc.  jod.  and  bin.  jod.  are  to  be  preferred  for  the  genu- 
ine Hunterian  chancre. 

Cinnabaris  is  the  form  of  mercury  needed  for  sycotic  ex- 
crescences; small,  shining  red  points  on  glans;  small 
ulcer  on  roof  of  mouth,  tip  of  tongue,  etc. 

Coral  rub.:  chancres,  which  are  very  red  and  sensitive, 
with  yellowish  offensive  discharge. 

Jacaranda:  prepuce  inflamed,  raw,  bleeding,  yellow  pus 
from  the  inner  surface  of  prepuce;  chancres. 

Nux  vomica,  according  to  Dunham,  for  chancroids  shal- 
low, flat,  spreading  irregularly  without  lardaceous  base, 
exuding  thin,  serous  fluid. 

In  bone  pains,  etc:  Mercurius,  Nitric  acid,  Hepar  (after 
abuse  of  Mercury).  Stillingia  (great  torture  from  bone 
pains  and  nodes).  Kali  jod.  Aurum  (caries  of  bones  of 
skull,  nose  and  palate).  Asafoetida  (caries  with  much 
soreness  to  touch).  Kali  bich.  (nose  and  throat).  Hecla 
lava.  Corydalis  (nodes  on  skull).  Phytolacca  (long 
bones). 

Nasal  catarrh:  Mercury,  Nitric  acid.  Kali  jod.,  Kali 
bich.,  Hydrastis  (bloody;  also  salivation);  Aurum. 

Exanthemata:  vesicular  and  pustular  eruptions;  hence 
in  pi^tular  itch.  Variola  with  suppuration  or  pyaemia. 
It  follows  Ant.  tart,  in  variola,  especially  when  suppura- 
tion progresses,  and  the  secondary  fever  develops;     (Corn- 


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214  The  Medical  Advance,  Sept 

pare  also  Thuja  here,  which,  accordiog  to  BonniDghausen, 
prevents  pitting. )  Herpes  zoster;  boils  with  pus — to  make 
them  ''break."  Impetigo,  etc.  Measles,  etc.  Discharges 
are  acrid;  pimples  around  the  main  eruption.  Itching 
aggravated  evening  and  night  Inflammations  localized 
and  advanced  to  exudation  of  pus  or  plastic  matter. 

Puerperal  fever,  symptoms  agreeing. 

Hectic  fever  and  other  irritative  forms  with  thirst,  ten- 
dency to  sweat  without  relief;  anxiety,  restlessness;  cannot 
bear  the  warmth  of  the  bed,  the  pains  become  much  worse; 
moist  tongue,  taking  the  print  of  the  teeth;  tongue  dirty 
yellow. 

Gastric  and  bilious  fevers,  with  the  addition  of  gastric 
symptoms  presently  to  be  mentioned. 

Scrofula:  child  has  large  head,  open  fontanelles,  oily  or 
sour  sweat  on  scalp.  Silicea  very  similar  in  scrofula,  etc. ; 
but  head  sweat  is  sour,  not  oily,  and  face  is  pale,  waxen. 
Veratrum  has  cold  sweat  on  forehead;  Mercurius  cold  skin 
of  forehead  with  sweat  Teeth  imperfect;  limbs  cold  and 
damp;  slimy  diarrhoea  with  straining;  gums  spongy;  glands 
swollen.     Face  of  a  dirty  color. 

Symptoms  in  detail  with  other  comparisons, — Head: 
faintings  follow  sweetish  risings,  followed  by  sleep  (often 
with  worms.  Compare  Stannum).  Vertigo  with  nausea, 
momentary  blindness  or  things  turn  black;  lying  on  back. 
Semilateral  nightly  tearing  in  head;  nape  of  neck  weary, 
sore  and  tired;  head  aches  as  if  it  would  split,  increased 
by  heat  of  bed.  Head  feels  as  if  bound  with  a  hoop  (also, 
Gelsemium,  Carbolic  acid,  Sulphur,  Iodine,  Nitric  acid, 
etc.)  Dullness  in  forehead,  stitches  through  temples. 
[This  and  above  often  accompany  gastric  symptoms,  q.  v.] 
Headache  with  cold  forehead. 

Scalp:  exostoses;  yellow  eruptions,  fetid,  stinging,  burn- 
ing. Sweat,  oily,  sour,  forehead  icy  cold.  (Silicea  very 
similar  in  scrofula,  etc.;  but  head  sweat  is  sour,  not  oily, 
and  face  is  pale,  waxen.  Veratrum  has  cold  sweat  on  fore- 
head. Mercurius  cold  skin  of  forehead  with  sweat )  Pain- 
ful to  touch.     (Mezereum,  Natrum  mur.,  Nitric  acid.) 

Eyes  and  lids  inflamed;  tarsi  ulcerated,  scabby,  suppu- 


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1887  The  Mercuries.  215 

rating;  discharge  thio,  acrid  pus.  Eyes  aggravated  by  heat 
or  glare  of  fire.  Profuse  excoriating  lachrymation  in- 
creased at  night;  head  sore.  Increased  with  syphilis. 
Iritis:  Mercurius  cor.  (generally  the  best);  Kali  jod.,  Ni- 
tric acid,  Asa  foetida  (after  abuse  of  Mercury  burning, 
throbbing,  ameliorated  from  pressure,  thus  opposite  to 
Aurum).  Cinuabaris  (an  excellent  symptom  is  pain  all 
around  the  orbit).  Thuja:  Iritis  with  thin  blue  film  over 
•contracted  pupil.  (Compare  Euphrasia,  prof  use  acrid  lach- 
rymation; pus  thick  and  acrid;  blurred  vision  aggravated 
by  winking. )  Arsenic  also  has  thin,  excoriating  burning 
discharges;  but  warm  applications  relieve  with  spasmodic 
olosure  of  lids  and  all  aggravated  after  12  p.  M.  Hepar 
similar  but  better  from  warmth  (Mercury  is  aggravated) 
and  is  very  sore  to  least  touch.     Pains  throbbing. 

Mercurius  corrosivus  has  inflammation  but  more  violent; 
pustules  and  ulcers  tend  to  perforate  cornea;  discharge  ex- 
cessively ichorous.  Iritis  syphilitica.  This  is  the  best 
form  of  Mercury  in  Betinitis  albuminurica. 

Mercurius  dulcis  in  scrofulous  pathology;  in  pale,  flabby 
children. 

Mercurius  prot.  jod.  is  distinguished  by  its  ever  present 
thick  yellow  coating  at  the  base  of  the  tongue  (corneal 
ulcers  not  deep). 

Ears:  tearing  aggravated  at  night;  boils  in  ear;  otorrhoea, 
thick  yellow.  Parotid  large,  hard,  pale.  (In  catarrhal 
otorrhoea  compare  Cham.,  Puis.,  and  better  Hepar,  Silicea, 
Sulphur  when  deeper  parts  are  inflamed.  It  follows  Bella- 
donna very  well. ) 

Nose:  red,  shining,  swollen.  (Like  Aurum,  Pulsatilla 
and  Hamamelis.)  Catarrh  with  thick  yellow,  green  dis- 
charge, or  coryza  excoriating  with  sneezing,  watering  eyes 
and  sore,  raw?  burning  throat,  aggravated  by  damp  weather. 
{Don't  give  it  unless  the  cold  is  "ripe."  It  retards  cure. 
But  if  they  have  coryza  made  worse  in  damp  weather  it 
may  be  given.  It  compares  with  Nux,  but  the  latter 
remedy  has  rough  throat  and  is  aggravated  by  dry  cold 
weather.  Pulsatilla  is  bland.  Arsenic  has  throbbing  in 
forehead  and  is  very  weak.  Mercury  alone  has  heavy 
aching. ) 


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216  The  Medical  Advance.  Sept. 

Mouth:  salivation,  sore,  spongy  gums  aggravated  at 
night  by  touch  and  by  eating;  teeth  loose.  Ulcers  on 
gums,  cheeks  and  tongue  with  acrid  discharges;  irregular 
circumference;  have  white  dirty  look  and  bleed  easily,  and 
are  surrounded  by  dark  halo.  Opening  of  Steno's  duct 
affected.  Profuse  bloody  fetid  saliva.  (A  common  form 
of  stomatitis.  Compare  Nitric  acid  which,  according  to 
Dunham,  is  more  like  the  syphilitic  form.)  Hydrastis: 
mucus  long,  shreddy;  mucous  membrane  raw,  dark  red; 
very  weak;  empty  at  pit  of  stomach.  Carbo  veg.:  gums 
white  and  bleeding.  Staphisagria:  gums  pale;  whole  sys- 
tem run  down;  face  sunken,  sickly,  blue  around  eyes. 
Mercurius  corr.  is  very  like  the  solubilis  only  more  intense. 

Toothache,  teeth  hollow  or  dentine  inflamed,  aggravated 
by  warmth  of  bed,  damp  air  and  at  night 

Stomach:  Dragging  feeling  about  stomach  after  a  meal; 
qualmish;  epigastrium  very  sensitive  and  weak.  Upper 
abdomen  bloated,  worse  from  touch  and  from  lying  on 
right  side.  Gcmine  hunger.  Insatiable  burning  thirst 
Nausea  and  sweet  taste.  Liver  enlarged,  painful  to  least 
contact  or  lying  on  right  side.  Stinging  pains.  Jaundice. 
Sweat  stains  yellow. 

Stools  slimy,  bloody,  or  green,  bilious,  sour  and  acrid 
making  anus  sore.  Prolapsus  ani  when  straining;  it  looks 
dark  red  and  bloody.  Tenesmus  continues  after  stool;  a 
never-get-done  feeling.  Cutting,  griping,  stabbing  pains 
in  abdomen  worse  at  night  and  in  cool  evening  air;  but 
better  while  lying  down.  It  is  often  useful  in  enteritis, 
peritonitis,  typhilitis,  metritis,  after  pus  has  formed.  Staph- 
isagria also  has  the  feeling  of  relaxation.  Mercurius 
cor.  has,  says  Dudley,  often  cured  dyspepsia  from  chronic 
gastric  catarrh;  distension,  sore  epigastrium  (like  Arseni- 
cum). It  is  certainly  excellent  in  enteritis  and  peritonitis 
when  there  are  sharp  pains  (like  Bryonia),  griping,  colicky 
pains,  forcing  double,  (like  Colocynth)  burning,  disten- 
sion, anguish,  excessive  tenesmus  vesicae  and  recti,  with 
worse  burning  than  Mercurius  sol.  Binger  employs  Mer- 
curius dulcis  in  children  who  have  pale,  clayey,  pasty, 
stinking  stools.     The  liver  symptoms  of  Mercurius  sol.  are 


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1887  The  Mercuries.  217 

excellent  Cinchona  stands  near  it  in  jaundice.  So  does 
Leptandra,  but  here  the  soreness  of  posterior  of  liver,  black, 
tarry  stools  and  cessation  of  tenesmus  after  stool,  distin- 
guish. 

In  dysentery,  compare  also  Thrombidium;  brown,  morn- 
ing stools,  bloody  or  not;  violent  colic;  mucus  and  feces, 
much  drawing,  which  is  ameliorated  after  stool.  Very 
sore  pains  in  abdomen.  Nux,  also,  but  in  this  the  tenes- 
mus is  cuneliorated  after  stool.  In  typhilitis:  compare 
Belladonna,  Lachesis,  Ginseng,  in  prolapsus  ani.  Podo. 
Thrombidium,  Nux,  Ignatia,  etc. 

Urine:  frequent  and  scanty  often  followed  by  mucus, 
dark,  offensive  or  pale  and  abundant  Mercurius  cor. 
causes  Morbus  Brightii,  albuminous  urine,  uriniferous 
casts,  backache,  dropsy,  cough  with  blood-tinged  mucus 
and  tightness  of  chest,  as  in  Phos.  Dyspnoea  (in  catarrh, 
etc.,  Mercurius  aceticus  has  cutting  with  last  of  urine). 
Desire  sudden,  irresistible. 

Sexual  organs:  Genitals,  either  sex  inflamed  (excellent 
during  measles,  scarlatina,  etc.).  Gonorrhoea:  discharge 
yellow,  green,  worse  at  night  Mercurius  cor.  has  more 
burning,  tenesmus,  paraphimosis,  etc.  Cannabis  sat  has 
thick  and  yellow  discharge.  Orchitis  often  from  checked 
gonorrhoea  (useful  after  Gels.,  Tussilago,  Puis.,  Hama- 
melis,  Nux  vomica,  if  checked  discharge  was  green).  Penis 
is  swollen,  with  phimosis;  bubo.  Sweat  on  genitals,  parts 
raw.  Phimosis;  111  effects  of  masturbation  with  usual 
Mercury  symptoms  (like  Staphis).     Bloody  semen. 

Bubo:  Mercury,  Merc,  jod.,  and  bijod.,  Mercurius  cor., 
Ars.  jod.  (tends  to  ulcerate  or  discharge  ichorous,  burn- 
ing). Badiaga  (indurated  bubo,  spoiled  by  opening). 
Carbo  animalis  (indurated). 

Menses:  Copious,  with  anxiety  and  cramps.  Congestion 
to  uterus.  Labia  swollen,  red,  shining.  Leucorrhoea  acrid 
and  contains  lumps  of  pus. 

Cough  so  cannot  utter  a  word.  Cough  as  if  head  and 
chest  would  burst  Cough  worse  from  night  air;  burning 
in  chest  Pains  through  lower  part  of  right  lung.  (Use- 
ful in  pneumonia  with  erethism. )     Stitches  in  left  chest 


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218  ITie  Medical  Advance,  Sept 

(Lachesis  and  Lycopodium).  Stitches  in  chest,  sneezing 
or  coughing  as  in  catarrh.  Difficult  breathing  as  from 
copper  vapors. 

Mercurius  sulph.  is  a  remedy  in  hydro  thorax,  when  a 
copious  watery,  burning  diarrhoea  relieved.  Great  dys- 
pnoea; must  sit  up.     Legs  oedematous.     Burning  in  chest 

Mercurius  praecip.  ruber  has  cured  suffocative  fits  at 
night,  on  lying  down,  while  falling  asleep,  must  jump  up 
suddenly.  (See  also  Kali  hyd.,  Lachesis,  Grindelia,  Lac- 
tuca,  Kali  bich.,  Sulph.,  and  Sepia.) 

Peculiarities:  Symptoms  aggravated  after  getting  warm 
in  bed;  in  wet,  damp,  weather;  in  the  damp  evening  air, 
especially  catarrh.  Thus  the  dysentery  is  frequently  caused 
by  cold  nights  following  hot  days.  (Like  Aconite,  which 
it  follows  well. )  Sweats  on  least  exercise.  Pains  never 
improved  by  sweat  (In  typhus  fever  with  this  symptom 
look  rather  to  Stramonium  [children],  and  Phos. )  Mercury 
is  often  useful  as  an  intercurrent  to  "  spur  up  **  Sulphur. 

I  wish  now  to  revert  to  the  throat  symptoms,  that  I  may 
pass  under  review  the  Mercurial  salts  in  their  application 
to  diphtheria,  scarlatina,  etc. 

Mercurius  sol.  is  not  often  indicated  in  true  diphtheria. 
Indeed,  it  generally  aggravates.  It  may  be  given  in  scarla- 
tina angina,  general  symptoms  agreeing.  Dr.  Baue  lays 
great  stress,  and  justly  too,  on  the  soreness  and  inflamma- 
tion of  the  genitals  as  a  complication.     (See  Cantharis.) 

Mercurius  jod.  is  said  to  follow  Lachesis  when  fauces 
are  blue-red,  ulcerated,  glands  enormously  swollen,  voice 
lost 

As  already  hinted,  the  solubilis  cures  tonsilitis  after  pus 
has  formed.  Also  dry  throat,  mouth  full  of  saliva,  must 
swallow  continually.  Stitches  into  ears  on  swallowing. 
(Phytolacca).  Liquids  return  through  the  nose.  Much 
mucus  in  the  throat,  necessitating  hawking.  Throat  worse 
on  swallowing  drinks  and  saliva. 

Mercurius  cor.  has  swelling  of  the  throat  to  suffocation, 
heat  as  from  a  glowing  coal.  Soft  palate  and  throat  ulcer- 
ated ;  raises  clots  and  membranous  pieces.  Membrane  over 
throat  and  into  nose.     Constriction  and  burning.     Uvula 


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1887  The  Mercuries.  219 

« 
elongated.  Pillars  of  velum  palati  dark  red.  Swallowing 
causes  violent  spasmus  glottidis  and  even  spasm  of  oesoph- 
agus and  stomach  (like  Cantharis).  Externally  throat  is 
enormously  swollen  and  glands  are  large.  Breath  fetid; 
adynamia ;  face  expressing  great  weakness  and  suffer- 
ing. 

Mercurius  cyan,  has  won  deserved  laurels  in  diphtheria; 
fauces  red  with  difficult  swallowing;  a  white  coating  on 
velum  palati  and  on  tonsils.  Glands  swollen.  Posterior 
nares  and  larynx  were  found,  in  a  case  of  fatal  poisoning, 
coated  with  mucus.  In  diphtheritic  croup,  general  symp- 
toms agreeing,  it  is  a  good  remedy.  In  addition  to  above 
we  have:  great  weakness,  fainting,  heart  beat  and  pulse 
weak.  Fever  heat  or  skin  blue  and  cold;  tongue  coated 
yellow  at  base  (see  Merc,  prot  jod.,  but  in  Merc.  cyan,  we 
have  in  addition)  edges  red,  and  later,  gray  membrane; 
later  it  becomes  dark,  almost  black-coated.  Profuse  epis- 
taxis  [a  dangerous  symptom,  suggesting,  also,  Crotalus,- 
Lachesis,  Carbo  veg.,  Merc,  jod..  Arsenic,  Sulphuric  acid. 
Nitric  acid.  Muriatic  acid.]  Ulcers  covered  grayish- white, 
Thin,  fetid,  excoriating  (like  Arum  tri.).  Gangrene.  Par- 
alysis following  diphtheria  (like  Gels.,  Ars.,  etc.). 

Mercurius  proto  jodatus  is  useful  when  the  membrane  is 
worse  on  right  side.  Throat  very  red  (reminding  one  of 
Belladonna,  but  with)  constant  secretion  of  mucus  and 
thick,  tenacious  saliva,  which  he  must  constantly  hawk, 
amelioration  from  warm  drinks.  Cervical  glands  swollen. 
The  iongue  is  always  coated  on  its  base,  thick,  dirty  yellow. 
Eaintness.  Tired  all  over;  hence,  weakened  by  the  poison. 
Pulse  weak,  irregular.  Dr.  C.  Neidhard,  and  others,  de- 
clare it  and  the  bin-jod.  useless  in  true  diphtheria.  If  the 
above  symptoms  are  present,  it  is  certainly  the  remedy  for 
the  time.  If  it  fails  to  relieve  in  sixteen  to  eighteen  hours, 
select  another.  It  is  often  serviceable  in  scarlatinal  an- 
gina. 

Mercurius  bin-jodatus,  differs  in  affecting  more  the  left 
side  and  in  not  having  so  well  defined  the  yellow  base  to 
the  tongue.     Feels  worse  on  empty  swallowing. 

Cinnabaris  causes  dry  throat  at  night,  must  moisten  it 


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220  .  The  Medical  Advance.  Sept 

every  time  he  awakes.     Much  dirty,  yellow  mucus  in  the 
posterior  nares.     Dr.  Williamson  used  it  in  scarlatina. 

Nearly  related  to  the  Mercuries  is  Phytolacca,  throat 
dark-red,  swollen,  feels  full  as  if  he  would  choke;  much 
mucus  in  throat  and  posterior  nares  causes  hawking.  Pain 
and  aching  in  neck,  back  and  limbs.  Weak.  Faint  on 
rising  (like  Bryonia).  Shooting  into  ears  when  swallow- 
ing. Cannot  drink  hot  fluids.  Feeling  as  of  a  hot  ball  in 
throat.     Also  Lachesis,  and  Lycopodium. 


SALICYLIC  ACID:  ADDITIONAL  PROVING. 


(On  the  15th  of  June  I  began  a  proving  with  Salicylic 
acid,  as  you  requested.  Not  venturing  to  expose  myself 
to  any  very  serious  action  of  the  drug,  having  had  a  suffi- 
ciently troublesome  experience  of  its  power  in  the  10th 
potency,  I  only  took  a  small  part  of  a  drop  of  the  30th,, 
repeating  the  dose  four  times  at  intervals  of  about  two 
hours.  Here  are  the  results  which  I  observed  for  twenty- 
five  days  after,  when  I  started  on  a  vacation  trip,  from 
which  I  did  not  return  until  Friday,  July  22. ) 

PROVING. 

First  Day:  2:30  p.  m. — About  fifteen  minutes  after  the 
first  dose,  a  burning  and  scratchy  feeling  on  the  tongue. 
Drawing  pain  in  the  calf  of  the  left  leg,  extending  up  inta 
the  thigh,  and  then  transferred  to  the  left  arm.  Later,  a 
similar  pain  for  a  short  time  back  of  the  right  temple. 

4:30  p.  M. — Nervous  excitement  after  gentle  exercise  of 
walking. 

6:30  p.  M. — Pain  in  the  knuckles  of  the  right  hand. 

6:45  p.  M. — Third  dose. 

8:45  p.  M. — Fourth  dose.  During  the  night,  pain  on  the 
top  of  the  head,  in  one  spot,  as  if  struck  by  a  hammer. 

Second  Day. — Swelling  under  the  skin  of  fingers  on 
both  hands;  with  a  burning  itching  on  the  inside  of  the 
left  hand.  Itching  on  the  back,  below  the  jaw  bones,  and 
under  the  chin.  The  rheumatic  pains  feel  worse  when 
walking  out  doors. 


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1887         Salicylic  Acid:  An  Additional  Proving.  221 

Third  Day. — After  a  gdod  night's  rest,  awake  dull  and 
nervous,  with  a  ringing  in  the  ears,  especially  the  left,  and 
a  fullness  in  the  head.  Dizziness.  Pain  in  the  bones 
below  the  left  eye,  as  if  bruised.  Kheumatic  pains  in  the 
upper  and  lower  extremities  continue.  Nervous  headache 
characterized  by  a  bruised  feeling  in  the  head  (not  aggra- 
vated by  exposure  to  a  very  hot  sun).  General  lassitude 
and  weakness,  worse  in  doors,  relieved  in  the  open  air. 
Stopx)age  of  the  ears,  especially  of  the  left.  Much  sexual 
excitem«ilt.  ^ 

Fourth  Day.— Dull  headache  on  the  left  side  of  the 
head.  Feel  very  uncomfortable  and  indisposed  to  any  ex- 
ertion, mental  or  physical.  Difficulty  in  voiding  urine — 
it  flows  slowly  and  seems  less  in  quantity.  Pain  in  the 
sinews  of  the  left  forearm,  extending  into  the  third  and 
little  fingers,  followed  by  a  tingling  sensation.  Pain  in 
the  left  inferior  maxilliary  bone;  the  parotid  gland  is 
painful  when  touched  by  the  finger,  affecting  the  inside  of 
the  throat.  Burning  pain  in  the  inside  joint  of  the  right 
thumb.  Scratching  sensation  in  the  left  side  of  the  throat. 
After  lying  down  in  the  afternoon,  stiffness  and  aching  in 
the  muscles  of  the  back  along  the  spinal  column.  The 
morning  headache,  better  during  the  day,  is  aggravated  in 
the  evening.  Palpitation  of  the  heart  During  the  night 
following,  an.  unconscious,  profuse  and  somewhat  bloody 
discharge  of  semen  (or  prostatic  fluid)  staining  the  linen 
a  brownish  color,  and  followed,  on  awaking,  by  a  pain  in 
the  genitals,  as  if  overstrained. 

Fifth  Day. — Headache,  continuing  during  the  night, 
better  in  the  morning.  Tedious  and  insufficient  stool. 
Headache  returns  in  the  afternoon,  on  the  right  side.  Pres- 
sive  pain  in  the  forehead,  above  the  right  eye.  Itching  of 
thf*  left  upper  eyelid.  Itching  of  the  skin  after  undress- 
ing; better  in  bed.  Sexual  excitement,  more  physical  than 
mental.  Very  restless  at  night,  longing  to  sleep,  with  ina- 
bility to  do  so. 

Sixth  Day. — During  the  night,  rheumatic  pains  in  the 
lower  limbs  and  feet.  A  kind  of  burning  sensation  in  the 
ball  of  the  great  toe.     On  awaking  in  the  morning,  pain  in 


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222  The  Medical  Advance.  Sopt 

the  right  shoulder,  as  if  from  a  strain,  continuing  some 
hours.  Still  some  headache,  with  a  dull,  bruised  feeling 
in  the  right  side  of  the  head.  During  the  day  all  symp- 
toms disappear,  returning  again  in  the  evening.  Itching 
of  the  head,  with  feeling  as  if  the  hair  stood  on  end. 

Seventh  Day. — Awake  during  the  night,  with  stiffness 
in  the  back,  so  as  only  to  be  able  to  turn  with  difficulty. 
Severe  pressing  pain  in  the  lower  abdomen  and  bladder, 
without  urging  to  urinate,  and  only  small  discharge.  In 
the  morning,  stoppage  of  the  ears  returns.  In  the  after- 
noon, a  sharp,  stinging  pain  in  one  of  the  toes  of  the  right 
foot  In  the  evening,  sore  feeling  on  both  sides  of  the 
lower  jaw,  under  the  tongue. 

Eighth  Day. — During  the  night  again  some  stiffness  in 
the  back,  although  not  as  bad  as  last  night  The  small 
toes  of  both  feet  ache,  and  also  the  fingers. 

Ninth  Day. — The  rheumatic  pains  and  headaches  have 
disappeared.  Itching  pimples  here  and  there  on  the  body; 
one  on  the  right  cheek. 

Tenth  Day. — The  eruption  continues.  After  removing 
some  ear  wax  from  the  left  ear,  pain  and  feeling  of  stop- 
page. 

Eleventh  Day. — Stoppage  in  both  ears,  early  in  bed 
and  after  rising.  Eruption  continues,  red  pimples  here 
and  there;  and  small  whitish  ones,  the  latter  in  groups, 
itching  and  filled  with  water.  In  the  evening,  feeling  as  if 
I  had  taken  a  long  walk. 

Twelfth  Day. — Pain  in  the  groin,  as  if  from  a  strain, 
on  the  right  side.  Constriction  in  the  anus  shortly  after 
stool.  Much  flatulence  in  the  evening.  Hacking  cough, 
with  scratching  in  the  throat  and  hawking  up  small  pieces 
of  thick,  yellow  phlegm,  with  occasional  sneezing  and  dis- 
charge from  the  nose.  Boring  pain  in  the  left  eyebrow, 
the  place  tender  when  pressed.  Pain  above  the  left  side 
of  the  forehead,  directly  changing  to  the  left  ear. 

Thirteenth  Day. — Much  difficulty  in  voiding  urine  in 
the  morning  on  rising.  Itching  in  the  anus,  and  ineffec- 
tual attempt  at  stool.  Six  hours  after,  slimy,  insufficient 
stool.     When  coughing,  pain  in  the  groin.     Pain  in  the 


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1887        Salicylic  Acid:  An  AddHional  Proving.  223 

muscles  of  the  middle  of  the  back,  with  stiffness.  Much 
itching,  especially  over  the  breast  and  stomach.  Burning 
and  feeling  of  dryness  in  the  eyes.  Aching  in  the  left 
collar  bone. 

Fourteenth  Day. — No  special  new  symptoms  noted, 
except  stoppage  of  the  ears  when  walking  out,  relieved  by 
drawing  breath  strongly  through  the  nostrils,  yet  almost 
instantly  returning.  Sexual  excitement.  (Coition  about 
once  in  two  months). 

Fifteenth  Day. — During  the  night,  again  amorous 
dream,  with  bloody  emission,  followed  by  erections  in  the 
morning.  Dull  feeling  in  the  head  and  oppression  on  the 
chest  Sometime  after  moderate  physical  exertion,  palpi- 
tation of  the  heart,  with  intermittent  pulse.  Pulse  con- 
tinues somewhat  higher  than  the  regular  beat  (62),  run- 
ning up  to  74 

Sixteenth  Day. — As  for  several  days  past,  much  audi- 
ble rumbling  in  the  bowels,  and  a  feeling  of  dryness,  with 
itching,  in  the  nostrils. 

Seventeenth  Day. — During  the  night  much  voluptuous 
itching  of  the  skin.  On  scratching,  a  pimple  appears  in 
the  place;  the  itching  is  relieved  by  scratching,  with,  some- 
times, a  burning  of  the  skin  after  it.  Soreness  at  the 
right  corner  of  the  mouth.  Eruption  between  the  fingers 
of  the  right  hand;  little  watery  postules  that  itch  vio- 
lently. 

Eighteenth  Day. — a.  m.:  Bitter  taste  in  the  mouth, 
with  tenacious  saliva,  hawked  up  with  diflBculty.  Dull 
feeling  in  head  and  general  oppression.  After  mental 
labor  and  nervous  excitement,  great  nervous  prostration. 
On  lying  down  to  rest,  cough,  as  if  occasioned  by  flow  of 
mucus  from  the  eustachian  tubes  into  the  throat,  which 
causes  a  scratchy  feeling.  A  nervous  headache  seems  im- 
minent, but  does  not  come. 

Nineteenth  Day. — After  having  eaten  some  salad  at 
dinner,  suffer  from  weight  and  oppression  of  the  stomach 
for  several  hours  (could  formerly  eat  salad  without  incon- 
venience). The  cough  seems  to  return  every  afternoon 
from  3  to  5  o'clock.     In  the  evening,  pain  and  discomfort 


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224  The  Medical  Advance.  Sept 

in  the  bowels,  aggravated  by  pressure.  Flatulence,  with 
inability  to  expel  it.  Itching  and  burning  in  the  inner 
corners  of  the  eyes. 

Twentieth  Day. — Free  from  pains  all  day,  but  gloomy 
and  depressed;  don't  know  what  to  begin.  General  lassi- 
tude; feeling  as  if  I  had  walked  a  long  distance.  Not 
much  itching  of  the  skin  during  the  day;  the  eye  symp- 
toms return  in  the  evening,  with  severe  itching  on  the  toes 
of  the  right  foot. 

Twenty-First  Day.— Group  of  little  itching  vesicles  on 
the  little  finger  of  the  left  hand.  Bloated  feeling  in  the 
bowels  toward  noon. 

Twenty-Second  Day.— Continuance  of  eruptions. 

Twenty-Third  Day.— Eruption  worst  on  the  left  arm, 
from  the  wrist  to  the  elbow  joint  and  above;  single  small 
itching  pustules;  the  skin  becomes  rough  when  scratched. 
Catarrhal  symptoms  continue;  a  burning  sensation  in  the 
throat;  after  a  very  plain  supper. 

Twenty-Fifth  Day.— The  eruption  has  disappeared. 
No  other  special  symptoms  except  fits  of  frequent  yawning 
several  evenings  in  succession. 

Remarks. — The  proving  seems  to  have  established  the 
fact  that  Salicylic  acid  is  a  powerful  antiseptic.  A  lady  of 
my  acquaintance,  after  I  had  given  it  to  her  for  bad  ner- 
vous headaches  a  year  or  two  ago,  and  bad  derived  consid- 
erably benefit  by  taking  it  persistently  for  several  weeks, 
became  affected  with  an  eruption  of  the  skin.  I  have  also 
read  that  its  external  application  to  ulcers  and  sores  has 
proved  beneficial,  and  that  it  has  been  successfully  used  in 
inflammation,  if  not  ulceration  of  the  breasts.  Near  the 
close  of  my  first  proving  with  the  10th,  I  had  several  pus- 
tules on  my  face  and  head,  but  took  no  particular  notice  of 
them ;  it  requires  a  higher  potency,  I  think,  to  bring  out 
the  psoric  symptoms.  Probably  provings  of  a  lower  po- 
tency than  the  5th  would  develop  little  or  nothing — as  in 
the  case  with  Natrum  mur.  and  other  drugs.  Salicylic  acid 
is  freely  used  in  many  parts  of  the  country  as  a  preserva- 
tive for  fruits  and  vegetables  without  cooking  or  boiling, 
and  it  is  claimed  that  no  injurious  effects  result. 


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1887  Atropa  Belladonna.  225 

ATROPA  BELLADONNA. 


J.  A.  WAKEMAN,  M.  D.,  Centralia,  lU. 


An  energetic,  narcotic  poison.  Extravagant  delirium 
followed  by  sopor;  causing  death  by  coma. 

Antidoted  by  strong  black  cofEee  and  Camphor  when 
only  small  doses  have  been  given. 

Vegetable  acids  aggravate  the  pains  of  Belladonna. 
Aggravation  comes  at  4  p.  m.,  also  after  sleeping. 

Hahnemann  believed  implicitly  in  its  prophylactic 
powers,  as  a  preventive  of  the  smooth,  glossy,  scarlet  fever 
as  described  by  Sydenham,  and  recommends  the  smallest 
dose  to  be  given  at  intervals  of  six  or  seven  days.  He  also 
speaks  of  it  as  useless  in  the  purple-rash,  often  mistaken 
for  scarlet  fever,  where  Aconite  is  the  indicated  remedy, 
and  suflScient  to  cure  ordinary  cases. 

A  great,  good  remedy:  especially  useful  in  the  diseases 
of  women,  children  and  young  persons  of  mild  temper, 
blue  eyes,  blonde  hair,  delicate  skin  and  red  complexion. 

Belladonna  pains  come  suddenly,  increase  in  severity 
until  they  become  unbearable,  and  then  as  suddenly  sub- 
side or  pass  o£F  altogether,  perhaps  to  appear  in  some  other 
part  of  the  body,  and  are  attended  with  a  drawing  up,  or 
together;  for  instance,  pain  in  either  side  will  cause  the 
patient  to  draw  in  the  side  affected,  and  incline  the  head 
and  shoulders  over  to  the  side  so  affected.  These  crampy 
pains  are  generally  experienced  during  sleep,  awaking  the 
person  affected:  but  Belladonna  pains  and  symptoms,  like 
Lachesis,  are  aggravated  after  sleeping,  by  contact,  and 
often  much  worse  by  motion. 

Sleepiness,  with  inability  to  sleep,  waking  with  vacant 
stare,  and  fright,  and  tossing,  in  brain  affections.  Fright- 
ful dreams;  fatigue  in  the  morning  on  waking;  coldness  of 
the  hands  and  feet;  pale  or  flushed  face;  and  pale  around 
the  mouth  and  nose  in  young  children. 

Affections  from  exposure  to  a  current  of  air, — such  as 

stiff  neck,  catarrh  or  prosopalgia;  vertigo  as  if  the  head 

was  going  around,  or  down  through  the  floor.     Belladonna 

pains  are  usually  of  a  throbbing  character,  with  a  sense  of 

o 


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226  The  Medical  Advance.  Sept 

coldness  followed  by  heat;  or  the  pains  in  the  brain  begin 
with  a  sense  of  heat  and  end  in  coldness,  with  a  flushed  or 
very  pale  face. 

Watery  vesicles  around  the  mouth  and  lips  when  pro- 
duced by  colds.  (If  caused  by  fevers  Natrum  muriaticum 
is  best. ) 

Never  saw  good  results  from  Belladonna  in  pemphigus; 
but  Cantharis  has  promptly  cured  my  oases  with  the  char- 
acteristic indications. 

Belladonna  causes  dilatation  of  the  pupils,  photophobia, 
bright  halo  around  the  lamp,  sparks  like  electricity;  ob- 
jects seem  double,  wrong  side  up,  or  look  red;  and  the  eyes 
roll  convulsively  in  a  circle  in  cerebral  aflfegtions. 

In  erysipelas,  with  a  smooth  red  shining  swelling — when 
vesicular,  Belladonna  has  never  benefited  my  cases;  here 
Rhus  tox.  is  the  remedy  which  is  useful  in  painful  suppu- 
rating glandular  swellings. 

Sleeplessness  when  occasioned  by  the  thoughts  of  busi- 
ness, often  seen  in  typhoid  fevers,  is  usually  relieved  by 
this  remedy;  but  it  is  usually  given  in  too  low  a  potency 
to  get  its  best  effects.  Patient  often  wakes  in  a  fright  and 
breaks  out  in  a  profuse  perspiration  which  dries  off  in  a 
few  moments;  they  kick,  stamp,  toss  about,  scold,  strike, 
bite,  and  may  spit  in  your  face.  Noise  and  light  are  pain- 
ful to  them. 

The  child  sleeps  on  its  mother's  breast,  but  wakes  if  laid 
down. 

Cephalalgia:  pains  usually  over  the  eyes,  obliging  him 
to  close  them;  throbbing  aggravated  by  noise,  light  and 
leaning  the  head  forward;  relieved  by  tight  bandage 
around  the  head,  firm  pressure,  and  leaning  the  head  back- 
ward; may  be  in  the  top  or  sides  of  the  head;  or  in  the 
occiput  as  the  following  case  will  show: 

A  lady,  aged  25  years,  had  violent  pain  in  the  occipital 
region,  pulsating  and  extending  to  the  right  orbit,  with  in- 
tolerance  of  noise,  light  and  motion;  could  not  rest  the 
head  even  on  a  soft  pillow;  chill  one  hour  after  the  attack, 
followed  immediately  by  vomiting, — both  chill  and  vomit- 
ing recurring  every  twenty  minutes.    Surface  cool  and 


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1887  Airopa  Belladonna.  227 

moist,  bat  not  profuse  sweat.  Belladonra  15th  centesimal, 
five  globules  in  two  ounces  of  water,  one  teaspoonf ul,  cured 
in  twenty  minutes. 

Coughs:  when  child  will  cry  while  trying  to  suppress  it, 
finally  coughs  and  seems  more  comfortable;  the  cough  is 
frequently  worse  after  twelve  o'clock  at  night. 

Bronchitis:  "  Those  insiduous  cases  in  young  children, 
which  commence  with  a  slight  wheezing,  and  then  sud- 
denly become  aggravated  to  such  a  degree  as  to  threaten 
suffocation;"  bronchial  tubes  are  clogged  with  mucus. 
Here  it  affords  prompt  relief  and  saves  the  patient.  Have 
seen  many  cases,  and  on  two  or  three  occasions  have  been 
called  in  to  find  my  little  patient  dying,  and  parent  not  even 
alarmed. 

Typhlitis:  it  has  done  me  much  good  in  this  disease 
with  tender  and  tympanitic  abdomen,  throbbing  in  the  ileo- 
coecal  region,  patient  even  fearing  to  have  the  bed  touched.. 

Abortion  threatening,  attended  or  not  with  flooding,  but 
with  convulsions;  a  good  remedy,  and  acts  promptly. 

I  had  a  case  where  there  was  no  haemorrhage;  pain 
started  in  lumbar  region,  passed  around  over  the  hips, 
down  to  the  pubes  and  uterine  region;  thence  shot  upward 
to  the  stomach  and  head,  when  a  general  convulsion  in- 
stantly occurred.  The  os  was  dilated  to  the  size  of  a  silver 
quarter,  and  the  patient  at  the  fourth  month  of  gestation. 
Belladonna  15th,  one  single  dose  cured  the  case  within  an 
hour,  and  lady  went  on  to  full  term. 

For  rigid  os,  in  the  early  stages  of  labor,  it  is  a  remedy 
that  will  seldom  disappoint  my  young  friends  if  their  ex- 
perience corresponds  with  mine.  The  os  uteri  feels  as 
smooth,  hard,  and  unyielding  as  an  ivory  ring,  and  labor 
can  never  be  terminated  with  it  in  this  condition,  no  mat- 
ter what  may  be  the  severity  of  the  pains.  Here  Bella- 
donna 3d  has  always  been  used  by  me  (I  never  tried  the 
higher  potencies  which  might  have  done  better, )  and  the 
requisite  dilatation  almost  never  fails  to  occur  in  from  two 
to  four  hours. 

I  wish,  as  briefly  as  possible,  to  detail  a  case,  also  illus- 
trating the  action  of  this  remedy: 


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228  The  Medical  Advance.  Sept 

Mrs.  W.,  in  labor,  with  her  thirteenth  child,  eight  months 
advanced  in  gestation,  I  found  the  following  conditions 
and  symptoms:  A  large  woman,  aged  40,  and  supposed  her 
child  had  been  dead  for  two  weeks;  uterine  tumor  was  un- 
usually high  up  in  the  epigastric  region;  very  large  head, 
and  presenting  none  of  the  inequalities  of  the  child's  sur- 
face; very  tender  to  the  touch;  and  lady  "so  distressed" 
by  the  sense  of  weight  and  extreme  distention  that  she 
could  not  be  out  of  bed,  and  could  only  rest  upon  the  back 
with  shoulders  elevated.  Labor  pains,  she  had  none,  but 
an  "awful  pressure,"  with  much  flooding,  pulse  small, 
feeble,  faintness  and  usual  distress  from  loss  of  blood. 
The  OS  not  dilated,  feeling  precisely  like  a  three  quarter 
inch  rope,  its  inequalities  corresponding  exactly  to  those  of 
the  strands  of  the  rope;  in  consequence  of  anterior  obli- 
quity, it  was  found  high  up  in  the  hollow  of  the  sacrum, 
and  was  with  much  difficulty  brought  to  its  proper  position 
in  the  pelvis. 

Suspecting  a  case  of  placenta  praevia,  I  gave  Belladonna 
3d,  and  prepared  myself  for  turning  or  applying  the  for- 
ceps as  soon  as  sufficient  dilatation  took  place.  Four  hours 
after  giving  the  first  dose  of  Belladonna,  I  was  called  sud- 
denly,  and  found  slight  labor  pains,  which  were  increased 
a  hundred  fold  by  my  finger  hooked  in  the  mouth  of  the 
uterus,  (which  was  now  soft  with  ample  dilatation)  at  the 
same  time  trying  to  bring  it  into  its  proper  axis;  mem- 
branes gone;  the  child  advanced  with  each  pain,  which 
followed  each  other  in  quick  succession.  I  soon  had  the 
satisfaction  of  feeling  the  anterior  lip  slip  over  the  occiput 
of  the  child,  and  one  or  two  pains  only  were  necessary  to 
complete  the  labor.  Immediately  following  the  expulsion 
of  the  dead  and  putrid  child,  nearly  three  quarts  of  coagu- 
lated blood  was  discharged,  but  patient  made  a  good  re- 
covery. 

The  N.  A.  Jour,  of  Horn,  says  that  the  extract  of  Bella- 
donna applied  to  the  whole  extent  of  the  areola  surround- 
ing the  nipple  in  inflamed  breasts,  threatening  the  forma- 
tion of  pus,  will  often  prevent  it  It  is  soothing,  relaxing, 
and  dries  up  the  milk  so  suddenly  that  abscesses  do  not 
form. 


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1887  Tetanus  and  Nerve  Sireiching.  229 

SURGERY. 


SURGICAL  NOTES. 


J.  G.  GILCHRIST,  M.  D.,  Iowa  City,  la.  Editob. 


Tetanus  and  Nerve  Stretching. — The  "bacteria craze" 
has  lately  included  tetanus  in  the  list  of  "  germ  implanta- 
tion "  maladies,  but  a  case  occui'ring  in  Chicago  recently 
would  seem  to  give  cold  comfort  to  this  theory.  Such  an 
operation  as  is  described  below  has  been  made  in  Europe, 
but  there  have  been  few,  if  any,  in  this  country.  The  case 
is  reported  in  the  Chicago  Inter-Ocean  (July  20,  1887), 
and  the  name  of  the  operator  not  given,  but  as  it  seems 
well  authenticated,  we  give  a  synopsis: 

"John  Kelleher,  a  foreman  in  the  employ  of  Crane  Bros.,  ran  a 
rusty  nail  into  his  foot,  about  an  inch  back  from  his  big  toe,  on 
May  20.  He  washed  the  wound  out  with  cold  water,  tied  a  piece 
of  cotton  over  it,  and  in  a  day  the  foot  was  comparatively  well 
again,  the  nail  having  just  punctured  the  skin.  Yesterday  morn- 
ing he  complained  of  a  sore  throat.  When  the  physician,  whom 
he  had  called  upon  to  consult,  asked  him  to  open  his  mouth,  it 
was  discovered  that  his  jaws  refused  to  perform  their  functions. 
The  man  was  removed  to  his  home,  No. 54  Wright  street.  An  hour 
later  the  tetanic  jrrin  set  in,  and  it  became  apparent  that  extreme 
measures  had  to  be  resorted  to.  A  consultation  was  held,  and  Mr. 
Kelleher  was  put  under  the  influence  of  ether.  The  sponge  had 
barely  been  applied  to  the  sufferer's  nostrils  when  the  initial 
tetanic  convulsion  displayed  itself.  He  pimped  from  the  operat- 
ing slab  and  made  a  mad  rush  for  the  window.  His  jaws  were  set, 
his  eyes  protruded,  and  he  fought  with  a  frenzied  strength  which 
the  combined  efforts  of  four  men  could  hardly  overcome.  Again 
he  was  given  the  anaesthetic,  this  time  with  better  effect.  The 
lance  was  then  taken  in  hand  and  an  incision  four  inches  long  and 
three  inches  deep  was  made  an  inch  and  a  half  behind  the  hip- 
bone. The  sciatic  nerve,  which  lies  to  the  rear  of  the  ball-and- 
socket  joint,  was  then  exposed.  Here  a  strong  metallic  sound  was 
passed  beneath  the  nerve,  and  it  was  stretched  downward  from 
the  spinal  cord  with  a  pressure  of  175  pounds.  The  gash  was  then 
dressed  with  iodoform  and  antiseptics  and  sewed  up.  An  incision 
three  inches  long  was  next  made  in  the  groin,  the  knife  cutting 
downward  past  the  femoral  artery  until  the  crural  nerve  was  ex- 
posed. Here  the  sound  was  again  used,  and  the  nerve  drawn 
down  from  the  spinal  cord  with  a  pressure  of  fifty  pounds.  *  *  * 


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230  The  Medical  Advance,  Sepi 

The  moment  that  Kelleher  left  the  operating  table  there  was  an 
instantaneous  cessation  of  the  tetanic  spasms.  The  trismus  im- 
proved rapidly.  Five  days  after  the  operation  the  soreness  at  the 
base  of  the  tongue  had  subsided.  On  the  seventh  day  the  anti- 
septic dressings  about  the  incisions  were  removed.  There  was  a . 
complete  primary  union  of  the  wounds  without  a  particle  of  pus. 
At  the  end  of  ten  days  he  could  open  his  mouth  completely,  and 
deglutition  was  no  longer  painful.  The  condition  of  paresis,  con- 
sequent upon  the  stretching  of  the  nerves,  rapidly  disappeared, 
and  for  the  past  four  days  the  patient  has  been  up  and  about,  par- 
taking of  and  relishing  the  coarsest  foods." 

The  theory  of  nerve-stretching  has  never  been  satisfac- 
torily laid  down;  the  operation  has,  for  the  most  part,  been 
made  quite  indiscriminately,  without  differentiating  the 
cases,  and  the  results  have  been  correspondingly  various. 
I  have  not  seen  a  satisfactory  explanation  of  the  rationale, 
although  there  may  be  something  that  has  escaped  my 
notice.  My  own  idea,  based  upon  six  or  eight  cases  only, 
is  something  as  follows:  In  spasmodic  cases,  we  have  irri- 
tation of  the  nerve  involved,  and  the  indication  should  be, 
it  seems  to  me,  to  arrest,  or  even  temporarily  suspend  con- 
duction. Here  we  would  require  the  maximum  of  stretch- 
ing, just  short  of  rupture.  Such  a  lesion  would  be  easily 
repaired.  In  paretic  cases,  with  a  lowering  of  nerve  irri- 
tability, the  minimum  of  stretching  might  be  supposed 
indicated,  the  effect  being  a  sort  of  stimulation.  It  would 
be  an  interesting  clinical  study  to  treat  cases  on  these  indi- 
cations, and  observe  the  results  as  given  by  a  number  of 
experimenters.  As  j^t  there  are  not  suflBcient  data  at 
hand,  the  cases  of  stretching  being  too  carelessly  reported. 
Of  course  pain  would  be  equivalent  to  spasm,  and  calls 
for  the  maximum  stretching.  Assuming  the  case  quoted 
to  be  authentic,  the  theory  would  receive  some  support. 


Morphine  injection  to  allay  pain  is  the  physician's  cer- 
tificate that  he  knows  no  better— a  certificate  of  poverty 
which  no  one  is  willing  to  acknowledge. —  Widerhofer, 

When  intermittent  fever  has  been  spoiled,  give  Sepia 
and  it  will  restore  the  original  fever,  ready  for  the  proper 
remedy.— 2>r.  H,  Noah  Martin^  1870. 


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1887  A  Mammoth  Ovarian  Tumor,  231 

HISTORY  OF  A  MAMMOTH  OVARIAN  TUMOR.  SUCCESS- 
FULLY REMOVED  * 


EDMUND  CARLETON.  M.  D.,  New  York. 


In  these  days  of  aboundiug  ovariotomy,  there  is  no 
longer  either  cause  or  occasion  for  detailing  any  but  extra- 
ordinary cases.  1  have  selected  this  one  for  that  honor, 
and  believe. that  by  neglecting  to  do  so,  I  should  fail  in  the 
performance  of  my  duty  to  the  profession.  So  without 
further  preliminary  you  shall  have  the  facts;  and  after 
some  brief  comment  on  my  part,  please  let  me  have  the 
pleasure  and  profit  of  listening  to  your  full  discussion. 

The  case  of  Mrs.  Schreiber,  158  Allen  Street,  New  York, 
was  brought  to  my  notice,  March  25th,  1886,  by  Dr.  Wm. 
H.  Krause.  She  is  a  widow,  aged  57,  and  mother  of 
three  children.  About  three  and  a  half  years  before  she 
had  noticed  enlargement  in  the  region  of  her  right  ovary, 
which  soon  became  heavy  and  somewhat  painful.  About  a 
year  and  a  half  later  she  felt  something  give  way  and  then 
the  swelling  became  symmetrical  across  her  body  [?]. 
Menses  stopped  virtually,  eleven  years  ago,  but  there  have 
been  occasional  slight  discharges  since. 

The  distension  of  her  abdomen,  when  I  first  saw  her,  was 
so  tremendous  as  to  produce  complete  procidentia  (redu- 
cible, however),  and  marked  oedema  of  abdomen  and  lower 
extremities.  Nates  prodigiously  swollen;  breathing  pos- 
sible only  when  sitting,  and  then  in  short  breaths  only; 
ensiform  appendix  of  sternum  forced  out  to  nearly  a  right 
angle  with  its  natural  position ;  umbilicus  below  the  level 
of  the  chair  seat  when  sitting. 

MEASUREMENTS. 

Circumference  at  umbilicus 65  1-2  inches. 

Circumference  at  largest  curve 66        inches. 

Circumference  at  short  ribs 53  1-2  inches. 

Circumference  largest,  including  buttocks 75  1-2  inches. 

Umbilicus  to  pubes 13  1-2  inches. 

Umbilicus  to  sternum 22        inches. 


•Read  before  the  International  Uahnemannian  Association,  June  22, 1887. 


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232 


The  Medical  Advance. 


Sept. 


The  accompanying  outline  sketches  by  Mr.  C.  M.  Cooper, 
artist,  are  accurate  and  give  a  good  idea  of  the  case. 

A  sample  of  the  fluid  was  drawn  and  submitted  to  the 
analysis  of  Dr.  Charles  McDowell  who  pronounced  it  to  be 
ovarian.  Patient  dreaded  any  and  all  mechanical  inter- 
ference, but  finally  consented  to  be  tapped  by  aspiration. 

April  3,  '86.  This  was  done,  Dr.  Krause  and  Mr.  C.  W.  Ly- 
man, medical  student,  assisting.  Bemoved  1,536  ounces  of 
capacity,  or  very  nearly  102  pounds.  The  weight-equivalent 
for  that  quantity  in  pure  water  would  have  been  just  100. 


••  Umbilicus. 


Putting  specific  gravity  at  1,017  and  allowing  for  the 
amount  withdrawn  for  test,  the  figures  102  are  undoubtedly 
very  nearly  right.  The  fluid  on  the  whole  was  clear  and  of 
uniform,  limpid  consistence,  dark  green  or  turbid,  like  fresh 
petroleum  when  seen  in  large  amount. 

The  operation  was  uneventful.  Patient  grew  slightly 
faint  at  times,  swallowed  small  glasses  of  brandy,  and  sat 
throughout  One  or  two  pailfuls  were  out  before  the  ex- 
treme tension  was  abated,  the  procidentia  became  less 
marked,  and  some  fluctuation  in  the  enormous  abdomen 
could  be  obtained  by  placing  a  hand  upon  the  epigastrium. 


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1887 


A  Mammoth  Ovarian  Tumor. 


233 


The  abdomen  became  more  and  more  pendulous  as  the 
fluid  was  removed,  and  was  supported  partly  by  a  broad 
bandage  (which,  however,  dragged  on  the  spine  and  caused 
pain,)  and  partly  by  manual  assistance,  by  Dr.  Krause  and 
Mr.  Ly<nan.  Some  compression  was  needed  toward  the 
last,  to  facilitate  the  flow.  A  medium  sized  needle  was 
used,  in  the  median  line,  about  four  inches  below  the  um- 
bilicus. The  puncture  thus  made  was  afterwards  closed 
with  a  strip  of  adhesive  plaster;  patient  was  put  to  bed;  the 
collapsed  abdomen  gathered  together  in  big  folds  and  con- 


fined with  a  broad  bandage.  Gave  Arnica  200  in  water. 
Forgot  to  restore  the  procidentia. 

Dr.  Krause  called  in  the  evening,  and  noticing  cold  skin 
and  pulse  120,  gave  Veratrum  album  30  in  water. 

April  4th. — We  saw  her  together.  She  was  better,  but 
had  some  abdominal  tenderness,  with  enlargement  in  the 
region  of  right  ovary.  The  immense  quantity  of  fluid 
which  had  constituted  the  dropsy  of  the  nates  and  lower 
extremities,  was  very  sensibly  reduced  already,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  removal  of  the  obstruction  to  circulation. 


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234  •        The  Medical  Advance.  Sept. 

Her  face  and  upper  extremities  were  throughout  much 
emaciated,  making  the  contrast,  with  her  mid-section  in 
the  first  place  most  extreme.  The  procedentia  had  restored 
itself  during  the  night,  unconsciously  to  Mrs.  S.  Useless 
straining  for  stool,  though  we  could  discover  foecol  accu- 
mulation; burning  pain  in  rectum.  Gave  Mercurius  dul- 
cis  3. 

April  5th. — Last  night  she  slept  several  hours  on  her 
right  side;  then  awoke  and  turned  upon  her  back,  which 
caused  great  pain  and  soreness.  I  gave,  Arnica  200  in 
water.  When  Dr.  Krause  and  I  together  saw  her  to-day 
she  was  so  much  better  that  we  thought  it  unnecessary  to 
call  again  at  present. 

April  8th. — Cyst  filling  rapidly.  The  oedema  of  extremi- 
ties, etc.,  mostly  gone.  Liver  and  spleen  enlarged  and 
tender  (took  quinine  in  St.  Louis  a  few  years  ago.) 

May  1st. — Dr.  Krause  has  seen  patient  a  number  of 
times  since  we  met  last.  The  rough,  itching  skin,  poor 
appetite,  great  thirst  and  imperfect  reaction,  led  him  to 
give  Sulphur  3  in  water  for  three  or  four  days  and  then 
stop.  This  was  speedily  followed  by  abatement  of  the  con- 
stitutional symptoms,  and  rapid  diminution  in  the  size  of 
liver  and  spleen.  To-day  we  saw  her  together,  and  found 
the  cyst  increasing  in  size.  She  consented  to  a  radical 
operation  in  the  near  future.  Her  general  health  was  con- 
stantly improving.     No  medicine. 

May  9th. — Saw  patient  with  Dr.  Krause.  Much  im- 
proved in  every  way.  Apparently  nothing  wrong  with  her 
liver  and  spleen.     Arranged  to  operate  the  following  week. 

May  10th. — The  operating  room  and  adjoining  parts  of 
the  house  were  fumigated  with  Sulphur. 

May  11th. — All  preparations  being  made  and  the  patient 
having  had  no  breakfast,  at  10  A.  M.  Dr.  Krause  gave  three 
drams  of  brandy  with  a  small  quantity  of  water.  Her 
mind  was  calm.  Dr.  H.  C  Brigham  began  to  administer 
ether  while  she  was  lying  in  bed.  She  took  the  ether  well 
to  the  amount  of  one  and  one-half  pounds.  When  uncon- 
scious, she  was  placed  upon  the  table;  and  the  pubes  was 
then  shaved  and  the  abdomen  cleaned,  first  with  soap  and 


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1887  A  Mammoth  Ovarian  Tumor,  235 

water  and  then  with  alcohol.  Dr.  Krause  took  his  place 
opposite  me,  to  manipulate  the  abdomen  and  give  general 
assistance.  Dr.  Brigham  assumed  the  responsibility  of 
producing  ansesthesia.  Dr.  Howard  had  charge  of  the 
sponging  throughout  the  entire  operation,  the  carefully 
prepared  sponges  used  being  wrung  from  calendula  and 
water,  about  1  to  50.  Dr.  Euphemia  J.  Myers  took  care  of 
the  instruments,  and  prepared  all  ligatures.  Mr.  C.  W. 
Lyman  acted  as  general  assistant. 

An  incision  four  inches  in  length  was  made  in  the  me- 
dian line,  between  the  umbilicus  and  pubes  through  the 
much  thickened  abdominal  walls,  and  the  cyst  was  exposed 
without  accident.  The  thickness  alluded  to  was  caused  by 
the  infiltration  of  serum;  and  ventral  section,  of  course, 
allowed  it  to  escape,  thus  causing  us  considerable  incon- 
venience, until  near  the  end  of  the  operation,  when  there 
was  no  more  to  run. 

By  using  a  steel  sound  I  learned  that  the  adhesions  were 
formidable  enough,  but  probably  not  invincible;  so  I  pro- 
ceeded to  break  them  as  well  as  I  could  with  sound  and 
fingers.  Then  the  cyst  was  about  half  emptied  with  a 
Spencer  Wells  trocar  and  tube,  which  permitted  more  free 
manipulation  between  the  cyst  and  peritoneum.  The  latter 
was  found  to  be  generally  adherent  to  the  cyst,  but  no  ad- 
hesions were  found  between  it  and  the  organs  of  digestion, 
or  the  bladder.  Many  of  the  adhesions  were  broken  with 
comparative  ease,  while  many  others  were  so  firm  that  it 
seemed  almost  impossible  to  detach  them;  but  by  perse- 
veiance  with  thumb-iiails  and  hands,  they  were  at  last  all 
conquered,  even  those  as  thick  as  my  hand. 

All  bleeding  points  were  promptly  and  successfully 
stopped  with  Calendula.  The  remaining  portion  of  the 
fluid  in  the  sac  was  disposed  of  as  fast  as  the  breaking  of 
adhesions  made  it  possible  to  get  the  cyst  well  out  of  the 
abdomen.  This  was  finally  entirely  accomplished  and  the 
sac  lifted  out  until  the  pedicle  came  in  view,  which  was 
about  four  inches  broad. 

Fortunately  it  was  quite  manageable.  Piercing  it  mid- 
way and  avoiding  the  blood-vessels  which  were  very  large. 


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236  The  Medical  Advance,  Sept 

a  double  ligature  of  No.  7  braided  silk  was  passed,  and 
equally  divided  to  either  side,  each  half  of  the  pedicle 
being  tied  separately,  the  remaining  portion  of  each  liga- 
ture being  brought  around  the  entire  pedicle,  tied  and  cut 
short.  The  ecraseur  was  used  to  amputate,  leaving  a  stump 
one-fourth  of  an  inch  long.  The  wire  of  the  smaller  instru- 
ment broke;  so  we  had  to  resort  to  the  heavy  chain  ecra- 
seur. Nothing  but  pure  calendula  was  applied  to  the 
stump.  The  cavity  of  the  abdomen  was  then  sponged  with 
calendula  and  water,  and  dried. 

Search  was  made  for  the  other  ovary,  and  none  being 
found  it  was  concluded  that  both  were  involved  in  the  cyst 
While  taking  stitches  a  sponge  was  left  at  the  base  of  the 
cul-de-sac,  with  a  string  attached,  passing  outside  at  the 
lower  angle  of  the  wound;  and  a  flat  sponge  was  kept  be- 
neath the  line  of  incision  to  catch  the  drip  coming  from 
where  the  stitches  were  passed  through  the  peritoneum* 
Eleven  deep  silver  sutures  and  three  superficial  silk 
sutures  were  used.  Before  tightening  any  of  them,  the 
sponges  were  removed  and  counted.  After  the  sewing  a 
compress  of  soft  cloth  was  laid  on  and  a  bandage  applied 
about  the  waist. 

First  incision  was  made  at  10:40  a.  m.  Patient  was  put 
in  bed  at  1:26  p.  m.  with  hot  bottles  to  feet.  She  rallied 
well  without  vomiting.  Vinegar  was  used  to  antidote  the 
ether. 

Upon  examination,  the  cyst  was  found  to  have  been  mul- 
tilocular,  starting  originally  from  the  right  ovary,  but 
grown  in  time  to  include  the  other,  in  a  single  cyst.  One 
portion  which  did  not  blend  its  contents  with  the  general 
sac,  was  removed  entire.  It  contained  a  limpid,  watery 
fluid  of  amber  color.  The  fluid  in  the  general  cavity  was 
thick  and  of  a  rich  chocolate-brown  tint,  quite  opaque. 
Its  specific  gravity  was  1.018  1--2,  and  of  this  latter,  43 
pounds,  were  drained  away  into  a  wash-tub  placed  beneath 
the  table,  or  5.06  gallons.  These  values,  and  those  obtained 
after  the  first  operation,  were  estimated  with  the  help  of 
Dr.  H.  M.  Baker,  of  the  United  States  Laboratory,  who 
also  found  the  fluid  to  be  strongly  albuminous  and  fibroid 


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1887  A  Mammoth  Ovarian  Tumor.  237 

under  alcohol.  The  portion  of  the  cyst  removed  entire,  as 
above  stated,  together  with  the  emptied  sac  weighed  four 
•and  a  half  pounds.  The  shape  of  the  unemptied  part  was 
that  of  a  gizzard,  or  a  tomato,  six  by  five  inches  in  its 
lateral  dimensions  and  three  inches  in  thickness.  The 
total  removed  in  both  operations,  102,  plus  43,  plus  4^,  plus 
some  fluid  accidentally  lost  on  the  table,  may  then  be  safely 
put  at  150i^  pounds. 

AFTER  THE  OPERATION. 

May  11th. — Her  daughter  served  as  nurse.  Dr'  Krause 
saw  her  at  7  p.  M.  and  found  pulse  122,  temperature  1031, 
restless  and  thirsty.  He  gave  her  Aconite  3  in  water  every 
half  hour,  and  water  to  drink  ad  libitum.  At  9:30  p.  m.  Dr. 
Krause  and  I  met  We  found  pulse  114,  temperature  102 J, 
skin  moist,  reaction  kind.  Catheter  used,  also  every  six 
hours  thenceforward  as  long  as  needed.  Aconite  30, 
hourly. 

May  12th.— At  1:30  A.  M.  Dr.  Krause  found  pulse  104, 
^mperature  101.  About  3  A.  m.  the  patient  awoke  with  a 
start.  There  seemed  to  be  a  sudden,  sharp  shock  all 
through  her,  the  mental  and  physicial  effects  of  which 
passed  gradually  away.  At  7:30  A.  m.  we  mei  Pulse  108, 
temperature  101,  bright  red  tongue,  rather  dry.  Upon  my 
touching  the  right  wall  of  the  abdomen  very  lightly,  she 
started  and  shrieked  with  pain,  which  she  said  went  through 
her,  across  from  right  to  left,  sharply  and  quickly.  This, 
and  the  3  a.  m.  aggravation,  and  location  of  the  pain  lead 
us  to  prescribe  Kali  carb.  200  in  water,  a  teaspoonf ul  every 
two  hours  until  improvement  should  be  noticed,  and  then 
stop.  At  9  p.  M.  pulse  116,  temperature  101.  The  peculiar 
symptoms  gone;  vomited  twice  chyle  smelling  strongly  of 
ether.  So  we  put  a  few  pellets  of  Nux  vomica  200  on  the 
tongue,  and  nothing  more. 

Mayl3th.— 7:30  a.  M.  Pulse  114,  temperature  101.  Slept 
last  night  pretty  well.  Tongue  moist  Gave  milk  diet. 
Kali  carb.,  (a  teaspoonful  every  two  hours  till  relieved,) 
was  resumed,  as  traces  of  the  symptoms  noticed  the  day 
before  had  reappeared.  9  p.  m.  Hcui  slept  some  during 
the  day.    Pulse  110,  temperature  101.    Good  tongue.    No 


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238  The  Medical  Advance.  Sept. 

troublesome  symptoms.  Hungry.  Ordered  more  food. 
No  medicine. 

May  14th.— 7 :30  a.  m.  Pulse  100,  temperature  99i.  Spent 
the  night  sleeping  and  eating.  Tongue  natural.  No  pain^ 
less  soreness.  In  the  evening  Dr.  Krause  saw  her  alone. 
He  learned  that  in  the  P.  M.  she  had  coughed,  and  the  act 
of  coughing  caused  much  sore,  bruised  pain  across  the 
abdomen.  All  apparently  from  the  one  cause.  The  tem- 
perature was  found  at  1011,  pulse  104,  skin  dry.  Conse- 
quently he  gave  a  dose  of  Arnica  Im.  (B.  &  T.). 

May  15th. — 7:30  a.  m.  Meeting.  Patient  said  that  last 
night  was  the  most  comfortable  she  had  experienced  since 
the  tapping.  Slept  most  all  night  and  looked  well.  Pulse 
104,  temperature  100.  No  medicine.  When  Dr.  Krause 
made  his  evening  visit,  he  found  that  patient  had  had  four 
large,  soft,  formed  stools  in  p.  M.  Pinched  face,  cool  sweat, 
very  weak.  Pulse  104,  temperature  lOOJ.  Gave  Yeratrum 
album  1  in  water  till  relieved. 

May  16th.— 7:30  a.  m.  Meeting.  Pulse  106,  t3mpera- 
ture  100!.  Little  soreness  and  no  pain.  Turned  partly 
upon  her  side.  Asked  for  chicken  broth  and  rye  bread. 
Request  granted.  No  medicine.  9  p.  m.  Temperature 
lOOi. 

May  17th.— 7:30  a.  m.  Meeting.  Diarrhoea  with  rum- 
bling; relieved  after  stool.  Pulse  106,  temperature  1001. 
Anxious,  fearful  of  death.  We  examined  the  wound.  The 
upper  part  had  quite  healed,  apparently.  Removed  the 
superficial  stitches.  Dry  cracked  tongue;  white  aphtous 
spots  on  the  inside  of  the  lower  lips  yielding  pricking  pain 
to  touch;  great  thirst  for  cold  water.  Prescribed  Nitric 
acid  200  in  water  every  two  hours.  Evening  pulse  108, 
temperature  101. 

May  18. — a.  m.  Pulse  109,  temperature  101.  Said  she 
felt  much  better,  but  disliked  the  profuse  night-sweats. 
Diarrhoea  and  gurgling  stopped.  Tongue  still  dry  and  red. 
Remedy  continued.    Afternoon  the  same. 

May  19th.— 7:30  A.  m.  Meeting.  Pulse  104,  tempera- 
ture  100 ft.     Better  every  way.     No  medicine. 

May  20th.— Meeting,  7:30  A.  M.     Pulse  104,  temperature 


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1887  A  Mammoth  Ovarian  Tumor.       •  23^ 

101.  Most  of  the  wound  had  healed  perfectly.  Removed 
stitches  Nos.  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  7,  11,  (numbering  from  the  top). 
The  loose  masses  of  heavy  skin,  now  no  longer  distended 
with  the  sac  and  its  contents,  had  sagged  downward  enough 
to  prevent  a  good  superficial  union  of  the  edges  of  the  in- 
cision, which  gaped  at  the  wrinklings,  at  stitches  6,  8, 9  and 
10.  So  we  pulled  up  the  misplaced  tissue  with  our  hands 
to  about  where  it  ought  to  be,  and  there  crossed  it  with 
long  strips  of  adhesive  plaster;  placed  a  (covered)  flat 
splint  of  thin  board  longitudinally  over  the  middle  of  the 
abdomen;  and  passed  around  the  body  a  broad,  firm  roller 
bandage,  thus  giving  even  support  where  the  skin  threat- 
ened to  sag,  as  already  said.  There  was  tenderness  in  the 
right  hypochondriac  region,  with  some  pain.  Also  burn- 
ing sore  pain  in  pelvis,  with  rectal  tenesmus.  Prescribed 
Mercurius  dulcis  30th,  a  powder  every  three  hours.  9  p.  m. 
Pulse  112,  temperature  lOU.     Remedy  continued. 

May  21st. — We  met  7:30  a.  m.  Pulse  105,  temperature 
lOli.  Patient  complained  of  pain.  This  led  us  to  con- 
clude that  our  last  prescription  was  not  good.  We  ex- 
amined carefully  and  found  no  special  objective  points. 
Tongue  dry,  red,  with  white  triangle  on  the  base.  This 
triangle  was  composed  of  unique  substance  asif  it  were  spores 
of  some  hard  fungous  growth.  Thirst  not  excessive;  good 
appetite.  Two  profuse,  light-colored  stools,  pappy  in  con- 
sistency. Slept  well,  especially  after  mid-night.  Mind 
tranquil;  little  complaint  Much  warm  perspiration  during 
the  night,  especially  on  the  back,  or  parts  lain  on.  Owing 
to  the  previous  good  effects  of  Sulphur  in  her  case,  the 
present  symptoms  and  the  poor  success  of  our  prescrip- 
tions for  the  preceding  two  days,  we  gave  Sulphur  200  in 
water,  a  teaspoonf  ul  every  two  hours  until  relieved.  In  the 
evening  Dr.  Krause  found  the  temperature  at  102,  and  de- 
cided to  give  Belladonna  200  in  water. 

May  22nd. — 7  A.  m.  Meeting.  Pulse  108,  temperature 
lOlf.  As  she  was  no  worse,  and  perhaps  a  little  better,  we 
continued  the  Belladonna.  9  p.  M.  Dr.  K.  found  the  tem- 
perature ajb  102,  pulse  wiry  and  112.  This  led  him  to  con- 
clude that  our  prescriptions  of  the  last  few  days  had  all 


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J2^0  The  Medical  Advance,  Sept 

been  ill-cbosen.  He  reasoned  that  the  patient's  long  sick- 
ness and  weakness,  combined  with  the  enormous  losses  of 
fluids  she  had  sustained — not  only  from  the  tumor  but 
from  perspiration — indicated  Cinchona  as  the  remedy.  So 
he  gave  it,  1st,  in  water  every  three  hours.  The  clothing 
was  changed. 

May  23rd. — Noon.  Meeting.  Pulse  102,  temperature 
1011.  Less  sweating.  Tongue  red  and  moist  Bemoved 
the  remaining  sutures — union  being  good  except  at  two 
superficial  spots.  These  were  cleaned  with  dilute  nitric 
acid  in  water,  a  compress  of  old  linen  applied,  the  flabby 
tissues  drawn  up  so  that  the  line  of  union  became  straight, 
the  splint  reapplied,  a  new,  broad  roller  bandage  control- 
ing  all.  Little  soreness.  About  one-half  the  redundant 
size  of  the  abdomen  gone.  Eemedy  continued.  8  p.  m. 
Dr.  Krause  found  pulse  109,  temperature  1021. 

May  24th.— 7  a.  m.  Dr.  K.  found  pulse  104,  tempera- 
ture lOli  This  I  verified  at  8  o'clock.  Tongue  improved. 
Little  tenderness  except  in  right  hypochondrium.  Getting 
smaller.  Bestless  before  midnight;  good  sleep  after  that 
Cheerful,  hopeful,  little  to  complain  of.  10  p.  m.  Pulse 
108,  temperature  102i. 

May  25th. — 7:30  a.  m.  Meeting.  Pulse  105,  tempera- 
ture 1011.  Tongue  thick,  with  fungous-looking  white  coat- 
ing on  its  borders,  and  whitish  fur  on  its  base,  dry  and  red 
at  tip,  feels  hot,  causing  thirst  The  line  of  incision  w«w 
found  to  be  healed,  with  the  exception  of  a  very  small 
superficial  spot,  which  was  once  more  cleaned  with  dilute 
nitric  acid,  then  compressed  and  splinted.  The  pendulous 
portion  of  the  abdomen  was  raised,  with  comfort  to  the 
patient,  and  a  roller  bandage  applied  rather  snugly,  espe- 
cially its  lower  border,  thus  preventing  sagging  of  the  ab- 
dominal wall.  The  abdomen  was  materially  smaller  than 
two  days  before.  The  right  hypochondrium,  only,  gave 
some  trouble.  A  portion  there,  about  the  size  of  the 
palms  of  two  hands  was  thick,  inflamed,  tender.  Dr. 
Kjrause  made  the  evening  visit,  and  found  the  pulse  108, 
and  the  temperature  102i.  We  had  previously  agreed  that 
if  the  patient  should  then  be  found  unimproved  in  pulse 


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1887  A  Mammoth  Ovarian  Tumor.  241 

and  temperature,  to  give  Nitric  acid.  Accordingly  Dr. 
Krause  gave  it — the  two  hundredth — in  water,  one  tea- 
spoonful  every  two  hours. 

May  26th.— Meeting  7:30  a.  m.  Pulse  104,  temperature 
1011.  Tongue  improved.  Remedy  continued.  6  p.  m. 
Temperature  102. 

May  27th.— Noon.  Pulse  105,  temperature  102i.  Right 
sided  peritonitis,  rather  extensive.  In  the  evening  we  held 
a  consultation,  and  found  the  case  as  follows:  Pulse  102, 
temperature  103;  shiny,  glossy,  bright  red,  raw  tongue, 
with  vesicles  upon  the  edges  and  feeling  as  if  scalded;  in- 
side of  lips  raw;  desire  for  milk;  right  side  of  abdomen 
swollen,  hot,  sensitive  to  touch;  dull  under  percussion; 
dared  not  cough  or  strain  at  stool — seemed  as  if  something 
would  give  way  if  she  should  do  so;  feeling  of  relaxation 
of  anus;  grunting  expiration.  This  was  serious  enough, 
but  we  then  for  the  first  time  in  a  number  of  days,  felt 
absolutely  sure  of  the  remedy,  and  that  gave  us  courage. 
Of  course  it  must  be  Apis,  and  we  asked  ourselves  if  we 
shoidd  not  have  given  it  sooner.  The  two  hundredth  was 
put  in  water,  and  one  teaspoonf  ul  ordered  to  be  given  every 
hour  until  the  first  nap;  after  she  had  once  slept,  medicine 
every  two  hours  until  relieved. 

May  28th.— 11  A.  M.  Pulse  102,  temperature  lOlA; 
mouth  and  tongue  the  same;  abdomen  decidedly  improved. 
Medicine  every  four  hours. 

May  29th. — A.M.,  temperature  1011 ;  p.m.,  temperature  102. 

May  30th.— A.  M.,  temperature  1011;  p.  m.,  temperature 
1021. 

May  31st. — A.  M.,  temperature  101  A;  p.  m.,  temperature 
101!. 

June  1st.— 6  p.  m.  Pulse  105,  temperature  102.  The 
case  was  apparently  doing  well,  but  it  was  annoying  to  see 
the  temperature  and  circulation  remain  up.  The  patient 
was  restless  and  thirsty.  We  gave  Arsenicum  200  every 
three  hours. 

June  2nd.— 5  p.  m.  Pulse  96,  temperature  lOOi.  Three 
liquid  fetid  passages  from  the  bowels,  followed  by  marked 
improvement  in  every  respeci 


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242  I'he  Medical  Advance.  Sepi 

June  3rd. — 10  A.  m.  Pulse  96,  temperature  100.  Sat 
up  for  the  first  time,  by  permission. 

June  4th.— 11  A.  M.  Pulse  92,  temperature  99J.  Medi- 
cine  three  times  a  day. 

June  5th. — Noon.     Pulse  100,  temperature  lOOJ. 

June  6th. — At  1  a.  m.  Dr.  Krause  was  called  in  haste. 
She  had  over-eaten;  and  during  the  evening  had  been  left 
alone,  which  made  her  fidgety.  She  "wanted  to  urinate" 
and  "passages  were  bad,"  she  said.  Retention  of  urine  and 
faeces  caused  great  suffering.  She  was  in  a  state  of  col- 
lapse  with  the  cold  sweat  pouring  from  her  body;  great 
weakness;  hippocratic  face;  delirium.  The  doctor  gave 
her  Veratrum  album,  3  in  water,  every  half  hour,  and 
champagne,  under  which  she  rallied;  and  before  the  day 
was  ended  she  was  herself  once  more. 

June  7th. — 11  a.  m.  Pulse  92,  temperature  lOOL  Im- 
proving.    Remedy  given  at  long  intervals. 

June  8th. — Pulse  90,  temperature  99i.  No  more  medi- 
cine; out  of  bed  twice  a  day. 

June  14th. — Well,  except  a  slight  thickening  of  tissues 
in  the  right  side  of  the  abdomen.  Allowed  the  freedom  of 
the  house. 

Mrs.  S.  made  me  a  New  Year's  call  (1887).  She  then 
weighed  about  one  hundred  pounds  more  than  just  after 
the  operation  and  seemed  perfectly  well.  At  first  I  did  not 
recognize  her,  owing  to  her  plump  and  healthy  appearance. 
She  has  enjoyed  excellent  health  ever  since. 

Summing  up,  now,  my  first  observation  is  that  in  the 
matter  of  size,  we  find  on  record  Peaslee's  case  of  a  tumor 
weighing  120  pounds,  successfully  removed;  and  Baker 
Brown's  case  where  the  tumor  reached  the  enormous  weight 
of  140  pounds,  which  he  removed  successfully,  also.  In 
my  case  over  150  pounds  of  sac  and  contents  were  success- 
fully removed  by  two  operations,  near  together.  So  it 
would  seem  to  be  unique,  perhaps,  or  at  least  to  be  ranked 
among  the  very  few  of  its  kind,  even  though  we  discount 
some  of  the  fluid  removed  at  the  second  operation,  on  the 
score  of  re-accumulation. 

Without  elaborating  the  points,  allow  me  to  express  the 


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1887  A  Mammoih  Ovarian  Tumor.  243 

belief,  which  I  have  long  entertained,  and  which  finds  sup- 
port in  the  clinical  experience  just  related,  that  in  opera- 
tive cases  as  well  as  those  purely  medical,  the  professed 
homoeopathic  surgeon  shoulii  base  all  his  prescriptions, 
before,  during  and  after  the  operation,  upon  the  law  of 
similars.  It  is  better  for  him,  his  profession,  and  his  sta- 
tistics. If  he  is  a  Homoeopath,  I  don't  see  how  he  can  fol- 
low any  other  plan. 

Tapping,  which  has  rather  gone  out  of  fashion,  certainly 
has  a  place  in  such  cases  as  Mrs.  Schreiber's.  How  else 
could  she  be  properly  prepared?  Imagine  what  a  drench- 
ing would  otherwise  follow  abdominal  section. 

Asepsis  will  triumph  over  antisepsis.  A  few  Homoeopaths 
have  been  demonstrating  this  for  years.  And  lately  Tait 
has  utterly  routed  the  old  school  and  quasi  new  school  fiui- 
vocates  of  topical  drenching  with  drugs,  thus  furnishing 
another  strong  confirmation  of  homoeopathic  truth  from  the 
ranks  of  Allopathy.  ^ 

It  seems  that  adhesions  are  no  longer  a  bar  to  the  re^ 
moval  of  an  ovarian  tumor.  Try  your  thumb-nails  in  breaks 
ing  them;  also  calendula  is  a  capital  agent  to  apply  to  the 
torn  places.  It  arrests  haemorrhage  and  promotes  healinf?. 
It  is  homoeopathic,  as  a  perusal  of  its  pathogenesis  will 
show. 

If  practicable,  the  pedicle  is  best  served  with  a  silk  liga- 
ture, the  ecraseur  and  calendula. 

The  diet  should  be  common  sense — Hahnemannian.  The 
bowels  need  no  tinkering.  Home,  even  if  humble,  is  better 
than  a  hospital,  though  it  be  palatial. 


It  has  never  been  my  ambition  to  create  a  personal  following  as 
such,  by  any  subsidiary  motives  whatever,  but  rather  a  body  of  in- 
telligent and  true  believers  in  the  Homoeopathy  of  Hahnemann, 
and  who  will  be,  therefore,  just  as  true  to  any  other  representative 
of  it  as  they  will  to  me  and  thus  sustain  the  school  and  widen  its 
influence.  Spend  a  little  more  time  with  your  patients,  if  necessary, 
and  impress  your  principles  and  convictions  upon  them,  that  they 
may  at  least  see  that  you  have  some.—/.  B.  Bell,  M.  D, 


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244  The  Medical  Advance,  Sept 

CLINICAL  MEDICINE. 


ARSENICUM   IN   THE  TREATMENT  OF  CARDIAC  DIS- 
EASES* 


R.  HEARN.  M.  D.,  Toronto. 


The  action  of  a  remedy  so  well  known  and  so  extensively 
used  by  the  homcBopathic  profession  is  certainly  worthy  of 
our  most  careful  consideration,  relative  to  the  virtues  to  be 
obtained  from  its  use  in  a  form  of  disease  so  wide  spread 
and  increasing  amongst  the  human  family,  and  often  at- 
tended with  such  alarming  and  rapidly  fatal  consequences. 

Certainly  there  are  numerous  other  remedies,  as  Digi- 
talis, Cactus,  Kali  carb.,  etc.,  of  great  service  in  treating 
cardiac  lesions,  and  whose  places  cannot  be  supplied  in 
certain  phases  of  this  disease,  for  the  reason  that  they  con- 
stitute the  "similia,"  or  indicated  remedy,  in  these  partic- 
ular manifestations  of  heart  affection;  but  it  is  because 
Arsenicum  has  proved,  in  my  hands,  more  than  any  other, 
of  such  marked  and  immediate  benefit,  especially  in  ner- 
vous  and  neuralgic  heart  troubles  of  long  standing — which 
presented  very  alarming  symptoms — that  I  have  taken 
upon  myself  to  draw  your  attention,  particularly  to  its  use, 
in  the  hope  that  further  information  may  be  elicited,  and 
our  treatment  of  cardiac  disease  perhaps  be  extended  and 
further  enhanced  by  the  more  frequent  notice  and  proving 
of  this  most  potent  agent  in  so  distressing  a  malady;  in 
this  way  our  endeavors  to  serve  the  interests  of  humanity 
may  be  crowned  with  ever  increasing  successes. 

Although  I  have  obtained  the  most  rapid  results  from 
the  action  of  Arsenicum  in  so-called  nervous  heart  affec- 
tions, yet  its  employment  has  been  followed  by  the  most 
gratifying  improvement  (though  necessarily  requiring  a 
greater  length  of  time  to  attain  this)  in  valvular  heart 
lesions,  principally  mitral,  systolic,  aortic,  obstructive,  and 
regurgitant;  in  some  cases  the  (heart)  murmur  gradually 
became  indistinguishable  and  a  cure  resulted  to  all  appear- 

*Read  before  the  Canadian  Homoeopathic  Institute.  1887. 


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1887  Arsenicum  in  Cardiac  Diseases,  245 

ance,  since  the  accompanying  symptoms  also  were  removed 
with  the  valvular  murmur. 

It  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  refer  you  at  any  length  to 
the  proving  of  this  mineral  remedy,  or  the  two-fold  action 
it  exerts  on  the  human  economy,  namely,  that  of  a  violent 
irritant  to  the  mucous  and  serous  membranes  of  the  ihtes* 
tinal  tract  when  administered  in  large  quantities,  and  its 
secondary  action  in  which  the  irritation  produced  is  mani- 
fested more  generally  throughout  the  system  and  accom- 
panied by  that  remarkable  lowering  of  the  vital  forces, 
resulting  in  rapid  and  increasing  prostration,  with  extreme 
restlessness,  so  characteristic  of  this  drug;  this  latter  effect, 
however,  appearing  to  be  due  to  a  less  violent,  albeit  deeper 
seated  action  than  the  former,  though  both  tend  eventually 
to  dissolution. 

Its  action  as  a  curative  agent  seems  to  be  exerted  through 
the  medium  of  the  circulation,  as  well,  no  doubt,  as  the 
cerebro-spinal  and  by m  pathetic  nervous  system,  but  how 
it  produces  its  wonderful  effects  upon  the  disease  in  ques- 
tion continues  a  mystery;  nevertheless  we  may  obtain  the 
beneficial  results  accruing  from  its  proper  and  scientific 
use  in  the  treatment  of  disease  without  being  able  to  trace 
its  course  through  the  system. 

Before  entering  upon  a  few  clinical  facts  as  illustrative 
of  the  action  of  this  remedy  in  some  of  the  forms  of  heart 
disease,  I  will  give  my  opinion  as  to  the  use  of  Arsenicum 
in  low  and  high  potencies  in  different  forms  of  disease; 
for  instance,  I  have  found  the  lower  potency  of  Arsenicum 
to  act  better  in  acute  affection  involving  certain  tissues, 
principally  mucous  and  serous  membranes,  muscular  tis- 
sue, glands,  the  various  viscuses,  and  the  circulation;  while 
the  higher  potencies  have  generally  given  more  satisfac- 
tion in  chronic  cases,  and  particularly  where  the  nervous 
system  is  more  directly  concerned;  also  in  certain  forms 
of  skin  disease  and  of  cartilage  and  bone,  as  ulceration 
and  caries,  etc.  This,  I  think,  may  be  taken  generally 
as  an  example  of  the  action  of  most  of  our  remedies  in 
their  different  potencies,  though  no  doubt  many  of  you 


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246  The  Medical  Advance^  Sept. 

will  differ  from  me  in  this  particular;  nevertheless  I  am 
speaking  from  clinical  observations. 

The  motto  of  Dr.  Hering  may  be  appropriately  quoted 
in  this  regard:  "in  certis  uniiaSy  in  dubiis  liberfcis,  in  om- 
nibus charHas'' — in  that  which  is  proven  (let  us  have) 
unity,  in  that  which  is  doubtful,  freedom,  (and)  in  all 
things  (let  us  have)  charity. 

When  first  entering  upon  the  practice  of  Homoeopathy, 
I  was  much  struck  with  the  action  of  Arsenicum  3x  in  the 
treatment  of  a  case  of  mitral  systolic  murmur  occurring 
in  a  youth  of  about  14  years  of  age.  The  lesion  had  ex- 
isted about  a  twelvemonth,  as  far  as  I  could  gather  from 
the  symptoms  presented  in  the  case,  which  were,  however, 
somewhat  vague,  though  several  were  well  marked,  such  as 
attacks  of  suffocation,  especially  towards  evening  or  at 
midnight,  accompanied  with  palpitation  and  pain  in  the 
region  of  the  heart;  also  on  going  up  stairs  rapidly  or 
other  sudden  exertion,  with  much  restlessness  and  agita- 
tion. , 

I  cannot  give  the  symptoms  of  the  case  minutely,  as  I 
did  not  take  full  notes  at  the  time,  but  Arsenicum  seemed 
indicated  and  the  after  results  bore  me  out  fully  in  the 
selection  of  this  remedy,  since  improvement  rapidly  set  in 
and  continued  until,  in  about  two  months  time,  the  mur- 
mur was  no  longer  detected  by  the  stethescope  when  ap- 
plied to  the  chest  as  before. 

This  case  was  rather  a  surprise  to  me,  since  palliation  in 
such  affections  was  all  that  we  were  led  to  expect  from  old 
school  treatment — which  I  was  at  that  time  weighing  in 
the  balance  with  Homoeopathy  so  as  to  prove  which  was 
in  reality  followed  by  the  most  success— and  the  above 
instance  gave  additional  weight  to  the  side  of  Homoeop- 
athy. 

Another  case  was  that  of  a  stout,  fleshy  lady  of  about  45 
years  of  age,  of  sanguine  temperament,  who  had  suffered 
much  from  various  physicians  without  receiving  any  last- 
ing or  marked  benefit,  but  rather  steadily  growing  worse. 
She  had  never  employed  Homoeopathy  nor  did  she  know 
anything  of  it,  for  had  she  done  so  she  would  have  been 


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1887  Arsenicum  in  Cardiac  Diseases.  247 

saved  much  suflPering  and  expense.  The  heart  murmur  in 
her  case  was  aortic  regurgitant  and  the  symptoms  some- 
what resembling  the  first  case,  though  more  strongly 
marked  and  numerous,  since  the  disease  was  of  about  12 
years'  standing.  At  times  she  would  have  attacks  of  an- 
gina pectoris;  something  would  seem  to  rise  in  her  throat 
and  produce  suffocation,  causing  her  to  reel  and  fall  back- 
wards, when  she  would  catch  at  the  nearest  object  to  save 
herself;  her  face  and  neck  would  frequently  become  dark, 
sometimes  purplish,  accompanied  by  terrible  distress  and 
sensation  of  impending  dissolution, — as  if  the  heart  would 
cease  beating.  She  declared  this  to  be  really  the  case — 
that  her  heart  did  stop  for  some  seconds.  These  parox- 
ysms generally  came  on  towards  afternoon  or  evening, 
occasionally  during  the  night,  compelling  her  immediately 
to  assume  an  upright  posture  to  prevent  suflFocation.  Ar- 
senicum 6x  gave  her  immediate  relief  and  after  taking  it 
for  about  three  weeks  she  was  free  from  any  further  dis- 
tressing symptoms  for  more  than  a  year.  Owing,  however, 
to  some  over  exertion  and  indiscretion,  she  had  a  return  of 
the  trouble,  and  this  time  I  gave  Arsenicum  15x,  with  no 
result  whatever;  Arsenicum  6x  relieved  the  symptoms  as 
promptly  as  before  and  prevented  any  further  attack. 

Why  the  15x  did  not  answer  I  cannot  explain  (though  I 
had  prepared  it  very  carefully  myself),  but  it  certainly  had 
no  eflFect. 

The  third  case  was  that  of  a  lady,  aged  54  years,  of  a 
lymphatic  temperament  The  heart  aflFection  was  more  of 
a  nervous  than  organic  nature,  as  I  could  detect  no  mur- 
mur or  hypertrophy. 

She  had  been  a  sufferer  for  seven  years,  having  gone 
through  numerous  courses  of  treatment  without  any  relief. 
She  complained  mostly  of  attacks  of  suflFocation  which 
came  on  at  first  every  week  or  fortnight,  but  increased  in 
frequency  until,  at  the  time  she  consulted  me,  they  re- 
turned every  twenty-four  hours,  just  about  midnight, 
sometimes  rousing  her  from  sleep  and  compelling  her  to 
sit  up  to  obtain  relief  from  the  sense  of  suflFocation.  This 
latter  was  so  great  that  she  felt  as  if  she  would  die. 


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248  The  Medical  Advance.  Sept 

The  paroxysms  usually  began  with  throbbing  or  palpi- 
tation of  the  heart,  which  seemed  to  pass  upw  ard  into  the 
back  of  the  head  and  forehead  and  temples,  accompanied 
by  a  tingling  and  numbness  in  the  left  shoulder  and  arm, 
down  to  the  tips  of  the  fingers;  also  a  sensation  of  great 
distress  and  restlessness,  preventing  any  further  refresh- 
ing sleep. 

The  attacks  ordinarily  lasted  a  few  seconds,  sometimes 
minutes,  leaving  the  patient  very  weak  and  prostrated. 
She  also  complained  of  occasional  burning  in  the  stomach 
and  left  side;  the  pulse  was  slow,  feeble  and  intermittent; 
there  was  considerable  flatulency  and  bloating  after  par- 
taking of  even  a  small  quantity  of  food,  worse  between 
4  and  8  P.  M.  I  gave  first  Lycopodiura;  failing  with  this, 
gave  Belladonna,  then  Digitalis,  and  lastly  Arsenicum  7x, 
which  proved  of  immediate  benefit  to  the  patient,  giving 
her  almost  instant  relief  from  the  above  distressing  symp- 
toms, and  I  have  not  heard  of  any  return  of  the  trouble. 

The  fourth  case  was  that  of  another  lady,  aged  about  60 
years,  who  suffered  from  symptoms  similar  to  the  former, 
though  not  so  marked,  but  evidently  of  a  neurotic  charac- 
ter, and  of  about  six  years'  standing;  old  school  treatment 
in  a  variety  of  ways  and  orthodox  mixtures  had  entirely 
failed  to  impart  any  real  benefit.  Arsenicum  7x,  adminis- 
tered homoeopathically,  in  spite  of  her  lack  of  faith,  pro- 
duced prompt  and  permanent  relief  of  the  symptoms,  thus 
scoring  another  victory  for  Homceopieithy. 

I  might  cite  several  other  instances  illustrating  the  cura- 
tive action  of  this  remedy  in  similar  cases,  but  the  above 
examples  will  serve  to  show  that  Arsenicum  occupies,  if 
not  the  first  place,  at  least  a  prominent  one  among  our 
remedies  in  cardiac  diseases,  and  especially  those  of  a 
neurotic  origin;  and,  although  this  is  only  one  of  the 
spheres  in  which  it  plays  an  important  part,  yet  so  many 
sufferers  come  within  the  limit  of  that  sphere  (and  the 
number  appears  to  increase  each  decade,  with  the  symp- 
toms often  of  such  a  violent  and  fatal  character,  and  so 
little  amenable  to  successful  treatment  by  the  old  school), 
that  any  boon  which  may  present  itself  should  merit  our 
most  careful  consideration  and  extended  trial. 


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1887  Rhus  Tox. :  Nocturnal  Enuresis.  249 

RHUS  TOX.— NOCTURNAL  ENURESIS  * 


J.  M.  YOUNO,  M.  D.,  Oakland,  Cal. 


August  30th,  1886.— Joe  D ,  tall,   well-built,  sandy 

hair,  light  complexion,  nineteen  years  of  age,  170  pounds 
in  weight,  and  a  picture  of  perfect  health,  consulted  me 
about  a  pain  in  his  back. 

Three  years  Ago,  while  working  at  his  trade  (carpenter), 
he  had  over-lifted  himself — strained  his  back;  since  then 
has  not  been  good  for  "nuthin'."  Cannot  sit  quiet;  but  on 
attempting  to  rise,  it  seems  as  if  a  knife  was  thrust  through 
his  loins,  suflFers  most  in  bed  at  night,  but  would  as  "  soon 
be  shot "  as  asked  to  get  up  in  the  morning,  the  pain  is  so 
excruciating  on  his  first  effort  to  move;  gets  easier  after  he 
stirs  around  and  gets  limbered  up — "could  not  lift  five 
pounds  oflF  the  floor." 

No  swelling  or  tenderness  on  pressure  in  the  lumbar 
region.  Had  been  treated  by  several  physicians  in  Sacra- 
mento — Homoeopaths  and  Allopaths — the  first  year  of  his 
trouble,  without  any  benefit  whatever;  considered  his  case 
hopeless,  and  came  to  see  me  merely  to  gratify  his  mother- 

The  case  and  remedy  were  so  accurately  defined  that  I 
did  not  consider  it  necessary  to  question  my  patient  very 
closely,  and  accepted  without  the  slightest  misgiving  his 
statement  that  he  had  told  me  all  there  was  of  it.  Ehus 
tox.  200,  one  powder  dry  on  tongue;  Sac  lac.  three  times  a 
day;  report  in  one  week. 

On  September  2nd,  however,  he  came  in  again  accom- 
panied by  his  mother,  who  stated  that  "Joe  was  such  a  fool 
he  had  not  told  me  more  than  half  his  sickness."  He  had 
been  afflicted  with  nocturnal  enuresis  more  or  less  since 
childhood,  and  since  his  back  "gave  out"  he  had  been  get- 
ting worse  and  worse,  till  now  his  life  was  simply  unbear- 
able. I  could  get  no  data  as  to  time,  etc.,  of  enuresis;  he 
was  so  disgusted,  did  not  want  to  talk  about  it. 

I  must  confess  that  I  wcwj  ashamed  of  myself  for  not 
being  more  exact  and  thorough  in  the  examination  of  my 

•Beam  before  the  Alameda  County  Homoeopathic  Medical  Society,  June  14, 1887. 


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250  The  Medical  Advance.  Sept 

patient.  Without  a  doubt  this  man's  kidneys,  bladder  and 
whole  genito-urinary  tract  were  deeply  involved,  and  had 
been  so  for  years.  Bhus  tox.  in  nocturnal  enuresis!  Who 
ever  heard  of  such  a  thing?  Here  were  nerve  centres 
assailed ;  the  vaso  motor  system  involved ;  the  sympathetic 
inhibited;  deep  and  profound  changes — progressive  meta- 
morphosis—occuring  gradually  through  years;  and  finally 
culminating  in  the  conditions  presented. 

Thus,  gentlemen,  did  I  wander  through  ill  the  scientific 
nomenclature  and  fine  spun  theories  that  rationalism  has 
rendered  classical,  till  the  final  grand  pathological  "round 
up"  completely  annihilated  my  poor  little  prescription, 
Rhus  200,  and  I  sat  self-convicted  before  my  patient  and, 
for  the  want  of  something  more  scientific  (?)  to  say,  asked 
"How  is  your  back?"  "Oh,  that  is  ever  so  much  better; 
I  had  very  little  pain  yesterday,  and  none  at  all  to-day,"  was 
the  answer. 

Hope,  like  an  unfettered  phoenix  burst  from  the  ashes  of 
my  despair;  perhaps  Rhus  was  not  a  bad  remedy  for  noc- 
turnal enuresis  after  all.  The  pain  was  gone.  Motion  did 
not  affect  him  beyond  a  slight  stiffness  in  the  morning, 
which  soon  wore  off.  "Could  he  lift  any  weight?"  "Did 
not  know,  was  afraid  to  try."  The  amount  of  urine  voided 
as  far  as  my  patient  could  observe  and,  in  fact,  the  whole 
character  of  the  enuresis  was  unchanged. 

I  decided  not  to  interfere.  Rhus  was  helping  those  stiff, 
sore,  lumbar  muscles.  Would  it  not  be  the  sublimity  of 
egotism  to  assert  its  inability  to  arouse  the  slumbering 
energies  of  the  sphincter  vesica,  or  soothe  the  cystic  mucous 
membrane?  Would  not  the  administration  of  any  drug 
he  equivalent  to  such  an  egotistic  assertion?  Decidedly  so. 
Hence,  Sac.  lac.  night  and  morning;  report  in  a  week.  He 
did  so;  conditions,  symptoms,  etc.,  absolutely  unchanged. 
Sulphur  200,  one  powder  dry  on  tongue,  report  in  three 
days,  which  he  did;  complaining  of  a  slight  return  of  the 
old  pain  in  the  back;  no  change  in  the  enuresis.  My  inter- 
current,  gentlemen,  was  most  assuredly  fulfilling  its  mis- 
sion— rousing  the  reactive  forces  of  the  system.  Not 
having  any  Rhus  tox.   higher  than  200,  I  applied  to  my 


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1887  Rhus  Tox.:  Nodumal  Enuresis,  251 

friend,  Dr.  Self  ridge,  over  the  way;  doubtless  he  had  Khus 
tox.  500  or  1000;  but  he  was  out  of  these  potencies;  the 
next  he  had  to  Bhus  tox.  200  was  75m.,  which  I  must  fain 
accept.  Shades  of  Rationalism !  Was  not  this- infinites- 
imals run  riot.  Doubt  crouched  above  my  heart  like  the 
raven  upon  the  bust  of  Pallas  above  Poe's  chamber  door 
as  I  accepted  the  drug.  However  he  got  the  Rhus  tox. 
75m.,  one  powder,  dry  on  tongue.  Sac.  lac.  night  and  morn- 
ing; report  in  a  week.  Reported:  no  pain;  no  stiflFness  in 
back,  and  for  the  last  three  nights  no  enuresis.  Sac.  lac. 
night  and  morning;  report  in  a  week. 

But  Joe  "struck  a  job"  (filching  from  his  own  elegant 
vernacular)  about  this  time  at  his  trade,  and  I  have  seen 
him  at  intervals  ever  since  pulling  and  lifting  lumber,  and 
beams,  and  joist,  as  efficiently  as  his  comrades,  and  to  this 
<iate  he  has  had  no  return  of  the  pain  or  stiffness,  or  enu- 
resis. Rhus  tox.  75m.  has  proven  triumphant;  triumphant 
over  his  disease  and  my  almost  faithlessness. 

Rationalism  would  have  put  a  blister  on  that  strained 
back,  or  apply  a  lotion  with  a  gruesome  yet  awe-inspiring 
name,  or  jerked  him  with  the  faradic  current  .till  his  very 
principles  would  have  rattled  an  agonized  protest;  and  dis- 
covering that  enuresis  later  on,  when  I  did,  would  have 
stimulated  the  atonic  muscular  coat  of  that  bladder  with 
full  doses  of  strychnine  and  quinine  by  day  and  quieted 
the  irritable  sphincter  with  morphia,  codea,  elixir  of 
opium,  or  cocaine  by  night,  and  if  the  patient  survived  the 
ordeal  it  (Rationalism)  would  have  puzzled  its  wise  old 
Silurian  head  for  the  balance  of  its  natural  life  deciding 
whether  morphia,  codea,  strychnia,  the  lotion  with  the 
nightmare  name,  quinine,  plasters  or  faradism  could  be  de- 
pended upon  in  the  next  case  of  nocturnal  enuresis — for  of 
such  verily  is  the  kingdom  of  "  clinical  experience." 

Eclecticism  would  have  injected  a  little  salt  and  water 
over  the  seat  of  pain  so  as  to  establish  an  "  internal  elec- 
trode" for  the  purpose  of — but  no  matter  what  eclecti- 
cism would  have  done.  Joe  is  cured;  and  by  the  75m.  po- 
tency of  Rhus  tox.  Now,  Didymus,  please  do  not  ask  me 
hoiv! 


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252  The  Medical  Advance.  Sept. 

HOW  TO  TRITURATE. 


L.  H.  WITTE,  Cleveland,  Ohio. 


It  is  the  object  herein  to  show  how  to  obtain,  in  a  trit- 
uration, with  a  given  expenditure  of  labor,  the  drug  in  the 
greatest  extent  of  division. 

In  triturating  the  longer  the  process  is  carried  on  pro- 
perly, under  proper  conditions,  the  finer  the  drug  becomes. 
But  it  does  not  follow  that  a  given  quantity  of  labor  indis- 
criminately applied  will  equal  the  product  of  the  same 
quantity  of  labor  intelligently  applied. 

The  triturating  surface  of  the  pestle  always  presents  a 
greater  curve  than  the  corresponding  surface  of  the  mortar, 
hence  in  any  given  position,  the  pestle  is  in  contact  with 
the  mortar  at  only  a  point,  and  as  the  distance  from  this 
point  increases,  the  distance  between  the  pestle  and  mortar 
also  increases. 


In  Fig.  1,  let  the  upper  portion  represent  the  pestle;  the 
line  below,  the  curve  of  the  mortar;  C  the  point  of  contact  be- 
tween the  pestle  and  mortar,  and  a  and  b  any  points  within 
the  size  of  the  pestle  and  equidistant  from  C.  Let  Fig.  2 
be  a  circle  with  a  diameter  of  the  distance  a  to  6  of  Fig.  1, 
and  let  this  circle  represent  the  effective  triturating  sur- 
face while  the  drug  particles  are  still  larger  than  the  dis- 
tance between  the  pestle  and  mortar  at  points  a  and  h 
Fig.  1,  and  let  the  small  circle  of  Fig.  2  represent  the  effec- 
tive triturating  surface  after  the  drug  particles  have  become 
reduced  in  size;  then  the  two  circles  will  represent  the  re- 
lative triturating  surface  at  the  two  stages,  and  it  will  be 
seen  that  the  capacity  has  become  enormously  reduced,  and 


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1887  How  to  Triturate.  253 

that  although  the  drug  may  be  reduced  still  finer  yet  with 
very  little  result  from  the  labor  expended. 

If  now  some  other  substance  not  having  any  reducing 
action  be  added,  the  difficulty  of  reducing  the  original  drug 
has  simply  been  increased,  as  must  be  evident  upon  con- 
sidering that  the  quantity  of  original  drug  under  the  pes- 
tle at  any  time  must  be  less,  because  a  part  of  the  avail- 
able space  is  occupied  by  the  added  substance. 

But  if,  on  the  other  hand,  some  substance  that  has  a 
reducing  action  be  added  in  proper  quantity,  then  the  diffi- 
culty of  reducing  the  original  drug  is  lessened. 

Let  the  added  substance  be  milk  sugar.  If  this  is  soft 
so  that  it  will  become  crushed,  rather  than  crush  the  drug, 
we  have  the  condition  of  increased  difficulty.  If  it  is  suf- 
ficiently hard  and  sufficiently  coarse,  then  the  difficulty  of 
reduction  is  lessened. 

Upon  consideration  it  must  be  evident  that  there  are  two 
ways,  and  only  two  ways,  in  which  milk  sugar  can  aid  in 
the  reduction.  One  is  the  rubbing  of  a  face  of  a  crystal 
against  a  particle  of  the  drug,  and  the  other  is  the  catting 
of  an  edge  of  a  crystal  into  a  particle  of  the  drug. 

Upon  further  consideration  it  must  be  evident  that,  in 
order  to  aid  in  the  reduction  by  rubbing,  that  the  faces  of 
the  crystals  must  be  large  as  compared  with  the  size  of  the 
drug  particles,  or  otherwise  the  particles  caught  would  be 
released  before  reducing  action  could  take  effect,  and  it 
follows  that  for  the  faces  to  be  large  the  crystals  must  be 
large.  For  the  purpose  of  cutting,  the  crystals  must  also 
be  large,  in  order  that  they  have  the  requisite  strength. 

Now  if  in  triturating,  the  milk  sugar  crystals  being  of 
tbe  proper  size,  we  apply  pressure  sufficient  to  crush  the 
drug  particles  between  the  milk  sugar  crystals,  but  not 
sufficient  to  crush  the  milk  sugar  crystals  themselves,  then 
reduction  of  the  drug  takes  place  with  continued  ability  of 
the  milk  sugar  to  aid  in  the  reduction;  but  if  we  apply  such 
great  pressure  as  to  crush  the  milk  sugar  to  a  fineness  at 
which  it  no  longer  can  aid  in  the  reduction,  its  value  for 
the  purpose  is  destroyed  and,  although  we  obtain  a  tritura- 


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254  The  Medical  Advance.  SopL 

tiou  finer  to  the  touch,  still  the  drug  particles  remain  coarser 
than  in  the  former  case. 

On  any  triturating  machine  in  use,  capable  of  operating 
a  porcelain  pestle  and  mortar,  the  pestle  can  be  loaded  to 
an  extent  that  it  would  be  capable  of  reducing,  in  one  hour^ 
ten  ounces  of  coarse  milk  sugar  to  such  fineness  that  such 
reduced  milk  sugar  would  no  longer  be-  capable  of  any 
triturating  action. 

The  conclusion  to  be  arrived  at,  is  that  too  much  pressure 
may  be  employed  by  which  not  only  the  work  is  made  un- 
necessary laborious,  but  the  product  is  also  made  inferior 
by  it.  On  the  other  hand,  the  pressure  should  not  be  too 
light,  as  in  this  case  there  would  be  too  little  action.  It 
may  be  considered  a  good  rule  to  triturate  with  such  pres- 
sure that  some,  but  not  much,  of  the  milk  sugar  becomes 
reduced  in  the  course  of  an  hour. 

As  particles  become  smaller  their  power  of  resisting 
crushing  action  becomes  less;  hence,  the  finer  the  drug^ 
particles  the  easier  it  will  be  for  the  afterwards  added  milk 
sugar  to  reduce  them  still  more.  Therefore  the  drug 
should  be  reduced  to  a  condition  as  fine  as  possible  before 
adding  any  milk  sugar.  This  admits  of  some  qualification. 
The  softer  the  drug  the  less  important  it  is,  so  to  pulverize 
it  beforehand,  and  when  it  is  quite  soft  it  probably  would 
be  a  waste  of  labor  so  to  pulverize  it. 

In  explanation  of  the  terms  soft  and  hard  milk  sugar,  a& 
used  herein,  it  will  be  stated  that  milk  sugar  is  an  article 
made  from  the  whey  of  cows  milk.  To  obtain  it,  about 
eighteen  parts  of  whey  must  be  evaporated  down  to  one,  or 
say  a  depth  of  thirty-six  inches  down  to  two;  but  as  it  is 
not  practicable  to  boil  it  when  of  a  depth  much  over  ten  or 
twelve  inches,  a  portion  is  used  to  commence  with  and 
other  portions  are  added  as  the  evaporation  proceeds.  To 
boil  to  a  finish  takes  about  twelve  hours.  During  this  io- 
terval  the  various  remnants  have  had  varioife  times  in 
which  to  change,  the  change  leading  to  the  formation  of 
lactic  acid.  This  change  is  not  sudden,  but  proceeds  in 
first  altering  the  character  of  the  milk  sugar.  By  this 
alteration  the  hardness  of  the  crystals  that  may  be  formed 
diminishes. 


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1887  How  to  Triturate,  255 

It  may  be  of  interest  to  know  that  hard  grade  milk  sugar 
is  always  sent  into  maket  in  the  crystal  form,  and  that  it  is 
always  contaminated,  to  the  extent  of  ten  or  fifteen  per 
cent,  with  soft  grade  milk  sugar.  This  is  quite  easily 
separated  by  those  who  understand  it  and  wish  to  do  so. 
Hard  grade  milk  sugar  is  naturally  dry.  Soft  grade  milk 
sugar  is  naturally  damp,  and  it  causes  the  suspicion  in 
those  who  do  not  understand  it,  that  it  is  adulterated  with 
chalk. 

Soft  grade  milk  sugar  ought  not  to  be  used  for  making 
triturations;  but  if,  nevertheless,  it  is  used,  it  ought  first 
be  dried  by  artificial  heat;  both  because  the  drying  makes 
it  harder,  and  the  removal  of  the  moisture  make  the  tritu- 
ration more  stable. 

Many  years'  experience  has  shown  that  it  is  not  desir- 
able to  use  milk  sugar  that  will  not  pass  through  meshes 
one-hundredth  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  and  this  size  mesh 
is  found  in  silk  sieves  having  sixty-four  meshes  to  the  inch. 

The  proper  way  to  triturate  and  the  proper  material  to 
use  being  generally  known,  any  and  all  the  indications,  of 
a  good  trituration  are  at  hand,  and  then  it  will  behoove  the 
pharmacist  to  furnish  such  triturations  only  as  are  good. 
As  it  is,  misleading  indications  of  the  quality  of  triturations 
are  given,  by  which  pharmacists  are  enabled  to  palm  off 
discreditable  goods.  From  one  establishment  emenates 
the  assertion  that  fineness  to  the  touch  is  an  indication  of 
a  good  trituration,  and  from  another  that  the  cloudiness 
shown  upon  dissolving  a  little  of  the  trituration  of  an  in- 
soluble drug  furnishes  the  clue  k>  the  knowledge  of  a  good 
trituration  of  the  more  important  remedies.  To  show  the 
fallacy  of  these  indications  it  will  be  stated  as  a  matter  of 
fact  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  insoluble  drugs  may  be 
obtained  fine  enough  in  almost  any  drug  store,  and  may 
then  be  mixed  up  by  rolling  over  and  over  on  a  piece  of 
paper  with  commercial  milk  sugar,  which  may  also  be  found 
in  plenty  already  fine  enough,  and  when  yet  the  drug  may 
be  seen  in  masses  as  large  as  a  pin-head,  and  the  clear 
milk  sugar  also  seen  in  places,  nevertheless  the  mixture 
would,  by  both  the  indications  mentioned  in  this  paragraph 
be  a  good  trituratioiii 


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256  The  Medical  Advance.  Sept. 

TREATMENT  OF  MIGRAINE.* 


H.  P.  H0LME8,  M.  D.,  Sycamore,  111. 


Homoeopathy  is  frequently  successful  in  the  treatment 
of  migraine,  but  it  demands  for  being  efficacious,  a  minute 
study  of  the  symptoms  offered  by  the  patient  and  great  per- 
severance in  the  employment  of  the  remedies.  The  chapter 
by  Bichard  Hughes  on  Cephalalgias,  though  containing 
numerous  and  important  hints  on  the  principal  remedies 
for  migraine,  is  very  confusing  because  that  author  has  not 
clearly  distinguished  that  disease  as  a  distinct  neurosis  and 
has  established  arbitrarily  the  divisions  nervous,  sanguine 
and  gastric  cephalalgia. 

Migraine  is  a  neurosis  characterized  by  a  violent  pain 
occupying,  in  the  beginning,  one  side  of  the  head  and  ac- 
companied in  its  complete  development  by  nausea  and  vom- 
iting. It  returns  in  irregular  attacks.  Like  other  neuroses 
it  is  hereditary  and  may  alternate  with  other  neuroses — 
especially  with  gastralgia. 

Does  it  exist  as  an  idiopathic  disease?  In  almost  every 
case  migraine  is  a  gouty,  or  that  which  is  the  same,  a  hem- 
orrhodial,  affection.  Is  it  symptomatic  of  tetter?  It  alter- 
nates with  it,  as  we  have  said  of  the  other  neuroses,  and 
especially  with  hysteria  and  hypochondriasis.  In  his  inter- 
esting book  on  the  "Diseases  of  the  Nervous  System," 
Grasset  entertains  the  same  opinion  as  our  school  upon  the 
relations  of  migraine  to  the  other  diseases  and  defends  it 
very  ingenuously. 

In  regard  to  treatment,  migraine  presents  for  study  three 
forms — common,  benign  and  retinal.  The  treatment  for 
the  benign  form  being  the  same  as  the  treatment  for  the 
attack,  the  question  here,  then,  will  be  the  treatment  of  the 
common  and  retinal  form. 

1.  Treatment  of  the  common  form, — This  treatment  sub- 
divides itself  into  two  chapters  : 

A.  Treatment  of  the  disease. 

B.  Treatment  of  the  attack. 


•  Dr.  p.  Jousset.— Translated  from  VArt  Medical. 


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1887  Treatment  of  Migraine,  257 

A.— TREATMENT   OF  THE   DISEASE. 

Nux  vomica,  Sanguinaria,  Iris  versujolor,  Digitalis,  Cal- 
carea  carb.,  Pulsatilla,  Natrum-mur.,  Stannum,  Sepia,  Coc- 
culus  and  Causticum,  are  the  principal  remedies  for  the 
common  form  of  migraine. 

1.  Nux  vomica  is  the  most  frequently  indicated  remedy  ; 
it  is  suitable  in  gouty  and  hemorrhodial  patients  who  form 
four-fifths  of  all  the  cases.  The  migraine  cured  by  Nux 
vomica  begins  in  the  morning  on  waking  and  increases  dur- 
ing the  day;  nausea  and  vomiting  during  the  attack;  aggra- 
vated by  intellectual  labor,  by  motion  and  by  rest;  exten- 
sion of  the  pain  to  the  occiput  where  it  frequently  becomes 
more  intense  than  anywhere  else. 

Dose  and  mode  of  administration.  The  doses  which  I 
employ  are  almost  exclusively  in  the  12x  and  30x  potencies. 
Like  all  other  curative  remedies  in  migraine,  Nux  vomica 
should  be  administered  in  the  interval  between  the  attacks. 
When  these  are  very  frequent  the  medicine  is  to  be  given 
immediately  after  the  attacks;  a  dose  morning  and  evening 
for  four  days.  If  the  attacks  return  regularly  every  month 
give  the  remedy  after  the  attacks  as  we  have  said,  and  dur- 
ing another  period  of  four  days  immediately  before  the  next 
attack.  When  the  attacks  are  always  irregular,  the  remedy 
should  be  given  in  periods  of  four  days  every  two  weeks. 

2.  Sanguinaria  canadensis  is,  by  its  efficacy,  the  second 
remedy  for  migraine  and  should  be  preferred  to  Nux  vom- 
ica in  the  female  when  the  menses  are  very  profuse  and  ac- 
companied by  migraine.  The  pain  is  extremely  violent, 
with  bilious  vomitings,  electric  shocks  in  the  head,  odontal- 
gia, otalgia,  pains  in  the  limbs  and  chills.  As  in  Nux  vom- 
ica, the  pains  commence  in  the  morning  and  increase  dur- 
ing the  day.  According  to  Dr.  Mills  of  Chicago,  the  attack 
is  preceded  by  scanty  urine  and  it  ceases  with  a  copious  flow 
of  clear  urine. 

Dose  and  mode  of  administration.  I  will  make  the  same 
remarks  as  for  Nux  vomica.  In  some  cases  of  migraine  oc- 
curring at  each  monthly  period  I  have  alternated  Nux  vom- 
ica and  Sanguinaria;  Nux  vomica  four  days  before  the  men- 
strual period  and  Sanguinaria  commenced  as  soon  as  the 
Q 


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268  The  Medical  Advance.  Sept 

appearance  of  headache,  or  when  it  fails  to  show  itself,  give 
four  days  during  the  menses. 

3.  Iris  versicolor.  *  This  remedy  to  which  Dr.  Claude  has 
called  attention  in  France  is  very  important  in  the  treatment 
of  migraine.  Like  the  two  preceding  remedies  I  have  de- 
scribed, Iris  is  indicated  in  migraine  with  copious  bilious 
vomitings;  obstinate  constipation  is  also  one  of  its  indica- 
tions. We  will  find  farther  that  Iris  is  useful  in  the  reti- 
nary  form  of  migraine. 

Dose.     The  same  as  for  Nux  vomica. 

4.  Digitalis.  Digitalis  is  a  new  remedy  in  the  treatment 
of  migraine.  The  old  pathogeneses  showed  well  the  ex- 
tremely violent  pains  in  the  head  and  bilious  vomitings. 
But  it  is  since  the  publication  of  a  work  by  Dr.  Marc  Jous- 
set  upon  Digitalis  that  this  remedy  has  been  specialized  in 
the  treatment  of  migraine.  Digitalis  is  indicated  when  the 
pains  are  violent,  accompanied  by  heat  of  the  head,  cold- 
ness of  the  extremities,  copious  bilious  vomitings. 

Dose.  Up  to  the  present  time  Digitalis  has  been  used 
only  in  the  mother  tincture.  It  is  prescribed  in  two  drop 
doses  mornings  and  evenings  in  the  interval  between  the 
attacks. 

5.  Calcarea  carbonica.  This  is  a  very  old  remedy  in 
migraine  and  is  indicated  by  the  following  symptoms:  Nau- 
sea and  eructations;  icy  coldness  in  the  head;  commences 
•in  the  morning;  it  frequently  attacks  the  side  of  the  head 
on  which  the  patient  was  lying;  aggravated  by  intellectual 
labor,  by  walking  and  jarring. 

Dose  and  mode  of  administration.  The  same  as  for  Nux 
vomica. 

6.  Pulsatilla.  This  remedy  is  much  less  f  requentiy  indi- 
cated than  the  preceding.  It  belongs  to  the  migraine  which 
commences  in  the  evening,  accompanied  with  general  cold- 
ness BJid  ei  malaise  like  that  of  an  indigestian\  lancinating, 
pulsating  pains;  amelioration  by  rest  and  the  open  air. 

Dose.    The  same  as  for  Nux  vomica. 

7.  Natrum  muriaticum.  This  remedy  has  been  little 
used.  It  is  indicated  in  migraine  which  commences  in  the 
morning  in  bed,  which  is  amelierated  by  raising  up  and  by 


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1887  Treaimeni  of  Migraine.  259 

walking  slowly;  it  is  on  the  contrary  aggrayated  by  walk- 
ing fast  The  headache  is  accompanied  by  nausea  and 
vomiting. 

Dose.     As  for  Nux  vomica. 

8.  Stanniun.  Another  remedy  but  little  used,  but  well 
recommended  by  Eichard  Hughes.  Here  are  its  indica- 
tions: atrocious  pains  with  vomiting;  horrible  painful  con- 
strictions in  the  forehead  and  templeSy  general  chilliness, 
great  relief  after  vomiting.  Stannum  corresponds  to  the 
crescendo  sxid  diminuendo  character  of  the  pain  so  common 
in  the  headache. 

Dose.     The  same  as  for  the  preceding. 

9.  Sepia.  This  remedy  is  recommended  by  Eichard 
Hi;ghes*  in  the  treatment  of  old  migraines,  especially  ia 
females  suffering  from  leucorrhoea  and  perspiration  of  the 
feet  and  axillse.  The  pains  appear  rapidly,  are  more 
marked  in  the  morning  and  accompanied  by  flashes  of  heat 
which  radiate  to  the  neck,  and  nausea.  The  pains  are  in- 
creased by  walking  iu  the  open  air. 

Dose.  From  the  12th  to  the  30th.  Where  there  is  much 
leucorrhoea,  it  should  be  prescribed  from  the  Ix  trituration 
to  the  lOx  during  the  course  of  several  weeks. 

10.  Silieea.  This  is  prescribed  by  Bftrh:  the  indica- 
tions are,  rush  of  blood  to  the  head,  great  sensibility  of  the 
scalp,  falling  out  of  the  hair,  perspiration  of  the  head,  pains 
ascending  from  the  neck  into  the  head. 

Dose.    30th  potency. 

11.  Cocculus.  The  migraine  of  Coculus  is  accompanied 
by  a  state  of  nausea  and  vertigo  characteristic  of  the  rem- 
edy. The  pain  is  seated  more  particularly  in  the  frontal 
eminences  and  left  orbit;  is  aggravated  by  eating  and  drink- 
ing, standing  and  walking  in  the  open  air. 

Dose.     As  for  Nux  vomica. 

12.  Causticum.  Hemicrania  with  nausea  and  vomiting. 
The  pains  appear  in  the  morning  on  waking;  increased  by 
moving  and  by  walking  fast.  Sometimes  the  pain  increases 
progressively  and  then  disappears  suddenly. 

Dose.    As  for  Nux  vomica. 


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260  The  Medical  Advance,  Sepi 

B. — TREATMENT   OF  THE   ATTACK. 

All  the  remedies  which  we  have  passed  in  review  are 
useless  or  nearly  so  during  the  attack.  It  is  in  the  inter- 
terval  between  the  attacks  that  they  should  be  administered 
for  diminishing  the  attacks,  or,  better,  for  removing  them 
entirely. 

The  remedies  for  the  attacks  are  for  the  most  part  the 
palliatives  and  which  have  no  other  influence  on  the  course 
of  the  disease.  The  principal  ones  are:  Caflfein,  Glonoine, 
Aconite,  Belladonna,  Veratrum  and  Guarana. 

1.  Caffein.  This  is  one  of  the  remedies  which  succeeds 
most  frequently  in  calming  the  attacks  of  migraine.  We 
give  it  in  four  grain  doses  of  the  first  decimal  trituration 
every  half  hour. 

2.  Glonoine.  This  is  indicated  when  the  cephalgia  is 
accompanied  with  pulsations  in  the  head,  flashes  of  heat, 
sensation  of  swelling  in  the  head,  face  red,  strong  arterial 
pulse  and  impossibility  of  keeping  the  head  covered  (sen- 
sitive to  pressure.     H. ). 

Dose.     One  drop  of  the  first  potency  every  half  hour. 

3  and  4.  Aconite  and  Belladonna  have  sometimes  calmed 
the  attacks  of  migraine.  They  should  be  administered  in 
the  mother  tincture. 

5.  Veratrum  is  indicated  by  the  excessive  pains  causing 
delirium  with  cold  sweats  and  fainting.  The  pains  are 
pulsating,  radiating  to  the  muscles  of  the  neck. 

Dose.  Drop  doses  of  the  mother  tincture  every  half 
hour,  or  the  dose  may  be  increased  up  to  twelve  drops. 

6.  Guarana  or  its  alkaloids  are  dangerous  remedies. 

TREATMENT   OF   THE   RETINARY    FORM. 

This  form  of  migraine  is  characterized  by  defects  of 
vision;  hemiopia,  either  vertical  or  horizontal,  mono-  or 
binocular  spots,  sparks,  or  complete  blindness.  It  is  in 
this  variety  that  we  see  frightful  symptoms  of  transient 
paralysis  of  the  tongue  and  even  hemiplegia.  In  some 
cases  the  attacks  are  constituted  solely  by  defective  vision, 
headache  being  entirely  absent.     Galezowski  has  well  de- 


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1887  Treatment  of  Migraine.  261 

scribed  this  variety  of  migraine;  he  declared  that,  in  spite 
of  its  alarming  symptoms,  it  is  not  a  serious  afiFair. 

The  principal  remedies  are:  Belladonna,  Iris,  Phos- 
phorus and  Spigelia. 

1.  Belladonna  is  the  remedy  which  has  given  me  the 
best  results;  it  is  indicated  by  defective  vision,  the  paral- 
ytic symptoms,  and  the  excessive  headache  aggravated  by 
light  apd  noise. 

Dose.     6x  and  12x  potency. 

2.  Iris  versicolor.  This  remedy,  of  which  we  have  al- 
ready given  the  indications  in  the  treatment  of  the  ordi- 
nary form  of  migraine,  is  also  a  remedy  for  retinary  mi- 
graine on  account  of  the  special  systems  which  it  presents: 
the  patient  sees  a  blur  before  the  eyes  on  the  affected  side. 

Dose.     6x  and  12x  potency. 

3.  Phosphorus.  The  pathogenesis  of  Phosphorus  pre- 
sents the  following  symptoms  which  designate  it  in  the 
treatment  of  ophthalmic  migraine;  headache  over  the  left 
eye  with  black  spots  which  fly  before  the  eyes,  temporary 
blindness,  cephalalgia  with  vomiting. 

Dose.     6x  to  12x. 

4.  Spigelia  is  characterized  by  an  atrocious  pain  in  the 
eye-ball  as  if  it  were  being  torn  out,  dilatation  and  immo- 
bility of  the  pupils,  amblyopia  and  temporary  blindness. 

Dose.     3x  to  12x. 

[Dr.  Jousset,  the  accomplished  editor  of  L*  Art  Medical,  is  con- 
sidered by  many  especially  our  allopathic  confreres,  as  one  of  the 
ablest  representatives  of  Homoeopathy  in  France, if  not  in  Europe. 
Like  Hughes  in  England  and  Hem  pel  in  America  his  teachings 
belong  to  the  pathological  wing  of  our  school  which  considers  the 
disease— the  diagnosis — of  primary  and  the  patient  of  secondary 
importance.  This  plan  follows  the  deductive  and  is  the  opposite 
of  the  inductive  method  of  Hahnemann,  Hering  and  Dunham. 
This  case  also  is  a  fair  sample  of  the  teaching  and  practice  of  the 
author,and  our  translator  has  evidently  done  his  work  conscientious- 
ly;  but  it  is  very  far  from  being  a  fair  representation  of  the  homoeo- 
pathic treatment  of  patients  suffering  from  this  affection.  Instead 
of  the  careful  individualization  of  Hahnemann  he  deals  in  the 
generalizing  method  of  Allopathy.  Take  Sanguinaria  as  an  exam- 
ple: **The  pain  is  extremely  violent,  with  bilious  vomiting,  electric 
shocks  in  the  head,  odontalgia,  otolgia,  pains  in  the  limbs  and 


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262  The  Medical  Advance.  Sept 

chills."  Perhaps  fifty  remedies  have  these  symptoms  in  common 
with  Sanguiharia.  The  author  has  neglected  to  give  us  the  cha- 
racter of  the  pain,  vomiting,  shock,  odontalgia,  otalgia  or  chill. 

Hahnemann  instructs  us  to  write  out  the  symptoms  in  the  lan- 
guage of  the  patient,  while  Dr.  Jousset  gives  us  his  interpretation 
of  the  symptoms  from  his  pathological  standpoint;  the  former  is 
fact,  the  latter  fiction.  No  patient  not  even  a  professional,  ever 
had  such  a  train  of  symptoms  when  suffering  from  migraine,  and 
it  is  this  lack  of  individualization  which  lenders  the  writings  of 
Jousset  and  this  article  in  particular  practically  worthless,  if  not 
positively  misleading.    AVe  publish  it  as  a  specimen  simply.— Ed.] 


OPHTHALMOLOGY. 


NOTES  ON  DISEASES  OF  THE  EYE. 


H.  H.  CRIPPEN.  M.  D..  Detroit,  Mich. 


Cocaine. — The  use  of  a  solution  of  Cocaine  in  liquid 
vaseline  or  petro-vaseline,  as  advised  by  Dr.  Bignon,  of 
Lima,  has  certainly  some  advantages  in  ophthalmic  prac- 
tice. Liquid  vaseline  ( preferable  to  the  oil  of  petrolaine, 
being  better  refined)  will  dissolve  as  much  as  two  per  cent 
of  Cocaine,  and  has  the  advantage  over  the  aqueous  solu- 
tion of  not  being  liable  to  decomposition.  We  have  reason 
to  believe  that  danger  lurks  in  stale  solutions  of  the  alka- 
loid. A  peculiar  fungus  growth  appears  occasionally  in 
the  weaker  solutions  (below  four  per  cent. ),  and  apparently 
possesses  the  power  of  setting  up  inflammation  of  the 
mucous  membrane  to  which  it  has  been  applied.  Besides 
the  avoidance  of  decomposition,  I  have  found  the  solution 
in  liquid-vaseline  very  active  as  a  local  anaesthetic,  and,  as 
it  produces  a  more  extended  zone  of  diminished  sensation, 
less  doses  can  be  used  and  the  risk  attending  the  major 
operations  will  be  minimized.  Tn  extracting  foreign  bodies 
from  the  cornea  a  single  drop  is  sufficient.  It  is  unneces- 
sary to  deluge  the  conjunctiva  with  a  four  per  cent,  solu- 
tion as  so  many  do. 

EsERiNE. — The  late  Dr.  Liebold,  of  the  New  York  Oph- 
thalmic Hospital,  endeavored  to  impress  upon  us  the  sim- 


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1887*  ,    Xotes  on  Diseases  of  the  Eye. 

ilia  of  the  sulphate  of  eserine  in  relation  to  spasm  of  the 
ciliary  muscle,  and  we  believe  he  was  the  first  to  advise  its 
use  in  prescribing  glasses;  discarding  atropine  for  putting 
the  accommodation  at  rest,  and  giving  the  patient  Eserine 
in  trituration  until  all  spasm  had  disappeared.  Dr.  B.  B. 
Leach,  in  thQ  Southern  Journal  of  Homoeopathy,  says  he 
was  prompted  to  use  Eserine  by  a  remark,  in  Mittendorf*s 
Diseases  of  the  Eye  and  Ear,  that  "  spasm  of  the  accom- 
modation is  also  artificially  produced  by  the  use  of  Eser- 
ine." The  Doctor's  success  with  the  drug  internally  ad- 
ministered has  been  in  cases  of  astigmatism  due  to  an 
irregular  spasmodic  action  of  the  ciliary  muscle. 

In  the  case  of  a  colored  woman,  aged  21, 1  was  enabled 
to  make  a  very  positive  experiment  with  Eserine  6x.  She 
complained  of  pain,  and  symptoms  of  irritation  of  the  eyes 
on  continued  reading.  There  was  present  a  slight  chronic 
catarrhal  condition. 

O.  D.  Y.  =  f  J:  with  —.50  D.s  C  —.25  D.c  axis  30°  =  U- 
O.  S.  V.  =  A%:  with     1.25  D.s  C  - -25  D.c  axis  90°  =  |g. 

Under  atropine: 

0.  D.  V.  =  58:  with  +.25  D.e  axis  120^  L— .25  D.   axis  30^  =  fg. 
O.  S.  v.  =  IJ:  with  —.50  D.s  C  —25  D.s  axis  90<>  =  | j. 

After  the  action  of  the  atropine  had  passed  off,  part  of 
the  spasm  returned. 

O.  D.  y.  =  !g:  with      .25  D.s  C      .25  D.s  axis  30^  =  Ig. 
O.  D.  Y.  =  ^%:  with    -l.D.s  C  -.25  D.s  axis  90    =  Ig. 

Eserine  6x  was  prescribed,  one  three  grain  powder  to  be 
taken  three  times  a  day.  This  was  continued  for  one 
month,  at  the  end  of  which  the  patient  returned  to  have 
glasses  prescribed.  I  was  much  pleased  to  find  the  spasm 
entirely  gone,  that  vision  with  glasses  had  advanced  from 
H  to  H  in  both  eyes,  and  was  able  to  give  her  the  glass, 
that  under  atropine  was  indicated  by  the  static  refractive 
condition,  that  is: 

K. 

O.  D.  +.25  D.c  axis  120**  L-.25  D.c  axis  30  . 

().  $.  —.50  D.s  C  -  .25  D.c  axis  90\ 


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264  The  Medical  Advance.  Sept 

The  use  of  these  glasses  and  of  Salphur  12x  relieved  all 
symptoms  and  restored  the  conjunctivae  to  a  normal  condi- 
tion. 

Eserine  has  also  another  indication,  blepharospasm, 
which  has  received  unexpected  confirmation  in  the  follow- 
ing case  reported  in  the  Lancet ,  by  Dr.  Dunlop: 

"A  lady  about  sixty  years  of  age,  who  had  slowly  advaDcing 
cataract  in  the  left  eye,  and  incipient  disease  of  the  same  kind  in 
the  right,  began,  early  last  October,  to  suffer  from  irritation  of  the 
conjunctiva*.  The  eyes  were  suffused  and.  the  conjunctivie  often 
somewhat  injected,  and  the  discomfort  was  increased  by  fatigue, 
exposure  to  cold,  or  strong  artificial  light.  The  patient  consulted 
an  oculist  in  London  in  November,  and  a  variety  of  constitutional 
and  local  remedies  were  employed  without  any  very  satisfactory 
result.  On  January  19th  the  use  of  eserine  was  advised,  with  the 
view  of  lessening  the  amount  of  light  passing  into  the  eye.  Ac- 
cordingly a  solution  of  the  strength  of  one  grain  to  the  ounce  was 
prescribed,  and  a  drop  was  ordered  to  be  placed  in  the  eyes  twice  a 
day.  Atabout  4:30  the  same  afternoon  the  first  application  was 
made,  and  a  small  drop  of  the  solution  placed  in  each  eye.  A  good 
deal  of  smarting  and  lachrymation  followed,  and  as  this  passed  off, 
in  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour  severe  clonic  spasm  of  the  eyelids  set 
in,  the  upper  eyelid,  as  the  patient  described,  falling  down  on  the 
lower  every  few  seconds.  About  a  quarter  of  an  hour  later  a  feel- 
ing of  spasmodic  stiffness  in  the  lips,  especially  the  upper,  set  in, 
and  soon  there  was  the  same  sensation  under  the  jaw  on  the  left 
side.  Within  an  hour  there  was  a  feeling  of  tremor  or  spasm,  but 
without  any. actual  muscular  movements  in  the  arms  and  thighs, 
and  at  the  same  time  there  was  a  sensation  of  pressure  on  the  eye- 
balls and  of  weight  and  pressure  within  the  head.  The  patient 
also  began  to  suffer  from  some  mental  confusion,  and  her  memory 
was  impaired.  By  11  p.  m.  the  movements  of  the  eyelids  had 
diminished  considerably,  but  the  other  symptoms  had  altered  very 
little.  She  slept  uneasily,  waking  at  frequent  intervals  during  the 
first  part  of  the  night,  and  when  she  awoke  was  conscious  of  the 
same  sensation,  though  in  diminishing  degree.  In  the  morning 
the  muscular  sensations  had  disappeared,  but  she  felt  weak  and 
shaken.  Dr.  Dunlop  saw  her  a  little  before  noon  on  the  20th,  when 
he  found  the  pupils  contracted  to  a  fine  point,  and  the  conjunctivae 
a  good  deal  injected.  All  the  spasmodic  muscular  feeling  had  dis- 
appeared, but  she  complained  of  the  pressure  on  the  head  and  on 
the  eyes.  She  said  there  was  some  mental  confusion  and  a  general 
feeling  of  weakness.  Next  morning,  the  21st,  the  pupils  were  still 
minutely  contracted,  and  as  she  still  complained  of  the  pressure 
on  the  balls,  he  ordered  a  weak  atropine  lotion.    On  the  morning 


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1887         A  Forngn  Body  Lodged  in  the  Cornea,  265 

of  the  22nd,  before  using  the  atropine,  the  weight  in  the  head  and 
the  pressure  on  the  eyeballs  passed  oif,  and  she  felt  stronger  and 
better.  A  visit  to  the  druggist  who  dispensed  the  prescription 
fully  explained  the  matter,  however,  for  it  appeared  that  by  mis- 
take he  had  made  the  solution  of  the  strength  of  one  grain  to  the 
drachm  instead  of  one  grain  to  the  ounce" 


A  FOREIGN  BODY  LODGED  IN  THE  CORNEA. 


R.  D.  TIPPLE,  M.  D..  Toledo,  O. 


Foreign  bodies  in  the  corneal  tissue  produce  very  serious 
complications  very  many  time»and  seriously  endanger  the 
integrity  of  the  eye  as  in  the  case  I  herewith  report.  Mr. 
C,  a  young  man,  presented  himself  to  me  recently  after 
having  been  treated  or  treated  at  by  his  family  physician 
for  four  weeks  with  no  improvement,  but  a  gradual  increase 
in  the  severity  of  the  symptoms.  Suffering  constantly  from 
pain  and  photophobia,  also  excessive  lachryroation.  Upon 
examination  I  found  superficial  ulceration  of  the  cornea 
complicated  with  decimentitis  and  hypopyon.  The  opacity 
from  the  central  ulcer  shaded  off  gradually  and  involved 
quite  a  large  portion  of  the  central  corneal  area  in  the  in- 
flammatory process.  The  idea  of  a  foreign  body  suggested 
itself  to  me,  whereupon  I  made  a  careful  examination  with 
lateral  illumination  and  a  magnifying  lens  and  discovered 
a  minute  central  speck  imbedded  in  the  corneal  substance; 
believing  this  to  be  the  sole  exciting  cause  of  all  the  serious 
trouble  I  instilled  Cocaine  into  the  eye  and  scraped  out 
the  central  ulcer,  removing  foreign  body  together  with  all 
necrotic  tissues,  also  performed  paracentesis  cornea,  and 
evacuated  pus  from  the  anterior  chamber,  after  which  I 
instilled  atropia,  bandaged  the  eye,  administered  Hepar, 
Sulph.,  and  Arsenicum,  with  direct  applications  to  the  eye- 
ball of  fluid  cosmoline,  and  cured  the  patient  in  one  week. 
I  simply  report  this  case  to  show  the  importance  of  having 
such  cases  treated  properly.  Had  this  gentleman  con- 
sulted an  oculist  first  he  would  doubtless  have  been  saved 
the  loss  of  time  and  the  severe  suffering  that  he  was  sub- 
jected to  by  being  tampered  with,  as  well  as  the  great 


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266  The  Medical  Advance.  Sopi 

risk  of  losing  his  eye  altogether.  The  eye  is  a  very  com- 
plicated piece  of  mechanism  delicately  sensitive  and  easily 
destroyed,  hence  should  not  be  experimentally  treated. 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


OUR  FOREIGN  LETTER. 


Edinburgh,  July,  1887. 
EdUor  Advance. — What  a  glorious  rest  to  cross  the 
Atlantic,  visit  the  chief  capitals  of  Europe,  seek  the  quiet 
lakeside  retreats,  or  be  fanned  by  the  cool  breezes  of  the 
Trossochs  or  the  Alpine  summits,  and  when  rested  renew 
old  friendships  among  the  illustrious  of  the  profession, 
witness  brilliant  operations,  and  carry  oflf  some  of  the  nick-  . 
nacks  in  surgery.  This  is  a  regular  bi-annual  vacation, 
and  I  always  return,  rested,  invigorated  and  better  fitted 
to  combat  the  various  surgical  ailments.  This  trip  crossed 
in  the  "Aller,-**  a  North  German  Lloyd  vessel.  The  com- 
forts on  this  line  exceed  those  of  any  other.  The  number 
of  first-class  passengers  is  limited  to  two  hundred  and 
fifty.  The  excess  of  fare  over  other  lines  is  a  good  invest- 
ment. 

THE   JUBIT,EE. 

London  was  full  of  the  Jubilee.  Great  Britain  and  her 
colonies  are  all  aroused,  each  striving  to  outvie  the  other 
with  proper  loyal  manifestations  to  their  sovereign  on  the 
anniversary  of  her  fifty  years'  reign.  The  procession  of 
the  Queen  was  from  Buckingham  Palace  to  Westminster 
Abbey.  At  the  Abbey  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury 
preached  the  Jubilee  sermon.  The  route  was  a  mile  and 
a  quarter  long,  and  the  streets,  houses  and  roofs  were 
thronged  with  persons  eager  to  show  appreciation,  or  to 
witness  the  grand  royal  cavalcade  of  queens,  kings,  princes 
and  princesses.  It  is  said  six  million  saw  this  imposing 
demonstration  of  rejoicings.  Never  before  in  London  were 
so  many  "Royals"  seen  together.  It  is  almost  impossible 
to  describe  the  rich  uniforms  with  the  respective  orders  of 
decoration  of  kings  and  princes,  the  exquisitely  dressed 


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1887  Our  Foreign  Letter.  267 

qaeen  and  princesses  or  the  gorgeous  trappings  of  the 
horses  and  equipages.  The  princes  of  India  were  the 
most  costly  decorated,  with  their  diamonds  and  other  pre- 
cious stones.  Prince  Louis  of  Baden  was  the  handsomest 
prince  and  the  Princess  of  Saxe-Coburg  the  most  beauti- 
ful princess,  so  graceful  and  so  delicately  and  tastefully 
dressed.  The  Prince  and  Princess  of  Saxe-Coburg  were 
at  the  same  hotel, — the  Buckingham  Palace  Hotel— so  I 
had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  them  often.  Booms  along  the 
route  were  rented  for  the  day  from  one  hundred  to  one 
thousand  dollars.  We  had  a  comfortable  room  from  which 
we  had  an  excellent  view.  It  was  a  hot  day  and  the  ambu- 
lance police  corps  was  kept  busy  along  the  line  of  march. 
Over  four  hundred  for  slight  and  serious  ailments  were 
cared  for.  Charing  Cross  Hospital  alone  received  on  that 
day  ninety-one  accidents.  Of  course  London  was  the  cen- 
tre of  joyous  exultation,  but  the  celebration  was  general 
through  the  Island.  It  must  have  been  a  beautiful  sight 
at  night  at  Bowness  on  Lake  Windermere  to  count  one 
hundred  and  six  bonfires  on  the  hills  and  mountains  around 
that  quiet  and  beautiful  lake  in  honor  of  the  jubilee  reign 
of  England's  queen.  Was  it  not  a  coincidence  that  on 
these  same  hill  tops  and  on  the  same  night  of  the  year  the 
Druid  custom  was  to  kindle  htige  fires  to  celebrate  the 
longest  day  of  the  year? 

COMMEMORATION   DAY   AT   OXFORD. 

It  was  my  privilege  to  be  in  Oxford  the  day  the  Univer- 
sity conferred  degrees.  The  large  Sheldonian  Theatre  was 
crowded  and  the  students  made  it  a  perfect  bedlam  with 
their  shouts  of  enthusiastic  ejaculations  of  approval  or 
disapproval.  On  the  stage  were  seated  the  dignified  Vice- 
Chancellor,  professors,  fellows  and  other  high  dignitaries, 
wearing  robes,  hoods  and  hats  indicating  their  respective 
•degrees  and  honors— a  very  imposing  sight.  If  a  gen- 
tleman entered  the  hall  and  was  a  little  slow  in  removing 
his  hat,  there  would  come  a  shout  from  the  students,  "Take 
off  your  hat,  old  fellow,"  or  if  a  neatly  dressed  and  pretty 
joung  lady  entered  they  would  clap  their  hands  and  give 


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268  The  Medical  Advance.  Sept 

"three  cheers  for  the  beauty."  While  the  Vice-Chancellor 
(who  has  a  very  weak  voice)  was  conferring  a  degree,  they 
sang  out,  "Speak  up  bold,"  "Don't  be  afraid,"  "Now  for 
your  jubilee  smile."  To  a  young  gentleman  with  a  rose 
on  the  lapel  of  his  coat,  "Take  off  that  rose."  During  an 
oration  the  speaker  spoke  the  word  jubilee,  when  the  stu- 
dents all  stood  up  and  began  singing  "God  Save  the 
Queen,"  the  entire  audience  also  arose  and  sang  with  them.  J 

The  orator  had  to  stop  till  the  students  were  through  sing-  ^ 

ing  when  he  concluded  his  oration.  The  Latin  orator  used 
the  word  jam  (now),  when  they  shouted,  "Pass  it  around." 
( Strawberry-jam  is  an  English  dish  at  breakfast  and  tea. ) 
When  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Commons,  Arthur 
Wellesley  Peel,  was  receiving  the  LL.  D.  degree,  parlia- 
mentary expressions  were  repeated,  as  "Divide,"  "Let  the 
question  be  put,"  "I  rise  to  a  point  of  order."  When  he 
received  the  degree,  they  sang  "For  he  is  a  jolly  good  fel- 
low." Peel  is  a  tory  and  Oxford  a  strong  tory  constitu- 
ency. 

EDINBURGH. 

An  hour  after  arriving  called  on  Dr.  Thomas  Keith.  He 
was  resting  in  France,  so  I  had  not  the  pleasure  of  renew- 
ing my  former  acquaintance  with  this  gifted  and  skillful 
surgeon.  However,  I  met  hife  son,  Mr.  Skene  Keith,  at  the* 
Royal  Infirmary,  who,  like  his  father,  is  doing  excellent 
work.  How  beautiful  to  see  the  son  following  the  foot- 
steps of  his  illustrious  father.  The  two  Keiths  have  a 
"Special  Female  Ward"  in  the  Royal  Infirmary.  The 
removal  of  a  very  large  colloid  ovarian  growth  by  the  son 
was  delicately  and  masterfully  performed;  the  result  very 
doubtful.  Keith's  second  part  of  "Abdominal  Tumors"  is 
not  yet  out.  The  first  edition  of  "Uterine  Fibroid"  was 
soon  exhausted.  It  is  very  valuable  to  the  specialist  I 
had  the  honor  of  receiving  the  first  copy  from  the  author 
himself.  At  the  Infirmary  met  Drs.  Duncan  and  Anan- 
dale.  Each  has  a  separate  surgical  ward.  They  are  very 
good  and  careful  operators.  I  was  much  interested  in 
three  of  the  operations  of  these  surgeons.  Dr.  Duncan 
removed  a  floating  cartilage  of  the  knee.     It  was  difficult 


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1887  Our  Foreign  Letter, 

to  find,  but  when  found  securely  pinned  with  an  acupres- 
sure needle  and  deftly  removed.  Dr.  Anandale's  operation 
for  the  same  disease  was  more  quickly  found  and  very 
cleverly  removed.  The  most  interesting  was  a  ease  of 
aortic  aneurism ;  the  long  diameter  was  eight  inches  and 
the  semi-circumference  seven  inches.  The  method  of  cure 
was  the  galvano-cautery,  with  needles  inserted  every  four 
or  five  days,  care  being  taken  that  the  needles  are  inserted 
some  little  distance  from  the  dilatation  of  the  vessel.  The 
operator  was  much  pleased  with  the  progress  of  the  pa- 
tient. 

The  Eoyal  Infirmary  building  is  a  model  structure  for  a 
hospital,  built  on  the  pavilion  plan  for  the  purpose  of  hav- 
ing a  larger  amount  of  fresh  air  circulating  through  the 
wards. 

"The  style  is  the  old  Scottish  baronial,  its  characteristic 
features  being  most  exhibited  in  the  main  frontage,  which 
represents  a  three-storied  central  elevation  one  hundred 
feet  long,  surmounted  by  a  tower  and  spire  reaching  a 
height  of  one  hundred  and  thirty-four  feet. 

"From  each  side  of  this  central  building  there  run  out 
three  tiers  of  corridors,  giving  access  to  the  wards  of  the 
pavilions.  These  pavilions  are  divided  between  the  surgi- 
cal and  medical,  and  surgical  departments;  the  former 
measure  severally  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  feet  by 
thirty-three  feet,  and  the  latter  are  somewhat  larger,  meas- 
uring one  hundred  and  seventy-three  feet.  The  two  to- 
gether are  calculated  to  accommodate  a  total  of  about  600 
patients.  The  surgical  hospital  forms  a  pile  of  buildings 
extending  in  its  main  frontage  to  four  hundred  and  eighty 
feet  A  space  of  one  hundred  and  nine-five  feet,  traversed 
by  a  covered  way,  separates  the  surgical  and  administra- 
tion departments  from  the  medical  hospital  which  embraces 
four  pavilions  standing  parallel  to  each  other.  Each  block 
embraces  (besides  basement  and  attic)  three  extensive 
floors,  and  every  floor  constitutes  a  ward  complete  in  itself 
and  capable,  if  need  be,  of  being  isolated  and  being  worked 
independently  of  the  rest  of  the  hospital.  Standing  some- 
what apart,  at  the  northwest  corner  of  the  grounds,  is  the 


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270  The  Medical  Advance.  Sepi 

pathological  department,  with  a  spacious  lecture  theatre. 
The  saperintendent's  residence  and  other  adjuncts  com- 
plete the  establishment'* 

The  cost  was  about  $1,900,000,  and  is  supported  entirely 
by  voluntary  contributions,  and  is  the  most  generous  and 
useful  of  all  the  Edinburgh  charities.  It  receives  patients 
from  all  parts  of  the  country. 

In  building  hospitals  there  is  need  of  care  and  examin- 
ation into  the  structure  of  our  best  hospitals.  It  will  well 
repay  the  managers  to  send  a  competent  physician  to  visit 
other  buildings  and  report  before  deciding  on  a  plan. 

On  the  walls  of  the  corridors  hang  the  portraits  of  some 
of  the  distinguished  Edinburgh  doctors — Lizzars,  Syme, 
Sir  James  Young  Simpson  and  others.  To  me  Syme's  had 
the  most  interest,  for  he  was  undoubtedly  the  greatest  of 
modern  surgeons.  Of  general  surgical  works  his  is  pre- 
eminently the  best  How  many  are  the  authors  of  sur- 
geries, and  how  many  surgeons  are  but  compilors,  yet  it  is 
necessary  to  have  the  library  filled  with  the  best  of  them. 
Lizzars,  Sjme  and  Simpson  were  never  very  good  friends. 
Many  amusing  anecdotes  are  told  of  their  hatred  and  jeal- 
ousies of  each  other. 

Sir  James  Y.  Simpson  attended  Baroness  Kothschild  at 
London  in  accouchement  for  which  he  received  an  honor- 
arium of  1,000  guineas.  He  was  also  engaged  to  attend  in 
London  one  of  the  "Royals."  About  the  expected  time  a 
telegram  was  sent  to  him,  "Do  not  come  too  late."  He 
immediately  went  up  to  London,  but  the  child  was  bom 
before  starting.  The  operator  had  failed  to  place  a  period 
after  the  word  come.  However,  he  received  his  honorarium 
of  1,000  guineas. 

The  medical  school  is  a  part  of  the  University  of  Edin- 
burgh, which  has  four  faculties,  arts,  divinity,  law  and 
medicine.  There  is  an  attendance  of  over  3,000  students,, 
the  major  part  being  medical.  It  is  one  of  the  best  uni- 
versities in  Europe.  Dr.  Alex.  Monro  first  gave  the  medi- 
cal school  repute  when  he  became  professor  of  anatomy  in 
1720,  and  the  chair  was  successively  filled  for  the  long^ 
period  of  120  years  by  a  member  of  the  same  family — the 


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1887  Our  Foreign  Letter.  271 

three  Monroe.  The  number  of  professorships  in  the  Uui- 
Tersity  is  44. .  Pupils  from  all  parts  flock  to  it.  The  aggre- 
gate yearly  fellowships  and  scholarships  is  $7,000. 

BIRMINGHAM. 

At  Birmingham  Mr.  Lawson  Tait  still  continues  to  do 
wonderful  work,  if  all  his  reports  are  correct.  At  Edin- 
burgh, when  a  student,  he  was  called  "lying  Tait"  There 
can  be  no  doubt  as  to  his  skill;  he  is  a  rapid  operator  and 
.  a  dextrous  manipulator,  removing  the  ovaries  in  five  min- 
utes and  an  ovarian  cyst  in  eleven  and  one-half.  If  possi- 
ble every  person  coming  to  Europe  should  see  Mr.  Thos. 
Smith,  of  St.  Bartholomew's  Hospital,  operate.  I  once 
saw  him  operate  for  stone  in  the  bladder,  the  lateral  meth- 
od; the  time  from  the  first  cut  to  the  removal  of  the  stone 
was  twenty-eight  seconds.  Mr.  Holden  held  the  staff.  It 
is  also  very  pretty  to  see  Pean,  of  Paris,  operate,  always  in 
full  dress  and  never  soiling  his  immaculate  cuffs. 

HOMOEOPATHY   IN   GREAT  BRITAIN. 

The  British  Medical  Association  meets  in  September  at 
Liverpool.  A  good  time  as  usual  is  expected.  It  is  a  great 
pleasure  to  attend  these  gatherings  where  there  is  so  much 
harmony,  and  the  carefully  prepared  papers  so  thoroughly 
and  gentlemanly  discussed.  You  leave  the  meeting  feeling 
that  you  have  improved  the  time,  for  you  have  been  greatly 
profited  with  matters  of  practical  worth.  "The  knowledge 
which  a  man  can  use  is  the  only  real  knowledge— the  only 
knowledge  which  possesses  growth  and  vitality,  and  con- 
verts itself  into  practical  power.  The  rest  hangs  like  dust 
about  the  brain,  or  dries  like  rain-drops  off  the  stones.'* 

The  association  has  a  quiet  way  in  electing  the  officers — 
no  strife,  but  so  courteous,  a  respect  for  the  advanced  in 
years,  and  a  proper  encouraging  word  for  the  younger 
members.  At  one  of  the  annual  meetings  the  presidency 
was  conferred  upon  a  gentleman  from  Manchester,  who 
deliberately  declined  the  honor,  wishing  rather  to  devote 
any  spare  time  to  the  completion  of  his  researches  in  some 
particular  scientific  line.     At  Edinburgh  called  on   Dr. 


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272  The  Medical  Advance.  Sept 

Wm.  Bryce,  and  regretted  not  being  able  to  see  Dr.  W.  T. 
P.  Wolston.  Homoeopathy  is  advancing  in  Great  Britain. 
Her  doctors  are  sturdy  and  true  and  loyal.  The  greatest 
inroads  are  among  the  nobility  and  the  educated. 

These  fragmentary  notes  are,  as  Dr.  Thos.  Keith  says,  a 
Scottish  gift  which  did  not  cost  the  giver  much. 

Yours  very  truly, 

H.   R    BiGGAR. 

COMMENT  AND  CRITICISM. 


Editor  Adcaiice.^l  suppose  you  also  have  received  a  reprint 
from  the  N.  E,  Med,  Gazette  entitled :  "  Dynamization  or  Dema- 
terialization  "  by  F.  P.  Sutherland,  M.  D.  The  Small  Dose,  this 
open,  vexing  question,  seems  to  give  a  good  deal  of  trouble,  not 
only  to  the  Allopathic,  but  also  to  many  so-called  homoeopathic 
physicians. 

The  author  has  evidently  made  an  honest  endeavor  in  the  search 
for  truth-  biit  as  far  as  I  can  see,  has  not  been  able  to  find  it;  on 
the  contrary  he  has  found  many  contradictory  statements  in  the 
writings  of  the  great  Hahnemann.  These  discoveries  have  shaken 
his  confidence  in  the  higher  potencies.  I  wish  we  could  help  him 
out  of  this  dilemma. 

About  20  years  ago,  I  stated  in  one  of  our  medical  meetings, 
that  I  had  a  patient  who  held  in  regard  to  our  potencies,  the  fol- 
lowing notion: 

**In  everything  thei'e  are  two  opposite  substances,— one  vital  and 
the  other  destructive;  and  that  these  correspond,  as  soul  and  body, 
—as  substance  and  form;  and  that  by  the  dissipation  and  destruc- 
tion, or  subordination  of  the  lower,  the  higher  is  obtained  and 
evolved  purer  and  capable  of  a  perfect  manifestation  and  action, 
which  it  could  not  have  before  because  hindered  by  the  gross  ma- 
terial in  which  it  was  latent,  and  which  could  not  be  a  fit  medium 
for  it." 

With  Hahnemann  it  was  a  kind  of  inspiration,  that  a  substance 
should  grow  (curatively)  stronger  by  dilution,  instead  of  growing 
weaker,  and  that  it  had  a  new  and  wonderful  effect.  This  fact 
was  a  marvel  to  him,  for  which  he  could  not  account  but  only 
make  known. 

For  common  sense  it  is  impossible  to  believe  that  a  smaller 
quantity  of  the  same  substance  should  have  more  effect  than  a 
larger  one,  any  more  than  that  a  very  little  food  should  satisfy  a 
hungry  man  better  than  a  large  quantity. 

Yet,  if  we  apply  our  patients  notida,  it  becomes  obvious,  that 
by  the  manipular  fid  us  the  medicines  undergo,  a  different  sub- 


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1887  Homoeopathy  Exemplified  ( t).  273 

stance,  in  fact  the  opposite  is  developed,  viz.:  that  which  was  first 
crude  and  destructive,  has  become  a  vital  and  curative  substance. 

By  actual  experience  at  the  bedside,  hundreds  of  physicians 
have  come  to  the  above  conclusion,  while  thousands  of  physicians 
(materialistic  minds)  consider  it  an  obvious  absufdity. 

"Evil  will  bless,* and  ice  will  burn." 

F.  H.  Krebs,  M.  D. 

B08TOX,  Mass. 

Our  correspondent  says:  "It  is  impossible  to  believe 
that  a  smaller  quantity  of  the  same  substance  should  have 
more  effect  than  a  larger  one."  Yes,  this  is  the  stumbling 
block.  Our  allopathic  brethren  have  never  been  able  to 
overcome  this  objection;  and  we  are  largely  responsible 
for  their  ignorance,  by  the  use  of  improper  terms.  We  do 
not  attenuate  or  dilute  a  drug  to  increase  its  curative  power, 
we  potentize  it.  Hahnemann  uses  the  word  potency,  not 
dilution  or  attenuation,  and  potency  is  the  word  we  should 
use.  Instead  of  Arsenic  or  corrosive  sublimate  apply 
these  terms  dilution  and  attenuation  to  Calcarea,  Silicea 
or  other  inert  substances,  and  they  do  not  seem  so  opposed 
to  common  sense.  But  let  us  clear  our  eyes  of  motes  be- 
fore we  attempt  to  extract  them  from  our  brethren,  by 
using  the  proper  term,  as  did  Hahnemann,  and  then  pos- 
sibly this  explanation  of  the  fact  may  be  made  to  apply. 


Editor  Advanc€,—ln  the  March  Advance  Dr.  Haggart  gave 
his  opinion  regarding  the  proving  of  Lac  Caninum.  The  article 
below  from  an  advertising  journal  styled  T?ie  Doctor,  published  by 
the  Peacock  Chemical  Company,  St.  Louis,  Vol.  l,No.  4,  July,  1887, 
will  show  the  size  of  the  mule  that  did  the  kicking. 

"  Brain  and  Spinal  Trouble.— I  have  used  the  Peacock's  Bromides  In  four 
cases  of  bralo  and  spinal  troubles  satisfactorily,  only  one  of  which  is  of  sufficient 
importance  to  note  here;  that  of  a  boy  eight  years  of  age.  He  was  taken  with  a 
species  of  typho-malarial  fever  in  a  mild  form,  and  after  a  two  weeks'  treatment 
he  partly  convalesced  and  was  discharged,  but  in  a  few  days  I  was  called  to  see 
him  again;  found  him  suffering  at  base  of  brain,  great  tenderness  half-way  down 
the  spine,  nausea,  restlessness,  tongue  red,  temperature  102.  pulse  100  and  irregu- 
W.  Diagnosed  the  case,  Incipient  tubercular  meningitis.  Instituted  such  treat- 
ment AS  had  helped  me  out  in  such  cases  heretofore,  but  my  little  patient  was 
gradually  growing  worse  until  the  eighth  day  he  took  muscular  spasms  which  left 
partial  paralysis  of  left  arm  for  eight  or  ten  hours,  when  it  subsided,  but  next  day 
another  spasm  followed  with  same  result,  and  in  addition  there  was  rigidity  of 
lower  extremities  which  was  followed  by  pain  and  great  restlessness.  At  this 
juncture  I  thought  of  Peacock's  Bromides;  ordered  half  teaspoonful  every  three 
hours,  and  although  these  spasms  returned  daily  for  over  a  week  they  were  per- 
R 


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274  Tfie  Medical  Advance,  Sept 

ceptibly  milder  at  every  paroxysm  until  at  the  end  of  two  weeks  the  evidences  of 
final  recovery  became  quite  hopeful  to  me«  and  the  Bromides  was  still  continued 
but  at  longer  intervals.  The  patient  improved  slowly  and  to-day.  three  months 
after  the  first  illness,  he  is  about  well. 

From  the  time  I  flr^t  prescribed  Peacock's  Bromides  till  the  patient  was  dis- 
charged I  gave,  no  other  medicine,  and  in  this,  I  think,  lies  the  proof  that  the 
Bromides  effected  the  cure.  The  clinical  experience  of  a  remedial  agent,  in  my 
opinion,  is  not  worth  much  where  there  is  mixing  or  alternating  of  medicine.  The 
case  was  to  me  a  very  important  one,  and  if  my  time  would  permit,  would  like  to 
write  it  up  In  good  shape;  what  I  have  written  has  been  done  quite  hastily  and 
solely  for  the  benefit  of  like  sufferers. 

D.  Hai;gart,  M.  D." 

99  East  Market  Street,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 

This  is  not  the  author  of  "She,"--much  as  the  similarity  of 
name  and  the  style  of  his  former  epistle  (above  referred  to)  with 
its  choice  vernacular,  keen  sarcasm,  rollicking  humor,  redundant 
metaphor  and  bad  spelling,  might  have  led  one  to  believe.  No 
indeed.  This  is  your  homoeopathic  physician,  [Heaven  save  the* 
mark  I]  member  of  a  learned  profession— a  guild  discountenancing 
advertising!  To  what  base  uses  may  we  not  come  at  last— or 
words  to  that  effect. 

Prof.  John  Smith,  A.  M.,  M.  D. 


Editor  Advance, — *  *  *  *  And  now  to  a  subject  of  vital 
import  to  me.  Yes!  its  the  old  vexed  potency  question.  I 
have  been  see-sawing  up  and  down,  down  and  up,  from 
the  very  crudest  to  skimmed  moonshine,  but  I  finally  set- 
tled down  on  one  end  of  the  question  with  a  case  of  tinc- 
tures, firsts  and  seconds.  There  was  a  diminutive- sized 
chap  away  up  on  the  other  end.  He  looked  very  minute 
from  my  point  of  observation.  I  began  throwing  out  bal- 
last a  short  time  ago,  my  heavy  tincture  vials  going  first 
and  my  case  following.  As  my  end  began  to  lighten  up 
and  I  neared  the  level  of  my  vis  a  vis  he  became  larger 
and  larger  to  my  observation,  and  I  found  him  to  be  a  fair 
sized  homoeopathic  representative.  Our  see-saw  is  balanc- 
ing nicely  now.  I  began  studying  Homoeopathy  afresh  a 
short  time  ago.  My  " pill  bag"  is  lighter  and  cleaner,  my 
successes  more  abundant,  my  cures  more  rapid,  my  satis- 
faction inexpressible.  I  am  not  '*  wholly  persuaded,"  but 
I  see  the  bright  light  ahead.  I  need  a  friendly  hand  to 
help  me,  to  guide  me  to  the  shining  shore.  I  shall  closely 
watch  the  trail  and  the  tale  it  tells,  all  along  the  route. 
The  sum  total  of  my  experience  in  the  next  twelve  months 
will  have  a  permanent  influence  on  my  future  practice.    I 


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1887  Some  Questions  Answered.  275 

am,  as  I  wrote  a  friend,  a  stubborn  skeptic  in  every  field 
of  thought  Facts  based  upon  experience,  and  the  latter 
gained  by  thorough  investigation,  are  to  me  the  only  dem- 
onstrations of  the  incontrovertible  truth.  Dogmatism  has 
been  our  bete  noir  too  long,  too  long. 

A  few  questions,  my  dear  editor,  and  I  am  done. 

QUESTIONS. 

1.  Do  you  use  high  potencies  exclusively  in  your  general  family 
practice,  i.  e.,  in  acute  cases  V 

2.  Do  you  present  the  highest  potencies  in  gonorrhoea  and  syph- 
ilis; if  SO,  what  is  your  success? 

3.  Would  you  trust  a  high  potency,  say  of  Kali,  Mercurius  or 
any  other  drug,  in  diphtheria? 

4.  Would  you  advise  a  gargle  as  adjuvant  treatment  in  diph- 
theria? 

5.  In  cholera  collapse,  where  all  indications  called  for  Camphor, 
would  you  trust  your  highest  potency  or  depend  upon  spirits  of 
Camphor  in  rapid  doses  ? 

I  mean  to  know  the  truth.  I  am  searching  for  it  in 
every  crevice.  My  practice  has  been  generally  a  success- 
ful one.  I  can  say  without  egotism,  more  satisfactory  than 
that  of  the  average  M.  D.,  but  I  am  not  satisfied  even  with 
my  present  record  if  I  can  improve  it  Can  you,  will  you 
assist  me?  S.  W.  Cohen. 

Waco,  Tbxas. 

[As  Dr.  Cohen  presents  a  series  of  questions  that  are 
frequently  asked  of  us,  in  order  to  satisfy  him,  and  answer 
many  other  enquirers  we  append  our  answers  hereto.] 

ANSM'ERS. 

1.  Like  the  majority  of  homoBopathic  physicians  we  began  to 
practice  what  we  were  taught  at  college.  Our  first  outfit  con- 
sisted of  "  tinctures,  firsts  and  thirds,"  but  as  our  experience  wid- 
ened we  gradually  learned  that  the  curative  power  of  a  drug  was 
not  to  be  found  in  its  quantity;  that  the  closer  we  followed  Hah- 
nemann's teachings,  whether  we  were  able  to  explain  them  or  not, 
the  better  our  success,  the  more  "  inexpressible  "  our  satisfaction. 
Thus  we  have  gradually  went  up  the  potency  ladder,  and  for  sev- 
eral years  our  buggy  case  has  contained  nothing  but  Dunham's 
200ths  for  both  acute  and  chronic  disease  in  every-day  family 
practice.  We  now  use  all  potencies,  because  we  are  convinced 
that  success  depends,  not  so  much  on  the  potency  as  on  the  proper 


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276  The  Medical  Advance,  Sepi 

selection  of  the  remedy  and  the  single  dose  or  not  too  frequent 
repetition  of  the  simillimum. 

2.  Gonorrhoea  and  syphilis  are  not  exceptions  to  the  law,  and  are 
just  as  amenable  to  the  potencies  as  any  other  affection.  But  here, 
too,  you  must  follow  Hahnemann's  instructions  as  laid  down  in 
Vol.  I  of  his  Chronic  Diseases,  and  not  the  cauterizing  and  inject- 
ing mal-treatment  of  Allopathy. 

3.  We  always  trust  the  indicated  remedy  irrespective  of  potency 
or  disease.  Take  the  symptoms  of  the  case  carefully  and  accu- 
rately, then  give  your  remedy  as  you  would  in  any  other  disease. 

4.  Diphtheria  being  a  constitutional  affection  (there  are  no  local 
diseases)  it  should  be  treated  constitutionally.  No  gargles  or  ad- 
juvants whatever  are  necessary.  That  is  an  allopathic  expedient 
for  which  we  have  no  use.  Homoeopathy  is  good  enough  for  us. 
It  would  be  infinitely  better  for  our  patients  in  uterine,  diseases  as 
well  as  diphtheria,  if  it  were  impossible  for  the  throat  or  uterus  to 
be  seen  and  we  were  compelled  to  rely  wholly  on  the  constitu- 
tional symptoms  for  our  guide  in  the  selection  of  the  remedy. 

5.  I  would  not  desert  my  colors  under  fire.  I  would  adhere  as 
firmly  to  my  potency  as  to  my  law  of  cure.  I  have  no  more  rea- 
son to  doubt  the  one  than  the  other.  A  potency  of  a  remedy  that 
has  carried  my  cases  safely  through  diphtheria  and  membranous 
croup  would  be  no  more  liable  to  fail  in  cholera  or  yellow  fever 
than  the  law  of  nature  upon  which  our  system  is  founded.  The 
potentized  remedy  has  proved  effective  in  the  treatment  of  Asiatic 
cholera  in  Italy,  and  there  is  no  reason  to  believe  it  will  fail  when 
applied  in  America.  But  Camphor  must  not  be  prescribed  for 
cholera  in  any  potency,  if  it  is  not  indicated.  This  is  the  great 
stumbling-block  in  the  progress  of  our  school,  and  the  sooner  we 
all  see  it  the  better. 


THE  CRANK  OF  AN  ORGAN. 


Editor  Advance.— Th^  ancient  North  American  Journal  of 
HonuEopathy  has  got  too  much  crank.  It  is  a  very  little  organ 
with  a  very  large  crank.  It  blew  a  sonorous  note  when  new,  but 
a  German  editor's  English  injured  its  bellows,  and  of  late  years  it 
ran  short  of  wind.  It  was  for  sale  cheap,  and  was  bought  by  a 
medical  college,  one  of  whose  faculty — the  noted  physicist  Hi-Low, 
LL.  D. — declaring  that  with  a  big  enough  crank  it  would  be  as 
good  as  new;  " at  least,"  said  he,  **the  college  can  get  its  money 
back."  The  faculty— from  its  own  a/wwiwi— selected  seven  to  work 
the  new  crank  and  one  to  grease  the  bearings.  "  Go  I "  said  physi- 
cist Hi-Low,  while  the  assembled  faculty  listened.  Too  much  wind 
is  bad  for  emphysema,  and  the  debilitated  organ  wheezed  and 
whistled, 


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1887  The  Craiik  of  an  Organ.  277 

"  But  they  smile,  they  find  a  music  centered  In  a  doleful  song 
Steaming  up,  a  lamentation  and  an  ancient  tale  o)  wrong. 
Like  a  tale  of  little  meaning,  though  the  words  are  strong." 

''Subscription  price,  per  volume  of  twelve  numbers,  $3.00.  Sin- 
gle numbers,  30 cents,"— said  physicist  Hi-Low,  smUing  through  his 

thankful  tears. 

*  *  * 

Speaking  of  clergymen,  Garlyle  was  of  opinion  that  the  Nurem- 
berg toy-makers  could  manufacture  a  superior  article  from  wood 
and  leather.  That  this  has  not  been  done  is  no  refutation.  The 
Nuremberger  has  not  made  his  article  because  the  old  kind  are  to 
be  had  so  much  cheaper. 

The  trade  value  of  a  good  editor  will  purchase  one  and  three- 
eights  gross  of  clergymen-  tico  full  gross,  if  you  allow  six  Metho- 
dists for  one  Unitarian,  and  are  supplying  rural  districts. 

*  4t  4c 

There  is  mighty  little  in  the  world  of  science  that  escapes  the 
lynx-eyed  physicist  Hi-Low.  He  is  a  walking  encyclopajdia,  and  he 
is  also  a  Yankee— &  combination  that  "  beats  the  devil,"  to  use  the 
language  of  the  un regenerate  man. 

4t  ♦  # 

The  "  editor-in-chief  "  of  the  North  American  Journal  of  Honvop- 
opathy  is  a  Nuremberg  article— a  device  of  wood  and  leather — 
either  imported  by  the  faculty  (which  I  doubt),  or  fabricated  by 
physicist  Hi-Low  (which  I  incline  to  believe,  as  the  thing  resembles 
much  of  his  handiwork).  Hi-Low  beats  Beelzebub  at  devices,  and, 
as  a  wood-and-leather  editorial  wnter  is  so  much  cheaper  than  the 
genuine  article,  such  an  evidence  of  Yankee  cuteness  confirms  me 
in  my  hypothesis.  The  six  supernumerary  "  editors  "  are  dummies 
— wax  figures  for  aught  I  know;  simulaci'a,  and  harmless  as  a 
Quaker  gun. 

4t  4t  * 

A  wood-and-leather  "editor-in-chief"  isn't  a  success.  Hence 
my  firm  opinion  that  the  one  under  notice  is  not  of  genuine 
Nuremberg  manufacture;  that  it  results  from  the  illicit  inter- 
course of  a  Yankee  and  an  encyclopaBdia.  This,  of  course,  is  con- 
jecture—the encyclopaedia  can't  confess  and  the  Yankee  won*t 
As,  however,  this  combination  **  beats  the  devil,"  /  must  admit 
that  it  is  too  much  for  me.  But  though  the  genesis  be  conjectural, 
the  failure  of  the  wood  and  leather  pretense  as  an  editorial  writer 
is  demonstrable,  all  Y'ankees  and  encyclopaBdias  to  the  contrary 
notwithstanding.   Turn  we  then  to  the  demonstration  of  A  WooD- 

akd-Leather  Phenomenon. 

*  ♦     '     * 

How  the  wood-and-leather  editorial  writer  is  set  at  work,  I  know 
not.  Perhaps  it  digests  rude  hints  in  shorthand,  like  Vaucanson's 
duck.  Perhaps  it  sleeps  over  night  with  one  of  the  faculty  and  is 
impregnated  in  that  way.    Perhaps  the  process  is  less  occult:  it 


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278  2%e  Medical  Advance.  Sept 

may  be  simply  wound  up,  or,  still  easier,  blown  up.  Frankly,  I 
don't  know,  and,  \  may  as  well  add,  I  am  an  hypotheses  non  flngo 
fellow. 

Suffice  it  that  the  thing:  was  set  agoing  on  an  editorial  for  the 
August  number,  having  for  its  subject,  "  Homoeopathic— Homce- 
opathist."  So  much  has  been  written  and  said  on  this  familiar 
topic  during  the  last  seventy  years  that  one  must  admit  it  was 
by  no  means  a  hard  task  for  even  a  wood-and-leather  machine  to 
do  its  duty  handsomely  by  it. 

The  automaton-apparatus  beginneth  in  this  wise: 

**  HOMCKOPATHic— *  pertaining  to  bomoeopathy ! '  Horaoeopathist— *  a  believer 
In  bomoeopatbyl '  It  is  interesting  at  tbe  present  time  to  note  how  mucli  misun- 
derstood these  two  words  have  been  and  still  are/'  etc. 

To  misunderstand  these  two  words  would  require,  one  would 
think,  a  wood-and-leather  intellect;  and  before  the  "editorial"  is 
completed  the  automaton-apparatus  has  made  good  its  claim  to 
that.  But  as  the  wood-and-leather  fabrication  warms  to  its  work 
it  discourseth  on  the  source  and  origin  of  "  the  sectarian  name 
homoeopath ists  "  thus: 

"  The  true  and  staunch  men  who,  having  the  courage  of  their  convictions,  were 
thus  driven  out  from  the  great  body  of  medical  men,  Qiven  the  *  sectarian '  name 
*  homoeopathists,'  and  shunned  by  the  medical  profession,"  etc. 

"  The  more  advanced  allopathists  of  to-day  only  object  to  homoeopathists  on 
the  ground  that  we  are  knoum  hy  the  name  with  which  thkib  medical  anck8- 

TOBS,  WITH  CURSING  AND  BITTKRNB88,  CHRISTENED  US." 

And  towards  the  end  of  the  editorial— the  apparatus  having 
thoroughly  warmed  to  its  work— we  have  this  coruscation,  show- 
ing what  electricity  there  is  in  wood-and-leather;  ' 

*'That  the  demand  of  our  sponsors  in  baptism  to  forget  the  name  which,  not 
long  ago,  they  rubbed  into  our  foreheads  wUh  cruelty  and  persecution,**  etc. 

To  a  wood-and-leather  automaton  apparatus  this  ruhhiTig  a 
name  into  the  forehead  with  cruelty  and  persecution  is  the  climax 
of  devilishness— and  what  a  burst  of  wood-and-leather  rhetoric  it 
has  evoked!  We  are  in  full  sympathy  with  the  incensed  apparatus 
and  are  only  second  to  it  in  deprecating  such  baptism  and  damn- 
ing such  sponsors. 

But  what  will  the  physicist  Hi-Low,  LL.  D.,  say  when  he  reads 
this  freak  of  the  wood-and-leather  apparatus,  knowing,  as  Hi-Low 
must  be  presumed  to  know,  that  Hahnemann  himself  originated 
the  "sectarian  "  names  " Homoeopathy,"  "  Homoeopathic,"  "  Homoe- 
opathist,"  and  in  all  the  fervor  of  a  zealot  bestowed  them  on  his 
disciples,  and  that  all  the  devilish  **  rubbing  in  "  business  was  done 
by  HIM  in  his  endeavor  to  make  "  allopath  "  and  "  allopathy  "  stick 
to  those  who  did  not  think  as  he  did  in  matters  medical? 

I  do  not  know  in  what  place  *'  honor  is  lodged  "  in  a  wood-and- 
leather  automaton-editorial-apparatus,  but  I'll  bet  a  hypodermic 


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1887  Tlie  Ci^ank  of  an  Organ.  279 

syrioge  that  when  physicist  Hi*Low,  LL.D.,  got  near  the  editorial 
fabricator  his  boot  sought  it  in  the  accustomed  place. 

Since  time  began,  was  ever  a  "journal  of  Homoeopathy*'  and  a 
college  "  organ  "  so  wholesalely  "  given  away  "  V  Isn't  it  j ust  "  too 
awfully  too"?  When  the  genial  John  C.  Morgan  was  proving 
Gelsemium,  exciting  war  news  made  his  bowels  move:  what  must 
the  August  *•  North  American"  have  done  to  physicist  Hi-Low! 
Such  a  nervous  diarrhoea  as  he  must  have  had  would  have  fertil- 
ized four  worn  out  Virginia  plantations. 

Meanwhile  the  "organ"  of  the  New  York  Homoeopathic  Medi- 
cal ('ollege  is  the  laughing  stock  of  every  Homoeopath  from  Maine 
to  Mexico,  and  its  only  "83.00  a  year,  30  cents  a  number"  the 
cheapest  fun  in  the  market. 

•  *  *  * 

An  attempt  to  evince  animosity  is  so  human  a  trait  that  I  am 
almost  ready  to  doubt  if  this  same  editorial  writer  is  a  wood-and. 
leather  apparatus.  Look  at  the  following— evidently  aimed  at  the 
New  York  Medical  Times : 

•*  There  are  some  recalcitrant  followers  of  the  Hahnetnannic  law  who  consider 
that  this  distinctive  title  [horaoeopathist]  should  be  dropped;  they  are  so  paeudo- 
sdttUtfle  in  their  notions  of  liberaZity,  and  hypetwmic  in  Uieir  ideas  of  universality 
in  medicine,'*  etc. 

The  cheaply  malicious  intent  of  the  whole  paragraph  certainly 
looks  human,  but  could  any  human  being  out  of  Bedlam  write 
about  "pseudo-scientific  notions  of  liberality,"  and  "hypersemic 
ideas  of  universality  in  medicine  "  ?  If  such  a  use  of  words  could 
be  made  by  a  human  being,  I  should  swear  it  was  an  instance  of 
"  unconscious  cerebration,"  performed  in  and  by  the  appenddx  ver- 
mifonnis.    Either  tliat  or  a  wood-and-leather  fatix  pas. 

*  *  * 

I  have  vanquished  every  doubt;  it  i«  a  wood-and-leather  auto< 
maton-apparatus, "  only  this  and  nothing  more."  Every  created 
thing  in  human  shape  has  a  sense  of  right  and  wrong— the  shadow 
of  the  Divine.  The  nearer  the  Light,  the  darker  the  shadow;  the 
farther  the  Light,  the  fainter  the  shadow;  but  dark  or  faint,  wher- 
ever man  i^  also  the  shadow  is,  because  the  Eternal  is  shining 
upon  him. 

But  let  me  quote  the  conscienceless  machine  en  bloc  in  order  that 
I  may  not  be  unjust  to  even  it: 

"  It  is  high  time,  however,  that  the  word  *  homoeopathic '  be  understood  by  the 
public;  it  is  high  time  that  the  true  definition  of  the  term  * homoeopathlst '  be 
given.  It  means  *  one  who  believes  in  homoaopathy  '—nothing  more,  nothing  less 
—and  why  a  believer  in  homoeopathy  does  not  have  Just  as  much  right  as  a  be- 
liever in  allopathy  to  use  all  the  adjuvantlc  treatment  that  he  may  think  neces- 
sary for  the  welfare  of  his  patient  we  are  at  a  loss  to  determine." 

Notice,  please,  that  this  infernal  apparatus,  this  thing  of  wood  and, 
leather,  says  "we,"  just  as  a  flesh-and-blood  editor  is  wont  to  do. 
Know  this,  O  wood-and-leather  sham,  a  BELIEF  in  Homoeopathy 


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The  Medical  Advance.  Sept  . 

makes  your  "  adjuvantic  treatment "  IMPOSSIBLE.  Do  you  know 
what  a  Beli^is?  Think  you  it  is  only  a  varnish,  a  veneer,  a  con- 
venience, an  occasion,  an  accident,  a  whim  ?  Does  it  occur  to  your 
wood-and-leather  conception  that  a  Belief  can  take  a  man  to  the 
martyr's  stake  and  make  of  him  a  heap  of  ashes  for  the  winds  to 
sport  with:  that  those  ashes  can  be  cast  into  a  river  and  carried  to 
the  sea  and  yet  each  atom  thereof  shall  bear  his  Belief  to  the 
hearts  of  nations  and  shape  their  destinies  forever?  "Belief," 
indeed;  what  can  a  thing  of  wood  and  leather,  or  any  mere  appa- 
ratus for  propagating  the  species,  know  of  a  **  belief"! 
But  let  the  automaton-apparatus  voice  itself  yet  again: 

"  Because  a  pbysfcian  is  a  believer  in  homoeopatby.  Is  lie  to  believe  nothing 
else?  Is  he  to  be  debarred  from  using  any  other  treatment  which  he  may  con- 
sider best  for  his  patient?  Can  he  not  administer  morphine  hypodermically  for 
the  mechanical  pressure  of  gall  sttmes  or  of  a  kidney  calculus?  Shall  he  allow  a 
patient  to  die  m  torment  from  cancer,  or  in  the  excrutiating  pain  incident  to 
mutilating  accidents  or  surgical  operations?  Shall  the  agonies  of  phthisis  and 
other  incurable  disorbers  inflict  themselves  upon  a  human  being,  and  a  physician 
—because  he  believes  in  homoeopathy— stand  passively  by  without  attempting  to 
offer  his  euthanasia  to  the  suffering  or  the  dying?  The  interrogatories  are  so 
preposterous  that  they  need  no  reply/' 

It  were  indeed  **  preposterous  *'  to  offer  a  reply  to  a  wood-and- 
leather  apparatus;  but  there  are  even  replies  for  a  thinking  being. 
FiTStyVfithiibeli^inhomceopSkthysL  physician  will  not  consider 
any  other  treatment  best  for  his  patient  Secondly,  as  a  homoeo- 
path he  will  not  find  morphine  the  only,  or  the  best,  palliative  for 
gall  stone,  or  calculus  Thirdly,  he  will  never  stand  passively  by; 
his  Belladonna  given  under  the  law  will  do  better  for  a  miserere 
than  morphine  in  that  it  relieves  the  condition  and  removes  the 
cause.  Fourthly,  as  aids  to  euthanasia  a  homoeopathic  physician 
is  not  confined  to  Morphine,  Chloral  and  Cocaine.  Lastly,  it  must  ^ 
not  be  forgotten  that  morphine  has  been  given  for  pain,  and  has 
begotten  an  opium  habit  to  which  death  were  a  mercy.  The  same 
of  cocaine.    But  the  apparatus  emits  this: 

"The  truth  is  this:  the  homoeopathic  physician  believes  in  the  law  simUia 
simUibus  rurantur  to  such  a  degn*ee  that  it  moulds  and  directs  his  practice  in  the 
majority  of  his  cases;  he  believes  it  to  be  the  l)est,  and,  indeed,  the  only  scientific 
law  upon  which  therapeutics  are  based,  and  endeavors  to  follow  it  as  conscien- 
tiously as  he  can  in  the  practice  of  his  profession.  But  because  he  does  this,  and 
so  announces,  is  he  to  treat  cases  of  poisoning  without  antidotes?  Is  he  to  trifle 
with  pains  incident  to  incurable  disease?  Is  be  to  forswear  the  influence  of 
chemical  action?  Is  he,  in  other  words,  to  make  a  fool  of  himself  to  the  detri- 
ment of  bis  patient  l>ecause  he  is  a  believer  in  homoeopathy?  " 

If  he  believes  S.  S.  C.  to  be  "  the  best "  law  in  therapeutics  isn't 
he  a  fool  to  resort  to  any  other.  If  it  is  **  the  only  scientific  law  *' 
why  leave  it  for  the  unscientific  ?  Hahnemann  himself  teaches 
Homoeopaths  to  treat  lethal  poisonings  with  antidotes.  "  The  only 
scientific  law  in  therapeutics  "  cannot  be  "  scientific  "  if  it  **  trifles" 
with  any  pains.    **  The  only  scientific  law  "  (what  is  an  unscieiir 


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1887         The  Crank  of  an  Organ.  281 

tific  LAW  ?)  should  mould  and  direct  in  all  cases,  and  the  stickler  for 
"scientific  law  '*  makes  ''a  fool  of  himself  to  the  detriment  of  his 
patient  *'  when  he  forsakes  it. 

The  next  paragraph  from  the  machine  explains  much: 

'*  There  is  stiU  another  c9nslderatioii  which  evolves  Itself  in  the  consideration 
of  the  subject.  It  is  this:  strive  as  we  may  to  possess  [sUa]  the  similar  to  certain 
presenting  symptoms,  it  may  happen  either  from  the  lack  of  knowledge  of  the 
Materia  Medlca  (few  men  being  able  to  master  it  completely  in  a  life-time),  or 
from  the  imperfectness  of  provings,  or  indeed  from  the  absence  of  the  Materia 
Medlca  of  certain  drugs,  that  it  is  impossible  to  enunciate  [Mc]  the  law  in  pre- 
scribing; then,  surely,  though  it  is  less  scientiflc  in  every  way.  the  humane  physi- 
cian must  fall  back  to  [«ir]  the  next  best  resource,  which  is  the  medicine  of  expe- 
rience." 

There  is  some  machine  English  in  this  paragraph.  For  in- 
stance, he,  or  I  should  say  it,  makes  possess  and  enunciate  equiva- 
lents, and  it  uses  them  in  the  sense  of  apply,  "  Enunciate  the  law 
in  prescribing  "  is  nonsense.  But  it  acknowledges  that  it  may  be 
**  impossible  to  enunciate  the  law  in  prescribing  **  from  the  absence 
of  certain  drugs  (I  find  *'  drugs  **  often  that  I  once  thought  absent 
from  our  Materia  Medica),  from  the  imperfectness  of  provings 
(which  *  proving'  is  perfect?)  and  "  from  lack  of  knowledge  of  the 
Materia  Medica."  Ah  I  how  much  morphine,  and  chloral,  and  co- 
caine, and  what  cathartics,  and  diuretics  and  the  Lord  knows 
what,  does  not  that  same  "lack  of  knowledge"  make  occasion  for? 
That  is  exactly  why  so  many  so-called  homoeopathic  physicians 
believe  in  the  law  of  similars  **  to  a  degree."  And  when  their 
knowledge  fails  it  is  so  easy  to  blame  "  the  only  scientific  law  " 
and  "  fall  back  to  "  the  **  less  scientific  in  every  way"  **adjuvantic" 
make  shift. 

Yes,  wood-and-leather  apparatus,  it  is  easier  to  stupify  a  patient 
with  morphine  than  to  soothe  a  pang  with  its  simillimum,  when 
one  does  not  "  possess  "  it,  and  cannot  therefore  "  enunciate  the  law 
in  prescribing.*' 

One  passage  in  this  astounding  editorial  strongly  suggests  that 
our  wood-and-leather  editorial  writer  was  *'  coached  "  by  some  one 
of  the  faculty  of  the  N.  Y.  Hom.  Med.  College.    Here  it  is: 

"  It  must  also  be  remembered  that  men  now  practicing,  for  the  most  part, 
homoeopathy,  hold  a  diploma,  which  gives  them  the  most  emphatic  power  to  prac- 
tice AS  THEY  PLBASB  The  documcnt  first  states  that  they  are  not  only  '  doctors 
of  medicine.'  with  all  the  rights  and  prlvdegee,  hereunto  helonging,  but  are  In  addi- 
tion created  *  doctors  of  homoeopathic  medicine.' " 

"Pro-dig-i-ous!**  as  Dominie  Sampson  would  say.  Here  I've  had 
one  of  those  very  diplomas  for  twenty-six  years  and  never  until 
to-day  knew  that  it  gave  me  most  emphatic  power  to  practice  as  I 
saw  fit  This  wood-and-leather  libeller  refers  to  the  mother  col- 
lege—The Homoeopathic  Medical  College  of  Pennsylvania.  SHE 
creating  •*  doctors  of  homoeopathic  medicine"  and  giving  them 
"most  emphatic  power"  to  stultify  themselves!    O,  wood-and- 


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282  The  Medical  Advance.  Sopi 

leather  apparatus,  were  those  teachers  of  ours,  now  hushed  in 
death,  shameless  duplicities! 

By  a  wise  fore8ig:ht,  the  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania  vested  us 
with  all  the  rights  and  privileges  of  doctors  of  medicine  that  in 
THE  EYE  OF  THE  LAW  wemight  Stand  face  to  face  the  equals  of  any 
graduates  \n  medicine  under  the  aegis  of  the  State:  but  our  faculty 
made  us  Homoeopaths,  not  omnipaths  nor  nullipaths. 

Curiously  enough.  In  one  item  I  find  myself  "  running  with  the . 
machine"  editorial  writer: 

"  Tbat  the  time  will  come  when  distinctive  titles  regarding  systems  of  medi- 
cine will  be  dropped,  and  educated  and  conscientious  practitioners  will  be  al- 
lowed, without  let  or  hindrance,  to  practice  their  profession  without  regard  to 
*  pathies,'  there  can  be  no  doubt." 

Such  being  the  case,  why  the  North  American  Jour,  of  Horn. 
should  throw  stones  at  the  iV.  F.  Med,  Times  passes  comprehen- 
sion; and  as  the  N.  Y.  Med.  College  is  to  have  a  new  building,  it 
is  to  be  hoped  that  the  faculty  will  avoid  a  "distinctive  title"  on 
the  new  college  sign-board. 

I  am  almost  in  love  with  the  automatic  apparatus,  and  I  hereby 
award  it  "  the  cake  "  for  the  most  delightful  non  sequitur  I  ever 
met  in  a  medical  journal.    Let  me  share  it  with  the  patient  reader: 

"  That  maiTM,  est  Veritas  et  prevalebit  is  as  true  to>day  as  when  the  early 
Christians  were  slaughtered  for  their  belief,  is  past  contradiction,  and  thbrrfore 
those  who  believe  that  the  law  &\  ;S.  C.  is  the  best  formula  to  follow  in  the  treat- 
ment of  disease  need  not  be  ashamed  of  their  title,  and  may,  without  scruple  or 
hindrance^  employ  any  other  means  theu  desire  for  the  relief  of  suffering  humcmity" 

Is  all  this  "a  tale  of  little  meaning,  though  the  words  are  strong," 
or  does  the  "  cjank  "  of  the  organ  VOICE  THE  ETHICS  OF  THE 
NEW  HOM.  MED.  COLLEGE? 

To  many  of  us.  Homoeopathy  is  not  a  trade-mark  adopted  for  its 
trade  value;  it  is  not  an  empty  profession  but  an  earnest  convic- 
tion. We  who  are  of  the  faith  are  not  the  inferiors  in  knowledge 
and  wisdom  of  any  of  the  faculty  of  the  N.  Y.  Hom.  Med.  College. 
Some  of  us  have  weighed  and  measured  you  years  ago,  and  you 
are  not  of  the  stature  to  be  a  law  unto  us,  or  to  defile  our  inherit- 
ance. Declare  yourselves;  you  are  challenged  in  fealty  to  the 
honored  dead  and  in  justice  to  the  honest  living  disciples  and  fol- 
lowers of  Samuel  Hahnemann.  Do  not  disdain  to  pick  up  the 
glove  because  it  is  flung  at  your  feet  by  him  who  wrote 

**  The  Grounds  of  a  Homceopath's  Faith." 


HoMCEOPATHY  IN  TENNESSEE.— Dr.  W.  L.  McCreary,  Knoxville, 
writes:  **  The  people  of  the  South  are  ripe  for  Homoeopathy,  and 
all  we  need  now  is  more  men  to  bring  it  well  to  the  front.  I  think 
if  more  of  our  active  young  men  would  look  to  the  South  rather 
than  to  the  West  they  would  be  better  pleased,  and  succeed  better 
too." 


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1887  The  Latest  Craze. 

EDITORIAL. 


^*Wheii  we  have  to  do  with  an  art  whose  end  is  the  saving  of  human  life,  any  neRlect  to 
make  onrselves  thoroughly  masters  of  It  becomes  a  crime."— Habmkmann. 

The  Latest  Cbaze. — For  many  years  the  teachers  and 
writers  of  the  allopathic  school  have  zealously  labored,  in 
season  and  oat  of  season,  to  place  its  therapeutics  on  a 
scientific  basis.  Whether  the  results  at  the  bed-side  were 
successful  or  not,  the  treatment  of  disease  must  at  least  be 
scientific;  and  this  persistent  search  after  the  science  of 
therapeutics  has  led  the  school  into  the  most  ridiculous 
positions  from  which  it  has  been  difficult  or  even  impos- 
sible to  retreat  The  chief  cause  of  these  numerous  fail- 
ures is  a  dogged  adherence  to  a  false  philosophy.  A  theory 
is  put  forth  with  great  eclat  and  then  the  facts  must  be 
found  to  sustain  it  and  to  convince  the  world  that  it  is 
scientific. 

Dr.  James  B.  Bell,  of  Boston,  very  cleverly  punctures 
this  bubble,  as  follows: 

•*  There  are  two  ways  of  studying  nature  or  acquiring  truth. 
One  is  the  philosophy  of  Aristotle,  'old  and  always  false/— the 
deductive,  or  thinking  out  a  theory,  and  then  finding  facts  to  6t  it; 
guessing  and  presuming  how  things  ought  to  be,  then  gathering  a 
few  facts  that  do  or  seem  to  prove  that  they  are  so.  This  philo- 
sophy has  brought  most  of  the  errors  into  all  the  sciences,  and  all 
branches  of  human  knowledge.  It  prejudices  the  inind  at  the  out- 
set with  a  bias  toward  one  set  of  ideas,  then  makes  all  observa- 
tions partial  and  partisan,  as  well  as  incomplete  and  superficial.  It 
assumed  that  Scripture  and  observation  taught  that  the  sun  re- 
volved around  the  earth,  and  the  whole  expanse  of  the  heavens 
had  to  bend  into  a. crystal  sphere  to  fit  the  theory.  It  has  assumed 
countless  theories  in  all  the  sciences,  and  especially  in  medicine, 
which  are  dow  wrecks  upon  the  hard  rocks  of  fact.  It  now  assumes 
the  doctrine  of  specifics  in  medicine,— mercury  for  syphilis,  quinine 
for  ague,  and  a  few  others,  although  the  list  of  even  apparent  spe- 
cifics is  very  small.  Nevertheless,  the  search  goes  on  for  this 
•will-o'-the-wisp.'  Our  journals  are  full  of  the  exclamation,  *I 
have  found  it!'  *  I  have  found  it!*  All  this  comes  from  this  de- 
lusive deductive  philosophy  which  leads  us  to  assume  that  diseases 
are  specific  entities,  or  things;  and  that  there  ought  to  be  specific 
antidotes  or  destroyers  of  these  things;  and  that  therefore  thes^ 
assumptions  are  true,  as  a  few  carelessly  observed  facts  might 
seem  to  indicate.** 


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284  The  Medical  Advance.  Sept 

For  instance,  Koch  discovered  the  bacillus  of  cholera^ 
'and  then  all  that  was  necessary  to  do  was  to  find  a  germi- 
cide capable  of  detroyiDg  the  invader,  and  lo!  Asiatic 
cholera  was  to  be  promptly  exterminated.  But  after 
numerous  experiments  in  this  direction  in  which  the  mor- 
tality was  not  in  the  least  reduced,  it  was  sorrowfully  con- 
fessed that  a  dose  of  the  remedy  sufficiently  powerful  to 
exterminate  the  bacillus  would  be  almost  certain  to  be 
fatal  to  the  patient.  To  Koch,  likewise,  is  due  the  credit 
of  the  grand  discovery  of  the  bacillus  tuberculosis  and  the 
medical  press  of  both  Europe  and  America  sounded  his 
praises  from  the  house  tops.  Eureka!  At  last  we  have 
found  it.  But,  alas,  soon  some  teacher  or  experimenter 
more  frank  or  honest  than  his  associates,  sounds  the  alarm, 
expresses  a  doubt,  publishes  a  failure.  For  instance,  M. 
Debove,  clinical  lecturer  at  the  Hopital  de  la  Pitie,  Paris, 
said  in  1883:  "The  ideal  end  toward  which  we  should  al- 
ways strive  when  we  are  in  the  presence  of  a  parasitical 
malady  such  as  phthisis,  is  to  find  a  parasiticide  acting  in 
the  interior  in  the  same  manner  as  the  external  remedies 
used  for  the  itch.  It  is  necessary  to  find  a  substance  which» 
without  injuring  the  system,  will  be  destructive  to  the  pai-a- 
site.  Unhappily,  this  germicide  is  still  to  be  found,  and 
we  have  no  cause  to  hope  it  will  be  found  in  the  near 
future.  It  is  easy  to  make  cultures  of  the  bacilli  tubercu- 
losis, and  to  know  that  in  this  or  that  condition  the  culture 
is  arrested.  Only  if  we  undertake  to  apply  to  man  these 
experimental  results  obtained,  we  expose  him  to  all  sorts 
of  dangers."  Again  at  the  Congress  at*  Copenhagen  in 
1884,  Dr.  Jaccoud  sadly  confessed,  that  the  discovery  of 
Koch  "  has  not  made  one  step  in  advance  in  the  thera- 
peutics of  phthisis.''  Germicide  after  germicide  has  been 
tried  in  the  vain  endeavor  to  extinguish  the  bacillus — the 
diagnosis — of  tuberculosis,  and  failure  is  the  only  result  of 
the  scientific  (?)  effort.     And  thus  the  farce  goes  on. 

But  Dr.  Bergeon  has  found  a  new  germicide — and  a  new 
method  of  using  it — for  the  treatment  of  affections  of  the 
respiratory  organs.  This  is  by  rectal  injections  of  gaseous 
enemata,  and  is  no  sooner  announced  than  the  manufac- 


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1887  New  Publicaiiona.  286 

turers  are  kept  busy  in  supplying  the  apparatus.  We 
should  expect  "the  latest  craze"  to  be  promptly  adopted 
by  the  devotees  of  empiricism,  but  when  professed  Homoe- 
opaths, even  members  of  the  Hahnemannian  Association, 
so  far  forget  themselves  as  to  abandon  their  law  of  cure 
and  arm  themselves  with  the  apparatus  for  the  application 
of  this  humbug,  it  is  time,  in  the  name  of  Hahnemann,  to 
enter  our  protest,  even  if  the  treatment  be  scientific.  Figs 
do  not  grow  on  thistles,  and  no  one  knows  it  better  than  the 
homoeopathic  physician.  But  those  who  read  allopathic 
journals  "  to  find  out  what  our  friends  are  doing,"  and  study 
allopathic  pathology  with  a  view  of  founding  thereon  a 
homoepathic  treatment,  will  be  rudely  awakened  by  the 
humiliating  failures  in  store  for  these  weak-kneed  fol- 
lowers of  Hahilemann.  Now  that  the  hospitals,  one  after 
another,  are  abandoning  this  scientific  craze  as  an  utter 
failure,  would  it  not  be  well  for  Homoeopaths  to  stand  from 
under.  When  the  returns  are  all  in  let  our  allopathic 
neighbor  not  point  the  finger  of  empiricism  at  us. 


NEW  PUBLICATIONS. 


WHAT  TO  DO  FIRST  IN  ACCIDENTS  AND  EMEKQENCIES.  By  Cliarles  W. 
Dulles,  M.  D.,  Philadelphia.  Second  Edition  Revised  and  Enlarged.  Phila- 
delphia: P.  Plaklston,  Son  &  Co.,  1883,  pp.  116. 

This  little  volume  is  open  to  one  objection  and  that  is  its  brevi- 
ty. It  is  admirably  suited  for  carrying  in  a  buggy  case,  or  an  in- 
side coat  pocket,  and  is  filled  with  suggestion,  worth  many  times 
its  money  value;  but  its  treatment,  it  seems  to  us,  ought  to  be 
elaborated.  In  many  instances,  of  course,  its  practice  varies  from 
that  advocated  by  our  school,  but  in  the  main  the  work  is  com- 
mandable.    We  have  enjoyed  its  perusal. 


WHAT  TO  DO  IN  CASES  OF  POISONING.  By  William  Murrell,  M.  D.,  F.  R.C. 
P.,  first  American  from  the  fifth  English  Edition.  Edited  by  Frank  Woodbury, 
M.  D.    Philadelphia:  The  Medical  RegUUr  Co.,  1887. 

This  compilation  has  recently  appeared  in  The  Medical  Register 
where  it  attracted  such  attention  as  very  properly  to  induce  that 
journal  to  put  it  into  book  form.  It  is  compact,  concise,  and  ar- 
ranged in  a  way  to  make  it  accessible.  We  know  of  no  little  mono- 
graph, recently  appearing,  which  seems  to  fill  its  place  so  well  as 
this  volume.  The  author  states  in  this  preface:  ''This  work  has 
reached  a  fifth  edition,  but  it  is  not  my  fault,  and  I  disclaim  all 


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286  The  Medical  Advance.  Sept 

responsibility  in  the  matter.  I  am  told  it  has  been  the  means  of 
saving  many  lives,  and  I  have  no  doubt  this  is  true,  for  I  hear  that 
a  gentleman  who  thought  of  poisoning  himself  changed  his  mind 
on  reading  the  directions  for  treatment.  He  was  of  a  retiring  dis- 
position, and  objected  to  have  a  pint  of  hot  strong  coffee  injected 
into  his  rectum." 


BERND'S  PHY8ICIAH»S  OFFICE  REGISTER.    Henry  Bemd  &  Co  .  2638  Lucas 
Avenue,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

We  have  examined  and  used  quite  a  number  of  visiting  lists^ 
but  we  are  more  than  pleased  with  this  handsome  little  volume, 
suited  either  for  the  pocket  or  desk.  By  a  clever  arrangement  of 
pages,  every  alternate  one  being  short,  the  account  of  a  patient  may 
be  carried  for  an  entire  year  with  but  one  entering  of  the  name, 
residence  and  occupation.  The  book  is  12  x  17  inches;  contains  92 
pages;  each  page  divided  into  seven  spaces,  thus  providing  for  644 
accounts.  It  is  alphabetically  indexed,  substantially  bound,  Rus- 
sia back  and  comers  and  neatly  finished.  A  number  of  physicians 
recommend  it:  among  others  Dr.  J.  T.  Kent,  St.  Louis,  says:  "  I 
regard  it  as  the  only  Register  in  use  adapted  to  the  physician's 
needs— a  great  saving  of  time  and  all  that  is  really  required.'' 
Within  a  period  of  four  months  these  books  have  been  introduced 
into  every  State  in  the  Union  and  Canada,  and  solely  on  their 
merits. 


A  TEXT-BOOK  OF  PATHOLOGICAL  ANATOMY  AND  PATHOiiENESIS.  By 
Ernest  Ztegler,  of  the  University  of  Tubingen,  translated,  in  one  volume,  by 
Donald  Mac  AUster.  M.  A.,  M.  D.    Wm.  Wood  &  Co.,  New  York.  1887. 

This  is,  without  doubt  one  of  the  most  valuable  and  deeply  in- 
teresting works  that  has  appeared  for  some  time  past.  The  space  at 
my  disposal  is  entirely  inadequate  to  such  a  notice  as  its  merits 
and  value  demands.  While  the  subject-matter  is  severely  con- 
densed, an  exceedingly  wide  range  is  covered,  and  the  very  latest 
information  given  in  a  clear,  perspicuous,  albeit  sometimes  dog- 
matic manner.  To  the  student  of  surgical  pathology  it  may  be 
considered  an  indispensable  work,  one  that  he  will  find  occasion 
daily,  almost  hourly,  to  refer  to.  Those  who  are  competent  to  read 
it  in  the  original  give  the  translator  unstinted  praise  for  the  fidel- 
ity of  his  work,  yet  is  it  a  matter  for  regret  that  the  style  was  not 
made  a  little  more  free  from  the  peculiar  German  idiom.  The 
value,  however,  is  not  entirely  found  in  the  translation,  or  the 
author's  work;  the  notes,  additions,  and  comments  of  the  gifted 
translator  are  exceedingly  apposite,  and  not  infrequently  ma- 
terially reinforce  the  original  text.  This  is  particularly  noticeable 
in  the  chapters  on  inflammation  and  brain-lesions.  In  this  day  of 
many  books,  none  can  afford  to  go  without  this,  one  of  the  latest 
and  best. 


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1887  EdU(yr'8  Table.  287 

EDITOR'S  TABLE. 


The  Southern  Hom.  Med.  Association  will  hold  its  4th  an- 
nual meeting  in  New  Orleans,  Dec.  14, 1887. 

H.  F.  BiooAR,  M.  D.,  who  has  been  having  his  regular  bi-annual 
vacation  abroad  will  return  to  Cleveland,  Sept.  3, 1887. 

Dr.  Lemuel  C.  Grosvenor,  Chicago,  has  returned  from  an  ex- 
tended vacation  by  the  sea  shore  and  in  the  Old  Bay  State. 


Homoeopathy  in  Ohio.— Dr.  W.  A.  Frost  who  succeeded  Dr. 
House  at  Tecumseh,  Mich.,  says  that  he  left  a  good  practice  open 
for  an  ent^prising  man  at  Sylvania,  Ohio. 

For  Sale.— a  yearly  practice  of  82,000  cash  in  a  town  of  4,000 
population.  Will  be  sold  cheap  to  the  right  man,  with  house  and 
lot  if  desired.    Address,  P.  O.  Box  273,  Ballston,  N.  Y. 

Dr.  J.  B.  HuBBELL,  Washington,  D.  C,  ha«  been  appointed  by 
the  President,  associate  U.  S.  delegate  with  Miss  Clara  Barton  to 
represent  the  government  at  the  International  Red  Cross  Confer- 
ence at  Carlsruhe  in  September. 

Homocopathy  in  Kansas.— Drs.  Ordway  and  Pearman  have 
established  a  Free  Dispensary  at  Wichita,  at  245  North  Market 
Street,  Dr.  Van.  Pearman  Physician  in  Charge.  They  report  great 
success  in  treatment,  and  assured  progress  for  Homoeopathy. 

Dr.  C.  H.  Goodman,  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  has  accepted  the  chair  of 
Theory  and  Practice  in  the  St.  Louis  School  (Hom.  Med.  College  of 
Mo.).  Dr.  Goodman  is  a  graduate  of  Yale  '67  and  of  The  Hahne- 
mann (Phila.)  '69.  We  congratulate  the  St.  Louis  School  upon  the 
acquisition  of  so  valuable  an  instructor  and  of  so  popular  and  suc- 
cessful a  practitioner. 

Errata.— In  Dr.  Wakeman's  article  on  Aconite  (July)  page  8, 
5th  line  of  first  paragraph  for  "  fever,"  read  "  fear."  In  paper  on 
Catarrhus  ^Estivus (August) page  164,21st  line  from  top  for  "not" 
read  "  most."  In  Dr.  A.  L.  Kennedy's  statement  (July),  page  110, 
fourth  line,  instead  of  "  prove  but  a  waif  on  the  sea  of  scientific 
pathology  "  read  "  prove  but  another  wave  of  the  sea  of  scientific 
fervor  which  like  many  of  its  predcessors,"  etc.  Farther  down,  in- 
stead of  "Homoeopathy  is  already  of  record  in  too  many  cases"  read 
"for  Homoeopathy  has  already  on  record  too  many  cases." 

Death.— Dr.  Titus  L.  Brown,  of  Binghamton,  N.  Y.,  died 
Wednesday,  August  17, 1887,  at  his  residence.  He  was  stricken 
with  paralysis  on  the  Thursday  morning  previous,  becoming  un- 
conscious Saturday,  and  continuing  so  to  the  end. 


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The  Medical  Advance.  Sept 

Dr.  Brown  was  born  in  Hillsdale,  N.  Y..  in  1828. '  He  began  the 
study  of  medicine  in  1850,  graduating  from  the  Homoeopathic 
Medical  College  of  Philadelphia  in  1853.  In  the  following  year  he 
married  Miss  Frances  Marvin,  of  Binghamton,  who  survives  him 
with  three  grown  daughters. 

He  was  an  active  member  of  many  societies,  notably  of  the 
American  Institute  of  Homoeopathy  and  of  the  International  Hah- 
nemannian  Association. 

Few  men  enjoyed  a  wider  acquaintance.  Professionally  he  had 
few  superiors,  and  his  affability  and  general  social  freedom,  to- 
gether with  his  strong  personal  magnetism,  made  him  a  pleasant 
companion.  He  had  established  a  large  and  lucrative  practice, 
which  he  held  as  much  by  his  charming  freedom  from  narrow- 
minded  bigotry,  as  from  his  superior  ability.  He  w%s  a  whole- 
souled,  upright  man;  kind  and  generous  to  a  fault;  keenly  sar- 
castic in  combating  error;  but  patient  and  gentle  as  a  dove  to  the 
erring,  and  truth  seeking.  He  lived  his  belief:  "the  time  to  be 
happy  is  now;  the  place  to  be  happy  is  here;  the  way  to  be  happy 
is  to  make  others  so.**    Our  brother,  peace  and  good  night. 

11.  H. 


Obituary.— Departed  this  life  August  19,  1887,  Mrs.  Jeanes, 
widow  of  I)n  Jacob  Jeanes,  of  Philadelphia.  In  the  death  of  this 
noble  and  honored  Christian  woman.  Homoeopathy  loses  one  of  its 
oldest  and  most  powerful  friends.  During  the  early  struggles  of 
the  new  system  she  stood  by  the  side  of  her  distinguished  husband, 
aiding,  encouraging,  and  in  some  instances,  wisely  directing  him. 
Her  home  was  the  center  from  which  radiated  the  hope  and  the 
cheer  that  brightened  the  days  and  lightened  the  labors  of  the 
early  toilers  all  over  the  land.  It  was  in  her  house  that  the  pioneer 
homoeopathic  medical  college  was  bom;  and  when  the  effort  to 
procure  a  charter  was  likely  to  fail  through  legislative  indiffer- 
ence and  allopathic  opposition,  it  was  her  hand  atid  her  influence 
that  saved  its  fortunes  and  rescued  it  from  defeat.  And  from  that 
time  she  has  been  the  firm  fast  friend  of  the  institution,  and  indeed 
of  all  similar  institutions.  We  speak  of  the  "  homoeopathic  Fa- 
thers," but  Mrs.  Jeanes  was  in  a  high  sense,  the  Mother  of  homoe- 
opathic medical  colleges  in  this  country.  The  old  members  of  the 
American  Institute  will  recall  pleasant  memories  of  her  home,  her 
hospitality  and  her  words  of  counsel  and  cheer  at  an  hour  when 
they  were  so  sorely  needed.  As  we  loved  her  for  her  Christian  vir- 
tues, so  let  us  revere  her  memory  for  the  services  she  rendered  to 
the  science  and  cause  of  Homoeopathy.  P.  D. 


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AN  ADVOCATE  OF 

HOMOEOPATHIC  MEDICINE. 

H.  C.  AliliEN.  Sf.  D.,  Editor  and  PubUsher. 


The  Editor  is  not  responsible  for  the  opinions  of  contributors.  Personalities, 
being  foreign  to  scientific  discussion,  must  l>e  excluded. 

To  aocommodate  both  reader  and  publisher  this  journal  will  be  sent  until 
arrears  are  paid  and  it  is  ordered  discontinued. 

The  date  to  which  subscriptions  are  paid  will  be  found  on  the  address. 


Vol.  XIX.    Ann  Arbor,  Michigan,  October,  1887.  No.  4 


MATERIA  MEDIOA. 


FfeRRUM. 


A  LECTURE  BY  PROF.  E.  A.  FARINGTON,  M.  D. 


Ferrum  acts  best  in  young  persons  who  are  subject  to 
irregular  distribution  of  blood,  giving  them  an  appearance 
of  blooming  health,  while  in  reality  they  are  rather  anaemic. 
The  face  is  ordinarily  grayish,  pale  or  yellow,  but  becomes 
red  from  any  emotion  or  exertion,  other  evidences  of  the 
irregular  distribution  of  blood  are  seen  in  congestive  head- 
aches; pulsating,  hammering  pains,  worse  after  12  p.  m.; 
eyes  red  and  injected,  pressure  as  if  they  would  protrude; 
ringing  in  ears;  nose-bleed,  nose  filled  with  clotted  blood; 
dyspncea,  better  slowly  walking,  also  by  writing,  etc. ;  op- 
pressed as  if  some  one  were  pressing  hands  on  chest; 
asthma,  with  orgasm  of  blood,  worse  after  12  p.  m.,  must 
sit  up  and  uncover  the  chest;  scanty,  thin,  frothy  sputum 
streaked  with  blood;  tickling  cough. 

Haemoptysis  of  bright  blood  in  consumptives  who  are 
subject  to  congestions. 


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290  The  Medical  Advance.  Oct. 

They  are  often  anxious,  excitable  but  easily  fatigued; 
recurrent  epistaxis.  (Drs.  Hughes  and  Cooper  prefer  Fer- 
rum  phos. ) 

They  are  subject  to  neuralgia,  which  comes  on  after  cold 
washing  or  overheating. 

Throbbing  pains,  worse  at  night;  this  and  nearly  all  the 
symptoms  are  better  slowly  walking  about 

Girls  that  are  chlorotic,  great  emaciation,  face  is  pale, 
earthy,  except  where  from  exertion  or  emotion  it  flushes 
up  and  bums.  Mucous  surfaces  are  notably  pale,  hence  it 
is  an  erethistic  chlorosis;  they  are  averse  to  meat;  food 
tastes  dry  as  if  it  contained  no  juices;  they  are  tormented 
with  spells  of  vomiting,  worse  just  after  midnight  or  after 
a  meal,  without  the  least  nausea,  or  they  suffer  from  heavy 
pressure  in  the  stomach  just  after  eating. 

Menses  are  profuse,  watery  or  lumpy  with  labor-like 
pains. 

Analysis  shows  that  Ferrum  increases  water  in  the  blood 
and  also  diminishes  its  color;  this  happens  when  taken  in 
excess  for  a  long  time. 

They  feel  an  overwhelming  ennui  which  can  only  be 
overcome  by  great  exertion. 

They  have  varices  on  the  legs  which  now  swell  to  burst- 
ing; they  are  chilly  all  day  with  evening  fever  and  fiery 
red  face;  palpitation  annoys  them  with  well-marked  bel- 
lows murmur;  throbbing  in  all  the  blood-vessels;  they  are 
so  antemic  as  to  become  oedematous. 

On  the  abdomen  Ferrum  acts  in  a  peculiar  manner.  The 
abdominal  walls  feel  sore  and  bruised  because  the  veins 
are  distended;  the  walls  are  at  the  same  time  relaxed  so 
that  the  abdomen  feels  as  if  bruised  and  shakes  when  they 
walk.  This  weakness  and  passive  venous  fullness  is  ex- 
emplified in  the  prolapsus  recti  of  children  (compare 
Ignatia). 

In  lienteria  the  bowels  move  even  while  eating,  with  much 
flatus. 

In  relaxed  genitals  with  emissions. 

Fevers;  much  congestion  and  fullness  of  veins,  worse 
after  abuse  of  Cinchona  in  malarial  fever.     (Compare  in 


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1887  Ferrum.  291 

this  ooDgesiiye  condition  ^ith  fuUnesB  of  veins,  Cinchona, 
Bell.,  Sulph.,  PhoB.  and  Ferr.  phos.) 

Spleen  large,  ansemio;  sweat  too  easily  excited,  wiib 
anxiety  causing  great  debility  (compare  Cinch.,  Phos., 
Merc,  v.,  Sulph.,  Ars.,  etc.);  worse  during  motion  and 
walking;  violent  after  12  p.  M.  to  forenoon;  worse  during  day 
or  every  third  day. 

Urine  scanty,  albuminous,  involuntary  urinating,  espe- 
cially by  day.  Ferrum  phos.  according  to  Drs.  Cooper 
and  Hughes,  cures  frequent  desire  to  urinate;  pain  at  neck 
of  bladder  and  end  of  p>eni8;  must  urinate  at  once  which 
relieves;  worse  the  more  he  stands. 

Ferrum  is  indicated  in  prolapsus  uteri  The  best  pre- 
paration here  is  the  Iodide  of  Iron;  for  prolapsus  or  retro- 
version Dr.  Preston  recommends  Ix  and  2x. 

Rheumatism  of  right  deltoid  (compare  Sang.  can. — Nux 
mosch.  has  rheumatism  of  left  deltoid). 

Violent  pains  in  left  hipjoint,  worse  till  afternoon,  bet- 
ter slowly  walking. 

Dropsy  from  loss  of  fluids. 

In  the  beginning  of  inflammations,  pulse  full,  (not  hard 
as  in  Aconite, )  before  exudations  have  taken  place.  Sore 
bruised  feeling;  the  inflammation  is  of  a  passive  character^ 

Iron  is  a  direct  stimulant  of  the  blood;  but  anaemia  is 
not  due  to  a  want  of  iron  in  the  blood.  It  stimulates  the 
formation  of  both  red  and  white  corpuscles.  It  is  not  by 
any  means  a  specific  for  anaemia. 

Manganese  is  like  iron  as  regards  its  hsematine  effects; 
but  in  nervous  symptoms  is  more  like  Cuprum,  Argentum 
and  Zinc.  Symptoms  agreeing,  it  may  be  interpolated  to 
favor  the  action  of  Iron  in  chlorosis,  etc. 

Manganese  resembles  Zinc,  by  causing  progressive  wast- 
ing, staggering  gait  and  paralysis.  Like  Rhus,  it  causes 
acute  fatty  degeneration  of  the  liver.  It  should  be  thought 
of  in  conjunction  with  Zinc,  when  the  lumbar  spine  is  af- 
fected; burning  pain;  back  worse  when  he  bends  back- 
wards; sticking  in  ischia  when  sitting;  legs  weak;  tension 
here  and  there;  anaemia. 


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292  The  Medical  Advance.  Oct 

PLUMBUM. 

The  salts  of  lead  are  extolled  as  astringents;  with  that 
view  they  are  used  in  inflammations,  hsemorrhages,  ulcers, 
etc.  It  has  the  power  to  contract  tissues  with,  as  well  as 
without,  muscular  fibre. 

The  first  symptoms  of  lead  are  usually  colic,  a  pain  with 
retraction  of  the  abdominal  walls  from  spasms  of  the  rectus 
abdominalis  muscle,  constipation,  interrupted  urine,  re- 
tracted testes,  cramps  and  hard  acting  neuralgic  pains  in 
various  muscles.  Later  comes  paralysis,  first  wrist-drop, 
gums  blue  at  edges,  when  the  lead  becomes  sulphide  from 
union  with  sulphur  in  the  tartar;  this  is  generally  only 
noticed  in  the  uncleanly. 

Paralysis  with  atrophy  and  coldness.  The  blue  line  on 
gums  comes  usually  when  the  liver  is  growing  smaller, 
abdominal  fat  wasting,  skin  and  conjunctiva  becoming 
yellow. 

Lead  retards  the  change  of  uric  acid  into  urates,  hence 
come  arthritic  deposits;  all  the  symptoms  seem  to  be  due 
to  the  astringent  action. 

The  nervous  centers  thus  rendered  anaemic  display  their 
irritation  in  spasms,  hence  the  colic,  cramps,  etc. 

Now,  when  the  antero-mctor  columns  of  the  spine  have 
their  cells  disturbed  so  that  motor  impulses  are  not  readily 
transmitted  and  paralysis  ensues,  atrophy  of  the  muscles 
is  certain.  This  may  be  because  the  tissues  always  waste 
when  their  function  is  destroyed,  or  it  may  be  because  there 
are  trophic  cells  in  the  spinal  cord,  the  loss  of  which  neces- 
sitates defective  nutrition.  Thus  Plumbum  causes  these 
changes  and  gives  us  paralysis  with  atrophy. 

Again  when  the  white  fasciculi  of  the  spine  are  deprived 
of  nutrition  or  cannot  transmit  messages  because  of  paraly- 
sis, their  nerve  cells  waste  or  soften,  their  connective  tis- 
sue increases,  and  as  a  result  we  have  what  are  called 
secondary  degenerations  with  muscular  contractions.  This 
Plumbum  does.  These  degenerations  are  called  scleroses 
and  cause  the  genuine  paralysis  agitans;  in  these  cases, 
the  cerebral  sclerosis  by  tremor  preceding  the  paralysis. 
Thus  Plumbum  has  tremor  followed  by  paralysis.     Thus 


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1887  Plumbum. 

we  have  reasons  for  using  Plumbum  in  paralysis  preceded 
by  mental  disturbances,  by  tremor,  by  long  continued  dull, 
stupid  feeling  with  atrophy,  coldness,  muscular  contrac- 
tions; paralysis  after  apoplexy,  locomotor  ataxia,  delirium 
may  alternate.  This  delirium  resembles  Belladonna,  Capsi- 
cum. There  is  striking,  biting,  screaming,  jumping  out  of 
bed;  but  in  addition  it  has  tremor  of  head  and  hands;  yellow 
mucus  in  the  mouth;  black  teeth;  throws  oflF  the  bed- 
clothes; delirium  increases  as  the  senses  decrease;  paraly- 
sis as  a  sequelflB  or  suppressed  colic  with  bloated  abdomen; 
spasm  of  the  glottis;  globus  hystericus.  Spasm  of  the 
oesophagus,  fluids  go  down  but  solids  return;  burning  in 
oesophagus  and  stomach  some  time  after  eating;  jaundice, 
sclerotic  yellow.  Yellow  ulcers  in  the  mouth;  sweet  taste; 
sweet  risings;  stinging  in  the  region  of  the  liver,  better 
rubbing;  gastralgia,  better  bending  back  and  from  pres- 
sure; menses  flow  when  colic  ceases;  colic  alternates  with 
menses;  stretching  at  night  from  uneasy  feeling  in  abdo- 
men; during  pregnancy,  uterus  won't  grow;  abortion. 
Child  takes  strange  positions  when  awake  or  touched,  when 
it  coughs,  etc. 

Cold,  Digitalis,  Secale,  Veratrum  vir.  favor  influence 
of  lead  on  the  circulation ;  Copper,  Mercurius,  Antimonium 
increase  the  wasting  effects  of  lead.  As  very  characteristic 
symptoms  we  have  diabetes;  hectic,  dry  cough,  purulent 
sputa;  emaciation,  sweet  taste,  etc. 

Albuminuria;  contracted  kidney;  amaurosis. 

Chronic  gastritis,  with  vomiting  ol  a  thick  mass  like  un- 
cooked white  of  egg;  violent  pain;  stubborn  constipation. 

Antidotes:  Sulphate  of  soda.  Magnesia,  milk,  etc.  For 
lead  colic:  Alumina,  Kali  iod..  Opium,  etc. 

Neuralgia:  pains  tearing  down  limbs  may  alternate  with 
colic,  deepseated  chronic  headaches,  severe  and  persistent 
accompanied  by  melancholy  and  may  precede  epilepsy; 
later  in  life,  p.  g,,  pressure  from  a  tumor  on  brain. 

Intussusception  or  strangulated  hernia;  obstinate  con- 
stipation; obstruction  of  bowels;  vomiting,  smells  like 
faeces.  Compare:  Opium;  Scybula,  no  spasmodic  constric- 
tion of  anus;  Alumina  has  an  inertia  of  rectum,  stools  may 
be  papescent. 

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294  The  Medical  Advance.  Oct 

Platina:  Stools  of  a  gelatinous  nature,  adhering  to  anus. 

In  pregnancy,  when  the  abdominal  walls  do  not  readily 
yield;  there  is  a  sense  of  tightness  of  abdominal  walls. 

In  lead  colic  use  injections  of  warm  water  and  soap,  with 
a  tablespoonful  of  lard.     If  this  fails,  use  flax-seed  water. 


OPIUM* 


A  LECTURE  BY  PROF.  E.  A.  FARRINGTON,  M.  D. 


I  would  that  I  had  both  opportunity  and  ability  to  con- 
vince the  practitioner  of  the  old  school  of  medicine  of  the 
absurdity  of  his  indiscriminate  use  of  opiates.  And  I 
could  hope  still  more  earnestly,  to  dissuade  Homceopathi- 
cians  from  hiding  their  ignorance  under  the  anodyne 
effects  of  an  occasionally  interpolated  dose  of  morphine  or 
laudanum.  The  one  class,  ignorant  of  any  other  means  of 
assuaging  pains;  and  the  other  class  too  lazy  to  study  their 
cases,  seek  relief  for  their  patients  in  anodynes.  Call 
them  to  task  for  their  unscientific  practice,  and  they  meet 
you  with  the  remark,  "  my  duty  is  to  relieve  the  sick." 
Let  me  rejoin:  "at  any  cost;  must  you  do  what  you  know 
to  be  wrong?"  "  No,  but  how  do  you  make  it  out  wrong?" 
Let  me  reply  by  a  brief  resum6  of  the  modus  operandi  of 
Opium  and  then  if  your  question  is  not  answered,  I  make 
no  further  objection  to  anodynes.  -- 

Opium  causes  at  first  a  slight  excitation  of  the  nervous 
system.  This  period  is  short  among  Europeans,  but  much 
longer  with  Chinese  and  other  Orientals.  The  imagination 
is  pleasurably  excited;  the  eyes  roll;  the  heart  is  acceler- 
ated and  pleasant  hallucinations  occur.  Sometimes  the 
throat  becomes  dry  with  thirst;  and  there  is  sexual  excite- 
ment. 

But  soon  there  appear  weariness,  weight  in  the  limbs 
and  sleepiness.  He  may  be  easily  aroused  as  yet,  though 
he  drops  quickly  to  sleep  again.  Then  the  sleep  approaches 
coma;  he  cannot  be  aroused;  reflex  action  ceases;  pupils 


•  Kindly  loaned  by  Dr.  E.  Fornias. 


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1887  Opium.  295 

contracted  and  not  reacting  to  light.  Muscles  relaxed.  Re- 
spiration slow,  irregular,  stertorous.  All  this  time  the  face 
has  been  growing  more  and  more  suffused,  the  redness  be- 
coming a  deep  brownish  red. 

Still  later  the  surface  becomes  bathed  in  cold  sweat; 
breathing  is  noisy  and  rattling;  pupils  dilated  now;  lower 
jaw  dropp)ed. 

In  some  cases  of  poisoning  an  urticarious  eruption  de- 
velops; in  others,  an  exanthem  like  that  of  scarlatina. 

Now,  these  phenomena  depend  upon  the  action  of  Opium 
on  the  nerves.  From  irritation  comes  the  first  brief  exci- 
tation. From  the  subsequent  paralyzing  action,  come  the 
drowsiness,  muscular  relaxation  and  coma.  From  the  be- 
ginning the  cerebral  vessels  are  surcharged  with  blood  and 
this  continually  increases  until  sopor  ensues.  Let  mo  ask, 
then,  when  physiological  sleep  results  from  a  minus  of 
blood  in  the  brain,  if  it  is  common  sense  to  administer  a 
drug  which  causes  sleep  by  a  phis  of  blood?  Or,  is  it 
rational  practice  to  assuage  pain  with  a  substance,  which 
X)aralyzes  and  so  relieves  by  taking  away,  not  ihe  disease, 
but  the  ability  to  feel,  the  consciousness  of  suffering! 

But,  further,  we  have  yet  to  study  the  chronic  effects  of 
the  drug.  These  are  expressed  in  the  forcible  language  of 
Hammer,  who  says  that  the  opium  eater  looks  like  an  "ex- 
humed corpse."  And,  indeed,  he  does.  He  is  pale,  shriv- 
elled, with  relaxed  muscles,  absent  appetite  and  great 
emaciation.  Sleeplessness  torments  him  and  he  suffers 
continually  from  neuralgia.  This  emaciation  does  not 
come  from  tissue  disintegration.  Indeed  the  drug  rather 
retards  tissue  changes.  It  comes  from  diminished  absorp- 
tion of  food,  from  gastric  and  intestinal  catarrh,  and  also 
from  lessened  appetite  by  reason  of  loss  of  nervous  sensi- 
bility. 

To  the  Homoeopath  these  facts  are  of  inestimable  value. 
He  may  employ  the  drug  in  apoplexy  for  instance,  with 
just  the  symptoms  already  noted;  and  if  the  effusion  is 
not  the  result  of  serious  changes  in  the  brain — softening 
for  instance — he  may  expect  relief  or  cure.'    So  too  in  de- 

1  See  close  of  Lecture  for  Notes  and  Comparisons  indicated  by  ttiese  numerals. 


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296  The  Medical  Advance.  Oct 

liriuiD,  with  loquacity;  eyes  wide  open,  face  red  and  puffed. 

And  again,  since  the  drug  causes  exanthem,  we  may  use 
it  in  measles,  scarlatina,  etc.,  with  the  well-marked  cerebral 
congestions,  stertor,  etc.  Cholera  infantum  sometimes  be- 
gins with  stupor,  or  such  a  mishap  threatens  during  its 
progresa     Opium  is  often  the  remedy. 

Alcohol  in  excess  may  call  for  its  exhibition. 

The  spasms  developed  by  Opium  are  partly  tetanic  Pa- 
tient bends  backwards,  opisthotonos,  and  rolls  laterally. 
The  face  is  bloated,  dark  red  or  purple,  and  deep,  snoring 
sleep  follows  during  labor,  dentition,  etc  Emotions  may 
excite  them.  And  Opium  too  will  be  found  an  efSicient 
remedy  for  the  immediate  effects  of  fright  or  fear,  be  these 
effects  what  they  may.' 

The  chronic  symptoms  of  the  drug  have  led  to  its  suc- 
cessful use  in  marasmus.  The  little  sufferers  look  like 
dried  up  old  men.  They  have  no  appetite  and  are  consti- 
pated, the  movements  looking  like  hard,  dark  balls. 

The  effects  of  opium  on  the  involuntary  muscles  are  well 
exemplified  in  the  intestinal  canal  and  in  the  bladder.  The 
bowels  become  inactive  and  this,  added  to  lessened  secre- 
tions, makes  the  faeces  as  described  above.' 

The  urine  is  retained,  not  suppressed,  but  simply  held 
in  the  bladder  from  spasmodic  contraction  of  its  sphincter, 
as  in  fright;  or  from  atony  of  the  muscular  fibres,  as  dur- 
ing confinement.^    . 

Opium  has  been  of  service  in  incarcerated  hernia  and 
also  in  ileus:  obstinate  and  complete  constipation;  vomit- 
ing, with  such  severe  peristaltic  action  that  the  vomit  con- 
tains faecal  matter,  or,  at  least,  has  a  fsecal  odor. 

Also  in  cough  with  gaping  and  drowsiness^ — with  spasms 
of  the  lungs  and  blue  face.  Cough  of  drunkards,  with  spu- 
tum of  frothy,  bloody  mucus;  legs  cold,  chest  hot,  even 
haemoptysis. 

Fever:  chill,  head  hot,  sleepy;  body  burning,  hot  even 
when  bathed  in  sweat,  a  symptom  of  no  good  import,  espe- 
cially in  brain  diseases.  Desire  to  uncover.  Bed  feels  too 
hot  or,  unconsciousness. 


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1887  The  Therapeutics  of  Sleeplessness.  297 

Opium  is  antidoted  by:  st)*oDg  coffee — Belladonna,  Ipe- 
cacuanha, Muriatic  acid  (the  muscular  weakness). 
,  Opium  is  often,  like  Arnica  and  Boyista,  and  also,  per- 
haps, Ammonia  carb.,  indicated  in  ailments  from  charcoal 
vapor. 

NOTES  AND  COMPARISONS. 

1.  In  apoplexy,  compare:  Bellad.,  which  Opium  often  follows. 
Arnica,  which  suits  with  full  strong  pulse,  paralysis  of  limbs 
worse  in  the  left;  stertorous  breathing.  Lach^sis.  Apis,  when  the 
coma  fails  to  yield  to  Opium.  In  apoplexy  with  convulsions, 
Opium,  Bellad.,  Hyosc,  Laches.,  followed  by  paralysis:  Arnica, 
Bell.,  Nux  v.,  Laches.,  Rhus.,  by  idiocy:  Helleb. 

2.  In  remote  consequences  of  fright  Opium  does  not  always  suf- 
fice. For  consequences  of  fright,  compare:  Gelsem.,  (diarrhoea). 
Pwtoat., (diarrhoea,  trembling,  crying).  Verat.  alb.  (diarrhoea,  cold 
sweat,  etc.)  Natrum  mur.,  chorea  or  paralytic  weakness.  Pla- 
TiNA,  Silica. 

3.  Here  compare:  Bryonia,  which  has  lack  of  intestinal  secre- 
tion and  inertia,  stools  are  large  and  dry.  Plumbum,  stools  in 
balls,  but  with  spasmodic  constriction  of  anus.    Alumina,  etc. 

4.  Opium  has  been  neglected  after  parturition.  It  is  often  bet- 
ter than  Hyosc,  Ars.,  Caust.,  etc.  It  differs  from  Stram.,  Zingiber, 
etc.,  in  that  it  only  causes  retention,  not  suppression. 

5.  Cough  and  drowsy;  AnL  tart,,  Ant.  crud.,  Cham.,  Anac, 
Cough  with  spasm  of  lungs:  Ipecac,  Moschus. 


THE  THERAPEUTICS  OF  SLEEPLESSNESS.* 


A.  C.  COWPERTHWAITE,  M.  D.,  Iowa  ( ity. 


Sleeplessness  from  febrile  excitement :  Aeon.,  Ars.,  Bapi, 
Bella.,  Bry.,  Chin,  sulph.,  Cinchona,  Gels.,  Hyos.,  Opium, 
Phos.,  Rhus  tox. 

Sleeplessness  from  nervous  excitement:  Aeon.,  Ambra, 
Bella.,  Chin,  sulph.,  Cham.,  Cinchona,  Cocc,  Cocoa,  Cyprip., 
Digitalis,  Hyos.,  Ignatia,  Kali  brom.,  Moschus,  Plat.,  Phos., 
Sticta,  Scutel.,  Valer. 

Sleeplessness  from  nervous  exhaustion:  Cocca,  Cocc, 
Cyprip.,  Chin,  sulph.,  Cinchona,  Ferrum,  Gels.,  Kali 
brom.,  Nux  vom.,  Phos.,  Phos.  acid,  Sulphur,  Zincum. 

Sleeplessness  from  indigestion,  etc, :    Aeon.,  Bry.,  Cale. 


•From  a  paper  read  before  the  American  Institute,  1887. 


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298  The  Medical  Advance.  Oct 

carb.,  Carls.,  Cham.,  Cinchona,  Coca,  Ferrum,  Fluoric  acid, 
Ignatia,  Iodine,  Eali  carb.,  Ereosote,  Lachesis,  Merc,  Na- 
trum  mur.,  Nux  vom.,  Phos.,  Pulsa.,  Sulphur,  Zing. 

Sleeplessness  from  intesUnal  irritation:  Aeon.,  Aloe, 
Ars.,  Calc.  carb.,  Cham.,  Cina,  Lycop.,  Merc,  cor.,  Nux 
vom.,  Plantago,  Thuja,  Sulphur. 

Sleeplessness  from  hepatic  disease:  Aloe,  Ars.,  Bellad., 
Bry.,  Carls.,  Cham.,  Chin,  sulph.,  Cinchona,  Gels.,  Merc, 
Merc,  cor.,  Nux  vom.,  Phos.,  Sulphur. 

Sleeplessness  from  dentition:  Aeon.,  Bellad.,  Calc.  carb., 
Cham.,  Cina,  Cuprum,  Gels.,  Kreosote,  Merc,  Phos.,  Sil- 
icea.  Sulphur. 

Sleeplessness  from  heart  trouble :  Aeon.,  Ars.,  Cactus, 
Digitalis,- Gels.,  Naja,  Lachefeis,  Rhus  tox.,  Spigelia,  Tabac 

Sleeplessness  from  uterine  or  ovarian  irritation:  Amg. 
br.,  Aurum,  Bellad ,  Cim.,  Cocc,  Cyprip.,  Gels.,  Hyos.,  Ig- 
natia, Eali  brom.,  Ereosote,  Lachesis,  Lilium  tig..  Plat., 
Phos.,  Pulsa.,  Sabina,  Sepia,  Valerian. 

Sleeplessness  from  irritation  of  the  male  genitals:  Ag- 
nus, Aurum,  Cinchona,  Cocoa,  Phos.,  Phos.  acid.,  Sele- 
nium, Staph.,  Sulphur. 

Sleeplessness  from  mei'curial  or  syphilitic  affections: 
Aurum,  Fluoric  acid.  Iodine,  Eali  iod.,  Lachesis,  Merc, 
Merc,  cor..  Nitric  acid,  Staph.,  Sulphur,  Thuja. 


Of  the  remedies  mentioned  which  deserve  special  notice 
are: 

Aconite'.  Sleeplessness  from  arterial  excitement;  from 
nervousness  resulting  from  fright,  fear  or  anxiety,  or  from 
local  irritation,  especially  in  the  intestinal  tract.  Always 
accompanied  with  anxiety,  restlessness  and  anxious  dreams. 

Amhra\  Sleeplessness  during  nervous  or  hysterical 
disease  from  generative  irritation  in  women. 

Arsenicum:  Sleeplessness  during  malarial,  typhoid,  or 
other  ^ow  forms  of  fever;  from  dyspepsia;  from  septic 
poisoning;  from  long-standing  nervous  or  organic  affec- 
tions; always  great  restlessness  and  extreme  prostration. 

Belladonna:  Sleeplessness  from  nervous  excitement; 
from  local  congestions;  from  irritation  in  various  parts; 


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flashed  face,  headache;  starting  on  first  falling  asleep; 
moaning  and  tossing  about;  anxions,  frightful  dreams; 
especially  in  plethoric  persons. 

Calcarea  carh. :  Sleeplessness  from  irritation  of  denti- 
tion and  in  nervous  affections  arising  therefrom ;  in  scro- 
fulous, rachitic  and  tuberculous  affections  esp>ecially  in 
leucophlegmatic  temperaments.  Open  fontanelles;  sweat 
on  back  of  head;  frightful  figures  on  closing  the  eyes; 
frightful,  anxious  dreams. 

Chamomilla:  Sleeplessness  from  nervousness;  from  lo- 
cal irritation  such  as  worms  or  indigestible  substances  in 
stomach  or  intestines;  during  dentition;  from  hepatic  dis- 
ease; great  restlessness;  moaning,  starting  and  tossing 
about;  talking  in  sleep;  irritable  and  peevish. 

Cimtcifuga :  Sleeplessness  in  nervous,  hysterical  women, 
from  irritation  of  the  ovaries  or  uterus. 

Cina:  Sleeplessness  from  worms,  or  other  intestinal 
irritation. 

•Cinchona:  Sleeplessness  from  neursesthenia,  due  to 
onanism,  lactation,  or  loss  of  vital  fluids  from  other  causes; 
or  after  protracted  illnesa  Also  during  malarial,  hepatic, 
or  gastric  affections.  Kept  awake  with  ideas  or  plans 
crowding  the  mind. 

Cocculus:  Sleeplessness  from  night-watching;  from  hys- 
teria; from  nervousness. 

Coffea:  Sleeplessness  from  no  apparent  cause,  or  from 
nervous  or  physical  excitement;  from  joy,  or  sudden  pleas- 
nreable  surprises;  from  long  watching;  from  abuse  of 
ooffee. 

CypHpedium:  Sleeplessness  from  nervous  exhaustion 
resulting  from  protracted  disease  especially  of  tha  female 
generative  organs.  An  excellent  remedy  for  sleeplessness 
when  there  is  no  apparent  cause,  and  Coffea  does  no  good. 

Ferrum:  Sleeplessness  from  excessive  use  of  tea;  also 
in  pneumonia  and  chlorosis;  weak,  nervous  persons  with 
very  red  face. 

Gelsemium:  Sleeplessness  from  nervous  irritation  aris- 
ing from  bad  or  exciting  news;  from  fright;  from  the  an- 
ticipation of  an  unusual  ordeal;  from  ovarian  disease,  or 


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300  ITie  Medical  Advance.  Oct 

asthenic  fevers;  from  chronic  spinal  troubles,  or  during 
pregnancy,  or  after  labor. 

Hyoscyamus:  Sleeplessness  from  excessive  nervous  ex- 
citement arising  from  jealousy,  unhappy  love,  fright,  or 
during  the  progress  of  nervous  forms  of  fever,  or  convul- 
sions therefrom.  In  pregnant  or  parturient  women;  or  in 
children.  In  nervous,  excitable  p>ersons;  convulsive  tend- 
ency; restless;  starting;  awakes  with  a  cry  as  if  in  fever. 

Ignatia:  Sleeplessness  from  grief;  fright;  from  sup- 
pressed mental  suffering;  and  in  children  after  punish- 
ment; from  dentition;  from  hysteria;  continual  sadness 
and  depression. 

Kali  brom.:  Sleeplessness  from  nervous  excitement;  in 
pneumonic  or  nervous  patients  who  are  exhausted  and 
irritable;  from  ovarian  or  uterine  disease;  during  the  puer- 
peral state;  after  a  drunken  spree. 

Lachesii:  Sleeplessness  during  low  forms  of  fever;  and 
in  the  course  of  putrid  diseases;  during  climacteric;  from 
ovarian  or  uterine  irritation;  sleepiness  without  being  aHe 
to  sleep.     Always  worse  after  sleep. 

Lilium  tig. :  Sleeplessness  from  ovarian  or  uterine  irri- 
tation, especially  from  sub-involution  and  displacements; 
great  depression  of  spirits,  and  sometimes  tries  so  hard  to 
go  to  sleep  quick  that  she  can't  get  to  sleep  at  all. 

Mercurius:  Sleeplessness  during  bilious  or  irritative 
fevers  and  from  liver  disease;  from  ebullition  of  blood  and 
anxiety. 

Mercurius  cor. :  Sleeplessness  in  low  states,  and  phaga- 
denic  condition  from  syphilitic  or  mercurial  affections. 

Moschus:  Sleeplessness  from  nervous  excitement  with 
no  other  apparent  cause. 

Nux  vomica:  Sleeplessness  in  hypochondriac  subjects; 
in  persons  of  sedentary  habits,  or  those  who  have  dys- 
pepsia, with  gastric  and  abdominal  troubles,  and  constipa- 
tion from  over-eating  or  high  living;  from  excessive  study 
late  at  night. 

Opium:  Sleeplessness  from  fright  or  emotion;  in  old 
persons  or  children;  in  drunkards;  sleepy  but  cannot  get 
to  sleep;  sleeplessness  with  acuteness  of  hearing;  slight  or 


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1887  The  Therapeutics  of  Sleeplessness.  301 

distant  Aloises  keep  her  awake;  restless,  uneasy  sleep,  full 
of  visions  and  imagination. 

Phosphorus:  Sleeplessness  from  physical  or  nervous 
exhaustion;  from  excessive  sexual  indulgence  or  onanism; 
from  spinal  troubles;  from  liver  disease;  worse  before  mid- 
night; lascivious  dreams. 

Planiago:  Sleeplessness  from  abdominal  troubles;  can- 
not sleep  after  4  a.  m.;  tosses  about  or  falls  into  a  dreamy 
sleep  full  of  gloom  and  fright  which  rouses  him  up. 

Platina:  Sleeplessness  from  excessive  nervous  excite- 
ment; intense  nervous  wakefulness,  especially  from  hys- 
teria or  ovarian  irritation. 

Pulsatilla:  Sleeplessness  from  eating  too  much,  espe- 
cially rich,  fat  food;  from  uterine  difficulties,  especially 
menstrual  irregularities;  sleepless  first  part  of  night;  sleep- 
less late  in  the  morning;  restless;  sensations  of  heat;  wakes 
frequently  as  if  frightened;  especially  women  and  children. 

Ehus  tox. :  Sleeplessness  in  typhoid,  and  exanthematous 
diseases;  great  restlessness  and  tossing  about;  anxious, 
frightful  dreams. 

Scutellaria:  Sleeplessness  from  nervousness  without 
other  apparent  cause;  pleasant  thoughts  crowd  upon  the 
mind  preventing  sleep. 

Sepia:  Sleeplessness  during  pregnancy  or  childbed,  or 
from  uterine  disease  or  menstrual  irregularities;  great 
nervousness;  sad  and  depressed;  irritable  and  indifferent; 
sleep  restless  and  unrefreshing;  wakes  in  a  fright  and 
screaming. 

Staphisagria:  Sleeplessness  from  sexual  neursesthenia; 
from  spermatorrhoea;  restless  sleep;  anxious  dreams  with 
emissions. 

Sulphur:  Sleeplessness  from  scrofulous  or  mercurial 
diseases;  restless  sleep  with  frequent  waking;  violent  start- 
ing on  falling  asleep;  vivid,  frightful,  anxious  dreams. 

Thuja:  Sleeplessness  from  sycotic  or  syphilitic  affec- 
tions; sees  apparitions  on  closing  the  eyes. 

Valerian:  Sleeplessness  from  hysteria,  and  in  other 
nervous  affections,  especially  when  the  hysterical  element 
predominates;  wakeful  and  restless;  can  only  fall  asleep 
toward  morning  and  then  is  troubled  with  vivid  dreams. 


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302  The  Medical  Advance.  Oct 

COLCHICUM  AUTUMNALE  * 


GEO.  WIGG,  M.  D..  East  Portland,  Orefiron. 


This  is  a  very  carious  plant  and  as  it  differs  in  its  medi* 
cinal  property  from  all  other  plants,  so  does  it  in  its  growth; 
for  it  puts  forth  its  leaves  in  spring,  its  flowers  in  autumn 
and  its  seed  the  next  year  in  midsummer.  It  is  a  native 
of  Colchis,  in  Asia,  and  is  suited  to  persons  of  an  irritable, 
peevish  disposition;  easily  put  out  of  humor  and  very  diffi- 
cult to  please. 

If  we  consider  the  Colchicum  headache,  we  find  it  of  a 
pressing,  boring  character,  often  brought  on  by  mental 
labor,  and  also  from  leaving  the  cold  air  and  going  into  a 
room  heated  to  75°  or  80°  F. 

Colchicum  has  vertigo  when  sitting  down.  We  have 
twenty-eight  remedies  that  produce  vertigo  when  standing 
or  walking,  but  only  this  one  when  sitting.  It  will  not 
deceive  you  in  those  cases  where  a  patient  awaking  about 
midnight  and  sitting  up  in  bed,  has  vertigo  to  such  a  de- 
gree that  the  bed  appears  to  go  round  causing  him  to  grasp 
the  sides  with  both  hands  for  fear  of  falling  out 

It  will  also  be  a  friend  to  you  in  cases  of  iritis,  when  the 
pains  are  stitching  and  almost  unbearable,  with  a  sensa- 
tion of  constriction  in  the  ciliary  region,  with  great  desire 
for  rest,  and  disinclination  for  mental  exertion. 

In  inflammation  of  the  spinal  cord  it  is  of  great  import 
See  what  a  grand  array  of  symptoms  it  presents:  Percep- 
tion lost;  tongue  heavy,  stiff  and  numb,  bright  red  and 
partially  paralyzed  so  that  speech  is  difficult  The  vital 
forces  sink  so  fast  that  in  less  than  twelve  hours  he  can 
neither  speak  nor  walk.  Forehead  covered  with  cold  sweat; 
both  hands  and  feet  are  cold;  oppression  of  the  chest; 
spasm  of  the  sphincter  ani;  laming  pains  in  arms,  which 
make  it  impossible  to  hold  lightest  thing.  The  abdomen 
is  distended,  tense  and  hard,  and  at  the  same  time  hotter 
than  the  rest  of  the  body.  The  stools  are  liquid,  black  and 
offensive,  or  watery  and  bloody,  with  fragments  of  whitish 


•Oregon  State  Society. 


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1887  Colchtcum  Auiumnale,  303 

mucus,  and  almost  invariably  preceded  by  colic.  Tbe  se- 
cretion of  urine  is  scant,  and  what  is  passed  is  dark  and  tur- 
bid burning  the  urethra  like  fire,  and  deposits  albumen. 

It  rivals  Apis  in  dropsical  and  inflamed  swellings  of 
single  parts,  especially  of  eyelids  and  face,  and  no  remedy 
will  equal  it  in  general  dropsy  of  the  skin  in  pregnancy 
caused  by  suppressed  perspiration,  from  exposure  to  cold, 
damp  and  foggy  weather. 

Tou  will  also  find  it  useful  in  those  severe  pains  of  the 
stomach  with  bilious  vomiting  which  are  very  apt  to  pre- 
cede an  attack  of  convulsions  during  the  progress  of  dropsy 
during  pregnancy,  and  in  Bright's  disease  in  pregnant 
females. 

When  you  find  the  milk  of  nursing  mothers  contain  urea 
in  excess,  owing  to  derangement  of  the  kidneys,  Colchicum 
is  your  very  best  remedy. 

Berjean  recommends  it  in  those  eases  of  gonorrhoea  in 
which  there  is  increased  secretion  of  urine,  with  urging; 
it  is  either  brown,  blackish  or  of  a  light  yellow  color,  and 
turbid;  occasionally  it  burns  like  fire,  and  passes  off  con- 
tinually. 

P.  P.  Wells,  M.  D.,  of  Brooklyn,  says  that  it  occupies 
ground  between  Arsenicum  and  Cinchona,  its  almost  entire 
want  of  brain  symptoms  placing  it  close  to  Arsenicum, 
while  in  its  abdominal  symptoms,  the  lymphatic  distension 
of  the  abdomen,  with  watery  diarrhoea  and  great  weakness, 
it  very  closely  resembles  Cinchona. 

C.  E.  Fisher,  M.  D.,  of  Texas,  writes  me  that  Colchicum 
occupies  a  front  rank,  when  the  stools  are  reddish  mucus; 
blood  and  mucus  thoroughly  intermingled;  only  a  tea- 
spoonful  at  a  time  of  reddish  gelatinous  mucus  voided  with 
straining  even  after  stool;  cramping  sensation  in  rectum 
and  anus;  with  aching  or  tiredness  of  back  and  thighs.  In 
young  children  I  use  the  200th,  in  youths  the  30th  and  in 
adults  the  3d  to  6th. 

E.  M.  Hale,  M.  D.,  tells  me  that  he  finds  Colchicum  very 
useful  in: 

(1)  True  gouty  inflammation  of  the  joints,  when  the 
urine  is  full  of  uric  acid,  scanty  and  high  colored. 


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304  The  Medical  Advance.  Oct 

(2)  In  cholera  morbus,  due  to  a  rheumatic  diathesis,  and 
excited  by  sudden  changes  in  the  weather. 

(3)  In  gastric  weakness,  with  loathing  of  the  smell  of 
food,  and  nausea  after  eating. 

(4)  In  a  catarrh  of  the  colon  in  the  fall,  often  called 
autumnal  dysentery. 

T.  F.  Allen,  M  D.,  says:  "My  attention  was  first  called  to 
Colchicum  in  the  case  of  a  pregnant  woman  suffering  from 
albuminuria,  who  complained  of  coldness  in  stomach. 
Colchicum  was  prescribed,  and  it  not  only  relieved  that 
symptom  but  also  the  necessity  to  lie  with  her  legs  bent  up 
to  avoid  the  distress  in  the  stomach  caused  by  straighten- 
ing them;  it  also  stopped  annoying  attacks  of  vomiting 
from  which  she  had  suffered  and  diminished  the  amount 
of  albumen  in  the  urine.'* 

"Later,  a  man  suffering  from  chronic  nephritis  complained 
that  he  could  not  lie  at  night  with  his  legs  out  straight  on  ac- 
count of  the  hurt  in  his  stomach  and  kidneys.  This  symp- 
tom came  on  as  an  acute  aggravation  of  his  chronic  trouble. 
If  he  had  been  worried  by  his  business  and  exi)osed  to  wet  and 
had  taken  cold,  he  was  in  the  habit  of  complaining  of  this 
soreness  in  kidneys,  aggravated  by  straightening  out  his 
legs;  Colchicum  relieved."  He  says  further,  "associations  of 
Colchicum  symptoms  I  have  found  to  be:  Urine  scant, 
dark,  bloody.  Feeling  of  soreness  in  the  region  of  the 
kidneys,  aggravated  by  straightening  the  legs.  Violent 
pinching  in  the  region  of  the  loins  and  urinary  passage, 
with  constant  desire  to  urinate.  Feeling  of  tension  in  the 
region  of  the  kidneys;  he  is  obliged  to  bend  himself  double 
and  lie  still  the  whole  day  without  the  slightest  movement, 
to  avoid  most  violent  attacks  of  vomiting.  Feeling  of  icy 
coldness  in  the  stomach  with  constant  nausea." 

Colchicum  pains  are  tearing,  jerking  and  lacerating, 
worse  from  evening  till  daylight,  and  increased  by  care  or 
anxiety. 

Another  peculiarity  of  Colchicum  is  tingling  in  the 
finger-nails.  The  Lilium  tig.  has  a  prickling  sensation  at 
the  end§  of  fingers,  or  sensation  as  of  an  electric  current: 
Lobelia  has  a  prickling  sensation  through  the  whole  body. 


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1887  Materia  Medica  Notes. '  305 

even  to  fingers  and  toes,  but  I  know  of  no  other  remedy 
but  Colchicum  that  has  tingling  in  finger-nails. 

You  will  find  it  a  boon  in  marked  feeling  of  muscular 
weakness,  especially  in  the  arms  and  legs,  as  if  paraTyzed, 
and  in  debilitated  patients. 


MATERIA  MEDICA  NOTES.* 


CONSTANTINE  HERING.  M.  D. 


RHODODENDRON. 

Moroseness;  great  dullness  on  rising  from  bed  in  the 
morning.  Intoxication  from  a  little  wine,  like  Nux  mos. 
and  Bovista.  Wine  aggravates  the  headache;  also  Zinc. 
A  digging  sensation  in  the  head;  feeling  it  most  when 
lying  in  bed,  after  taking  wine,  and  on  a  wet,  cold  day.  It 
has  flushes  alternating  with  a  sensation  as  of  cold  air  blow- 
ing over  the  face. 

Eyes,  Nose:  Shooting  in  eyes  from  within  outward. 
Bunning  coryza  in  open  air;  when  rising  in  the  morning  a 
violent  sneezing.  Soreness  of  inner  nose,  with  black  scurfs. 
(Pains  disappear  when  eating,  and  return  two  or  three 
hours  after  eating. ) 

Toothache  aggravated  by  thunder-storm,  or  the  approach 
of  a  thunder-storm.  Violent  face  ache  going  &om  gums 
to  teeth,  radiating  over  right  face,  worse  from  wet  weather, 
and  better  &om  warmth.  Shooting  toothache  with  pain 
in  head,  the  teeth  get  loose  and  the  gums  spongy.  (An 
old  fang  of  tooth  fell  out  in  one  prover. ) 

Epigastrium  much  distended;  stool  not  very  hard,  but 
darting.  Diarrhoea  in  the  morning  after  eating.  (Ledum 
and  Ealmia  likewise. ) 

Menses  attended  with  headache.  After  parturition, 
burning  in  uterine  region,  alternating  with  pains  in  the 
limbs.  With  the  pains  in  the  limbs  the  fingers  are  spas- 
modically drawn  in  towards  the  palms  of  the  hands. 

Tickling  in  larynx.  Stabbing  paiiT,  as  from  a  knife  being 
thrust  in. 


•From  lectures  delivered  in  1870-1. 
T 


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306  The  Medical  Advance.  Oct 

Boring  pain  in  region  of  heart.  Strong  beating  of  heart 
with  slow  pulse.  Whole  chest  sensitive  to  touch.  Shoot- 
ing pain  from  back  to  pit  of  stomach;  and  pain  from  small 
of  back  into  the  arms.  (Pains  that  are  worse  in  the  night, 
increased  by  rest,  and  relieved  by  moving,  think  of  Bhus. ) 

The  pains  appear  more  before  than  wHh  the  thunder- 
storm. 

A  crawling  sensation  as  if  ants  were  creeping  on  parts. 
Badiating  pains.  Erysipelas.  Bad  effects  of  wine.  In 
the  affection  of  the  great  toe  joint,  often  mistaken  for  bun- 
ion, but  which  is  really  rheumatic,  Bhododendron  is  of 
great  value.  For  true  bunion  from  mechanical  pressure, 
Silicea  is  preferable. 

Bhododendron  is  analogous  to  and  follows,  as  regards  the 
testes,  Pulsatilla,  Aurum,  and  Spongia;  as  regards  hydro- 
cele. Clematis,  and  Graphites. 

KALMIA  LATIFOLIA. 

Every  motion  causes  vertigo.  Pains  in  the  limbs  and 
weariness.  Sensation  as  if  something  were  loose  in  the 
head  (Ledum  similar).  Cracking  sound  in  the  head,  fol- 
lowed by  shivering  without  coldness.  Painful  throbbing 
in  head,  worse  in  evening  and  after  lying  down. 

Neuralgia  every  afternoon  and  during  the  night  Pain 
begins  in  back  of  neck  and  runs  upwards.  It  also  affects 
the  face  more  on  right  side. 

Painful  parts  are  tender  to  the  touch,  relieved  by  cold 
and  aggravated  by  heat 

The  teeth  were  all  sound  but  tender  to  tguch.  This  was 
the  case  of  a  lady  with  regular  menstruation  but  who  suf- 
fered with  neuralgia  during  the  menses;  two  drops  of 
Kalmia  tincture  in  glass  of  water  were  given  which 
brought  relief;  a  few  days  after,  however,  the  pains  re- 
turned when  a  couple  more  doses  of  Kalmia  effected  a  per- 
manent cure. 

Bepeated  cracking  and  electric  shuddering,  ending  with 
sounding  in  the  ear.    * 

Bunning  of  nose  with  increased  sense  of  smell  with 
sneezing  and  hoarseness.     Tearing  in  the  root  of  the  nose, 


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1887  Materia  Medica  Notes.  307 

extending  into  the  bones  of  the  nose,  causing  nausea,  which 
is  better  after  dinner. 

There  is  a  sensation  as  if  something  were  crawling  in 
the  throat  immediately  after  eating. 

Catamenia  too  early.  (There  is  no  proving  to  show  that 
the  menses  were  insufficient. — Ledum  and  Bhododen- 
dron  also  have  catamenia  too  early. )  Pains  in  the  loins, 
back,  and  then  pain  in  anterior  part  of  thighs.  Leu- 
corrhoea  one  week  after  menses  and  all  the  symptoms  re- 
turn. Blue  feet  an(}  hands;  extravasations.  Hoarseness, 
or  sensation  of  pressure,  as  if  some  one  with  thumb  and 
finger  was  squeezing  the  throat  together.  Expectoration 
very  easy,  gray  in  color,  and  putrid  and  saltish. 

Shooting  through  the  left  chest,  above  the  heart,  through 
to  the  left  shoulder.  Pains  go  up.  Kheumatic  affection 
of  muscles  of  chest;  aggravation  from  every  motion. 
(Bry.)  (A  man  with  this  peculiar  chest  rheumatism  was 
unable  to  walk;  he  took  one  drop  of  Kalmia  in  water, 
which  gave  relief  and  cured  the  case. ) 

For  affections  of  the  valves  of  the  heart  compare  Kal- 
mia, Ledum,  and  Spigelia. 

BPIGELIA. 

This  is  a  plant  of  South  America,  used  by  the  Indians 
for  worms.  The  Indians  of  North  America  also  gave  it 
for  worms;  hence  it  is  called  Spigelia  Anthelmintic  a; 
also  Spigelia  Marylandica  because  it  grows  in  Maryland. 
It  is  also  sometimes  called  ''Pink  root" 

Many  children  have  died  from  the  Spigelia  Marylan^ 
dica.    It  has  produced  palpitations  of  the  heart 

Worms  have  always  been  a  curse  to  the  homoeopathic 
school  because  the  tendency  is  to  treat  the  worms  instead 
of  the  patient.  We  may  bring  on  diseases  of  the  heart  by 
using  Spigelia  too  freely  for  worms. 

A  lady  in  this  city  vomited  a  few  days  ago  a  long  worm 
of  the  size  and  length  of  the  middle  finger;  she  described 
the  worm's  eyes,  mouth,  etc.,  but  on  examining  the  worm 
it  proved  to  be  nothing  but  coagulated  milk,  having  the 
shape  and  form  of  a  worm.     From  this  we  see  that  we 


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308  The  Medical  Advance,  Oct 

must  be  very  careful  about  believing  every  thing  the  patient 
tells  us. 

In  diseases  of  the  heart  in  women  with  too  profuse  men- 
struation; weakness  in  the  head;  tortured  with  anxious 
images;  they  lose  all  presence  of  mind;  giddy  when  sit-' 
ting  down.     Every  quick  motion  brings  on  palpitation; 
any  emotion  of  mind  brings  on  palpitation. 

Quiet  mind,  full  of  care;  don't  like  company;  they  trem- 
ble when  they  go  into  company;  they  sweat  in  company; 
their  hands  tremble. 

Headache:  Pains  commence  on  right  side  and  go  over 
to  the  left;  worse  from  least  motion,  and  from  stooping. 
Headache  extends  into  the  eyes  and  into  the  teeth.  Head- 
ache increases  with  the  stool. 

Eyes:  It  has  rheumatic  inflammation  of  the  eyes.  A 
lady  had  inflammation  of  left  eye,  shunned  the  light,  com- 
plained of  violent  pains  piercing  the  globe  through  to  the 
back  of  the  head.  She  had  had  no  sleep  for  four  weeks. 
One  dose  of  Spigelia  200  was  given.  Three  days  after- 
ward the  improvement  began  and  gradually  continued  for 
three  weeks  when  she  completely  recovered. 

The  more  painful  the  pains  of  the  eye  or  teeth,  the  more 
you  must  think  of  Spigelia. 

There  is  boring,  shooting,  burning  pains  in  eyes,  going 
through  to  the  bones  of  the  skull.  There  are  bluish  rings 
around  the  iris.  Eye-pains  are  worse  in  the  open  air.  All 
things  appear  as  through  a  mist.  Patient  complained  on 
shutting  the  eyes  that  she  saw  a  sea  of  fire  {Feuer-meer). 
Child  complained  of  itching  in  the  eyes,  followed  by 
squinting.  A  few  globules  of  Spigelia  relieved  the  itch- 
ing and  cured  the  squinting. 

Nose:  Coryza;  phlegm  very  profuse,  copious,  tasting 
and  smelling  badly. 

Face:  This  is  a  great  field  for  Spigelia.  The  muscle  of 
the  face  seem  to  twitch  a  little.  Face-ache  coming  in  spells; 
it  extends,  involving  different  parts;  red  face  and  nose-bleed 
with  the  face-ache;  also  palpitation  of  heart  and  difficult 
breathing;  slightest  touch  makes  it  worse,  but  relieved  on 
heavy  pressure. 


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Toothache:  Very  important  in  toothache.  Principally 
the  upper  teeth  and  those  in  front.  Sometimes  during 
toothache  a  pain  quick  as  lightning  going  upwards,  caus- 
ing screaming  and  convulsions.  The  face  is  pale  with  the 
toothache.  With  the  face-ache  the  face  is  red;  but  often 
the  face-ache  is  combined  with  toothache.  Profuse  urination 
with  nervous  spells.  Moderate  warmth  relieves  the  tooth- 
ache. 

Stitches  in  right  side  of  tongue,  worse  from  every  mo- 
tion, the  pain  going  upward  like  lightning;  patient  could 
not  turn  head  to  right  side.  Little  swelling  on  neck,  very 
painful.  A  few  doses  of  Spigelia  cured  the  whole  affec- 
tion, causing  the  lump  on  the  neck  to  disappear. 

Cures  of  stammering  have  been  made  by  Bell.,  Calc, 
Bovista,  Caust,  Plat,  and  Spigelia. 

Worm  complaints;  worse  after  dinner;  rabid  hunger  and 
great  thirst  Nausea  better  after  first  meal.  Biting  in  nose; 
face  pale;  palpitation  of  heart;  and  enlarged  pupils.  Putrid 
smell  from  mouth;  itching  in  nose  and  belly;  throat  in- 
flamed, causing  empty  swallowing.  Pain  in  head  goes  up- 
ward when  from  rheumatic  origin. 

GYNAECOLOGY. 


ENDO-CERVICITIS.^ 


GEORGE  LOGAN,  M  D.,  Ottawa,  Canada. 


In  bringing  this  paper  before  the  Institute,  I  wish  to 
say  that  I  have  nothing  new  from  my  own  experience  be- 
yond what  may  be  obtained  from  authorities  on  the  sub- 
ject My  object  in  selecting  this  disease,  endo-cervicitis, 
is  to  call  your  attention  to  what  I  believe  to  be  a  bar  to 
our  uniform  success  in  the  treatment  of  uterine  diseases, 
1.  e,y  imperfect  and  unreliable  female  provings  of  some  of 
our  drugs  on  the  female  genital  organs. 

Of  all  the  ills  from  which  females  suffer,  endo-cervicitis, 
with  its  associated  complications,  i.  e.,  leucorrhoea  and  dis- 


*  Canadian  Institute  of  Homoeopathy,  June,  1887 


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310  ITie  Medical  Advance.  Oct 

placements,  is  perhaps  the  most  frequently  met  with  by 
the  medical  practitioner.  Too  often,  indeed,  it  is  the  op- 
probrium medicorum  of  the  profession.  Two  of  the  prin- 
cipal sources  of  these  uterine  troubles  I  believe  to  be  social 
and  educational.  In  accord  with  the  morbid  mental  activ- 
ity of  the  age,  young  girls  are  rushed  through  school  with 
their  studies-  by  a  persistent  system  of  cramming  which 
not  only  weakens  the  brain  but  arrests  the  development  of 
the  genital  organs. 

A  short  time  ago  I  was  consulted  by  an  anxious  mother 
respecting  her  daughter,  sixteen  years  of  age,  a  bright, 
intelligent  girl^  fond  of  study,  and  very  anxious  to  obtain 
a  prize  offered  by  her  teacher.  She  had  headache  attended 
by  languor,  losing  flesh  and  mental  animation.  On  inquiry 
I  found  her  curriculum  comi)osed  of  no  less  than  twelve  sub- 
jects: arithmetic,  grammar,  reading  and  spelling,  algebra, 
geometry,  geography,  French,  music,  writing,  drawing  and 
literature,  eight  of  which  must  be  taken  each  day.  It  would 
be  superfluous,  before  a  scientific  body  of  men,  to  indicate 
the  nature  of  the  treatment  in  such  a  case.  As  Dr.  Ham- 
mond (see  Popular  Science  Monthly,  May,  1887)  very 
justly  puts  it,  "  she  learned  her  lessons  at  the  expense  of 
her  brain  substance,  the  latter  being  lighter  in  specific 
gravity  than  in  the  male,  that  while  the  education  may  be 
as  thorough  it  should  not  be  the  same." 

As  a  consequence  of  this  cramming  in  young  girls,  we 
have  arrest  of  development  of  the  uterus  and  ovaries  in 
some  cases.  Having  completed  her  so-called  education, 
she  is  brought  out  into  society  as  competent  to  assume  the 
responsibilities  of  matrimony  and  possibly  of  maternity. 
Should  she  be  a  member  of  our  fashionable  circles,  con- 
secutive rounds  of  dissipation  must  be  indulged  in.  The 
ball  room  with  its  attendant  mental  and  physical  excite- 
ment, its  abnormal  amorous  indulgence,  the  incidental  e/x- 
posure  of  the  body  to  sudden  changes  of  temperature,  are 
frequent  causes  of  leucorrhoea  in  young  girls.  It  is,  no 
doubt,  also  injurious  to  married  women  if  indulged  in  to 
excess.  En  passanf,  I  may  say  that  I  am  not  insensible 
to  the  poetry  of  motion  as  manifested  in  the  dance;  when 


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1887  Endo-Cervidtis.  311 

indulged  in  at  proper  and  reasonable  times,  and  in  a  mod- 
erate manner,  it  is  a  healthy  as  well  as  an  agreeable  exer- 
cise. But  the  usual  interminable  and  laborious  whirl  of 
the  devotees  of  fashion  approaches  closely,  in  my  estima- 
tion, to  the  borders  of  criminal  indifference  to  the  laws  of 
health. 

Endo-cervicitis  is  a  disease  mostly  confined  to  married 
women,  and  more  frequently  observed  in  the  parous  than 
in  the  nulliparous.  The  causes  are  obvious — constitutional 
dyscrasia,  imperfect  development  from  educational  and 
social  causes  already  referred  to,  imperfect  subinvolution, 
diseases  incident  to  parturition — metritis,  laceration  of  the 
cervix,  abortion  and  displacements.  Dr.  Bennett,  of  Fitch- 
burg,  Mass.,  in  a  paper  read  before  the  Boston  Gynecolog- 
ical Club,  stated  that  laceration  of  the  cervix  during  par- 
turition forms  not  less  than  seventy-five  per  cent,  of  such 
cases  among  parous  women.  This  seems  to  me  somewhat 
magnified;  at  least,  from  my  experience,  it  does  not  apply 
to  our  Canadian  women. 

The  treatment  of  this  disease  is  both  local  and  constitu- 
tional. A  difference  of  opinion  prevails  in  our  school  upon 
the  modus  operandi  of  procedure,  some  favoring  local  and 
constitutional  treatment,  while  others  use  constitutional 
treatment  only.  The  majority  of  our  specialists  use  both 
methods.  The  greater  number  of  the  old  physicians  of  our 
school  doubtless  began  treatment  with  constitutional  means 
only.  The  larger  number,  not  satisfied  with  their  success 
in  many  cases,  have  resorted  to  local  treatment  in  addition. 
As  far  as  my  information  goes,  the  majority  of  our  speci- 
alists, I  believe,  use  both.  My  own  experience,  though  I 
can  not  claim  prominence  as  a  specialist,  is  in  favor  of  mild 
local  treatment  in  some  cases  in  connection  with  internal 
remedies.  Except  in  surgical  cases,  I  hope  the  time  may 
come  when  we  shall  be  able  to  rely  entirely  on  our  well 
chosen  remedies  in  each  case.  Failures  are  too  frequent, 
I  regret  to  say,  even  after  administering  our  best  chosen 
remedies;  this  in  no  small  degree  has  caused  the  use  of 
local  applications.  Imperfect  provings  of  our  drugs  on 
the  female  genital  organs  is,  in  my  opinion,  the  great 


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312  The  Medical  Advance,  Oct. 

desideratum  to  be  overcome.  Take,  for  instance,  these 
cases  of  albuminous  leucorrboea,  discharge  remarkably 
tenacious,  of  light  transparent  color,  hanging  out  of  the  os 
like  a  small  rope,  attended  by  a  feeling  of  distension  or 
fullness  in  the  uterine  region,  and  as  is  usual  in  such  cases, 
more  or  less  congestion  and  enlargement  of  the  uterus  or 
cervix.  Such  a  case  I  have  now  under  treatment.  In  my 
search  for  the  proper  remedy  I  found  that  some  authorities 
recommend  Alumina,  Ammonium  mur.,  Berberis,  Borax, 
Bovista,  Calcarea  carb.,Calcarea  phos.,  Hydrastis,  Kali  bich., 
Platina,  and  Sulphur.  Of  these  Kali  bich.  and  Hydrastis 
seemed  to  suit  my  case  best  These  remedies  were  used 
in  high  and  low  preparations  without,  I  regret  to  say,  any 
apparent  benefit  to  my  patient  This  failure  led  me  to  ex- 
amine into  the  manner  or  nature  of  the  provings  of  these 
drugs,  and  to  my  surprise  I  found  that  no  uterine  symptoms 
whatever  of  Hydrastis  could  be  found  in  Allen's  Materia 
Medica,  a  work  claiming  to  give  all  there  was  then  known 
of  these  drugs — in  1876.  Dr.  Allen,  in  his  report  of  Lippe's 
class  provings,  by  which  we  must  infer  that  no  uterine 
symptoms  were  experienced  by  the  provers  or  were  thought 
by  him  unreliable,  reports  as  follows:  "Miss  S.,  aetat  30 
[does  not  say  if  healthy  or  not],  took  one  drop  of  Hydras- 
tis, 30th  dil.,  the  first  day  and  one  drop  of  the  8th  dil.  on 
Wednesday  and  Saturday.  Miss  M.  took  one  drop  of  30th. 
Miss  v.,  »tat  20,  took  one  drop  of  the  30th  dil."  Then 
follows  the  poisoning  of  a  woman,  aged  75,  with  60  drops; 
no  uterine  symptoms  reported.  In  any  case  uterine  symp- 
toms, at  the  £ige  of  75,  can  be  of  but  little  comparative 
value.  Female,  setat  30,  of  scrofulous  diathesis,  used  an 
infusion  in  order  to  relieve  a  sore  throat,  with  deafness; 
used  the  lotion  as  a  gargle  and  applied  it  by  means  of  a 
cloth  to  the  mouth,  using  a  tumblerful  in  five  hours,  fol- 
lowed by  an  eruption  on  the  mouth  and  chin  like  small-pox. 
No  uterine  symptoms  reported. 

In  Hering's  Condensed  Materia  Medica,  published  in 
1878,  only  two  years  after  Allen's,  I  find  leucorrhoea,  tena- 
cious, ropy,  thick,  and  yellow  color,  ulceration  of  the  cer- 
vix and  vagina,  ilebility,  prolapsus  uteri.    These  symptoms 


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1887  Endo-CervtcUis.  313 

would,  in  a  large  degree,  cover  my  patient's  case,  if  relia- 
ble. Dr.  Hering  omits  to  mention  the  names  of  the 
provers  from  whom  these  symptoms  were  obtained,  except 
that  in  a  general  way,  in  the  preface  to  this  work,  he,  states 
that  the  material  for  this  work  was  obtained  from  the  man- 
uscript of  the  Guiding  Symptoms  which  was  not  published 
until  some  time  afterwards.  It  is  possible,  therefore,  that 
his  information  was  obtained  from  Lippe's  class  provings, 
already  referred  to  by  Dr.  Allen,  whqre  the  uterine  symp- 
toms, if  any,  were  ignored.  When  we  are  asked  to  believe 
that  Hydrastis  will  produce  ulceration  of  the  cervix  and 
vagina,  and  prolapsus  uteri,  we  should  surely  be  furnished 
Tfith  the  -evidence  of  the  provers.  We  have  clinical  evi- 
dence of  the  value  of  this  drug  in  superficial  ulceration  of 
mucous  surfaces  in  some  cases,  when  used  locally.  This, 
however,  cannot  be  regarded  as  synonymous  with  a  patho- 
genesis obtained  from  its  internal  administration.  We 
can  only  interpret  nature  through  her  objective  and  sub- 
jective manifestations.  Such  is  the  proving  of  Hydrastis, 
as  far  as  I  am  able  to  learn,  and  it  appears  to  me  remarka- 
bly unreliable  as  far  as  the  uterine  symptoms  are  con- 
cerned. 

Then  take  Kali  bich.  From  the  symptoms  given  by 
Hering,  it  has  ropy  leucorrhoea  of  a  yellow  color;  that  of 
my  patient  being  light  color,  but  ropy  in  form.  It  is 
remarkable  that  of  the  eleven  female  provers  mentioned 
in  Allen,  not  a  single  uterine  symptom  is  reported  by  him; 
and  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  Dr.  Allen  had  access 
to  all  the  sources  of  information  in  Dr.  Hering's  i)osses- 
sion  respecting  these  drugs.  The  nasal  and  pharyngeal 
symptoms  of  Kali  bich.  as  given  by  Allen,  "formation  of 
plugs  in  the  nostrils,  nose  constantly  full  of  thick  mucus, 
scanty  acrid  mucus  was  discharged  from  the  nose,  causing 
burning  of  the  septum  of  the  nose."  Clinical  experience 
has  confirmed  the  truth  of  these  symptoms,  but,  in  the 
absence  of  evidence,  it  does  not  follow  that  bichromate  of 
potash  will  produce  ropy,  tenacious,  albuminous  discharges 
from  the  cervix  uteri  because  it  will  produce  corrosive  dis- 
charge from  the  nasal  passages.    Hering  gives  ropy,  yellow 


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314  The  Medical  Advance.  Oct. 

leucorrhoea,  but  does  not  give  his  authority  for  the  state- 
ment; and  in  order  to  establish  the  truth  of  such  a  state- 
ment it  would  be  necessary  to  use  the  speculum  during  the 
proving,  as  a  ropy  discharge  at  or  from  the  os  uteri  is  not 
likely  to  be  of  this  form  in  escaping  from  the  ostium 
vaginam. 

The  provings  of  Crocus  and  Sabina  are  equally  imper- 
fect, being  mostly  obtained  from  cases  of  abortion.  Then 
in  the  provings  of  Platinum,  Alumina,  Ammonium  mur., 
Berberis,  Borax,  Bovista,  Calcarea  carb.,  Calcarea  phos., 
and  Sulphur  we  have  only  the  evidence  of  from  two  to  five 
provers,  except  in  the  case  of  Sulphur — the  latter  being 
rather  an  extensive  proving,  some  ten  or  fifteen  females 
having  proved  this  drug.  In  none  of  these  drugs,  how- 
ever, do  I  find  the  ropy  form  of  uterine  discharge. 

As  a  further  proof  of  the  imperfect  female  provings  of 
some  or  most  of  our  drugs,  I  quote  from  a  statement  made 
by  Dr.  Schmitz,  of  Antwerp,  at  the  International  Homoeo- 
pathic Convention,  held  at  B&sle  in  August,  1886.  During 
the  discussion  on  our  Materia  Medica  Dr.  Schmitz  said, 
"that  the  Materia  Medica  of  Hahnemann  was  not  free 
from  imperfections.  The  proof  of  this  appeared  when  one 
had  carefully  read  some  of  the  experiments  made  on  per- 
sons with  skin  eruptions  and  piles,  on  epileptics,  sufferers 
from  migraine,  etc. — all  conditions  recognized  as  morbid 
states  indicating  constitutional  disturbance."  Dr.  Schmitz 
then  quoted  from  the  pathogenesis  of  several  medicines — 
Agaricus,  Anacardium,  Alumina,  etc.,  to  substantiate  his 
statement,  showing  that  many  of  the  symptoms  recorded 
by  Hahnemann  were  not  obtained  from  healthy  persons. 

While  pointing  out  these  deficiences  in  the  female  prov- 
ings of  our  drugs,  I  wish  to  acknowledge  with  sincere  grati- 
tude the  inestimable  value  of  the  arduous  labor  of  our 
great  master,  Hahnemann,  and  his  fellow  workers  in  this 
field  of  scientific  research.  This  heritage  so  nobly  begun 
and  transmitted  to  us  by  him,  must  ever  remain  the  founda- 
tion of  our  faith.  This  allegiance  to  the  master's  dictum, 
however,  does  not  require  of  us  a  blind  adherence  to  his 
errors,  or  to  those  of  his  provers;  but  it  does  demand  of 


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1887  EndO'CervicUis.  315 

US  a  strict  adherence  to  scientific  truth,  while  with  a  com- 
bined effort  we  endeavor  to  beautify  and  improve  the 
structure  erected  by  him.  With  the  number  of  females 
now  entering  the  profession,  may  we  not  hope  that  a  tho- 
rough proving  of  our  remedies  will  do  away  with  the  neces- 
sity of  local  treatment,  except  in  sip*gical  cases.  I  wish  to 
state  here  for  the  benefit  of  young  members  of  the  Insti- 
tute, that  I  have  erred  in  some  cases  under  treatment,  in 
not  being  sufficiently  careful  in  making  up  my  diagnosis, 
partly  from  carelessness,  and  partly  from  a  sense  of  deli- 
<5acy  on  the  part  of  my  patients,  for,  I  believe,  no  medical 
man  should  be  too  hasty  in  the  use  of  the  speculum;  a 
<5areful  consideration  of  each  case  will  dictate  the' proper 
time  to  insist  on  a  thorough  examination  of  the  diseased 
parts,  to  go  on  indefinitely  with  internal  remedies  when 
you  have  a  case  of  extensive  lacerated  cervix,  as  occurred 
with  me  in  a  few  cases,  is  highly  reprehensible.  I  would 
adnse  you  to  avoid  the  mortification  which  a  consciousness 
of  dereliction  of  duty  will  inevitably  produce. 

The  remedies  which  I  found  of  most  benefit  in  my  pa- 
tient, were  Aconite,  Belladonna  and  Actsea  racemosa.  Lo- 
<5ally  I  used  Hydrastis  and  Iodine  after  first  endeavoring 
to  remove  the  tough  ropy  discharge,  which  for  a  time  baf- 
fled all  my  efforts  to  remove.  Such  was  the  tenacity  with 
which  which  it  adhered  to  the  cervical  canal,  that  in  order 
not  to  tire  my  patient  too  much  at  one  operation,  I  intro- 
<luced  the  application  through  the  discharge  which  is  com- 
paratively ineffectual. 

I  have  since  had  better  success  through  the  use  of  per 
oxide  of  hydrogen  which  will  dissolve  the  discharge  to 
some  extent,  after  which  it  can  be  easier  removed.  In  order 
io  obtain  the  best  results  from  local  treatments,  all  gynaec- 
ologists agree  that  the  diseased  surfaces  must  be  cleansed 
of  all  discharge  before  the  application  is  made.  In  cases 
of  congested  cervix  or  fundus,  the  use  of  glycerine  by 
means  of  a  small  cotton  tampon  to  the  os  is  found  to  be  of 
great  service  in  lessening  congestion.  Iodine  is  now  com- 
monly used  by  both  schools.  Hot  water,  as  recommended 
by  Dr.  Emmett,  is  undoubtedly  of  much  assistance  when 


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316  The  Medical  Advance.  Oct 

properly  used;  it  must  be  persisted  in,  at  different  tem- 
peratures as  the  feelings  of  the  patient  may  permit,  and 
continue  for  hours  if  necessary.  The  application  of  Bella- 
donna and  Iodine,  as  the  case  may  require,  can  best  be 
made  after  the  use  of  the  hot  water  (in  case  hot  water  is 
used)  and  should  be  kept  in  contact  with  the  os  by  means 
of  the  cotton  tampons — while  the  hips  are  somewhat  ele- 
vated. Marine  lint,  or  refined  oakum,  is  made  use  of.  Dr* 
Parker,  of  Newport,  states  that  it  keeps  sweeter  and  cleaner 
longer  than  any  other  appliance — applies  it  in  the  shape 
of  a  ring  through  the  speculum.  Dr.  Philips,  of  Boston, 
considers  wool*  preferable  to  cotton,  as  it  does  not  prick; 
it  is  made  antiseptic  by  chemical  treatment  and  acts  well 
where  mechanical  support  is  required,  as  in  use  of  pessaries 
for  retroflexion  and  other  displacements  of  the  womb,  super- 
ceding the  use,  in  some  cases,  of  the  ordinary  pessaries. 

When  endo-cervicitis  is  complicated  with  displacements 
— other  means  must  be  resorted  to — some  advantage  may 
be  gained  by  replacing  the  uterus  in  its  normal  position;, 
when  the  case  is  of  recent  occurrence,  this  can  usually  be 
easily  accomplished  by  the  ordinary  measures  adopted  by 
gynaecologists.  In  chronic  cases,  and  especially  when  ad- 
hesion has  taken  place,  it  is  much  more  difficult,  and  some- 
times impossible  to  replace  the  organ.  Much,  however,, 
can  be  done  if  the  attachments  are  not  too  firm,  by  gradu- 
ally elevating  the  fundus  so  as  to  put  the  attachments  on 
the  stretch,  as  suggested  by  Dr.  Philips,  of  Boston,  in  a 
recent  paper  on  this  subject.  This  is  done  very  gradually 
by  manipulation  per  rectum  and  vaginum  assisted  by  the 
knee  and  elbow  position  of  the  patient,  packing  the  vagina 
with  oakum,  cotton  or  wool  in  the  most  favorable  way  ta 
suit  the  nature  of  the  displacement  is  now  made  use  of. 
The  uterine  elevator  will  render  valuable  assistance,  but 
some  care  should  be  used  lest  violence  be  done  to  the  tis- 
sues of  the  organ,  especially  in  cases  of  retroflexion  while 
passing  the  instrument  through  the  angle  of  flexion.  The 
best  instrument  for  this  purpose,  which  I  have  yet  seen^ 
is  Elliott's;  it  can  be  bent  to  the  angle  of  flexion  before^ 

*  Dr.  Taliaferro,  Georgia,  first  used  it. 


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1887  Cases  of  Chronic  Disease:  Cured,  317 

being  introduced  and  afterwards  by  turning  the  screw  the 
organ  can  be  elevated  gradually  as  the  case  may  require. 
A  forcible  elevation  of  the  fundus  at  any  one  time  should 
be  avoided,  as  it  is  apt  to  return  again.  A  little  at  a  time 
until  the  normal  position  is  attained  is  safer.  Dr.  Emmett 
very  wisely  remarks  that  attempting  to  straighten  a  retro- 
flexed  uterus  at  once  is  about  as  sensible  as  to  attempt  the 
cure  of  a  chordee  by  running  a  metallic  sound  through  the 
urethra. 

In  the  choice  of  remedies  in  such  cases,  we  must  antici- 
pate some  failures,  until  further  female  provings  of  drugs 
will  supply  us  with  remedies  homoeopathic  to  the  original 
cause  of  the  displacement  Lilium  tigrinum  has  some  rep- 
utation in  these  cases.  I  have  a  case  now  under  my  care 
where  the  symptoms  correspond  fairly  with  this  drug,  and 
should  the  case  be  of  sufficient  interest,  I  will  report  it  to 
this  institute,  D.  V.,  on  some  future  occasion. 

Since  writing  the  above  paper,  my  attention  has  been 
called  to  a  paper  on  the  curative  sphere  of  Aurum  muriati- 
cum  natronatum  in  diseases  of  the  internal  sexual  organs 
of  women.  Dr.  Tritscher,  while  assistant  at  the  gynaeco- 
logical clinic  at  Tubingen,  saw  seven  or  eight  cases  of  in- 
durations, flexions,  prolapsus  and  chronic  metritis,  show- 
ing the  wonderful  power  of  gold  over  chronic  indurations 
and  flexions  of  the  womb,  restoring  the  organ  to  its  normal 
size  and  function.  Should  this  experience  of  Dr.  Tritsch- 
er's  be  confirmed  by  others  we  will  i)ossess  a  remedy  of  the 
greatest  value  in  such  cases.  His  paper  can  be  found  in 
the  Homoeopathic  Recorder  for  May,  1887. 


CASES  OF  CHRONIC  DISEASE -CURED. 


THOMAS  SKINNER.  M.  D.,  London,  England. 


Dysmenia. — Lachesis, — The  following  interesting  case 
was  recommended  to  me  by  the  young  woman's  mistress 
who  had  been  "  made  a  new  woman  "  by  my  instrument- 
ality. The  poor  girl  had  been  in  two  of  the  leading  ob- 
stetric and  gynaecological  hospitals  in  London,  and  by  the 


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318  The  Medical  Advance.  Oct 

direction  of  her  mistress  and  friends  she  had  consulted  five 
eminent  lady's  physicians  (men)  the  names  of  whom  are 
in  my  possession,  and  all  of  them  are  men  of  more  or  less 
note. 

For  four  long  years  she  suffered  extreme  agony  once 
every  five  weeks,  and,  in  spite  of  five  old  school  physicians 
with  lots  of  physic  and  any  amount  of  "  vaginal  fumbling" 
she  told  me  that  she  was  not  in  the  least  benefitted  by  their 
medicines,  by  their  pessaries,  or  by  any  operative  proced- 
ures adopted  by  all  the  five  doctors  and  the  two  hospital 
physicians  and  their  assistants — most  of  whom  by  way  of 
being  "Job's  comforters  ** — informed  her  that  her  suffer- 
ings icere  incurable,  because  membranous. 

Status  prcesens.—FehTneLTj  27,  1886.    E.  P ,  single, 

ag^d  25,  consulted  me  for  membranous  dysmenia  of  four 
years'  standing.  She  can  not  account  for  it  in  any  way  by 
anything  that  she  herself  had  done  at  the  time,  or  by  any 
change  in  her  social  or  other  surroundings.  With  the  ex- 
ception of  her  monthly  periods  she  enjoys  perfectly  good 
health  and  is  able  for  her  work  as  a  head  waitress.  The 
pain  is  spasmodic  and  very  violent  while  it  lasts,  it  comes 
and  goes  quickly,  and  is  invariably  accompanied  with  fear- 
ful nausea  and  vomiting,  which  relieves  the  pain  as  a  rule. 
The  pain  used  to  come  invariably  before  the  flow;  now  it 
is  only  during  the  flow.  Monthly  period  retarded,  but 
regular  to  five  weeks,  normal  in  quantity,  dark  clots  and 
flow,  and  it  always  finishes  with  the  passage  of  a  membrane 
which  is  followed  by  complete  relief  to  the  nausea,  vomit- 
ing and  pain. 

The  whole  monthly  period  is  accompanied  with  chilli- 
ness'which  is  relieved  by  warm  hops;  and  external  warmth 
and  hops,  and  though  they  make  her  feel  more  comfort- 
able, they  do  not  in  the  least  relieve  the  pain.  Warm 
stimulating  drinks,  as  brandy,  gin  or  whisky,  toddy  or 
wine,  negus  aggravate  her  sufferings;  a  clear  proof  'of 
the  presence  of  either  a  membrane  or  clots  requiring  to  be 
expelled.  Before  her  menses  she  is  always  irritable,  which 
ceases  when  the  flow  commences.  When  out  of  sorts  she 
is  relieved  by  passing  wind,  by  vomiting  and  by  the  bowels 


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1887  Cases  of  Chronic  Disease:  Cured,  319 

acting,  and  the  day  before  an  monthly  period  her  appetite 

is  invariably  ravenons.     Let  me  add,  that  E.  P has 

been  repeatedly  leeched  internally  and  externally.  She 
wore  a  Hodge's  pessary  for  six  weeks,  which  nearly  drove 
her  mad,  and  shawas  told  that  she  was  suffering  from  con- 
gestion of  her  womb. 

At  first  the  case  was  very  puzzling.  It  looked  like  Mag- 
nesia carb..  Belladonna,  Pulsatilla,  Lycopodium,  and  Vi- 
burnum; and  all  were  administered  in  accordance  with 
their  similarity,  but  not  one  of  them  touched  the  pain  and 
deathly  sickness  and  vomiting.  On  April  2, 1886, 1  learned 
for  the  first  time  that  all  her  suffering  was  located  chiefly 
in  the  left  ovarian  region  and  only  during  an  monthly 
period.  I  gave  her  a  dose  of  Thuja  10m  (F.  C.)  dry  on 
her  tongue  at  once,  and  I  provided  her  with  a  powder  of 
the  same  to  be  dissolved  in  water,  and  a  teaspoonful  to  be 
taken  every  fifteen,  thirty,  or  sixty  minutes  if  in  pain  or 

sick  during  her  next  monthly  period.     E.  P bungled 

my  direction,  but  the  Thuja  did  good,  as  on  the  5th  of  May 
she  called  to  report  how  she  felt.  She  said,  "  It  almost 
seems  too  good  to  be  true,  but  I  have  been  free  from  pain 
and  sickness  or  vomiting  this  monthly  period."  She  re- 
ceived more  Thuja  10m  (F.  C.)  to  be  taken  as  previously 
directed.  Great  was  my  disappointment  when  she  called 
on  June  2  and  informed  me  that  ehe  had  been  ''  as  bad  as 
ever." 

I  took  a  fresh  photograph  of  the  case  and  I  found  Lyco- 
podium pretty  strongly  indicated.     Relief  from  passing 
wind  up  or  down,  irritability  of  temper  before  the  flow, 
ceasing  with  the  flow,  left  ovarian  pain,  always  icorse  about' 
6  p.  m. 

Lycopodium  cm.  (F.  C.)  was  given  in  one  dose  at  bed- 
time, and  the  Im.  (F.  C.)  every  fifteen,  thirty,  or  sixty 
minutes,  if  low,  irritable,  sick  or  in  pain  during  morning 
period. 

July  9, 1886.  Lycopodium  no  good,  just  like  so  much 
water  on  a  duck's  back.  Empirically  I  gave  her  Vibur- 
num op.  200  (F.  C),  a  dose  once  a  week,  and  every  one, 
two,  or  four  hours  if  in  pain  during  morning  period. 


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320  The  Medical  Advance.  Oct. 

September  14,  1886.  Beports  that  she  was  sick,  but  she 
had  less  pain  and  did  not  last  so  long.  A  membrane  has 
passed.  Repeat  Viburnum  op.  200  (F.  C),  a  dose  once 
a  week  in  the  interval,  and  every  one,  two,  or  four  hours 
if  sick  or  in  pain  during  monthly  period. 

October  14,  1886.  Was  last  poorly  about  October  2nd. 
It  commenced  with  sickness  and  vomiting,  severe  pain, 
back  and  front  as  before,  gnawing,  griping  and  spasmodic, 
with  slight  relief  from  bending  double.  The  Viburnum 
afforded  no  relief,  and  the  patient  did  not  observe  a  mem- 
brane. 

I  did  not  see  her  again  until  Nov.  25,  1886,  and  up  till 
then  I  gave  her  only  Sac.  lac., — my  purpose  being  to  start 
anew  and  as  free  from  medicine  as  possible,  in  order  that 
I  might  be  better  able  to  see  which  way  the  wind  was 
blowing  or  was  likely  to  blow.  On  this  day  I  took  the  fol- 
lowing photo. 

November  25,  1886.  "Always  a  large  appetite  for  a 
week  before  every  monthly  period,  and  in  spite  of  the  in- 
creased appetite  I  feel  very  tired  and  heavy.  As  a  rule,  I 
feel  better,  brighter  and  relieved  after  the  first  day.  In 
the  interval  I  frequently  suffer  from  whites  day  and  night; 
it  is  a  yellowish-green  discharge  with  itching  and  tender- 
ness of  the  parts.  My  face  is  always  observed  to  be  pale 
during  my  suffering."  Add  to  this  the  left  ovarian  irrita- 
tion,  accompanied  with  intense  agony  in  the  same  region 
and  sickness  and  vomiting  from  reflex  sympathy,  and  the 
fact  that  all  her  sufferings  are  limited,  at  least  the  pains 
and  sickness,  to  the  time  of  the  flow;  lastly,  E.  P.  has  al- 
ways been  one  week  or  five  days  behind  her  time, — I  felt 
every  confidence  in  prescribing  Lachesis  Im.  (F.  C.)  three 
powders.  One  of  them  I  placed  dry  on  her  tongue  in  my 
consulting  room,  another  was  to  be  taken  dry  on  tongue  if 
in  pain  or  sick  during  her  next  monthly  period,  and  the 
remaining  powder  was  to  be  taken  in  water  as  often  as 
necessary,  if  sick  or  in  pain  during  the  succeeding 
monthly  period. 

On  March  9,  1887, 1  received  the  following  note  from 
E.  P.: 


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1887  "  Dozing  Draughts:'  321 

"March  8,  1887,  London,  S.  W .—Dear  Dr. Skinner :  I  am  sorry 
I  have  not  written  you  before,  but  I  called  at  your  rooms  and 
found  you  out.  I  am  so  glad  to  be  able  to  say  that  the  last  medi- 
cine you  gave  me  has  done  me  so  much  good  that  I  scarcely  have 
any  pain  at  all  now,  and  no  sickness  whatever.  It  is  about  four 
months  since  you  gave  me  the  last  medicine.  I  cannot  express  to 
you  how  thankful  I  am. 

Yours  most  respectfully, 

E.  P." 

August  22,  1887.  I  am  glad  to  be  able  to  state  that  E. 
P.  has  been  free  from  dysmenia  since  November,  1886, 
nine  months,  and  she  has  not  passed  a  membrane  during 
her  menses  since  September,  1886.  Whether  the  Vibur- 
num, which  she  was  then  taking,  is  entitled  to  the  credit 
or  not,  I  do  not  say;  but  I  will  say  this,  that  the  last  photo 
(Nov.  25)  corresponds  well  to  Lachesis  in  every  particular. 


CLINICAL  MEDICINE. 


"DOZING  DRAUGHTS." 


FRANK  KRAFT.  M.  D.,  Ann  Arbor,  Mich. 


Case  No.  I. — In  the  summer  of  1885,  while  at  St  Louis, 
I  was  asked  to  see  Mrs.  0.,  an  intelligent  Irish  lady,  aged 
about  42,  who  had  been  suddenly  seized  with  vomiting  and 
purging.  On  arriving  at  the  bed-side  I  discovered  the  pa- 
tient to  be  a  lady  who  had  visited  me  some  days  before  in 
relation  to  an  unfortunate  habit  she  had  had  of  miscarry- 
ing about  the  third  month.  She  was  then,  she  informed 
me,  verging  on  that  period,  and  as  she  had  such  terrible 
attacks  of  nausea  at  irregular  times  she  feared  a  misadven- 
ture if  this  was  not  checked.  At  this  time  I  learned  that 
she  was  married  late  in  life  to  an  elderly  gentleman,  that 
they  had  had  one  child  (dying,  however,  soon  after  birth) 
and  several  miscarriages  since.  Both  were  exceedingly 
anxious  for  offspring.  The  personal  habits  of  the  lady 
were  not  of  the  best;  an  inordinate  coffee  and  tea  drinker 
and — bearing  in  mind  the  nationality — also  a  frequent  user 
of  beer  and  kindred  spirits.     My  advice  was  principally 


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322  The  Medical  Advance.  Oct 

hygienic,  possibly  some  remedy,  and  a  suggestion  that 
ice  cream  was  frequently  relished  by  ladies  in  her  condi- 
tion and  would  "  stay  down "  when  other  edibles  refused 
to  remain. 

As  I  said,  I  found  the  lady,  on  this  occasion,  vomiting 
violently  and  purging  simultaneously.  It  required  but  a 
moment  to  see  that  quick  work  must  be  done,  else  the  mis- 
carriage would  supervene.  Between  the  paroxysms  I 
gleaned  that  shortly  before  noon  Mrs.  C.  had  gone  to  mar- 
ket, a  distance  of  nearly  a  mile,  had  possibly  become  over- 
heated; had  sampled  several  pickles,  some  chow  chow,  but- 
ter, cheese,  a  "wiener;"  had  taken  a  little  cider;  also  some 
soda,  "but  no  beer,  doctor;  no  strong  drink,  honest"  To 
clap  this  climax  of  incongruities,  feeling  thirsty,  and  re- 
membering the  doctor's  recommendation,  she  stopped  a 
street  vender  and  had  a  cup  of  ice  cream.  She  was  in- 
stantly seized  with  pains  which  she  referred  to  the  region 
of  the  stomach.  Hurrying  home,  she  took  a  little  ginger, 
but  all  to  no  purpose.  The  pains  grew  worse  and  began 
to  spread  downward  at  the  same  time  vomiting  began,  fol- 
lowed very  soon  by  purging.  The  matter  vomited  was 
black;  a  burning  sensation  extended  from  the  stomach  to 
the  mouth.  " More  water,  more  water!"  and  yet  she  could 
take  but  a  sip.  "  I'm  flooding.  Doctor,"  proved  only  too 
true,  for  on  examination  the  bed  linen  was  found  to  be 
rapidly  filling  with  blood.  A  digital  examination  under 
the  circumstances  was  almost  impossible,  and  on  being 
made  proved  unsatisfactory.  Evidently  this  patient  must 
be  treated  regardless  of  the  threatened  miscarriage.  "Doc- 
tor," said  the  husband,  "you  must  give  her  a  dozing  draught, 
to  stop  that  vomiting,  for  it's  tearing  things  loose.  For 
God's  sake  do  all  you  can  to  save  *the  little  one.' "  I  gave 
one  powder  of  Arsenicum  on  the  tongue,  and  had  the  great 
pleasure  of  noting  the  toning  down  of  the  violence  almost 
instantly,  and  in  less  than  fifteen  minutes,  to  cease  en- 
tirely, my  patient  exhausted  and  sleepy,  but  so  thankful 
for  the  "dozing  draught;"  when  I  left  the  bedside  she  was 
asleep.  I  saw  her  two  or  three  days  afterward,  everything 
was  again  normal,  and  the  lady,  so  far  as  I  know,  went 


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1887  "  Dozing  Ih'amjMsr  323 

safely  to  full  term.  Query :  Ought  I  not,  according  to  some 
authors,  have  given  Apis,  or  Sabina,  etc.,  for  the  prevention 
of  miscarriage  at  the  third  month? 

Case  No.  II.— Mrs.  P.,  a  lady  verging  on  70  years  of 
age,  had  been  a  suflFerer  for  years  with  heart  trouble,  (va- 
riously diagnosed  by  various  physicians,)  and  who  had  lat- 
terly added  to  her  other  afflictions  a  contracted  kidney — 
having  but  recently  passed  a  right-sided  renal  calculus. 
The  case  was  left  with  me  during  the  temporary  absence 
of  the  regular  physician,  with  instructions  to  seek  simply 
to  ameliorate  the  suflfering,  it  being  an  obviously  incurable 
one.  On  my  first  visit  I  found  ascites  well  advanced,  the 
lower  left  limb  being  largely  swollen,  so  also  the  depen- 
dent portions  of  the  right  arm,  right  side,  right  breast  and 
throat  with  a  gradual  spreading  to  the  left;  there  was  utter 
inability  to  lie  down — necessitating  the  upright  position  in 
bed;  great  thirst  for  cold  drinks,  but  afraid  to  drink  be- 
cause it  hurt  her  stomach;  craving  for  oysters  which  made 
her  sick;  excessively  irritable,  quarreling  with  members  of 
her  own  family  almost  continually;  eyes  protruding,  pupils 
widely  dilated;  restless  and  tossing  about;  tongue  coated, 
with  ragged  edges;  frontal  headache  as  if  it  would  burst; 
pain  in  small  of  back  like  a  knife  thrust;  craving  for  gin 
and  water;  loud  belching  which  gave  only  momentary  re- 
lief; mouth  wide  open  gasping  for  breath;  constant  hawk- 
ing from  a  tickling  in  the  throat;  burning  and  stitching 
paing  from  the  region  of  the  bladder  to  the  top  of  the 
throat.  Latterly  she  had  had  paroxysms  of  pain  when  she 
would  spring  out  of  bed  and  scream  and  try  to  throw  her- 
self on  the  floor.  It  would  require  the  combined  eflfort  of 
all  the  attendants  to  hold  and  pacify  her.  During  these 
paroxysms  her  face  grew  cyanotic,  eyes  widely  open,  also 
the  mouth,  emitting  shriek  after  shriek;  partly  delirious. 

On  my  first  visit  she  was  just  "resting"  from  one  of 
these  paroxysms,  when  I  gathered  characteristic  indica- 
tions for  every  remedy  known  to  me.  One  of  the  atten- 
dants plead  with  me  for  an  anodyne,  arguing  that  inas- 
much as  the  case  was  an  incurable  one,  why  prolong  the 
suflfering?   I  will  confess  that  for  a  moment  I  wavered,  but 


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324  The  Medical  Advance.  Oct. 

my  *  early  training '  came  to  my  aid  and  I  put  the  tempta- 
tion behind  me.  I  knew  what  the  attending  physician  had 
last  prescribed,  and  rather  than  confuse  my  case  I  pre- 
ferred continuing  the  remedy  and  going  to  my  office  to 
read  up.  I  spent  the  better  part  of  two  hours  looking  up 
the  symptoms  but  failed  to  find  any  one  remedy  indicated 
more  prominently  than  the  twenty  or  thirty  others.  So 
that  I  revisited  the  case  feeling  rather  discomfited.  As  I 
approached  the  bedside  I  observed  the  patient's  feet  "glued" 
to  the  foot-board.  I  am  not  a  believer  in  intuitive  prac- 
tice, but  it  is  wonderful  what  a  train  of  ideas  that  pair  of 
feet  started  in  my  muddled  pate.  "  Why  were  they  pressed 
against  the  foot-board?'*  With  a  glance  of  withering  scorn 
I  was  told  "  because  the  soles  are  so  hot  they  must  find  a 
cool  place."  I  will  also  admit  putting  a  number  of  leading 
questions  to  my  patient,  simply  to  confirm  the  remedy  to 
my  own  mind.  I  prepared  six  powders  of  Sulphur,  giving 
the  first  at  once  dry  on  the  tongue  and  the  others  at  inter- 
vals of  two  hours  until  asleep. 

Next  morning  I  was  much  complimented  on  the  effect 
of  my  "quieting  powders,"  the  patient  having  had  six 
hours  of  consecutive  sleep,  and  was  then  calling  for  some- 
thing to  eai  To  me  the  inexplicable  part  of  the  proceed- 
ing was,  that  Sulphur  seemed  capable  of  producing  sleep 
even  while  other  remedies  were  being  administered  for 
prominent  indications.  The  attendant  who  plead  for  the 
anodyne,  would  ask  each  evening  for  "  some  more  of  them 
'quieting  powders,'"  and  I  am  sure  she  believes  to  this 
day  that  I  gave  a  veritable  "quieting"  powder  under  the 
pretext  of  a  homoeopathic  remedy. 

Case  No.  III. — Miss  L.  G ,  setat  about  24,  suffered 

"tortures"  with  neuralgia  of  the  right  side  of  the  face; 
when  possible  to  indicate  any  certain  locality  it  was  referred 
to  the  place  formerly  occupied  by  a  tooth  in  the  lower  jaw. 
I  was  attending  to  another  patient  in  the  family  at  the 
time,  and  having  just  shortly  before  finished  reviewing 
some  notes  I  had  taken  at  the  I.  H.  A.  meeting  at  Long 
Branch  where  Drs.  Wesselhoeft,  Nash  and  others  extolled 
the  virtues  of  Magnesia  phos.  in  right-sided  neuralgia,  I 


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1887  "  Sunstroke  "  in  Vie  Mountains.  325 

gave  this  lady  one  dose  on  the  tongue  and  dismissed  the 
case  from  my  mind.  Before  I  left  the  house,  however,  I 
was  called  in  to  see  Miss  G.  who  was  seemingly  no  better, 
but  rather  worse.  I  watched  her  for  a  few  moments  as  she 
paced  the  floor  holding  her  face,  her  head  bent  forward, 
and  moaning  piteously.  The  pain  was  still  on  the  right 
side;  the  application  of  heat  was  grateful.  Her  eyes  were 
sparkling,  pupils  widely  dilated,  cheeks  a  bright  crimson, 
and  the  face  moist  with  sweat.  It  never  entirely  ceased  to 
ache,  but  there  were  times  when  it  hurt  less;  then  it  would 
come  again  as  quick  as  a  wink  and  more  painful  than  be- 
fore. "  Doctor,  give  me  something  to  stop  this  pain  or  1*11 
go  mad.  I  canH  stand  it.  I  don't  care  what  it  is,  but  give  me 
me  something.  I'm  losing  my  mind."  How  nicely  a  "dozing 
draught"  would  have  fitted  this  niche!  Instead,  how- 
ever, I  gave  one  dose  of  Belladonna,  and  saw  that  neuralgic 
patient  **keel  over"  on  her  bed  as  if  struck  by  a  blow  from 
a  hammer,  and  drop  off  to  sleep. 

Did  Belladonna  cure,  or  was  it  the  Magnesia  phos.; 
was  it  the  mixing  of  the  two  remedies  in  the  system;  or 
did  the  Belladonna  wake  up  the  Magnesia  phos.  and  cause 
it  to  act? 

"SUNSTROKE"  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS. 


C.  Q.  NELSON,  M.  D.,  Carson  City.  Colo. 


"Sunstroke"  is  so  rare  in  the  mountains  that  most  per- 
sons doubt  its  occurrence  at  all.  I  have  under  treatment 
now  a  man,  about  47  years  of  age,  who  was  exposed  on 
the  4th  inst.  at  an  altitude  of  about  8,000  feet,  in  the  south- 
western part  of  this  state,  to  the  hot  sun  during  a  hard 
ride.  During  the  ride,  or  soon  after,  he  was  seized  with 
dizziness,  nausea  and  fainting,  with  severe  headache  and,  I 
presume,  delirium,  though  of  the  delirium  I  am  not  sure, 
as  he  did  not  come  home  or  under  my  treatment  till  the 
12th.  But  from  what  we  can  learn  he  had  repeated  attacks 
of  dizziness,  nausea  and  fainting  and  delirium,  with  severe 
pains  in  upper  two-thirds  of  head.  After  an  attack  he 
would  remember  nothing  about  what  had  occurred,  could 


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326  The  Medical  Advance.  Oct. 

not  remember  names;  temperature  low  and  pulse  below 
normal.  What  treatment  he  had  before  the  12th  was  old 
school,  such  as  liver  pills,  20  gr.  doses  of  bromide  of  some 
kind,  calomel  and  quinine,  given  successively  in  the  order 
named,  as  near  as  1  can  telL 

When  he  arrived  home  on  the  12th  I  was  called  to  see 
him  between  2  and  8  p.  M.  He  did  not  know  where  he  was 
and  did  not  remember  where  he  had  come  from.  He  had 
to  ride  something  over  300  miles  on  the  railroad  in  coming 
home.  He  complained  of  nothing  but  his  head,  but  could 
give  no  description  of  the  way  it  felt  Said  they  had  given 
him  too  much.  Pulse  48;  temperature  100^.  Gave  Nux  200. 
He  continued  to  suffer  till  5  a.  M.,  13th,  when  he  fell  asleep 
and  slept  over  an  hour;  from  that  time  his  head  was  better 
and  in  a  few  days  he  seemed  to  be  free  from  all  pain. 

On  the  13th  I  gave  a  dose  of  Belladonna  200  and  Sac.  lac. 
Still  delirious. 

14:th.  Seems  to  realize  he  is  at  home,  but  cannot  remem- 
ber names  of  persons  or  places.  Seems  to  have  the  impres- 
sion that  he  was  not  properly  treated  on  the  road  home. 
Pulse  and  temperature  about  the  s€tme  as  13th.  Gave  a 
dose  of  Staphisagria  200. 

15th.  About  the  same  as  yesterday.  Gave  another  dose 
of  Staphisagria  200. 

16th.  About  the  same  as  yesterday.  Loss  of  memory 
being  so  marked,  I  gave  one  dose  of  Sulphur  200  in  the 
evening. 

17th.  Was  called  in  a  hurry  at  5  a.  m.  Patient  woke 
from  sleep  with  a  scream  and  seemed  to  be  strangled  from 
a  slight  haemorrhage  from  nose  or  throat.  Pulse  78;  tem- 
perature 101.  Seemed  very  much  prostrated.  Sac.  lac.  By 
8  A.  M.  pulse  had  fallen  to  78,  temperature  to  100,  and  by 
evening  it  had  risen  a  little  again.     Sac.  lac. 

18th.  Somewhat  improved  over  yesterday.     Sac.  lac 

19th.  Condition  much  the  same  as  yesterday.  Owing  to 
the  continued  slow  pulse  I  gave  Laurocerasus  Ix  (not  hav- 
ing any  higher). 

20th.  Condition  not  much  changed,  and.  gave  another 
dose  of  Laurocerasus  Ix. 


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1887  ''Sunstroke''  in  the  Mountains.  327 

21st  Not  much  changed,  though  seems  a  little  better. 
Sac  lac. 

22nd.  Condition  a  little  improved.  Temperature  normal 
and  pulse  gradually  coming  up.     Sac.  lac. 

23d.  Slight  improvement.     Sac.  lac. 

24th.  Marked  improvement  in  mental  condition.  Tem- 
perature normal.  Pulse  still  slow  but  stronger.  Gave 
another  dose  of  Laurocerasus  Ix. 

25th.  Slept  well  last  night  and  feels  well  this  morning; 
wants  to  sit  up.     Mind  seems  clear.     Sac.  lac. 

Since  he  went  to  sleep  on  the  morning  of  the  13th  he 
has  slept  a  good  deal  night  and  day  but  has  been  easily 
aroused.  His  breathing  has  been  irregular  at  times.  His 
bowels  and  kidneys  have  acted  well.  At  first  his  eyes  were 
sensitive  to  light  but  from  about  the  20th  they  were  not 
sensitive  and  vision  was  impaired.  Pupils  dilated  and 
contracted  slowly  and  strong  light  was  easily  borne.  To- 
day he  sees  better. 

His  diet  at  first  was  beef  broth  made  from  the  lean  meat 
cut  in  small  bits  and  put  in  cold  water  and  cooked  a  short 
time  and  seasoned  with  salt  only.  As  he  retained  this 
well  we  gave  poached  eggs  at  times  with  buttered  toast, 
then  let  him  have  some  baked  apple  or  ripe  pecu^h,  or  cur- 
rant jelly  on  light  bread.  For  drink,  cold  water.  He  has 
moaned  frequently  when  awake  since  he  has  been  at  home 
but  complained  of  no  pain  after  his  head  quit  hurting. 

I  don't  claim  anything  for  this  treatment  but  it  has  been 
a  hard  case  to  treat.  About  the  nearest  he  could  come  to 
describing  his  symptoms  was  to  say  when  asked  how  he 
felt  "  first-rate  "  or  "  I  don't  know."  What  his  symptoms 
will  be  from  now  on  or  what  I  will  give  him  I  don't  know. 
I  would  like  to  see  something  by  one  of  our  Homoeopaths 
from  the  region  of  "sun-strokes." 


The  Homoeopathist  soon  finds  that  by  a  careful  individ- 
ualization of  his  cases,  he  not  only  has  very  little  use  for 
hypnotics  but  is  seldom  tempted  even  to  alternate  a  rem- 
edy for  the  sleeplessness,  with  some  other  remedy  for  the 
remainder  of  the  symptoms. — Cowperthwaite, 


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328  The  Medical  Advance.  Oct. 

IVY  POISONING  TREATED  HOMCEOPATHICALLY. 


M.  E.  DOUGLASS,  M.  D.,  Danville,  Va. 


In  the  August  number  of  the  Advance  is  an  article  on 
"Catarrhus  ^stivus,"  by  Dr.  Lippincott,  in  which  he  says: 

"And,  dear  reader  or  International,  do  not  waste  valuable  time 
in  giving  Anacardiun,  Belladonna,  Bryonia,  Rhus  tox.,  high  or  low, 
or  any  of  the  many  recommended  remedies,  or  the  local  appliances 
for  ivy  or  sumac  poisoning,  except  a  strongly  saturated  solution 
of  the  crystals  of  hypo-sulphite  of  sodium.  This  preparation,  if 
used  at  the  onset  or  soon  thereafter,  frequently  applied,  will  cure 
the  patient  in  from  one  to  three  days,  quicker  than  by  internal 
medication  and  the  poisoning  will  not  reappear,  except  from  a  re- 
newal of  the  cause." 

As  this  is  calculated  to  mislead  the  younger  members  of 
the  profession,  I  wish  to  raise  my  voice  against  ii  I  know 
nothing  of  the  properties  of  ''  a  strongly  saturated  solution 
of  the  crystals  of  hypo-sulphite  of  sodium  "  in  this  affec- 
tion. It  may  do  all  he  claims  for  it;  but  I  do  know  that 
the  potentized  remedy,  when  indicated,  will  cure  as  speed- 
ily and  permanently  as  he  claims  for  his  saturated  solu- 
tion. I  will  give  three  cases  lately  occurring  in  my  own 
practice,  among  a  score  of  others,  an^  will  take  the  last  case 
first: 

Case  I. — Aug.  9.  Called  to  see  Sam.,  aged  7,  son  of  Mr. 
J.  L.  P.  Found  him  suffering  with  rhus  tox.  poison. 
Large  blisters  between  toes  and  fingers  full  of  a  yellowish 
liquid.  Complained  of  a  stinging  pain  all  over  his  body. 
Face  enormously  swollen,  entirely  closing  both  eyes;  dis- 
charge of  tears,  which,  he  said,  burnt  his  face;  could  not 
bear  the  light.  A  large  oedematous  bag-like  swelling  un- 
der both  eyes.  I  gave  him  Apis  mel.  6x,  one  tablet  every 
four  hours. 

Aug.  10.  Swelling  nearly  gone,  and  better  every  way. 
Sac.  lac. 

Aug.  11.  Found  the  patient  at  play  in  the  yard,  appar- 
ently  as  well  as  ever. 

Case  II. — Aug.  5.  Lewis,  aged  11,  called  at  my  office 
at  9  A.  If.  with  rhus  poison.     A  sore  on  right  hand,  dorsal 


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1887         Intermittent  Fever:  Eupatorium  Perf,  329 

rej(ion,  as  large  as  a  silver  dollar.  Sore  consisted  of  sev- 
eral little  blisters,  size  from  a  pin's  head,  up  to  half  a  pea, 
full  of  clear  liquid  fluid.     Crot.  tig.  30x. 

Saw  him  next  day  playing  ball;  he  showed  me  his  hand, 
and  it  was  all  well,  except  that  it  looked  red,  as  if  it  had 
been  slightly  burned  with  mustard. 

Case  III. — June  3.  Called  to  see  Joe  D.,  aged  16.  Got 
poisoned  two  days  before,  while  on  a  picnic,  with  poison 
ivy.  Face  and  hands,  feet  and  legs  to  knee  swollen.  Face 
swollen  most;  fiery  red,  covered  with  blisters,  containing 
yellow  lymph.  Great  deal  of  burning.  Between  fingers 
and  toes  several  blisters  of  a  large  size,  same  characteristics 
as  those  on  face;  limbs  painful,  better  when  walking  about. 
Tongue  coated,  with  the  characteristic  triangular  tip.  Want- 
ed a  gourd  of  cold  water  at  his  lips  constantly.  Rhus  tox. 
200  in  water,  spoonful  every  hour.  This  was  at  6  A.  M.  At 
10  A.  M.  saw  him  again.  The  soreness  in  limbs  better,  and 
burning  in  face  better. 

Stopped  the  medicine  and  gave  Sac.  lac.  in  water  every 
three  hours;  left  word  to  call  me  if  needed. 

June  5,  the  patient  walked  into  the  office  to  get  medicine 
for  his  mother's  headache.    Said  he  felt  perfectly  well. 

[A  serious  objection  to  the  treatment  recommended  by  Dr.  Lip- 
pincott  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact,  that  Rhus  rarely  ever  affects  two 
persons  in  the  same  way,  as  illustrated  by  the  above  cases.  It  is 
absolutely  impossible  for  the  sulphite  of  sodium,  or  any  other 
remedy,  to  cure  every  case  of  rhus  poisoning;  and  he  who  depends 
on  any  one  remedy  to  cover  every  case,  irrespective  of  its  individ- 
uality, will  certainly  meet  with  some  mortifying  failures.— Ed.] 


INTERMITTENT  FEVER:  EUPATORIUM  TERF. 


H.  G.  GLOVER,  M.  D..  Marquette,  Mich. 


I  have  a  case  of  intermittent  fever  to  report.  It  is  inter- 
esting to  me  for  several  reasons; 

1st  It  was  my  first  experience  with  the  disease,  it  being 
very  rare  up  here. 

2nd.  It  was  cured  with  the  single  remedy,  and  according 
to  our  law. 


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330  The  Medical  Advance.  Oct 

3rd.  It  proved  to  me  the  usefulness  of  a  work  on  that 
subject  of  which  the  editor  of  the  Advance  is  the  author. 

Case. — T.  K ,  set.  27.    Irish.    Had  only  been  in  this 

part  of  the  country  a  short  time.  Came  from  New  York 
here,  having  previously  been  in  New  Jersey,  and  had  been 
at  work  on  a  new  railroad  in  upper  part  of  this  peninsula, 
where  he  had  poor  fare  and  worse  lodging,  it  being  **  on 
the  cold,  cold  ground."  Had  first  chill  July  23rd.  The 
disease  assumed  the  tertian  type.  Friday,  July  29th  he 
reached  Marquette,  after  having  walked  two  days.  He 
came  under  the  observation  of  a  believer  in  Homoeopathy, 
and  Monday,  August  1st,  I  was  called  to  see  him.  When 
I  reached  him,  the  sweating  stage  had  just  begun.  His 
chill  began  at  7  a.  m.  and  lasted  two  hours.  Commenced 
in  back;  spread  over  the  body,  and  ended  with  vomiting. 
Somewhat  thirsty  before  and  during  chill.  There  was 
some  soreness  of  the  muscles,  though  the  characteristic 
bone  pains  of  Eupatorium  pert  were  lacking.  Tongue 
heavily  coated,  yellowish.  The  indications  were  not  as 
sharp  as  one  could  wish  when  anxious  to  make  an  accurate 
prescription ;  owing  no  doubt  to  the  fact  that  the  believer 
in  Homoeopathy  had  already  given  him  Aconite,  Cinchona, 
Nux  vomica  and  Gelsemium,  during  a  period  of  three  days. 
After  carefully  considering  the  case,  I  decided  to  give 
Eupatorium  perf.  I  put  fifteen  drops  of  the  2x  (the  only 
preparation  I  had  in  my  case,  and  four  miles  from  my 
office)  into  half  a  glass  of  water  and  directed  a  teaspoonful 
to  be  given  every  hour,  for  three  hours,  and  then  every 
two  hours  during  apyrexia. 

August  3rd.  Had  another  chill,  somewhat  earlier  in  the 
morning,  and  not  so  severe.  Gave  Eupatorium  perf.  200, 
three  powders,  to  be  taken  two  hours  apart,  after  the  parox- 
ysm, and  to  be  followed  by  Sac.  lac. 

August  5th.  Chill  at  6  a.  m.  Less  fever.  Continued 
Sac.  lac. 

August  7th.     Chill  at  5  A.  M.  light.     Sac.  lac. 

August  0th.     No  chill,  but  fever.     Sac.  lac. 

August  11.  No  chill  or  fever,  but  a  slight  headachy. 
Continued  Sac.  lac. 


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1887  Greeii  Diarrhoea.  331 

I  saw  him  to-day,  August  23rd,  and  he  was  doing  very 
hard  work.  Was  feeling  well,  and  has  had  no  indication 
of  a  recurrence  of  the  old  trouble.  His  bowels  which  were 
obstinately  constipated  during  his  illness,  and  for  which  he 
had  been  in  the  habit  of  taking  ''  physic,"  are  now  regular, 
and  have  been  since  he  began  to  recover.  Not  a  day  passed 
during  his  illness,  that  there  was  not  from  one  to  three 
"  sure  cures  "  recommended  to  him  by  his  fellow  workmen, 
and  which  he  was  anxious  to  try;  but  I  held  him  to  'Hhe 
single  remedy,  and  the  minimum  dose,*' — and  he  is  now 
very  grateful  to  me  for  ii  Could  "  quinine  "  have  rendered 
him  better  service?    I  think  not. 


GREEN  DIARRH(KA.» 


H,  P.  HOLMES,  M.  I). 


M.  Hayem,  at  the  Creche  Saint  Antoine,  has  studied  the 
•dyspepsia  of  infants  and  the  green  diarrhoea,  always  so 
^ave,  which  is  prevalent  there.  Having  noticed  that  every 
time  an  infant  affected  with  green  diarrhoea  was  brought 
into  their  wards  it  produced  a  sort  of  an  epidemic,  he  was 
led  to  consider  this  affection  as  contagious. 

But  after  he  ordered  the  immediate  removal  of  all  soiled 
linen  and  their  disinfection  with  the  sublimate  solution  the 
green  diarrhoea  ceased  to  reign. 

M.  Lesage,  interne,  had  found  in  the  stools  a  special 
microbe,  a  bacillus,  agglomerated  in  large  masses. 

Finally,  M.  Hayem  is  said  to  have  marvelously  triumphed 
over  this  affection,  as  grave  as  common,  with  Lactic  acid, 
given  in  doses  of  40  to  60  centigrammes  (6J  to  9^  grains) 
daily,  in  the  form  of  a  solution  2  parts  to  100, 5  to  8  spoon- 
fuls in  twenty-four  hours,  a  quarter  of  an  hour  after  nurs- 
ing. 

According  to  the  theory  of  M.  Hayem  the  bacilla  only 
multiplies  when  there  was  already  a  dyspepsia.  Then  the 
medicine  acts  either  in  reestablishing  the  digestive  func- 
tions or  in  sterilizing  the  bacilla  germs. 


•  From  L'Art  Medical  for  June,  page  453. 


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332  The  Medical  Advance.  Oct 

Further,  ...  I  will  say  that  Lactic  acid  is  a  remedy  for 
infantile  diarrhoea,  like  Phosphoric  acid,  which  is  the  type 
of  the  series  in  our  school  In  the  healthy  man  Lactic 
acid  produces  a  very  remarkable  nauseous  dyspepsia  and 
diarrhoea,  even  when  taken  in  very  small  doses,  as  anyone 
may  assure  himself  by  consulting  the  pathogenesis  of  thi» 
remedy  in  Allen's  EncyclopcBdia.  Lactic  acid,  then,  acta 
here  conformably  to  the  law  of  similars.  It  is  an  experi- 
mental fact,  and  it  furnishes  in  this  question  a  basis  mora 
solid  than  the  microbe  theory. 

[Apropos  of  this  article  I  will  cite  my  only  experience 
with  this  remedy.  I  was  called  September  6th  to  see  a 
babe,  ten  weeks  old,  having  strong  symptoms  of  spasma 
from  intestinal  irritation.  The  face  was  flushed,  the  eye& 
rolled  upwards,  the  child  stiffening  backwards,  frequent 
green  diarrhoea  and  some  nausea.  Gave  Belladonna  3x. 
every  half  hour,  and  the  babe  soon  recovered  from  the 
spasmodic  condition,  but  the  diarrhoea  continued  with 
almost  constant  signs  of  nausea.  There  was  frequent 
gagging,  but  not  much  vomiting.  Stools  undigested,  curdy 
and  mixed  with  a  bright  grass  green  mucus,  and  watery. 
Gave  Ipecacuahana,  which  controlled  the  nausea,  but  it 
had  little  effect  on  the  character  or  frequency  of  the  stools. 
The  family  were  very  anxious  about  their  little  one,  and  I 
determined  to  try  Lactic  acid.  One-half  drachm  of  the 
commercial  dilute  Lactic  acid  was  put  in  one-third  of  a 
goblet  of  water  and  a  teaspoonf ul  given  every  two  hours. 
At  the  end  of  twelve  hours  the  diarrhoea  was  under  con- 
trol, the  green  character  entirely  gone  and  the  babe  im- 
proving nicely. 

AlleWs  Encyclopcedia  gives  in  the  pathogenesis  of  Lactic 
acid  the  following  symptoms  confirmatory  of  the  case: 
Face  flushed;  rush  of  blood  to  the  head  and  face;  constant 
nausea;  diarrhoea;  great  jerking  of  muscles;  spasms  of 
different  muscles,  etc. — H.] 


Home,  even  if  humble,  is  better  than  a  hospital — even 
though  the  latter  be  palatial. — Carleton. 


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1887        Kali  Nit  in  Diarrfwea,— Chronic  Ulcer.  333 

KALI  NIT.  IN  DIARRHCEA-CHRONIC  ULCER-CATARRH 
OF  THE  BLADDER— A  MORBID  DESIRE. 


G.  E.  CLARK.  M.  D.,  StUlwater.  Minn. 


KALI  NIT.  IN   DIABRHCEA. 

Case  No.  1. — H.  N.  ate  of  veal  for  dinner.  Following  day 
much  rumbling  in  the  bowels,  with  sharp,  cutting  pains. 
Evacuations  frequent,  loose  and  painful. 

3.  p.  M.:  Took  one  powder  of  Kali  nit.  200.  Pains 
ceased,  with  no  more  loose  or  painful  evacuations.  Three 
hours  afterward,  the  pains  slightly  returning,  one  other 
dose  was  taken,  with  entire  removal  of  the  trouble. 

Case  No.  2. — G.  E.  C.  ate  heartily  of  veal  for  dinner. 
Awoke  early  on  the  following  morning  with  sharp,  cutting 
pains  in  the  bowels.  Tongue  coated  white,  and  tasteless. 
Frequent  loose  evacuations,  smelling  very  badly. 

Kali  nit.  200,  two  |X)wder8,  promptly  relieved. 

CHRONIC  ULCER  OF  NINE  YEARS*  STANDING. 

F.  P.,  formerly  a  soldier  in  the  German  cavalry.  Strong, 
robust  constitution.  Nine  years  ago  severely  bruised  the 
crest  of  left  tibia.  A  chronic  ulcer  resulted.  Has  closed 
two  or  three  times  under  treatment,  but  on  returning  to 
work  it  soon  appeared  again ;  as  a  result  has  remained  a 
cripple  most  of  the  time  at  home,  doing  light  work. 

Condition  March  30,  1887:  Large,  irregular  sore  on  the 
anterior  aspect  of  middle  third  of  left  tibia.  Whole  lower 
limb  looks  very  red  and  angry  and  very  sensitive  to  touch. 
Edges  of  ulcer  surrounded  by  raised  border  of  unhealthy 
granulations.  Base  of  ulcer  filled  with  red,  spongy  granu- 
lations. Profuse  secretion  of  nasty  yellow  pus.  Lower 
limb  covered  with  vesicles,  secreting  a  sticky  fluid.  Cah- 
not  sleep  but  two  or  three  hours,  night  or  day,  from  a  /or- 
menting  itching  on  this  leg,  thigh,  back  of  the  hands  and 
wrists. 

This  itching  is  made  worse  from  heat,  hence  cannot 
lie  in  bed,  but  sits  up  in  the  chair  all  night.  Ulcer  has  a 
putrid,  rank  smell. 

Psorinum  2m,  one  powder. 


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334  The  Medical  Advance.  Oct 

Adhesive  straps  were  placed  about  the  limb  and  a  pro- 
tective bandage  applied  about  the  whole. 

This  treatment  was  continued  till  May  1,  when  the  ulcer 
was  entirely  healed  and  the  man  returned  to  hard  work, 
where  he  has  remained  all  summer.  The  medicine  was 
only  repeated  twice  thereafter  on  account  of  the  terrible 
itching,  which  did  not  disappear  for  two  months  later. 

The  man  has  regained  a  condition  of  health  he  has  not 
known  for  years.  The  three  little  powders  accomplished 
in  two  months  what  the  combined  allopathic  talent  of  the 
city  had  been  working  at  for  nine  years  and  failed;  viz.,  to 
cure  that  ulcer  and  keep  it  cured  while  the  man  was  at 
work. 

CATARRH   OF  THE   BLADDER. 

M.  C,  guard  at  the  prison,  has  had  trouble  in  urinating 
three  or  four  years;  very  frequent,  with  dribbling  a  few 
drops.  It  often  stains  the  linen  yellow.  Worse  after- 
noons and  in  damp,  cold  weather.  Some  pain  over  left 
kidney  and  left  iliac  region;  better  after  moving  about 
and  in  warm  weather.  Sweats  easily  and  often  takes  cold, 
when  he  suffers  from  sore  throai     Dislikes  sweets. 

April  14:    Dulcamara  200,  three  powders. 

April  24:  While  taking  the  powders  felt  very  much  bet- 
^ter.  The  medicine  seemed  a  strong  tonic  for  the  bladder. 
Less  dribbling  and  feels  much  stronger.  Dulcamara  200, 
three  powders  more,  completed  the  cure. 

DERANGEMENTS  OF  PREGNANCY. 

Mrs.  W.,  in  her  fourth  pregnancy,  became  possessed 
with  an  irresistable  desire  to  smoke  tobacco.  She  had 
never  smoked  before  and  was  much  opposed  to  the  habii 
However,  warned  by  the  experience  of  a  friend  who — pos- 
se'ssed  with  a  similar  desire,  had  refused  to  gratify  her 
abnormal  taste  and  hence  brought  forth  a  son  who  would 
persist  in  smoking  while  yet  a  very  small  child — she  de- 
manded and  was  furnished  with  a  box  of  cigars  and  used 
them  freely. 

By  accident  learning  of  this  state  of  affcdrs,  I  adminis- 
tered one  dose  of  Tabacum  200.  The  desire  for  tobacco 
was  immediately  removed,  and  remained  so  till  her  con- 
finement, three  weeks  later. 


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1887  Inoculation  to  Prevent  Yellow  Fever,  335 

INOCULATION  TO  PREVENT  YELLOW  FEVER. 


HAKOLD  B.  WILSON,  M.  D..  Ann  Arbor,  MIeh. 


Two  years  ago  Dr.  Dominguez  Freire,  of  Brazil,  pub- 
lished certain  investigations  of  his  on  the  subject  of  yellow 
fever,  claiming  to  have  discovered  the  bacilli  of  the  dis- 
ease, and  a  means  also  of  preventive  inoculation.  His 
efiForts  to  attract  public  attention  to  his  investigations  were 
seconded  by  the  Louisiana  Board  of  Health,  which,  through 
its  president.  Dr.  Holt,  brought  the  matter  first  before  the 
American  Public  Health  Association,  and  finally  into  Con- 
gress in  the  shape  of  a  bill  providing  for  a  commission  of 
inquiry  with  an  appropriation  of  $40,000.  This  bill  was 
killed,  however,  largely,  perhaps,  through  the  violent  oppo- 
sition of  the  New  Orleans  Medical  and  Surgical  Journaly 
and  instead  a  sort  of  substitute  was  tacked  on  to  the  civil 
appropriation  bill,  by  which  the  appointment  of  one  com- 
missioner with  power  to  investigate  to  a  limited  extent, 
was  finally  secured. 

Dr.  Geo.  Sternberg  was  called  to  the  position ;  sailed  for 
Brazil  last  spring;  spent  the  summer  in  his  investigations 
of  the  subject,  in  connection  with  Dr.  Freire,  and  returned 
home  in  time  to  present  the  results  of  their  researches  to 
the  section  of  public  and  international  hygiene  at  the 
recent  meeting  of  the  International  Medical  Congress  at 
Washington.  This  body  warmly  endorsed  the  work  these 
gentlemen  had  done,  and  called  upon  the  profession  to 
assist  in  securing  governmental  aid  to  carry  on  "  co-opera- 
tive investigation  of  results  obtained  by  yellow  fever  in- 
oculation." The  matter,  therefore,  comes  to  the  attention 
of  the  medical  profession  with  high  recommendations. 
The  resolutions  adopted  by  the  section  of  hygiene  are 
marked  by  evidences  of  scientific  caution: 

f  "  Whereas,  Inoculation  against  yellow  fever,  if  it  proves  suc- 
cessful after  further  examination,  is  calculated  to  benefit  the 
human  race  throughout  the  world;  and 

Whereas,  The  facts  presented  by  the  experiments  of  Dr.  Dom- 
inguez Freire  afford  reasonable  promise  of  its  protective  influ- 
ences in  Rio  Janeiro;  therefore 


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336  T%^  Medical  Advance.  Oct. 

Resolved,  That  this  section  recommends  the  co-operative  inves- 
tigation of  results  obtained  by  yellow  fever  inoculations  as  protec- 
tive against  that  disease,  and  that  adequate  appropriations  by  the 
government  represented  in  this  Congress  be  made  for  that  purpose. 

Resolvedy  That  this  action  be  communicated  forthwith  for  con- 
sideration in  the  general  session  of  the  Congress/' 

It  would  not  seem  unreasonable  to  suppose  that  any  can- 
did medical  man,  with  the  best  interests  of  his  profession 
at  heart,  would  give  his  support  to  such  resolutions.  Noth- 
ing is  asked  for  but  encouragement  (and  government 
money)  for  researches,  which,  if  they  produce  all  they 
seem  to  promise,  will  be  of  great  value  to  mankind.  Un- 
fortunately, however,  CJongress  and  the  medical  profession 
are  often  hard  headed.  The  Homoeopathic  Yellow  Fever 
Commission  of  1878  presented  to  Congress  a  report  in 
which  it  was  shown  that  under  homoeopathic  treatment 
from  50  to  150  more  lives  were  saved  in  every  thousand 
oases  than  under  allopathic  treatment.  They  asked  for  no 
extensive  appropriation  of  public  money  to  carry  on  only 
promising  researches,  but  o£Fered  the  government  and  the 
medical  (allopathic)  profession  the  benefit  of  their  obser- 
vations and  the  certain  means  of  diminishing  the  death-rate 
one  to  two-thirds,  and  all  at  no  cost,  save  acceptance.  But 
with  what  to  a  layman  would  seem  incomprehensible  blind- 
ness, the  offer  was  neglected,  and  should  there  be  another 
epidemic  of  yellow  fever  in  the  South  to-day,  thousands  of 
persons  would  needlessly  perish  through  this  neglect 
But  this  new  fad  arises  from  their  own  ranks,  and  so  per- 
haps our  "scientific  brethren"  will  not  scorn  it.  It  is  a 
question,  of  course,  how  much  reduction  of  mortality  or 
frequency  of  the  fever  this  proposed  inoculation  will 
effect,  and  whether  or  not  it  will  lower  the  allopathic  death- 
rate  to  a  point  as  low  as  that  reduced  by  Homoeopathy.  If 
it  should  share  the  same  position  of  scientific  uncertainty 
now  occupied  by  inoculation  for  small-pox  and  rabies,  and 
if  yellow  fever  should  persist  in  becoming  epidemic  every 
few  years  in  our  southern  cities,  in  spite  of  "  germ  cul- 
tures" and  •*  inoculations,"  then  we  respectfully  call  the 
attention  of  Congress  and  the  allopathic  profession  once 
more  to  the  report  of  the  Homoeopathic  Commission  above 
referred  to. 


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1887  Cancer  of  the  Stomach.  337 

CANCER  OF  THE  STOMACH. 


WILLIAM  A.  HAWLEY.  M.  D..  Syracuse.  N.  Y. 


In  the  Augast  number  of  the  Msdioal  Advance  is  a 
very  interesting  and  carefully  prepared  paper  by  Dr.  C.  W. 
Butler  on  "  Sulphuric  Acid — A  Proving,"  which  suggests 
some  questions  worthy  of  consideration  by  all  Homoeopa- 
thists.  Having  given  the  symptoms  of  the  drug  as  a  basis 
for  his  opinion,  he  says:  ''In  cancer  of  the  stomach  it 
should  prove  an  excellent  palliative.  In  a  case  where  I 
diagnosed  this  disease,  a  diagnosis  confirmed  by  an  allo- 
pathic and  one  of  our  brightest  young  surgeons,  great 
relief  was  afforded  to  many  distressing  symptoms,  especi- 
ally the  vomiting  of  curdled  milk  (milk  being  his  princi- 
pal diet),  the  coffee  ground  vomiting  and  the  sense  of 
exhaustion."  Surely  he  had  reason  to  expect  such  a 
result,  but  "  a  post  mortem  examination  revealed  the  fact 
thai)  there  was  no  cancer  at  all."  Here  is  an  intimation 
of  the  common  notion  thvt  cancer  of  the  stomach  is  incur- 
able, but  it  is  at  least  an  open  question  if  this  very  case  is 
not  a  proof  to  the  contrary  and  the  patient  afterward  died 
of  other  causes?  As  the  case  is  not  fully  stated,  we  have 
no  clue  to  the  cmswer  of  this  question,  but  why  do  we 
admit  that  cancer  of  the  stomach  is  incurable?  Is  it  not, 
like  all  diseases,  dynamic  in  its  origin  and  progress?  If 
so,  is  it  not  reasonable  to  expect  it  to  be  cured  by  a  similar 
dynamis,  that  is  homoeopathically?  If  we  accept  it  as  a 
foregone  conclusion  that  it  is  incurable,  does  not  that  very 
fact  put  the  physician  in  a  state  that  renders  it  impossible 
for  him  to  do  his  best  in  a  search  for  a  similar?  On  what 
basis  do  we  found  this  opinion  that  it  is  incurable?  Is 
there  any  other  thau  old  school  testimony  for  it?  Is  their 
prognosis  to  be  accepted  as  final  by  the  true  healer?  The 
coffee  ground  vomiting  is  often  seen  to  disappear  and  with 
it  other  symptoms  of  cancer  on  th^  administration  of  the 
similar.  When  such  relief  is  obtained  how  do  we  know 
that  we  did  not  cure  a  cancer?  Does  a  subsequent  autopsy 
if  no  cancer  is  found,  prove  beyond  question  that  we  did 
not  cure  and  that  there  could  not  have  been  any  cancer  in 
V 


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The  Medical  Advance.  Oct 

the  case?  How  soon  most  the  patient  die  after  such  relief 
from  the  similar,  and  the  autopsy  reveal  an  entire  absence 
of  cancer,  for  such  absence  to  be  positive  evidence  that 
there  had  been  none?  Our  old  school  brethren  have  a 
very  easy  way  of  discrediting  our  cures.  They  have  only 
to  deny  the  correctness  of  the  diagnosis.  This  they  do 
under  all  circumstances.  Is  it  not  time  for  our  school  to 
ceasCy^even  tacitly,  to  admit  their  conclusions?  What  good 
Homoeopathist,  of  any  extended  experience,  has  not  again 
and  again  cured  patients  who  had  a  scirrhous  tumor  in  the 
breast?  Have  we  no  reliable  cures  of  women  suffering 
with  uterine  cancer?  Let  us  be  done  with  the  implied 
confession  that  to  know  the  law  of  the  curative  relation  of 
drugs  to  disease,  and  to  obey  it  disqualifies  one  for  know- 
ing what  is  the  precise  condition  of  the  patient,  and  when 
symptoms  compel  us  to  give  a  certain  name  to  the  condi- 
tion, which  symptoms  disappear  on  the  administration  of 
the  similar,  let  us  boldly  claim  the  case  is  cured,  regard- 
less of  the  name,  and  when  a  like  case  occurs  and  we  not 
cure^  let  us  not  be  compelled  to  feel  that  we  were  too  busy 
seeking  palliatives  for  a  case  prejudged  incurable  to  use 
due  diligence  in  seeking  the  similar,  or.  that  we  have  been 
so  anxious  to  give  relief  that  we  have  failed  to  give  the 
true  remedy  sufficient  time  to  do  its  work  and  spoiled  our 
case  by  too  frequent  repetitions. 

MORBUS  BASEDOWII.* 


8.  LILIENTHAL,  M.  D ,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 


After  discussing  the  several  theories  promulgated  about 
the  essence  of  Basedow's  disease,  Moebius  continues:  In 
Morbus  Basedowii  one  organ  is  regularly  found  affected, 
which  has  only  lately  found  its  just  consideration.  Whereas 
formerly  the  thyroid  gland  was  considered  only  as  a  me- 
chanically acting  apparatus,  a  blood-regulator  of  the  brain, 
recent  researches  show  that  the  thyroid  gland  develops  a 


•  Pbof.  p.  J.  Mobbiub.— Translated  from  CentrcObUUtf,  NervenheUkunde,  etc 
8,1887. 


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1887  Morbus  Bcisedoml  339 

very  important  chemical  activity.  The  exi)erience  of  our 
surgeons,  that  the  total  extirpation  of  a  struma  causes  a 
cachexia  strumipriva;  the  experience  of  physiologists,  that 
dogs  and  monkeys,  after  the  extirpation  of  the  gland,  die 
under  similar  manifestations;  the  experience  of  physicians, 
that  in  myxoedema,  which  nearly  shows  the  same  symp- 
toms as  the  cachexia  strumipriva,  the  thyroid  gland  is  con- 
stantly gone — all  this  shows  that  the  loss  of  the  thyroid 
glfimd  produces  in,  the  whole  body  deep-seated  nutritive 
disturbances;  decidedly  hinting  that  this  gland  plays  an 
important  part  in  the  chemical  activity  of  life.  May  we 
not  also  conclude  that  in  constitutional  diseases,  where  we 
regularly  find,  not  a  diminution,  but  a  visible  enlargement 
of  the  thyroid  gland,  that  such  a  change  is  the  next  cause 
of  the  disease?  These  diseases  are  the  cretinism  us  of  the 
Morbus  Basedowii.  Several  authors,  when  speaking  of 
myxoedema,  utter  similar  ideas.  Comparing  Morbus  Base- 
dowii with  myxoedema,  we  meet  a  number  of  correspond- 
ing points.  Both  diseases  are  chronic,  afebrile,  leading  to 
cachexia,  and  finally  lead  to  death;  both  attack  middle-aged 
women  in  most  cases.  In  both  the  thyroid  gland  is 
affected,  the  activity  of  the  heart  changed,  mental  func- 
tions suffer,  and  skin  affections  show  themselves.  On  the 
other  side  the  picture  of  myxoedema  is  the  reverse  of 
Basedow's  disease:  here  enlargement,  there  diminution  of 
the  thyroid  gland;  here  acceleration,  there  slowing  of  the 
activity  of  the  heart;  here  attenuation,  increased  heat,  ex- 
cessive perspiration  of  the  skin,  there  thickening  by  accu- 
mulation of  mucine,  coldness,  superficial  dryness  of  the 
skin;  here  increased  irritability,  irritable  debility  of  the 
mental  activity;  there  slowness.  May  we  not  explain  the 
similarity  and  the  difference,  that  in  myxoedema  we  find  a 
cessation  of  the  function  of  the  thyroid  gland;  in  Morbus 
Basedowii  a  morbid  activity  of  the  same?  It  cannot  be 
gainsaid  that  in  some  cases  other  manifestations  appear 
long  before  the  struma,  but  the  latter  may  be  diseased 
though  the  touch  still  fails  to  detect  ii 

Bemarks. — In  the  May  number  of  the  Advance  Dr. 
Stover  publishes    an    interesting  case  of   exophthalmia 


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340  The  Medical  Advance.  Oct 

goitre  cured  by  Spongia  tosta  3x.  We  can  endorse  the 
remark  found  in  Bane's  Pathology,  p.  182:  that  the  most 
efiScient  remedies  are  such  which  are  capable  of  acting 
especially  upon  the  heart  and  the  thyroid  gland,  as  Baryta 
carb.,  Bromium,  0actu3  grand.,  (which  we  doubt,  as  both 
diseases  show  a  degenerescence  in  the  nervous  system) 
Phosphorus,  Silicea  and  Sulphur.  We  would  like  to  add 
Badiaga,  which  is  only  another  species  of  Spongia.  Hughes, 
in  his  Therai)eutics  II,  22«3,  cites  Jousset  and  Kidd  who 
benefitted  their  cases  with  Belladonna  (a  mere  palliative), 
others  with  Glonoine  and  Amyl  nitrite,  and  refers  to  an 
article  in  the  thirty-third  volume  of  the  British  Journal  of 
Homceopathy  by  Dr.  Wheeler,  and  to  another  one  by  the 
former  editor  of  the  North  American  Journal  of  Homoe- 
opathy, Vol.  XXV,  380.  In  the  latter  article  the  Salts  of 
Barium  and  of  Sodium  are  especially  recommended  for 
study  and  we  might  well  add,  with  the  light  shed  now  upon 
'  it,  in  both  diseases,  i)erhaps  the  higher  potencies  of  them 
in  Morbus  Basedowii,  the  lower  one  in  myxoedema.  From 
Lycopus  virginicus  I  never  witnessed  the  least  benefit,  nor 
much  from  any  of  the  so-called  cardiac  remedies.  They 
do  not  reach  the  source  of  these  diseases  and  our  main 
reliance  must  be  on  antipsoric  (anti-neurasthenic)  drugs. 

If  ever  a  third  edition  of  my  Homoeopathic  Therapeutics 
should  be  issued,  I  would  strike  out  Belladonna,  Lycopus 
and  such  palliating  drugs  and  insert  in  their  places: 

Aurum  (muriaticum  natronatum):  Prominent,  protrud- 
ing eyes;  tensive  pressure  in  eyeballs,  which  renders  vis- 
ion diflBcult;  fiery  sparks  before  eyes;  vertigo  on  stooping,- 
with  confusion;  palpitation  of  heart  with  cutting  pains 
and  feeling  of  anguish  and  tremulous  fearfulness;  painful 
swelling  of  submaxillary  glands;  chronic  induration  of 
uterus;  swelling  of  axillary  glands;  marked  dyspnoea,  with 
anxiety  of  the  heart;  weak  heart  and  weak  pulse;  enormous 
goitre  disappeared  long  after  increased  bodily  and  mental 
irritability,  with  great  debility.     (Guiding  Symptoms  II.) 

Baryta  carbonica:  Great  mental  and  bodily  weakness; 
dimsightedness,  cannot  read;  Morbus  Basedowii;  eyeballs 
and  lids  inflamed,  with  photophobia;  tension  as  from  a 


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1887  Morbus  Basedototi.  341 

cobweb  over  face,  temples  and  scalp;  nose  emd  upper  lip 
swollen  ( myxoedema) ;  sensation  as  i{  the  face  was  swollen ; 
painful  swelling  of  submaxillary  glands;  diminished  sex- 
ual desire  and  ability;  violent,  long-lasting  palpitation; 
swelling  of  glands  in  nape  of  neck  and  occiput;  fatty 
tumors,  especially  about  the  neck:  worse  in  damp  air. 

Bromium:  Protrusion  of  eyes;  anxious  feeling  about 
the  heart;  violent  palpitation  of  heart,  she  cannot  lie  on 
right  side;  goitre,  glands  of  neck  much  swollen;  encysted 
tumors  on  neck;  continued  desire  to  urinate,  with  tickling 
sensation  in  top  of  urethra;  sweat  from  the  least  exertion 
or  exercise;  emaciation;  debility.  Enlargement  of  thyroid 
in  persons  with  light  hair,  blue  eyes  and  fair  skin. 

Conium:  Protruding  eyes;  movements  of  eyes  as  if 
they  were  pressed  outwards;  weakness  of  vision;  profuse 
epistaxis  without  heat;  frequent  nosebleed;  increase  of  the 
goitre;  anxious  sensation  in  heart  with  rapid  action  of  the 
heart;  pressure  in  precordial  region  as  if  the  heart  would 
be  pressed  down,  with  oppressed  breathing;  palpitations 
on  rising,  after  a  stool,  after  drinking;  heart'd  impulse 
weak;  pulsd  rises  from  emotional  excitement,  but  soon 
quiets  down  again;  frequent  micturition,  especially  at 
night;  profuse  urination;  tremulous  weakness  after  stool; 
nervous  prostration;  constant  absence  of  vital  heat  and 
constant  chilliness. 

Kali  bromidum  and  Natrum  sulphuricum  deserve  our 
study  in  myxoedema;  Kali  carbonicum  i)erhaps  more  in 
Basedow's  disease.  We  see  thus  that  we  can  do  more  than 
merely  palliate,  even  in  cachectic  diseases,  but  let  us  never 
neglect  those  hygienic  measures — fresh  air  and  good  nour- 
ishment—as without  these  necessary  adjuvants  our  treat- 
ment, be  it  ever  so  good,  is  apt  to  fail. 

[We  thank  our  indefatigable  contributor  for  so  fre- 
quently directing  the  attention  of  the  profession  to  a  grav» 
error  in  the  writings  and  teachings  of  many  of  our  German 
contemporaries,  who  persistently  adhere  to  the  empiric 
method  of  prescribing  for  Morbus  Baeedowii,  Myxoedema, 
and  other  constitutional  ailments.  If  they  would  implic- 
itly follow  the  plain  yet  simple  tecu^hings  of  Hahnemann, 


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342  The  Medical  Advance.  Oct. 

there  would  be  less  heard  of  the  incurability  of  these 
grave  affections,  because  they  would  be  cured  in  their  cur- 
able stages.  It  matters  not  whether  it  be  Belladonna  or 
Bromium,  Cactus  or  Spongia,  Lycopus  or  Silicea,  Aurum, 
Baryta  or  Sulphur,  if  the  remedy  be  chosen  in  accordance 
with  the  totality  of  the  symptoms,  objective  and  subjec- 
tive, and  due  regard  paid  to  the  psoric,  sycotic  or  other 
constitutional  taints,  there  would  be  a  different  tale  to  tell. 

—Ed.] 

<■»  '  — 

ARUM  TRIPHYLLUM. 


EDWIN  WEST.  M.  D..  New  York. 


A  child  of  Captain  Eakins  ate  about  forty  pellets  of 
Arum  triphyllum,  30th  potency.  Very  soon  after  he  was 
affected  with  enuresis.  Wetting  himself  about  every  five 
minutes  and  making  him  very  cross  and  irritable  with 
flushed  face.  His  mother  feeling  alarmed  at  the  symptoms 
came  about  three  miles  to  consult  me,  bringing  the  empty 
vial  to  show  what  medicine  had  produced  the  trouble. 

I  cite  this  case  to  prove  that  medicines  of  the  30th  po- 
tency may  produce  morbific  effects. 


SURGERY. 


SURGICAL  NOTES. 


J.  O.  GILCHRIST.  M.  D..  Iowa  City ,  la.  Editor. 


Hamilton's  Surgery.* — A  thoroughly  revised  edition 
of  a  work  so  well  known  to  all  surgical  practitioners 
does  not  need  a  journal  introduction  to  the  medical  public. 
Wherever  surgery  is  known  and  practiced  "  Hamilton's " 
is  a  hand-book,  and  the  popularity  of  earlier  editions  may 
be  held  to  be  a  guarantee  of  wide  appreciation  of  the  pres- 
ent The  masterly  treatment  of  every  subject,  freedom 
from  "fine  writing,"  origitiality  in  thought  and  style, 
modest  and  yei  authoritative — combine  to  make  it  a  book 

•••  Principles  and  Practice  of  Surgery."  Frank  Hastings  IlaniiUon.  M.  D.  Wni. 
Wood  4i  Co. :  New  York.    Thlnl  edition,  188C. 


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1887  Umbilical  Hernia.  343 

that  the  student  can  scarcely  do  without,  and  the  practi- 
tioner find  of  daily  service.  The  most  noticeable  deficiency, 
if  such  it  be,  is  a  poverty  in  illustration;  the  cuts  are  few 
in  number,  mostly  very  old  €md  familiar;  they  really  seem 
inadequate.  It  is  not  forgotten  that  many  excellent  author- 
ities are  disposed  to  dispense  with  the  aid  of  the  engraver. 
It  would  seem,  however,  that  they  undervalue  the  import- 
ance of  good  cuts.  Of  course  a  Rood  thing  may  be  over- 
done, and  cuts  of  no  value  as  illustrations  may,  and  fre- 
quently are  employed;  nevertheless  too  many  such  illus- 
trations is  a  better  fault  than  too  few.  In  binding  and 
press  work  the  volume  is  all  that  can  be  desired,  in  keeping 
with  the  value  of  the  work.  It  will  be  a  long  time  before 
a  text-book  on  this  most  important  department  of  medicine 
will  appear  that  will  relegate  our  old  friend  to  the  top 
shelves  of  our  book  cases.  Thousands  have  drawn  inspi- 
ration and  knowledge  from  it  in  the  earlier  editions,  and 
thousands  more  will  doubtless  find  similar  profit  in  this 
the  latest,  most  complete,  and,  alas!  the  last. 


Umbilical  Hernia.— Mr.  C.  B.  Keetley,  {Ann.  Surg., 
Sept  1887),  has  a  very  valuable  paper  on  the  treatment  of 
umbilical  hernia,  in  which  at  least  two  interesting  features 
are  found.  The  first,  as  a  matter  of  course,  is  an  account 
of  a  somewhat  original  operative  procedure,  based  upon 
Macewen's  operation  of  the  inguinal  variety,  a  sort  of  inva- 
gination. His  method  is  to  gently  twist  the  sac  "  passed  a 
stout  cat-gut  ligature  in  and  out  through  it,  very  carefully 
separated  the  peritoneum  from  the  linea  alba  above  the 
hernial  aperture,  passed  a  needle  up  into  the  artificial 
space  thus  made,  and  with  this  needle  carried  the  cat-gut 
(already  threaded  through  the  sac)  into  the  space,  and  out 
through  the  linea  alba.  Then,  on  pulling  the  cat-gut  tight, 
the  twisted  sac  was,  of  course,  pulled  into  the  space  be- 
tween the  peritoneum  and  the  linea  alba,  reduced  en 
masse  as  it  were."  By  reference  to  the  cuts  accompany- 
ing the  paper,  it  would  seem  that  the  hernial  opening  is 
then  drawn  together  by  a  deep  twisted  suture.  He  states 
that  there  is  always  a  point,  usually  at  the  lower  margin  of 


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344  The  Medical  Advance,  Oct 

the  opening,  where  separation  of  the  sac  from  the  margin 
is  impossible.  He  now  makes  no  attempt  to  separate  it, 
and  does  not  find  the  success  of  the  operation  prejudiced 
thereby.  The  second  point  of  interest,  is  that  dieting,  espe- 
cially under  the  Banting  system,  will  almost  always  be 
beneficial  to  the  hernia.  He  says  he  got  this  idea  from 
Banting's  own  pamphlet     He  said  his  umbilical  hernia 

disappeared  while  he  was  under  treatment 

•  

Classification  of  Tumors.— Messrs.  Monod  &  Arth- 
raud  have  attempted  a  new  classification  of  tumors,  that 
while  carrying  out  the  embryonic  theory  of  Cohnheim, 
presents  some  new  features.  The  principles  enunciated 
are  clearly  stated,  seem  well  fortified  by  acknowledged 
facts,  and  can  scarcely  fail  to  give  valuable  hints  in  thera- 
peutics and  prognosis.  Dr.  Pilcher,  ( Ann.  Surg,,  Sept  1887  ) 
in  summing  up  the  argument,  gives  a  r^sum^  of  Cohn- 
heim's  teaching  as  follows:  "He  holds  that  all  tumors 
proper,  are  due  to  some  trouble  or  vice  of  development 
At  some  i)eriod  of  embryonic  life  are  produced  certain  in- 
volutions of  the  blastodermic  layers,  resulting  in  the  for- 
mation of  an  isolated  cellular  mass  in  the  tissues  which  re- 
mains quiescent  and  does  not  assume  activity  until  a 
period  at  a  greater  or  less  distance  from  birth.  The  various 
types  of  tumors,  and  the  differences  in  structure  which  they 
present  are  easily  explained  by  the  consideration  of  the 
period  of  embryonic  life  at  which  the  involution  occurred. 
According,  as  this  were  early  or  late,  the  elements  of  the 
included  part  are  more  or  less  differentiated;  when,  under 
an  influence  still  unknown,  life  is  awakened  in  these  dor- 
mant elements,  the  evolution  continues  at  the  precise  point 
where  it  was  arrested,  and  produces  either  an  embryonic 
tumor,  if  the  arrest  has  been  early,  or  a  tumor  formed  of 
adult  tissues  if  it  has  been  late."  According  to  this  classi- 
fication we  have  two  grand  divisions,  true  tumors,  and 
trophic  (or  inflammatory)  neoplasms.  Under  the  first 
head: 

1.  Teratoma,  from  all  these  blastodermic  layers. 

2.  Mixed  tumors,  from  two  layers. 


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1887  Soirrhtis  of  the  Breast  346 

3.  Pure  tumorsy  from  a  single  layer. 

AcoeptiDg  this  classification  as  correct,  and  known  facts 
are  strongly  in  its  favor,  we  will  be  obliged  to  revise  our 
ideas  of  curability  by  internal  medication.  The  trophic  or 
inflammatory  growths,  are  purely  adventitious,  and  histo- 
logically have  the  "  characiture "  appearemoe  referred  to 
by  Bindfleisch,  and  may  be  assumed,  on  general  princi- 
ples, to  be  amenable  to  the  action  of  remedies.  Of  course 
there  are  some  weak  points  in  the  chain  of  reasoning,  it 
could  not  be  exi)ected  to  be  otherwise;  the  difiSculties,  how- 
ever, to  a  ready  classification  of  a  given  form,  are  not  as 
great  as  would  at  first  appear.  A  typical  growth  can  at 
once  be  placed  in  its  proper  place;  viz.,  of  ectodermic,  mes- 
odermic,  or  entodermic  origin;  so  with  the  teratoma  also. 
It  is  the  atypical  specimen  that  will  give  trouble. 


SoiRRHUS  OP  THE  Breast. — There  is  nothing  more  uncer- 
tain  than  a  diagnosis  based  upon  a  written  history,  with- 
out personal  examination.  On  the  other  hand,  a  written 
account  sometimes  contains  an  important  word  or  sentence, 
overlooked  by  the  writer,  and  of  the  utmost  importance  to 
the  reader.  Thus  in  August  number  of  the  Minnesota 
Medical  Monthly  (p.  90)  we  find  a  report  of  a  case  of  sus- 
pected scirrhus  of  the  breast,  in  which  there  are  one  or  two 
symptoms  tending  to  throw  some  doubts  on  the  diagnosis 
made  by  the  writer.  The  description  of  the  tumor  as  he 
saw  it,  certainly  gives  warrant  for  assuming  its  carcinoma- 
tous character,  and  one  in  an  advanced  stage.  The  ecLrly 
history  is  thus  given:  "  During  the  past  year  she  has  had 
a  number  of  swellings,  or  lumps  as  she  calls  them,  in  vari- 
ous parts  of  the  body,  the  first  one  appearing  in  the  right 
groin,  then  one  or  two  appearing  in  the  right  axilla;  these 
lumps  would  become  hard  and  pcdnful,  then  after  a  time 
softer,  break  through  the  skin,  and  discharge."  Now  this 
is  not  a  history  of  scirrhus;  rather  one  of  lymphoderma, 
possibly  lympho-sarcoma.  While  scirrhus  has  often  been 
cured,  spontaneously  and  otherwise,  there  is  no  record  of 
secondary  disease  having  been  cured  by  any  means,  nor 
does  it  seem  possible  to  secure  such  an  event     Had  the 


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346  The  Medical  Advance.  Oct 

report  of  this  case  commenced  with  the  tumor  as  the  doctor 
saw  it,  there  could  have  been  no  question  of  diagnosis;  the 
antecedent  history  seems  to  be  fatal  to  the  correctness  of 
the  diagnosis.  The  history,  furthermore,  would  almost 
infallibly  have  led  to  a  profound  cachexia  by  the  time  the 
doctor  saw  the  case,  and  such  a  stage  has  never,  so  far  as  I 
know,  been  followed  by  recovery.  The  remedy  ( Phytolacca 
dec. )  has  never  been  credited  with  a  relationship  to  such 
extensive  tissue  changes  as  characterize  carcinoma.  Un- 
fortunately for  clinical  value,  Arsenica  iodatum  was  alter- 
nated with  the  former  remedy,  and  the  probabilities  are, 
very  reasonably,  that  this  was  the  curative  agent  The 
above  is  not  written  in  any  critical  spirit,  far  from  it;  the 
report  is  of  great  value.  The  reporter,  Dr.  C.  C.  Huff,  of 
Huron,  Dakota,  is  not  satisfied  with  his  diagnosis,  and  yet 
he  may  be  right  If  h^  is,  the  case  is  very  unique,  the  his- 
tory being  unlike  any  reported  case  of  carcinoma  with 
which  the  writer  is  familiar. 


ANiESTHETics. — It  has  long  been  known  to  most  surgical 
practitioners,  that  anaesthetic  agents  in  common  use  occa- 
sionally seem  to  require  individualization,  in  fact  to  come 
under  the  same  rides  that  therapeutic  agents  are  generally. 
That  is,  one  agent  is  of  more  value  than  another  in  certain 
cases,  and  not  always  for  the  same  reason.  Thus  sulphuric 
ether  seems  to  produce  a  more  perfect  suspension  of  reflex 
sensibility  of  the  perineum  than  chloroform.  In  almost  any 
other  region  or  tissue  the  reverse  is  true.  Within  the  last 
few  months  a  number  of  articles  have  appeared,  in  many 
journals,  in  all  parts  of  the  world,  differentiating  still 
further.  Dr.  Carpenter,  in  the  New  York  Med,  Record 
(Feb.  6),  and  H.  B.  Millard  (t6id  Jan.  29),  summarize  these 
observations  with  reference  to  the  use  of  ether  in  cases  of 
Bright's  disease,  incipient,  active,  acute  or  chronia  Chlo- 
roform is  quite  generally  credited  with  far  better  results. 
Some  time  since,  the  so-called  "  Hasley's  mixture,"  the 
familiar  "A.  C.  E.:  1.  2.  3."  was  generally  conceded  to  be 
the  proper  agent  for  cases  of  nephritic  trouble,  and  expe- 
rience would  seem  to  fully  confirm  the  original  teaching. 


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1887  Bullet  Wound  of  the  Brain.  347 

Ether  again,  according  to  Gebsteb  (Ann.  Surg.,  Aug.,  1887 ), 
is  to  be  avoided  in  some  forms  of  pulmonary  trouble,  par- 
ticularly in  ccises  of  "  chronic  catarrhal  affections  of  the 
bronchi  of  the  aged,  and  i)erhap8  of  infants."  Beferring 
to  the  pneumonia  so  frequently  observed  in  such  cases,  he 
says:  "  The  very  profuse  secretion  and  inspiration  of  saliva 
into  the  air-passages  seems  to  be  the  main  cause  of  this 
pneumonia  observed  after  the  inhalation  of  ether;  the  cold 
fumes  of  the  drug  seem  to  blunt  the  sensibility  of  the 
bronchial  mucous  membrane  to  such  an  extent  that  the 
entrance  and  presence  even  vomited  matter  does  not  excite 
a  sufficient  stimulus  to  vigorous  reflex  action  or  coughing, 
especially  at  the  end  of  prolonged  ansesthesia."  I  have 
seen,  somewhere,  the  expression  that  "  mixed  ansesthetics 
are  only  diluted  chloroform."  This  is  an  error.  The  ad- 
dition of  alcohol,  ether,  or  other  agents  to  chloroform 
makes  a  new  agent  entirely,  chemically  as  well  as  thera- 
I)eutical.  We  have  something  to  do  in  perfecting  the  dif- 
ferentiation of  anaesthetic  agents,  and  the  above  will  serve 
the  purpose,  perhaps,  to  call  the  attention  of  surgical  prac- 
titioners and  students  to  an  interesting  and  profitable  line 
of  study. 

Bullet  Wound  of  the  Brain.— Simply  as  a  matter  of 
news,  attention  is  called  to  a  case  of  brain  surgery  of  in- 
terest. A  man  was  shot,  with  a  pistol,  the  ball  entering 
the  skull  back  of  the  left  ear  (the  account  is  taken  from 
the  Inter-Ocean)  and  ranging  a  little  downwards,  and 
directly  "  across  to  the  right  side."  The  account  is  thus 
given  by  the  reporter,  and  while  lacking  in  some  of  the  de- 
tails required  by  a  medical  reader,  is  sufficiently  precise 
for  our  present  purpose: 

"^As  operations  of  this  kind  are  so  rare,  and  the  case  has  excited 
so  much  interest,  a  reporter  for  The  Inter-Ocean  prevailed  upon 
one  of  the  gentlemen  present  to  detail  the  steps  of  the  operation. 
It  seems  that  Dr.  McDonnell  was  placed  under  the  influence  of 
ether  by  one  of  the  house  surgeons,  and  then  brought  into  the 
operating-room  of  ward  9,  the  emergency  ward.  Here  the  scalp 
was  shaved  and  disinfected  around  the  wound  for  the  distance  of 
a  hand's  breadth ;  then  the  ghastly  powder-burned  bullet  wound 


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348  The  Medical  Advance,  Oct 

behind  the  left  ear  was  irrigated  with  abichloride  solution,  while 
the  surgeon,  Dr.  Steele,  selected  for  the  performance  of  this  deli- 
cate and  critical  piece  of  surgery,  proceeded  with  a  razor-like  knife 
to  make  a  cut  three  inches  long  behind  the  ear,  directly  over  the 
wound,  down  to  the  bone.  Then,  with  a  curious  chisel-like  scoop, 
he  peeled  away  the  flesh  and  muscles  from  the  skull,  leaving  the 
bone  bare  and  white,  with  an  ugly  ragged  wound  in  its  center^ 
through  which  this  bullet  had  passed  into  the  brain.  Out  of  this 
hole  brain  substance  was  constantly  oozing.  Next,  the  bleeding 
vessels  were  caught  with  constricting  tweezers  and  tied  with  cat- 
gut; then  fifteen  or  twenty  broken,  shattered  pieces  of  skull  were 
carefully  picked  out  of  the  brain,  and  the  surgeon  carefully  ex- 
plored the  wounded  brain  for  the  bullet,  which  was  soon  found 
and  located  two  inches  under  the  brain  itself,  in  a  direction  down- 
ward and  forward  from  the  point  of  entrance.  Dr.  Steele  carried 
a  pair  of  forceps  along  a  guide  to  the  bullet,  and  as  he  extracted  it 
and  held  it  up  to  his  confreres,  said:  *  Here  is  the  bullet,  and  prob- 
ably we  have  saved  this  man's  life;  at  least,  we  have  given  him 
the  one  chance  to  recover  by  undertaking  this  operation.'  A  rub- 
ber drainage  tube  was  then  inserted,  the  wound  carefully  washed 
out,  and  packed  with  iodoform  gauze,  and  layer  after  layer  of 
medicated  cheese  cloth,  and  over  all  a  starch  bandage,  when  he 
was  removed  to  bed  from  the  operating-room  and  a  huge  ice  bag^ 
placed  around  his  head  to  combat  inflammation.  The  operation 
was  certainly  a  brilliant  success,  and  bids  fair  to  save  his  life  and 
prevent  another  murder  being  added  to  the  long  list  of  the  year. 
Altogether,  it  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  cases  we  have  ever 
been  called  upon  to  report,  and  reflects  credit  upon  the  surgical 
staff  of  the  hospital. 

*•  The  wife  of  Dr.  McDonnell,  who  was  also  removed  to  the  hos- 
pital, has  almost  recovered  from  the  slight  scalp  wound  front 
which  she  suffered,  and  is  under  treatment  for  internal  troubles,, 
from  which  she  has  suffered  for  some  time."    (Aug.  13, 1887.) 


DRY  DRESSING  IN  SURGERY. 


H.  KNAPP.  M.  D.,  I^hrop,  Cal. 


I  duinot  but  think  that  Dr.  Eaton,  in  tiie  Advance  for 
September,  1885,  has  resurrected  one  of  the  "  Lost  Arts  " 
of  Surgery,  and  I  thank  him  for  bringing  to  mind  so  viv- 
idly some  of  my  early  experience  in  this  direction. 

Perhaps  nearly  every  medical  student  when  fresh  from 
his  Alma  Mater ,  with  his  diploma  safely  ensconced  in  its 
tin  case,  and  the  voice  of  the  professors  still  ringing  in  his. 


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1887  Dry  Dressing  in  Surgery.  349 

ears,  imagines  he  is  some  day  to  be  a  second  Sir  Astley 
Oooper  in  surgery,  a  Gregory  or  Eberlee  in  practice,  or 
some  other  great  light  of  the  profession. 

My  aspirations  were  directed  to  sm*gery  in  a  curious 
way.  I  attended  church — sat  in  the  gallery  and  sang  in 
the  choir.  A  fine  old  gentleman  sat  directly  below  me 
^ho  had  a  monstrous  tumor  on  the  top  of  his  head,  large 
as  a  hen's  egg,  glistening  and  shining  like  a  ripe  apple. 
This  abnormal  appearance  constantly  annoyed  me,  distract- 
ing my  attention  from  the  sermon  time  and  again. 

One  day  he  was  in  my  office  and  I  asked  him  why  he  did 
not  have  that  great  lump  cut  out  He  said  he  did  not 
know  it  could  be  and  did  not  know  who  could  do  it  I 
replied,  "  If  you  will  let  me  I  will  remove  ii"  He  seemed 
much  surprised,  but  consented  to  let  me  try,  and  we  made 
an  appointment  I  read  up  "Ooojwr's  First  Lines,"  the 
only  author  on  surgery  I  had,  and  at  the  appointed  time 
my  subject  was  promptly  on  hand.  £  displayed  my  ''  arma- 
menta"  to  the  best  advantage  possible,  consisting  of  an 
old  style  dissecting  case,  and  commenced  on  my  first  sur- 
gical operation.  I  made  two  elliptical  incisions,  leaving 
integument  enough  in  the  center  so  that  the  free  edges 
would  coaptate  after  the  tumor  was  removed,  dissected 
around  the  tumor  and  turned  it  out  *'  slick  as  you  would 
peel  an  onion,"  as  Professor  Bogers,  of  Geneva,  N.  Y., 
used  to  say  before  the  class  in  surgery.  After  sponging 
with  cold  water,  I  brought  the  edges  of  the  scalp  together, 
put  in  three  stitches,  applied  a  dry  compress,  and  with  his 
handkerchief  tied  under  the  chin  he  went  home  with  some- 
thing of  a  sore  head.  In  five  days  took  out  the  stitches, 
and  in  a  week  it  had  completely  healed  by  first  intention. 
The  second  Sunday  after  that  the  old  gentleman  was  in  his 
seat  at  church  as  usual,  minus  the  lump  on  his  head, 
much  to  the  surprise  and  relief  of  the  x>eople,  those  in  the 
gallery  in  particular;  and  as  soon  as  known  how  it  all  hap- 
pened I  at  once  became  famous,  much  to  the  gratification 
of  my  ambition  as  a  surgeon. 

Soon  after  this  a  lady  from  his  neighborhood  called  on 
me,  with  a  tumor  in  her  breast.     She  had  been  told  by  mi 


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360  2Tie  Medical  Advance.  Oct 

old  'physician  whose  circuit  adjoined  mine  that  it  was  a 
cancer,  and  he  could  '*  eat  it  out,"  but  as  a  woman  had  just 
died  under  his  eating  process,  she  dared  not  let  him  under- 
take it,  and  wanted  to  know  if  I  could  cut  it  out 

I  found  a  hard  indurated  tumor,  inyolving  about  three- 
quarters  of  the  gland,  with  occasional  sharp,  lancinating 
pains  darting  through  it.  I  told  her  I  could  remove  it 
without  danger,  that  to  "  eat  it  out "  would  require  a  long 
time  and  might  prove  dangerous. 

She  was  very  anxious  to  have  it  removed  and  readily 
consented  to  an  operation,  so  we  appointed  a  day  when  I 
would  be  at  her  hou^e  for  the  purpose. 

At  the  appointed  time  I  was  on  hand,  feeling  very  brave, 
taking  with  me  a  lady — mutual  friend — expecting  her  hus- 
band would  be  there  to  assist,  but  he  was  absent,  so  con- 
cluded to  operate  at  once  with  only  the  lady's  help.  I  have 
often  since  thought  what  a  foolhardy  performance  that 
was,  in  view  of  my  inexperience  and  ignorance;  with  only 
a  timid  lady  for  help,  no  chloroform  or  any  of  the  appli- 
ances of  these  days  to  alleviate  pain — it  being  over  forty- 
five  years  ago — when  even  now,  with  all  these  aids,  a  lady 
informed  me  she  had  a  small  tumor  removed  from  her 
breast,  not  long  since  in  Oakland,  where  three  physicians 
were  present  to  assist.  But  ''fools  rush  in  where  angels," 
etc. — you  know  the  rest — so  I  rushed  ahead,  seated  her  in 
a  common  rocking-chair  weU  tipped  back,  made  my  two 
elliptical  incisions  as  in  the  former  case,  dissected  around 
the  hard  substance,  and,  at  the  last  clip,  pop  went  the 
artery. 

I  had  intended  to  avoid  that,  but  the  tumor  extended 
farther  than  I  expected,  and,  as  I  turned  it  out,  jet,  jet, 
came  the  arterial  blood.  Luckily  the  woman  fainted,  thus 
stopping  the  flow,  and  we  carried  her  to  bed.  The  artery 
had  retracted  within  the  intercostal  muscle,  but  I  could 
just  see  the  point  and,  as  I  had  no  artejiy  forceps,  I  hooked 
it  up  with  my  tenaculum,  the  lady  holding  it  while  I  ap- 
plied the  ligature,  and  after  sponging  out  the  cavity  with 
cold  water,  brought  the  flaps  together,,  inserted  a  few 
sutures,  applied  dry  compress  with  bandage  around  the 


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1887  Dry  Dressing  in  Surgery.  351 

waist,  and  left  her  quite  comfortable.  In  five  days  re- 
moved the  sutures  and  ligatures;  there  was  complete  union 
by  first  intention,  and  in  a  week  the  woman  waa  about 
her  work  as  though  nothing  had  happened. 

Soon  after  this,  the  old  doctor  hearing  of  the  success  of 
my  operation  on  his  patient,  called  on  me  to  consult  in 
reference  to  a  tumor  in  a  young  lady's  breast,  a  patient  of 
his;  said  he  was  intending  to  ''eat  it  out"  by  a  cancer 
caustic  he  prepared,  but  if  I  would  operate,  he  and  )ier 
friends  would  prefer  to  have  it  removed  by  the  knife.  I 
very  readily  consented,  feeling  much  elated  at  my  triumph 
over  the  old  doctor.  The  family  lived  some  six  miles  from 
Brooklyn,  Mich.,  in  the  town  of  Cambridge.  At  the  ap- 
pointed time  I  was  on  hand;  the  doctor,  a  preacher, 
and  nearly  the  whole  neighborhood  was  there  to  witness 
the  operation.  The  entire  gland  was  hard  and  indurated, 
so  had  to  remove  the  whole.  I  made  two  elliptical  incis- 
ions, from  the  superior  portion  of  the  gland,  coming  to  a 
point  below,  dissected  around  and  removed  it  entire.  When 
I  cut  the  mammaiy  artery  the  blood  spurted  to  the  ceiling, 
but  I  was  better  prepared  for  it  than  before.  Caught  it 
very  soon,  tied  it,  sponged  out  the  cavity,  inserted  several 
sutures,  applied  dry  compress,  bandage,  etc.,  and  left  her 
very  comfortable.  Saw  her  the  sixth  day,  removed  stitches 
and  ligature;  no  discharge,  but  completely  healed. 

This  is  the  last  I  saw  of  lier  till  several  years  after.  We 
met  on  the  cars  a^  my  wife  and  I  were  returning  from  the 
state  of  New  York,  where  we  had  been  visiting  my  par- 
ents.  She  spoke  to  me  and  asked  if  I  did  not  remember 
her.  I  could  not  till  she  pointed  to  her  left  breast  She 
had  a  child  nursing  on  the  remaining  breast. 

About  this  time  I  had  a  call  to  see  another  woman  with 
a  tumor  in  the  breast,  but  as  the  axillary  glands  were 
affected  I  told  them  it  would  not  be  safe  to  remove  it,  for 
it  might  return  in  another  place.  They  were  not  satisfied 
with  my  judgment  and  got  a  surgeon  from  Ann  Arbor  to 
operate.  My  prognosis  proved  correct,  for  she  died  from 
its  return  in  less  than  a  year. 

The  notoriety  I  had  gained  brought  everything  of  that 


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362  The  Medical  Advance.  Oct. 

kind  to  me  for  miles  around,  and  I  continued  to  operate 
more  or  less  till  I  left  Brooklyn  for  Adrian  in  1849,  where 
there  were  regular  professional  surgeons,  and  I  became  so 
engrossed  in  general  practice  that  I  dropped  surgery 
almost  entirely.  There  is  nothing  really  noteworthy  about 
these  cases  and  I  only  resurrect  them  from  the  long  ago  of 
my  early  experience  to  illustrate  the  utility  and  safety  of 
^*  Dry  Dressings,"  and  to  show  what  C€tn  be  done  without 
the  aid  of  antiseptics,  anaesthetics  and  all  the  late  appli- 
ances of  surgery. 

OPHTHALMOLOGY  AND  OTOLOGY. 


NOTES  ON  EYE  AND  EAR  DISEASES. 


H.  H.  CRIPPEN,  M.  D.,  Detroit.  Mich. 


Morbus  Basedowii.— Opposed  to  the  theory  of  the  ori- 
gin of  this  disease  in  vaso-motor  paralysis,  or  vaso-dilator 
irritation  in  conjunction  with  stimulation  of  the  cardiac 
accelerator,  Dr.  Frederick  Peterson,  in  The  Medical  Rec- 
ord, advances  the  hypothesis  of  an  anatomical  lesion  in  the 
cardio-inhibitory  nerve-path  or  its  medullary  center,  which 
diminishes  but  does  not  destroy  its  functional  activity. 

Inhibition  of  nerve  force  constitutes  one  of  those  funda- 
mental difficulties  that  meets  us  at  the  threshold  of  every 
inquiry  into  the  consequences  of  pathological  nerve  changes. 

Inhibitory  actions  are  important  factors  in  the  production 
of  nervous  phenomena  and  it  is  many  times  difficult  to  de- 
cide whether  a  certain  result  is  due  to  the  removal  of  nerve 
inhibition,  or  whether  to  the  direct  effect  of  an  applied 
stimulus.  Nor  are  the  effects  of  inhibition  less  apparent 
in  the  complexity  of  relations  existing  between  the  cardiac 
mechanism  and  the  vaso-motor  system. 

Dr.  Peterson  advances  the  following  in  support  of  his 
idea  of  a  lesion  in  the  cardio-inhibitory  path  or  its  medul- 
lary center. 

'*  Because  of  this  lesion  the  heart  is  not  prevented,  as  it 
normally  should  be,  from  quickening  its  movements  to  an 
extraordinary  degree,  or  from   even  losing  at  times  the 


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1887  Chloride  of  Ethyline.  353 

rhythmical  character  of  its  ptdsations.  Owing  to  the  ana- 
tomical distribution  of  the  largest  arteries  and  the  greater 
•  directness  of  the  route  here  than  elsewhere  the  brunt  of 
increased  blood-pressure  and  cardiac  force  is  borne  by  the 
blood-vessels  going  to  the  head.  After  a  long  period  of 
resistance  these  vessels  tend  to  dilate,  especially  in  any 
distensible  tissue,  rich  in  arteries  and  veins,  that  may  be 
met  with  on  the  way.  The  thyroid  gland  is  such  a  tissue. 
Indeed  the  best  physiologists  are  now  inclined  to  the  be- 
lief that  the  function  of  this  organ  is  to  regulate  the  blood- 
supply  to  the  head.  Is  it  strange,  therefore,  that  long 
continued  cardiac  acceleration  and  violence  should  tend  to 
increase  its  size?  Is  any  theory  of  lesion  of  vaso-motor  or 
vaso-dilator  nerves  necessary  to  explain  it?" 

Two  additional  grounds  maybe  adduced  for  adopting  the 
view  of  disturbance  of  cardio-inhibition. 

1.  The  gland  increases  or  diminishes  in  size  in  exoph- 
thalmic goitre  with  the  quickening  or  retardation  of  the 
heart's  action.  The  gland  may  be  for  weeks  at  a  time  only 
moderately  distended,  with  a  pulse  approaching  110.  Then 
some  hours  of  palpitation  or  some  days  of  160  beats  per 
minute,  will  greatly  augment  its  size. 

2.  There  is  a  tendency  to  enlarge  first  and  to  a  greater 
degree  upon  the  right  side,  for  which  the  anatomical  ar- 
rangement of  the  carotids  affords  easy  explanation. 


Chloride  op  Ethyline.— Dubois  and  Boux  have  rec- 
orded  in  Le  France  Midicale  some  peculiar  effects  on  the 
eye  produced  by  chloride  of  ethyline  given  as  an  anaesthetic. 
In  studying  the  anaesthetic  effects  of  this  preparation  it 
was  observed  that  the  cornea  remained  transparent  during 
the  inhalation  and  during  the  subsequent  elimination  of 
the  drug,  but  that  in  sixteen  to  eighteen  hours,  sometimes 
later,  the  comeae  began  to  lose  their  transparency,  taking 
on  an  opalescent,  bluish  tint,  which  gave  a  sb'ange  look  to 
the  animal.  The  inhaler  was  so  constructed  that  no  vapor 
could  possibly  find  direct  access  to  the  eyes. 

Exaggerated  tension  of  the  globe  was  noticed,  which  at- 
tained its  maximum  at  the  time  of  the  appearance  of  the 
w 


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354  The  Medical  Advance.  Oct 

corneal  opacity,  and  it  remained  in  diminished  degree  for 
fifteen  days  until  the  animal  was  killed.  The  convexity  of 
the  cornea  was  much  increased,  particularly  in  the  vertical 
meridian,  giving  the  appearance  of  a  total  anterior  staphy- 
loma, opaque  and  symmetrical  in  both  eyes. 

With  a  bright  light  it  was  possible  to  decide  that  the 
lens  remained  clear,  but  it  was  impossible  to  make  out  the 
details  of  the  fundus.  Oculo-pupillary  and  palpebral  re- 
flexes were  preserved,  as  was  the  sensibility  of  the  cornea 
and  retina. 

It  is  yet  undecided  whether  tbe  dehydrating  effect  of  the 
drug  or  the  increased  intraocular  tension  produces  the 
corneal  opacity. 

Baryta  Muriatica. — By  close  observation  of  a  number 
of  cases  of  hypertrophied  tonsils  I  have  been  enabled  to 
arrive  at  a  more  exact  knowledge  (clinical)  of  the  indica- 
tions for  the  chloride  of  barium  than  I  have  hitherto  pos- 
sessed. In  the  absence  of  prominent  subjective  symptoms, 
I  have  found  it  of  the  greatest  value  in  reducing,  nearly  to 
normal  size,  enlarged  tonsils  that  appear  smooth  and  deeply 
cleft  by  sulci  that  divide  each  gland  into  several  lobes. 
With  this  condition  there  may  be  a  chronic  catarrh  of  the 
middle  ear,  with  deafness,  but  no  tinnitus  aurium.  I  con- 
sider it  also  a  remedy  adapted  to  scrofulous  diatheses.  In 
the  case  of  a  weak,  poorly  developed  child  of  scrofulous 
tendency,  an  inheritance  from  a  tuberculous  parent,  with 
enlarged  cervical  glands  and  hypertrophied  tonsils  (of  the 
character  I  have  pointed  out),  with  chronic  bronchitis  and 
a  tendency  to  take  cold  on  the  least  exposure  to  damp 
'  weather,  I  continued  Baryta  mur.  Cx,  twice  a  day,  all  win- 
ter  with  the  satisfaction  of  complete  cure  not  only  of  the 
tonsillar  hypertrophy  and  bronchitis  but  of  the  tendency  to 
taking  cold. 

Ledum. — The  limb  is  cold,' can't  get  warm,  and  gets  worse 
when  it  does  become  warm  in  bed.  Ledum  has  often  been 
given  to  horses  when  they  go  lame  and  draw  up  their  legs. 
The  pains  move  upward.    [Petrol. — Silicea].        C.  Hg. 


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1887    Advantages  of  Consulting  a  Specialist  Early,     356 

THE  ADVANTAGES  OF  CONSULTING  A  SPECIALIST 
EARLY. 


U.  D.  TIPPLE,  M.  D.,  Toledo.  O. 


The  true  specialist  is  a  physician  who  has  acquired  a 
special  knowledge  of  special  diseases  by  special  study. 
Doubtless  there  are  some  exceptions  to  this  proposition. 
The  oculist  and  aurist  who  has  acquired  by  careful  study 
and  experience  a  superior  knowledge  of  the  organs  of 
sight  and  hearing  is  supposed  to  be  better  qualified  to  treat 
these  organs  successfully  than  the  general  practitioner; 
therefore,  if  this  be  true,  the  physician  who  is  not  by 
theory  and  practice  qualified,  should,  through  regard  for 
his  general  reputation  and  the  wellbeing  of  his  patients 
afflicted  with  eye  and  ear  diseases  of  such  a  character  as 
require  skillful  treatment,  refer  them  to  the  qualified 
specialist,  before  irreparable  damage  is  done,  either 
from  neglect  or  improper  treatment  Many  incurable 
cases  have  come  under  my  observation  where  timely  treat- 
ment in  the  right  direction  would  have  resulted  favorably. 
The  average  physician  has  a  very  imperfect  knowledge  of 
eye  and  ear  diseases  and  much  le^s  knowledge  of  their 
successful  treatment  Acute  glaucoma,  as  well  as  iritis,  is 
generally  pronounced  conjunctivitis  or  neuralgia.  De- 
tachment of  the  retina,  leucoma,  gliosarcoma,  blanched 
disc,  myosis  with  physiological  discoloration  of  lens,  as 
well  as  ptyrigium,  have  been  diagnosed  cataract  and  sent 
to  me  for  surgical  treatment  Orbital  cellulitis  has  been 
treated  with  poultices  until  the  contents  of  the  orbit,  in- 
cluding the  globe,  have  been  destroyed  by  suppuration,, 
and  in  many  instances  life  itself  has  been  lost  by  em- 
piricism. I  have  performed  a  large  number  of  operations 
on  the  iris  for  the  relief  of  synechia  caused  by  neglected 
or  improperly  treated  iritis.  I  have  also  had  patients  sent 
to  me  for  treatment  where  corneal  ulcers  hfiul  been  treated 
with  stick  caustic,  with  entire  destruction  of  corneal  tissue. 
Lesions  of  the  uveal  tract  are  rarely  ever  comprehended 
until  irreparable  damage  has  been  done  or  resulted,  after 


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366  The  Medical  Advance.  Oct 

which  the  patient  is  advised  to  consult  a  specialist  Strab- 
otomy  is  performed  without  a  proper  anatomical  or  physi- 
ological knowledge  of  the  extrinsic  muscles  of  the  eye, 
with  usually  bad  results.  Simple  tenotomy  for  paralytic 
strabismus  is  performed,  and  great  surprise  is  expressed 
at  the  poor  results. 

Ear  diseases  are  generally  very  badly  treated.  Mastoid 
abscesses  are  treated  with  poultices  and  anodynes  until 
death  relieves  the  sufferer,  and  numberless  minor  affections 
are  totally  misapprehended,  both  in  diagnosis  and  treat- 
ment The  reasons  which  I  hove  adduced  should  be  suffi- 
cient to  convince  every  sensible  and  honest  physician  of 
standing  in  the  profession  not  to  tamper  with  such  casea 

I  can  assure  you  that  what  I  have  said  is  not  actuated 
by  mercenary  motives,  as  these  neglected  and  badly  treated 
cases  are  far  more  profitable  to  the  specialist  than  any 

other  class. 

<>» 

CORRESPONDENCE. 


LOITERINGS  IN  EUROPE. 


Berlin,  August  2, 1887. 

Editor  Advance, — The  University  of  Berlin  is  one  of  the 
largest  and  best  in  Europe.  There  are  four  factdties — 
theology,  law,  arts  or  philosophy,  and  medicine.  It  is  said 
that  the  course  in  philosophy  is  unsurpassed:  after  its 
completion  the  degree  Ph.  D.  is  not  conferred  for  two  or 
three  years,  the  candidate  in  the  interval  pursuing  his  stu- 
dies while  traveling,  or  by  teaching  or  otherwise. 

Very  few  students  take  a  full  course  at  any  one  univer- 
sity, but  the  majority  of  German  students  complete  the 
last  year  or  two  at  Berlin.  The  standard  is  very  high  more 
especially  with  their  own  countrymen,  there  being  more 
latitude  extended  to  Americans:  the  reason  of  this  is  that 
Americans  are  expected  to  return  to  America  while  the 
Germans  will  most  likely  continue  to  make  Germany  their 
home,  where  the  supply  of  professional  men  is  greater  than 
the  demand.  The  curriculum  calls  for  four  and  a  half  to 
six  years:  each  year  has  two  semesters,  the  winter  five 


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1887  Loiterings  in  Europe.  357 

months  and  the  summer  three.  For  thoroughness  I  will 
cite  one  instance:  if  one  should  take  a  course  in  Electro- 
techny,  the  science  of  applied  electricity,  a  knowledge  of 
the  high  mathematics  would  be  demanded. 

There  are  5,000  students  in  attendance,  of  which  number 
2,600  are  medical.  Berlin  is  a  medical  center.  It  has  been 
and  is  now  the  home  of  many  illustrious  physicians.  The 
hospitals  are  very  large,  the  clinical  harvest  abundant  and 
well  garnered  by  skilled  reapers.  Charitie  Hospital  has 
5,000  beds  which  includes  the  Insane  Department  The 
Queen  Augusta  and  the  Queen  Elizabeth  Hospitals  are 
very  large.  The  hospital  now  building,  the  city  Hospital, 
will  be  the  largest  in  Europe;  it  will  have  5,000  beds  and 
no  Insane  Department. 

At  Charitie  met  Profs.  Bardeleben  and  Gusserow,  Bar- 
deleben  is  surgeon-major  of  the  German  army,  thus  out- 
ranking every  other  surgeon  in  the  Empire.  His  appear- 
ance is  prepossessing,  a  very  solid  man  with  a  benign  ex- 
pression, tall,  well  formed,  grey  eyes  and  about  65  years 
old.  His  teachings  are  very  thorough  and  his  operations 
very  successful.  His  tracheotomy  was  well  done,  as*  also 
the  amputation  of  the  hip-necrosis  of  tibia,  removal  of 
mammary  gland  and  the  treatment  of  fractures  of  humer- 
us and  femur. 

The  woman's  clinic  of  Prof.  Gusserow  is  very  largely 
attended,  the  operations  were  interesting,  being,  subcutane- 
ous injections  of  ergotine,  after  Hildebrandt,  for  uterine 
fibroma,  aspirating  for  hematocele,  and  a  variety  of  dis- 
placements. 

Prof.  Olshausen  is  another  gynaecologist  of  the  Univer- 
sity and  takes  the  place  of  the  late  lamented  Schroeder. 
His  clinic  is  held  at  the  Women's  Hospital,  the  Universi- 
tftts  Frftulein  Kliuik,  No.  13  Artillerie  Strasse.  The  build- 
ing is  new  and  very  convenient — the  most  suitable  struc- 
ture for  a  hospital  that  I  have  yet  visited.  The  wards  are 
well  ventilated,  cloan  and  cheery.  He  has  two  operating 
rooms,  one  for  lacerations,  mammary  diseases  and  vaginal 
hysterectomies.  The  other  is  for  laparotomies.  The  former 
is  well  lighted  and  ventilated,  with  a  cement  floor  slightly 


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358  The  Medical  Advance,  ^   Oct 

slanting  to  the  operating  chair,  where  a  drain  carries  off 
the  fluids  or  washings.  The  walls  are  of  hard  plaster 
painted,  and  the  ceiling  of  corrugated  iron  also  painted 
white.  The  operating  chair  is  quite  peculiar  in  shape, 
almost  semi-circular,  which  makes  examinations  and  oper- 
ations, except  laparotomies,  much  easier.  Each  clinic  is 
examined  by  a  student  who  gives  the  diagnosis  and  treat- 
ment, after  which  Prof.  Olshausen  gives  the  student  a  rigid 
examination.  For  the  next  clinic  another  student  is  called 
down  and  so  on  through  the  clinic. 

The  laparotomy  room  is  smaller,  well  lighted  and  similar 
in  its  interior  finish  to  the  other.  The  operating  table  is 
of  iron  and  unusually  high,  requiring  an  iron  stool  a  foot 
high  for  the  operator.  This  room  is  sprayed  with  carbolic 
acid  before  operations.  The  cleanliness  is  very  thorough. 
The  operator  and  assistants  are  dressed  in  white  linen 
coats  with  short  sleeves  and  wear  silk  or  cloth  aprons- 
The  hands  and  arms  are  first  washed  for  five  minutes  with 
soap-suds  and  a  strong  nail  brush,  then  the  nails  are 
cleaned  with  a  pointed  nail  file,  then  washed  in  bichloride 
of  mercury  1  to  2,000.  The  patient's  parts  are  well  lathered 
and  shaved  and  then  washed  with  the  mercury  solution. 
Surrounding  the  parts  to  be  operated  on  are  cloths  applied 
wet  with  the  same  solution.  During  the  operation  the 
hands  of  operator  and  assistants  are  rinsed  with  the  solu- 
tion, or  should  any  of  them  touch  their  hair  or  beard  or 
pick  anything  from  the  floor,  or  anything  not  thus  pro- 
tected, before  again  touching  the  patient,  the  hands  are 
washed  in  the  antiseptic  solution.  Prof.  Olshausen  gave 
me  a  warm  welcome  and  I  greatly  enjoyed  the  ovariotomy, 
two  vaginal  hysterectomies  for  cervical  cancers,  and  an  ab- 
dominal opening  for  a  pelvic  abcess.  His  operations  are 
from  7  to  10  A.  M.  every  week-day;  and  from  10  to  11  a.  m. 
he  lectures.  It  is  a  great  pleasure  to  know  so  skilled  an 
operator.  The  first  hysterectomy  was  done  in  forty-five 
minutes  requiring  nineteen  ligatures.  The  second  was 
more  difficult,  the  time  of  operation  was  an  hour  and  a 
quarter,  the  posterior  wall  of  the  vagina  was  cut  so  as  to 
give  room  for  the  removal  of  the  uterus  and  requiring 


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1887  LoUerings  in  Europe.  359 

thirty-five  ligatures.  Both  cervices  were  lacerated  bi-la- 
terally.  No  comment  was  made  as  to  the  cause.  Had 
these  lacerations  been  carefully  cared  for  at  the  proper 
times,  the  removal  of  the  uteri  would  most  likely  not  have 
been  necessary.  Cervical  lacerations  are  much  neglected 
by  physicians.  How  many  women  are  invalids  who  might 
be  well.  How  many  valuable  lives  are  lost  which  could 
easily  have  been  saved.  Even  the  eminent  of  the  profes- 
sion pass  this  ailment  over  as  trivial.  Among  diseases  of 
women  I  know  of  no  operation  when  necessary  to  do  and 
when  properly  done  that  can  bring  such  comfort.  It  is 
true  there  are  some  not  benefited  by  the  operation,  but 
there  are  good  reasons  for  failures.  How  many  have  been 
restored  after  the  operation?  If  for  no  other  reason  than 
to  prevent  cancer  of  the  womb,  the  surgeon  is  justified  in 
advising  the  operation.  A  very  sad  case  came  under  my 
notice  of  a  patient  who  had  been  a  great  sufferer  from  pel- 
vic congestions  and  many  reflex  symptoms.  An  examina- 
tion revealed  a  bi-lateral  laceration  extending  to  the  Vaginal 
junction.  She  was  advised  to  have  the  womb  treated  pre- 
paratory to  the  operation.  Circumstances  prevented  her 
from  giving  the  necessary  immediate  attention.  In  a  year 
she  returned  for  the  treatment  and  operation,  but  within 
that  time  a  cancerous  growth  appeared  involving  the  entire 
neck,  posterior  wall  of  vagina  and  rectum.  An  operation 
could  not  benefit,  it  soon  proved  fatal.  We  must  give  heed 
to  it  for  it  is  the  beginning  of  many  serious  troubles.  The 
laparotcmist  may  be  skilled  as  such,  and  overlook  so  ap- 
parently trivial  an  operation:  do  both  well  and  if  the  lacera- 
tion is  done  with  skill,  and  is  not  an  easy  one,  there  will  be 
less  need  for  laparotomy. 

It  is  said  that  Wiertz,  the  Belgian  artist,  was  severely 
criticised  by  the  French  Academy,  that  his  paintings  were 
too  largely  allegorical  in  their  conception.  He  painted  a 
carrot,  a  French  symbol  for  any  trumpery,  the  work  was  so 
masterly  and  the  finish  so  exquisite  that  the  Academy  did 
not  hesitate  to  give  him  the  honored  recognition. 

Dr.  Benkizer  is  the  first  assistant  of  Prof.  Olshausen. 


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360         '  The  Medical  Advance.  Ooi 

He  made  a  yaginal  hysterectomy  for  the  same  trouble,  and 
was  very  neat  and  rapid  in  his  work. 

For  the  present  semester  thirty-five  vaginal  hysterecto- 
mies and  thirty-five  ovariotomies  have  been  made,  wiihout 
a  death.  Prof.  Olshausen  says  that  hysterectomy  is  the 
proper  way  to  cure  cervical  cancer.  I  was  very  sorry  to 
have  missed  a  CsBsarian  section  by  Olshausen.  The  invita-  , 
tion  was  sent  to  my  hotel  and  forwarded  to  me  at  Dresden, 
where  I  received  it  at  noon  when  the  operation  was  ex- 
pected to  be  about  6:30  a.  m.  of  that  day.  The  facilities 
for  lecturing  with  charts,  drawings,  plates,  models,  peloises 
and  foetal  heads  are  most  excellent. 

He  is  very  particular  as  to  the  cleanliness  of  visitors  in- 
vited to  his  laparotomies,  especially  the  Germans,  of  whom 
he  says  that  they  are  not  so  particular  in  the  care  of  their 
person  and  clothes  as  the  Americans. 

Silk  sutures  are  used  except  in  buried  sutures,  when  ani- 
mal tissue  is  substituted. 

Prof.  Bergman,  of  the  KOnigliches  Klinikum,  on  Zeigler 
Strasse,  a  part  of  the  university,  is  a  most  remarkable  sur- 
geon. In  Berlin  he  is  regarded  as  the  ablest  general  sur- 
geon in  Germany.  A  tall  deep  chested,  well  formed  man, 
with  piercing  eye,  long  dark  hair,  brushed  straight  from 
his  forehead  with  particular  smoothness,  a  full  beard 
closely  cut,  and  a  slim  delicate  hand.  His  reputation  in 
resections  of  joints  and  removal  of  kidneys  is  very  great 
He  resects  the  knee-joint  in  three  and  a  half  minutes. 
The  incision  is  made  upon  the  internal  surface  inline  of 
the  limb  extending  above  the  internal  condyle,  then  an  in- 
cision at  right  angles  over  the  anterior  surface  and  ending 
at  the  posterior  border  of  external  condyle.  After  the  re- 
moval of  the  joint  it  is  washed  Vith  a  solution  of  tincture 
of  iodine  one  part,  ether  six  parts,  and  alcohol  two  parts. 
After  washing,  it  is  packed  with  iodoform  gauze,  the  flaps 
approximated,  then  covered  with  borated  cotton  and  ban- 
daged with  iodoform  gauze. 

This  is  not  touched  for  forty-eight  hours  when  the  in- 
side dressing  is  removed,  the  flaps  closely  stitched,  iodo- 
form sprinkled,  then  the  borated  cotton,  gauze  bandage  and 
over  these  plaster  of  paris. 


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1887  LoUeringk  in  Europe.  361 

In  six  weeks  the  patient  is  walking.  In  supra-pubic 
lithotomy  his  time  is  five  minutes.  The  operating  rpom  is 
a  gem,  in  all  respects  most  complete.  He  has  seven  assis- 
tants besides  three  women  and  three  men  nurses,  and  one 
woman  to  keep  the  floor  clean.  With  such  a  skilled  corps 
of  assistants,  it  leaves  him  nothing  to  do  but  to  use  the 
knife. 

His  operating  dress  like  the  assistants  is  a  long  smock 
of  white  linen  duck,  with  short  sleeves.  Borated  cotton  is 
kept  in  tin  boxes  and  balls  of  the  same,  in  place  of  sponges 
are  carefully  covered  in  glass  jars;  ligatures  are  kept  im- 
mersed in  carbolated  oil  and  by  an  ingenious  device  con- 
veniently ready  for  use:  the  instruments  for  use  are  in 
glass  pans  covered  with  a  solution  of  bichloride  of  mercury 
and  the  antiseptic  waters  are  in  peculiar  shaped  glass  pots 
like  old  fashioned  tea-pots.  Chloroform  is  the  ansBsthetic. 
The  assistants  catch  and  tie  the  bleeding  vessels  and  dress 
the  wounds.  The  students  are  examined  the  same  as  in 
the  Gusserow,  Bardeleben  and  Olshausen  clinics. 

Bergmcm  has  a  dash  which  captivates.  At  one  clinic  I 
saw  him  operate  on  six  patients  in  one  hour  and  a  quarter 
including  the  time  occupied  by  the  students  in  their  ex- 
aminations of  the  clinics.     The  six  operations  were: 

1st.  Necrosis  of  tibia  with  a  large  sequestreum. 

2nd.  Breaking  over  a  Colles  fracture  which  had  united 
with  deformity  chiselling  off  the  ends  of  bones,  periosteal 
sutures,  drainage  tube,  superficial  sutures,  iodoform  gauze, 
borated  cotton  then  a  gauze  bandage  and  over  this  a  plaster 
paris  bandage.     This  dressing  was  completed  by  himself. 

3d.  Tumor  of  right  inferior  maxillary  with  resection  of 
two  inches  of  the  same. 

4th.  Removal  of  left  mammary  gland  for  cancer. 

5th.  Abcess  of  thigh  freely  opened,  washed  thoroughly 
with  iodine  lotion  and  packed  with  the  iodoform  gauze.  * 

6th.  Bemoval  of  head  of  femur,  morbus  coxalgia.  This 
last  was  a  Icwl  of  eleven  years  with  phimosis  and  I  was  sur- 
prised that  the  penis  was  not  relieved  at  the  same  time, 
fol*  it  was  undoubtedly  the  cause  of  the  hip  disease. 

Prof.  August  Martin  is  not  as  popular  with  the  Berlin 


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362  The  Medical  Advance,  Oct 

physicians  as  expected.  He  is  a  lecturer  on  gynaecology 
in  the  university  and  has  a  private  hospital.  Like  Lawson, 
Tait,  he  is  an  originator,  but  his  cervical  operation  in  place 
of  Emmet's  has  objections.  I  believe  it  would  be  better 
if  he  would  adopt  Emmet's,  for  there  is  nothing  equal  to  ii 
He  is  classed  in  the  same  rank  as  Tait  by  the  Germans, 
who  say  "  statistics  are  not  true  except  Martins  and  Taits." 
Slightly  sarcastic  or  perhaps  jealous.  Martins  fallopian 
work  has  been  phenomenal.  They  have  both  done  good 
work  first  in  originating  operations,  and  secondly  in  mak- 
ing the  older  surgeons  more  conservative.  It  might  also  be 
said  that  the  younger  and  inexperienced  surgeons  hafve  un- 
fortunately attempted  operations  which,  at  least,  demand 
experience.  He  should  never  forget  the  rule  which  governs 
that  great  and  cautious  surgeon,  Sir  Spencer  Wells,  in 
laparotomy.  "  Never  operate  as  long  as  the  patient  has  a 
half  hour  more  to  recuperate." 

Germany  has  eminent  surgeons,  and  among  them  Es- 
march  of  Kiel,  Yolkman  at  Halle,  Leopold  and  Elutz  of 
Dresden,  and  others.  Volkman  is  particularly  noted  for 
his  plastic  work  as  well  as  for  his  method  of  operating  in 
the  radical  cure  of  hydrocele.  I  must  not  forget  Prof.  Vir- 
chow,  the  pathologist  and  orator.  He  is  very  popular  with 
the  people,  a  member  of  the  Beichstag,  and  a  pronounced 
opponent  of  Prince  Bismark  and  the  government.  His 
political  views  are  quite  radical,  almost  to  a  free  thinker. 
The  Berlin  doctors  are  not  very  fond  of  him,  nor  do  the 
students  regard  him  as  a  good  instructor;  they  say  politics 
interferes  with  his  medical  usefulness.  He  is  very  crabbed 
to  all,  but  shows  more  attention  to  American  students,  than 
to  the  German,  because  Bismarck  is  opposed  to  America. 

Prof.  Du  Bois  Eeymond  is  a  splendid  gentleman  and 
very  noted  as  a  physiologist. 

Prof.  Waldeyer  is  the  anatomist  of  Germany.  Besides 
his  university  salary  as  teacher  of  anatomy  of  $5,000  his 
fees  from  students  average  him  $25,000  a  year.  All  pro- 
fessors are  paid  a  salary  by  the  University,  a  government 
institution  in  addition  to  their  fees  and  practice. 

All  surgeons,  gynaecological  excepted,  and  first  assistants 


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1887  Loiterings  in  Europe,  363 

are  regimental  or  division  surgeons,  they  are  under  pay 
and  can  be  called  upon  by  the  government  at  any  time  in 
case  of  war. 

Many  of  the  German  students  are  duelists,  and  are  proud 
of  their  scarred  faces.  For  the  slightest  pretence,  as  a 
jostle  in  the  street,  there  is  an  exchange  of  cards  and  a 
duel  follows.  The  weapon  is  a  sword  with  both  edges  near 
the  point  very  sharp.  The  eyes  are  protected  by  large 
goggles  closely  fitted  to  the  skin,  so  as  to  prevent  the 
trickling  blood  from  touching  the  eyes — the  ears  have 
leather  coverings,  the  neck,  arms,  body  and  legs  well  pro- 
tected by  cotton  bandages  and  wrappings.  The  time  of 
fighting  is  fifteen  minutes  unless  the  surgeon  interferes. 

You  would  be  surprised  to  see  the  number  of  students 
with  faces  all  scarred,  or  a  tip  of  the  nose  gone.  Every 
student  glories  in  the  scars  and  will  frequently  pull  the 
stitched  wound  apart  that  the  cicatrix  may  be  more  promi- 
nent or  welt-like.  Many  interesting  points  might  be  given 
about  these  societies  and  their  code;  will  only  say  that 
Bismarck  when  a  student  fought  over  twenty  duels  in  one 
year. 

Let  me  end  this  article  by  writing  something  more  pleas- 
ant to  recollect  During  the  Franco-German  war,  the 
Crown-Princess,  Queen  Victdfia's  eldest  daughter,  made 
daily  visits  to  the  hospitals,  reading  to  and  cheering  the 
wounded.  A  gentleman  having  noticed  her  visits  and  not 
knowing  who  she  was,  thus  addressed  her:  "Have  you  a 
friend  here  among  the  wounded  or  in  the  army?"  She 
replied:  "  I  have  a  father  and  a  husband.  Kaiser  Wilhelm 
is  my  father  and  *Unser  Fritz'  my  husband." 

Yours  very  truly, 

_  H.  F.  BiGGAR. 

Wateb.— The  best  time  for  drinking  water  is  early  in 
the  morning,  in  the  evening  before  going  to  bed.  and  three 
hours  after  the  meals.  Water  is  always  injurious  if  drank 
during  meal  times  or  immediately  after  eating.  Eat  slowly, 
masticate  and  ensalivate  your  food  well  and  avoid  washing 
down  the  bolus  with  large  draughts  of  water,  coflFee,  tea, 
wines,  or  other  liquids. 


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864  The  Medical  Advance.  Oct. 

COMMENT  AND  CRITICISM. 


The  case  of  the  cow  with  the  pendulous  tumor  from  the 
abdomen  "interviewed." 

Editor  Advance,— On  the  30th  of  July  last  I  started  over  moor 
and  mountain,  some  fourteen  or  fifteen  miles,  to  enjoy  a  day's  sal- 
mon fishing,  and  partly  with  the  intention  of  seeing  my  old 
patient,  "Crummie";  and  as  you  have  expressed  a  desire  that  I 
should  inform  your  numerous  readers  as  to  the  bona  fide  character 
of  this  miraculous  looking  cure,  I  have  pleasure  in  obeying  your 
summons. 

I  was  accompanied  by  the  same  two  witnesses— namely,  my 
ghillie,  Sandy  MacDonald,  and  Angus  Campbell,  water-bailiff  on 
the  river  Glass  for  Lord  Lovat.  We  found  the  owner  of  the 
young  cow,  John  MacLennan,  from  home  on  business,  but  we 
received  a  most  kindly  welcome  from  his  gude  Wife,  who  thanked 
me  and  sang  my  praises  in  Ossianic  strains  for  what  I  had  done 
for  the  cow.  "Crummie**  was  turned  out  of  the  byre  for  my  in- 
spection, and  all  present  bore  witness  to  the  fact  that  "Crummie" 
was  the  same  cow  which  had  the  pendulous  tumor  growing  from 
the  raphe  of  her  abdomen,  weighing  somewhere  over  ten  pounds,, 
avoirdupois.  While  the  cow  was  held  by  one  of  the  family  I  ex- 
amined the  parts  to  see  if  1  could  see  any  trace  of  a  cicatrix,  but 
there  was  nothing  of  the  sort  to  be  seen  or  felt.  The  hair  met  on 
both  sides  of  the  middle  line  of  the  abdomen,  as  in  other  quadru- 
peds -cows  in  particular —and  it  is  very  certain  that  if  the  case 
came  into  a  court  of  law,  there  would  not  be  wanting  plenty  of 
surgeons,  physicians  and  vets,  ready  to  declare  that  no  such  tumor 
could  ever  have  been  pendant  from  "Crummie's"  abdomen— and 
why  ?  Great  reason !  Why  ?  Because  there  is  no  cicatrix  I  They 
forget  that  nature  and  nature's  medicine  and  surgery  are  very  dif- 
ferent from  knives  and  cauteries. 

I  commend  this  case  to  the  careful  study  of  our  homceopathic 
surgeons,  who  trust  in  Ix  and  in  specifics  in  disease-^because  they 
have  much  to  learn  and  much  to  disgorge. 

To  make  matters  sure,  1  asked  for  a  glass  of  milk  from  my 
patient's  udder.  She  had  just  been  milked,  and  her  milk  was 
mixed  with  the  others,  but  we  got  as  much  as  we  could  desire  of 
the  mixed  milks,  rich  with  cream,  and  a  kind  invitation  to  the 
same  as  often  as  I  passed  that  way. 

The  calf,  which  was  born  in  March,  died  a  fortnight  after  birth, 
of  some  form  of  epidemic  disease  which  has  no  name.  It  was 
characterised  by  total  anorexia  and  adypsia,  with  debility,  conse- 
quent wasting  and  death.  There  were  several  calves  died  in  a  sim- 
ilar manner  in  the  Strath.  Yours  truly, 

Thomas  Skinner. 


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1887  Our  Literature.  365 

OUR  LITERATURE. 


C.  R.  MUZZT,  M.  D.,  Yiroqus.  Wisconsin. 


Speaking  of  our  literature  should  remind  U8  of  the  dif- 
ference existing  between  the  predominant  schools  of  medi- 
cine as  regards  the  literature  that  reaches  the  public  eye, 
and  I  wish  to  draw  attention  to  the  fact,  that,  in  no  in- 
stance are  the  principles  of  Homoeopathy,  in  comprehensi- 
ble form,  prepared  for  the  general  reader.  On  the  other 
hand  how  many  are  led  to  try  this,  that,  or  the  other  patent 
or  proprietary  medicine  by  reading  the  theories  that  rep- 
resent the  rules  of  the  old  school  treatment  which  are  in 
gratuitous  print  everywhere. 

Homoeopathy  has  made  its  way  in  this  country,  since  its 
first  struggle  for  existence,  in  the  same  manner  that  many 
other  affairs  have  been  pushed  by  what  is  called  in  news- 
paper parlance  "a  boom,"  and  in  the  rush  to  "get  there" 
little  thought  has  been  given  by  the  people  as  to  its  prin- 
ciples and  quite  as  little  has  been  the  care  in  many  locali- 
ties with  which  it  has  been  dispensed.  By  slightly  modi- 
fying his  doses  the  staunch  "regular"  might  feign  conver- 
sion and  practice  under  a  homoeopathic  sign,  without  de- 
tection by  the  people. 

The  people  at  large  are  not  familiar  with  any  method 
except  the  one  of  treating  diseases  by  name  and  the  attempt 
to  search  for  the  individual  features  of  a  case  whereby  a 
genuine  application  of  the  homoeopathic  system  could  be 
made  would  and  is,  in  many  instances,  looked  upon  as  im- 
X)osition  or  incapacity. 

On  entering  a  new  field  the  Homoeopathist  finds  himself 
confronted  with  an  alternative,  either  to  instruct  his  pa- 
tients one  by  one  before  he  can  gain  their  confidence,  or 
to  adopt  the  ways  known  to  them  and  palliate  their  pains 
and  aches.  The  latter  course  makes  friends  of  all  except 
those  who  know  the  law,  and  the  former  course  makes 
enemies  of  all  who  do  not  know  the  method  and  who  think 
they  know  a  learned  doctor  by  his  ways  and  manners. 
That  this  lack  of  knowledge  of  Homoeopathy  by  the  people 


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366  The  Medical  Advance.  Oct 

has  led  maoy  of  our  practitioners  to  adopt 'old  methods  to 
make  Homoeopathy  appear  acceptable,  may  be  shown  by 
reference  to  the  prescription  files  of  druggists.  If  a  young 
practitioner  finds  his  conscience  in  the  balance  against  his 
chances  of  earning  his  bread,  the  former  may  kick  tlie 
beam;  the  latter  he  must  have  from  his  practice,  else  his 
time  and  money  expended  in  study  is  gone  for  naught 
Judging  by  the  number  that  give  up  practice  for  more 
remunerative  employment  it  appears  that  some  fail  to 
silence  the  still  small  voice  within;  and  among  those  who 
have  not  retired  has  been  heard  the  declaration,  "  humbug, 
thy  proper  name  is  medicine."  To  ask  our  colleges  to 
furnish  more  and  better  instruction  is  not  to  the  purpose 
as  a  remedy  for  this  state  of  things,  except,  to  teach  allo- 
pathic formulae  and  deception  in  general  is  what  is  pro- 
posed as  "  more  and  better."  The  true  Homoeopathist  is 
now  too  far  away  from  the  knowledge  and  customs  of  the 
people  to  be  understood,  hence,  to  educate  him  in  the 
highest  perfection  of  his  art  is  to  endow  him  with  qualities 
for  which  there  is  but  little  practical  demand.  The  turn- 
ing out  of  large  numbers  of  graduates  from  our  colleges^ 
yearly,  tells  nothing  of  the  progress  of  true  Homoeopathy 
except  they  can  practice  it  If  the  large  number  claimed 
as  representatives  of  the  school  practice  anything  to  suit 
their  patients,  as  many  of  them  must  or  fail  to  get  patron- 
age, does  it  tell  anything  of  progress  of  the  system? 

Intelligence  has  always  been  claimed  as  the  great  help 
to  the  progress  of  our  system  of  medicine,  but  the  slow  but 
sure  plan  of  paving  the  way  with  "stepping stones "  for  its 
progress,  in  this  country,  has  been  over-ridden  by  the 
American  "booming"  process.  As  the  subject  of  every 
"boom  "  must  depend  upon  subsequent  inquiry,  as  to  its 
intrinsic  worth,  if  it  is  to  receive  permanent  endorsement, 
BO  Homoeopathy  must  be  presented  to  the  people  upon  its 
merits  as  a  system  of  medicine,  if  it  is  to  have  permanent 
support 

How,  and  by  whom,  investigation  by  the  people  shall  be 
invited  through  the  medium  of  gratuitous  print  is  for  others 


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1887   "  RepetUion  of  the  Doses'—Our  Neu^  Hospital    367 

to  determine;  I  have  endeavored  to  point  out  the  need  as 
it  appears  to  me  in  my  field  of  practice. 

[Dr.  Muzzy  points  out  a  very  patent  grievance,  but  fails  to  give 
the  remedy.  In  an  interesting  paper  on  "Patent  Medicints"  pub- 
lished in  the  Advance  for  June,  1887,  Dr.  C.  M.  Babcock,  of  Colum- 
bus, Wis.,  speaks  of  the  same  difficulty  and  suggests  that  a  com- 
mittee be  appointed  to  collate  and  publish  in  almanac  form  such 
Homoeopathic  cures  as  could  be  substantiated,  hoping  by  this 
means  to  reach  a  numerous  class  of  people.— Ed.] 


ADDENDUM  TO  "REPETITION  OF  THE  DOSE,  BY  CAR- 
ROLL DUNHAM.'' 


JOSEPH  C.  GUERNSEY,  M.  D .  Philadelphia,  Pa. 


In  the  August  number  of  the  Advance,  page  183,  is  a  letter 
from  the  late  Carroll  Dunham,  M.  D.,  on  the  "  Repetition  of  the 
Dose."  On  page  184  he  writes,  "  Not  long  ago  (three  months)  a 
young  doctor  came  for  a  prescription,"  etc. 

I  was  the  "young  doctor"  referred  to! 

I  had  been  suffering  from  those  severe  psiinSf  pinching  in  their 
character,  for  years.  He  prescribed  for  me  in  the  autum  of  1875, 
and  three  months  later,  January  12, 1876,  reported  me  wonderfully 
improved.  Now,  eleven  years  later,  I  report  myself  cured,  A  few 
times  in  all  these  years  the  pains  have  recurred,  but  always  in  a 
greatly  modified  form,  and  I  have  hardly  taken  eleven  doses  of 
Berberis  40m  in  all  that  time.  Hurrah  for  Homoeopathy— for  the 
smallest  possible  dose,  the  single  remedy,  and  the  seldom  repeti- 
tion! 

■   ntm  ■ 

OUR  NEW  HOSPITAL. 


For  many  years  the  homoeopathic  physicians  and  their 
clientele  of  Detroit  have  felt  the  need  of  an  institution  in 
which  the  sick  and  injured  poor  under  their  charge  could 
receive  homoeopathic  treatment,  because  in  the  Detroit  hos- 
pital, unless  able  to  pay  for  their  accommodations,  patients 
have  been  compelled  to  submit  to  the  tender  mercies  of 
Allopathy.  It  was  to  remedy  this  injustice  which  first  led 
to  the  discussion  of  the  possibility  of  establishing  a  hospi- 
tal under  the  management  of  the  new  school.  When  the 
subject  was  first  broached  in  1861  by  the  organization  of  a 
hospital  association,  financially,  Detroit  had  not  passed  the 


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368  The  Medical  Advance.        '  Oct. 


McMIUhu  &  Newberry  Free  HospitaL 

day  of  small  things  and  the  undertaking  seconed  among  the 
possibilities  of  the  future.  The  organization  however  was 
maintained,  and  the  enterprise  revived  now  and  then  (by 
resolution)  as  some  more  fortunate  sister  city  built  a  hom- 
oeopathic hospital,  until  1869  when  Mr.  Amos  ChafEer — one 
of  the  oldest  and  best  known  of  the  liberal  citizens  of  Detroit 
— conveyed  the  lot  at  south-east  corner  of  John  B.  street 
and  Willis  Avenue  as  a  site  for  a  bee  hospital.  It  was 
then  in  the  suburbs  of  Detroit,  but  with  the  growth  of  the 
city  probably  is  now  worth  $25,000,  a  generous  gift  in  itself. 
It  was  donated  on  the  express  condition  that  a  hospital  was 
to  be  erected  and  equipped  within  a  certcdn  number  of 
years,  or  by  the  terms  of  the  gift  the  property  would  revert 
to  the  donor.  Vigorous  efforts  were  made  by  the  physic- 
ians and  their  friends  to  secure  the  necessary  funds,  but 
for  many  reasons  they  were  unsuccessful  and  the  Detroit 
Homoeopathic  Hospital  Association  property,  by  its  tern^s, 
reverted  to  the  donor. 


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1887  Otir  New  Hospital  369 

In  August,  1886,  James  McMillan  and  Dr.  Walsh  were 
quietly  chatting  when  the  former  said: 

"  Doctor,  I  wish  you  would  have  plans  prepared  for  a 
hospital  building  to  cost  $100,000.     Go  to  Q.  W.  Lloyd!" 

Some  days  after,  the  Hon.  John  S.  Newberry,  then  con- 
fined to  his  house  by  the  illness  which  a  few  months  later 
terminated  a  busy  life,  paid  he  would  "  add  to  Mr.  McMil- 
lan's gift  $100,000  as  an  endowment  fund,"  and  thus  make 
it  a  free  hospital.  Since  that  time,  three  wealthy  citizens 
have  intimated  that  they  would  supplement  the  endow- 
ment fund;  thus  brightening  its  future  prospects  for  pub- 
lic usefulness. 

Ground  was  broken  on  the  19th  of  July,  1887,  and  under 
contracts  made  by  Mr.  McMillan,  the  work  is  being  pushed 
forward  as  rapidly  as  possible,  consistent  with  sound  con- 
struction. When  the  building  is  completed  and  ready 
for  occupation  the  hospital  and  endowment  fund  will  be 
turned  over  to  the  Hospital  Association,  of  which  the  fol- 
lowing gentlemen  are  the  present  trustees:  James  McMil- 
lan, H.  R.  Newberry,  Don  M.  Dickinson,  D.  M.  Ferry, 
Bansom  Gillis,  J.  B.  Mulliken,  M.  S.  Smith  and  0.  A. 
Walsh,  M.  D.;  names  which  are  a  sufficient  guarantee 
that  the  bequests  of  the  munificent  donors  will,  in  the 
interests  of  humanity,  be  well  administered. 

In  the  construction  of  the  building,  neither  time  nor 
expense  has  been  spared  to  render  it  a  model  of  its  kind. 
The  architect  has  the  advantage  of  entering  upon  his  work 
as  the  bailder  of  three  State  insane  asylums,  in  which  the 
needs  do  not  materially  differ  from  those  of  a  hospital. 
With  a  view  of  securing  the  best  obtainable  results  in 
economy,  convenience,  cheerful  rooms  and  the  best  sani- 
tary surroundings.  Dr.  Walsh  or  Mr.  Lloyd,  has  visited 
and  carefully  studied  the  construction  of  nearly  every  hos- 
pital of  note  in  the  United  States.  No  detail  had  been 
overlooked  that  can  possibly  contribute  to  the  health  or 
comfort  of  hospital  life,  and  everthing  now  promises  one 
of  the  most  complete  hospitals  in  the  world.  But,  with 
increased  facilities  and  opportunities  come  increased  re- 
sponsibilities.    The  homoeopathic  physicians  of  Detroit 


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370  The  Medical  Advance,  Oct 

must  see  to  it  that,  with  these  increased  opportunities  and 
best  surroundings  that  sanitary  science  and  modern  archi- 
tectural skill  can  produce,  the  patients  receive  the  greatest 
of  all  blessings  vouchsafed  the  sick — pure  and  unadul- 
terated homoeopathic  treatment  There  is  nothing  to  pre- 
vent the  mortality  in  the  McMillan  and  Newberry  Free 
Hospital  being  the  lowest  in  the  world. 


A  CORRECTION. 


We  cheerfully  give  space  to  the  following  protest  from 
the  Dean  of  the  New  York  Homoeopathic  Medical  College, 
as  the  Advance  does  not  willfully  or  knowingly  publish 
that  which  is  inaccurate: 

Editor  Advance. — While  a  medical  journal  is  not  considered 
responsible  for  the  statements  of  its  contributors,  it  should  at 
least  endeavor  to  avoid  the  introduction  of  glaring  perversions 
of  the  truth  into  its  pages.  The  New  York  Homoeopathic  Med- 
ical College  did  not  purchase  the  North  Ainerican  Journal  cf 
Homoeopathy  and  has  no  connection  with  it,  save  that  the  faculty 
is  proud  to  count  among  its  members  several  of  the  editorial  staff 
of  the  journal.  T.  F.  Allen,  Dean. 

New  YoitB«  Sept.  s,  1887, 


From  the  number  of  witnesses  of  the  glass-breaking  power  of 
Phosphorus  200,  we  must  conclude,  Dr.  Crutcher  notwithstanding, 
that  glasses  do  break  without  other  causes.  Here  is  the  latest, 
from  Dr.  Leslie  Martin,  Bald  wins  ville,  N.  Y.: 

Some  12  or  13  years  ago  I  had  an  experience  in  the  glass-breaking  line,  my 
attention  being  first  called  to  it  by  one  of  my  patients  asking  me  what  kind  of 
medicines  I  gave  that  had  such  power  as  to  break  the  glass,  and  that  they  felt 
afraid  to  take  such  powerful  medicines.  I  was  ver>'  incredulous  about  it,  as  I  had 
practiced  Allopathy  for  a  number  of  years  and  knew  of  no  medicine  which  could 
produce  this  result,  unless  it  was  Fluoric  acid;  and  that  was  not  dispensed  by  me 
at  that  time.  I  then  began  to  investigate  the  matter  carefully,  saying  to  the  lady, 
"  are  you  sure  that  the  glass  was  perfect,  and  without  chip  or  flaw";  she  did  not 
know.  I  said  "we  will  try  again."  She  brought  me  a  perfect  tumbler,  and  I  prepared 
the  remedy  as  on  the  day  previous;  on  my  next  visit  she  said  the  glass  was  broken. 
This  was  tried  repeatedly  with  the  same  result;  in  this  and  other  families  1  found 
it  to  be  Invariably  the  old  flat-bottom  tumbler,  and  Phosphorus  was  the  remedy. 
To  my  mind  the  explanation  was  through  the  chemical  action  of  the  Phosphorus 
on  the  chemicals  which  enter  into  the  composition  of  the  glass. 


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1887  Editorial.  371 

EDITORIAL. 


'  'When  we  have  to  do  with  an  art  whose  end  is  the  saying  of  human  lifb,  any  neglect  to 
make  ourselves  thoroughly  masters  of  It  beoomes  a  crime."— Hahkkvakn. 

The  Beaten  Track. — In  the  following  letter,  which 
speaks  for  itself,  the  author  asks  some  pertinent  questions 
in  which  every  reader  of  the  Advance  is  deeply  interested, 
and  which  we  trust  will  receive  a  careful  perusal: 

Editor  Advaiice.—Yor  many  years  I  have  been  a  subscriber  to 
the  Advance  and  have  always  been  pleased  with  the  principles 
advocated  in  its  editorial  columns,  especially  for  the  past  two 
years.  I  wish  I  could  say  as  much  for  the  opinions  expressed  by 
some  of  its  contributors,  in  some  of  the  papers  recently  published 
in  its  pages,  by  Drs.  Skinner,  Guernsey  and  others.  As  for  any 
potency  of  Lycopodium  curing  an  apoplexy  or  cerebral  congestion 
as  Dr.  Skinner  assumed  is  not  only  absurd  but  irrational,  for  you 
cannot  find  a  single  symptom  of  the  disease  in  the  provings  of 
Lycopodium  in  any  Materia  Medica.  U  is  moreover  irrational 
from  the  standpoint  of  the  dose— the  c.  m.  potency— even  if  pre- 
pared centesimally  by  Dr.  Skinner  from  a  plant  which  he  brought 
from  Scotland.  All  such  healing  of  the  sick  belongs  to  the  "  faith 
healers**  and  the  " mind  curers."  They  pretend  to  be  true  Hahne- 
mannians,  yet  you  will  see  how  far  they  have  wandered  from  the 
beaten  path  of  the  Master,  by  referring  to  page  765  Lesser  Wri- 
tings, where,  in  his  letter  to  Schreter,  Hahnemann  says:  *'  I  do  not 
approve  of  your  dynamizing  the  medicines  higher  than  the  90th 
and  60th  potencies.  There  must  be  some  end  to  the  thing;  it  can- 
not go  on  to  infinity." 

I  highly  approve  of  the  advice  you  gave  a  young  Allopath  in 
the  January  issue  as  to  how  he  should  proceed  to  study  and  prac- 
tice Homoeopathy  and  would  like  to  have  you  give  the  same  ad- 
vice to  all  your  erring  brethren  of  the  ultra  high  potency  school,. 
Dr.  Lippe  and  the  members  of  the  Hahnemannian  Association, 
who  by  their  insane  departures  have  given  Homoeopathy  the  sever- 
est blow  it  has  received  since  it  was  first  promulgated  by  its  im- 
mortal founder.  Eelegate  to  the  waste  basket  all  clinical  cases  in 
which  the  writer  pretends  to  have  cured  any  disease,  either  acute 
or  chronic,  with  a  potency  above  the  30th,  and  tell  these  men  who 
have  strayed  from  the  beaten  track  to  return  to  the  true  Hahne-^ 
mannian  fold  and  peace  and  quietness  will  reign  in  our  family. 

Samuel  R.  Dubs. 

DOTLBSTOWK,  Pa.,  Aug.  11, 1887. 

As  a  pioneer  in  our  school,  as  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
American  Institute,  as  an  earnest  student  and  an  honest 
Homoeopath  we  gladly  welcome  any  contribution  from  the> 


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372  The  Medical  Advance.  '         Oct 

pen  of  our  oorrespondeni  But  an  honest  man  may  be 
honestly  mistaken  and  may  honestly  entertain  an  error. 
We  believe  this  to  be  largely  true  with  our  allopathic 
brother.  We  know  that  he  is  mistaken,  and  we  ask  him  to 
honestly  investigate  a  fact  in  therapeutics;  to  put  the  law 
of  the  similars  to  the  test  of  practical  experiment  and  pro- 
claim  the  failures  to  the  world.  But  he  declines  to  do  so. 
Some  one  has  told  him  that  Homoeopathy  was  a  humbug; 
that  at  most,  it  was  only  a  system  of  small  doses,  without 
any  reference  to  the  mode  of  selecting  the  remedy,  and  he 
has  neither  the  courage  nor  the  manliness  to  accept  a  fact 
for  what  it  is  worth  and  hence  rejects  it  altogether.  We 
assure  him  that  if  he  would  try  Hahnemann's  method  of 
selecting  the  remedy — prescribing  for  the  totality  of  the 
subjective  and  objective  symptoms  presented  by  the  pa- 
tient, instead  of  the  disease — he  would  obtain  with  the 
third  or  sixth  potency  much  quicker,  better  and  far  more 
satisfactory  results  than  he  does  with  his  crude  doses.  But 
we  cannot  convince  him  until  we  cure  some  patient  which 
he  has  pronounced  incurable.  Then  he  obtains  a  glimpse 
of  the  value  of  law  as  a  guide  in  therapeutics;  but,  loaded 
down  with  pathological  theories  and  palliative  methods  he 
becomes  at  best  but  a  half-hearted  Homoeopath  and  con- 
tinues to  prescribe  for  diseases,  using  low  potencies  and 
small  doses. 

The  quantity  of  medicine,  the  size  of  the  dose  is  still  a 
stumbling  block,  when  in  fact  it  has  little  or  nothing  to 
do  with  it  If  the  proper  remedy  be  selected,  the  smallest 
quantity,  how  small,  we  do  not  know,  will  cure;  on  the 
other  hand,  quantity,  however  great,  cannot  atone  for  im- 
perfect selection.  Neither  ten  drop  doses  of  the  mother 
tincture,  nor  the  thousandth  potency  of  Aconite  will  cure 
a  patient,  if  Aconite  be  not  the  simillimum.  As  serious  a 
blunder  can  be  made  with  one  as  with  the  other. 

Now,  the  error  under  which  Dr.  Dubs  is  laboring  is  a 
very  common  one.  He  assumes  that  Drs.  Skinner  and 
Guernsey  on  the  one  hand  and  Hughes  and  Hempel  on 
the  other,  are  of  the  same  homoeopathic  faith,  being  alike 
followers  of  and  believers  in  Hahnemann  and  selecting 


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Editorial 


373 


the  remedy  in  the  same  maimer,  while  the  real  fact  is  that 
their  methods  are  as  widely  different  as  are  the  poles 
asunder.  Let  us  compare  the  men,  their  methods  and 
their  practice. 


Hering.  Dunham,  Lippe,  Skin- 
ner, Guernsey. 

The  inductive  philosophy  of 
Bacon. 

The  strict  inductive  method 
of  Hahnemann. 

Selecting  the  remedy  from  the 
totality  of  the  symptoms,  sub- 
jective and  objective. 

Individualization. 

The  single  remedy. 

Prescribes  for  the  patient,  ir- 
respective of  name. 

Even  in  incurable  cases  the 
indicated  simillimum  is  the  best 
possible  palliative. 

Homoeopathy  is  good  enough 
for  him.  The  well  selected 
remedy  needs  no  allopathic  ad- 
juvant. 

Believes  similia  to  be  a  uni- 
versal law  of  nature;  if  true  in 
one  case,  true  in  all. 


Hempel,  Hughes,  Hale,  Dake, 
Holcombe. 

The  deductive  philosophy  of 
Aristotle. 

The  misleading  deductive 
method  of  Galen. 

Selecting  the  remedy  from 
the  pathology  of  the  case;  the 
theory  of  the  pathological  ac- 
tion of  the  drug. 

Generalization. 

Alternation  of  remedies. 

Prescribes  for  diphtheria^ 
pneumonia,  ague,  cancer. 

In  incurable  cases  give  mor- 
phine, Dover's  powder,  chloral 
hydrate  as  palliatives. 

Nothing  in  Homoeopathy  to 
prevent  doing  the  best  he  can 
to  relieve  his  patient:  even  the 
best  Allopathy  can  produce. 

Believes  similia  is  not  a  uni- 
versal law,  only  a  therapeutic 
method. 


Dr.  Skinner,  we  venture  to  say,  did  not  look  for  a  symp- 
tom of  apoplexy  when  he  prescribed  for  that  patient  It 
was  the  symptoms  of  the  patient  which  called  for,  and  for 
which  he  prescribed  Lycopodium,  and  this  remedy  would 
have  relieved  the  patient  of  the  train  of  symptoms  he  pre- 
sented if  Lauder  ^rtinton  or  any  other  allopath  had  diag- 
nosed the  disease  dyspepsia.  Dr.  Dunham  relates  a  case 
in  which  Hahnemann  cured  a  patient  of  condylomata  with 
Ohamomilla,  and  the  late  Dr.  Gallupe  cured  a  pneumonia 
with  Podophyllum.  In  both  of  these  cases  the  diagnosis 
has  been  disputed,  but  as  they  prescribed  for  the  symp- 
toms presented  and  cured  the  patients,  that  matters  little. 
Allopathy  always  disputes  the  diagnosis  when  an  incurable 
disease  is  cured;  some  Homoeopaths  are  short-sighted 
enough  to  follow  the  unmanly  example. 


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374  The  Medical  Advance.  Oct. 

The  cm.  potency  may  be  "  irritational  and  absurd,"  but 
the  same  may  be  said  of  the  thirtieth,  the  third  or  even  the 
law  of  cure  itself.  That  we  think  it  "  absurd  or  irrational " 
does  not  justify  us  in  denying  a  cure  or  declining  to  put  a 
therapeutic  fact  to  the  test  at  the  bedside.  Put  the  cm. 
potency  to  the  same  test  as  you  have  the  third  and  thir- 
tieth, as  Dr.  Skinner  did  when  an  Allopath,  and  publish 
the  failures  to  the  world.  Is  it  wise  or  just  or  scientific  to 
deny  a  fact  in  therapeutics,  because  we  have  never  put  it 
to  the  test  and  consequently  know  nothing  about  it. 

It  is  true  that  Hahnemann  did  so  write  to  Schreter,  but 
in  1833  he  used  the  50th,  60th,  150th  and  300th  potencies. 
But  first,  this  is  a  question  of  selection  not  of  potency. 
Potency  is  not  and  should  not  be  the  dividing  line.  The 
members  of  the  I.  H.  A.  did  not  form  an  association  be- 
cause of  the  potency  question,  but  because  they  preferred 
to  adhere  to  the  Homoeopathy  of  Hahnemann,  Hering  and 
Dunham.  So  far  as  they  are  concerned  they  have  done 
and  could  still  do  very  good  work  with  the  30th  centesimal 
of  Hahnemann,  but  neither  members  of  the  I.  H.  A.  nor 
any  one  else  could  successfully  use  the  30th  when  pre- 
scribed on  a  pathological  basis  for  diphtheria,  pneumonia 
or  croup.  The  sooner  this  question  is  thoroughly  under- 
stood the  better  for  the  school  individually  and  collectively. 
There  may  be  some  doubt  about  who  has  "  strayed  from 

the  beaten  path." 

«       *       « 

Cook  County  Hospital,  Chicago.— The  Medical  Rec- 
ord is  again  in  trouble.     In  its  issue  of  Sept.  3,  it  says: 

The  annual  reports  of  the  Cook  Ck)unty  Hospital  reveal  some 
facts  in  which  the  profession  should  feel  some  interest.  On  the 
opening  pages  we  find  a  list  of  the  **  regular  medical  board,"  and 
below  of  the  •*  homoeopathic  medical  board.*'  Such  juxtaposition 
seems  a  little  at  variance  with  conventional  ethics,  but  in  this  we 
may  be  mistaken.     **♦♦**♦ 

The  point  that  is  of  real  importance  is,  that  both  in  its  totals 
and  in  its  medical  and  surgical  departments  the  mortality  of  pa- 
tients treated  by  the  homoeopathic  medical  board  is  less  than  that 
of  the  regular  board.  And  this  is  true  not  for  one  year,  but  ap- 
parently for  a  series  of  years,  ♦  *  *  *  it  is  possible  that  the  cases 
sent  to  the  homoeopathic  side  are  of  the  less  severe  and  acute  char- 


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1887  Editorial  375 

acter.  Unless  some  such  explanation  as  this  exists,  the  reproach 
upon  the  skill  of  the  reg^ular  medical  staff  is  a  severe  one.  Hospi- 
tal statistics  are  extremely  fallacious  things,  to  be  sure,  and  no  in- 
ferences should  be  drawn  from  them  without  careful  examina- 
tion. But  in  the  Cook  County  Hospital  such  examination  seems 
demanded. 

The  mortality  on  the  allopathic  side  of  the  hospital  is 
eight  per  cent  and  only  seven  per  cent,  on  the  homoeo- 
pathic side.  This  is  a  difference  of  one  per  cent  in  favor 
of  Homoeopathy,  a  very  meagre  showing  indeed.  The  in- 
sinuation of  the  Record  that  "  the  homoeopathic  cases  are 
less  severe  and  acute  "  is  unworthy  its  character  for  honest 
dealing,  for  all  cases  are  assigned  by  an  Allopathic  physi- 
cian in  this  proportion:  every  fourth  medical  and  fifth 
surgical  case  entering  the  hospital  go  to  the  homoeopathic 
wards.  But  the  Record  need  not  go  to  Illinois  for  mor- 
tality statistics  of  this  kind.  If  it  will  compare  the  per- 
centages of  Ward's  Island  with  the  other  New  York  hospi- 
tals, or  Middletown  Asylum,  with  the  other  asylums  of  the 
State,  it  will  find  a  much  lower  per  cent,  in  favor  of  Hom- 
oeopathy. The  homoeopathic  staff  in  Cook  County  Hospi- 
tel  can  and  must  do  better  work  in  the  future.  The  use  of 
the  single  remedy  and  less  allopathic  palliatives  will  re- 
duce the  record  wonderfully. 


OUR  EXCHANGES. 


The  Exchange  Editor  has  been  neither  dead  nor  sleeping,  but 
very  busy  in  other  departments  of  the  Advance. 

T?ie  Medical  Visitor  (August)  has  a  readable  paper  by  Dr.  J.  B. 
S.  King  on  "  Bile  and  Blood  in  the  Urine."  But  the  best  effort  of 
this  same  writer  appears  in  the  following: 

A  Recent  Graduate,  who  had  but  recently  ceased  to  manipulate  the  Plow,  was 
basking  In  abundant  Leisure,  when  he  was  accosted  by  a  Lacerated  Uterus. 

"Are  you  a  Doctor?"  asked  the  Uterus. 

"  Yes,"  replied  the  Recent  Graduate,  "  let  me  sew  you  up." 

••Hands  off! "  exclaimed  the  Lacerated  Uterus,  liolding  up  her  Fallopian  Tubes 
In  horror.  **  I  haye  been  sewed  up  too  much  already,  and  what  I  come  here  for  Is 
to  know  why  you  doctors  can't  let  me  alon^.  Once  I  was  young  and  handsome 
(here  the  I/acerated  Uterus  sighed  so  loudly  that  the  Recent  Graduate  murmured 
'  Physometra/)  but  a  long  course  of  Local  Treatment,  injections,  swabbings,  ap- 
plications and  operations  have  left  me  in  this  disfigured  condition.  Why  are  all 
the  ills  of  humanity  heaped  upon  my  neck?  "  continued  the  Uterus,  wiping  her 


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376  The  Medical  Advance.  Oct. 

lips  with  the  fringed  extremity  of  her  left  Fallopian  Tube.  **  Why  am  I  responsi- 
ble for  everything  from  Consumption  to  Corns?" 

At  this  moment  A  Rectum  came  strolling  along,  with  his  hands  In  his  Pockets, 
Just  In  time  to  hear  the  last  remark  of  the  Lacerated  Uterus. 

*'  Rats,  Sister! "  exclaimed  the  Rectum. 

"  Prats,  you  mean/'  said  the  Recent  Graduate,  at  which  the  Rectum  winked, 
but  continued. 

*>  *•  Rats,  Sister!  It  is  I  with  my  little  pockets  that  have  to  bear  evervthlng.  My 
Papillae  are  cut  off  for  Paralysis,  and  my  Pockets  are  cut  out  for  Bolls,  and  my 
Sphinctre  Is  stretched  for  Headaches,  and  I  am  maltreated  In  every  way  for  the 
Ills  of  other  Organs."    Here  the  Rectum  sighed  in  an  audible  manner. 

••Pockets!  Papillie!"  exclaimed  the  Recent  Graduate  in  a  frenzied  tone, 
••  Great  Heavens!  Let  me  cut  them  out." 

**  Not  much,"  said  the  Rectum  as  he  rubbed  one  of  his  piles  in  a  soothing  way. 
"  I  have  seen  too  much  of  it  already.  Only  yesterday  my  brother  arose  from  his 
downy  bed  after  such  an  operation,  very  much  disfigured  but  still  in  the  Ring," 

-  '*  Brother  "  said  the  Lacerated  Uterus,  **  possibly  your  words  are  true,  and  I 
am  going  to  have  a  Protracted  Rest.  But  I  must  be  going;  will  your  Hemorrhoi- 
dal Highness  accompany  me?  " 

•*  Certes,"  said  the  Rectum,  with  a  smile  upon  his  wrinkled  countenance,  and 
together  they  went  out,  leaving  the  Recent  Graduate  searching  his  pockets  with 
an  air  of  anxiety  for  a  nickel  wherewith  to  purchase  Beer. 

"  I  would  I  had  some  Gold,  besides  Aurum  30x."  sighed  he,  as  he  failed  to  find 
the  Elusive  Coin.  Then  falling  into  an  empty  chair  the  Recent  Graduate  assumed 
an  attitude  of  Acute  Despair. 

•  Rev.  David  Wills,  an  eminent  Presbyterian  divine,  of  Philadel- 
phia, in  preaching  on  the  subject  of  divorce,  said: 

I  was  asked  to-night,  how  true  love  could  be  discerned?  I  will  answer  in 
the  words  of  a  great  Greek  philosopher:  First,  by  burning  blushes  when  both 
parties  are  present;  second,  by  the  aching  heart  when  they  are  absent,  followed 
by  Indigestion  and  melancholy;  and  third  and  last,  by  the  cold  sweat.  When  you 
get  the  cold  sweat  It  is  dangerous  to  delay.  It  Is  the  proper  time  to  t>ecome  united 
in  the  bonds  of  matrimony.  If  any  of  my  young  friends  here  to-night  have  the 
cold  sweat,  if  they  will  call  on  me  after  the  services,  I  will  endeavor  to  make  them 
conjugally  happy. 

Burning  cheeks,  aching  heart,  indigestion,  melancholy  and  cold 
sweat.  The  remedy  for  that  is  easy  enough.  Why,  that's  in— let's 
see— Where's  our  Repertory  ? 

While  the  homoBopathic  doctor  pursueth  the  even  tenor  of  his 
way  curing  diphtheria  with  the  indicated  remedies,  **  Sanitas  "  and 
Dr.  Ourtiss  are  having  a  sanguinary  knock-down-and-drag-'ein-out 
in  the  pages  of  our  erring  cousin.  The  Medical  Record,  of  January 
29,  on  the  relative  danger,  as  a  means  of  contagion  carriers,  be- 
tween whiskers  and  coat  tails: 

"  Sanitas  "  pictures  the  method  of  catching  diphtheria,  or  the  contagion,  by 
bringing  the  whiskers,  rather  than  coat-tails,  near  the  patient's  face  when  making 
a  professional  examination ;  and  also  says  most  doctors  expose  their  faces  by  this 
manoeuvre  rather  than  their  coat-tails;  but  some  may  have  idiosyncrasies  which 
may  destroy  his  argument  This  is  really  very  cunning,  but  let  us  see  how  It  will 
work  If  applied  to  other  cases.  Diphtheria  Is  not  the  only  disease,  nor  Is  examin- 
ing a  patient  the  only  method  of  getting  a  load  of  contagion  which  may  be  con- 
veyed by  the  doctor.  I  have  mentioned  that  contagious  material  may  be  deposited 
upon  door-latches,  car-seats,  privy-seats,  church  pews,  drinking  utensils,  cash. 


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1887  Editorial  377 

clothing,  or  most  any  other  substance.  Now,  I  do  not  know  what  are  the  Idiosyn- 
crasies of  some  follcs,  bat  out  West  a  man  is  not  so  Ukely  to  get  contagion  in  his 
whiskers  from  oar-seats,  privy-seats,  etc.,  as  he  is  In  his  coa^tails.  Verily,  if 
**Sauitas  "  cuts  off  his  whiskers  as  a  measure  of  sanitary  engineering,  he  must,  if 
he  carries  out  his  good  intentions,  be  found  standing  on  his  head  in  many  places 
to  save  his  coat-tails. 

"  Danger  in  Toast "  (in  the  same  journal)  is  an  excellent  paper 
by  Dr.  E.  W.  Hedges,  of  N.  J.    We  quote: 

But  the  foes  of  health  are  not  all  included  in  the  various  forms  of  cocci. 
There  are  many  other  causes  of  disease  that  work  with  charming  regularity,  and 
all  the  more  so  because  they  are  entirely  unsuspected.  One  of  these  is  toasted 
bread.  An  innocent  looking  thing,  and  yet.  like  the  Grecian  horse  before  the 
walls  of  Troy,  it  works  sad  havoc  when  once  inside.  It  is  with  some  hesitancy 
that  I  venture  to  say  anything  against  toasted  bread,  for  did  not  our  mothers  and 
our  grandmothers  and  our  great-grandmothers  always  give  it  in  sickness,  and 

does  it  not  even  now  hold  a  sacred  place  in  the  heart  of  every  housewife? 

Mrs.  B ,  a  delightful  lady,  was  taken  very  severely  with  this  trouble  [dysen- 
tery]  A  diet  list  was  carefully  made  out  and  a  special  and  emphatic 

warning  left  against  toast.  But  with  a  perversity  of  appetite  which  others  may 
be  able  to  explain,  toast  was  the  one  and  only  article  of  food  which  she  wanted. 
A  liberal  bill  of  fare  had  no  attractions  for  her;  toast  alone  would  satisfy  her 
craving,  and  toast  she  ate.  (Who  Is  prepared,  in  the  light  of  this  Incident,  to  say 
that  the  story  of  Kve  and  the  apple  [who  said  It  was  an  apple?]  Is  a  myth?)  An 
hour  or  two  after  indulging  she  was  taken  with  violent  pains  (I  refer  to  Mrs  B  — , 
not  Kve)  and  all  her  symptoms  returned  in  an  aggravated  form.  She  was  a  very 
penitent  and  V^uitable  patient  during  the  rest  of  her  illness  and  has  permanently 

abandoned  the  use  of  toast  in  sickness I  have  seen  it  produce  pain  and 

vomiting  in  gastric  catarrh,  in  fibroid  induration  of  the  stomach,  or  whenever 
there  is  inflammation  of  the  mucous  membrane  of  the  gastro-intestinal  tract.  In 
inflammatory  diarrhoeas  of  children  the  anxious  mothers  are  forever  giving  toast 
and  it  in  turn  is  forever  giving  pain  and  more  diarrhoea.  It  would  seem  as  if  the 
gritty  particles  of  charcoal,  insoluble  In  the  Juices  of  the  stomach,  are  shoved  up 
and  down  over  the  irritable  mucous  membrane  like  so  much  powdered  glass,  and 
finding  their  way  into  the  intestine,  scratch  the  inflamed  Peyer's  patches,  or  the 
angry  mucous  membrane,  as  the  case  may  be,  renewing  and  aggravating  inflam- 
matory action. 

* 

The  California  Homoeopath  (Sept.)  presents  its  readers  with  Dr. 
F.  F.  De  Derkey's  excellent  paper  entitled  **Health  and  Education." 
The  author  believes  that 

The  first  and  principal  object  of  an  educational  reform  should  be  to  aim  at  the 
improvement  of  the  animal  body  of  the  human  young,  without  distinction  of 
either  sex,  state  or  condition,  and  this  improvement  Is  best  to  be  accomplished 
by  physical  education  during  the  period  from  birth  to  the  tenth  or  twelfth  year  of 

life Can  physical  education  eradicate  hereditary  taints  and  improve  the 

animal  body? Herbert  Spencer,  the  philosopher in  all  probability 

would  have  died  in  early  childhood,  being  feeble  and  weakly  and  the  only  surviv- 
ing child  of  his  parents.  He  owes  his  preservation  to  the  intelligent  and  especial 
care  of  his  father  and^thanks  to  physical  culture. 

Still  we  are  creditably  informed  that  the  great  author  of  •*  Social 
Statics"  is  an  inordinate  eater  of  peanuts,  so  that  he  has  dys- 
pepsia—to  allay  which  he  takes  a  ramble  in  his  garden,  smoking  a 
cigarette. 

The  venerable  professor  of  Physiology  in  the  St.  Louis  School, 


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878  The  Medical  Advance,  Oct 

Dr.  C.  W.  Spalding,  related  to  his  classes,  two  or  three  years  since, 
his  treatment  and  care  of  a  prematurely  born  child.  By  keeping 
the  child  in  a  dark  room  of  uniform  temperature  he  succeeded  in 
saving  the  child,  who  to-day  is  a  strong  and  hearty  citizen  of  St. 
Louis  and  a  dentist  by  profession. 

Dr.  J.  E.  LilienthaPs  "Adenitis"  bespeaks  him  a  chip  of  the  old 
block.    It  is  well  written  and  its  repertory  prepared  in  an  easy 

get-at-able  way  that  makes  it  attractive. 

* 

The  Hatinemannian  (Sept.)  says: 

A  well-known  eastern  college  of  the  allopathic  persaasion  is  being  mercilessly 
scored  for  graduating  a  "  practitioner,"  after  attending  one  course  of  lectures.  It 
is  hoped  that  our  homoeopathic  schools  are  far  above  such  business. 

"A  consummation  devoutly  to  be  wished  for"  surely.  But 
hadn't  we  better  keep  our  hands  off  the  old  school  colleges  until 
we  are  sure  that  our  own  skirts  are  clear  ? 

What  was  the  meaning  of  that  ripple  on  the  usually  placid 
exterior  of  the  Institute  at  its  last  session  ?  Why  was  Dr.  Brown's 
motion  permittfHl  to  die,  or  become  emasculated,  when  he  charged 
that  one  of  our  colleges  had  graduated  a  student  (without  further 
lectures)  who  had  been  rejected  shortly  before  by  another  school? 
Then.  Bro.  Dudley,  have  you  heard  anything  from  the  Far  West 
recently  ? 

Wonder  if  Dr.  E.  M.  Hale  isn't  mistaken  in  about  nine  out  of 
every  ten  statements  he  made  in  his  paper  on  "  Hydrastis  Cana- 
densis in  Gynecology."  We  have  recently  seen  papers  which 
clearly  establish  this  in  our  mind.  When  the  author  of  New 
Remedies  next  finds  it  incumbent  to  inject  a  lot  of  irrelevant 
drivel— untrue  at  that— into  the  body  of  an  article  with  an  inno- 
cent title,  he  should  be  sure  of  his  data.  And  the  Literary  Editor 
should  be  on  his  guard  against  admitting  such  crass  ignorance. 

« 
The  N.  E.  Medical  Monthly  (June)  presents  a  paper  by  Samuel 
S.  Wallian,  M.  D.,  New  York,  on  "  Medical  Progress,"  which  is  a 
scholarly  production  and  well  presented.    The  following  extract 
is  certainly  graphic: 

And  another  [doctor]  who  has  sufficient  professional  standing  to  be  examiner 
for  pensions  in  his  district,  and  medical  examiner  for  one  of  the  heaviest  life 
insurance  corporations,  doesn't  believe  In  the  stethoscope;  is  afraid  to  use  an 
ansesthetic.  even  when  performing  version,  in  labor;  never  was  guilty  of  owning 
or  using  a  hypodermic  syringe;  has  vaguely  heard  of  but  never  saw  an  aspirator; 
looks  upon  all  electrical  appliances  as  so  much  new-fangled  rubbish;  tests  urine 
by  cooking  it  in  an  iron  spoon  over  the  kitchen  stove;  sneers  at  the  suggestion  of 
antiseptic  precautions,  or  even  common  cleanliness  In  obstetrics  or  surgery;  dis- 
cards the  thermometer  and  microscope  in  medicine  a^  fanciful  but  useless, 
asserting  that  his  eyes,  ears  and  fingers  are  quite  accurate  enough  for  him;  since, 
with  them,  unaided,  he  can  see,  hear  and  feel,  all  that  ought  to  be  seen,  heard  or 
felt,  in  any  case  He  belongs  to  no  medical  society;  but.  as  he  broadly  intimates, 
already  knows  a  great  deal  more  than  he  needs  to  know,  on  all  medical  subjects; 
and  hence  does  not  care  to  read  the  current  medical  Journals,  or  any  medical  vol- 
ume published  within  the  last  decade! 


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1887  Editorial  379 

Have  you  ever  met  this  Sir  Absolute?  The  article  concludes: 
Bat  I  forbear,  while  yet  fully  sympathizing  with  the  ironidil  Quaker  physician, 
who,  in  his  last  illness,  desiring  a  consultation,  sent  for  a  trio  of  celebrities,  in- 
cluding the  eminent  and  eccentric  Abemethy,  Dr.  Blundell,  a  celebrated  man  mid- 
wife, and  another  whose  specialty  was  the  heart  and  lungs.  The  latter,  stetho- 
scope in  hand,  decided  that  cardiac  disease  was  killing  the  patient;  Abernethy 
muttered  something  about  dyspepsia,  while  Blundell  declared  the  poor  (^laker  to 
be  the  victim  of  hynteria.  Of  course  no  patient  could  withstand  such  an  array, 
and  the  autopsy  was  soon  announced  Before  his  demise,  however,  the  Quaker 
insisted  on  arraugiiig  in  his  will  that  when  he  was  flnaily  opened,  his  heart  should 
be  given  to  him  of  the  stethoscope,  his  stomach  to  Abernethy,  and  his  womb,  if  it 
could  be  fomid,  to  Blundell ! 

Dr.  E.  H.  Ellis  (Detroit)  sends  a  hot  broadside  into  the  old 
school  ship  in  a  letter  written  to  the  Evening  News,  He  says  that 
the  sheriff  of  Alpena  county  came  to  Detroit  for  treatment,  hav- 
ing been  shot  through  the  leg,  below  the  knee,  without  injury  to 
bone,  nerve  or  blood-vessel,  of  importance,  yet  the  poor  patient 
dies  after  lingering  five  or  six  weeks: 

The  invariable  and  **  approved  "  treatment  among  allopathic  doctors  for  the 
past  15  years  in  nearly  every  case,  whether  medical  or  surgical,  consists  of  stimu- 
lants and  narcotics.  Stimulants  are  given  on  the  false  theory  that  they  "  tone 
up,"  **  bridge  over  "  and  "  strengthen  "  a  sick  person.  Tliere  never  was  a  greater 
falsehood  invented.  Every  medical  dictionary  defines  them  as  **  excitants  "  and 
**  irritants,"  and  every  sane  man  and  every  fool  (except  a  doctor)  knows  that  the 
more  you  try  to  "  tone  up  "  with  drug  or  alcoholic  stimulants  the  weaker  one  be- 
comes, and  their  long-continued  use  invariaby  ends  in  exhaustion,  if  not  death. 
Nothing  but  pure  water  and  wholesome  food  can  give  strength  to  a  living  organ- 
ism, sick  or  well.  In  disease  medicines  may  correct  the  deranged  action,  when 
nature,  with  suitable  food,  will  do  the  rest. 

When  a  sick  man  is  befuddled  with  quinine  and  whisky,  and  then  to  overcome 
their  "excitement"  and  "irritation,"  he  is  paralyzed  with  morphine,  there  is  a 
small  chance  for  his  life.  If  his  case  was  not  critical  before,  with  these  it  will  soon 
become  so.  Yet  these  three  deadly  poisons  are  the  **  sheet  anchors  "  of  "  regular  " 
medicine  to-day,  as  every  one  knows.  Before  me  is  the  medical  report  of  mortal- 
ity in  the  late  rebellion.  **  Ninety-five  thousand  were  killed  in  battle  or  died  from 
wounds.  Two  hundred  and  nine  thousand  died  of  disease  "  (or  the  doctors).  Under 
the  treatment  of  this  boasted  "  regular  "  system  of  medicine  the  deaths  are  more 
than  twice  as  great  as  that  from  the  cannon's  mouth.  What  assumption  to  call 
this  "  medical  science  "!  It  becomes  all  thoughtful  people  to  ponder  upon  this 
matter  and  join  in  an  application  to  the  next  legislature  for  its  complete  suppres- 
sion. When  this  is  once  accomplished  the  votaries  even  of  this  system  will  rejoice, 
I  am  sure,  with  their  fellow  men  at  its  extinction.  Heaven  speed  the  day!  Give 
us  the  *'  faith  "  or  **  prayer  "  cure,  or  anyihiTiij  humane  in  tlie  place  of  whisky  and 
morphine  poisoners. 

The  Rirista  Omiopatica,  of  Rome,  for  Agosto,  1887,  is  (to  speak 
after  the  manner  of  the  ungenerate)  a  "  chestnut."  Its  **  Somario  " 
is  the  following: 

Altemazione  del  rlniedj,  del  Dott.    P.  P.  Wells. 

Paragmfo  138,  del  Dott    Adolfo  Lippe. 

Note  da  uua  le^lone  estemporanea  sopra  Songia,  del  Professor  Gee. 

Un  breve  studio  dl  Lachesis  e  Sabadttla,  del  Dott.   C.  Carleton  Smith. 

Psorinum:  leflessioni  cllniche  del  Dott.   Adolfo  Lippe. 

CasI  cllnici  del  Prof.  J.  T.  Kent. 


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380  The  Medical  Advance.  Oct 

Un  caso  di  fessura  dell'  ano,  del  DoU.    B.  W.  Benidge. 

Appunti  cllnicl:— l7no  nuovo  sintomo  di  Manganum;—NoU  intonio  aUe  carat- 
terigtirh€;—Una  nota  sopra  Oelsemium. 

There  being  but  three-quarters  of  a  page  left  for  the  remainder 
of  the  journal.  As  each  of  the  articles  in  this  number  is  "lifted** 
out  of  the  Horn,  Physician,  and  in  former  numbers  also  from  the 
Advance,  (due  credit  given)  tlie  queries  naturally  presenting 
themselves  are: 

1.  What  **  a  happy  lot "  must  be  the  Uftj  of  that  editor,  for  he  has  no  worry 
about  *>  copy." 

2.  \Vhat  value  is  the  R.  O.  to  the  American  reader  save  as  a  possible  check  on 
the  translator,  or  as  a  medium  to  polish  up  our  Italian? 

3.  Of  what  material  Is  the  Italian  Homoeopath  made,  who  never  contributes  to 
his  journal,  and  is  satisfied  with  an  entire  numt>er  filled  with  translations? 


NEW  PUBLICATIONS. 


INDEX  CATALOGUE   OF  THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE   SURGEON-GENERALS 
OFFICE.    Vol.  VIII:  Legier-Medlcine  (Naval),  1887. 

This  volume  includes  13,405  author-titles,  representinjr  5,307  vol- 
umes, and  13,205  pamphlets.  It  also  includes  12,642  subject-titles 
of  separate  books  and  pamphlets,  and  24,174  titles  of  articles  in 
periodicals.  To  show  the  importance  attached  to  the  "  Liver  and 
its  Affections "  by  various  medical  authorities,  over  5,000  books, 
pamphlets  or  periodical  articles  are  here  mentioned.  This  one 
subject  shows  the  vast  amount  of  lal)or  expended  on  the  volume 
and  its  value  as  a  work  of  reference. 

TEXT-BOOK  ON  SURGERY:  By  Jno.  A.  Wyeth.  M.  D.    D.  Appleton  &  Co..  N. 
Y.,  1887,  pp.  777. 

It  is  not  often  that  such  a  magnificent  work  as  this  of  Dr. 
Wyeth's  is  presented  to  the  profession.  Text-books  on  surgery  are 
not  few  in  number,  nor  lacking  in  value,  but  it  is  certainly  not 
putting  it  too  strongly  to  state  that  this  is,  beyond  any  question, 
the  best  of  ihem  all,  so  far  as  my  information.  In  the  first  place 
it  is  written  by  a  master,  one  whose  name  is  pleasantly  familiar  to 
all  readers  of  current  surgical  literature.  Next  it  is  fully  up  to  the 
very  latest,  in  science  and  operative  technique.  Lastly,  though 
not  of  least  importance,  there  is  a  happy  absence  of  the  time- 
worn  cuts  and  illustrations,  seen  in  almost  any  surgical  work  we 
may  take  up.  The  illustrations  are  new,  original,  and  of  the  ut- 
most value,  they  are  more  than  mere  embellishments.  For  instance, 
there  are  a  number  of  admirable  illustrations,  from  sections  of 
frozen  subjects,  showing  transverse  sections  of  the  extremities,  in 
which  every  muscle,  nerve,  and  fascia  is  accurately  shown,  the 
vessels,  both  arteries  and  veins,  being  colored,  red  and  blue,  so  that 
they  are  immediately  recognized.    So  with  the  outs  illustrating 


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1887  New  Publicationa.  381 

ligature  of  arteries.  The  vessels  are  colored,  and  mostly  drawn  to 
life  size.  Thus  as  a  practical  book,  one  for  ready  reference  in 
emergencies,  it  is  just  what  the  general  practitioner  wants,  posses- 
sing, as  it  does,  features- not  found  in  any  other  single  work.  But 
its  value  is  not  alone  in  this  direction;  it  is  equally  valuable  to  the 
surgical  specialist.  More  space  is  given  to  bacteriology  than  many 
of  us  think  necessary,  but  there  is  a  vast  amount  of  useful  infor- 
mation beautifully  summarized.  Take  it  all  in  all,  it  is  a  jewel  of 
a  book,  one  that  to  see  is  to  long  for,  and  to  possess  a  constant 
satisfaction.  J.  G.  G. 

A  PRACTICAL  TREATISE  ON  OBSTETRICS.  Obstetric  Operations.  The  Path- 
ology of  the  Puerperium.  By  A.  Charpentler,  M.  D.,  Paris.  Illustrated  with 
lithographic  plates  and  wood  engravings.  Vol.  IV.  Pp.  404,  octavo  This  is 
also  Vol.  IV  of  the  *^  Cyclopedia  of  Obetetrics  and  GynecoloQV."  Translated 
under  the  supervision  of,  with  notes  and  additions,  by  E.  H.  Grandin,  M.D. 
New  York :  WilUam  Wood  &  Company. 

This  is  the  last  volume  of  Charpentier's  great  work  on  Obste- 
trics, and  in  thoroughness,  which  is  a  marked  feature,  equals  any 
of  its  predecessors. 

Part  VII  treats  of  "  Obstetric  Operations  "  and  is  not  only  com- 
plete in  text  but  is  profusely  if  not  well  illustrated,  the  cuts  in 
many  cases  being  inferior  specimens.  The  first  chapter  of  50  pages 
is  devoted  to  version  and  is  followed  by  a  chapter  of  100  pages  on 
the  history  and  use  of  the  forceps  from  Chamberlen's  original  in- 
strument to  Lusk's  modification  of  Tamier's  axis  traction.  It 
cont^ns  the  indications  for  use  and  rules  of  application  in  the 
various  presentations,  each  subject  being  evidently  dealt  with  by 
a  master  of  the  Obstetric  art.  It  is  without  doubt  the  most  com- 
plete treatise  on  the  use  of  the  forceps  to  be  found  in  the  English 
language. 

In  addition  to  the  minute  instructions  for  the  use  of  the  forceps 
the  following  words  of  caution  are  timely  and  valuable.  On  page 
86  he  says:  '*  How  many  labors  would  have  ended  happily,  and  yet 
have  terminated  in  the  death  of  the  mother  and  child,  because  in- 
experienced or  hurried  physicians  have  used  the  forceps  prema- 
turely.** "Hurried  physicians"  should  not  practice  obstetrics. 
And  again,  on  the  lacking  of  the  forceps,  page  98:  £ither  the  head 
is  well  grasped  and  locking  is  easy,  or  else  the  head  is  badly  grasped 
■and  locking  impossible;  and  then  the  rule  should  be  to  begin  over, 
a  hundred  times,  if  need  be,  rather  than  to  use  any  force."  Let  the 
obstetrician  in  a  hurry  to  use  the  forceps,  ponder  this  advice. 

The  Csesarean  section  with  statistics  and  recent  improvements 
is  fully  dealt  with  and  every  subject  or  operation  pertaining  to 
mechanical  or  instrumental  obstetrics  receives  comprehensive 
treatment.  The  concluding  chapters  on  puerperal  fever  gives  the 
pathogeny;  forms  of  the  disease;  pathological  anatomy;  prognosis 
and  treatment.  Of  the  latter  the  author  says:  "Sustain  the  patient 


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382  The  Medical  Advance.  Oct 

by  soups,  beef  extracts,  alcohol;  fight  the  sepsis  by  quinine  and 
phenic  acid  douches.  "We  thus  gain  time,  and  give  nature  a  chance 
to  shake  off  the  putrid  matter,  and  the  patient  a  chance  to  elim- 
inate the  poison.'*  With  this  the  Editor  does  not  agree  and  no 
homoeopathic  physician  need  be  told  that  his  mortality  in  puer- 
peral lever  will  be  so  large  if  he  adhere  to  his  principles  of  prac- 
tice. 

The  complete  work  deserves  warm  commendation,  and  the  gra- 
titude of  the  profession  should  be  given  the  publishers  for  placing 
it  within  easy  reach  of  all.  This  work  alone  is  well  worth  the 
price  ($16.50)  of  the  entire  12  vols,  for  1887. 


AMERICAN  MEDICINAL  PLANTS  illustrated  and  descriptive  Guide  to  the 

American  Plants  used  as  Homoe'  ^atliic  remedies.    By  Charles  F.  Millspaugh, 
M.  D.,  Binghamton,  N.  Y.    Boericke  &  Tafel.  New  York  and  Philadelphia. 

Fascicle  VI,  just  received,  completes  this  gigantic  work  under- 
taken five  years  ago,  and  both  author  and  publisher  are  to  be  con- 
gratulated. Every  promise  has  been  kept,  and  the  entire  work  is 
a  credit  to  American  enterprise.  Some  critics  have  affirmed  that 
the  coloring  of  certain  pi.  its  was  too  brilliant,  others  that  it  was 
not  brilliant  enough;  but  :he  author  states  a  fact  which  perhaps 
they  may  have  overlooks  v  iz  ;  "  that  natural  color  and  texture 
cannot  be  exactly  reprodt  ed,  nor  is  lithography  a  perfect  art." 
The  drawings  are  all  made  o  a  mechanical  scale,  and,  unless  other- 
wise stated,  are  natural  siz<  and  without  any  attempt  at  artistic 
beauty  or  fancy  pleasing  the  author  has  endeavored  to  havQ  the 
coloring  natural,  and  in  this  we  think  he  has  succeeded.  Every 
plant  represented  in  the  work  having  "  been  drawn  and  colored 
by  his  own  hand,  from  the  specimens  as  they  stood  in  the  soil." 

"The  work  contains  180  colored  illustrations, and  complete  text 
of  all  the  proven  plants  Indigenous  and  naturalized  in  the  United 
States;  arranged  generically  according  to  the  numerical  order  of 
the  plates.'* 

In  the  appendix  is  found  a  oarefully  arranged  bibliography,  a 
glossary  of  botanical  terms  and  a  complete  index.  As  nearly  all 
the  plants  here  illustrated  grow  within  the  range  of  the  daily  ride 
of  most  practitioners  outside  the  larger  cities,  few  of  our  physi- 
cians can  afford  to  be  without  this  practical  guide.  It  can  be  made 
to  save  its  cost  every  year,  and  as  a  companion  to  the  Materia 
Medica  it  is  almost  invaluable. 

A  HAND-BOOK  OF  GENEBAX  AND  OPEEATIVK  GYNECOLOGY.  Dr.  A. 
Hegar  and  Dr.  Kaltenbach.  In  two  volumes:  Edited  t>y  Egbert  H.  Grandln, 
M.  D.   Wm.  Wood  &  Co.,  New  York. 

Volume  /.—Gynecological  examinations,  minor  therapeutic 
manipulations  and  elementary  operations.  Operations  on  the 
ovaries.    Pp.  852,  with  129  wood  engravings. 


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\  1887  '  Editor's  Table.  386 

Married.— On  September  7,  1887,  Br.  W.  P.  MacCracken,  of 
Chicago,  and  Miss  M.  E.  Avery,  M.  D.  No  cards.  [But  here's  luck 
all  the  same  j 

Dr.  and  Mrs.  Henry  KNAPP,of  Lathrop.Cal.,  celebrated  their 
golden  wedding  on  June  15th,  at  the  residence  of  their  son-in-law 
and  daughter,  at  Oakland,  Gal. 

Dr.  James  A.  Campbell,  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  has  returned  from  his 
vacation  on  the  sea-board;  and  Dr,  E.  B.  Nash,  Cortland,  N.  Y., 
from  climbing  the  mountains. 

Dr.  Eva  G.  Condon,  a  graduate  of  the  St.  Louis  school,  has  suc- 
ceeded to  the  practice  of  Dr.  B)*\nk  (recently  dead)  with  office  at 
No.  1607  Franklin  Ave.,  St.  Lou^|^',^.  o. 

D.  J.  McGuiRE,  M.  D.,  left  Chicago  September  22,  for  a  sojourn 
in  Southern  California.  We  trust  his  health  may  be  completely 
restored  under  the  climatic  change. 


The  International  Congress,  appears  to  have  been  a  suc- 
cess. We  are  indebted  to  the  journaljstkj  enterprise  of  Wm.  Wood 
&  Co.,  for  a  daily  report  of  the  proce^dj  igs. 

For  Sale.— a  yearly  practice  of  f2,*iF)0  cash,  in  a  town  of  4,000 
population.  Will  be  sold  cheap  to  tlJ^'V{}^ht  man,  with  house  and 
lot  if  desired.    Address  P.  O.  Box  273/lBWl8ton,  N.  Y. 

;« 

Dr.  T.  Griswold  Comstock,  a  prominent  homoeopathic  physi- 
cian of  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  was  invited  to  attend  the  International 
Medical  Congress,  and  availed  himself  of  the  opportunity. 

Removals.— F.  Keller,  M.  D.,  to  Spokane  Falls,  Wash.  T.  Drs. 
Sarah  A.  Colby  and  Esther  W.  Taylor  to  658  Tremont  St.,  Boston. 
A.  Hanlon,  M.  D.,  to  Elk  Rapids,  Mich.  Mrs.  J.  A.  Pickering,  M. 
D.,  to  342  Monroe  Ave.,  Rochester,  N.  Y.  Gilman  R.  Davis,  M.  D., 
to  458  Sixteenth  St.,  Detroit,  Mi(|i.  F.  C.  Stewart,  M.  D.,  to  Peru, 
Ind.  L.  F.  Acres,  M.  D.,  to  Sac  City,  Iowa.  T.  A.  Capen,  M.  D., 
Fall  River,  Mass.  John  T.  Boland,M.  D.,  to  Rosedale,  Kas.  Lewis 
Barnes,  M.  D.,  to  Kipton,  O.  £.  G.  Grahn,  M.  D.,  to  New  Albany, 
Ind. 


Tobacco  Proving.— Out  of  twenty  young  men  who  competed 
for  a  West  Point  cadetship  at  Westfield,  Mass.,  ten  were  rejected 
by  the  physician  because  they  had  "  the  tobacco  heart,"  brought  on 
by  cigarette  smoking.  They  were  unfit  for  West  Point  service.— 
Boston  Traveller.  [For  what  service,  except  that  of  the  tobacco- 
nist, are  they  fit,  as  very  few  could  secure  a  •*  tobacco  heart "  with- 
out first  securing  a  tobacco  brain.  Let  them  be  turned  over  to  the 
service  of  the  bureau  of  provings  of  American  Institute.— £d.] 

Y 


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The  Medical  Advance.  Oct 

For  8ALE.— An  oil  portrait  of  Hahnemann  painted  by  Han- 
ting^on.  The  likeness  was  declared  by  Haynel,  who  for  many 
years  was  a  member  of  Hahnemann's  family,  to  be  a  perfect  one. 
This  is  a  rare  opportunity  for  procuring  an  authentic  picture. 
Address  The  Adyange  for  particulars. 

Errata.— In  the  Materia  Medica  papers  of  Dr.  Wakeman,  page 
8,  (current  volume)  5th  line  from  beginning  of  article  for  fer>er 
read  fear.  Page  151, 14th  line  from  top  for  besides  read  vesicles. 
Page  228, 5th  line  from  top,  for  Tiead  read  hand;  also  on  same 
page,  14th  line  from  bottom,  for  gone  read  gave  way. 

For  Sale.— a  growing  practice  of  03,000  a  year,  in  Marysville, 
Yuba  Co.,  Cal.,  which  is  the  county  seat,  6,000  inhabitants;  10,000 
inhabitants  in  the  radius  of  twelve  miles.  Marysville  is  a  business 
centre  for  four  counties,  situated  in  Sacramento  Valley.  A  great 
fruit  and  grain  growing  country,  all  kinds  of  fruit  and  berries, 
oranges  and  lemons.  A  mild  climate,  flowers  in  blossom  every  day 
in  the  year  in  the  open  air.  Address  H.  C.  F.,  care  Medical  Ad- 
vance.  

PUBLISHER'S  PAGE. 


Sherman's  Triturator  is  covered  by  glass  and  the  mortar 
revolves  instead  of  the  pestles.  It  appears  to  be  an  improvement 
on  the  old  method. 


The  McIntosh  Galvanic  Co.  have  come  out  with  a  small 
dynamo  of  a  half  horse  power  for  medical  and  laboratory  use.  Our 
electricity  specialists  should  investigate  this. 

Drs.  Farnsworth,  Homoeopathic  Pharmacists  of  East  Sagi- 
naw, Mich.,  offer  one  new  complete  set  of  MillspaugKs  American 
Medicinal  Plants  for  sale  for  020,  delivered  free.    Terms  cash. 


The  Provident  Chemical  Works,  St.  Louis,  Mo.:  Grentlemen— 
Your  sample  of  Crystalline  Phosphate  to  hand.  Am  pleased 
with  its  appearance.  Its  compact  form  must  commend  itself  t* 
every  physician.  Shall  be  pleased  to  use  it  where  indicated,  and 
continue  if  equal  to  other  phosphates,  as  it  is  certainly  handier 
and  cleanlier.    Yours  truly,  C.  F.  Wahrer,  M.  D.,  Mt.  Hamill,  la. 


In  the  treatment  of  alcoholism  and  opium  habit  alimentation  is 
highly  important.  The  patient  should  be  encouraged  as  much  as 
possible  to  take  nutritious  and  easily  digested  food.  Oftentimes 
the  physician  finds  that,  owing  to  the  conditions  of  the  system^ 
the  stomach  is  in  a  state  of  excessive  irritation,  and  all  solid  food 
will  be  rejected.  In  such  cases  Lactated  Food  [Wells  &  Richardson 
•Co.]  has  been  found  to  be  a  most  valuable  aid  in  the  treatment. 


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1887  Publisher's  Page.  887 

Its  easily  digestibility  quiets  the  cravings  of  the  disordered  stom- 
ach, and  at  the  same  time  aids  the  worn-out  patient  in  his  efforts 
to  obtain  his  much  needed  rest. 


Dk.  H.  Morse,  of  N.  Y.  City,  author  of  **New  Therapeutic 
Agents,"  says:  **Liebig  Co/s  Coca  Beef  Tonic  is  really  a  wonder- 
ful preparation.  My  success  with  it  has  been  invariable.  As  a 
specialist  in  diseases  of  children  I  can,  as  the  result  of  much  ex- 
perience in  its  use,  justly  say  t^at  it  is  without  equal  for  delicate 
children. 


The  new  Hammond  Type-Writer,  which  has  been  in  our  oflSce 
for  the  past  week,  is  doing  good  work.  To  an  expert  in  the  old 
style  type-writers,  the  freedom  of  the  Hammond  from  the  awk- 
ward and  dirty  necessity  of  cleaning  each  separate  type  with  a 
tooth-brush  and  benzine  commends  itself  at  a  glance.  So  also  the 
perfect  alignment,  a  feature  not  found  in  other  machines  after  a 
few  weeks'  use. 


We  have  bound  volumes  and  single  numbers  of  nearly  every 
Medical  Journal  in  the  country.  These  publications  run  back  as 
far  as  1860.  We  are  closing  them  out  at  60  cents  ectchfor  bound 
volumes  (postage  12  cents)  and  five  cents  for  single  numbers  (pos- 
tage one  cent).  Physicians  will  find  this  a  rare  chance  to  com- 
plete their  libraries.  Also  a  complete  set  of  the  Advance  and 
American  Observer.  Order  at  once.  Dr.  Farnsworth,  East  Sagi- 
naw. 


Mellin's  Food  still  holds  its  high  rank  as  a  prepared  food  for 
infants,  invalids  and  infirm.  It  is  a  valuable  reconstructive,  and 
from  personal  experience  and  daily  use  we  know  its  value  as  an 
infant  nutrient  to  be  really  almost  without  an  equal.  It  has  many 
rivals,  but  its  peculiar  merit  is  recognized  by  every  physician  even 
though  he  may,  from  habit  or  other  influence,  recommend  other 
preparations. 

The  Hydroleine  of  C.  M.  Crittenton  (N.  Y.)  is  very  popular 
among  the  profession  for  consumption  and  wasting  diseases.  It 
possesses  the  merit  of  producing  immediate  increase  in  flesh  and 
weight.  Hydroleine  is  not  a  simple  alkaline  emulsion  of  oleum 
morrhua,  but  a  hydro-pancreated  preparation,  containing  acids 
and  a  modicum  of  soda.  A  sample  of  this  preparation  will  be  sent 
free  upon  application,  to  any  physician  (enclosing  business  card) 
in  the  United  States. 


Physicians  who  look  carefully  after  the  comfort  and  hygienic 
conditions  of  their  families  will  be  interested  in  a  new  article  of 
ladies'  wear,  just  out.  The  Automatic  Supporter  Bustle  Co. 
<Chicago)  has  patented  a  Stocking  Supporter  that  does  not  drag 


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388  .  The  Medical  Advance.  Oct 

down,  but,  combined  with  Skirt  Supporter  (which  is  also  a  modest 
bustle),  supports  the  skirts,  holding  them  out  from  the  back  when 
the  wearer  stands,  allowing  them  to  fall  when  sitting,  so  that  she 
can  sit  at  ease  directly  against  the  back  of  her  chair.  Testimo- 
nials from  eminent  Chicago  physicians— both  sexes  appear  in  the 
descriptive  circular. 


Unlike  nearly  all  other  forms  of  phosphorus  in  combination, 
such  as  dilute  phosphoric  acid,  glacial  phosphoric  acid,  neutral 
phosphate  of  lime,  hypo-phosphites,  etc.,  Horsford's  Acid  Phos- 
phate is  readily  assimilable  by  the  system,  and  not  only  causes  no 
trouble  with  the  digestive  organs,  but  promotes  in  a  marked  degree 
their  healthful  action.  In  fact,  it  acts  as  a  specific  in  certain 
forms  of  dyspepisa.  It  makes  a  refreshing  and  nutritious  drink  in 
fevers,  and  with  water  and  sugar  a  delicious  beverage. 


We  have  received  copy  of  a  letter  written  by  H.  E.  Stockbridge, 
Ph.  D.,  Professor  of  Chemistry  (Imperial  College  of  Agriculture, 
Sappora,  Japan),  and  Consulting  Chemist  to  the  Imperial  Japanese 
Government,  speaking  in  terms  of  highest  commendation  of  Cam- 
rick's  Soluble  Food,  which  the  learned  gentleman  had  successfully 
used  with  his  own  child.  The  purpose  of  the  letter  is  to  show; 
First,  that  Carn rick's  Soluble  Food  is  superior  to  human  milk  in 
cases  where  the  milk  does  not  contain  the  proper  relative  propor- 
tion of  constituents;  and,  secondly,  it  agrees  with  children  from 
birth. 


The  Nursery  Lamp  Clock  (W.  C.  Vosburgh  Mnfg.  ('o.,  Brook- 
lyn and  Chicago)  combines  in  itself  a  day  clock,  a  night  clock,  a 
medicine  clock,  and  a  night  light.  The  base  of  the  lamp,  in  eight- 
sided  nickel  case— that  which  usually  holds  the  oil— in  this  instance 
contains  the  movement  of  the  clock.  This  movement  revolves  an 
opaque  glass  globe  having  the  hours,  halves  and  quarters  deeply 
inlaid  in  black.  A  stationary  hand  extends  from  one  side  of  the 
base  to  the  row  of  figures,  so  that  as  the  globe  revolves  the  time 
will  be  indicated  by  the  pointer.  The  second  pointer  revolves 
with  the  globe  and  is  adjustable;  therefore,  by  placing  it  at  the 
proper  interval  in  advance  of  the  other,  it  is  made  to  indicate  cor- 
rectly the  time  for  the  next  dose,  or  for  an  appointment,  etc.  At 
night  the  globe  is  illuminated  by  a  lamp  or  taper  placed  inside,  by 
which  the  figures  and  pointers  are  plainly  visible,  and  which  also, 
provides  a  mellow  and  sufllcient  light  in  the  room.  A  moment's 
inspection  will  commend  this  as  a  valuable  device  in  the  sick  room, 
the  nursery,  academies,  convents,  hospitals,  and  asylums.  It  is  a 
good  time  keeper,  and  is  not  liable  to  get  out  of  order,  and  can  be 
carried  as  a  lamp  about  the  house.  Its  price,  92  75,  puts  it  in  the 
reach  of  every  one. 


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A^f  ADVOCATE  OF 

HOMCEOPATHIC  MEDICINE. 

H.  O.  ALI«EN.  M.  D..  Editor  and  PablUher. 


The  Editor  is  not  responsible  for  tbe  opinions  of  contributors.  Personalities, 
being  roreign  to  scientlflc  discussion,  must  be  excluded. 

To  accommodate  both  reader  and  publisher  this  Journal  will  be  sent  until 
arrears  are  paid  and  It  is  ordered  discontinued. 

The  date  to  which  subscriptions  are  paid  will  be  found  on  the  address. 


Vol.  XIX.  Ann  Arbor,  Michigan,  November,  1887.         No. 


xr 


CLINICAL  MEDICINE. 


AN  ALOE  CONSTIPATION—"  PERSPIRATION  SMELLING 
LIKE  URINE."* 


clarence  WILLARD  butler,  M.  D..  Montclair.  N.  J. 


Case  I. — Aloe. — In  January,  1885,  Mrs.  G ,  a  branette 

26  years  of  age,  of  plump  figure,  firm  muscular  fibre  and 
nerro-bilious  temperament,  consulted  me  for  constipation 
of  many  years  standing.  She  received  Sulphur  without 
benefit 

February  1,  I  gav^  her  Bryonia — also  without  benefit 
Dissatisfied  with  not  having  been  helped  she  discontinued 
treatment,  saying  that  she  never  had  received  more  than 
temporary  relief  from  any  medicine  and  was  disgusted 
with  drugs  and  with  doctors. 

In  October,  however,  she  came  to  me  again,  as  the  con- 
stipated condition  was  worse  than  ever  and  "  something 
must  be  done.*'  At  this  time  she  presented  the  following 
conditions. 


•Read  before  the  N.  J.  Horn.  Med.  See.  in  Biay.  1886. 


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390  The  Medical  Advance.  Oct. 

Her  general  health  was  excellent  Careful  enquiry 
failed  to  find  any  aches,  pains,  or  abnormalities,  except 
those  about  to  be  recorded.  Her  bowels  moved  once  in 
four  or  five  days,  usually  without  cathartics  or  enemata;  if, 
however,  there  was  no  disposition  for  stool  after  this  length 
of  time  she  would  take  licorice  powder, — but  this  was 
seldom  resorted  to.  For  two  or  three  days  preceding  the 
movement  of  the  bowels  she  had  a  feeling  of  heaviness 
through  all  the  pelvic  region  ^'  as  if  the  lower  part  of  the 
abdomen  were  made  of  lead ''  which  sensation  was  relieved 
by  an  evacuation  of  the  bowels  just  in  proportion  to  its 
completeness.  The  stool  itself  was  natural  in  color,  large, 
hard  and  dry.  On  account  of  its  size  it  was  voided  only  by 
great  exertion  and  even  the  most  persistent  straining  was 
not  always  effectual  until  after  repeated  attempts.  There 
was  no  actual  pain  with  the  stool,  but  after  it  she  had  a 
sense  of  great  soreness  about  the  anus,  well  up  within  the 
rectum,  and  especially,  in  the  perineum :  so  severe  was  it 
that  the  ordinary  means  of  cleansing  were  too  painful  and 
she  was  obliged  to  use  a  soft  sponge  and  water  for  this 
purpose.  This  soreness  continued  for  several  hours  after 
an  evacuation. 

The  heaviness  in  the  pelvic  region  and  the  great  sore- 
ness after  stool  called  my  attention  to  Aloe  and  although 
this  drug  produces  looseness  of  the  bowels  as  its  most 
usual  effect,  and  in  the  few  cases  of  retarded  action  of  the 
bowels  recorded  under  it  in  Allen's  Cyclopedia,  the  char- 
acter of  the  foecal  accumulation  is  not  given,  it  more  nearly 
covered  the  totality  of  the  symptoms  than  any  remedy  that 
I  knew.  I  gave  it  in  a  Fincke  potency  (the  45m  graft)  a 
dose  in  water,  each  night  until  the  bowels  moved— then  to 
report  for  further  advice. 

On  the  second  morning  (y.  e.,  after  the  second  dose)  she 
reported  that  the  bowels  had  moved  and  more  freely  and 
naturally  than  for  months;  that  meantime  the  heaviness  in 
the  abdomen,  and  the  soreness  after  stool  were  very  much 
better  although  not  well. 

The  medicine  was  now  discontinued  and  she  was  directed 
to  report  again  when  her  constipation  returned.     Up  to 


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1887  An  Aloe  ConsHpation.  391 

this  time,  now  more  than  six  months,  she  has  required  no 
more  medicine  for  this  condition,  her  bowels  continuing  to 
move  naturally  and  regularly. 

Case  II. — Nitric  acid. — While  calling  upon  Mrs.  O ^ 

one  day  in  the  summer  of  1878,  I  was  made  aware  of  an 
abominable  urinous  odor  which  permeated  the  whole  house. 
Although  the  windows  and  doors  were  open,  the  odor  was 
so  strong  as  to  be  almost  unbearable.  Supposing  that  the 
closet  in  the  bath-room  was  out  of  order  I  called  the  atten- 
tion of  my  patient  to  the  necessity  for  its  immediate  repair 
when,  judge  of  my  surprise  she  assured  me  that  this 
horrible  odor  came  from  the  person  of  a  servant  who  was 
engaged  in  some  domestic  duties  in  an  adjoining  chamber! 
At  the  same  time  I  was  asked  if  anything  could  be  done  to 
relieve  this  condition,  for  Annie,  (that  was  her  name)  was 
that  rara  avis  a  faithful,  honest  and  capable  domestic.  I 
agreed  to  try,  so  Annie  was  sent  for.  She  was  a  fat,  large 
woman,  of  dark  and  sallow  complexion.  She  had  had  this 
trouble  for  about  ten  years  she  thought.  Aside  from  this 
fact  I  could  elicit  nothing  which  was  of  importance.  She 
was  strong  and  healthy  in  every  way.  Every  function  was 
performed  regularly  and  normally.  From  Mrs.  O.  I  learned 
that  this  odor  was  in  some  measure  noticeable  at  all  times, 
but  had  irregular  exacerbations  at  intervals  ranging  from 
a  few  days  to  several  weeks.  It  was  invariably  worse  when 
she  was  working  hard.  That  was  all  I  could  learn,  except 
that  Mrs.  O.  vouched  for  her  cleanliness.  I  spent  some 
time  searching  for  a  remedy  and  finally  on  Boenninghaus- 
en's  indication:  "  Perspiration  smelling  like  urine  "  I  gave 
her  Nitric  acid  200,  a  dose  night  and  morning.  This  she 
took  about  two  weeks  when,  the  reports  being  favorable, 
the  medicine  was  discontinued.  For  a  period  of  about 
three  months  she  seemed  almost  well  and  then  it  returned 
with  its  old  time  severity.  She  now  received  Nitric  acid 
10m.  one  dose.  Within  a  week  the  odor  entirely  disap- 
peared and  up  to  this  time  it  has  never  returned.  I  know 
what  cured  her!  I'd  give  a  groat  to  know  what  was  the 
cause  of  her  trouble.  How  much  easier  it  would  have 
been  (and  more  scientific)  to  have  removed  the  cause,  than 
to  have  hunted  up  the  remedy! 


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392  ITie  Medical  Advance,  Oct 

CANCER  OF  THE  TONGUE. 


From  Petroz'  (Collected  Writings. 


J.  D.  TYRRELL,  M.  D..  Toronto.  Onl. 


"  In  1829  a  woman,  living  in  the  Hue  St  Nicolas,  came  to 
ask  my  advice  as  to  a  disease  of  her  tongue.  Had  been 
under  care  of  Dr.  L'Herminier.  The  organ  was  profoundly 
altered  by  an  ulcer,  which  appeared  to  me  to  be  cancerous 
— right  side;  the  edges,  especially  posteriorly,  were  in- 
duraied,  raised  and  knotty;  speech  difficult,  indistinct  and 
accompanied  with  much  pain.  Distrusting  my  own  diag- 
nosis, I  sent  her  to  Prof.  Marjolin.  She  returned  with  the 
following  judgment:  *  Cancerous  ulcer.  No  chance  of 
cure  save  from  operation;  and  this  is  impossible  as  base  of 
the  tongue  is  involved.'  In  the  presence  of  so  grave  a  dis- 
ease I  turned  my  thoughts  to  diminish  her  suflFerings,  and 
prescribed  the  one-hundredth  of  a  grain  of  Hydrocyanate 
ofpotassa,  to  be  repeated  every  fourth  day. 

"Saw  her  in  fifteen  days,  suffered  less;  tongue  less 
hard;  speech  easier.     Medicine  continued. 

"  Fifteen  days  later,  the  patient,  whose  countenance  had 
lost  its  gray  hue  and  drawn  features,  said,  with  joy,  *  I 
begin  to  be  able  to  eat  a  crumb  of  bread.'  Medicine  con- 
tinued a  month  longer,  when  the  cure  was  complete.  .Over 
eighteen  years  have  elapsed  and  no  return  of  the  difficulty.** 


CASES  CURED. 


E.  B.  GROSVENOR.  M.  D.,  Richmond,  Ind. 


Case  I. — Mr.  B.  came  to  me  for  the  removal  of  a  tumor 
located  at  the  right  angle  of  the  nose,  just  over  the  sym- 
phisis of  the  frontal  and  nasal  bones.  The  tumor  was 
about  the  size  of  a  robbin's  egg,  cystic,  slightly  movable, 
not  painful,  unless  hit,  but  was  very  disfiguring.  Had 
been  there  ever  since  he  was  bom.  Placed  him  in  the 
chair,  introduced  the  needle  of  my  hypodermic  syringe  and 
drew  the  piston  up  in  order,  if  possible,  to  evacuate  the 


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1887  KaliBich.:  A  Verifimiion,  393 

tamor.  Failure.  I  {hen  punctured  it  with  a  sewing  needle 
and  by  pressure  a  yellowish  liquid  was  expelled.  This 
was  repeated  at  three  sittings,  when  I  applied  adhesive 
plaster  firmly  over  the  parts  to  prevent  any  refilling  of  the 
sack.  Patient  no  longer  overbalanced  as  to  his  physiog-. 
nomy. 

Case  II. — Young  man  had  impure  connection  three  days 
since.  Felt  slight  burning  at  orifice  of  urethra  that  morn- 
ing. Had  to  urinate  oftener  than  usual,  which  burned 
slightly.  Gave  Cann.  Ix  every  hour,  and  continued  it  for 
three  days.  Some  tenesmus  of  bladder  caused  me  to 
change  for  Canth.  2x;  continued  for  several  days,  when  all 
inflammatory  symptoms  had  subsided.  A  slight  milky 
discharge  was  still  left,  which  promptly  yielded  to  Merc 
sol.  6x.  No  gleet,  no  stricture,  no  after  symptoms  what- 
ever, and  no  injections  used  to  accomplish  it 

Case  III. — Mr.  D.,  indolent  ulcer  on  outer  lower  por- 
tion of  right  leg.  Been  there  three  months.  Strapped  the 
ulcer  with  adhesive  plaster  both  horizontally  and  vertically 
to  support  and  furnish  it  rest  On  account  of  peculiar 
nightly  burning  in  the  ulcer  I  gave  Ars.  2x,  internally  and 
applied  a  dry  dressing  of  the  same.  Three  weeks  of  such 
treatment  entirely  healed  the  ulcer. 


KALI  BICH.:  A  VERIFICATION. 


>k  \V.  (ni  VMPLIN»  M.  D..  (  helsea,  Mich. 


May  10,  1887,  Mrs.  B.,  aged  over  seventy,  sent  for  medi- 
cine for  chronic  rheumatism.  She  was  restless  and  sleep- 
less at  night  Further  than  this  no  characteristic  symptom 
on  which  to  base  a  prescription  could  be  obtained.  Al- 
though the  peculiar  aggravations  and  (imeliorations  of 
Rhus  could  not  be  elicited  by  leading  questions,  yet  on 
account  of.the  brilliant  results  so  often  obtained  from  that 
remedy  in  chronic  rheumatism,  Bhus  30  was  prescribed. 

May  17  Mra  B.  reported  by  her  daughter  that  she  was 
able  to  sleep  better  at  night,  that  some  days  the  pains 
were  less,  but  that  improvement  was  not  very  marked. 


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394  The  Medical  Advance.  .  Oct. 

The  messenger,  evidently  being  better  prepared  to  answer 
questions,  we  learned:  (1)  the  pains  changed  rapidly 
from  one  place  to  another;  and  (2)  that  they  occupied 
small  spots  that  coald  be  covered  with  the  point  of  the 
finger.  These  two  symptoms  taken  together  point  unmis- 
takably to  Kali  bich.  Kali  bich.  30  was  accordingly  admin- 
istered and  followed  by  a  rapid  cure.  We  are  informed  at 
this  writing  that  the  patient  has  not  felt  a  rheumatic  symp- 
tom since  taking  the  medicine. 

In  looking  over  back  volumes  of  the  Advance  and  other 
literature  of  our  school,  we  find  but  very  few  verifications 
of  the  symptoms  of  Kali  bich.  In  catarrhs  and  diphtheria 
it  seems  to  be  a  routine  remedy  with  many.  It  is  rarely 
mentioned  in  connection  with  any  other  disease.  The 
pathogenesis  of  this  drug  is  a  rich  one.  There  are  char- 
^acteristic  symptoms  under  nearly  every  rubric.  With  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  these  peculiar  characteristics  one 
can  scarcely  fail,  and  the  therapeutic  range  of  the  remedy 
will  be  found  broad. 

nm    

THUJA  FOR  F1GWART8. 


HOWARD  CRUTCHER,  M.  D  .  r»ul»vllle.  Ky. 


Mr.  Blank,  aged  twenty,  of  strong  constitution  and  good 
health.  Contracted  gonorrhoea  about  three  years  ago.  The 
disease  continued  to  grow  in  severity  of  symptoms,  not- 
withstanding the  fact  that  he  was  continuously  under  an 
average  country  Allopath's  kind  supervision,  until  some 
six  months  ago,  when  it  seemed  to  disappear.  Thinking 
himself  well  again,  and  wishing  doubtless  to  celebrate  his 
cure,  he  exposed  himself  a  second  time  with  the  result  of 
contracting  the  trouble  once  more.  Very  soon  a  stricture 
was  diagnosticated,  and  shortly  thereafter  a  fine  crop  of 
figwarts  made  their  un welcomed  appearance. 

In  this  condition  he  consulted  a  homoeopathic  practi- 
tioner of  very  high  repute,  who,  to  his  great  surprise,  did 
him  no  good.  Chromic  acid  and  other  noxious  prepara- 
tions were  applied  locally,  time  and  time  again,  without  the 
slightest  improvement  following  their  use.     In  truth,  the 


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1887  Thuja  for  Figwarts.  396 

chromic  acid  was  already  causing  some  superficial  slough- 
ing when  the  case  accidently  fell  into  my  hands. 

A  new  crop  of  warts  was .  fast  coming  on  in  the  place  of 
those  last  removed  by  the  action  of  the  acid.  Passing 
sounds  readily  reduced  the  stricture,  and  I  turned  to  the 
Homoeopathic  Materia  Medica  to  find  a  remedy  to  cure  the 
warts. 

After  a  careful  and  thoughtful  study  of  the  whole  case, 
I  gave  him  Thuja  30  in  infrequent  doses.  Within  three 
days  a  marked  improvement  was  manifest,  and  in  in  three 
weeks  he  was  perfectly  and  entirely  well,  not  a  trace  of  the 
warts  remaining.  I  have  no  apologies  to  offer  for  using 
tliis  remedy  in  the  thirtieth  dilution;  the  critic  who  sneers 
at  its  action  in  this  case  and  expresses  a  doubt  as  to  its 
efficacy,  simply  knows  too  little  about  the  case  to  argue  it 
with  me. 

That  patient  is  grateful  beyond  expression,  and  says 
there  is  no  trace  of  doubt  in  his  mind  that  Thuja  has  cured 
him. 


Since  writing  the  above  my  former  associate,  Charles 
M.  Koier,  M.  D.,  has  told  me  of  a  peculiar  case  recently 
coming  under  his  care.  An  infant  ten  months  old  was 
brought  in  by  its  parents,  who  protested  that  there  was 
absolutely  no  veneral  history  in  their  families.  The  child's 
perinaeum  was,  however,  covered  with  about  sixty  well- 
formed  figwarts.  Dr.  Koier  made  a  very  rigid  examina- 
tion of  each  parent  and  failed  to  find  any  taint  of  venereal 
disease  in  either.  He  concluded,  therefore,  that  the  child 
contracted  the  disease,  from  which  the  warts  had  sprung, 
by  being  kissed.  It  is  altogether  likely,  indeed,  that  some 
ardent  biit  diseased  admirer  of  the  little  one  had  given  this 
child  something  through  the  medium  of  a  kindly  meant, 
but  none  the  less  dangerous,  kiss. 

I  merely  make  mention  of  this  case  to  show  how  careful 
we  all  must  ever  be  not  to  do  any  innocent  person  an  in-« 
justice.  If  that  child  contracted  a  venereal  disease  by 
the  method  suspected  by  Dr.  Koier,  it  would  be  cruel  to 
lay  its  sufferings  at  the  door  of  its  parents,  who,  so  far  as 
human  ability  can  judge,  are  entirely  innocent. 


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396  The  Medical  Advance.  Oct 

HEADACHE:  VERATRUM  ALBUM. 


F.  E.  WATTS.  M.  D.,  Port  Allegbeny.  Pa. 


Mrs.  0 .  Has  been  subject  to  a  severe  nervous  head- 
ache for  years.  Any  over-exertion,  as  riding  or  working 
during  the  hot  days,  would  bring  on  these  headaches.  Fre- 
quently commencing  in  back  of  head  the  pain  would  go 
over  the  head  and  settle  in,  sometimes  one  eye,  sometimes 
the  other.  Silicea,  Spigelia  and  several  other  remedies 
given  with  no  relief.  One  day  noticed  the  brow  contracted 
and  eye-lids  nearly  closed  on  account  of  intensity  of  the 
pain.  This  had  been  a  continuous  symptom  from  the  be- 
ginning, and  Yeratrum  album  relieved  the  headache  at 
once. 

UREMIA.* 


DB  p.  JOUSSET. 


We  will  at  this  time  take  up  a  subject,  which,  though 
very  difficult,  is  nevertheless  essentially  clinical — UrcBmia. 
It  is  an  affection  frequently  met  with,  grave  and  insidious 
and  which  may  kill  the  patient  in  a  few  hours;  it  is  there- 
fore very  important  to  be  able  to  give  this  affection  an 
early  recognition.  In  the  beginning  of  puerperal  or  scar- 
latinal eclampsia  or  in  a  patient  who  is  coming  down  with 
scarlatina  it  is  easily  recognized;  but  there  are  many  ob- 
scure cases  which  now  and  then  will  deceive  the  physician. 

For  example:  You  are  called  in  the  night  to  a  patient 
taken  with  suffocation.  You  are  told  he  has  had  one  or 
two  similar  attacks  on  previous  nights.  You  think  it  an 
asthmatic  attack — the  patient  furthermore  having  all  its 
appearances — a  false  security  which  is  terminated  by  a 
fatal  denouement 

Another  time  it  is  a  patient  who  is  in  a  comatose  state 
with  or  without  convulsions.  You  will  wonder  if  it  be  an 
apoplectic  attack,  a  cerebral  haemorrhage  or  an  epilepsy. 


•  Translated  Xrom  L'Art  Medical  by  H.  P.  Holmes.  M.  D..  Sycamore,  111. 


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1887  Urcemia.  397 

Or,  again,  it  is  a  patient  who  has  delirium  or  hallucina- 
tions. Patients  presenting  this  form  have  been  sent  to  the 
asylums;  they  were  all  simply  cases  of  nephritic  uraemia. 
You  see  in  such  cases  the  importance  of  the  diagnosis. 

UrsBmia  is  not  a  disease,  but  a  symptom  of  a  disease.  It 
is  an  affection  caused  by  the  insufficiency  of  the  urinary 
secretion.  The  blood  becomes  urinous.  I  will  not  say  that 
it  contains  carbonate  of  ammonia  or  any  other  product, 
leaving  that  for  the  time  with  the  many  theories  advanced. 
The  organism  is  freed  by  the  kidneys  of  many  excrementi- 
tous  products;  if,  then,  this  elimination  is  hindered  or  be- 
comes impossible  either  by  a  renal  lesion  or  on  account  of 
any  obstruction  to  the  excretion  of  the  urine  it  results  in  a 
special  morbid  condition — a  veritable  poisoning  designated 
by  the  name  of  urcemia.  That  absence  of  the  elimination 
of  the  excrementitious  products,  whether  it  results  from 
an  alteration  of  the  kidney  which,  as  an  organ,  has  lost  its 
secreting  properties  on  account  of  Bright's  disease,  cancer, 
hydatids  or  suppurative  nephritis;  or  whether  it  results 
from  an  obstacle  to  the  elimination  on  account  of  a  cal- . 
cuius  lodged  in  the  ureters  or  bladder;  or  by  compression 
exercised  upon  these  organs  by  a  tumor,  the  effects  pro- 
duced are  the  same. 

It  is  the  custom  since  Freirichs  to  describe  uraemia  as  a 
slow  uraemia  and  a  rapid  uraemia;  I  will  not  adopt  that 
division.  They  have  also  considered  it  possible  to  localize 
some  of  the  forms  of  uraemia  in  a  special  department  of  the 
nervous  centers;  the  convulsive  form  is  traced  to  anaemia 
of  the  middle  lobe;  the  comatose  form  to  cerebral  anaemia, 
etc.     We  will  return  to  that  question. 

Uraemia  presents  itself  in  five  forms: 

1st.  Eclampsia  or  convulsive; 

2nd.  Comatose; 

3rd.  Delirious; 

4th.  Dyspnoetic; 

5th.  Gastro-intestinal. 

Most  authors  describe  only  those  forms  and  group  the 
first  th^.'O  varieties  under  the  name  of  cerebral,  I  prefer 
the  first  division  on  account  of  the  strong  characters  which 


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398  The  Medical  Advance,  Oct. 

those  three  forms  present,  and  in  describing  them  to  you 
I  will  tell  you  to  what  lesion  they  pay  be  ascribed. 

All  of  these  forms  have  common  characters  which  we 
will  take  np  in  review.  The  poverty  of  the  urine  which  is 
a  common  sign;  for  verifying  this  we  take  the  specific 
gravity  and  this  is  ordinarily  found  light,  frequently  below 
1010.  The  presence  of  albumen  in  the  urine  is  regarded 
as  a  constant  symptom,  but  that  is  not  always  true;  there 
are  cases  where  no  albumen  is  found.  The  diminution  of 
the  quantity  of  urine  is  also  a  sign  not  always  constant; 
also  do  not  allow  yourselves  to  be  deceived  by  the  absence 
of  albumen  or  by  polyuria;  the  patient  may  urinate  abund- 
antly, but  the  urine  he  passes  is  only  water.  Another 
character  is  the  diminution  of  the  toxical  condition  of  the 
urine.  You  know  the  experiments  made  upon  rabbits; 
when  a  certain  quantity  of  normal  urine  is  injected  into 
the  veins  of  an  animal  it  produces  uraemia,  accidents  which 
do  not  happen  where  the  same  quantity  of  urine  is  injected 
from  a  ursBmic  patient.  This  is  a  good  experimental  sign, 
but  one  cannot  always  employ  this  means  in  practice.  An- 
other character  is  the  presence  of  urea  or  especially  the 
carbonate  of  ammonia  in  the  exhalations  of  the  patient 
In  placing  a  small  rod  dipped  in  hydrochloric  acid  before 
the  mouth  of  the  patient,  crystals  of  acetate  of  ammonia 
will  be  deposited.  There  is  also  a  lowering  of  the  tem- 
perature excepting  in  the  form  of  eclampsia;  the  fingers  have 
a  death-like  appearance  and  there  is  paralysis  of  the  extrem- 
ities.  Usually  the  pupils  are  contracted,  but  not  in  all  forms. 

The  eclampsia  or  convulsive  form  may  be  complete  or 
incomplete.  When  complete  it  is  a  convulsive  attack 
almost  identical  to  an  epileptic  attack,  with  distor- 
tion of  tho  features,  frothing  at  the  mouth,  both  tonic 
and  clonic  convulsions  and  a  period  of  collapse;  but  there 
is  not  the  initial  cry.  In  the  interval  between  the  attacks 
there  is  at  first  a  complete  return  of  consciousness;  an 
elevation  of  the  temperature  is  observed;  the  pupils  are 
contracted  during  the  attack  and  dilated  during  the  inter- 
vi\l;  then  follows  the  coma  with  loss  of  reflex  excitability, 
amblyopia,  temporary  blindness,  etc. 


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1887  UrcBmia.  399 

My  teacher,  Jean-Paul  Tessier,  who  has  succumbed  to 
uraBinic  attacks  following  diabetes,  described  his  experi- 
ences to  us  on  his  death -bed:  "  I  see  you,  I  converse  with 
you,"  said  he,  "  all  at  once  I  see  red,  I  lose  consciousness 
and  the  convulsions  commence,"  etc. 

In  the  incomplete  form  there  are  convulsions,  contrac- 
tures, tetanic  form  ( Jaccoud).  The  convulsive  form  is  met 
with  in  catarrhal  and  parenchymatous  nephritis,  in  the 
epithelial  nephritis,  (Lancereaux),  in  the  nephritis  called 
infectious,  following  variola  and  scarlatina,  in  the  puer- 
peral state,  etc.  In  this  form  there  is  an  elevation  of  the 
temperature. 

The  comatose  form  should  not  be  confounded  with  the 
periods  of  coma  which  follow  the  attacks  of  convulsions  in 
the  eclamptic  form.  The  patient  is  apathetic,  in  a  torpor, 
a  somnolency  from  which  one  rouses  him  with  difficulty 
and  which  borders  upon  coma;  the  patient  replies  in  mut- 
terings  when  spoken  to.  There  is  no  paralysis  and  the 
physiognomy  simulates  ecstacy;  the  patients  have  a  sort 
of  solemn  air.  This  form  is  sometimes  accompanied  by  a 
mild,  tranquil  delirium;  the  pupils  are  contracted  and  we 
find  a  lowering  of  the  temperature.  I  said  there  was  no 
paralysis,  but  some  cases,  however,  have  been  observed 
which  presented  localized  paralysis,  or  monoplegias.  The 
<K)matose  form  is  ordinarily  observed  in  advanced  cases  of 
parenchymatous  nephritis. 

The  delirious  form  comprises  two  varieties,  the  pure  de- 
lirious form  with  or  without  coma  and  the  form  of  mental 
alienation.  In  the  latter  case  the  cerebral  symptoms  may 
simulate  insknity  in  all  its  forms, — the  insanity  of  Bright's 
disease.  Dieulafoy  observed  a  case  of  Bright's  disease  in 
which  the  patient  during  a  fortnight,  to  a  certain  extent, 
was  a  prey  to  hallucinations  with  ideas  of  persecution  and 
:8uicide.  This  delirium  may  last  for  several  weeks  or  even 
months,  but  it  is  most  frequently  cured.  This  form  is  ob- 
served in  interstitial  nephritis. 

The  dyspncetic  form  presents  three  varieties.  Some- 
times it  appears  in  the  form  of  a  nocturnal  attack  as  an 
attack  of  asthma  and  entirely  ceases  by  morning.     The 


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400  The  Medical  Advance.  Oct 

patient  has  dyspnoea,  is  greatly  distressed,  gets  out  of  bed, 
etc.  Auscultation  reveals  signs  of  pulmonary  emphysema^ 
sibilant  rftles,  and  prolonged  expiration;  but  more  fre- 
quently we  find  in  the  outset  some  sub-crepitant  rales. 
Again  the  patient  is  taken  suddenly  with  great  distress  or 
intermittent  attacks  of  oppression  accompanied  by  the  res- 
piratory rythm  of  Cheyne-Stokes,  unless  there  may  be  res- 
piratory troubles  explained  by  an*  appreciable  lesion.  You 
know  this  type  of  respiration  which  comes  on  in  gradual 
acceleration.  The  pupil  is  contracted  during  the  pause 
and  on  the  contrary  is  dilated  as  the  respiration  is  accel- 
erated.    This  is  a  sign  of  interstitial  nephritis. 

There  is  still  another  variety  of  the  dyspnoetic  form, — 
the  continued  dyspnoea.  The  respiration  is  greatly  accel- 
erated, there  is  anxiety,  orthopnoea  and  the  vesicular  mur- 
mur is  feeble.  The  respiration  is  supra-costal  and  seems 
as  if  the  diaphragm  did  not  act  The  pulse  is  accelerated, 
the  respirations  are  harsh  and  noisy.  The  roughness  of 
the  voice  sometimes  causes  alarm,  and  we  wonder  if  it  is 
not  due  to  an  oedema  of  the  glottis,  and  if  it  will  not  be 
advisable  to  perform  tracheotomy  There  is  always  lower- 
ing of  the  temperature.  This  form  belongs  to  the  paren-' 
chymatous  nephritis. 

The  gastrO'intesiinal  form  is  characterized  by  nausea, 
vomitings  more  or  less  frequent,  at  times  uncontrollable 
and  sanguinolent,  but  most  frequently  of  food,  mucus  and 
bile.  The  vomitings  contain  carbonate  of  ammonia.  There 
are  diarrhoeic  and  dysenteric  sypmtoms  explained  by  the 
action  of  the  urea  on  the  mucous  membranes  of  the  stom- 
ach and  intestines.  This  form  is  met  with  especially  in 
interstitial  nephritis. 

The  prodromal  symptoms  of  uraemia  are  sometimes 
wanting,  or  pass  unnoticed,  and  the  attack  comes  on  brus- 
quely as  in  the  form  of  eclampsia;  but  most  frequently, 
and  I  believe  the  prodromal  symptoms  always  exist,  there 
is  a  diminution  of  urine  either  in  quality  or  quantity.  But 
there  are  a  multitude  of  other  symptoms  that  we  should  be 
thoroughly  able  to  recognize.  Cephalic  pains  are  improp- 
erly considered  as  migraine,  troubles  of  vision,  gastric  af- 


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1887  Urcemia.  401 

fections  which  are  attributed  to  a  dyspepsia,  attacks  of 
sufiFocation  which  might  ]>e  taken  for  an  attack  of  asthma, 
divers  cardiac  affections,  apathy  and  somnolency.  Audi- 
tory troubles  have  also  been  noticed,  painful  cramps,  prick- 
ling or  formication  in  the  fingers,  and  itchings  which  may 
be  mistaken  for  a  simple  pruritis.  Again  it  is  the  diminu- 
tion of  a  chronic  diarrhoea,  diminution  of  sweats  and  also 
of  an  anasarca  or  the  sudden  disappearance  of  an  eczema, 
because  these  are  frequently  its  ways  of  elimination.  It  is 
the  thorough  knowledge  of  all  these  symptoms  which  places 
you  on  your  guard  and  enables  you  to  diagnose  ursBmia. 

The  conditions  which  hasten  uraemia  are,  excesses,  hearty 
meals,  fatigue,  painful  emotions  and  chills.  The  patients 
afflicted  with  nephritis  should  avoid  chilling  themselves, 
and  should  let  great  temperance  govern  their  lives,  which 
does  not  prevent  us  from  saying  that  to  a  son. 

Uraemia  is  produced  by  the  accumulation  in  the  blood 
of  excrementitious  principles  of  the  urine.  It  may  be 
recognized  by  three  principal  signs  which  I  have  already 
pointed  out;  poverty  of  the  urine  either  in  quantity  or 
quality;  the  presence  of  albumen,  sub-normal  temperature, 
and  finally  contraction  of  the  pupils  which  is  an  ordinary 
characteristic.  In  the  eclamptic  form  the  pupil  is  dilated 
before  the  attack  and  contracted  afterwards. 

The  pathognomonic  sign  consists  in  the  poverty  of  the 
urine.  From  this  we  may  draw  the  surest  conclusions. 
There  are  cases,  it  is  true,  where  no  albumen  is  found  in 
the  urine  or  when  the  presence  of  albumen  is  only  transient 
and  intermitting.  But  a  sign  which  never  fails  is  the  con- 
dition of  density.  Whenever  you  find  a  patient  whose  urine 
has  a  specific  gravity  of  less  than  1010,  for  example,  you 
may  be  certain  that  the  urinary  secretion  is  insufficient, 
and  you  should  be  on  your  guard  against  urcemia  which 
may  suddenly  manifest  itself  by  redoubtable  attack. 

I  have  given  you  this  lecture  on  uraemia  a  propos  of  a 
patient  who  is  now  in  our  wards.  I  should  have  com- 
menced by  giving  a  history  of  the  case  but  I  wished  to  wait 
a  few  days  because  at  that  time  I  should  have  had  but  little 
to  tell  you  about  it. 


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402  The  Medical  Advance.  Oct 

The  patient  is  a  man  of  66  years,  that  is  to  say  an  old 
man,  who,  some  forty  years  ago,  in  Algeria,  had  a  general 
articular  rheumatism  and  intermittent  fever.  Since  that 
time  his  health  has  been  quite  good.  During  the  eighteen 
months  preceding  his  entering  our  wards,  he  was  subject 
to  attacks  of  oppression  which  were  taken  for  asthmatic 
attacks;  later  his  legs  commenced  to  swell  and  for  nearly 
three  mpnths  the  oedema  has  not  diminished  in  the  morning. 

At  the  time  of  his  entrance  January  dth,  the  patient  was 
subject  to  an  excessive  dyspnoea,  the  face  was  cyanotic  and 
the  legs  were  quite  oedematous.  Auscultation  of  the  heart 
sounds  presented  three  great  dif&culties,  on  account  of  the 
noisy  respiration  of  the  patient;  the  sonorous  and  sibilant 
rales  were  heard  quite  a  distance  and  absolutely  drowned 
the  sounds  of  the  heart 

Somnolence  and  delirium,  urine  scanty — less  than  one- 
half  pint — and  strongly  albuminous;  such  was  the  aspect  of 
the  patient' the  day  of  his  entrance. 

I  prescribed  Arsenic  3x  potency  and  milk  diei^ 

Under  the  influence  of  this  regimen  the  quantity  of  urine 
increased  and  reached  two  and  one-half  quarts  in  a  few 
days;  but  there  is  always  considerable «lbumen:  measured 
in  Esbach's  tube  the  deposit  found  in  twenty-four  hours  is 
still  above  the  highest  graduated  degree  marked  on  the 
tube.  The  dyspnoea  has  diminished  but  a  comatose  state 
with  monotonous  delirium  has  followed. 

January  13th.  The  comatose  form  is  still  marked,  the 
pupils  are  contracted  and  the  patient  is  indifferent  to 
everything.  He  replies  but  little  when  spoken  to  and  then 
only  in  monosyllables.  There  has  been  but  one  and  one- 
half  quarts  of  urine  passed  in  twenty-four  hours. 

I  gave  Opium  3x  trituration  on  account  of  the  somno- 
lency and  the  contraction  of  the  pupils. 

January  14th.  The  quantity  of  urine  has  slightly  in- 
creased— one  and  three-fourths  quarts  and  albumen,  ten 
grammes  (150  grains). 

January  15th.  The  patient  is  better,  is  a  little  less  som- 
nolent and  replies  to  questions  put  to  him.  Urine  three 
quarts;  albumen,  four  grammes,  (60  grains). 


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1887  Urcemia.  403 

The  condition  of  the  patient  improves  from  day  to  day, 
the  coma  is  gone,  the  oedema  of  the  legs  is  diminishing 
and  the  19th  of  January  the  urine  contained  only  traces  of 
albumen;  however,  the  density  is  still  below  normal  and 
has  not  gone  above  1010;  at  the  first  the  specific  gravity 
was  only  1007. 

In  this  case  have  we  the  pure  dyspncetic  form  or  the 
comatose?  These  two  forms  are  frequently  associated. 
Our  patient  from  the  first  presented  the  dyspncBtic  form, 
the  coma  being  added  afterwards;  the  figure  was  ecstatic 
and  the  pupils  very  much  contracted.  At  one  time,  the 
11th  of  January,  alarmed  by  the  extreme  dyspnoea,  we 
gave  Ipecac.  Ix  trituration  without  an  appreciable  result;  it 
was  thoroughly  indicated.  The  13th  we  gave  Opium  on 
account  of  the  somnolence  and  contraction  of  the  pupils. 
There  ^as  a  gradual  amelioration  of  the  general  symptoms 
in  spite  of  the  presence  of  albumen  in  the  urine  in  consid- 
erable quantity.  Under  the  influence  of  Opium  we  have 
had  an  amelioration  and  the  patient  is  out  in  good  shape. 
But  we  must  raise  no  false  hopes;  the  immediate  danger 
has  been  overcome  but  the  patient  has  not  been  cured  and 
I  consider  him  doomed  to  a  certain  death  in  spite  of  the 
appearances  of  good  health  which  he  presents.  It  is  evi- 
dently a  case  of  well  advanced  parenchymatous  nephritis. 
It  is  indicated  by*the  anasarca  and  the  presence  of  a  con- 
siderable quantity  of  albumen  in  the  urine.  In  the  inter- 
stitial nephritis  there  is  less  anasarca  and  less  albumen. 

In  regard  to  the  treatment  we  have  from  the  first 
searched  right  and  left  for  the  indications.  Arsenic,  Bella- 
donna, Ipecac.,  without  obtaining  the  desired  result  In 
this  C€we  it  was  Opium  3x  trituration,  which  relieved.  This 
remedy,  in  effect,  was  well  indicated  and  the  law  of  simi- 
lars, once  more,  was  not  in  default 

The  theory  of  ursemia  has  been  studied  very  much.  It 
is  not  a  disease  but  an  ensemble  of  symptoms  which  occur 
when  the  urinary  secretion  is  bad.  Numerous  theories 
have  been  advanced  for  explaining  the  many  symptoms  of 
this  affection,  but  unhappily  the  most  of  them  fall  under 
the  domain  of  hyix>the8is.    There  are  two  principal  doc- 


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404  The  Medical  Adi)ance.  Oct 

trines.  1st,  the  doctrine  of  lesions;  2nd,  the  doctrine  of 
poisoning.  According  to  the  partisans  of  the  first  theory 
the  phenomena  of  uraemia  arises  from  yentricalar  hydro- 
cephalus, or  again,  to  cerebral  oedema  and  anaemia  (Coindet 
and  Odier).  The  authorities  who  refer  uraemia  to  cerebral 
anaemia  have  thought  it  possible  to  localize  each  of  its 
forms  in  a  special  department  of  the  nervous  centers.  The 
convulsive  form  they  refer  to  anaemia  of  the  middle  lobe, 
the  comatose  form  to  cerebral  anaemia,  etc.  These  theories 
cannot  be  absolutely  relied  upon.  In  certain  cases,  in  effect, 
these  lesions  have  been  found  at  the  autopsies.  That  doc- 
trine cannot  explain  every  case  and  should  not  be  held  ex- 
clusively. 

The  doctrine  of  poisoning  is  placed  upon  a  positive  basis 
which  is  the  insufficient  urinary  secretion  and  the  retention 
in  the  blood  of  excrementitious  principles;  but  which  of 
these  principles  is  ihe  poison? 

According  to  Wilson  it  would  be  the  urea  which  pro- 
duces all  these  conditions;  from  that  they  get  uraemia. 
But  urea  is  not  poisonous,  or,  but  slightly  so.  We  have 
seen,  in  effect,  the  uraemic  conditions  in  patients  whose 
urine  contained  twenty  and  twenty-five  grammes  of  urea 
and  in  many  uraemic  patients  the  urea  is  in  the  blood  in 
its  normal  state.  According  to  Frerich  the  urea  is  trans- 
formed in  the  blood  into  carbonate  of  ammonia  which  is 
poisonous.  The  objection  to  this  theory  has  been  made 
that  the  blood  contains  no  ferment  which  could  produce 
this  transformation.  In  place  of  this  transformation  in 
the  blood  the  urea  has  been  transformed  in  the  intestine 
into  carbonate  of  ammonia  and  passes  thus  into  the  blood. 
That  can  apply  to  but  few  cases,  therefore,  that  theory  is 
not  satisfactory. 

Not  having  been  able  in  every  case  to  incriminate  urea 
they  have  accused  creatine,  leucine,  tyrosine,  etc.,  eta;  but 
these  extractive  principles  injected  into  the  blood  do  not 
produce  poisoning. 

The  question  is  then  brought  back  to  the  point  of  depar- 
ture; and  another  theory  is  that  it  is  the  passage  in  tiie 
blood  of  the  urine  in  its  totality  which  produces  the  uraemio 


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1887  Urcemia.  405 

conditions.  Normal  urine  in  effect  is  a  poison  when  it  is 
passed  into  the  blood.  The  experiments  of  Feltz  and  Bit- 
ter, and  those  of  Bouchard  hare  demonstrated  its  toxicity. 
The  urine  of  a  ursBmic  patient  on  the  contrary  is  not  pois- 
onous. Whenever  the  ureters  are  ligated  in  a  dog,  death 
takes  place  in  three  days.  In  the  calculous,  or  cancerous, 
or,  if  the  ureters  are  completely  obstructed  by  a  calculus 
or  by  compression,  death  occurs  in  about  nine  or  ten  days. 
The  retention  of  the  urine  in  the  blood  is,  therefore,  a 
veritable  poison. 

It  has  been  found  that  urine  possesses  its  maximum  tox- 
icity eight  hours  after  rising,  and  at  the  time  of  retiring  the 
toxicity  is  at  the  minimum. 

Injecting  urine  into  the  veins  produces  ursemia.  Accord- 
ing to  Bouchard,  the  poisoning  would  be  more  complex.  To 
the  salts  of  potash  contained  in  the  urine  it  would  be  neces- 
sary to  add  the  poisons  furnished  by  the  biliary  secretion, 
by  the  alimentation  and  by  the  residues  of  the  intestinal 
putrefactions.  Add  again  the  absorption  of  the  toxic  alka- 
loids and  the  ptomaines.  The  study  of  the  ptomaines  has 
been  carried  very  far.  It  is  necessfiry,  however,  to  hold 
1'hem  in  distrust.  They  have  found  the  convulsive  princi- 
ples, narcogene,  sialogene,  hy posthenisant  and  even  diuretic. 

In  the  case  of  ursemia  it  is  not  what  I  call  a  poisoning^ 
metaphorically,  as  in  typhoid  fever  and  cholera.  Here  the 
poison  is  real.  The  experiments  made  upon  animals  in  in- 
jecting normal  urine  or  in  ligating  the  ureters  does  not 
leave  room  for  doubt.  There  is  here  the  retention  of 
poison  which  always  produces  the  same  symptoms  and  the 
same  effects. 

Nephritis  causes  progressively  and  more  or  less  slowly 
the  same  result,  suppression  of  the  renal  function. 

The  signs  of  poisoning  vary  with  the  mode  which  has 
produced  it  Ist.  The  slow  type,  anuria,  causing  death  in 
nine  days.  The  predominant  symptoms  are:  apathy,  sub- 
normal temperature,  respiratory  troubles,  vomitings,  con- 
traction of  the  pupils,  hypothermia,  somnolency,  mild  de« 
lirium  and  deaiii  by  a  convulsive  crisis,  suffocation,  syn« 
cox>e  or  coma.  The  2nd  type  is  attributed  to  nephritis 
z 


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406  The  Medical  Advance.  Oct 

catarrhal  scarlatinal  or  puerperal.  This  is  the  eclamptic 
form  on  a  grand  scale,  so  to  speak;  it  presents  all  the  signs 
of  acute  poisoning.  The  types  of  parenchymatous  and  in- 
terstitial nephritis  have  been  described  in  the  last  lesson 
so  I  will  not  return  to  them.  Why  do  they  separate  ursemic 
eclampsia  from  uraemia?  For  my  part,  I  think  there  is  no 
reason,  naturally,  for  separating  eclampsia  from  the  other 
slower  forms  of  ursemia.  It  holds  to  the  same  causes — to 
troubles  from  urine  poison,  and  presents  many  common 
symptoms. 

Passing  to  the  treatment  The  affected  heart  produces 
asystole  and  the  affected  kidney  produces  anaemia  (Bouch- 
ard). The  preventive  treatment,  then,  will  be  a  question 
of  regime;  shun  colds  and  excesses. 


o»  ■  — 


BACTERIA  IN  DISEASE. 


A.  McNeil,  M.  D.,.dan  Francisco,  Cal. 


Dr.  W.  Albeiii  Haupt,  of  Chemnitz,  is  famous  not  only 
in  Germany  and  Europe  but  also  in  America  as  an  able 
and  ardent  champion  of  the  bacteria  theory.  He  has  con- 
ducted many  discussions  with  learned  opponents,  and  if  he 
has  not  always  carried  conviction  to  his  readers  yet  he  has 
always  shown  himself  an  antagonist  entitled  to  respect 
He  still  remains  as  firm  in  his  belief,  but  he  has  made  an 
acknowledgement  in  the  Allg.  Horn.  Zeitung  that  every 
true  follower  of  Hahnemann  must  feel  it  a  great  victory  at 
a  point  which  had  caused  some  trepidation  in  those  whose 
faith  in  the  law  was  not  very  strong.  He  says  in  the  issue 
for  July  14  of  the  above  mentioned  journal: 

I  must  as^ain  and  again  repeat  that  it  Is  a  matter  of  utter  impos- 
sibility  to  destroy  the  bacillus  tuberculosis  in  the  lungs  of  a  living 
man.  One  may  administer  sulphuric  acid, carbonic  acid  or  any 
other  form  of  gas,  iodoform,  analine,  menthol,  creosote,  carbolic 
acid ,  eucalyptol  or  whatever  the  agent  to  be  experimented  with, 
either  by  inhalation,  subcutaneous  injection,  per  orum  or  per 
omum,  in  order  to  get  it  into  the  body  of  the  consumptive.  £x- 
psrime  nts  in  the  test  tube  and  a  simple  calculation  should  prove 
to  every  one  that  doses  which  introduced  into  the  huiBan  organ- 
ism would  destroy  these  parasites  would,  without  doubt,  cause  a 


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1887  Bacteria  in  Disease,  407 

fatal  poisoning  of  the  patient.  In  the  lungs  the  bacillse  stand 
in  a  different  relation  to  the  germicide  than  in  the  test  tube,  for  in 
the  former  they  are  protected  by  the  muscles  in  which  they  are 
nestled  from  the  destructive  action. 

If,  in  the  face  of  all  probability,  a  substance  should  be  discov- 
ered which,  greatly  dilatated,  would  kill  the  rods  (the  vegetable 
forms  which  multiply  by  fission)  of  the  bacillus  tuberculosis,  and 
administered  in  massive  doses,  would  not  injure  the  patient,  yet 
even  then  nothing  would  be  gained,  for  these  rods  form  spores 
(which  grow  and  reproduce  the  permanent  forms  in  the  human 
body)  and  possess  powers  of  resistance  to  destruction  unparalleled 
in  all  forms  of  life,  and  can  only  be  destroyed  by  boiling  for  hours 
by  certain  poisons  in  strong  solution. 

It  sounds  strangely  wh^n  Dr.  Klauber  asserts  in  his  *  Scientific 
Reports'  (in  this  journal.  Vol.  CXIV,  No.  19):  •//  tJie  badllos  are 
the  actual  cause  of  disease^  ther^ore  the  treatment  hosed  on  this 
theory  must  have  the  anticipated  and  desired  result:  Has  he  not 
thought  that  such  therapeutics  might  be  wrong?  And  it  is  cer- 
tainly completely  wrong,  as  long  as  it  attempts  to  do  what  is  im- 
possible—to destroy  the  instigators  of  the  disease  (Krankheits 
erreger.) 

The  reports  of  cases  of  the  improvement  of  consumption  which 
we  now  and  then  meet  in  allopathic  journals  after  the  administra- 
tion of  antiparasitic  agents,  look  very  plausible  indeed,  hut  can 
deceive  no  one  who  is  conversant  with  the  solution  of  questions  on 
bacteriology  [the  italics  are  mine].  Frequently  it  is  only  an  acci- 
dental decrease  of  the  symptoms,  a  momentary  stoppage  of  the 
morbid  process,  as  occurs  in  all  phthisical  patients  without  any 
medication,  or  they  are  the  result  of  the  improvement  of  the  exter- 
nal relations  of  the  patients,  particularly  after  reception  in  a  hos- 
pital. Sometimes  it  arises  from  the  regular  inspiration  and  expira- 
tion of  the  inhalents.  whereby  portions  of  the  lungs,  which  were 
before  inactive  are  now  set  in  action  and  the  capacity  of  the  lungs 
thus  increased. 

Doubtless  the  only  true  therapie  in  tuberculosis  is  that  in  which 
the  primary  aim  is  to  strengthen  the  resisting  power  of  the  lung 
tissue." 

Dr.  Haupt  maintains  the  great  advantage  of  bacteriology 
in  diagnoses  and  exemplifies  this  by  a  case  which  was 
diagnosed  as  tuberculosis  with  fatal  prognosis,  but  from 
the  entire  absence  of  the  bacillus  from  the  expectoration 
he  maintained  that  it  was  not  consumption,  and  that  it  was 
curable,  and  when  the  indicated  remedy,  which  was  Stan- 
num,  was  given  a  happy  result  soon  fallowed. 


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406  The  Medical  Advance.  Oct 

The  doctor  further  aoknowledf^es  that  in  diphtheria  it  is 
not  by  the  germicidal  qualities  of  (Jrugs,  but  by  the  simi- 
lar remedy  that  the  disease  is  cured. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  those  who,  although  calling  them- 
selves Homoeopaths,  talked  of  curing  disease  by  germi- 
cides, perhaps  under  the  shadow  of  this  and  other  great 
names,  will  now  return  to  the  law  of  cure  which  they  had 
abandoned.  ^ 

CURES  BY  DR.  HESSE,  OF  HAMBURG. 


A.  McNEIL.  M.  D..  San  Francisco. 


Case  I. — Otorrhcea:  Lycopodium. — A  blonde,  delicate 
boy  of  three  years,  four  weeks  after  a  successful  vaccina- 
tion was  attacked  by  a  profuse,  stinking,  purulent  dis- 
charge from  the  right  ear;  at  the  same  time  he  became 
lachrymose  and  his  feet  strikingly  cold.  He  received  one 
dose  of  Thuja  30,  Silica  30  and  Pulsatilla  30,  in  watery 
solution  for  four  weeks  without  benefit,  so  that  the  parents 
became  impatient  and  spoke  of  the  necessity  of  local  treat- 
ment  As  I  then  questioned  the  mother  again  she  called 
my  attention  to  the  ugly  yellow  color  of  his  teeth.  In  Jahr's 
Repertory  I  found  that  symptom  in  Lycopodium,  Nitric 
acid  and  Phosphoric  acid.  The  latter  is  not  mentioned  by 
Booninghausen  in  purulent  otorrhoea,  so  only  the  first  two 
— Nitric  acid  and  Lycopodium  remained;  both  have  disposi- 
tion to  weep.  For  Lycopodium  the  coldness  of  the  feet 
and  the  blonde  hair  decided. 

I  gave  him  some  pellets  of  Lycopodium  30  on  his  tongue 
and  gave  it  to  be  taken  at  home  in  watery  solution.  In 
four  days  his  mother  reported  that  the  flow  abated  imme- 
diately after  the  first  dose  and  now  had  entirely  ceased. 
And  several  months  after  had  not  returned.  If  I  had  tried 
local  treatment  it  would  have  been  in  this  as  in  many  other 
cases  that  it  was  not  Homoeopathy  but  the  Homoeopath 
that  should  be  blamed. 

Case  IL — Puluonart  Hemorrhage:  Arsenictink—Some 
weeks  ago  I  was  called  in  the  morning  to  see  a  young  man 
who  had  been  bleeding  since  midnight    I  found  him  sit- 


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1887  Verifications,  409 

ting  on  a  sofa;  breathing  with  difficulty;  unable  to  speak; 
with  all  indications  of  anguish  and  restlessness;  pulse 
small,  irregular  and  uncountable.  Frequently  a  slight 
oough  brought  up  bright-red,  foaming  blood;  tormenting 
tiiirst,  drinking  but  little  at  a  time.  He  could  not  remain 
in  bed,  as  he  could  not  lie  down  and  thought  he  would 
soon  die. 

I  gave  him  Arsenicum  30,  a  powder  every  tw6  or  three 
hours.  In  two  hours  I  found  him  sleeping  quietly  with 
elevated  head;  respiration  tolerably  quiet;  pulse  70,  regu- 
lar and  weak;  neither  cough  nor  blood  since  the  first 
powder,  but  rest  and  sleep.    He  recovered  very  quickly. 

Case  III.— Cholera  Morbus:  Ipecac.— A  boy  of  nine 
was  attacked  in  the  evening  without  known  cause,  with 
vomiting  and  diarrhoea  which  continued  every  half  hour 
till  I  saw  him  in  the  morning.  Violent  thirst,  he  wanted 
to  drink  a  large  glass  of  water  at  a  time,  constantly;  much 
pain  in  the  bowels;  great  weakness  and  restlessness,  and 
no  sleep.    He  could  only  lie  on  his  back. 

I  gave  him  Ipecac  30,  a  powder  every  three  hours.  His 
mother  reported  next  day  that  he  went  to  sleep  after  the 
first  dose  and  when  he  awoke  asked  for  food;  no  more 
vomiting  or  diarrhoea. 

I  was  guided  by  the  impossibility  of  lying  except  on  his 
back,  according  to  BOnninghausen. 


VERIFICATIONS. 


J.  T.  KENT,  M.  D ,  St  F^uls. 


Case  L—Natrum  Sulph.—Mr&.  A.  A.  B.,  aged  48. 
Onawing  pain  in  back  of  head,  extending  down  spine, 

brought  on  from  grief  and  protracted  anxiety. 
Thin,  sallow. 

General  mental  sluggishness. 
Throbbing  in  back  of  the  neck. 
Has  had  much  trouble  with  back  of  head  and  neck  since 

an  attack  of  sunstroke  many  years  ago. 


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410  The  Medical  Advanoe.  Oct. 

Bowels  constipated,  no  stool  for  days,  no  urging;  but  the 
head  symptoms  are  improved  after  a  stool. 

Dreadful  bitter  taste  in  the  mouth. 

The  headache  is  mostly  in  the  morning  and  gets  better 
after  moving  about  a  while. 

The  other  symptoms  have  been  better  and  worse  for  years. 
Coming  in  wane-like  attacks,  but  never  well. 

Oatharticd  once  gave  relief,  but  nothing  seems  to  give  her 
any  comfort  now. 

She  was  given  a  few  powders  of  Natrum  sulph.,  500  (B. 
&  T. ),  with  instructiona  to  dissolve  one  and  take  of  it 
frequently  at  the  beginning  of  every  spell  of  growing 
"billions,"  as  she  called  it,  and  to  hold  the  rest  of  them. 

She  has  never  taken  but  the  first,  she  is  holding  the  others. 
All  the  symptoms  that  remained  through  the  interim  of 
the  more  severe  attacks  have  departed,  and  she  is  per- 
fectly well. 
Case  II. — Pulsatilla. — Miss  E.  B.,  aged  35. 

Deafness,  cannot  understand  except  when  watching  the 
motion  of  lips. 

Can  only  speak  in  a  whisper. 

Deafness  and  aphonia  of  many  years'  standing,  but  has 
been  whispering  for  four  years. 

Accumulation  of  yellow,  thick  phlegm  in  throat,  especially 
in  the  morning. 

Burning  feet  and  ankles. 

Warm  room  suffocates  and  flushes  face. 

Fast  walking  causes  nausea,  f aintness  and  flushes  the  face. 

All  kinds  of  bodily  exertion  heats  her  up  and  suffocation 
follows,  with  purplish  red  face. 

Fast  motion  is  quite  impossible. 

Brown  spots  on  the  face. 

Constant  swallowing. 

May  9.— Pulsatilla  15m  (J.). 

July  15. — Voice  mostly  recovered;  hearing  only  slightly 
improved.  Can  take  active  exercise  without  flushing. 
Ankles  become  very  weak,  they  turn  when  walking, 
otherwise  fteadily  improving. 

No  medicine. 


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1878  Verifications.  411 

Sept.  13. — The  only  symptoms  left  are  deafness,  which  has 
not  improved,  and  weak  ankles. 

Pulsatilla  cm.  (H.  8.). 

Oci  20. — Ankles  became  strong;  "except  the  deafness  am 
perfectly  well." 

She  has  remained  perfectly  well,  but  the  deafness  does  not 
change. 
Case  III. — Sepia, — Mrs.  J.  R.  A.,  aged  33. 

Tall,  slender  woman,  mother  of  several  children.  Dry 
cough  only  in  day  time.  Has  been  poorly  since  birth  of 
last  child  (two  years).  Headache  on  vertex,  throbbing, 
feels  as  though  head  would  open  on  top,  worse  from  any 
noise,  perfectly  relieved  by  sleep. 

Headache  comes  before  menses. 

Pain  in  left  side  of  nose  to  left  eye,  very  sharp,  almost 
constant  when  the  headache  is  present 

Burning  on  top  of  the  head,  then  comes  a  sensation  of 
throbbing,  as  with  little  hammers  on  top  of  head,  some- 
times within  the  skull. 

No  appetite. 

Chronic  constipation  with  no  urging  to  stool  for  a  week, 
then  a  very  painful,  difficult  stool. 

Dull  aching  pain  in  region  of  spleen. 

Leucorrhoea  quite  constant,  thick,  yellow,  sometimes  white. 

March  29. — Sepia  50m  (F.),  one  powder,  dry.     All  symp- 
toms removed  and  she  remains  cured. 
Case  IV. — Pulsatilla. — ^L.  M.,  lady,  single,  age  28.    Has 

always  been  sickly. 

Beaching  up  with  the  arms  brings  on  a  peculiar  pain 
that  runs  from  the  pelvis  to  the  throat  This  pain 
also  comes  on  after  exertion,  especially  after  climbing 
stairs. 

After  walking  any  distance  or  climbing  the  stairs  she  has 
a  desire  to  urinate. 

She  has  horrible  dreams  of  robbers.  She  dreams  of  her 
lover  who  disoppointed  her. 

She  wakes  from  sleep  in  tears,  even  sobbing. 

She  has  had  a  dark,  yellow,  thick  leucorrhoea  since  puberty. 

Constipation  alternates  with  diarrhoea. 


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412  The  Medical  Advance.  Oct 

Aching  in  the  lumbar  region  of  the  spine. 

Despondent  before  the  menses. 

Inability  to  sustain  a  mental  effort 

Headache,  with  severe  pains  on  one  or  the  other  temple 
that  makes  her  blind. 

She  is  very  figity  and  generally  nervous. 

Melancholy  and  teai*f  uL 

Oannot  lie  on  either  side,  only  on  the  back. 

Menstrual  flow  dark,  clotted,  offensive. 

She  is  greatly  protracted  from  any  warm  air,  warm  room 
or  slight  exertion.  ^ 

Aching  in  the  back  that  compels  her  to  lie  with  her  arm 
under  it,  as  the  pressure  relieves. 

She  feels  a  desire  to  go  to  bed  and  sleep  in  the  day  time. 

Oct  22, 188i-~She  took  Pulsatilla  61m,  one  dose. 

Nov.  19. — She  had  improved  in  ever  way  and  improvement 
ceased.  Pulsatilla  61m,  one  dose.  She  has  been  per- 
fectly well  ever  -since.  Every  symptom  removed  by 
Pulsatilla,  two  doses.  An  invalid  was  restored  to  useful- 
ness.   A  more  useful  lady  cannot  be  found. 


ON  THE  Therapeutic  effect  of  lamium  album 

"COCAINUM-ERGOTISM.* 


That  Lamium  album  possesses  haemostatic  power  was 
already  known  to  the  ancient  Spanish  physicians,  and 
Lacutus  Lusitanicus  1694,  recommends  this  plant  in 
haemoptysis,  melsena,  etc.  An  infusion  of  the  blooms  was 
often  used  in  leucorrhoea,  whereas,  the  syrupy  extract  of 
the  plant  in  doses  of  16  to  20  grammes  was  found  highly 
efficacious  in  metrorrhagia.  In  our  days  Lothe  gathered 
the  plant  at  the  time  of  blossoning,  macerated  it  for  a  week 
in  60  per  cent  alcohol  and  then  filtrated  it  With  this 
fluid  tampons  are  soaked  and  then  pressed  on  the  bleeding 
surfaces.  Its  action  will  be  found  fully  equal  to  that  of  the 
perichloride  of  iron.  In  a  case  of  obstinate  metrorrhagia, 
where  the  perichloride  of  iron  failed  after  the  preceding  use 
of  Ergotine,  Alum,  Tannin,  etc,  he  gave  tincture  Lamium 


Translations  by  Dr.  S.  Lilibnthal,  San  Francisco. 


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1887  On  the  Therapeutic  Effects.  413 

alb.  100.0,  Syr.  simpl.  60.0,  Aqua  dest  25.0,  a  teaspoonful 
every  half  hour,  with  prompt  effect  The  plant  coDtains 
Tannin,  Gallic  acid,  and  a  specific  agent  which  he  calls 
Lamin.  This  alkaloid  ought  to  be  compared  with  that 
found  in  Hamamelis,  Gossypium,  Ustilago,  Ambrosia,  Ar- 
temisia and  with  the  extract  of  Hydrastis  canadensis. — 
Journal  de  Midicine  de  Paris,  July  ^87. 

ON  THE  INTERNAL  USE  OF  GOOAINUM. 

A  young  lady  had  rheumatism  at  the  age  of  12  years 
which  left  her  with  insufficiency  of  the  bicuspidal  valves 
and  finally  hypertrophy  of  the  heart,  followed  off  by 
hypersBsthesia  on  different  parts  of  the  body.  Two  weeks 
ago  she  was  taken  with  hyperesthesia  of  the  stomach  and 
bilious  vomiting  which  became  continuous,  so  that  she 
could  not  keep  the  least  thing  in  her  stomach,  the  urine 
diminished,  strength  failed  by  the  action  of  the  heart  enor- 
mously increased.  Digitalis,  Opium,  internally  and  ex- 
ternally failed.  The  vomiting  could  not  be  considered 
ursemic,  as  the  sensorium  was  unclouded  and  the  diminished 
urination  might  be  caused  by  the  constant  vomiting.  She 
received  now  Cocainum  hydrochlorate,  0.015  pro  dosi,  dis- 
solved in  water,  and  the  vomiting  ceased  for  two  hours.  A 
second  dose  stopped  it  for  six  hours,  and  after  a  third  dose 
she  could  be  considered  entirely  relieved.  She  only  felt  a 
little  numbness  on  her  tongue,  but  otherwise  no  other  sub- 
jective symptom. —  Wien.  Med.  Presse,  29,  '87. 

PERMANENT  SEQUELS  OF  ERGOTISM  IN  RELATION  TO  THE 
CENTRAL  NERVOUS  SYSTEM. 

During  1879  and  1880  Ergotism  (epileptoid  spasms,  men- 
tal disturbance  with  the  character  of  dementia  and  affec- 
tions of  the  posterior  columns  of  the  spine  with  absence  of 
the  patellar  reflex)  prevailed  in  some  parts  of  Hessia. 
Several  years  latter  Prof.  Tuezeck,  of  Marbury,  looked  up 
the  state  of  health  of  the  29  patients  treated  there  at  the 
clinic  of  Marbury.  Nine  had  died,  mostly  from  convulsions 
with  dementia;  from  five  he  could  not  get  reports;  of  the 
other  fifteen  two  still  suffer  from  epilepsy,  most  of  them 


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414  The  Medical  Advance.    ^  Oct. 

show  considerable  defects  of  intelligeDce  and  the  patelUr 
reflex  remains  abolished.  Only  three  are  mentally  intact 
and  just  in  those  three  the  knee-phenomenon  has  returned. 
Many  of  these  patients  complain  of  headache  and  other 
panesthesiac,  whereas,  other  disturbances  of  sensibility  or 
motolity  and  ataxia  are  nowhere  detected.  It  is  remark- 
able that  in  patients  suffering  from  ergotism  the  disease 
shows  not  a  progressive  character,  though  after  seven  years 
the  cases  must  be  considered  incurable.  No  other  tabetic 
symptom  could  be  discovered  except  the  disease  of  the  pa- 
tellar reflex.  Lasting  loss  of  intelligence  and  a  tendency 
to  relapses  are  constant  manifestations.  His  researches 
also  showed  that  many  families  have  died  out,  that 
many  persons  since  then  suffer  from  epilepsy  and  in 
every  one  of  these  infected  villages  there  are  a  num- 
ber of  people,  who  became  demented  more  or  less  in 
consequence  of  their  ergotism. — Centralblatt  /.  Nerven- 
heilkunde,  14,  '87. 

CLINICAL  NOTES* 


A.  M.  GUSHING.  M.  D..  Springfield,  Mass. 


As  the  published  transactions  of  the  Homoeopathic  Med- 
ical Society  of  Massachusetts  give  me  credit  for  spending 
more  time,  proving  more  remedies  all  upon  myself,  and 
presenting  to  that  society  than  all  the  other  physicians  in 
the  state,  I  feel  I  have  earned  a  right  to  say  something 
about  Materia  Medica.  I  shall  speak  of  the  remedies  I 
have  tried  to  prove,  referring  to  the  symptoms  that  I  con- 
sider most  characteristic. 

All  symptoms  observed  while  proving  a  remedy  are  not 
trustworthy,  for  the  reason  that  some  symptoms  may  occur 
duriug  the  proving  of  any  remedy.  A  person  should  prove 
more  than  one  remedy  to  ascertain  whether  in  their  case 
it  is  so  or  noi  If  possible  all  symptoms  should  be  verified 
clinically,  then  we  should  be  doubly  sure. 

My  first  experiment  was  with  the  nest  of  the  large  black 

*  Bead  before  tbe  Worcester  County  Homoeopathic  Medical  Society. 


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1887  Clinical  Notes,  416 

hornet  I  made  a  tincture,  triturations  and  attenuations, 
but  got  no  positive  symptoms.  I  made  an  accidental  prov- 
ing of  Batanhia  in  this  way.  I  was  troubled  with  a  slimy 
diarrhoBa  which  seemed  to  be  located  in  the  rectum.  As  I 
sometimes  do  things  with  a  vengeance,  I  took  Batanhia  tinc- 
ture to  cure  it  speedily.  The  troublesome  itching  of  the 
rectum  that  followed  suggested  a  remedy  for  that  trouble 
as  well  as  for  ascarides,  and  it  has  proved  a  valuable  rem- 
edy for  those  troubles.  Let  me  say  that  it  is  one  of  the 
most  unreliable  remedies  that  I  have  used.  If  you  get  a 
genuine  article,  do  not  lose  it,  for  the  chances  are  more 
than  even  that  the  next  you  buy  will  be  good  for  nothing. 
When  I  am  obliged  to  buy  a  new  supply  I  take  it  quite 
freely  to  learn  whether  it  has  any  virtue  or  not,  and  it  does 
not  take  long  to  learn  if  it  is  good. 

Bromide  of  ammonium  has  been  given  for  whooping  and 
and  other  kinds  of  cough,  sometimes  with  benefit  and 
sometimes  without  In  proving  it  I  found  that  the  cough 
and  the  inclination  to  cough  both  came  suddenly;  there 
was  no  premonition  or  warning.  A  few  weeks  since  I  was 
reading  an  article  in  the  Hahnemannian,  which  has  since 
appeared  in  the  Investigator,  from  the  pen  of  Dr.  Lilien- 
thal  on  Ammonium  salts.     He  says: 

We  now  turn  to  the  Guiding  Synaptoms  of  our  blessed  Father 
Bering  and  read  of  Ammonium  brom.,  giving  the  nose,  throat  and 
cough  symptoms,  etc.,  also  feels  the  cold  more  than  usual,  must 
warm  the  feet  in  a  warm  room. 

I  thought  those  symptoms  seemed  familiar,  and  turned 
to  my  proving  as  found  in  Allen's  Materia  Medica  (and 
othet  places)  and  found  it  was  taken  word  for  word  from 
my  proving  of  that  remedy.  Now,  what  I  wish  to  say  is 
this,  I  experienced  all  of  the  symptoms  recorded  then,  but 
at  other  times  since  then,  when  I  was  worn  out,  very  tired 
for  days  at  a  time,  I  have  had  that  same  symptom  of  cold 
feet,  but  generally  more  in  the  right  one  (a  Lycopbdium 
symptom).  Now,  I  am  led  to  ask  myself,  did  it  produce 
debility,  therefore  causing  the  cold  feet,  or  did  it  produce 
it  without  the  debility  (I  do  not  remember  my  condition  at 
that  time),  or  did  it  produce  it  in  any  way?   If  I  ever  have 


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416  The  Medical  Advance.  Oct. 

an  opportunity  I  shall  try  to  verify  that  symptom  clinically 
and  hope  yon  will  do  the  same. 

Salicylic  acid  has  been  given  for  rheumatism,  at  times 
with  success,  at  others  without  In  proving  the  remedy 
the  first  pain  observed  was  in  the  right  arm  half  way  from 
the  shoulder  to  the  elbow,  then  in  the  other  arm  and  in 
the  thighs,  then  around  the  heart  This  last  is  a  distressed, 
burning  feeling.  The  others  are  lame  aching  pains.  It 
did  not  affect  the  joints  at  all,  and  that  is  why  some  failed 
to  find  relief.  A  proving  by  Dr.  H.  L.  Chase,  of  Cam- 
bridgeport,  gave  similar  results. 

Artemesia  abrotanum  (Southernwood)  affects  the  mus- 
cles in  a  similar  way,  but  is  more  painful,  and  it  has  a  sort 
of  paralyzed  condition.  I  think  it  affects  |he  nervous  sys- 
tem quite  seriously.  In  acute  rheumatism,  with  great 
pain,  before  any  swelling  occurs,  it  is  a  sovereign  remedy.. 
I  have  given  it  to  a  patient  suffering  with  rheumatism 
(which  promised  a  serious  rheumatic  fever),  so  he  would 
scream  when  moved  or  cry  out  when  one  came  near  him 
(Arnica),  and  in  forty-eight  hours  he  was  well  except 
weak.  If  thoroughly  tested  I  believe  it  would  prove  a 
valuable  remedy  in  cases  of  spinal  affection,  paralysis,, 
nervous  prostration,  etc.  After  I  proved  it  Dr.  David 
Thayer  gave  it  a  place  in  his  pocket  case,  and  I  presume 
he  has  a  valuable  clinical  record  of  its  action,  as  he  often 
spoke  highly  of  it 

A  proving  of  an  attenuation  of  Mullen  oil  produced  in- 
continence of  urine,  and  it  has  a  wonderful  power  to  cure 
it  Beports  of  its  power  to  cure  urinary  troubles,  deaf- 
ness and  earache  are  quite  flattering,  and  if  I  have  done 
nothing  more  I  feel  that  the  introduction  of  this  remedy 
has  been  a  benefit  to  the  profession  and  to  the  afflicted.  I 
fear  that  adding  alcohol  to  it  destroys  some  of  its  good 
effects  in  diseases  of  the  ear. 

In  proving  Sulphate  of  Morphia  I  experienced  sharp,, 
darting  pains  in  various  parts  of  the  body,  such  as  are 
often  cured  by  the  remedy.  I  think  an  exhaustive  prov- 
ing of  the  remedy  would  show  that  it  is  homoeopathic  to 
neuralgic  pains  in  various  parts  of  the  body.    To  get  its. 


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1887  •  Clinical  Notes.  417 

therapeutic  effects  it  should  be  proved  in  an  attenuated 
form,  thereby  avoiding  its  narcotic  ix>wer.  If  you  will 
examine  my  proving  of  Dioscorea  I  think  you  will  find 
nearly  all  of  the  symptoms  that  have  been  produced  by 
that  remedy.  There  may  be  some  spurious  symptoms 
given,  but  I  think  a  large  majority  of  them  are  genuina 
They  appeared  so  at  the  time  at  any  rate.  There  was  not 
a  day  for  four  months  that  I  was  not  seriously  under  its 
influence,  and  I  have  no  doubt  it  affected  me  for  years.  I 
will  speak  of  only  one  of  the  bowel  symptoms,  and  that  is 
the  colic,  which  is  relieved  by  standing  erect  or  bending 
backwards,  the  opposite  of  Colocynth.  In  my  hands,  as 
well  as  others,  it  has  proved  a  valuable  remedy  in  chronic 
dyspepsia  accompanied  by  constipation.  For  cases  of 
broken  down,  nervous  systems,  with  nocturnal  emissions, 
even  cases  partially  demented,  I  know  of  no  remedy  that 
can  compete  with  it. 

I  have  given  you  a  few  of  the  characteristic  symptoms 
of  these  remedies,  hoping  if  you  have  not  been  familiar 
with  them  you  will  study  them. 

I  want  to  simply  call  your  attention  to  a  few  remedies 
that  do  not  seem  to  be  in  general  use. 

Sabal  serulata  is  a  remedy  prepared  from  the  ripe  berry 
of  the  scrub  palmetto.  For  catarrhal  or  bronchial  coughs 
it  is  an  excellent  remedy.  It  has  a  fattening  property 
superior  to  cod  liver  oil. 

Not  loDg  since  I  met  with  a  company  of  doctors,  and  we 
discussed  nasal  catarrh,  but  not  one  of  them  mentioned 
Sanguinaria  can.  For  years  I  have  considered  it  the  best 
remedy  we  have  for  that  disease,  and  now  I  feel  inclined 
to  think  Nitrate  of  Sanguinaria  may  prove  a  better  one. 

Myosotis  is  a  remedy  that  deserves  our  notice  in  cases 
of  tubercular  consumption.  Some  of  you  may  have  seen 
a  report  I  made  some  years  ago  where  it  cured  some  cases 
almost  hopeless. 

Ova  testa  is  a  valuable  remedy  for  old  obstinate  cases  of 
leucorrhoea  and  troublesome  backache. 

One  other  remedy  finishes  my  list  to-day.  Psorinum  is 
a  remedy  that  many  discard  entirely,  and  I  doubt  if  there 


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418  The  Medical  Advanie.  Oct 

is  any  in  the  market  or  private  possession  lower  than  the 
200th  attenuation,  yet  it  is  a  wonderful  remedy.  When  yon 
get  another  case  of  cholera  infantum,  with  little  left  except 
the  bones,  with  a  wrinkled  skin  drawn  over  them,  giving 
the  child  an  old  *'  mummy ''  look,  give  it  and  be  astonished, 
especially  if  the  discharges  are  so  ofiPensive  that  Asafoet- 
ida  compared  with  it  would  seem  a  sweet  perfume.  I  pre- 
scribed for  a  boy,  three  years  old,  said  to  have  diabetes, 
passing  two  quart's  of  urine  in  twenty-four  hours,  but  it 
had  a  very  offensive  diarrhoea  for  which  I  gave  Psorinum 
200,  and  it  was  better  in  three  hours,  much  improved  the 
next  day.  Three  days  later  it  was  ^ell  except  some  debil- 
ity, though  it  had  been  ailing  several  weeks. 

In  the  winter  of  1884-5*  I  had  a  class  of  students  from 
Boston,  trying  to  teach  them  the  homoeopathic  Ma.teria 
Medica.  I  tried  to  teach  them  the  characteristic  symp- 
toms, saying  nothing  about  attenuations,  but  to  you  I 
think  no  harm  to  say,  if  you  fail  with  or  cannot  get  the 
low  attenuations  of  a  remedy  do  not  be  afraid  to  try  the 
higher  ones. 

Most  of  you  have  probably  read  the  article  on  diphtheria 
in  the  January  number  of  the  N.  E.  Med.  Oazette,  by  Dr. 
Collins,  of  Nashua,  N.  H.  As  he  mentioned  my  name  in 
that  article,  saying  I  objected  to  such  radical  treatment 
(which  is  true,  and  I  have  not  changed  my  mind  since),  I 
wish  to  say  something  in  regard  to  it  I  know  Mercury 
has  many  symptoms  similar  to  those  of  diphtheria,  but 
many  of  us  have  failed  with  it  I  followed  Dr.  Collins's 
advice,  giving  it  as  he  recommended,  and  followed  it  till  it 
loosened  every  tooth  in  the  patient's  head,  and  if  he  had  not 
died  would  probably  lost  every  tooth.  Dr.  Collins  says 
(if  I  remember  right)  he  lost  only  two  cases  in  fifty;  but 
epidemics  vary  in  severity.  If  you  will  examine  the  report 
of  the  State  Board  of  Health  in  this  state  about  twelve 
years  ago,  you  will  find  a  record  of  an  epidemic  of  diph- 
theria in  Lynn,  where  the  old  school  doctors  lost  one  hun- 
dred and  eighty  patients — twenty-four  per  cent  of  all  cases 


*  This  was  before  Dr.  G.  Wesselhoeft  gave  his  lectures  to  allopathic  students. 


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1887  Abnormal  Somnolence.  419 

they  treated— reported  by  one  of  their  numbers.  At  that 
time  1  treated  one  hundred  and  ten  consecutive  cases  with- 
out a  death;  the  next  one  died,  and  that  is  better  than  Dr. 
Collinses  record.  I  gave  Apis,  Bell.,  Carbo  veg.,  Kali  bich., 
Lachesis  and  Phosphorus,  as  called  for,  and  from  the  third 
to  the  200th  attenuation.  At  other  times  I  have  done  much 
worse,  but  possibly  my  record  then  would  compare  fairly 
well  with  the  old  school.  Why  does  Dr.  Collins  succeed 
better  with  this  remedy  than  others?  Does  he  not  give  the 
possible  answer  himself  when  he  says:  *'The  only  remedy 
I  have  ever  found  to  stop  instantly  the  progress  of  the 
diphtheritic  exudation,  a  slough,  is  'Monsel's'  solution  of 
persulphate  of  iron."  As  this  acts  immediately,  why  not 
give  it  some  of  the  glory?  If  removing  the  membrane  is 
the  greater  object,  why  not  use  Trypsin,  a  mUd  remedy 
and  an  efiPective  one?  For  thirty  years  I  have  been  trying 
to  cure  this  dangerous  disease  and  am  willing  to  try  any- 
thing that  will  give  relief.  I  have  tried  many  things:  cold 
and  heat,  kerosene  oil,  even  the  sulpho  carbonate  of  soda 
bubble,  but  have  never  found  anything  to  equal  the  indi- 
cated and  well-tested  remedies. 


ABNORMAL  SOMNOLENCE.* 


(i.  W.  WINTERBURN,  M.  D.,  New  York. 


I  was  asked  to  see  a  gentleman,  a  mechanical  engineer, 
on  May  8th  of  the  current  year.  He  complained  of  being 
afflicted  with  a  distressing  and  overpowering  sleepiness 
which  greatly  interfered  with  the  proper  discharge  of  his 
daily  duties,  which  latter  consisted  mainly  of  pen  work.  As 
soon  as  he  would  sit  down  he  was  seized  with  a  feeling  of 
drowsiness  which  he  could  only  shake  off  by  getting  up 
and  stirring  about  Enquiry  elicited  other  symptoms,  such 
as  a  feeling  of  prostration  very  pronounced  in  the  early 
hours  of  the  day;  dull  aching  in  the  small  of  the  back;  tur- 
bid urine  with  frequent  desire,  and  a  sense  of  goneness 
and  pressure  in  the  stomach.    The  one  symptom,  however, 


*  Extracts  from  a  paper  read  before  the  American  Institute,  1887. 


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420  The  Medical  Advance.  Ooi 

which  overshadowed  all  else  in  his  mind  was  the  drowsi- 
ness. 

I  gave  him  Sepia  200  (OarroU  Dunham).  He  was  mark- 
edly better  the  next  day,  and  reported  that  he  was  quite 
himself  again  on  the  12th  insi 

This  gentleman  had  been  ailing  for  several  months  and 
had  taken  mercury,  Boohelle  salts,  and  other  purgative 
medicaments.  He  had  also  had  Nux  mosch.,  from  a  stu- 
dent of  mine, — his  nephew — which  had  helped  him  some, 
but  its  effects  were  only  temporary.  He  has  remainetl  well 
down  to  this  date  (June  23th)  although  pursuing  the  even 
tenor  of  a  rather  confining  employment 

There  are  some  interesting  addeuda  to  this  case.  I  have 
said  that  the  man  was  a  mechanical  engineer.  When  told 
sometime  subsequently  by  his  nephew  that  he  had  been 
cured  by  Sepia,  he  said,  "  Why  that's  curious;  do  you 
know  whenever  I  used  Sepia  to  draw  with  and  get  it  on  my 
hands,  I  always  noticed  that  I  was  worse."  The  question 
now  is,  was  it  a  case  of  Sepia  poisoning?  And,  if  so,  did 
the*  dynamized  Sepia  not  only  antidote  the  effects  of  the 
ink,  but  provide  a  prophylactic  against  subsequent  expo- 
sure to  its  influence? 


Being  called  suddenly  to  take  charge  of  a  person  in  a 
comatose  state  is  not  a  pleasant  experience,  and  as  usually 
it  is  impossible  to  get  the  ''  history "  of  the  case,  a  pre- 
scription becomes  largely  a  matter  of  guess-work.  A  case 
of  this  sort  was  that  of  a  young  married  woman  which  I 
saw  in  1879.  I  was  called  as  a  Dispensary  physician,  late 
one  night,  to  see  a  woman  whose  family  I  had  known  for  a 
couple  of  years,  and  whom  I  had  treated  several  months 
previously,  for  a  uterine  catarrh  and  general  ansemia.  I 
found  her  lying  on  the  bed  surrounded  by  her  weeping 
relatives  who  were  expectant  of  her  immediate  demise;  she 
already  looked  quite  corpse-like.  Unconsciousness,  was 
complete;  respiration  was  slow  and  shallow,  and  the  pulse 
radial  imperceptible;  tbe  eye  did  not  respond  to  bright, 
light,  nor  did  pricking  with  a  needle  elicit  any  evidence  of 
sensation.    The  extremities  were  cold  and^  the  features 


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I8S7  Abnormal  Somnolence.  421 

shninken,  and  the  whole  appearance  as  of  one  who  was 
quietly  slipping  out  of  life, — on^  who  had  known  little  of 
quietness  here — into  the  Great  Bayond.  The  only  addi- 
tional facts  obtainable  beyond  those  obvious  to  the  eye, 
were  that  she  had  been  slowly  sinking  for  several  days,  and 
had  gradually  fallen  iuto  the  state  in  which  I  saw  her.  I 
did  not  consider  it  would  be  of  any  use  to  give  medicines. 
I  knew,  that  whatever  might  be  the  more  immediate  causes  of 
her  present  condition,  she  was  simply  succumbing  to  that 
hard  fate  which  has  carried  down  many  a  gentle  and 
romantic  woman- -a  drunkard's  wife;  and  that  a  constitu- 
tion never  over-robust  had  been  weakened  probably  beyond 
repair  by  continuous  semi-starvation.  Yet  it  would  seem 
heartless  not  to  attempt  to  do  something,  and  urged  on  by 
her  sisters,  and  guided  by  a  peculiar  enlargement  of  the 
pupil  of  the  eye — an  enlargement  which  displaces  the 
entire  iris— I  put  some  pellets  of  Belladonna  200  (Carroll 
Dunham)  on  her  tongue.  Singular  and  even  improbable 
as  it  may  seem,  in  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  the  eye-lids, 
which  had  been  closed,  twitched  slightly  and  soon  after 
opened  slowly;  respiration  gradually  became  deeper  and 
seemed  more  frequent;  the  pulse  could  again  be  felt  faintly 
at  the  wrist  And  although  there  was  little  change  in  the 
death-like  appearance  of  the  countenance,  and  no  evidence 
of  returning  consciousness,  surely  and  slowly,  little  by 
little,  the  thread  of  life  was  being  taken  up  again,  and  I 
felt  justified  in  sayin<;  to  the  gathered  friends,  that  morn- 
ing would  see  her  "clothed  in  her  right  miud;"  and  so  it 
proved,  for  when  I  called  about  noon  day  she  was  sitting 
on  the  edge  of  the  bed  eating  some  gruel. 


Another  case  quite  different  in  all  its  surroundings  gave 
much  more  anxiety.  A  gentleman  residing  on  Fifteenth 
street  near  Eighth  Avenue,  engaged  in  the  electric  light 
business  was  so  unfortunate  in  February,  1832,  as  to  take 
the  measles.  The  case  progressed  fairly  well  for  several 
days;  although  the  bodily  temperature  was  rather  high,  the 
patient  slightly  delirious  and  the  rash  not  sufficiently  out 
to  please  me,  however,  I  felt  no  alarm  about  the  case.   The 

A* 


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422  The  Medical  Advance,  Nov. 

man's  wife  was  an  impnlsive,  vivacious  creature  who,  un- 
fortunately for  my  peace  of  miuil  and  the  success  of  the 
treatment,  became  possessed  with  an  insane  idea  that  if  ber 
husband  did  not  eat  he  would  die,  and  not  knowing  any- 
thing better  for  sick  people  than  beef  tea  she  busied  her- 
self making  it  and  pouring  it  down  him.  She  said  nothing 
of  this  to  me,  and  in  fact  she  spoke  English  so  indiffer- 
ently that  I  doubt  if  either  of  us  was  much  the  wiser 
for  our  attempts  at  conversation.  She  deluged  that  poor 
man  with  beef  tea,  coaxiug  it  down  his  unwilling  throat 
with  all  manner  of  pretexts  till  I  verily  believe  he  was  full 
of  tea  from  his  rectum  to  the  top  of  his  oesophagus.  The 
result  was  that  one  morning  about  three  o'clock  I  was 
called  to  see  him,  the  messenger  urging  the  greatest 
haste,  as  the  patient  was  thought  to  be  dying. 

I  went  Then  the  whole  story  of  the  beef  tea  came  out, 
but,  unfortunately,  much  of  the  beef  tea  was  bottled  up  in- 
side of  the  patient  who  was  comatose,  and  who  certainly 
looked  as  if  he  was  about  at  his  journey's  end.  I  gave 
Nux  vomica  at  frequent  intervals  and  in  varying  potencies, 
applied  mustard  drafts  to  the  soles  of  his  feet,  nape  of  the 
neck  and  over  the  solar  plexus,  but  after  three  hours  work 
saw  no  change  in  the  condition  of  the  patient  Tnoroughly 
alarmed  I  had  sent  for  several  physicians  in  counsel,  but 
the  messenger  came  back  each  time  with  word  that  they 
were  out,  or  too  used  up  by  other  calls  to  go  out 
again. 

At  7  A.  M.  the  condition  of  the  patient  was  practically  the 
same  as  when  I  first  arrived.  The  skin  was  cold  and  clam- 
my, the  face  distorted,  the  pupils  strongly  contracted,  re- 
spiration very  labored,  the  pulse  weak  and  irregular,  and 
he  gave  vent  at  frequent  intervals  to  quantities  of  offensive 
flatus.  I  now  bethought  me  of  Arsenicum  which  I  gave 
in  the  12,033th  potency.  No  very  remarkable  change  took 
place,  but  gradually  the  pulse  became  stronger,  the  respir- 
ation less  labored,  the  face  assumed  a  natural  expression 
and  was  no  longer  bathed  in  cold  sweat,  and  by  night-fall 
he  sank  into  a  quiet  slumber  without  regaining  conscious- 
ness, in  which  state  he  remained  until  late  in  the  afternoon 


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1887  Abnormal  Somnolence,  423 

of  the  next  day  when  he  awoke  and  expressed  himself  as 
feeling  qaite  comfortable,  bat  astonished  at  having  lost  two 
days  oat  of  his  calendar. 


I  never  saw  a  case  of  lucid  lethargy  and  never  expect  to, 
bat  I  did  see  some  dozen  years  ago  a  case  of  poisoniug  that 
was  very  like  it.  This  happened  in  1875  when  I  was  fresh 
oat  of  college  and  knew  even  less  than  I  do  now.  The 
patient  was  a  prosperous  middle-aged  mtin,  and  the  worst 
sufferer  from  trigeminal  neuralgia  that  I  have  ever  seen. 
He  had  made  his  own  way  up  in  the  world  and  was  a  rugged 
and  courageous  nature,  but  in  the  paroxysms  of  pain  would 
literally  roll  on  the  floor  in  uncontrollable  anguish.  He 
had  suffered  for  many  years  and  had  had  many  physicians, 
and  was  none  the  better  for  any  of  them.  He  had  just 
given  himself  into  the  care  of  Dr.  Meredith  Clymer,  a  dis- 
tinguished member  of  the  ''old  school"  and  who  made  the 
prescription  which  is  the  occasion  of  these  remai  k-j.  The 
powder  was  taken  about  10  o'clock  in  the  morning  and 
sometime  subsequently  in  attempting  to  go  from  his  chair 
across  the  room  he  fell  prone  upon  the  floor.  Dr.  Clymer 
was  sent  for  and  came  in  no  listless  mood.  Those  who  are 
familiar  with  the  huge  bulk  of  this  genial  gentlemen  of  the 
''old  school"  in  its  best  sense,  can  imagine  the  effects  of 
the  haste  upon  him,  as  he  sat  puffing  and  panting  in  a 
chair  as  absolutely  speechless  as  the  poor  patient  before 
him. 

Mr.  X.  lay  bound  hand  and  foot,  under  the  influence  of 
the  medicine,  as  inert  as  a  dead  man;  if  he  took  cognizance 
of  anything  that  took  place  and  was  going  on  he  gave  no 
sign;  he  apparently  ceased  to  breathe,  the  pulse  stopped 
and  life  seemed  to  have  gone  out  Various  restoratives 
were  applied,  and  at  last  when  the  man  wns  able  to  speak 
he  declared  that  he  had  been  conscious  all  the  time;  had 
heard  every  word  that  was  uttered,  and  had  suffered  no 
pain  only  a  sense  of  the  utter  helplessness  from  which  he 
had  not  even  an  inclination  to  arouse  himself.  He  recov- 
ered completely  and  had  his  attacks  of  facial  neuralgia  all 
the  same.    The  drug  was  Curare. 


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424  The  Medical  Adtxinoe.  Nov. 

PROLAPSUS  RECTI:  WHAT  IS  THE  REMEDY? 


C.  S.  DUBAND,  M.  D  ,  Sedalla.  Mo. 


A  Case. — Freddy  O ,  four  years  old;  well  formed, 

chubby,  with  light  hair  and  blue  eyes.  Mother  died  of 
consumption  oF  the  bowels  soon  after  he  was  born.  Had 
catarihal  symptoms  from  birth;  nostrils  always  stuflfed  up. 
The  least  cold  gives  him  cough  and  symptoms  of  croup. 
Coughs  worse  at  night  and  early  in  the  morning.  Is  easily 
thrown  into  fever  and  is  then  subject  to  spasms.  So  much 
for  general  description. 

I  was  called  to  see  him  March  26,  when  he  presented 
the  following  symptoms: 

Prolapsus  of  rectum  with  every  stool;  also  sometimes 
when  sitting.  Often  bleeds  a  large  quantity  when  pro- 
lapsed and  occasionally  at  other  times.  Constipated;  bowels 
move  every  other  day.  Dark  crusts  and  much  yellow, 
purulent  matter  in  nose  all  the  time.  Sulphur  55m.,  two 
doses. 

April  i.    A  little  better.     Sac.  lac. 

April  19.     Still  improving.     Sac.  lac. 

April  26.  Is  in  bad  with  measles,  but  seems  better. 
Nux  vom.  2m.,  one  dose.  [Why  give  Nux  without  giving 
the  reader  any  symptoms  for  which  it  was  given?  Could 
it  have  been  given  for  measles?  Why  change  from  Sulphur 
when  patient  was  improving?  Another  dose  of  Sulphur 
either  higher  or  lower  would  probably  have  been  a  better 
choice. — Ed.  ] 

May  20.  Not  so  well.  Bowels  regular.  Always  tired. 
Can't  stand  much  play.  Mucous  membrane  eicfoliates 
from  prolapsed  rectum;  is  of  greenish  color.  This  leaves 
the  rectum  very  sore.  Cough  worse  when  lying  on  back. 
Legs  ache;  left  worse.     Calcarea  30,  one  dose. 

May  24.  No  operation  of  bowels  yesterday — ^better. 
Sac.  lac. 

May  23.    Better.     Calcarea  13m.,  one  dose. 

June  4.  No  prolapse  till  yesterday  for  a  week.  Does 
not  take  cold  as  formerly.     Much  better.    Sac  lac. 


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1887         Prolapsus  Recti:  What  is  the  Remedy  f  425 

June  11.  General  improvement  still  continues,  but  has 
slight  prolapse  with  each  stool.  !No  pain,  no  hsemorrhaga 
Calcarea  41m.  in  water,  two  doses. 

June  25.  Prolapse  about  the  same.  Has  return  of 
tiredness  and  pains  in  limbs.  Blows  nose  frequently;  pur- 
ulent discharge.     Hoarse  cough.     Calcarea  30,  one  dose. 

July  9.  Prolapse  with  every  stool.  Bleeds  a  good  deal. 
Stools  seems  to  be  involuntary.  He  frequently  soils  him- 
self.    No  pain.     Psorinum  cm.,  four  powders. 

July  13.  Prolapsus  still  continues.  Better  in  other  re- 
spects.    Sulphur  cm.,  twice  daily  for  a  week. 

The  foregoing  is  copied  from  my  record.  I  treated  the 
patient  nearly  four  months  with  little  or  no  permanent 
benefit.    The  stepmother  says  he  is  "  about  the  same." 

Will  some  veteran  Homoeopathist  tell  me  what  to  do?  I 
know  the  case  was  badly  managed;  that  is  why  I  report  it. 
I  could  report  a  case  well  managed  and  promptly  cured, 
but  neither  the  reader  nor  myself  would  learn  anything 
from  it. 

[In  the  treatment  of  chronic  diseases  we  are  prone  to 
overlook  the  fact  that  it  requires  time  to  eradicate  a  con- 
stitutional, and  especially  a  psoric  taint,  and  rebuild  with 
healthy  tissue.  In  this  case  the  doctor  gave  Psorinum  cm. 
on  July  0,  and,  if  well  selected,  its  action  should  not  have 
been  interfered  with  for  three  or  four  weeks  at  least.  But 
on  July  13,  four  days  after,  he  gives  "  Sulphur  cm.,  twice 
daily  for  a  week,"  when  Hahnemann  says  one  dose  will 
often  last  for  weeks.  This  is  the  mistake  which  perhaps 
is  more  frequently  made  than  any  other,  and  which  spoils 
more  cases  than  we  dream  of.  The  doctor  says:  "Better 
in  other  respects,  but  prolapsus  still  continues."  Do  not 
pay  any  attention  to  the  prolapsus,  per  sc,  but  prescribe 
for  the  patient,  for  the  totality  of  symptoms  presented,  and 
that  will  eventually  disappear  with  returning  health.  We 
are  too  anxious  to  cure  the  disease,  and  in  our  anxiety 
overlook  the  patient  We  offer  these  suggestions,  not  as  a 
"  Veteran  Homoeopathist,"  but  as  an  individual  member  of 
the  profession,  trying,  in  practice,  to  follow  the  teach- 
ings of  Hahnemann. — Ed.] 


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426  The  Medical  Advance.  Nov. 

MATERIA  MEDIOA. 


HYOSCYAMUS  NIGEli.* 


E.  A.  KARRINGTON.  M.  D. 


Botanically  and,  in  a  measure,  therapeutically  similar  to 
Belladonna,  is  the  Hyoscyamus  niger.  This  interesting 
drug,  though  innocuous  to  some  animals,  is  poisonous  to 
fowls,  and  so  has  received  the  name  of  Henbane. 

A  description  of  its  action  at  this  juncture  necessitates 
its  differentiation  from  Belladonna  and  Stramonium.  It 
produces  many  cerebral  phenomena,  which  depend  upon  a 
perverted  sensorium,  without  much  fevei*  or  congestion. 
The  mental  excitement  seems  to  be  a  result  of  nervous 
agitation.  Thus,  it  causes  a  perfect  picture  of  mania,  but 
with  it  the  face  is  not  very  red  though  the  features  are  dis- 
torted or  expressive  of  suspicious  fear.  He  imagines  he 
will  be  poisoned  or  betrayed.  His  talk  is  silly  or  obscene, 
and  he  persists  in  stripping  himself  or  at  least  in  uncov- 
ering the  genitals.  (Phos.  is  most  similar  in  nudeness). 
Coeval  with  these  symptoms  are  evidences  of  disturbed 
nervous  and  muscular  actions.  The  patients  from  the  be- 
ginning are  weak.  Muscular  twitches  are  universal.  Thus 
motions  are  jactatory,  twitching,  angular.  Difficulty  in 
going  to  sleep  from  nervous  excitability.  Brain  full  of 
figures,  images,  etc.  During  sleep  limbs  twitch  or  are 
grotesquely  distorted;  the  hands  clutch  at  the  bedding; 
child  groans  and  whines,  grinds  its  teeth  and  starts  up 
affrighted — and  yet,  unlike  Belladonna  and  Stramonium, 
there  is  no  fever,  no  congestion. 

To  show  how  weak  the  patient  is,  or  soon  becomes,  note 
the  following:  Heart  beats  slowly,  with  drowsiness;  slurs 
his  wonls,  makes  mistakes  in  directing  his  thoughts;  ataxia, 
misses  what  he  reaches  for;  becomes  unconscious,  recog- 
nizes no  one,  or  answers  properly,  but  at  once  relapses  into 
stupor;  suddenly  sits  up  in  bed,  looks  inquiringly  around. 


•Notes  supplied  by  Dr.  E,  Fornla.s. 


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1887  Hyoscynmus  Niger.  427 

and  then  lies  down;  tongue  red,  dry,  brown  and  cracked  or 
paralyzed;  sordes;  sphincters  relaxed,  thus  stools  and 
urine  pass  involuntarily. 

From  these  indications  we  may  employ  Hyoscyamus  in 
mania,  such  as  accompanies  pregaaucy,  lying-in,  etc. ;  ner- 
vous women;  typhoid  conditions;  spasms,  especially  if 
puerperal,  but  here  it  is  reailily  separated  from  Belladonna, 
Stramonium,  etc.,  by  the  promiuence  of  nervous  agitation, 
reflex  exciUibility,  etc.;  spasms  from  intestinal  worms,  rival- 
ling Cilia;  epilepsy,  preceded  by  hunger;  during  the  fit 
face  purple;  snoring,  sopor  afterward. 

In  typhoid  fever  the  remedy  resembles  Phos.  acid,  Bhus, 
Lycop.,  Lachesis. 

But  all  of  these  except,  perhaps,  Phosphoric  acid,  act 
more  profoundly,  and  heuce  follow  Hyoscyamus  well,  the 
latter  being  insufficient.  Phosph^  ric  acid  has  the  same 
stupor,  with  easy  arousing,  but  iHcks  the  muscular  jactita- 
tions. Lycopodium  resembles  it  in  impending  cerebral 
paralyses,  but  acts  more  profoundly.  Lachesis  is  similar, 
but  causes  more  evidences  of  de3omposition.  In  early 
stages  both  may  meet  in  loquacity.  Hyoscyamus  causes 
jumping  from  subject  to  subject,  without  any  connection 
between  them;  Lachesis  jumps  from  subject  to  subject, 
between  which  there  is  an  apparent  connection. 

But  further,  Hyoscyamus  produces  a  cough  which  is 
essentially  nervous,  but  which  is  commonly  met  with. 
Dry,  hacking  cough  compelling  to  sit  up,  and  thereby  re- 
lieved.    May  be  caused  by  nervousness,  long  palate,  etc. 

Bryonia  and  Belladonna  force  patient  to  sit  up,  but  he 
is  not  relieved  thereby.  Lachesis  has  a  nervous  cough, 
but  it  starts  lower  down  and  often  comes  from  either  tightly 
adhering  phlegm  or  from  a  su  Iden  sensation  of  a  lump 
rising  in  throat  It  is  aggravated  after  sleep.  Conium 
has  a  dry  cough  which  returns  while  lying  down. 

DATUBA  STRAMONIUM. 

The  thorn  apple,  or  Jamestown  weed,  grows  unwelcom- 
ingly  abundant  on  fields  in  all  our  large  cities.  Goats 
indulge  in  its  leaves,  but  children  are  not  uncommonly 


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428  The  Medical  Advance,  Nov. 

poisoned  by  it,  tempted  by  its  large,  imposing  flowers.  In 
snch  toxic  cases  give  the  patient  large  quantities  of  lemon 
juice  or  vinegar. 

Stramonium  stands  between  Hyoscyamus  and  Bella- 
donna. It  excites  the  seusorium  and  perverts  its  functions. 
The  special  senses  are  affected.  Thus  there  are  double 
visions,  objects  are  seen  double  and  oblique.  Illusions  in 
dark  or  blue.  Least  noise  startles.  Child  awakens  terri- 
fied, clings  to  him  who  is  nearest.  Sees  ghosts;  talks  with 
spirits;  hears  voices;  sees  imaginary  animals  and  other 
figures  jumping  up;  insane  mania  for  light  and  for  com- 
pany. All  motions  and  actions,  mental  and  bodily,  are 
grncef ul ;  makes  verses,  sings,  laughs,  prays.  Loquacity. 
Patient  raises  the  head  frequently  from  the  pillow. 

Now,  with  all  these  symptoms,  there  is  very  little  fever, 
very  little  actual  thermometrical  increase.  The  face  may 
be  red,  the  eyes  staring,  and  congestive  fulness  of  the  head; 
but  no  such  fever  as  in  Belladonna.  The  forehead  is  often 
drawing  into  wrinkles,  however,  and  the  pupils  may  be 
dilated,  mouth  spasmodically  closed,  stammering  speech  or 
speechlessness.  Tongue  trembles.  We  may  confidently 
employ  this  drug  in  the  complaints  of  children,  especially 
in  cerebral  excitement,  convulsion,  and  from  suppressed 
or  undeveloped  exanthemata.'  Also  in  delirium  tremens, 
in  typhoid,  etc.  The  urine  in  all  these  cases  is  retained 
or  suppressed.  Sometimes  the  urine  is  passed  spasmodic- 
ally in  spurts,  a  sort  of  '^  stammering  of  the  bladder." 

Further  typhoid  symptoms  are:  Speech  high  pitched 
and  performed  with  effort,  from  laryngeal  spasms;  rumb- 
ling and  gurgling  in  the  abdomen;  sleep  sound,  with  loud 
snoring,  patient  lying  on  the  back  with  open,  fixed  eyes;* 
or  disturbed  with  frightened  starting,  etc.  Body  hot,  espe- 
cially the  face,  patient  wants  to  cover  up;  or  profuse  sweat 
without  relief  (often  with  children). 

We  may  also  use  Stramonium  in  mania.  The  hallucina- 
tions have  all  the  vividness  of  reality,  and  are  associated  with 
convulsions,  especially  of  the  upper  extremities,  while  the 
legs  may  be  paralyzed;  face  red;  anomalous  sensations  as 

1  See  Notes  and  Comparisons  at  tbe  close  of  tbis  remedy. 


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1887  Hyoscyamtis  Niger.  429 

if  double,  big,  etc'  Chorea  yields  to  StramoDium — at 
least  the  violent  conyulsive  jerks  of  head  and  arms  are 
modified.^ 

Another  nervous  affection  yielding  to  Stramonium,  or  at 
least  modified  by  it,  is  nervous  asthma:  can  scarcely  draw 
in  the  breath  from  the  spasm,  face  livid;  aggravated  after 
talking. 

In  scarlatina  Stramonium  ranks  second  only  to  Bella- 
donna, the  fever  and  throat  symptoms  are  less  than  in  Bel- 
ladonna But  there  may  be  suppressed  urine;  violent  con- 
vulsions; hands  tremblingly  reaching  in  the  air  for  imag- 
inary  objects  (note  here  the  adynamia);  rash,  copper  red 
and  patchy;  skin,  hot  and  dry;  awakens  from  sleep 
affrighted,  eta ;  erysipelas.* 

Though,  as  Hahnemann  has  shown.  Stramonium  pri- 
marily causes  no  pain,  secondarily  it  does.  Neuralgia, 
abscesses,  felons,  hip-joint  disease  (left  side)  may  demand 
the  drug  when  the  pains  are  maddening.  Pains  are  ameli- 
orated by  wrapping  up  warmly. 

NOTES  AND  COMPARISONS. 

1.  Compare;  Cuprum,  also  awakening:  with  fear;  but  the  face 
is  bluish  and  the  convulsions  more  violent  with  tlexings  of  mus- 
cles. Zinc  awakes  in  same  way,  but  there  is  no  cerebral  conges- 
tion; fiice  is  cool  Hither  than  hot  and  red.  Stramonium  often 
comes  in  in  incipiency  of  raejwles  or  scarlatina,  rash  will  not  come 
out,  and  brain  suffers,  with  convulsions,  throwing  the  arms  about; 
child  sees  rats,  bugs,  etc. 

2.  See  also:  Ilyoscyamus,  snoring,  rattling  breathing.  Opium, 
snoring  stertor  but  very  profound  stupor;  face  not  bright  red,  but 
brownish  red. 

3.  Belladonna  has  much  more  fever.  Hyoseyamus  has  more 
agitation,  less  congestion,  and  the  hallucinations  are  less  real,  be- 
wildering, vague. 

4.  Chorea  may  need  further:  Natrum  mur..  Sepia,  or  Sulphur 
to  complete.    See  also  Mygale. 

5.  In  erysipelas,  with  niet:ustasis  to  the  brain,  Hughes  suggests 
Stramonium  rather  than  Belladonna  if  there  is  much  adynamia. 

OHELIDONIUM   MAJUS. 

This  is  a  peculiar  and  unique  remedy,  possessing  points 
of  similarity  with  its  congeners,  Sanguinaria  and  Opium, 
and  also  very  similar  to  Nux  vomica,  Merourius,  Phos- 


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430 


The  Medwal  Advance, 


Nov. 


phorus,  Kali  carb.,  etc.  The  plant  yields  an  acrid,  yellow, 
bitter  jaice.  Applied  locally  this  produces  inflp.mmation 
and  even  vesication.  It  attacks  principally  the  liver,  Inngs 
and  kidneys,  causing  congestion  and  inflammation. 

Lot  us  examine  a  few  symptoms. 

The  patient  is  low-spirited,  inclined  to  weep,  but  knows 
no  reason  therefor.  He  is  restless,  must  move  from  place 
to  place,  with  mental  anguish.  Headache,  with  coldness 
up  neck  into  occiput,  head  so  heavy  he  can  scarcely  raise 
it  from  the  pillow,  pressure  in  occiput  towards  left  ear. 
Fistula  lachrymalis,  temples  tender  on  pressure,  tears  flow 
over  the  cheek,  whizzing  in  the  ear  as  from  little  jets  pf 
air  escaping,  ears  obstructed  during  cough.  Supra  orbital 
neuralgia,  right  side,  eyes  water.'  Dyspepsia;  face  sallow, 
blue  around  the  eyes,  tongue  narrow,  pointed  or  thickly 
furred;  longing  for  milk,  coflPee  and  wine  which  agree; 
bitter  taste,  pains  like  gnstralgia  worse  from  eating.  Pains 
in  right  shoulder  and  right  scapula.  Liver  congested, 
sharp,  stitching,  throbbing  pains;  jaundice;  stool  clayey,  or 
bright  yellow,  thin  diarrhoea;  violent  palpitation  on  moving 
bed-clothes.     Gall  stones. 

Capillary  bronchitis,  especially  after  whooping-cough  or 
measles.  Battling  cough,  bright  yellow  diarrhoea.  Pneu- 
monia, dark  red  face,  great  oppression,  fan-like  motion  of 
alflB  nasi,  one  hot  and  one  cold  foot.  Stitching  pain  under 
right  scapula.^ 

(No.  1). 


NOTES  AND  COMPARISONS. 


Gbelidonium. 


Weeps. 

Supra-orbital 
npuralifia  on 
rijf  ht  Hi<Ie. 

Lachryination. 

Fare  yelJow, 
blue  around 
eyes;  grey. 


Nux  vom. 


Angry. 

Supra-orbital 
neuralgia  left 
side. 

Even  injected. 

Yellow  and  red. 


Berberis. 


Weeps,  low-spir- 
ited. 


Pale,  sunken. 


Bryonia. 


Irritable. 


Yellow,palen'8S. 


'  See  Notes  and  Comparisons  at  end  of  remedy. 


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1887  Alumina  431 

No.  2.— Similar  to  Mercurius,  Tartar  emetic  and  Lycopodium  in 
pneumonia. 

Mereiirius  has  right  lung  affected,  bilious  symptoms,  diarrhoea, 
etc..  but  has  pain  through  right  lung  to  back,  green  slimy  stools, 
tenesmus,  bloated,  sensitive  hypoohondria,  profuse  bloody  sputum. 

Tartar  emetic  has  yellow  skin,  urine,  vomit,  etc.  (in  bilious 
pneumonia).  Stinging  under  right  false  ribs,  sputum  frothy,  yel- 
low, tenacious,  rattling  on  chest  with  suffocation,  fan-like  motion 
of  alse  nasi,  with  great  oppression,  strong  heart  b^at. 

Lycopodium  has  more  rumbling  in  left  hypochondria,  sputum 
muco-purulent;  sounds  as  if  whole  lung  was  soft;  light-red  spu- 
tum. 

Sanguinaria:  wheezing,  whistling,  circumscribed  redness  of 
<;heeks. 

Nux  vomica:  sometimes  in  drunkards. 

K.ili  carb.:   exudate  copious;   much  rattling;    pus  in  sputa; 

cyanosis. 

ALUMINA. 


A  LECTUKB  BY  PROF.  E.  A.  FABRINGTON,  M.  D. 


Alumina  is  a  form  of  pure  clay  and  is  known  as  Argilla. 

According  to  Hering,tlie  symptoms  which  Hnrllaub  ob- 
tained are  not  pure  because  he  simply  washed  his  prepara- 
tion of  clay,  while  Hahnemann  subjected  his  to  white  heat. 

Alumina  acts  best  in  aged  persons  of  spare  habit,  or  in 
girls  at  puberty  who  are  chlorotic;  also  in  scrofulous  chil- 
dren who  are  fed  on  artificial  food  and  suffer  from  inactive 
bowels;  oezena  with  scabs  and  much  dryness  of  the  mucous 
membrane  of  nose,  strabismus,  etc.,  the  patient  is  low 
spirited,  weeping;  worse  on  awaking,  (compare  Lach.,  Puis., 
Sep.)  or  is  tormented  with  apprehensiveoess,  as  of  becom- 
ing crazy;  (compare  Calcarea  osi  lod.)  as  of  some  impend- 
ing evil.  Again  she  may  be  tormented  with  suicidal 
thoughts  excited  by  the  sight  of  blood,  of  a  knife,  eta 
Men  are  hypochondriacal  with  ennui;  an  hour  seems  a 
half  a  day;  peevishness;  vertigo,  things  turn  in  a  circle,  he 
feels  faint,  headache  and  pain  in  nape;  worse  in  bed  until 
be  gets  up;  pains  in  head  worse  from  motion;  (compare 
Bry.)  head  feels  heavy,  with  pale,  languid  face;  vertex 
painful  to  touch. 


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432  The  Medical  Advance.  Nov. 

Appetite  for  starch,  chalk,  clean  white  rags,  charcoal  and 
other  indigestibles,  with  faintness,  and  better  after  eating 
these  things. 

Menses  scanty,  pale.  After  menses  feels  exhausted;  leu- 
oorrhoea  profuse,  running  to  heels,  better  from  cold  wash- 
ing. 

Skin  rough,  chapped,  itching.  Nails  brittle,  or  thick; 
spots  on  nails.  Deep  rhagades,  worse  in  winter  and  from 
washing. 

Much  tfidking,  especially  in  lively  company,  makes  her 
hoarse. 

In  chlorosis  compare  Bry.,  Puis.,  Ferrum  and  Graph. 

Alumina  is  similar  with  Graphites  in  profuse  leucor- 
rhoea;  dry  mucous  membranes;  scanty  menses;  rhagades; 
dry,  rough  skin,  etc.  In  chlorosis  the  abnormal  cravings 
are  enough  to  discriminate,  and,  besides,  Alumina  is  gen- 
erally better  from  cold  air  if  not  too  cold.  Graphites  is 
not  Alumina  patient  has  more  of  a  hysteric  alternation 
of  smiles  and  tears,  is  of  spare  habit  Graphites  patient 
is  corpulent  Calcarea,  Hyoscyamus  and  Ignatia  also  have 
the  abnormal  cravings. 

Nerves:  Lips  feel  as  if  large;  face  seems  to  him  larger; 
eyes  smaller;  feeling  of  cobwebs  on  face;  jaws  firmly  set,, 
tension  in  skin;  formication;  parts  go  to  sleep;  numbness; 
lower  jaw  seems  shortened;  upper  teeth  project  consider- 
ably over  the  lower  ones;  faint,  tired,  must  sit  down;  cramp 
in  chest;  talking  fatigues;  chest  feels  tight  with  apprehen* 
sion;  short-breathed;  feels  as  if  spine  and  legs  were  in  a 
band;  spine  feels  as  if  a  hot  iron  were  thrust  into  it;  pal- 
pitation, large  and  small  beats  intermixed;  cannot  walk 
with  the  eyes  closed  or  in  a  dark  room.  Limbs  feel  as  if 
squeezed,  tense,  paralytic,  weak,  go  to  sleep,  numb,  pithy, 
formication,  heavy,  hard;  skin  grows  tender;  nails  brittle; 
gastrocnemii  feel  too  short;  nates  go  to  sleep;  weak  and 
tired  from  talking.     Locomotor  ataxia. 

Mucous  membranes,  as  already  mentioned,  are  very  dry 
with  scanty  secretion;  thus  the  eyes  are  dry  with  dim  vis- 
ion; must  rub  them  for  relief;  eyes  inflammed  and  itch  at 
the  inner  canthi;  agglutinate,  with  burning,  dryness  and 


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Alumina.  433 

smarting;  eyelids  thickened;  dry,  burning;  dry  roucns  in 
the  morning  on  awaking;  granular  lids;  loss  of  power 
in  upper  lids.  Useful  in  asthenopia  from  conjunctival  irri- 
tation, also  in  granular  lids,  chronic  blepharitis,  etc.  For 
dry  eyes  Allen  also  recommends  Berberis,  Nat.  carb.,  and 
Bulph.  Dry  on  reading,  Crocus,  Arg.  nit  Drooping  lids. 
(Nux  mosch..  Sepia  and  Rhus. )  Graphites  resembles  Alu- 
mina in  blepharitis,  but  only  Graphites  has  moisture  and 
cracks.  (For  loss  of  power  in  internal  rectus  compare 
Goniuni,  Buta,  Nat.  mur, — the  latter,  according  to  Wood- 
yat,  is  best) 

Again,  the  nose  is  dry,  scurfy,  with  discharge  of  hard, 
yellow,  green  mucus;  nose  red  and  swollen,  sensitive,  sep- 
tum  red,  swollen,  worse  evenings.  Not  equal  to  Hyoscya- 
mus,  especially  when  worse  while  lying. 

The  mouth,  throat  and  pharynx,  too,  look  dry,  glazed  and 
red.     Mouth  dry,  though  saliva  is  increased. 

Throat  dry  and  parched,  raw,  very  dry  on  waking  with 
husky,  weak  voice;  pressure  of  a  plug  in  throat;  feeling  as 
of  a  splinter  on  swallowing.  Feels  the  food  all  the  way 
down  the  oesophagus;  rawness  in  larynx;  sense  of  tightly 
adhering  phlegm  with  dryness;  cough  dry  from  tickling  in 
the  larynx^or  from  elongated  uvula;  long-lasting,  morning 
cough  ending  in  a  difficult  raising  of  a  little  white  mucus 
or  with  vomiting.     (Compare  Bry.  and  Sepia) 

Soreness  in  chest  worse  lifting  and  talking. 

Dyspepsia  worse  after  eating  potatoes  (often  confirmed). 
Abdomen  hangs  heavily  (similar  to  Ferrum). 

Costive  from  inactive  rectum,  even  a  soft  stool  requires 
much  urging.  Stools  hard,  knotty,  mucus  coated  with 
cutting  pain  and  followed  by  blood. 

Graphites  best  for  the  mucus  coated  condition  of  stooL 
The  cutting  and  blood  after  is  like  Nat  mur.  Alum  P.  8. 
is  an  excellent  drug,  better  than  Alumina,  for  clots  from 
anus  during  typhoid. 

In  Alumina  we  have  rectum  constricted  and  dried  up, 
excoriating  feeling;  can't  pass  urine  without  straining  to 
stool. 

Gonorrhoea:  meatus  pouts,  swelling  of  urethra  with  light 


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4M  The  Medical  Advance.  Not. 

yellow  pus.      iDgainal  glands  swollen:  Bubo;  frequent 
micturition  with  the  passnge  of  a  few  drops. 

Uterus  prolapsed,  swollen,  indurated;  ovaries  swollen 
and  painful,  raised  itching  spots  on  the  vulva  and  vagina. 

STANNUM. 

The  Stannum  patient  is  sad  and  tearful;  feels  like  cry- 
ing continually,  but  crying  makes  her  worse;  she  is  so  nerv- 
ous and  weak  that  she  becomes  anxious  with  palpitation, 
even  from  giving  directions  in  her  domestic  affairs.  Her 
face  is  pale,  with  sunken  eyes;  features  elongated,  any  ex- 
ertion causes  hectic  flashing;  digestion  is  disturbed,  with 
bitter  eructations,  with  nausea  and  vomiting  of  bile  or 
vomiting  when  smelling  the  cooking;  she  is  hypochon- 
driacal and  suffers  from  cardialgia  which  is  better  when 
walking,  yet  she  is  so  weak  she  must  desist  Tongue  yel- 
low. She  complains  of  goneness  in  stomach  and  chest,  her 
voice  is  weak  and  talking  makes  her  larynx  ache  and  she 
becomes  hoarse  therefrom;  she  suffers  from  bearing  down 
in  uterus  (very  similar  to  Puis.,  Sep.,  ^[aL  mur.,  Merc,  in 
prolapsus  of  vagina).  The  bearing  down  is,  according  to 
Hughes,  relieved  by  tin.  It  is  useful  in  prolapsus  uteri, 
also  prolapsus  of  the  vagina  worse  during  a  hard  stool, 
(Podophyllum  and  CoUinsonia  have  the  first  deviation  of 
the  uterus  with  diarrhoea  ami  paolapsus  ani;  and  Opium 
the  second  deviations  with  hard  stools,  constipation.) 

Menses  profuse.  Leucorrhoea  with  great  loss  of  strength; 
it  is  yellow  or  clear  mucus. 

The  patient  suffers  from  neuralgia,  the  pains  increase 
and  decrease  slowly,  (similar  to  Platina  and  Strontia.) 

Prostration:  While  dressing  in  the  morning  she  is  sud- 
denly so  weak  she  can  scarcely  breathe;  wishes  to  lie  down 
and  in  so  doing  drops  into  the  chair  trembling. 

Anus  loses  power  from  frij^ht;  limbs  feel  as  if  heavily 
laden.  (This  functional  paralysis  is  similar  to  Nai  mur., 
Coco.,  Ign.  and  Phos. ) 

Nerves:  Epilepsy  when  caused  by  intestinal  worms 
during  teething. 

Children  require  Stannum  when  they  are  pale,  weak» 
suffer  from  convulsions. 


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Alumina,  435 

Colic  which  is  relieved  by  pressure  on  the  abdomen,  as 
when  the  child  lies  pressed  against  the  mother's  shoulder. 

Sweetish  risings;  every thiug  bitter  except  water. 

Mucous  membranes:  the  secretion  is  profuse,  bland,  yel- 
low or  green,  muco-purulent,  thick,  viscid,  mixed  with 
blood,  collects  in  the  throat  and  is  detatched  with  great  dif- 
ficulty, even  exciting  vomiting.  The  voice  is  weak,  hoarse, 
husky;  mucus  collects  in  the  chest  from  which  it  is  readily 
expectorated.  Sometimes,  as  mentioned  above,  these  sputa 
are  yellow  or  green,  and  purulent,  at  others  they  are  sour 
or  sweetish,  offensive  tasting  and  rarely  dark  bloody. 

The  cough  is  very  annoying  and  is  worse  at  night,  worse 
talking,  walking  rapidly,  etc. 

Accompanying  these  symptoms  are  weak  feelings  in  the 
chest  Voice  is  higher  after  each  expectoration;  evening 
dyspnoea,  better  when  he  raises  the  mucus;  deep  inspira- 
tion relieves;  dry  heat  on  the  least  exertion. 

Chills  at  10  A.  M.,  profuse  sweat  after  4  A.  M.;  emacia- 
tion; feet  and  hands  swell  in  the  evening,  or  feel  heavy  and 
cold;  stomach  bloated  after  eating. 

Knife- like  stitches  in  left  chest  below  axilla;  stitches  up 
to  the  left  clavicle  and  in  left  side  down  to  abdomen;  worse 
bending,  pressing,  or  inspiring;  symptoms  of  intercostal 
neuralgia  not  uncommon  in  phthisis. 

Stannum  is  often  invaluable  in  phthisis  mucosa  and  neg- 
lected catarrhs;  it  is  often  the  remedy  in  tuberculosis 
proper;  the  10  a.  m.  chill  is  an  excellent  indication  in  hectic, 
in  suppurative  fever,  etc.  It  should  be  compared  with 
Silica  which  ha^  cough  worse  from  rapid  walking,  hectic, 
etc.,  but  there  is  more  pus,  vomicsB  in  the  chest,  etc. 

Phosphorus  must  often  be  compared  caiefully  with 
Stannum,  as  they  are  misused  for  each  other  frequently. 
Both  have  hoarseness,  evening  aggravations,  weak  chesi^ 
cough  and  copious  sputum,  hectic,  etc.  Phosphorus  has 
nosebleed  or  blood  streaks,  tightness  across  the  chest,  eta 
(Sulphur  is  similar  in  mucus  on  the  chest,  especially  in 
old  people)  Like  Stannum,  both  Senega  and  Coccus  cacti 
have  mucus  like  white  of  egg,  but  resembling  Stannum  in 
no  other  respect 


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436  The  Medical  Advance.  Nov. 

Among  remedies  with  much  phlegm  in  the  chest  are  Ant 
crad,  Ant.  tari,  Cham.,  Bell.,  Cnlc.  carb.,  Calc.  phos.,  Ipea 

In  children:  Lycop.,  Sulph.,  Pbos.,  Balsam  peru. 

Purulent  sputum:  Hepar,  Scilla,  Yerba  santa  from  emaci- 
ation, asthma  from  mucus. 

Oopaiya:  profuse,  greenish,  grey,  disgustingly  smelling 
sputa. 

lllicium  anisatum:  pus  with  pain  at  third  cartilage, 
right  or  left 

Fix  Liquida:  pnrulent  sputa  with  pain  at  third  carti- 
lage, left 

Myositis:  copious  sputa,  emaciation,  night  sweats. 

In  the  10  A.  M.  chill  Stannum  has  no  equal  in  lung  affec- 
tions.    Natrum  mur.  generally  fails  here. 

In  relief  from  deep  inspiration,  see  also  Yerbascum; 
where  inspiration  relieves  the  cough,  Puis.,  Lach.,  etc. 

Pulsatilla  generally  aggravates  in  a  loose  cough  by 

tightening  it 

<■» 

ALUMEN  (ALUM). 


J.  E.  WINANS,  M.  a.  New  Brunswick.  N.  J. 


This  remedy,  of  course,  is  not  to  be  confounded 
with  Alumina.  Though  one  of  the  oldest  of  remedies, 
it  has  been  allowed  to  fall  too  much  into  disuse  by 
many  modem  practitioners  of  our  school,  and  its  clin- 
ical indications  are  too  little  understood  by  the  best  in- 
formed among  us.  We  can  hope  in  this  brief  sketch,  to 
give  but  a  few  general  notes  and  suggestions  merely,  leav- 
ing the  rest  to  be  filled  out  by  each  one  at  his  or  her 
leisure. 

It  seems  (like  Alumina)  to  be  a  sort  of  complimentary 
remedy  to  Bryonia,  and  follows  the  latter  well  in  low  bil- 
ious fevers,  begiuning  with  diarrhoea,  and  having  an  evi- 
dent typhoid  tendency.  It  is  especially  suited  to  aged 
persons  of  dark  complexion,  and  generally  inclined  to  be 
"fleshy,"  with  the  appearance  of  dark  red  spots,  or  sug- 
gillations,  on  the  forearm  and  back  of  left  hand,  and  about 
wrist— of  same  side — coming  somewhat  suddenly  but  per- 


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1887  Alumen.  437 

sisting  for  a  long  time  (weeks  after).  The  thrist  is  great 
(for  large  quantities,  like  Bryonia),  and  the  appetite  varia- 
ble and  capricious.  There  is  aversion  to  meat,  and,  like 
Bryonia,  a  desire  for  vegetables  and  garden  truck  gener- 
ally, in  fact,  just  the  kind  of  diet  proscribed  for  patients  in 
such  circumstances.  The  pulse  is  inconstant  as  well  as 
irregular.  Sometimes  the  contractions  are  frequent,  at 
others,  comparatively  seldom;  from  72,  while  lying  down 
in  bed,  it  was  noticed  in  one  case,  to  run  up  to  102,  after 
sitting  up  in  bed  a  short  time — which  circumstance  quite 
puzzled  me  until  I  had  referred  to  the  symptomatology  of 
Alumen.  The  irregularity  of  the  pulse  was  noted  in  this 
case  to  be  intermittent  at  every  tenth  or  fourteenth  beat. 
In  this  case  it  was  followed  well  by  Nitro-mur.  acid,  with 
indications  of  same  to  be  given  later  on. 

Bering's  "  Guiding  Symptoms  "  gives  its  clinical  appli- 
cation in  scirrhus  of  various  parts,  especially  of  nose, 
mouth,  tongue,  rectum  and  uterus.  It  would  seem  par- 
ticularly applicable  to  old  people,  with  rough  skin  of  face 
and  body,  and  sallow  complexion,  with  blue  lips.  It 
seems,  from  the  same  source,  to  have  been  usefully  em- 
ployed in  hsBmorrhages  from  various  parts,  as  nose,  stom- 
ach, rectum  and  vagina.  In  the  two  latter  forms,  the 
blood  was  discharged  in  the  form  of  dark  coagula,  or  else, 
as  a  fetid,  bloody  ichor — such  as  is  found  in  a  low  form  of 
abdominal  typhus.  We  meet  a  like  condition  occasionally 
in  the  later  stages  of  dropsy  from  heart  disease,  and  in 
phthisis. 

It  seems  also  a  valuable  remedy  in  chronic,  weakening, 
colliquative  diarrhoeas,  and  putrid  dysenteries,  with  fetid, 
bloody  ichor,  and  ulcerations  in  rectum,  present  or  sus- 
pected, with  more  or  less  pains  in  rectum  during,  and  be- 
coming almost  intolerable  after  stool.  (In  the  exhausting 
diarrhoeas  of  typhus  and  phthisis,  it  should  be  cairefully 
compared  with  Acetic  Acid. 

Other  forms  of  haemorrhage  given  are  those  following 
leech-bites,  the  extraction  of  teeth,  flooding  after  child- 
birth. From  what  has  already  been  seen,  when  taken 
with  other  symptoms,  it  would  seem  to  be  clinically  indi- 


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438  The  Medical  Advance.  Nov. 

cated  in  severe  hsBmorrhages  from  whatever  source — for 
the  sabsequent  effects,  at  le€ist,  if  no  more— herein  com- 
paring favorably  with  Cinchona,  Carbo  veg.,  Hamamelis, 
Ipecac,  Phosphorus  and  Secale. 

We  have  death-like  fain tn  ess,  with  pallor  of  the  face,  as 
of  a  corpse,  blue  lips,  etc.,  the  sight  growing  dim,  feeling 
as  though  she  would  fall  from  the  seat  if  not  supported. 
These  symptoms  were  connected,  in  two  provers,  with  a 
sudden  severe  pain  in  stomach,  necessitating  them  to 
double  up,  with  the  knees  drawn  up  to  the  breast.  One 
complained  of  great  vertigo  and  nausea  stiir  remaining 
after  Ghamomilla  had  relieved  the  cramps;  likewise  of  feel- 
ing very  cold,  great  weakness,  as  after  long  illness,  and  head- 
ache during  the  afternoon — the  attack  coming  on  at  noon. 

The  other  was  taken  toward  4  p.  M.,  while  sitting  in 
church,  the  faintness  being  accompanied  with  extreme 
sickness  and  immediate  loss  of  strength( !)  She  felt  as  if 
the  blood  driven  at  first  to  the  head  by  the  sudden  sever- 
ity of  the  pain  were  leaving  both  it  and  the  extremities 
altogether;  they  were  quite  cold.  A  cold  sweat  covered 
her,  with  deathly  faintness  and  feeling  as  though  she 
should  fall  from  her  seat,  the  pain  in  stomach  seeming 
that  it  would  draw  her  doubla  After  a  half  hour's  faint- 
ness, with  coldness,  heat  succeeded,  the  blood  rushing 
again  to  the  head  with  such  force  that  she  could  hardly 
hold  it  up  or  keep  the  eyes  open.  In  this  case,  also,  there 
was  great,  subsequent  weakness  —  a  feeling  as  after  a 
month's  illness.  Another  prover,  from  12th  potency,  had 
the  same  death-like  faintness,  with  loss  of  the  perceptive 
faculties. 

These  things,  when  taken  together,  are  certainly  highly 
suggestive.  In  large  doses,  too,  it  is  stated  as  having  in- 
duced severe  inflammation  and  inflammatory  conditions 
in  the  stomach  and  bowels.  The  lady  prover  (of  the  12th 
potency,  above  mentioned),  also  was  attacked  in  about  an 
hour  after  rising  in  the  morning  with  sudden  severe  pain 
and  nausea,  resembling  the  deathly  sickness  from  preg- 
nancy, but  without  vomiting,  and  attended  with  faintness 
and  congestive  flushes  to  the  head. 


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1887  Alumen,  439 

From  these  proviDgs,  we  would  adjudge  it  as  not  un- 
likely to  be  indicated  in  oases  of  morning  nausea  and  of 
inflammation  of  the  bowels,  where  Bryonia,  its  comple- 
mentary remedy,  had  been  but  partially  successful. 

From  a  few  of  the  foregoing  and  other  symptoms,  espe- 
cially the  lividity  of  the  lips  with  unconsciousness,  the 
sense  of  hearing  remaining  acute  even  in  sleep,  Alumen 
would  seem  to  be  suggested  as  just  the  antidote  for 
Nitrous  oxide,  or  "  laughing  gas."  Hering,  in  the  work 
above  quoted,  reccommends  it  in  cases  of  poisoning  by 
lead  and  calomel,  lead  colic,  potter's  colic,  stomatitis, 
especially  mercurial,  with  spreading  ulcers  and  profuse 
ptyalism.  These  symptoms  quite  resemble. Nitric  acid,  to 
which  it  may  possibly  prove  an  antidote. 

"Yomiting  of  large  quantities  of  glairy  mucus,  or  of 
tough,  colorless,  sour  slime,"  with  "habitual  vomiting  of 
blood  in  hard  drinkers,"  would  lead  us  to  compare  it  with 
Carbolic  acid  in  the  vomiting  of  drunkards;  while  the 
"atonic  hsematemesis "  of  debility,  with  "vomiting  of 
everything  eaten,"  would  lead  us  to  compare  it  especially 
with  Acetic  acid.  Carbolic  acid,  and  Zinc  mur.  in  cancer 
of  the  stomach.  One  prover,  of  the  9th  potency,  had  a 
pressing  as  from  a  heavy  weight  on  the  vertex,  with  nau- 
sea, at  intervals,  and  accompanied  at  one  time  with  chilli- 
ness down  the  back,  at  another  by  great  heat  throughout 
body — in  fact,  exactly  as  he  did  when  attacked  by  small- 
pox (  ! )  Additional  remarks  unnecessary  in  this  connec- 
tion. 

Under  the  Urinary  organs,  we  find  frequent  urging^ 
with  scanty,  clear  flow,  containing  lumps  of  blood;  also 
dysuria  senilis,  with  vesical  catarrh;  frequent  and  painful 
urging,  with  painful  passing  of  small  quantities,  now  and 
then  mixed  with  blood,  at  others  clear;  urine,  after  stand- 
ing, thick,  as  if  mixed  with  clay,  with  dirty  fibrous  sedi- 
ment Also  enuresis,  incontinuence  of  urine,  and  dia- 
betes mellitus;  must  urinate  every  hour  or  two,  night  and 
day.  (In  diabetes,  it  most  resembles  Carbolic  acid,  CauS- 
ticum  and  Tarantula;  in  dysuria  and  enuresis,  Causticum)^ 

In  dyspnoea,  during  stool  in  aged  persons,  Cocculua 


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440  ITie  Medical  Advance.  Nov. 

would  seem  to  be  a  complementary  remedy — Alumen,  fol- 
lowing it  well. 

It  has  been  recommended  in  ulcers  and  indurations  of 
the  uterus,  even  scirrhus,  from  the  use  of  metallic  pes- 
saries. (Hypericum  has  hard  swelling  and  sensitiveness 
of  the  female  urethra,  the  result  of  pressure  arising  from 
this  source;  while  Nux  mosch.  has  been  recommended  for 
the  pains  and  vomiting  caused  by  pessaries). 

We  find  also,  under  Alumen,  entire  loss  of  voice  in 
bronchitis  and  phthisis,  with  chronic  morning  cough  and 
scanty,  ropy  sputa;  cough  immediately  after  rising;  coughs 
for  a  long  time  every  morning;  worse  during  and  better 
after  breakfast;  especially  in  grey-bearded  patriarchs. 
Also  pertussis,  with  same  symptoms. 

It  is  likewise  clinically  recommended  in  epidemic  mem- 
branous croup,  herein  comparing  with  Acetic  acid  and  Kali 
bichrom.  Under  the  heart,  we  find  dilatation,  with  attacks 
of  palpitation,  rapid,  violent,  especially  from  mental  ex- 
citement— as  when  thinking  of  her  disease,  or,  especially, 
from  hearing  unpleasant  news.  (Here  compare  especially 
Gelsemium,   Plumbum — when  hurried — and    Tarantula). 

Clinically  verified,  also  we  have  nervous  tremors,  tremb- 
ling  and  twitching  of  arms,  more  after  rising.  Bight 
wrist  feels  sprained.  Hands  weak;  dropping  things, 
(from  nervousness.  Apis).  These  symptoms  would  seem 
tp  suggest  the  employment*  of  Alumen  in  mercurial  and 
lead  paralyses. 

The  patient  is  either  sleepless,  from  fever  or  colic,  or 
sleeps  lightly — Shearing  slight  noises.  Compare  Opium 
and  Lycopodium — in  children.  At  other  times,  is  liable 
to  be  disturbed  by  nightmare  at  4  a.  H.  Other  indications 
are  its  use  in  nasal  polypus;  fungous  granulations;  vaginal 
flwellings,  with  puritus;  proud  flesh;  frozen  feet;  chil- 
blains; ingrowing  toe-nails;  scorbutic  and  indolent  ulcers; 
especially  in  ulcerations,  after  a  burn,  as  the  actual  cau- 
tery, to  be  compared  with  Asafoetida,  Carbolic  acid,  and 
Zinc  mur;  also,  locally  in  burns  and  scalds  generally,  and 
when  from  boiling  oil.  (Compare  Arsenicum,  Cantharis, 
Carbo  veg.  Causticum,  Carbolic  acid,  Urtica). 


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1887  China  Officinalis,  441 

CHINA  OFFICINALIS. 


J.  A.  WAKEMAN.  M.  D..  Centralla.  111. 


Hahnemann  tells  us  that  this  medicine  acts  for  three  or 
four  weeks. 

It  produces  languor  of  the  whole  body  and  limbs;  pa- 
tient wants  to  be  sitting  or  lying  all  the  time,  with  aversion 
to  exercise.  Mind  and  body  both  languid,  much  disposed 
to  sleep,  and  sweats  profuse,  when  asleep.  Sensitiveness  to 
currents  of  air. 

There  is  excessive  irritability  and  sensitiveness  of  the 
whole  nervous  system;  the  objects  related  to  him  affect 
him  too  powerfully. 

The  pains  are  excited,  or  aggravated  by  contact;  also  at 
night,  and  after  meals.  Pains  usually  worse  on  the  right  side. 

The  face  is  pale,  of  a  dirty  yellowish  color;  the  whites  of 
the  eyes  are  yellow;  the  appetite  usually  poor,  but  may  be 
voracious;  costiveness,  or  diarrhoea  of  undigested  food; 
headache;  nausea;  back  and  limbs  ache;  urine  is  scanty 
and  high  colored;  a  picture  of  a  case  just  before  the  onset 
of  bilious  fever.  Eight-sided  prosopalgia,  affecting  the 
maxillary  and  infra-orbital  nerves,  worse  by  contact,  and 
the  patient  cannot  lie  down,  which  aggravates  the  pain,  as 
in  Pulsatilla.  Standing  or  walking  mitigates  the  suffering. 
If  easy,  the  slightest  touch  produces  great  suffering  and, 
in  miasmatic  districts,  may  assume  the  paroxysmal  char- 
acter with  daily  paroxysms,  and  nightly  intermissions;  a 
masJced  ague  which  may  be  controlled  by  this  remedy,  but 
usually  quinine  is  at  once  resorted  to. 

Autumnal  dysentery,  in  malarial  regions  often  assumes 
the  intermittent  character,  and  readily  yields  to  the  prep- 
arations of  bark.  These  cases  are  many  times  of  the 
putrid  variety;  and,  like  intermittent  fever,  will  run  a  long 
course  unless  arrested. 

Cough  with  pain  in  the  right  chest,  and  the  paroxysm  of 
coughing  frequently  comes  at  3  a.  m.,  aggravated  by  talk- 
ing, laughing,  eating,  drinking,  and  by  deep  inspiration. 

This  is  the  best  remedy  for  removing  the  evil  effects  of 


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442  The  Medical  Advance.  Nov. 

debilitating  losses;  hsdmorrhages,  excessive  lactatioD,  vener- 
eal excesses,  onanism,  and  long  continued  and  exhausting 
diarrhoea;  this  latter  in  young  children  often  brings  on  a 
comatose  condition  when  the  child  will  lie  and  sleep,  and 
purge,  and  will  soon  die,  unless  relieved.  Here  it  will  do 
great  good,  and  save  your  patient,  usually;  but  may  have 
to  give  Arsenicum  afterward. 

Think  of  this  remedy  in  bad  cases  of  scrofulous  ophthal- 
mia in  badly  cared  for  children,  who  are  dirty,  illy  nour- 
ished, and  have  lienteric  diarrhoea,  bloated  abdomen^ 
scanty,  high-colored  urine,  sallow  complexion,  sunken 
temples,  and  thick  lips;  but  don't  think  that  you  must  give 
mother  tincture,  to  get  good  results. 

Coryza:  with  much  sneezing,  and  an  eruption  about  the 
nose  of  pimples  that  are  very  sore  to  the  touch. 

Oardialgia:  the  gastric  pains  are  worse  after  eating;  feels 
best  when  the  stomach  is  empty.  Gastralgia,  especially  if 
it  has  come  on  after,  or  during  some  excessive  drain  upon 
the  system,  will  be  benefited  by  it. 

Uterine  haemorrhage,  when  the  blood  escapes  in  jets,  or 
gushes;  may  be  fetid  clots;  flagging  pulse;  paleness  of  the 
face;  ringing  in  the  ears,  and  faintness  when  the  head  is 
raised  from  the  pillow.  Bloody  leucorrhoea,  putrid,  and 
may  be  attended  by  discharge  of  clots.  Usually  uterine  or 
ovarian  disease,  or  both,  present  in  such  cases. 

Cough,  with  expectoration  of  white  mucus  in  which  black 
granules  are  suspended;  also  suffocative  catarrh;  and  paral- 
ysis of  the  lungs  in  old  people. 

Sleeps,  and  sweats  profusely  all  the  time  he  is  sleeping; 
often  seen  in  the  advanced  stages  of  pneumonia  in  the 
aged;  and  here  you  should  think  of  Mercurius,  which  will 
Bave  some  of  these  cases  when  all  other  measures  fail. 

" Three  months  colic."  Dr.  Hering  gives  these  symptoms: 

"  Colic  better,  bending  double. 
"  Worse  at  night  and  after  eating. 
^*  Colic  at  a  certain  hour  each  afternoon. 
'*  Abdomen  distended,  wants  to  belch. 
*•  Abdomen  as  if  packed  full,  not  relieved  by  eructations. 
"Tympanitic  abdomen;  pressure  as  of  a  hard  body,  or  spas- 
modic, constrictive  pains  from  incarcerated  flatulence,  etc.,  etc." 


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1887  China  Officinalis.  443 

All  the  above  symptoms  were  present  and  bad  been  for 
over  three  months  in  a  man  of  fifty  years,  who  was  heavy, 
short,  and  stout-built,  dark  complexion,  black  hair,  and  of 
great  physical  force  and  mental  activity.  The  paroxysms  of 
pain,  which  were  of  alarming  severity  and  of  many  hours 
duration,  came  at  11  a.  m.  daily,  and,  unless  relieved  by  a 
hypodermic  injection  of  morphine,  continued  into  the  night. 
Vomiting  seldom  present;  bowels  costive;  urine  scanty  and 
high  colored;  whites  of  the  eyes  yellow;  countenance  sal- 
low and  haggard. 

The  case  came  under  my  care  after  having  been  treated 
in  Chicago,  St.  Louis,  and  Alton,  and  having  been  diag- 
nosed as  a  case  of  gastralgia.  When  the  patient  came  to 
my  house  he  said  he  should  never  leave  there  until  I  cured 
him,  or  he  died. 

For  ten  days  I  thought  he  would  surely  die.  I  became 
satisfied  that  the  colic  was  produced  and  kept  up  by  biliary 
calculi,  and  so  stated  to  my  patient,  who  hooted  at  me,  and 
observed  that  he  had  consulted  the  best  physicians  in  all 
the  above  named  places,  and  not  one  of  them  had  ever 
alluded  to  that  as  the  cause.  Placing  him  in  the  most 
favorable  position,  shoulders  and  hips  elevated,  in  the  ab- 
sence of  pain,  I  succeeded  in  detecting  the  gall-bladder, 
which  was  much  distended,  hard  and  nodular,  the  inequal- 
ities corresponding  to  a  sack  filled  with  hazel-nuts,  and  in- 
formed him  of  my  diagnosis.  China  and  all  other  remedies 
calculated  to  relieve  such  cases  had  presumably  been  used 
for  four  months,  and  death  was  staring  him  in  the  face, 
and  apparently  close  at  hand.  The  only  hope  was  to  evac- 
uate those  concretions.  I  decided  to  try  olive  oil,  know- 
ing by  actual  experiment  and  observation  that  the  oil 
would  soften  the  calculi,  so  they  will  mash  like  a  boiled 
pea. 

The  first  dose  of  the  oil  was  six  ounces,  and  this  was  re- 
peated daily  until  forty-two  ounces  had  been  taken,  all  this 
time  with  no  evacuation  from  the  bowels;  he  then  began 
to  feel  a  commotion  in  the  abdomen,  and  passed  a  copious 
and  painful  stool,  and  remarking  it  was  nothing  but  /en- 
penny  nails. 


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444  The  Medical  Advance.  Nov. 

Judge  of  my  great  joy,  when  on  examining  the  stool  I 
found  one  hundred  of  the  concretions  varying  in  size  from 
that  of  white  mustard  seed  to  that  of  hazle-nuts. 

Pains  all  stopped;  skin  bleached  out;  yellow  of  the 
whites  of  eyes  disappeared;  tongue  cleared  off;  urine  nor- 
mal; bowels  regular;  appetite  good;  in  short,  patient  well, 
and  "  went  on  his  way  rejoicing." 

The  great  importance  of  this  case  makes  me  feel  justi- 
fied in  giving  it,  even  in  minute  detail.  I  know  of  no  other 
course  that  could  have  been  adopted,  that  held  out  the 
slightest  chance  for  the  relief  of  this  poor  man.  [This 
was  a  fine  cure;  but  we  fail  to  see  what  China  had  to  do 
with  it.  How  does  this  help  me  to  cure  the  next  case  I 
meet  with. — Ed,  ] 

OPHTHALMOLOGY. 


MYOPIA  IN  CHILDREN. 


R.  D.  TIPPLE,  M.  D.,  Toledo.  Ohio. 


Myopia  in  children  is  either  congenital  or  acquired. 
Congenital,  when  the  child  is  born  with  axial  elongation  of 
the  globe,  or  with  an  abnormally  high  refractive  power  of 
the  crystaline  lens.  The  proportion  of  these  congenital 
conditions  is  small  compared  with  those  that  are  acquired. 
Very  little  can  be  done  for  the  relief  of  congenital  myopia 
more  than  to  adjust  the  indicated  glasses,  which  is  not 
always  the  case  with  the  acquired  form.  Myopia  is  ac- 
quired, when,  by  improper  use  and  abuse  of  the  eyes,  struc- 
tural changes  result  favoring  an  elongation  of  the  optic 
axis,  under  which  circumstances  the  condition  is  progres- 
sive and  in  extreme  conditions  may  result  in  total  or  abso- 
lute blindness  from  displacement  or  detachment  of  the  re- 
tina. Hyperlenticular  refraction  producing  circles  of  dif- 
fusion upon  the  retina  has  practically  the  same  effect  upon 
vision;  viz.,  bringing  the  limit  within  the  measure;  which 
condition  often  depends  upon  an  affection  or  dertogement 
of  the  ciliary  muscles  resulting  in  spasmodic  action.  The 
above  condition  when  recent  is  usuallv  amenable  to  treat- 


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1887  Notes  on  Diseases  of  the  Eye.  446 

ment  and  is  not  as  grave  as  where  we  have  an  elongation 
of  the  optic  axis  resulting  from  sclerectous  posterior  or 
scleral  staphyloma  of  the  posterior  pole.  Proper  medical 
and  hygienic  treatment  has  restored  very  many  of  these 
recent  acquired  cases  when  of  a  low  degree,  without  the  aid 
of  spectacles.  But  unfortunately  for  the  patient,  very  few 
cases  of  this  class  come  under  the  observation  of  an  oculist 
early  enough  for  him  to  effect  a  radical  cure.  Many  chil- 
dren acquire  near-sightedness  in  our  public  schools  from 
the  very  pernicious  habit  of  sitting  with  their  faces  towards 
the  light,  naturally  casting  a  shadow  upon  the  book  or  paper 
which  inclines  the  child  to  bend  forward  and  approximate 
the  object  to  the  eyes,  thereby  converging  the  visual  lines 
and  bringing  undue  muscular  pressure  upon  the  globe 
tending  to  favor  an  elongation;  this  in  connection  with  the 
hypersemia,  blood  stasis,  temporary  arrest  of  nutrition,  and 
increased  oscular  tension,  forms  the  tout  ensemble  of  the 
anomalous  myopic  eye.  The  alarming  prevalence  of  near- 
sightedness in  the  rising  generation  should  awaken  parents, 
guardians  and  teachers,  to  the  necessity  of  enforcing  rules 
and  regulations  that  will  tend  to  remove  the  cause,  and  ob- 
viate entirely  the  influences,  surrounding  and  besetting 
the  pupils  in  our  public  and  private  schools  which  tend  to 
weaken  their  eyes  and  predispose  them  to  refractive  anom- 
alies and  consequently  defective  eye-sight 


NOTES  ON  DISEASES  OF  THE  EYE. 
H.  H.  CRIPPEN.  M.  D..  Detroit,  Mich. 


P.  Sodekbaum:  "On  the  Prophylaxis  of  Ophthalmoblen- 
norrhoea  neomxtornm, ''—Centralhlat  fill'  Kinderheilkunde,  No.  14, 
1887. 

In  this  paper  the  author  objects  in  certain  cases  to  the 
proposed  preventive  treatment  of  the  Ophthalmoblen- 
norrhoea  of  infants  with  a  two  per  cent,  solution  of  nitrate 
of  silver  after  Credo's  method: 

1.  Because,  in  the  hands  of  the  midwife,  it  will  not  al- 
ways succeed  in  annulling  the  power  of  the  infection  in 
eyes  already  infected;  for  in  the  employment  of  this  method 


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446  The  Medical  Advance.  Nov. 

a  certain  accuracy  of  technique  is  required,  without  which, 
in  the  presence  of  infectious  material,  it  were  even  pos- 
sible to  introduce  the  contagion  into  eyes  not  previously 
affected. 

2.  Because  a  two  per  cent,  solution  of  nitrate  of  silver, 
in  the  eyes  of  new-born  children  may  become  a  source  of 
danger  in  itself,  if  neglect  follows  its  use. 

3.  Because  cases  of  Ophthalmoblennorrhoea  neonatorum 
happen  only  in  a  very  small  number,  in  country  practice, 
especially  if  one  excludes  those  cases  in  which  infection 
has  happened  one  or  more  days  after  birth,  the  latter  con- 
stituting the  class  to  which  the  method  of  Cred6  more 
naturally  applies. 

The  author's  remarks  are  intended  to  apply  particularly 
to  cases  attended  by  midwives.  He  recommends,  uncon- 
ditionally, the  employment  of  Credo's  method  in  lying-in 
hospitals,  in  which  cases  of  blennorrhoea  vaginalis  are  com- 
paratively numerous;  otherwise,  only  when  there  is  a  skilled 
physician  to  apply  the  collyrium.  The  author,  having  in 
view  the  necessity  for  early  medical  treatment  of  Ophthal- 
moblennorrhoea neonatorum,  advances  the  proposition  that 
the  midwife  should  be  obliged,  by  law,  under  penalty  of  a 
heavy  punishment,  to  call  a  skilled  physician  at  the  very 
beginning  of  the  disease. 

Bar's  late  work  on  antiseptic  methods  in  obstetric  prac- 
tice contains  a  good  review  of  the  subject  of  "  Antisepsis 
in  Ophthalmia  Neonatorum." 

Ophthalmias  in  a  certain  number  of  cases,  are  contracted 
during  labor;  tbey  result  from  the  action  of  fluids  secreted 
by  the  vaginal  mucosa  ( blenorrhagia,  etc.)  in  other  cases, 
the  inflammation  of  the  conjunctiva  is  due  to  the  action  of 
contagion  conveyed  to  the  conjunctival  surface  by  the  fin- 
gers, sponges,  etc. 

Concerning  these  two  modes  of  infection  prophylactic 
treatment  applied  to  the  latter  manner  of  propogation  of 
the  disease  must  be  directed  to  disinfection  of  the  medical 
personnel  and  the  assistants. 

'*  It  appears  more  difficult  to  overcome  the  action  of  the  vaginal 


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1887  Notes  on  Diseases  of  the  Eye,  447 

fluids:  one  can  endeavor  to  do  so,  howeyer;  Ist,  by  giving  antisep- 
tic vaginal  douches;  2d,  by  washing  the  infant's  eyes  after  its 
birth.  *  *  *  *  In  1835  Wendt  recommended  the  frequent  em- 
ployment of  vaginal  injections  in  women  who  were  suffering  with 
leucorrhoea,  given  both  during  pregnancy  and  labor. 

"  Haussmann  has  recently  insisted  upon  the  utility  of  these  va- 
ginal injections.  But  this  mode  of  treatment  is  often  insufficient; 
therefore  it  has  been  thought  well  to  act  directly  upon  the  eyes 
after  the  birth  of  the  infant.  .^tius,in  1542, employed  this  method 
of  treatment. 

"  To  mention  only  modern  authors,  we  see  Hasse,  in  1829.  ad- 
vise, to  wash  the  eyes  of  all  new-born  infants,  twice  a  day  with  a 
solution  of  chloride  of  lime. 

"  In  1839,  Sonnenmayer  spoke  highly  of  bathing  the  eyes  of  all 
syphilitic  infants;  he  employed  a  solution  of  corrosive  sublimate 
or  one  of  chloride  of  lime. 

"  More  recently,  Haussmann  has  recommended  to  wash  the  eyes 
of  all  new-born  infants  with  a  one  per  cent,  carbolized  solution 
before  the  eyes  are  opened.  But  Cred6,  especially,  has  popularized 
the  employment  of  this  method. 

"Before  the  month  of  October.  1879,  he  employed  vaginal 
touches  with  two  per  cent,  carbolized  or  salicylated  solutions  in 
all  women  suffering  from  vaginitis,  who  presented  themselves  at 
the  Leipsic  Maternity.  The  cases  of  ophthalmia  neonatorum  di- 
minished, but  still  remained  so  common  that  he  thought  it  pru- 
dent to  treat  the  eyes  directly  by  making,  immediately  after  birth» 
an  instillation  with  a  solution  of  borax  1  to  60.  In  December,  1879 
the  result  not  having  come  up  to  his  expectations,  he  abandoned 
borax  and  made  injections  with  a  solution  of  nitrate  of  silver,  1  to 
40,  the  eyes  having  been  carefully  washed  beforehand  with  a  solu- 
tion of  salicylic  acid  of  two  per  cent,  strength. 

"Since  June,  1880,  this  author  operates  in  the  following  manner: 
immediately  after  birth,  he  instils  into  the  eye  a  single  drop  of  a 
solution  of  nitrate  of  silver,  1  to  50;  then,  for  twenty-four  hours, 
he  applies  upon  the  eyelids  compresses  soaked  in  a  solution  of 
salicylic  acid  two  per  cent.  He  thus  avoids  the  irritation  produced 
by  the  injections  of  nitrate  of  silver,  1  to  40." 

The  instillation  of  a  two  per  cent,  solution  (1  to  50)  is 
what  Soderbaum  calls  Cred6's  method  and  is  that  to  which 
he  objects  in  general  practice.  Eemembering  that  a  two 
per  cent,  solution  means  more  than  eight  grains  to  the 
ounce,  its  use  in  unskillful  hands  becomes  a  weighty  argu- 
ment against  its  universal  employment  in  ophthalmoblen- 
norrhoea  neonatorum. 


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448  The  Medical  Advance.  Nov. 

CORRESPONDENCE. 


OUR  FOREIGN  LETTER. 


The  meeting  of  the  British  HomcBopathic  Congress  which 
took  place  on  September  22,  was  attended  by  seventy  En- 
glish practitioners,  a  number  which  compares  favorably 
with  those  of  former  sessions.  The  meeting  took  place  in 
the  rooms  of  the  sumptuous  hospital  which  has  been  pre- 
sented (at  a  cost  of  80,000  dollars)  to  the  citizens  of  Liver- 
pool by  Mr.  Henry  Tate.  Dr.  Arthur  Clifton,  of  North- 
ampton, delivered  the  presidential  address,  entitled  "Thera- 
peutic Changes  during  the  Victorian  Era:  Their  Meaning 
and  Lesson  for  Homoeopaths."  Dr.  Clifton,  after  alluding 
to  the  fact  that  ten  years  ago  the  Congress  had  met  once 
before  in  Liverpool  to  celebrate  the  jubilee  of  the  intro- 
duction of  Homoeopathy  into  England,  and  that  on  this 
occasion  another  jubilee  was  commemorated,  viz.,  that  of 
the  accession  of  Queen  Victoria,  proceeded  as  follows: 

"At  the  commencement  of  theVictorian  era,  Homoeopathy 
was  little  known  in  England,  but  it  was,  nevertheless,  de- 
nounced by  a  then  famous  physician  as  a  "  hydraheaded 
monster  which  *  like  a  tall  bully  lifted  its  head  and  lied.' " 
The  methods  of  therapeutics  were  mainly  antipathic,  allo- 
pathic and  empirical;  the  nature  of  the  measures  employed 
in  overcoming  disease  were  the  administration  of  drugs  in 
a  very  gross  form  together  with  moxas,  issues,  setons, 
leeches,  venesection,  scarification  and  cupping  glasses. 
The  action  of  drugs  was  only  known  from  their  effect  in 
disease,  and  they  were  classified  as  aperiants,  alteratives, 
diaphoretics,  emetics,  sedatives,  tonics,  etc. 

Faith  in  those  days  was  strong,  definite  and  unwavering. 
Polypharmacy  and  extravagant  dosage  were  universal.  In 
the  interval  between  1837  and  1887,  "  the  old  order  cer- 
tainly has  changed." 

We  now  have  not  only  antipathic,  allopathic  and  em- 
pirical, but  in  addition  analeptic,  antiparasitic,  and  above 
all,  germicide  methods,  though  of  all  these  no  one  has  been 
singled    out  and  regarded  as  generally  the  "rational" 


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1887  Our  Foreign  Letter.  449 

school,  as  the  majority  designate  themselves.  No  fixed 
or  Polar  Star  is  recognized,  but  "eclecticism"  prevails. 
Theories  respecting  the  essential  nature  of  disease  have 
also  undergone  change  largely  in  the  direction  of  the 
teaching  of  Hahnemann,  Teissier  and  Drysdale.  Some 
advance  has  been  made  in  the  study  of  pharmacology,  but 
as  yet  the  dominant  school  rely  too  much  on  experiments 
on  the  lower  animals  and  too  little  on  those  on  healthy 
human  beings. 

Electricity,  galvanism,  massage  and  various  baths  are 
used  to  an  extent  unknown  in  1837.  The  pharmacopseiaof 
to-day  is  greatly  changed;  many  old  drags  are  omitted  and 
many  new  drugs  rivalling  in  el'^gance  and  definition  of  com- 
position our  own  homoeopathic  preparations  have  been  in- 
troduced. Polypharmacy,  large  doses  and  cruel  auxil- 
liaries,  such  as  moxas,  issues,  setons  and  venesection  are  now 
moribund.  Also,  more  attention  is  paid  to  subjective  and 
less  to  objective  symptoms,  and  there  is  now  a  tendency  to 
treat  the  individual  rather  than  the  name  of  a  disease. 

Moreover  what  a  change  from  the  confident  Sangrados 
of  the  past  to  the  dictum  of  Sir  William  Gull:  "People  do 
not  get  well  by  drugs — the  duty  of  the  physician  is  not  to 
give  drugs  but  to  see  that  nature's  powers  are  not  inter- 
fered with." 

1887  sees,  not  only  the  "  eclipse  of  faith,"  but  the  an- 
archical midnight  of  agnosticism. 

The  old  school  have  appropriated  many  drugs  we  use, 
giving  them,  too,  homoeopathically ;  the  principle  of  similia 
has,  however,  gained  acceptance  under  cover  of  the  oppo- 
site action  of  large  and  small  doses,  and  is  now  admitted 
as  a  rule  of  partial  application. 

Whoever  will  carefully  examine  the  teachings  of  Hah- 
nemann and  compare  them  with  those  of  to-day,  will  see 
that  the  changes  are  in  the  direction  of  the  lines  laid  down 
by  him.  The  ignorance  shown  by  Dr.  Lauder  Brunton 
(in  spite  of  the  large  number  of  remedies  which  he  has 
culled  from  Dr.  Potter's  Comparative  Therapeutics)  of  the 
fundamental  principles  of  Homoeopathy  shows  how  much 
more  teaching  of  its'  principles  is  required. 


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450  The  Medical  Advance,  Nov. 

Homoeopathy  does  not  claim  to  be  the  sole  and  nniversal 
method  in  therapeatios.  Hahnemann  himself  pointed  out 
the  need  of  antipathic  and  other  methods  in  some  cases. 
It  does  not  ignore  physiology,  pathology,  hygiene  and  pre- 
ventative medicine  or  the  value  of  physical  signs  and  ob- 
jective symptoms  in  diagnosis. 

Nor  does  it  consist  simply  in  giving  one  medicine  at  a 
time,  and  that  in  infinitesimal  doses. 

Nor  does  it  dispute  the  need  of  parasiticides,  germicides^ 
eta,  or  antidotes  to  poison,  etc.,  or  even  palliatives  in  cer- 
tain cases. 

[We  must  beg  to  differ  with  the  learned  author.  Homoe- 
opathy has  no  need  for  parasiticides,  germicides,  eta,  and 
the  best  of  all  palliatives  is  the  indicated  homoeopathic 
simillimum. — Ed.  ] 

It  is  summed  up  as  follows: 

1.  Proving  of  drugs  on  healthy  human  organisms. 

2.  Administration  of  drugs  on  principle  of  similia. 

3.  Single  remedy. 
4  Minimum  dose. 

Why  have  the  changes  in  general  therapeutics  not  been 
even  greater?  Because,  probably,  of  the  innate  tendency 
of  close  corporations  like  the  medical  profession  to  look 
upon  all  deviations  as  pernicious  heresies. 

We  have  handicapped  ourselves  by  connecting  the  rule 
of  similia  with  theories  as  to  the  nature  of  disease,  with 
subtleties  respecting  the  dynamization  of  drugs  and  the 
infinitesimal  dose. 

We  should  disclaim  the  false  accretions  that  have  gath- 
ered around  it  and  husband  and  augment  our  resources 
and  the  accumulation  of  knowledge. 

With  the  aid  of  the  public  we  may  hope  to  win  our  bat- 
tles for  "liberty,  equality  and  fraternity;"  as  in  the  late 
contest  for  a  position  on  the  staff  of  the  Margaret  St  Hos- 
pital in  London,  where  two  homoeopathic  physicians  firmly 
held  their  ground  and  the  orthodox  practitioners  were  the 
ones  who  had  to  resign. 

The  "Homoeopathic  League'*  spreads  a  knowledge  of 


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1887  Our  Foreign  Letter.  451 

its  principles  among  the  people  and  may  now  be  left  to  the 
laity  themselves. 

We  are  now  setting  our  house  in  order  by  courteously 
and  amiably  settling  the  relative  importance  of  the  small 
dose  and  of  dynamization. 

The  collaboration  of  our  American  brethren  in  several 
aspects  of  work  adds  to  the  breadth  and  harmony  of  our 
position.  A  larger  amount  of  toleration  of  those  who 
surreptitiously  appropriate  our  homoeopathic  therapeutics, 
such  as  Ringer,  Philips,  Brunton,  Bartholow,  etc.,  is  rec- 
ommended. Such  pilferings  are  essentially  wrong  and 
likely  to  excite  our  indignation  at  the  want  of  honor  in 
our  opponents;  yet  we  should  view  them  with  leniency,  for 
they  are  acts  either  of  ignorance  or  timidity. 

We  may  leave  it  to  rival  practitioners  of  that  school  to 
expose  these  thefts,  and  wait  with  Cordelia  till  "  time  shall 
unfold  what  plaited  cunning  hides." 

It  is  our  duty  to  remember  that  we  are  not  only  Homoe- 
opaths but  physicians,  and  we  must  keep  abreast  of  the 
times  on  all  matters  bearing  on  the  science  and  art  of 
medicine." 

Dr.  Arthur  Clifton's  presidential  address  was  very  well 
received,  both  on  account  of  its  intrinsic  merits  and  the  re- 
spect which  was  felt  for  this  veteran,  who  is  one  of  the  four 
who  alone  survive  out  of  those  who  were  present  at  the 
Congress  held  at  Cheltenham  thirty-seven  years  ago. 

It  was  then  announced  to  the  meeting  that  the  Hahne- 
mann Publishing  Society  continued  to  complete  the  pub- 
lication of  the  "Cyclopedia  of  Pathogenesy,"  half  of  which 
had  already  appeared  under  the  able  joint  editorship  of 
Dr.  Bichard  Hughes  (England),  and  Dr.  Dake  (America). 
It  was  further  decided  that  a  companion  volume  contain- 
ing commentaries  on  each  medicine  should  be  simultane- 
ously issued,  and  the  editorship  of  this,  after  some  discus- 
sioii,  was  undertaken  by  Dr.  Nankivell  of  Bournemouth. 

Dr.  J.  D.  Hay  ward  then  read  a  paper  on  "  The  Use  of 
Drugs  in  Surgical  Practice,"  in  which  he  maintained  that 
no  drug  had  ever  removed  a  neoplasm,  and  that  scirrhous 
tumors  of  the  breast  should  always  be  removed  by  the 


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452  The  Medical  Advance.  Nov. 

knife  as  soon  as  possible,  and  time  should  not  be  lost  by 
giving  medicine.  Farther,  fissures,  sinsues  and  abscesses  in 
the  rectum  should  be  treated  by  the  surgeon,  as  also  should 
strangulated  hernia,  etc.  The  speaker  believed  that  many 
homoeopathic  practitioners  incurred  deserved  opprobrium 
by  their  reluctance  or  inability  to  have  recourse  to  surgical 
measures.  It  was  his  opinion  that  every  homoeopathic 
practitioner  should  do  his  own  surgery  rather  than  have 
recourse  to  an  allopathic  surgeon  who  was  usually  hostile 
and  grabbed  the  patient  for  himself. 

The  sense  of  the  meeting  as  far  as  could  be  gathered 
seemed  to  be  that  Dr.  J.  D.  Hay  ward's  paper,  though  vigor- 
ous, was  somewhat  raw,  and  that  this  young  practitioner 
had  not  as  yet  entirely  emerged  from  the  slough  of  des- 
pond of  Allopathy  of  which  he  was  at  one  time  a  disciple. 
The  successes  of  the  knife,  achieved  as  they  are  coram 
poptdif  possess  dazzling  attractions  for  our  younger  mem- 
bers and  dim  the  clearness  of  their  mental  vision.  They 
are  too  apt  to  forget  that  nothing  is  ever  gained  and  very 
much  may  be  endangered  by  any  violent  interference  with 
the  processes  of  nature.  Where  the  natural  order  of  things 
has  already  been  disturbed,  as  is  the  case  in  injuries  and 
accidents,  surgical  interference  is  proper,  but  in  cases  where 
diseases  have  arisen  spontaneously,  the  use  of  the  knife  is 
seldom  desirable.  Thus  fractures  being  caused  by  external 
violence  require  to  be  set;  lacerated  injuries  caused  by 
cannon  shot  may  necessitate  amputation,  etc.,  but  to  re- 
move a  cancerous  breast  which  has  arisen  either  spontane- 
ously or  from  very  slight  and  inadequate  irritation  of  the 
part  is  unsound  and  unscientific.  If  a  slight  blow  will  de- 
termine the  growth  of  a  neoplasm  in  the  breast  of  a  person 
liable  to  it,  how  much  more  baneful  must  be  the  infliction 
of  a  large  wound  on  a  part  in  which  the  deposit  has  al- 
ready begun.  There  can,  in  my  opinion,  be  no  doubt  that 
amputation  of  the  breast  in  a  cancerous  patient  must 
greatly  intensify  and  accelerate  the  ulcerative  process. 
Such  cases  left  to  themselves  and  treated  with  medicines 
alone,  go  on  for  year  after  year.  I  know  of  one  case  where 
the  whole  tumor  sloughed  away,  the  wound  healed  and  the 


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1887  Our  Foreign  Letter.  453 

patient  is  now  quite  well.  We  may  be  pardoned  for 
prophesying  that  the  longer  Dr.  J.  D.  Hayward  lives,  the 
less  he  will  employ  the  knife  and  the  more  he  will  trust  to 
remedies.  No  doubt  there  are  four  or  five  simple  pro- 
cedures which  are  usually  put  under  the  head  of  surgery 
and  which  every  practitioner,  homoeopathic  or  otherwise, 
will  be  frequently  called  upon  to  make  use  of,  viz.,  passing 
catheters,  opening  abscesses  when  fluctuation  has  been  de- 
tected, etc.,  but  they  are  learned  by  every  student  before 
he  is  allowed  his  diploma,  and  they  hardly  come  up  to 
what  is  usually  meant  by  surgery. 

It  has  often  struck  me,  how  very  much  greater  mortality 
during  confinement  is  among  human  beings,  than  among 
the  lower  animals.  No  doubt  the  artificial  life  led  by  the 
animal  called  man  in  some  measure  accounts  for  this  phe- 
nomena, but  I  believe  there  is  another  very  important  fac- 
tor in  the  problem.  Who  ever  heard  of  a  cat  or  a  dog 
dying  during  its  confinement?  The  reason  I  believe  is  not 
far  to  seek  When  a  cat  is  taken  with  labor,  another  more 
learned  cat  does  not  come  and  dose  it  with  ergot  and  chlo- 
roform or  attempt  to  drag  out  the  kittens  by  means  of  in- 
struments. If  Dr.  Swayne's  aphorism  that  ''meddlesome 
midwifery  is  bad"  were  more  universally  accepted,  we 
should  have  fewer  deaths  during  child-birth,  and  I  believe 
this  maxim  is  equally  applicable  to  surgery. 

Dr.  Proctor  then  read  a  paper  on  "Ammonia,"  and  the 
meeting  broke  up  for  lunch. 

In  the  afternoon  the  discussion  on  Ammonia  was  resumed, 
and  Dr.  Richard  Hughes  stated  that,  in  his  opinion,  suffi- 
cient distinction  had  not  been  drawn  between  the  carbonate 
which  should  be  given  in  large  doses  during  collapse  and 
the  muriate  which  was  of  very  great  utility  in  respiratory 
affections. 

Dr.  Galley  Blackley  (London)  then  opened  a  discussion 
upon  the  relation  between  medical  men  and  chemists.  The 
tarif  for  two  drachm  bottles  should  be  the  same  with  all 
chemists,  instead  of  varying  from  9d  (18  cents)  to  1  shill- 
ing and  6d  (36  cents)  as  was  the  case.  It  might  be  fixed 
at  1  shilling  (25  cents),  and  patients  who  could  not  afford 
0* 


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454  The  Medical  Advance,  Nov. 

this  might  receive  their  medicine  for  a  trifle  if  the  physi- 
cian put  some  mark,  such  as  g.  p.  (gratis  patient),  or  the 
like  on  the  prescription.  Dr.  Blackley  further  recom- 
mended that  physicians  shoidd  as  far  as  possible  give  their 
patients  prescriptions  instead  of  supplying  medicines  them- 
selves. Patients  attached  greater  value  to  a  prescription, 
and  the  chemists  were  of  course  better  pleased.  There 
had  been  cases  in  which  prescriptions  had  been  abused — 
the  same  one,  for  instance,  being  in  one  case  renewed  du- 
ring a  period  of  fifteen  years,  but  this  could  be  prevented 
if  the  chemist  refused  to  dispense  unless  authorized  to  do 
so  by  the  practitioner. 

The  next  meeting  of  the  Congress  was  then  fixed,  to  be 
held  at  Birmingham.  Dr.  Dyce  Brown  was  elected  Presi- 
dent, Dr.  Thomas  Vice-President,  and  Dr.  Hawkes,  Secre- 
tary. 

In  the  evening  a  banquet  was  held  at  the  Adelphi  Hotel, 
at  which  the  usual  patriotic  toasts:  Boyal  family,  Army  and 
Navy,  Hospitals  and  Dispensaries,  Homoeopathic  Journals, 
etc.,  were  proposed  and  responded  to. 

Next  day  (Friday,  Sept.  23)  the  Liverpool  Hahnemann 
Hospital  was  declared  open  by  the  mayor  amidst  a  brilliant 
concourse  of  people.  Canon  Tsigie  then  invoked  a  blessing 
on  the  building  and  Mr.  W.  H.  Tate,  son  of  the  donor, 
who,  with  characteristic  delicacy,  declined  to  be  present, 
handed  the  deeds  to  the  mayor  who  in  turn  handed  them 
to  Dr.  Drysdale,  senior  trustee  of  the  hospital. 

An  address  was  then  read,  accepting  the  gift  on  the  part 
of  the  people  of  Liverpool  and  thanking  the  donor  for  his 
munificence.  The  company  then  adjourned  to  one  of  the 
wards  where  an  elegjEintly  served  and  various  champagne 
luncheon  awaited  them.  After  lunch  more  speechifying, 
during  which  it  was  stated  that  Mr.  Tate  had  offered  to 
give  the  hospital  twenty  years  ago  but  the  homoeopathic 
body  had  then  declined  it,  hoping  that  they  would  still  be 
able  to  introduce  their  system  in  the  general  hospital  and 
thus  avoid  a  permanent  schism  in  the  medical  profession. 
Owing,  however,  to  the  narrow-minded  bigotry  of  the  ma- 
jority, the  schism  had  now  been  forced  upon  them,  and 


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1887  Our  Foreign  Letter.  455 

the  profession  had  only  itself  to  thank  for  this  result 

During  the  afternoon  over  a  thousand  fashionably  dressed 
ladies  and  gentlemen  inspected  the  building.  Among  the 
objects  exhibited  were  the  Hahnemann  relics,  comprising 
the  Master's  now  historical  velvet  skull-cap,  his  dressing- 
gown  and  slippers,  his  pipe,  the  chair  in  which  he  died, 
some  letters  written  when  he  was  over  eighty,  his  medicine 
chest  (containing  no  higher  potency  than  the  12th),  some 
powders  prepared  by  his  own  hand,  and  last,  but  not  least, 
a  very  good  portrait.  These  treasures  were  kindly  loaned 
by  Mr.  Peter  Stuart,  to  whom  they  belong.  I  missed  the 
brass  bedstead  so  minutely  described  in  Ameke's  History 
of  Homoeopathy. 

The  building  is  designed  to  hold  fifty  beds,  the  base- 
ment being  arranged  as  a  dispensary.  There  are  two  capaci- 
ous male  and  female  wards,  60x24  feet,  on  the  first  and 
second  floors;  two  infectious  wards,  a  children's  ward,  five 
private  wards  and  convalescent  rooms,  nurses'  rooms,  etc. 
The  closets  and  bath-rooms  are  completely  isolated  and  the 
hospital  is  fitted  with  all  the  latest  appliances,  such  as 
lifts,  [elevators]  fire-proof  corriders,  granolithic  staircase, 
etc.,  etc. 

An  important  feature  is  the  warming  and  ventilating 
system.  The  heat  of  the  kitchen  flue  is  utilized  to  warm 
and  suck  through  a  constant  stream  of  fresh  air,  so  that 
the  whole  air  contained  in  the  building  is  entirely  changed 
and  renewed  every  twenty  minutes  without  any  danger 
of  cold  draughts.  This  system  which  is  probably  the  only 
one  which  solves  the  difficulty  of  introducing  a  constant 
supply  of  fresh  air  without  cold  draughts,  is  ccurried  out  by 
the  (Eolus  Water  Spray  Co.,  London,  under  the  supervision 
of  the  architects,  Messrs.  F.  and  G.  Holme,  Crosshall  St» 
LiverjKJol. 

The  hospital  is  not  endowed,  so  that  those  of  our  Amer- 
ican colleagues  who  would  like  to  give  us  a  lift  at  starting 
in  this  country  where  a  homoeopathic  hospital  is  still  a 
novelty  (there  is  only  one  other,  i.  e.,  the  London  Homoe- 
opathic Hospital),  can  do  so  by  sending  contributions  ta 
S.  J.  Capper,  Esq.,  Bold  St,  Liverpool. 


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456  The  Medical  Advance.  Not 

FOREIGN  SKETCHES. 


BY  HABOLD  B.  WILSON.  M.  D.,  Ann  Arbor. 


FIRST  paper:  WIESBADEN. 

I  sawVnewspaper  paragraph  the  other  day,  to  the  effect 
that* there  ^were  more  than  3,000,000  glass  eyes  made  and 
sold  every  year.  At  this  rate  they  would  soon  get  to  be 
fashionable,  and  their  consumption  would  begin  to  rank 
with  that  of  whiskey  and  tobacco.  But  in  truth  we  little 
think  how  many  one-eyed  folks  there  are  in  the  world 
The  dread  of  that  fearful  and  slightly  indefinite  something, 
called  sympathetic  ophthalmia,  has  caused  to  rage  in  var- 
ious places,  and  with]varying  fierceness,  the  habit  of  whole- 
sale enucleation  or  evisceration,  and  this  always,  if  to  no 
other  good,  at  least  to  the  benefit  of  those  who  manufac- 
ture glass  eyes. 

In  the  well  ^known^^and  fashionable  watering  place  of 
Rhine  Germany,  Wiesbaden,  there  lived  for  many  years, 
and  still  lives  in  the  persons  of  his  sons,  one  of  the  best 
known  of  these  [makers  of  artificial  eyes,  and  since  I,  for 
my  part,  never  understood  how  these  marvels  of  the  glass- 
blower's  art,  were  really  made,  I  resolved  to  make  him  or 
his  descendants  a  visit,  and  if  possible,  to  satisfy  my  cur- 
iosity. 

A  handsome  brown-stone  front  on  Bhein  Strasse,  bears 
thisHiegend: 

F.  Ad.  MijLLLER, 

FABRICANT  DBR  KUN8TLICHKN  AUOBN. 

The  windows  looking  out  over  the  broad  street  with  its 
rows  of  trees  and  graveled  walk,  were  filled  with  flowers, 
and  the  whole  exterior  had  that  neat  and  exclusive  air, 
which  German  dwelling  houses  of  the  better  class  are  sure 
to  possess.  Altogether,  there  was  nothing  about  it  that 
looked  like  a  factory  of  any  sort,  except  the  sign.  This  re- 
assured me,  and  I  walked  into  the  court  and  rang  the  bell, 
over  which  a  modest  porcelain  plate  was  fastened,  bear- 
ing the  same  inscription  as  the  house-front  A  young  boy 
who  answered  the  summons  informed  me  that  Herr  M.  was 


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1837  Foreign  Sketches.  457 

at  home,  and  ushered  me,  not  into  a  shop,  but  into  a  well 
famished  parlor,  instead,  where  stood  a  piano,  and  around 
which  were  scattered  books  shotting  its  possessors  to  have 
taste  and  education.  Presently  Herr  M.  made  his  appear- 
ance—a tall,  smooth  faced,  thin  featured  young  man,  wifh 
a  very  kindly  manner.  He  greeted  me  pleasantly  and  after 
a  little  preliminary  skirmishing,  wherein  I  explained  the 
object  of  my  visit,  telling  him  that  his  fame  and  his  eyes 
had  reached  me,  clear  across  the  Atlantic,  and  that  I  wanted 
to  see  how  such  things  as  eyes  were  made,  he  expressed 
himself  as  only  too  happy,  and  immediately  led  the  way  to 
his  work  room.  This  was  a  long,  rather  narrow  room,  but 
small,  in  one  end  of  which  under  the  window,  was  a  square 
work-table,  fitted  with  a  couple  of  gas-blowpipe  jets,  and 
littered  with  a  profusion  of  tubes,  rods,  and  fragments  of 
variously  colored  glass,  half-made  eyes,  pieces  of  eyes,  and 
a  lot  of  odds  and  ends,  probably  all  arranged  in  that  orderly 
confusion  which  some  persons  affect,  and  the  key  to  which 
nobody  else  than  they,  can  ever  discover.  He  seated  him- 
self in  front  of  one  of  the  blowpipes,  while  I  found  a  con- 
venient post  of  observation  at  his  elbow,  and  business  im- 
mediately began.  There  was  to  be  made  a  glass  eye  of  the 
exact  size  and  shape  of  one  lying  before  us  on  the  table, 
but  having  its  iris  the  size  and  color  of  another  specimen 
also  lying  there. 

A  tube  of  heavy  milky  glass  was  selected  from  a  pile, 
heated  and  a  bit  drawn  out  into  a  long  small  tube,  and  this 
was  detached,  together  with  about  a  half  inch  of  the  orig- 
inal tube,  so  that  after  a  little  heating,  blowing  and  man- 
ceuvering,  there  was  a  hollow  bulb  attached  to  a  small  tube, 
by  which  it  could  be  handled  and  through  which  air  could 
be  blown  and  the  bulb,  if  hot  and  soft,  inflated.  Now,  after 
a  series  of  meltings  and  blowings  and  turnings,  by  which 
the  bulb  was  made  to  bulge  here,  and  flatten  there,  an 
irregularly  shaped  milky  globe  was  produced,  having  the 
general  form  of  the  eye-ball.  The  next  step,  which  was  to 
construct  the  iris,  was  watched  with  great  interest,  for  this 
seemed  to  require  the  most  masterly  touches  of  the  whole. 
The  center  of  the  face  of  the  bulb  was  heated,  and  a  bit  of 


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458  The  Medical  Advance,  Nov. 

colored  glass  fused  onto  it  More  spasmodic  blowing  and 
manipulating,  and  there  was  to  be  seen  a  round,  colored 
spot  about  the  size  of  the  iris,  looking  like  an  undifferen- 
tiated visual  speck  of  some  of  the  lower  animals.  This  was 
only  the  ground  work  for  the  real  iris,  which  was  then 
built  up  by  a  series  of  most  artistic  touches  of  a  half  dozen 
or  more  tiny  glass  rods  of  different  colors,  from  each  of 
which  a  bit  was  fused  onto  the  groundwork,  and  the  whole 
softened  and  toned  down  by  cunning  little  strokes.  It  was 
really  a  sort  of  painting  deftly  done  with  melting  glass.  In 
the  center  then,  a  drop  of  black  glass  was  struck,  and 
melted  in,  and  soon  we  had  a  dark  pupil  to  that  thing  of 
glass,  which  is  so  wonderful  a  copy  of  that  beautiful  tissue 
nature  has  made  for  us.  The  cornea  was  next  to  be  made, 
for  as  yet,  our  eye  lacked  that  essential  part  Accordingly, 
a  thick  rod  of  white  glass  was  fused  over  the  center  of  the 
iris,  and  worked  over  and  over,  twisted  and  pulled  until 
finally  a  large  mass  of  transparent  glass  was  left  on  the 
front  of  the  eye,  and  a  few  dextrous  touches  of  the  flame 
sufficed  to  develope  from  it  a  beautiful  and  clear  cornea 
and  anterior  chamber.  This  done,  the  work  was  inspected, 
a  tiny  rod  of  red  glass  drawn  over  the  sclerotic  to  make 
blood-vessels,  and  the  final  work  of  shaping  began.  A 
series  of  intermittent  heatings  and  blowings,  and  compari- 
sons with  the  model,  soon  developed  the  precise  shape  de- 
sired, and  now  nothing  remained  but  to  transform  the  eye 
— now  a  globe— to  one  of  those  delicate  hemispherical 
shells  with  which  we  are  familiar.  To  accomplish  this,  a 
narrow  spot  in  the  side  of  the  globe  was  heated,  until  the 
glass  was  soft,  when  a  strong  blowing  through  the  tube 
ruptured  a  small  hole  at  this  point  By  heating  the  edges 
of  this  hole,  and  by  wiping  off  the  small  portions  of  melted 
glass  with  a  rod  and  carrying  this  process  around  the 
globe,  the  little  shell  I  was  looking  for,  was  detached,  look- 
ing as  natural  as  life,  and  placed  in  a  small  Hessian  cru- 
cible to  anneal.  The  whole  thing  took  about  three-quarters 
of  an  hour,  and  "looked  just  as  easy." 

After  finishing,  we  had  a  lengthy  conversation  about 
eyes,  and  Herr  M.  showed  me  some  of  his  curiosities.     He 


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1887  Foreign  Sketches.  459 

has  made  shells  of  vulcanite  and  of  celluloid;  but  the 
former  become  v^ry  much  discolored,  and  the  latter  very 
rough  from  use,  and  there  is  as  yet  no  practical  means  of 
utilizing  either  of  substances  for  artificial  eyes.  There 
were  boxes  full  of  odd,  little,  irregular  eyes  for  contracted 
orbital  spaces — eyes  with  conical  cornese,  for  provisional 
and  preliminary  insertion — eyes  with  edges  reflected  in- 
ward, for  tender  stumps,  or  for  children  and  hysterical 
women;  these  are  so  strong  that  they  can  be  thrown  across 
the  room  without  danger  of  breaking,  but  they  are  difficult 
to  make  and  hence  expensive.  Then  there  were  numerous 
specimens  illustrating  pathological  matters — conjunctival 
and  corneal  inflammations,  such  as  ulcers  and  phlyctenu- 
les; iritic  troubles;  iridectomy;  cataract,  etc.  One  eye 
previously  worn  by  a  Hollander  had  an  iris  16  m.  m.  in 
diameter,  while  that  of  another  was  so  much  smaller  than 
the  iris  of  the  owner's  real  eye  that  a  convex  spectftcle 
glass  was  worn  before  it  to  magnify  it  and  thus  equalize 
matters. 

From  the  number  of  eyes  Herr  M.  had  on  hand,  I  felt 
almost  inclined  to  believe  that  if  only  the  truth  were 
known,  most  of  the  community  about  us  would  be  found 
secretly  to  bo  wearing  glass  eyes,  which  looked  so  natural 
as  to  deceive  even  the  elect — and  then  I  thought  of  a  case 
where,  several  years  ago,  I  almost  made  an  ophthalmo- 
scopic examination  of  a  glass  eye,  discovering  its  true 
nature  only  in  time  to  save  my  reputation. 

♦  ♦  ♦  The  ophthalmologist  knows  Wiesbaden,  how- 
ever, as  the  residence  of  the  Pagenstechers;  or  now,  since 
Dr.  Alexander  is  dead,  of  Dr.  Herman  Pagenstecher.  Here, 
many  years  ago,  they  founded  the  Ophthalmic  Hospital, 
and  here  they  have  both  done  some  of  the  best  operative 
work  in  Europe.  When  the  hospital  was  first  founded,  its 
capacity  was  for  two  patients;  now  it  holds  eighty,  and,  if 
money  were  plenty,  would  be  still  further  enlarged.  It 
lies  on  the  side  of  a  hill  overlooking  the  city,  and  not  far 
from  Dr.  P's  private  office,  and  although  it  makes  one  out 
of  breath  to  climb  up  to  it,  once  there,  the  pure  air  and  the 
spreading  view  repay  the  effort.     Dr.  Pagenstecher  makes 


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460  The  Medical  Advance.  Nov. 

daily  visits,  operating  as  the  cases  present  themselves,  often 
with  the  assistance  of  Carl  Theodore,  Duke  of  Bavaria,  who 
is  oculist  and  prince  at  the  same  time. 

I  was  especially  anxious  to  see  a  cataract  extraction  with 
closed  capsule,  for  both  he  and  his  late  brother  have  be- 
come famous  through  this  one  operation;  and  a  few  days 
after  arriving  in  Wiesbaden  I  was  fortunate  enough  to 
have  my  desires  gratified.     The  operation  was  devoid  of 
accidents,  except  the  loss  of  a  small  amount  of  vitreous. 
The  lens  and  its  unbroken  capsule  came  out  easily  and 
prettily  upon  the  spoon,  and  the  pupil  was  left  large  and 
black.   Care  was  taken  to  ensure  perfect  cleanliness,  rather 
than  fanciful  antisepsis,  in  making  the  operation,  although 
a  solution  of  sublimate,  1  to  5000,  was  used  both  for  the 
instruments  and  the  wound.    Speaking  of  extractions  with 
the  capsule,  and  other  matters.  Dr.  Pagenstecher  said:  "  I  do 
not  make  it  now  as  often  as  formerly,  for  the  reason  that  we 
do  not  have  after  ordinary  extractions  as  much  iritis  as  we 
used  to  have.    In  making  extractions  with  the  capsule,  we 
do  not  get  iritis  as  a  complication.     Prolapse  of  the  vitre- 
ous is  not  at  all  uncommon,  but  I  do  not  mind  this  much. 
I  have  seen  as  many  cases  of  vitreous  prolapse,  probably, 
as  any  one,  and  hence  know  something  about  it;  and  I  do 
not  think  that,  as  a  rule,  it  is  particularly  unfortunate 
when  it  occurs  in  extractions  with  the  capsule.   I  generally 
reserve  the  operation  now,  for  cases  of  completely  ripe, 
hard  cataract,  and  there  are  in  general  certain  indications 
for  its  use,  as  for  instance,  when  the  lens  presses  forward 
during  section,  or  shows  a  readiness  to  be  dislocated.     In 
hypermature  cataracts,  also  after  iridochoroiditis,  extrac- 
tion in  the  capsule  is  the  only  proper  method.     When  cat- 
aracts have  matured  rapidly,  then  extract  by  the  ordinary 
method  of  lacerating  the  capsule.    ♦    *    *    1  always  make 
as  large  a  conjunctival  flap  as  I  can.     My  incision  is  usu- 
ally wholly  in  the  sclera,  its  size  depending  on  the  nature  of 
the  cataract,  and  not  to  be  determined  by  strict  mathemat- 
ical rules.*    ♦    ♦    I  believe  we  had  but  one  unfortunate 
result  in  our  cataract  operations  last  year,  and  also  one  so 
far  (July)  this  year.     ♦    *    ♦    I  like  to  have  one  ward  of 


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1887  Foreign  Sketches.  461 

the  hospital  empty,  so  that  it  may  be  well  aired,  and  then 
to  move  the  patients  from  another  ward  into  it,  airing  and 
cleaning  the  now  unoccupied  ward  in  its  turn.  Fresh  air 
is  death  to  the  bacteria.  They  cannot  stand  fresh  air,  and 
so  I  want  plenty  of  it  in  my  wards." 

Cataract  cases  are  frequently  left  entirely  unbandaged, 
at  least  after  the  first  forty-eight  hours.  When  there  is 
dacryo-cystitis  as  a  complication,  the  canaliculus  is  slit,  the 
duct  treated  and  closed  with  a  cotton  iodoform  plug,  which 
must  stay  in  place  from  four  to  eight  hours  after  the  oper- 
ation, and  then  only  to  give  way  to  a  fresh  one.  These 
cases  are  usually  bandaged  lightly  with  a  cloth  wet  with 
sublimate  solution.  The  spray  is  no  longer  used,  and  the 
dark  room  is  one  of  the  things  of  the  past.  I  saw  several 
cases  of  optic  nerve  resection,  and  Dr.  Pagenstecher  and 
his  assistant  both  spoke  highly  of  the  operation.  In  one 
case  of  chronic  absolute  glaucoma,  where  the  pain  was 
terrific,  complete  relief  was  obtained  by  the  resection^ 
This  operation  tends  to  militate  against  the  glass  eye 
makers,  for  it  seeks  to  preserve  the  eye-ball,  instead  of 
enucleating  or  eviscerating  it,  and  at  the  same  time 
to  secure  all  the  beneficial  results  of  either  of  these 
operations,  except  in  cases  of  malignant  growths,  of 
course. 

Dr.  Pagenstecher  is  a  charming  gentleman,  and  a  splen- 
did operator.  I  was  quite  converted  to  the  determination 
to  give  the  capsule  operation  and  the  optic  nerve  resection 
a  trial,  and  was  satisfied  of  brilliant  results;  and  I  left 
Wiesbaden,  with  its  numerous  baths  and  promenades, 
regretful  that  it  was  not  possible  to  stay  longer,  and  with 
somewhat  mixed  dreams  of  trying  to  extract  closed  cap- 
sules from  glass  eyes. 


Humanity,  a  poem  by  W.  Tod  Helmnth,M.DMbas  just  reached 
us.  To  say  that  it  is  a  beautiful  specimen  from  the  pen  of  this 
gifted  poet  would  be  exceedingly  trite.  Dr.  Helmuth  has  earned 
the  poet  laureate's  wreath  of  the  profession  long  before  the  utter- 
ance of  this  beautiful  work;  but  he  has  now  over-stepped  the  nar- 
row limits  heretofore  assigned  him  and  placed  himself  in  a  rank, 
with  the  foremost  poets  of  our  day. 


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462  The  Medical  Advance.  Nov. 

COMMENT  AND  CRITICISM. 


The  following  tribute  from  a  former  pupil  and  intimate 
friend,  to  the  memory  of  the  late  Dr.  E.  A.  Farrington,  we 
take  from  a  letter  written  by  Dr.  E.  Tornias,  of  Phila- 
delphia. In  its  epigrammatic  style  the  description  of  the 
Professor  stands  out  clear  and  graphic: 

He  was  a  man  who  could,  better  than  any  I  know,  impart  to 
others  the  knowledge  he  possessed. 

He  was  kind  and  patient  with  the  students,  stili  he  would  not 
allow  himself  to  be  disturbed  by  the  unmannerly. 

He  was  easily  approached  out  of  the  school  room  and  at  home, 
and  delighted  in  being  questioned  on  Materia  Medica. 

In  the  class  room  he  did  not  solicit  inquiries,  but  he  never  left 
a  question  unanswered;  his  plan  being  to  quiz  on  the  lectures  of 
the  week. 

He  was  an  affectionate  father,  fond  of  his  family  and  home. 

He  was  a  charitable  friend  and  sociable  companion. 

He  was  a  gentleman  in  the  full  meaning  of  the  word. 

Frankly  and  sincerely  speaking,  I  could  not  say  a  single  thing  to 

belittle  him. 

1  <—  

ALLOPATHY  VS.  HAMAMELIS. 


FREDERICK  HOOKER,  M.  D.,  Fnyettevllle,  N.  Y. 


A  writer  in  the  Medical  Record  (Vol.  XXIX,  p.  732) 
relieves  his  mind  in  a  very  exhaustive — not  to  say  exhaust- 
ing— manner  on  the  subject  of  Hamamelis.  He  has 
sounded  its  knell,  and  all  that  now  remains  to  be  done  is 
to  raise  a  monument  to  the  "  dear  departed." 

After  speaking  of  Hamamelis  as  the  "  latest  arrival "  in 
the  family  of  household  remedies,  he  makes  the  following 
astonishing  statement,  which  is  so  conclusive  that  it  will, 
no  doubt,  send  the  remedy  to  the  **  shades  infernal."  He 
says: 

A  very  strong  watery  distillate  of  the  drug  has  been  made,  and 
this  was  injected  in  enormous  dose.^  into  several  frogs  and  into 
one  mammal.  [Ye  godsl  are  we  to  learn  the  effects  produced  by 
drugs  on  the  human  body  by  experiments  on  frogs  and  animals? 
Is  it  any  wonder  that  our  enlightened  brethren  of  the  old  school 
"wade  through  slaughter  to  the  throne"  of  knowledge?]    The 


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1887  Allopathy  vs.  Hamamelis.  463 

results  were  absolutely  nil  [like  the  results  of  old  school  thera- 
peutics], and  the  experimenters  conclude  that  the  volatile  princi- 
ple of  Hamamelis  is  entirely  inert. 

Experiments  were  then  made  to  determine  the  presence  of  a 
volatile  oil,  and  the  composition  of  the  alcoholic  and  ethereal  ex- 
tracts. No  tests  of  physiolog^ical  properties  were  made  [no  doubt, 
out  of  pity  for  the  poor  frogs],  but  the  writers  state  that  their 
conclusions  were  in  harmony  with  those  reached  by  Dr.  Hector 
Guy,  of  Paris,  who  found  as  a  result  of  numerous  experiments 
that  Hamamelis  virginica  is  not  toxic,  that  it  has  no  special  action 
on  the  vascular  system,  and  that  it  contains  no  alkaloid. 

The  famous  witch-hazel  preparations,  therefore,  which  cure  so 
many  diseases,  external  and  internal,  appear  to  be  nothing  but 
dilute  tinctures  of  tannin,  made  odorous  by  an  inert  volatile  oil. 

We  shall  yet  write  the  history  of  the  decline  and  fall  of  witch- 
hazel. 

One  cannot  conceive  of  the  self-satisfaction  of  the  writer 
of  the  article  just  quoted,  as  he  settled  back  in  his  chair 
and  calmly  puffed  his  cigar,  after  having  thus,  summarily, 
dealt  with  a  valueless  family  cure-all. 

It  is  a  fact  too  well  known  to  require  its  assertion  in  this 
place  that  the  action  of  the  alkaloid  of  any  vegetable  sub- 
stance differs,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  from  the  action 
of  the  tincture  made  from  the  same  substance.  Is  it  not 
equally  true  that  there  are  some  principles,  or  combination 
of  principles,  that,  while  powerful  in  action,  cannot  be 
demonstrated  by  the  clumsy  methods  of  chemistry.  The 
most  powerful  forces  of  nature  cannot  be  demonstrated, 
but  may  be  known  only  by  their  manifestations.  Who  has 
ever  demonstrated  the  essence  of  life?  of  electricity? 
Echo  answers,  "  Who."  Yet  we  believe  in  life  and  elec- 
tricity, for  we  see  their  manifestations  every  day.  Is  there 
any  one  who  dares  to  deny  that  these  forces  exist,  because 
he  cannot  demonstrate  them  ? 

If  our  old  school  brethren  would  consider  that  there  are 
a  few  things  in  the  universe  beyond  their  ken,  it  would  be  of 
inestimable  value  to  them  and  to  their  patients.  They  do 
not  consider  this,  however,  and,  accordingly,  if  a  thing 
cannot  be  demonstrated  it  cannot  exist  They  are  ever 
trying  to  explain  from  the  material  stand-point  what  is 
only  explainable  by  the  eternal  law  of  similarity.     To  put 


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464  The  Medical  Advance.  Nov. 

it  in  the  words  of  Josh  Billings:  "Thar  iz  a  grate  deal  of 
spekulashun  thefc  iz  tryin'  to  ontwist  the  ontwistable,  which 
iz  about  ez  centsible  ez  settin'  down  in  a  wash-tub,  takin' 
hold  of  the  handles  and  tryin'  tew  lift  the  onliftable." 

The  means  employed  by  Homoeopathy  produce  results 
that  are  all  that  can  be  desired,  when  these  means  are 
employed;  but  even  if  a  scientific  (?)  Allopath  was  obliged 
to  admit  that  a  patient  recovered  under  homoeopathic  treat- 
ment from  some  disease  which  he  could  diagnose  but  could 
not  cure,  he  would,  in  all  probability,  be  "  a  man  convinced 
against  his  will,"  simply  because  he  cannot  realize  that 
disease  is  not  a  material  thiog,  but  is  due  to  a  perversion 
of  the  intangible  vital  force.   . 

If  some  of  our  old  school  brethren,  who  are  so  eagerly 
searching  for  the  truth,  would  give  the  amphibious  batra- 
chians  a  rest  long  enough  to  make  an  experiment  on  them- 
selves, with  full  doses  of  Hamamelis,  we  should  soon  hear 
no  more  about  the  inertness  of  this  great  agent;  and,  pos- 
sibly, it  might  be  found  to  exert,  at  least,  a  slight  influence 
over  the  vascular  system. 


VALUE  OF  CHARACTERISTICS. 


Editor  Advance  : 

There  is  danger  to  the  novice  of  misconstruing,  or  over- 
estimating the  value  of  "  key-notes,"  or  the  conventionally 
termed  "  characteristics "  of  drugs,  as  guides  in  practice. 
Though  the  same  remedy  may  be  required  in  different 
cases  of  the  same  form  of  disease,  it  will  not  necessarily  be 
indicated  in  each  of  them  by  the  same  symptoms;  in  other 
words,  the  characteristics,  or  the  symptoms  prominently 
indicating  its  application  in  two  cases,  maybe  quite  differ- 
ent There  are  no  absolutely  pathognomonic  symptoms  of 
any  drug  by  which  it  can  be  infallibly  selected.  Especially, 
will  this  be  observed  in  the  treatment  of  diflFerent  forms  of 
disease,  that  the  same  symptoms  of  a  given  remedy  can- 
not, for  all  of  them,  have  the  same  characteristic  or  key- 
note  value. 

What  symptoms  then  are  for  them  peculiarly  character- 


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1887  "  The  Fundamentals  of  the  Organon.''  465 

istic?    Only  such  as  for  each  individual  case,  are  found  to 
have  the  most  vital  correspondence  or  similitude.    - 

The  only  means,  therefore,  of  ascertaining  the  homoeo- 
pathic and  curative  remedy,  is  not  the  search  for  key-notes 
but  the  study  and  comparison  of  all  of  the  symptoms. 

B.  LeB.  Baylies,  M.  D. 


Bbookvn,  N.  Y. 


"THE  FUNDAMEN^TALS  OF  THE  ORG  ANON.' 


Editor  Advance : 

"A  man's  observations  of  natural  phenomena,  if  he  be  a  keen 
and  accurate  observer,  as  Hahnemann  unquestionably  was,  are 
generally  correct.  His  theoretical  explanation  of  them  is  pretty 
sure  to  be  tinctured  with  the  philosophy  of  the  period  in  which  he 
wrote,  and  is  not  likely  to  he  accepted  loithout  qualification  by  men 
of  a  subsequent  period,'* —Dunham. 

Had  Dr.  Lewis  Barnes  in  his  late  excellent  aiticles  on  the  Or- 
ganon,  kept  the  lucid  distinctions  here  laid  down  clearly  in  view, 
he  would  doubtless  have  put  some  of  his  statements  of  principles 
in  a  different  phraseology.  At  least  I  am  slow  to  believe  otherwise. 
Observation  of  facts,  and  the  theoretical  explanation  of  them,  are 
two  very  distinct  departments  of  human  knowledge. 

It  is  nevertheless  true,  that  no  two  things  are  more  likely  to  be 
confounded,  nor,  as  a  practical  fact,  are  more  often  confounded  in 
argument.  The  former,  says  Dunham,  if  carefully  and  scientifi- 
cally conducted,  are  pretty  sure  to  be  correct;  the  latter  is  always 
subject  to  revision  by  men  of  a  subsequent  period. 

This  is  founded  upon  the  law  of  human  advancement.  As  the 
scope  of  man's  knowledge  broadens  with  the  experience  of  each 
succeeding  generation,  the  theoretical  explanation  of  facts  must 
constantly  change.  In  case  no  advance  is  made,  the  theories  may 
or  may  not  stand. 

It  is  absolutely  necessary  to  keep  these  distinctions  clearly  in 
view  in  reading  the  Organon,  if  we  would  derive  all  the  benefit 
possible  from  its  perusal.  More  than  one  student  and  physician 
has  laid  down  the  book  in  disgust,  wholly  unable  to  pursue  it  in- 
terestedly to  the  end.  Those  who  have  persisted,  have  found  it  a 
mine  of  rubbish  and  of  gold.  The  two  are,  however,  so  inter- 
larded, that  sometimes  the  gold  seems  very  scarce,  and  the  rubbish 
very  abundant.  Hahnemann's  tirades  against  the  medicine  of  his 
day,  thanks  to  his  energy  and  perseverance,  are  now  only  partially 
in  point,  and  are  constantly  going  out  of  date.  All  that  part  of 
the  Organon  might  be  relegated,  with  value,  to  a  fine  print  appen- 
dix.   It  is  wasting  valuable  amunition  on  Quaker  guns  and  de- 


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466  The  Medical  Advance.  Nov. 

aerted  forts.  This  was  not  true  a  generation  ago.  Unfortunately 
a  large  part  of  the  original  Organon  is  taken  up  with  these  obso- 
lescent arguments. 

Another  part  is  given  to  the  theoretical  explanation  of  observed 
facts.  This,  as  has  been  stated,  is  always  subject  to  the  revision 
of  subsequent  men,  hence  to  men  of  our  own  day.  Very  much  of 
this  revision  now  consists  in  entirely  dropping  out  Hahnemann's 
theorizing,  and  substituting  a  blank  in  its  place. 

The  demonstrable  ground  for  building  a  safe  theory  of  the 
modus  operandi  of  drugs,  had  not  been  reached  in  Hahnemann's 
time,  and  we  of  to-day,  are  but  a  trifle  nearer  it. 

As  yet,  some  of  the  steps  in  the  process  are  obscure,  others  are 
entirely  beyond  all  our  combined  powers  of  observation;  hence, in 
not  a  few  of  the  most  important  fundamentals,  we  do  not  know 
whether  we  are  building  upon  rock  or  quick-sand,  in  fact  we  are 
building  upon  nothing  but  conjecture. 

On  just  such  flimsy  fundamentals  rests  the  theory  of  the  **  spirit- 
like force  of  disease,"  the  "spirit-like  power  hidden  in  drugs,'' 
**  the  spirit-like  vital  force  in  man." 

This  terminology  in  itself  displays  our  still  helpless  ignorance. 
All  these,  if  they  do  exist,  are  matters  of  faith,  and  not  of  sight. 
And  while  it  may  be  true  of  the  Christian  that  he  walks  by  faith 
and  not  by  sight,  it  is  equally  true  of  the  competent  and  scientific 
physician  that  he  walks  by  sight  and  not  by  faith. 

Ours  is  a  theory  that  rests  upon  demonstrations,  as  Dr.  Barnes 
reiterates  again  and  again  regarding  the  use  of  potencies.  What 
we  can  see  with  our  own  eyes  following  in  the  legitimate  line  of 
cause  and  effect  belongs  to  Materia  Medica.  What  can  not  be 
satisfactorily  shown  in  this  way  belongs  to  the  lilmy  regions  of  un- 
demonstrated  theories. 

To  place  as  fundamental  to  Homoeopathy,  any  such  theories  as 
these,  is  to  make  it,  in  so  far  as  their  influence  may  go,  the  laugh- 
ing stock  of  scientific  men.  That  these  were  regarded  as  funda- 
mental by  Hahnemann,  is  to  his  credit,  in  the  age  in  which  he 
lived,  and  in  the  light  of  the  philosophy  of  his  time.  But  they 
were  not  demonstrable  then,  and  are  even  less  so  now. 

It  would  be  better,  if  they  too,  were  relegated  to  a  fine  print 
appendix.  Metaphysical  and  psychical  theories  must,  in  all  prob- 
ability, always  occupy  very  limited  ground  in  practical  medicine. 
They  have  their  place,  but  it  is,  and  must  remain  a  very  inferior 
one.  They  are  not  necessary  to  the  successful  administration  of 
drugs.  On  the  contrary  they  are  often  a  hindrance,  a  delusion  and 
a  snare.  Of  all  methods  for  the  use  of  drugs.  Homoeopathy  alone 
stands  on  a  clearly  cut  demonstrable  foundation.  It  is  the  future 
hope  of  the  healing  art,  and  is  rapidly  levelling  all  other  ideas.  It 
is  the  little  leaven  that  has  already  made  itself  felt  in  every  school. 


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1887         A  ^'Correction''  that  Does  Not  Correct.  467 

college  and  oflSce  of  our  so-called  opponents,  in  every  corner  of  the 
earth.  Let  us  then  be  very  cautious  how  we  mar  our  fair  struc- 
ture of  observed  facts,  by  theoretical  explanations  that  do  not 
explain. 

In  a  future  article  I  hope  to  point  out  some  of  the  gold  in  the 
Organon. 

M.  W.  Vandenburg,  a.  M.,  M.  D. 


Fort  Edward.  N.  Y. 


A  "CORRECTION"  THAT  DOES  NOT  CORRECT. 


Editor  Advance :  ' 

iSfir.— You  know  the  convictions  that  obliged  the  writing  of 
*^The  Crank  of  an  Organ^^  You  know  that  scorn  and  contempt 
are  not  necessarily  bom  of  only  malice.  You  know  what  hap- 
pened to  the  money-changers  who  defiled  the  Temple. 

You  are  asked  to  publish  the  accompanying  Open  Letter,  You 
are  not  expected  to  endorse  it.  It  is  a  note  of  hand  that  must 
pass  current  on  its  intrinsic  worth  or  be  protested  with  costs. 

You  are  either  an  advocate  of  Homoeopathy  unawed  by  influ- 
ence, or  you  are  bought  with  a  price.    Your  dealing  with  this  con-  * 
tribution  will  define  your  piosition.    You  are  a  free  agent. 
Yours  for  the  **  indicated  remedy,"  not  the  "disease." 

Samuel  A.  Jones,  M.  D. 
Ank  Arbor,  Oct.  4th.  1887. 


An  Open  Letter  to  T.  F.  Allen,  M.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Dean  of  the  New 
York  Homoeopathic  Medical  College. 

My  Dear  Double  Doctor,— IX  \%  eleven  years  since  I  have  seen 
the  light  of  your  couAtenance,  but,  having  just  read  your  letter 
to  The  Medical  Advance,  I  find  that  you  are  still  the  same, 
only  more  so. 

I  found  you  first,  nearly  twenty  years  ago,  a  struggling  yoimg 
M.  D.,  snugly  ensconced  with  a  loving  wife  in  a  suit  of  rooms 
over  a  pharmacy.  To-day  you  live  in  a  modem  miracle  of  brick- 
and-mortar,  you  have  a  pleasant  country  seat  for  a  retreat  in  the 
dog-days,  and  you  are  regarded  as  a  leader  in  the  Homoeopathic 
School.  You  have  been  tried  by  prosperity— that  severest  of 
tests.    Is  the  white  robe  of  manliness  unsullied? 

You,  doubtless,  have  not  forgotten  the  strange  young  man  from 
Connecticut  to  whom  the  venerable  Dr.  P.  P.  Wells  became  as  a 
father  because  his  daughter  plead  for  you  for  her  old  schoolmate's 
sake.  You  cannot  have  forgotten  the  magnanimity  of  a  Carroll 
Dunham  who  made  of  you  a  second  son  and  helped  you  up  the 
ladder  that  you  have  so  successfully  clomb.  One  of  these  your 
benefactors  yet  lingers  in  the  deepening  twilight  awaiting  the 
Voice  that  calls  the  weary  workman  to  his  rest;  the  other  lives  in 


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468  The  Medical  Advance,  Nov. 

the  Light  inefPable  where  they  no  longer  "see  through  a  glass 
darkly/'  no  longer  "know  in  part."  Between  the  living  witness 
and  the  dead,  can  you  stand  up  in  the  midst  of  your  prosperity 
and  say:  /  have  fought  a  goodflght;  I  har>e  kept  the  faith  f 

I  am  sorry  to  find  in  your  communication  to  the  Advance  an 
equivocation,  that  is  infinitely  thinner  than  the  1000th  potency 
that  you  once  declared  you  were  ready  "to  swear  to."  It  is  an 
equivocation  and  an  artful  evasion,  and  you,  its  devisor,  are  a 
Doctor  of  Medicine,  a  Doctor  of  Laws,  and  the  Dean  of  a  College 
— God  save  the  markl  Could  none  of  these  high  callings  provide 
you  with  the  rectitude  that  each  of  them  demands?  In  so  sore 
an  exigency  couldn't  you  "assume  a  virtue  if  you  have  it  not?" 
Of  course  it  would  be  a  severe  sacrifice  of  self,  but  in  such  posi- 
tions the  demand  is  imperative. 

I  am,  however,  thankful  that  you  have  answered  my  challenge 
in  your  official  capacity;  and  I  am  glad  that  my  challenge  and 
your  answer  are  in  the  same  journal.  Yet  a  little  while,  and  you 
and  I  will  leave  only  a  little  hillock  of  green  turf.  Men  will  for- 
get whether  we  posed  in  the  pomp  of  place,  or  pined  in  penury, 
and  they  will  judge  us  by  our  works.  To  that  tribunal,  unbiased 
•  and  unbribed,  I  leave  your  answer  to  my  challenge, 
"  Sustained  and  soothed  by  an  unfalterinK  trust" 

From  an  "A.  M."  and  an  "LL  D."  your  are  the  most  penurious 
rhetorician  I  ever  read;  and  I  have  spent  my  life  amongst  books. 
You  could  easily  have  repudiated  the  North  American  Journal  of 
HomcBopathy  as  the  organ  of  the  New  York  Honuxopathic  Col- 
lege—^vl^  it  was  a  good  time  to  do  it  if  you  only  knew  it..  I  was 
willing  to  bet  on  the  vigorous  virtue  of  the  "physicist's  boot  I 
waver,  however,  when  I  find  the  Dean  of  the  College  paraplegic 
and  without  an  able-bodied  avenging  deputy— "but  yet  the  pity  of 
lt,IagoI" 

Nevertheless,  you  are  prompt  with  a  "correction"  that  was 
needless.  Must  a  rollicking  jest  be  sent  to  you  labelled,  and  with 
** directions  for  taking,"  like  a  "  Regular"  prescription  ?  Has  your 
**  Homoeopathic  "  hypodermic  syringe  bewitched  you?  I  need  not 
tell  you  the  remedy— you  are  the  editor  of  the  *'£ncyclop€edia  of 
Pure  Materia  Medica  I  *' 

How  easy  it  would  have  been  for  you,  as  the  Dean,  to  have 
written:  The  North  American  Journal  of  Homcsopathy  does  not 
''voice  the  ethics  of  the  New  York  Homoeopathic  Medical  Col- 
lege." You  did  not:  does  your  memory  still  retain  some  lingering 
reminiscence  of  a  *  little  hatchet"  that  you  played  with  as  a  guile- 
less boy  in  the  fragrant  onion-beds  of  the  Wooden-Nutmeg  State? 
Meanwhile,  I  am  grateful  for  the  assurance  that  the  College  "has 
no  connection"  with  the  Journal — because  I  always  enjoy  a  jokel 

I  fully  agree  with  you  that  "a  medical  journal  is  not  responsi- 


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1887         A  **Correciim''  that  Does  Not  Correct  469 

ble  for  the  8tatem')Qt<)  of  Its  correspondents."  Perhaps  you  will 
return  the  compliment  by  agreeing  with  me  that  to  wreak  one*s 
vengeance  on  the  subscription-list  of  a  medical  journal  **  for  the 
statements  of  its  correspondents"  is  a** little  game"  that  never 
yet  has- strangled  a  single  truth— never  can  do  that,  though  in- 
spired, aided  and  abetted  by  his  satanic  majesty  and  all  his 
friends.  But,  Mr.  Dean,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  LL.  D.,  and  what  not,  have 
you  even  the  hardihood  to  declare  that "  a  medical  journal  is  not 
conhidered  responsible  for  the  statements  of  its  Editor-in-Chief." 
T?iat  is  t?ie  thing  I  am  after;  whether  it  be  made  of  wood-and- 
leather,  "deacon,"  veal,  or  carion. 

I  hope  this  is  intelligible  English,  and  I  plead  for  an  intelligible 
reply. 

I  am  fearful  that  I  have  under-estimated  you  hardihood,  for  as 
Dean  of  the  New  York  Homceopathic  Medical  College  you  absure 
every  reader  of  The  Medical  Advance  that  its  'faculty  ia  proud 
to  count  among  its  members  several  of  the  editorial  staff  of  the" — 
North  American  Journal  of  Homceopathy. 

"Proud!"  "I  thank  thee,  Jew,  for  teaching  me  that  word.** 
But  what  if  it  be  the  pride  that  goes  before  a  fjill  V 

In  the  jiame  of  the  New  York  Homoeopathic  Medical  College 
you,  its  Dean,  have  answered  my  challenge  with  an  unmanly  equiv- 
ocation and  a  coward's  evasion.  You  and  its  faculty  must  accept 
the  consequences.  Among  these  are  the  scorn  of  every  honest 
man,  and  the  contempt  of  an  older  School  of  Medicine  which  now 
knows  that  you  trade  upon  a  Name  and  are  not  inspired  by  a  con- 
viction. Your  ethics  are  as  elastic  as  your  conscience  is  callous. 
Your  college,  as  you  define  it,  is  a  chartered  pretense;  it  was 
founded  as  the  Temple  of  a  Principle  with  the  ever-lasting  Truth 
under  it  and  the  ever-living  God  over  it.  Who  but  the  Father  of 
Lies  could  have  brought  about  the  change? 

Perhaps  I  mistake  you  all— you  may  have  found  Homoeopathy 
too  contracted  for  the  "  practice"  demanded  of  you;  you  may  feel 
your  need  for  all  the  "  adj  u vantic  treatment "  so  frankly  advocated 
by  one  of  your  faculty  and  so  fully  endorsed  by  the  Dean  for  all 
of  it.  In  such  an  extremity  you  can  be  regarded  as  honest  men 
by  painting  your  sign: 

The  New  York  Eoleotio  College:  Founded  in  1860;  Remod- 
eled (to  suit  the  times)  in  1887. 

A  rose  by  any  other  name  may  smell  as  sweet,  but  an  Eclectic 
College  by  any  other  name  is  a  feiterin?  falsehood,  an  offense  to 
God,  and  a  disgrace  to  man. 

Yours  to  the  end  for  an  honest  name, 

Samuel  A.  Jones,  M.  D. 


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470  The  Medical  Advance.  Noy. 

EDITORIAL. 


*Wtaen  we  have  to  do  with  an  art  whose  end  Is  the  saving  of  human  life,  any  neglect  to 
make  ourtelves  ihorouKhly  masters  of  ti  becomes  a  crime."— Hahnkmann. 

A  Difficult  Problem. — Our  esteemed  contemporary  the 
Medical  Era,  has  evidently  undertaken  a  difficult  task. 
The  editor  is  trying  to  convert  a  correspondent  of  the 
Medical  Times,  who  asserts  that,  "  the  practice  of  a  hom- 
oeopathic physician  consists  of  nine  different  parts — pallia- 
tion, surgery,  antidotes,  parasiticides,  mineral  waters,  hydro- 
therapy, electricity,  empiricism  and  Homoeopathy."  Our 
contemporary  does  not  need  our  aid,  and  the  Times  corre- 
spondent probably  would  not  accept  our  advice;  yet  we 
would  suggest  that  this  egg  may  be  made  to  stand  on  end 
by  a  simple  mathematical  process,  viz. :  subtract  Homoeo- 
pathy from  this  conglomeration  and  the  remainder  will  be 
Allopathy,  a  la  scientific  (?)  medicine,  pure  and  simple. 

It  is  a  fine  point,  but  the  differentiation  is  clear. 

«        #        « 

Our  Pharmacies. — A  stream  never  rises  higher  than  its 
fountain;  and  our  pharmacies,  as  a  rule,  will  keep  pace 
with  the  demands  of  the  profession.  This  is  a  simple 
business  proposition  and  needs  very  little  demonstration. 
The  proprietors  must  pay  expenses  and  live,  and  as  they 
keep  a  full  line  of  reliable  homoeopathic  preparations  they 
deserve  and  should  receive  the  support  of  the  profession. 
But,  that  they  do  not,  is  known  to  every  one.  The  homoe- 
opathic remedies  to  be  reliable,  should  be  prepared  in  the 
same  manner  as  the  ones  from  which  the  original  provings 
were  made,  and  then  be  kept  pure,  and  free  from  contami- 
nating influences,  such  as  odors,  etc.  This  cannot  be  done 
in  an  ordinary  drug  store.  Yet,  knowing  all  this,  many 
homoeopathic  physicians  persist  in  buying  their  remedies 
at  the  drug  stores  because  they  are  a  few  cents  cheaper. 
Many  of  these  preparations  are  made  after  other  than  the 
rules  laid  down  in  the  homoeopathic  pharmacopoeia — from 
fluid  extracts  or  dried  plants  gathered  and  prepared  without 
due  care — hence  their  cheapness,  and  hence  too  their  entire 
unreliability  and  worthlessness  in  practice.  In  a  desperate 
case  the  physician  ought  to  know  the  character  of  his  pre- 


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1887  Editorial.  471 

parations,  and  the  fate  of  a  patient  often  hinges  upon  this. 
Men  who  complain  of  the  unreliability  of  their  remedies, 
generally  go  armed  with  a  hypodermic  syringe  which  they 
use  on  the  slightest  provocation.  Better  study  the  Materia 
Medica  more  and  works  on  allopathic  therapeutics  less; 
read  a  few  true  homoeopathic  journals;  procure  reliable 
remedies  at  a  reliable  pharmacy;  pay  a  fair  price  for  a 
good  article;  give  the  single  remedy  in  the  single  dose,  if 
possible,  and  wait  and  see  the  healing  and  saving  power  of 
similia.  Practice  Homoeopathy  for  a  year  or  two  and  see 
what  an  improvement  it  is  on  the  old  plan  of  mixing  and 
alternating  remedies.     Agnosticism  should  be  unknown  in 

homoeopathic  practice. 

*        ♦        * 

HoMCEOPATHio  SPECIALISTS.— On  another  page,  we  pub- 
lish the  reasons  why  an  Allopath  should  not  use  a  two  per 
cent,  solution  of  the  Silver  nitrate  in  Ophthalmia  Neona- 
torum. These  reasons  may  be  a  sufficient  negative  guide 
for  him,  but  why,  in  the  light  of  Hahnemann's  teachings 
on  the  treatment  of  chronic  diseases,  should  the  homoeo- 
pathic oculist  use  a  topical  application  of  any  kind.  Can 
the  local  application  of  the  Silver  nitrate  to  the  eyes  of  the 
new  born  infant,  irrespective  of  indication,  be  considered 
homoeopathic  treatment?  If  it  be  the  indicated  remedy, 
the  internal  administration  in  the  potentized  form  will  do 
the  cure  work  much  more  quickly,  safely  and  satisfactorily. 
If  it  be  not  indicated,  and  it  only  can  be  in  certain  cases, 
it  will  do  more  harm  than  good — spoil  more  eyes  than  it 
can  cure.  The  homoeopathic  practitioner  is  sometimes,  in 
fact,  often  blamed,  because  he  does  not  send  his  eye  cases 
to  the  homoeopathic  specialist  Is  it  to  be  wondered  he  is 
cautious,  when  he  can  discover  so  little  difference  between 
homoeopathic  treatment  and  allopathic  empiricism?  Con- 
fidence is  a  plant  of  slow  growth,  and  in  the  earning  of  it 
our  specialists  must  not  forget  that  the  strict  inductive 
method  of  Hahnemann  can  be  and  ought  to  be  applied  in 
the  treatment  of  the  visual  organ  as  well  as  of  the  entire 
system.  To  keep  up  the  indiscriminate  use  of  a  two  per 
cent  solution  of  the  Silver  nitrate,  after  the  advanced  Al- 


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472  The  Medical  Advance.  Noy. 

lopath  has  abandoned  it,  is  not  the  way  to  gain  or  maintain 
tiie  confidence  of  the  general  practitioner  in  the  homoeo- 
pathic treatment  of  Ophthalmia  Neonatorum.  Can  we  not 
do  better?  Is  a  topical  application  in  this  affection  ever 
necessary  in  Homoeopathic  treatment?  We  think  not;  and 
if  our  specialists  would  study  Hahnemann's  Chronic  Dis- 
eases and  then  follow  its  teaching  in  practice  they  would 
agree  with  us,  that  topical  applications  are  not  only  absurd 
and  unnecessary  but  in  the  majority  of  oases  positively  in- 
jurious. 

«        «        « 

HoMCEOPATHio  TEACHING. — In  a  recent  editorial  the 
North  American  Journal  of  Homoeopathy  presented  the 
following  plea  for  the  use  of  palliatives  in  Homoeopathic 
practice: 

**It  is  hiifh  time,  however,  that  the  word  'homoeopathic '  be  un- 
derstood by  the  pubiic;  it  is  high  time  that  the  true  definition  of 
the  term  'homoeopathist*  be  given.  It  means  'one  who  believes 
in  homoeopathy— nothing  more,  nothing  less— and  why  a  believer 
in  homoeopathy  does  not  have  just  as  much  right  88  a  believer  in 
allopathy  to  use  all  the  adjuvantic  treatment  that  he  may  think 
necessary  for  the  welfare  of  his  patient  we  are  at  a  loss  to  deter- 
mine. Because  a  physician  is  a  believer  in  homoeopathy,  is  he  to 
believe  nothing  else?  Is  he  to  be  debarred  from  using  any  other 
treatment  which  he  may  consider  best  for  his  patient?  Can  he 
not  administer  morphine  hypodermieally  for  the  mechanical  pres- 
sure of  gall-stones  or  of  a  kidney  calculus?" 

We  ask  our  readers  to  note  this  definition  of  Homoeo- 
pathy and  Homoeopathist  as  given  by  the  editor  of  the 
North  American  and  then  read  between  the  lines  in  the 
following  exposition  of  belief  and  practice  by  Dr.  T.  F. 
Allen,  and  see  if  the  concordance  is  not  significant 
To  The  HomoBopathic  Physician: 

In  your  issue  of  September,  1887,  just  received,  you  ask  of  me 
information  as  to  my  beliefs,  courteously:  To  such  a  request  1  am 
happy  to  reply. 

The  New  York  Medical  Times  has  incorrectly  quoted  me  in 
making  me  say  that  '*!  do  not  believe  that  Homoeopathy  is  the 
only  law  of  healing.*'  /  never  gave  utterance  to  any  such  senti- 
ment, nor  do  I  think  it.  What  I  may  have  stiid  and  what*  I  am 
forced  to  believe  is,  that  Homoeopathy  is  not  the  only  way  to  treat 
the  kick.    1  know  of  on  other  law  of  cure  than  the  law  of  similars; 


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1887  Ediiorial  473 

it  is  a  law  I  stand  by  in  my  public  utterances  and  in  my  private 
practice.  No  one  can  more  consistently  follow  its  guidance  day 
by  day  than  I  do;  no  one  is  more  intolerant  of  empiricism  than  I; 
no  one  gives  fewer  doses,  and,  I  may  almost  say,  less  medicine. 
But  while  I  (the  pronoun  "I"  is  used  with  the  intention  to  give 
expression  simply  to  a  personal  opinion)  practice  Homoeopathy 
pure  and  simple  for  the  cure  of  the  sick,  avoiding  even  a  highest 
potency  of  an  unproved  drug  for  the  •*  cure"  of  neuralgia  or  any- 
thing else,  other  methods  of  treating  the  sick  are  forced  upon  me. 
These  methods  are: 

First  Palliation,  This  I  put  first,  because  by  me  it  is  most 
infrequently  used— 07Jcc  only  during  the  past  two  years  have  I 
been  forced  to  resort  to  hypodermic  injections  of  Morphia  in  the 
closing  hours  of  a  woman  suffering  from  cancer  of  the  stomach. 
It  is  indeed  rare  that  a  remedy  homoeopathic  to  the  symptoms 
fails  to  relieve  even  in .  an  incurable  case,  but  it  sometimes  hap- 
pens, and  when  it  does  happen,  whether  from  the  ignorance  of  the 
physician  or  the  peculiarity  of  the  case,  one's  duty  is  perfectly 
clear  and  must  be  followed.  I  heard  a  homoeopathic  physician 
once  say  that  if  the  remedy  failed  to  relieve  even  in  the  highest 
potency,  the  patient  must  "howl;**  he  would  not  be  guilty  of  ad- 
ministering Opium.  I  wish  clearly  to  be  understood— palliation 
is  seldom  necessary;  the  true  homoeopathist  rarely  uses  it;  but  it 
is  one  way  in  which  the  sick  must  occasionally  be  treated. 

Second.  The  removal  of  the  cause  of  disease.  Under  this  head- 
ing lies  a  mine  of  investigation,  which  has  but  just  been  opened. 
If  we,  as  homoeopath ists,  ignore  the  strides  of  medical  progress 
in  the  direction  of  sanitary  science  and  fail  to  keep  abreast  of  that 
progress,  we  shall  go  under.  What  we  have  to  do  is  to  demon- 
strate the  truth  of  (Jod's  law  in  Therapeutics,  not  to  cover  it  up 
with  dust.  The  truth  is,  people  will  not  get  sick  if  they  are  cured 
of  all  their  chronic  maladies  and  live  properly;  the  truth  is,  Hom- 
oeopathy alone  is  able  to  cure  these  chronic  diseases;  butit  is  not  the 
truth  that  Homoeopathy  will  remove  the  cause  of  disease.  There  are 
numerous  instances  in  which  urgent  symptoms,thedirecteffectof  an 
exciting  and  persistently  acting  cause,  must  be  relieved  by  a  forcible 
removal  of  the  cause,  and  then  the  patient  treated  homoeopathic- 
ally  to  cure  him  and  prevent  a  recurrence  of  the  malady.  These 
causes  are  not  limited  to  gross  substances,  such  as  copper  cents  or 
green  apples,  but  include  substances  which  are  microscopic  in 
size  but  infernal  in  activity.  Time  will  fail  me  now  to  enter  into 
the  whole  discussion  of  contagion  and  zymosis,  but  there  is  no 
doubt  in  my  mind  that  while,  as  a  rule,  patients  are  best  treated 
by  allowing  the  morbid  process  to  work  itself  out,  relieving  the 
symptoms  bomoeopathically  as  they  arise  day  by  day,  and  putting 
the  system  into  the  best  possible  condition  to  withstand  the 
att!^;ck,  there  are  cases  in  which,  not  being  able  to  cure  in  a  few 


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474  The  Medical  Advance.  Nov. , 

days  the  whole  cachexia  of  the  poor  sufferer,  not  being  able  by  a 
dose  of  Sulphur  or  any  other  antipsoric  to  remove  his  inherited 
psora  that  renders  him  susceptible  to  disease  and  feeble  to  resist 
it,  we  must  suppress  for  a  time  the  violence  of  the  zymosis. 

A  most  worthy  but  bigoted  homoeopathic  physician  allowed  a 
young  lady  in  this  city  to  shake  actually  for  over  six  months  with 
tertian  and  double-tertain  fever.  The  patient  has  never  recovered 
from  the  absolute  anaemia  which  resulted;  more  than  ten  years 
have  not  been  sufficient  to  restore  her  health.  The  family  let  him 
see  it  through,  and  she  never  took  any  medicine  but  in  the  highest 
potency.  Now,  in  such  a  case  my  duty  is  clear:  Stop  the  over- 
powering activity  of  the  zymosis,  and  then  cure  the  patient.  Once 
or  twice  only  in  many  years  have  I  been  obliged  to  use  Quinine  in 
large  doses.  I  cure  almost  every  case  within  a  week  or  two  by  the 
clearly  indicated  remedy;  sometimes  they  recover  in  forty-eight 
hours;  but  now  and  then  one  must  do  differently. 

lie  who  in  these  days  will  not  wash  out  with  distilled  water 
and  one  five-thousandth  of  a  grain  of  corrosive  Mercury  a  fresh 
case  of  gonorrhoea  and  cure  his  erring  brother  in  twenty-four  to 
forty- eight  hours,  must  give  up  the  treatment  of  such  diseases. 
The  fact  that  one  in  a  hundred  gets  an  orchitis  or  rheumatism 
shows  rather  that  the  water  was  too  cold  than  that  the  cleaning 
out  of  a  poison  which  is  unclean  and  purely  local  caused  a  sup- 
pression of  sycosis  or  any  other  -osis.  But  we  do  not  know  much 
about  these  poisons  which  get  into  us  and  ferment  in  our  blood 
and  tissues  when  we  are  below  par.  What  I  think  is  that,  unless 
we  know  definitely  all  about  it  the  best  plan  is  to  treat  our  patients 
carefully  and  homoeopathieally,  but  when  we  do  know  something 
about  it,  expel  the  intruder  first. 

Third.  Local  applications.  It  is  a  pretty  theory,  and  one  which 
works  well  as  a  rule,  that  if  a  patient  be  placed  in  a  favorable  con- 
dition all  sores  will  heal  and  all  discharges  will  be  natural.  I 
practice  on  that  plan,  and  I  use  local  applications  very  seldom,  but 
I  am  bound  to  recognize  the  fact  that  .vome  patients  will  absolutely 
not  get  well  without  cleaning  the  sores  and  washing  off  morbid 
secretions.  Doctors  may  theorize  an<l  fuss  about  this  all  they 
please,  the  fact  remains:  local  applications  are  necessary  in  some 
cases.  Always  in  conjunction  with  such  cleansing  applications  I 
prescribe  the  indicated  remedy. 

Fourth,  Electricity.  But  as  1  do  not  believe  much  in  it  nor  in 
any  of  the  other  expedients  I  have  mentioned,  I  will  not  prolong 
this  letter. 

If  an  unbiased  observer  will  watch  the  practice  of  different 
physicians  he  will  see  that  each  gathers  about  him  his  own  set. 
Each  will  say  that  his  world  is  complete  and  his  methods  satis- 
factory. I  witness  an  eminent  physician  giving  only  high  po- 
tencies gather  about  him  a  coterie  composed  exclusively  of  those 


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1887  Editorial  476 

susceptible  to  such  doses  and  flattering  the  doctor  into  the  belief 
of  his  own  infallibility.  I  witness  also  the  hundreds  of  people 
who  have  failed  to  receive  benefit  at  his  hands  quietly  dropping 
away  from  him,  and  drifting  into  the  circle  of  another  who,  in  his 
turn,  has  his  own  following,  and  who  conceives  his  methods  to  be 
nearest  perfection. 

I  believe  that  as  the  years  go  by  and  good,  honest  work  is  done 
by  us,  we  shall  have  less  need  of  adjuvants  and  expedients.  I 
know  that  within  the  compass  of  my  own  experience  families 
have  become  less  and  less  liable  to  sickness,  and  the  children  have 
grown  more  healthy  and  beget  healthier  offspring.  Till  the 
imedical  millennium,  however,  we  must  take  sickness  as  we  find 
it,  and  do  our  best  to  cure,  and  to  relieve  if  we  cannot  cure. 

It  will  give  me  pleasure  to  defend  my  opinions  against  all 
comers  who  fight  fair,  but  against  those  who  use  offensive  epithets 
and  impute  unworthy  motives  I  have  no  weapons. 

T.  F.  Allen. 

«        «        « 

There  is  a  broad  difference  between  the  belief  in,  and  the 
practice  of  Homoeopathy.  A  man  may  believe  in  Homoeo- 
pathy as  the  only  law  of  cure  and  practice  eclecticism  as 
the  best  he  can  do.  There  is  nothing  to  prevent  him  from 
giving  morphine  "for  the  mechanical  pressure  of  gall- 
stones," but  as  a  homoeopathic  teacher  it  certainly  seems 
strangely  inconsistent  that  he  should  attempt  to  pawn  this 
off  as  the  practice  of  a  consistent  Homoeopathisi  There  is 
nothing  to  prevent  Lauder  Brunton  from  using  homoeo- 
pathic remedies  and  pilfering  homoeopathic  Materia  Medica 
by  the  page,  but  all  honorable  men  will  think  he  should 
give  due  credit  for  it  and  call  it  by  the  right  name,  without 
reference  to  his  belief.  A  Homceopathist  is  one  who  prac- 
tices Homoeopathy,  not  one  who  believes  in  it  simply.  He 
may  believe  what  he  pleases,  but  he  must  practice  Homoe- 
opathy to  be  a  Homceopathist,  and  we  submit  that  it  is 
neither  consistent  nor  wise  for  a  teacher — either  from  the 
rostrum  or  the  journal — to  advocate  empiricism  forsooth 
because  he  cannot  find  the  similar  remedy  without  some 
hard  work.  It  is  easier  to  glide  with  the  current  than  to 
pull  against  it;  easier  to  follow  the  broad  well-beaten  track 
in  which  Allopathy  has  travelled  for  a  one  thousand  years 
than  the  narrow  rugged  pathway  of  Hahnemann  and  the 
Homoeopathisi     It  is  easier  to  give  a  dose  of  morphine  or 


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476  The  Medical  Advance.  Noy» 

qaioine  to  quiet  pain  or  snpprees  a  fever  paroxysm,  than, 
after  a  diligent  search,  to  find  the  simillimnm.  But  is  it 
better  for  the  physician  or  safer  for  the  patient?  Is  this 
the  best  way  to  demonstrate  "the  truth  of  Gkwi's  law 
in  therapeutics,"  or  is  it  the  way  "to  cover  it  up  with 

dust?" 

«        «        « 

The  illustrations  from  a  practical  stand-point  are,  we 
think,  exceedingly  unfortunate.  To  suppress  a  zymosis 
with  crude  doses  of  quinine,  is  neither  new,  strange  nor 
scientific.  To  "wash  out  with  distilled  water  and  one  five- 
thousandth  of  a  grain  of  corrosive  mercury  a  fresh  case  of 
gonorrhoea  and  cure  his  erring  brother  in  twenty-four  or 
forty-eight  hours,"  is  an  allopathic  expedient  two  hundred 
years  old,  and  certainly  is  erroneous  in  both  teaching  and 
practice.  It  is  pernicious  in  that  it  assumes  the  afiFection 
to  be  local,  not  general,  a  fact  in  pathology  now  admitted 
by  the  best  pathologists*  and  advocated  by  Hahnemann 
nearly  a  hundred  years  ago.  Can  you  suppress  a  constitu- 
tional affection — whether  a  zymosis  or  a  gonorrhoea — with- 
out endangering  the  life  or  the  welfare  of  the  patient? 
Does  such  teaching  tend  to  elevate  the  "  science  of  thera- 
peutics," as  taught  by  Dunham  a  few  years  ago  in  his  Lec- 
tures on  Materia  Medica. 

«        «        « 

HoMCEOPATHY  Again  Found  Wanting  (?).— 7%e  Med- 
ical and  Surgical  Reporter  has  for  some  weeks  past  given 
place  in  its  columns  to  opinions  pro  and  con  on  "  Homoe- 
opathy." For  this  apparent  desire  to  be  fair,  the  editors 
are  deserving  of  praise.  That  they  have  failed  to  clear  up 
the  vexed  question  in  a  few  letters  is  not  remarkable  con- 
sidering that  it  takes  a  lifetime  of  practice  to  get  even  a 
fair  understanding  of  the  meaning  of  our  law. 

We  do  not  remember  to  have  seen  the  name  of  any  con- 
spicuous exponent  of  the  school  in  its  purity  defending  or 
explaining  to  the  readers  of  the  Medical  and  Surgical  i2e- 
porter  the  principles  of  Homoeopathy,  possibly  because 
homoeopathic  readers  do  hot  usually  see  journals  of  the 

•See  the  I&te  works  of  Otis  &  Milton. 


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1887  Editorial  477 

other  school,  possibly  also  because  they  are  too  busy  cur- 
ing the  patients  of  the  Allopaths. 

♦         ♦         ♦ 

The  last  letter  on  the  "con "-side,  by  H.  V.  Sweringen, 
contains  some  good  points  as  against  that  number  in  our 
school  who  have  renounced  the  devil  but  retain  his  works — '• 
the  Allopathic-Homoeopaths.  Among  other  things  he  says: 

We  have  made  more  genuine  progress  in  the  last  thirty  or  forty 
years  than  was  made  in  the  preceding  twenty  centuries,  not  con- 
sidering the  discoveries  ot  Harvey  and  of  .Tenner. 

And  why,  pray?  What  startled  you  from  your  twenty 
centuries  of  sleep?  Had  the  introduction  and  success  of 
Homoeopathy  aught  to  do  with  it? 

There  is  not  an  important  principle,  fact  or  theory;  not  an  im- 
portant medical  disr*overy;  not  an  instrument  of  merit;  nothing  of 
sound,  practical  utility  within  the  whole  range  and  compass  of  the 
science  and  art  of  medicine  and  surgery,  which  did  not  have  its 
birth  and  origin  in  the  so-called  old  school. 

Hoo-ray  for  our  side!  There's  not  a  man,  woman  or 
child,  single,  married  or  otherwise;  there's  not  a  male  or  fe- 
male, betwixt  or  between;  not  a  single  bird,  beast  or  fowl; 
insect,  reptile  and  so  forth,  and  so  forth,  in  existence  to-day 
"which  did  not  have  its  birth  and  origin  in  the  so-called  '* 
Garden  of  Eden.  Do  you  see  the  point.  Dr.  von  Swear- 
again? 

If  Homceopathy  is  increasing,  as  some  claim  it  is,  it  is  certainly 
not  because  it  is  correct  as  a  doctrine. 

Its  correct  enough  to  steal  from,  isn't  it,  J.  Larceny 
Brunton  and  B.  Chloride  Ringer? 

Where  it  is  in  the  ascendancy— if  indeed  there  be  such  a  place- 
it  may  be  that  the  practitioners  thereof  practice  both  systems,  as 
80  many  of  them  profess  to  do  in  this  part  of  the  country. 

Aye,  there's  the  rub — more's  the  pity! 

I  would  like  to  ask  "one  of  them  "  how  a  homoeopathic  adher- 
ent can  conscientiously  practise  the  old  school  doctrine  if  he  be- 
lieves it  to  be  wrong  ? 

You  have  him  there,  'deed  and  you  have! 

And  what  his  opinion  is  of  the  man  who  advertised  that  he 
practices  both  homoBopathy  and  allopathy  ? 


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478  The  Medical  Advance,  Nov. 

Just  the  same  that  you  or  any  honest  msin  or  woman 
would  have.  He's  trying  to  sit  on  two  stools  and  deserves 
to  fall  between  them — as  he  usually  does.  And  what  is 
your  opinion  of  the  Allopath  who  offers  to  practice  Homoe- 
opathy if  the  patients  so  choose? 

Now,  here  is  the  verdict  as  pronounced  by  the  editors  in 
closing  the  discussion: 

As  a  system  it  is  contrary  to  every  principle  of  scientific  study 
or  achievement,  and  *  *  is  deservedly  rejected  by  the  great  mass 
of  honest  and  wise  men  who  constitute  the  *'  old  school,"  and  de- 
serted by  the  shrewd  members  of  the  very  sect  which  flaunts  its 
name. 

Is 't  even  so?  Think  of  it  a  moment  How  many  Hom- 
oeopaths can  you  call  to  mind  during  your  brilliant,  but 
eratic  careers,  who  have  renounced  Homoeopathy  and  gone 
over  to  your  school?  And  you  surely  will  not  deny  that 
Homoeopathy  is  receiving  constant  accessions  from  yoar 
camp?  Neither  will  you  put  yourself  on  record  as  saying 
that  our  practitioners  and  laymen,  numbering  into  the  tens 
of  thousands,  are  all  lacking  in  honesty  and  wisdom. 

As  a  method  of  practice  it  cannot  be  denied  to  have  a  certain 
success,  but  this  is  in  spite  of  the  false  theory  upon  which  it  is 
founded,  and  not  because  of  it. 

Now,  this  is  most  alarming!  We  succeed  not  because 
we  don't,  but  because  we  do! 

We  also  agree  *  *  *  in  recommending  to  any  candid  and  in- 
telligent mind  a  study  of  the  doctrines  of  Homoeopathy  as  pub- 
lished in  the  writings  of  its  founder. 

That's  the  only  true  way  to  learn  homoeopathic  princi- 
ples. By  the  bye,  Messieurs  les  Edifeurs,  have  you  read 
the  Organon  of  Hahnemann  which  contains  the  doctrine 
of  Homoeopathy  as  promulgated  by  the  Founder  and  by 
him  reduced  to  writing  in  that  form?  And  have  you  put 
the  propositions  therein  set  forth  to  an  honest  test,  thereby 
assuring  yourself  of  their  truth  or  falsity,  or  have  you 
taken  your  principles  of  "  Homoeopathy  "  at  second-hand 
plus  the  bias  of  your  informant?  If  you  are  honest,  you 
will  act  as  an  honest  man  in  matters  of  science,  viz. :  Put 
Hahnemann's  fact  to  the  test  of  practical  experience  and 
publish  the  failure  in  The  Medical  and  Surgical  Reporter. 


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1887  .     New  Publimtims,  479 

NEW  PUBLICATIONS. 


A  CLINICAL  MATERIA  MEDIC  A.  A  course  of  lectures  delivered  at  the  Hah- 
uemannlau  Medical  College.  Philadelphia,  by  the  late  £.  A.  Farrington.  M.  D. 
Reported  phouographically  and  edited  with  the  assistance  of  the  Lecturer's 
manuscript,  by  Clarence  Bartlctt,  M.  D.  Philadelphia:  Boericke  &  Tafel,  1887. 
P|>.  752.  Cloth.  $6;  half  morocco,  97 ;  with  usual  discount.  To  be  had  at  all 
Pharmacies. 

Several  of  these  lectures  have  already  been  published  by  Dr. 
Bartlett  in  the  Hahnemannian  Monthly,  and  have  been  uni ver- 
bally approved;  also,  a  series  of  Dr.  Farrington's  lectures  from 
notes  taken  by  his  students,  Drs.  Fornias  and  Hershberger,  have 
appeared  in  the  current  volume  of  the  Advance.  We  welcome  it 
to  our  table  as  a  valuable  addition  to  our  working  Materia,  and 
can  conscientiously  recommend  it  to  every  Homoeopath— whether 
practitioner  or  student— as  a  volume  he  can  read  with  pleasure  and 
study  with  profit.  The  plan  is  that  of  Dunham's  Lect  ures— compara- 
tive in  character— but  the  comparisons  are  more  extended  and 
embrace  a  larger  number  of  remedies.  One  great  defect  in  Dun- 
ham—a clinical  index— is  corrected  here  by  an  Index  of  both  rem- 
edies and  diseases. 

The  work  does  not  profess  to  be  a  complete  Materia  Medica— as 
In  a  course  of  seventy-two  lectures  that  would  be  manifestly  im- 
possible— yet  in  either  lecture  or  comparison  over  400  of  our  chief 
remedies  are  mentioned,  with  a  lucid  explanation  of  the  action  of 
our  polychrests  and  a  brief  but  clear  comparison  of  remedies  hav- 
ing similar  or  corresponding  symptoms  and  the  circumstances  in 
which  they  differ  are  given.  Like  Dunham's  Lectures,  these  ad- 
mirable comparisons  show  the  imprint  of  a  master-mind  in  this 
difficult  and  intricate  subject,  and  undoubtedly  belong  to  the 
classics  of  our  school.  The  teaching  is  unmistakably  Hahne- 
mannian; the  pathological  vagaries  of  Hempel,  Hughes  and  Hale 
find  little  comfort  here.  We  miss  many  of  our  leading  compari- 
sons—and perhaps  others  will  also— but  to  a  certain  extent  this  is 
unavoidable.  On  page  681,  in  comparing  the  chest  pains  of  Kali 
carb.  and  Bryonia;  "The  most  characteristic  symptom  of  all,  and 
one  which  runs  through  the  symptomatology  of  tht*  drug,  is  stitch- 
ing pains  which  are  prominently  located  in  the  walls  of  the  chest. 
They  are  made  worse  by  motion.  ♦  *  *  They  occur  characteristic- 
ally in  the  lower  third  of  the  right  lung,  ^rolng  through  the  chest 
to  the  back*';  but  for  us  the  leading  differentiation  has  always 
been  that  Kali  carb.  is  aggravated  while  Bryonia  is  relieved  by 
lying  on  the  affected  side,  and  this  is  omitted  from  the  comparison. 
Again,  on  page 653,  in  comparing  Borax:  "  Little  ulcers  form  about 
the  joints  of  the  fingers.  The  best  remedy  we  have  for  these  small 
ulcers  about  the  joints  is  Sepia."  To  this  apparently  careless 
method  of  differentiation,  we  must  take  exception.   It  is  evidently 


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480  The  Medical  Advance.  Nov. 

an  error  in  expression,  as  no  one  knew  better  than  Dr.  Farrington- 
that  there  could  be  no  such  thing  as  better  or  best  in  the  action  of  a 
remedy.  It  is  the  simillimum  to  the  totality  of  the  symptoms,  that 
the  law  demands,  not  the  best  remedy  for  a  disease.  We  hope  the 
time  will  come  when  Dunham's  and  Farrington's  Lectures  will  be 
the  text-books  of  every  homoeopathic  college,  and  every  student 
be  compelled  to  pass  an  examination  on  their  contents  ere  he  or 
she  obtain  a  diploma.  There  is  scarcely  a  practitioner  in  our 
school  but  will  find  a  hint  in  every  lecture  worth  the  cost  of  the 
book,  and  we  earnestly  recommend  not  only  its  prompt  purchase 
but  its  able  comparisons  written  in  every  working  Materia  Medica. 
The  time  required  to  put  them  in  Hering,  for  instance,  would  be 
repaid  a  hundred  fold  the  first  year.  We  think  it  the  best  book 
which  has  been  published  in  our  school  in  1887. 


A  SYSTEM  OF  GYNECOLOGY.  BY  AMERICAN  AUTHORS.  Edited  by  Mat- 
thew D.  Mann.  a.  M..  M.  D..  Professor  of  Obstetrics  and  Gynecolofi^y  In  the  Unl- 
'Verslty  of  Buffalo,  N.  Y.  Vol.  I.  Pp.  789.  Philadelphia:  Lea  Brothers  A  Co. 
1887, 

It  is  only  a  few  months  since  we  received  notice  of  this  magnifi- 
cent enterprise,  a  cyclopaedia  of  gynecology  by  American  authors, 
and  the  first  volume  of  nearly  800  pages  is  on  our  table.  Verily, 
book-making  has  come  to  be  a  science.  To  the  skill  and  ingenuity 
of  American  surgeons  this  special  field  is  largely  indebted  for  the 
position  which  it  holds  to-day  in  the  surgical  world;  hence  it  is 
peculiarly  appropriate  that  in  the  land  of  McDowell  and  Sims 
should  originate  the  first  complete  work  on  ^A  System  of  Gyne- 
cology." And  there  is  no  better  time  than  the  present,  while  so 
many  of  these  pioneers  are  living,  to  record  the  deeds  which  have 
made  their  names  household  words  in  two  continents,  in  which  to 
undertake  it. 

In  the  preface  the  editor  says:  ''In  all  departments  of  science 
the  largest  results  are  to  be  obtained  by  division  of  labor  and  com- 
bination of  effort.  In  medicine  this  is  especially  true,  concentrat- 
ing the  experience  of  leading  men  on  each  subject,  shows  that 
such  a  plan  of  composition  is  more  satisfactory  than  the  effort  of 
a  single  author  to  treat  exhaustively  all  the  details  of  an  extensive 
branch  of  practice."  There  are,  no  doubt,  many  advantages  from 
this  plan,  and  Volume  I  proves  that  each  man  has  endeavored  to 
do  his  "  level  best "  in  the  part  assigned  him.  The  contents  of  the 
present  volume  are  as  follows: 

Historical  sketch  of  American  Gynecology^  by  E.  W.  Jenks,  M, 
D.,  of  Detroit,  is  the  introductory  paper  occupying  over  50  pages, 
and  a  very  readable  and  interesting  one  it  is.  It  traces  the  history 
of  the  art  from  the  Egyptians  and  Greeks  as  mentioned  by  Homer 
and  Herodotus  to  the  present  day;  and  the  pardonable  pride  with 
which  every  American  surgeon  or  physician  reads  of  the  early 


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1887  New  Publicaiiona.  481 

achievements  of  McDowell  and  Sims,  and  the  wonderful  results 
they  obtained  under  the  most  discouraging  circumstances,  is  cer- 
tainly excusable.  Think  of  ovariotomy  now-a-days  without  ansBS- 
thesia  or  clamps  and  many  other  instruments  now  considered  in- 
dispensable. This  sketch,  although  marred  by  a  few  typographical 
errors,  is  as  interesting  as  a  novel.  It  is  certainly  the  best  history 
of  gynecological  authors  to  be  found.  The  other  articles  in  this 
volume  are  by  such  well  known  men  as  H.  J.  Garrigues,  H.  C.Coe, 
E.  H.  Grand  in,  E.  C.  Dudley,  A.  J.  C.  Skeene,  whom  Keith  con- 
siders the  ablest  of  American  gynecologists,  A.  D,  Rockwell,  Gill 
Wylie,  Reeves  Jackson,  M.  D.  Mann,  C.  D.  Palmer,  T.  A.  Reamy, 
R.  B.  Maury  and  Ely  Van  de  Warker.  The  majority  of  these 
essays  are  practical  and  are  largely  drawn  from  the  personal  ex- 
perience of  the  author.  The  one  by  Dr.  Grandin  on  "Diagnosis" 
is  so  thoroughly  practical  in  its  details  that  too  much  cannot  be 
said  in  its  praise.  He  urges  on  the  student  as  well  as  practitioner 
the  fact  that:  "The  broad  truth  must  not  be  lost  sight  of,  that 
gynecology  is  but  a  part  of  a  grand  whole."  This  fact  is  too  often 
overlooked  by  many  operators.  We  could  have  wished  that  some 
other  subject  had  been  assigned  to  Dr.  Skeene,  not  that  he  has  not 
treated  therapeutics  as  well  as  any  man  could,  as  old  school  thera- 
peutics is  at  best  a  dull  theme,  but  because  be  might  have  thrown 
much  light  on  some  operative  branch.  If  completed  in  the  man- 
ner in  which  it  has  been  begun  this  will  become  not  only  a  stand- 
ard authority  but  a  classic  work  as  well. 

The  volume  is  illustrated  by  three  large  colored  plates  and  two 
hundred  excellent  wood  engravings;  and  any  book  which  bears 
on  its  title  page  quasprosunt  omnibus  is  in  the  best  dress  of  the 
printers  art. 

A  TREATISE  ON  DIPHTHERIA.  HISTORIC  \LLY  AND  PRACTICALLY  CON- 
SIDEKEi):  INCLUDING  CROUP,  TRACHEOTOMY  AND  INTUBATION. 
By  A.  :»ann6  Docteur  en  Medici u  Ancteii  des  Hdpitaux  de  Paris,  et  Chevalier 
de  la  Legiou  d'Uoiineur.  Translated,  AnuoUited  and  the  Surgical  Anatomy 
added.  Illustrated  with  a  full  page  colored  lithograph  and  many  wood  en- 
gravings. By  Henry  Z  GUI,  A.  M..  M.D..  of  aevehuid,  O.  St  Louis:  J.  H^ 
Chambers  &  Co.    Pp.656.    1887. 

As  a  pupil  of  the  celebrated  Trouseau  who  next  to  Bretonnean 
gave  us  one  of  our  earliest  and  most  complete  essays  on  this  mo- 
dern scourge,  the  author  is  well  qualified  for  the  task  he  has  un- 
dertaken. Since  1869,  when  his  monograph  on  the  "*  Sequences  of 
Tracheotomy  "  made  its  appearance,  he  has  devoted  much  time 
and  labor  in  investigating  the  pathology  and  differential  diagnosis 
of  diphtheria,  and  probably  no  physician  in  Europe  has  given  this 
subject  closer  study.  The  extensive  hospitals  of  Paris  and  the 
notes  of  Barthez,  from  1854  to  1875,  were  at  his  disposal,  and  the 
present  volume  contains  all  that  was  to  be  gleaned  from  the  study 
of  over  1,500  observations. 


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482  The  Medical  Advance,  Nov. 

From  this  storehouse  the  author  has  given  us  an  exhaustive 
treatise  on  Diphtheria,  its  history,  nature,  etiology  and  diiferential 
diagnosis;  its  parasitic  and  otner  theories;  its  symptoms,  localiza- 
tions and  pathological  lesions;  its  duration,  course  and  usual  ter- 
minations; its  preventive,  antiseptic,  medical  and  surgical  treat- 
ment; in  fact,  one  of  the  most  complete  and  authoritative  works 
to  be  found  in  the  English  language.  In  the  surgical  minutie  of 
tracheotomy  and  intubation— when  to  operate  and  when  to  decline 
—with  the  statistics  of  mortality  in  tracheotomy  for  laryngeal 
diphtheria  it  is  especially  complete. 

In  the  medical  treatment  while  the  position  occupied  by  the 
author  is  an  advanced  one,  so  far  as  his  school  of  practice  is  con- 
cerned, it  is  in  every  respect  contradictory  and  unsatisfactory.  For 
ihstance,  on  page  388  the  author  says:  "Now  that  it  is  fully  de- 
monstrated that  the  false  membrane  is  the  product  and  not  the 
cause,  we  understand  that  to  suppress  it  is  not  to  cure  the  disease. 
As  fast  as  one  causes  the  concretion  to  disappear,  it  is  replaced  by 
another,  so  long  as  the  tendency  of  the  system  to  produce  the  false 
membrane  persists.  In  following  this  course  one  undertakes  a 
task  perpetually  returning,  useless  and  even  dangerous."  As  a 
sound  pathologist  he  recognizes  the  constitutional  character  of  the 
disease;  yet,  despite  this  sound  position,  in  the  most  dangerous 
form  of  the  affection— the  septic— he  recommends  topical  applica- 
tions, which  are  always  worse  than  useless.  After  a  critical  anal- 
ysis of  the  therapeutics  of  diphtheria  he  arrives  at  the  following^ 
*•  conclusion— The  long  array  which  has  just  been  made  of  the 
above  mentioned  means,  for  the  purpose  of  attacking  diphtheria  in 
its  essence,  proves  once  more  that  the  list  of  remedies  used  in  any 
disease  are  in  proportion  inefficient  as  they  are  greater  in  number. 
The  specific  remedy  for  diphtheria  is  not  yet  discovered.  We  may 
doubt  if  it  ever  will  be."  This  is  sound  doctrine;  yet  what  a  crush- 
ing commentary  on  the  therapeutics  of  his  school.  There  can  be 
no  such  thing  as  a  specific  for  diphtheria  nor  any  other  disease, 
per  86.  The  author  recognizes  individuality  in  his  pathology,  why 
not  apply  it  to  his  therapeutics?  No  one  knows  better  than  be 
that  no  two  individuals  are  alike  in  constitution,  or  any  other  par- 
ticular, hence  could  not  have  diphtheria  alike  if  they  tried.  This 
treating  the  name  of  a  disease  is  the  bane  of  therapeutics  to-day, 
as  it  has  been  for  the  past  2,000  years,  and  the  sooner  all  schools  of 
practice  recognize  the  fact,  the  better  for  both  practitioner  and 
patient. 

Pr.  Gill  has  conferred  a  boon  upon  the  profession  for  placing 
Sann^'s  classical  work  within  the  reach  of  the  American  physician 
and  U»e  publishing  house  of  J.  H.  Chambers  &  Co.,  of  St.  Louis, 
has  demonstrated  that  in  book  making  they  are  equal  to  the  old 
established  houses  of  the  east,  for  in  paper,  press- work  and  binding 
this  work  will  compare  favorably  with  any  recent  publication. 


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1887  New  PublicaUms.  483 

LESSONS  IN  GYNECOLOGY.  By  William  Goodell,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  Professor  of 
Clinical  Gynecoloi^y  la  the  University  of  Pennsylvania.  Third  edition,  thor- 
oughly revised  and  greatly  enlarged:  with  112  illustrations.  Philadelphia:  D. 
G.  Brlnton,  1887.    Octavo;  Pp.  679. 

In  the  preface  the  author  claims  that:  "This  book  is  not  a  com- 
plete treatise  upon  diseases  of  women,  but  mainly  the  outcome  of 
clinical  and  didactic  lectures,  delivered  to  the  third-year  students 
of  the  Medical  Department  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania.** 
Yet,  after  a  somewhat  careful  perusal,  we  find  very  little  in  oper- 
ative gynecology  omitted  from  this  splendid  volume.  The  style  is 
clear  and  forcible. 

The  clinical  cases  are  both  instructing  and  intere.sting,  and  in 
their  minute  detail  mark  the  painstaking  student.  But  it  is  in  the 
last  chapters  or  "  Lessons,"  especially,  that  the  busy  general  prac- 
titioner or  even  the  gynecological  specialist  will  be  repaid  by  its 
study.  Here  are  to  be  found  some  original  and  practical  hints; 
even  radical  innovations  in  the  field  of  preventive  medicine. 

Lesson  XXXVII  on  "Some  Practical  Hints  for  the  Prevention 
of  Uterine  Disorders"  has  the  following:  "A  recumbent  posture 
ought  not  to  be  too  rigorously  enjoined.  I  feel  persuaded  that  this 
tradition  of  the  lying-in  chamber  does  more  harm  than  good,  for 
nothing  so  relaxes  muscular  fibre  as  a  confinement  in  bed.  In  my 
experience  women  feel  stronger  on  the  fifth  day  after  labor  than 
they  do pn  the  ninth  or  the  fourteenth,  if  kept  in  bed.  *  *  *  * 
Since  labor  is  in  general  a  strictly  physiological  process,  there  can 
be  no  sound  reason  why  a  woman  should  not  sit  up  in  bed,  or  even 
slip  into  a  chair,  whenever  she  feels  so  disposed.  These  are  not 
idle  phrases  but  the  conclusions  of  a  long  and  well-sifte<l  exper- 
ience. Such  movements  excite  the  womb  to  contraction,  and 
empty  it,  and  the  vagina  of  putrid  lochia,  which  may  be  incarcer- 
ated by  a  clot  or  by  the  swollen  condition  of  the  soft  parts.  When, 
therefore,  the  lochia  are  offensive,  these  upright  positions  should 
be  advised  as  being,  in  fact,  better  deodorants  than  any  detergent 
vaginal  injections.  By  equalizing  the  circulation  and  increiising 
its  force,  they  also  tend  to  lesson  the  passive  congestion  of  the 
womb  as  a  whole,  the  engorgement  of  the  placental  site,  and  espe- 
cially that  blood  stasis  kept  up  by  the  dorsal  decubitus  in  its  now 
thickened  posterior  wall,  which  is,  in  my  opinion,  a  very  common 
cause  of  posterior  displacements.*'  Again  he  says: "  The  prolonged 
use  of  the  obstetric  binder  is  another  factor  in  the  production  of 
female  complaints.  *  *  *  Pharaoh  could  have  devised  no  surer 
way  of  overcoming  the  fruitful  health  of  his  Hebrew  subjects, 
than  by  an  edict  enforcing  the  prolonged  use  of  the  tight  obstetric 
binder."  But,  while  breaking  away  from  the  traditions  and  crude 
teachings  of  his  school  in  many  particulars,  he  clings  with  a  ten- 
acity worthy  a  better  cause  to  the  vicious  theory  of  "a  strictly 
anti-.<ieptic  process"  in  obstetrics,  for  on  page  544  we  find:  "In 


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484  The  Medical  Advance.  Not. 

every  case  of  labor,  the  vagina  should  be  syringed  out  with  a  quart 
of  H  1:2000  solution  of  corrosive  sublimate,  both  as  soon  as  the  os 
is  fairly  dilated,  and  directly  after  a  complete  delivery,"  apparently 
over-looking  the  well  established  fact,  that  for  many  patients  of 
peculiar  idiosyncracies  and  susceptabilities  this  is  a  poisonous 
dose;  besides  the  unscientific  practice  of  fighting  a  theory,  a  will- 
o-the  wisp,  a  figment  of  the  imagination. 

Lesson  XXXVIII  deals  with  "The  Relation  which  Faulty 
Closet  Accommodation  -bears  to  the  Diseases  of  Women."  It  is 
a  vigorous  plea  for  better  sanitary  surroundings— something  in 
accord  with  the  boasted  civilization  of  the  age. 

Lesson  XXXIX  exposes  the  evils  and  dangers  of  one  of  the 
most  potent  demoralizers  of  the  marriage  relation,  viz.  "The 
Sexual  Relations  as  Causes  of  Uterine  Disorders.*'  It  deals  with 
''conjugal  onanism"  and  its  kindred  sins  in  plain,  frank  yet  earnest 
and  delicate  language.  If  this  chapter  were  reprinted  in  pamphlet 
form  and  put  into  the  hands  of  every  family  in  the  land  it  would 
in  our  opinion,  do  away  with  our  divorce  courts  and  largely  de- 
crease the  income  of  the  author  and  his  gynecological  brethren. 
A  study  of  this  chapter  will  enable  many  a  practitioner  to  see  why 
he  has  been  unable  to  cure  an  apparently  curable  case.  This  one 
chapter  will  repay,  many  times  over,  the  cost  of  the  work,  and  no 
physician  of  any  school  can  afford  to  be  without  it. 


QUIZ  COM  PENDS.    P.  Blaklston.  Son  &  Co.    Philadelphia.    1887. 

A  COMPEND  OF  SURGERY  FOR  STUDENTS  AND  PHYSICIANS.  By  OnrJUe 
Horwitz,  M.  D.  Third  edition,  revised. eulan^ed  and  improved.  91  illustrations. 

▲  COMPBND  OF  OBSTETRICS.  ADAPTED  TO  THE  USE  OF  STUDENTS  AND 
PHYSKIANS.  By  Henry  6.  Landis.  M.  D.  Third  edition.  Thoroughly  re- 
vised, witti  new  illustrations. 

The  increased  and  steady  demand  for  these  excellent  works  for 
ready  reference  must  be  alike  gratifying  to  both  author  and  pub- 
lisher. They  form  very  complete  pocket  compends  almost  indis- 
pensable to  students  and  very  valuable  for  the  physician  in  active 
practice,  and  meet  our  hearty  commendation.  Cheap,  practical, 
convenient. 


▲  PRACTICAL  TREATISE  ON  THE  DISEASES  OF  THE  HAIR  AND  8CAT«P. 
By  OeorKe  T.  Jackson,  M.  D.,  Instructor  in  Dermatology  in  the  New  York  Poly- 
clinic   New  York:  E.  B  Treat,  1887.    Pp.  356. 

Although  nearly  every  work  on  diseases  of  the  skin  treats  more 
or  less  fully  the  various  affections  of  the  hair  and  scalp,  this  is  the 
only  work  of  recent  date  with  which  we  are  acquainted,  entirely 
devoted  to  a  scientific  description  of  these  diseases. 

Part  I  briefly  considers  the  anatomy,  physiology  and  hygiene 
of  the  hair  and  scalp;  largely  taken  from  Waldeyer's  Atlas  and 
Unna's  excellent  article  in  Ziemssen's  Handbuch^  for  which  due 


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1887  New  Puhlicaiions.  486 

credit  is  griven;  Part  II  gives  the  essential  diseases  of  the  hair; 
Part  III  the  parasitic  diseases,  and  Part  IV  the  diseases  of  the 
hair  secondary  to  diseases  of  the  skin,  and  a  bibliography  of  640 
references  concludes  the  volume.  These  important  affections  are 
considered  as  local  lesions  and,  we  regret  to  say,  are  treated  almost 
wholly  by  topical  medicated  applications.  They  are  all  constitu- 
tional diseases  and  should  be  eradicated  by  constitutional  means 
only.  The  suppression  of  tinea  capitis  and  other  diseases  of  the 
scalp  in  children  often  leads  to  disastrous  complications;  or,  if  a 
fatal  issue  be  averted  for  a  time,  life  long  impairment  of  health  is 
liable  to  ensue.  But  our  author  has  evidently  yet  to  learn  the 
secret. 

OTIS  CLAPP  &  SON'S  VIsniNG  LIST:  PERPETUAL.  Boston  and  Providence. 
This  is  a  convenient  pocket  visiting  list,  for  sixty  patients  a 
week,  with  a  calender,  obstetric  table,  poisons  and  their  antidotes, 
emergencies,  treat meDt  of  asphyxia,  etc.  It  has  a  blank  space  be- 
tween the  columns  for  each  day's  visits,  for  the  prescription,  which 
is  a  great  convenience.  Being  perpetual  it  can  be  used  more  than 
one  year.  It  is  in  the  field  early,  being  the  first  on  our  table.  For 
thirty  patients,  81;  for  sixty  patients,  $1.25. 


THE  ELEMENTS  OF  MODERN  DOMESTIC  MEDiriNE.  By  Henry  G.  Han- 
cliett.  M.  D.  Issued  after  careful  revision  by  A.  H.  Laidlaw,  M.  D.  New  York: 
Charles  T.  Hurlbiirt.  1887.    Pp  377. 

This  is  intended  as  a  practical  guide  for  the  domestic  treatment 
of  the  more  common  aff.^ctions  met  with  in  every  day  practice. 
There  are  also  full  directions  for  cases  of  emergency;  and  also  for 
the  hygienic  management  of  young  children  which  should  be  in- 
culcated in  every  family  using  homoeopathic  remedies,  of  which 
the  following  are  sound,  practical  common  sense  examples  which 
every  physician  can  recommend: 

"  Never  use  soothing  Syrup. 

"  Never  use  opium,  paregoric,  laudanum,  rhubarb,  purgatives,  or 
any  patent  medicine,  or  nostrum,  containing  these  articles,  or 
whose  component  parts  are  not  stated. 

"Never  do  anything,  beyond  taking  a  warm  foot  bath,  to  bring 
on  the  monthly  period. 

"  Never  trust  a  medical  advertisement  of  any  kind,  or  a  physi- 
cian who  advertises,  or  take  any  patent  or  proprietary  medicine,  or 
nastrum  of  unknown  composition,  for  any  purpose  whatever." 

In  its  mpdication  it  is  neither  so  complete  nor  reliable  as  Ber- 
ing's or  Johnson':^,  and  there  is  a  too  frequent  reference  to  the  use 
of  "the  mother  tincture."  It  would  have  been  better  to  have  al- 
lowed the  fannly  physician  who  orders  or  suggests  the  procuring 
of  a  book  and  case  to  suggest  the  potency  of  the  remedies  with 
which  it  is  to  be  ^Ued.   Neither  can  we  endorse  the  recommenda* 


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4S6  The  Medical  Advance.  .    Nov. 

tion  on  page  99  to  mix  Bryonia  and  Gelsemium  in  the  same  glass. 
The  author,  though  evidently  a  firm  believer  in  the  law  of  the 
similars,  fails  to  grasp  the  true  spirit  of  its  practice.  However,  in 
diet  and  hygiene,  the  work  has  much  practical  advice  to  give,  and 
one  of  great  value  in  the  family  is  strongly  insisted  upon  in  every 
chapter  on  disease,  viz.:  to  send  for  a  physician  when  a  physician 
is  needed. 


SEXUAL  HEALTH:  A  COMPANION  TO  ^ODERN  DOMESTIC  MEDICINE.  By 
Henry  G.  Hauchett,  M.  D.    New  York:  C.  T.  Hurlburt,  1887.    Pp.  86. 

In  the  preface  the  author  thus  explains  why  this  is  a  companion 
yolume  to  the  **  Domestic  Medicine  ":  "  The  following  pages  have 
been  put  by  themselves  in  order  that  the  method  pf  their  use  in  the 
family  might  be  determined  in  each  case  in  accordance  with  the 
views  of  the  parents.  A  work  on  domestic  medicine  to  be  of  any 
service,  must  be  on  hand  when  wanted  and  many  persons  are  not 
willing  that  such  information  as  these  pages  contain,  should  be 
within  easy  reach  of  boys  and  girls."  Perhaps  this  is  a  laudable 
desire,  but  healthy  reading  and  sound  advice,  even  on  sexual  sub- 
jects, may  find  a  fitting  receptacle  in  a  work  for  family  use.  It 
contains  plain  teaching  on  the  following  subjects:  '*Sexual  Health 
of  the  Male,"  ''Sexual  Health  of  the  Female,"  **Marriage  and  Re- 
production.*' The  author  says  that  "  The  life  of  chaste- celibacy  is 
undoubtedly  the  highest  ideal  and  gives  best  promise  of  health, 
happiness  and  usefulness,"  and  quotes  St.  Paul  as  his  authority. 
That  may  have  been  true  in  St.  Paul's  time,  but  great  changes 
have  taken  place  since  then  and  the  great  Apostle  is  not  looked 
up  to  as  authority  on  marriage  in  1887. 


THE  CURABILITY  OF  INSANITY  AND  THE  INDIVIDUALIZED  TREAT- 
MENT OF  THE  INSANE.  By  John  y.  Butler,  M  D.  New  York  and  London : 
G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons,  1887.    Pp.  50. 

Three  years  before  Pinel  began  to  unchain  the  shackled  insane 
at  Salpetriere,  Hahnemann  demonstrated  the  immense  advantages 
of  using  kindness  in  the  treatment  of  the  insane  when  he  restored 
Klockenbring,  the  insane  Chancellor  of  Hanover,  to  his  friends 
after  the  case  had  baffled  the  skill  of  Wichman,  the  court  physi- 
cian, one  of  the  ablest  men  in  Germany.  This  was  in  1790.  Since 
then,  and  especially  within  the  last  fifty  years,  many  theories  in 
the  management  of  the  insane  which  were  then  considered  radical, 
have  been  put  into  successful  practice.  In  the  small  work  before 
us  the  author's  enthusiasm  in  his  method  of  individualization  is 
seen  in  every  page  and  must  be  felt  by  every  reader.  His  exten- 
sive experience  in  the  management  of  the  "Connecticut  Ketreat 
for  the  Insane  *'  leads  him  to  the  conclusion  that  by  the  humani- 
tarian treatment — moral  and  social  influences,  the  proper  cultiva- 
tion and  use  of  the  will  and  the  individual  appeal  to  l^e  better 


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1887  New  Publicdiions,  487 

*nature-;-many  cases  now  considered  incurable  may  not  only  be 
cured,  but  when  taken  in  their  incipiency  the  actual  outbreak 
may  be  prevented.  While  in  no  sense  a  text-book  there  is  a  y^in 
of  earnestness  throughout  the  work  which  will  well  repay  pferusal, 
whether  by  lay  or  professional  reader. 


PROCEEDINGS   OF   THE   TWENTY-THIRD   ANNUAL   SESSION    OF    THE 
HOMCEOFATHIC  MEDICAL  SOCIETY  OF  OHIO,  held  at  Cleveland.  Ohio, 
May  10  and  11, 1887.    C.  E.  Walton,  M.  D.,  Secretar>'. 
This  is  the  first  volume  of  transactions  for  1887  which  has 
reached  our  table,  and  contains  many  valuable  papers— some  of 
the  best  ever  presented  to  this  able  and  efficient  society— nearly 
all,  we  regret  to  say,  sadly  marred  by  defective  proof-reading.    If 
a  medical  society  expects  good  work  from  its  members,  it  must 
see  to  it  that  a  paper  which  has  cost  the  author  much  labor,  ap- 
pears in  the  printed  transactions  in  a  readable  manner.    Members 
capable  of  preparing  instructive  papers,  generally  decline  to  pre- 
pare them  for  the  waste-basket;  and  a  society  which  does  not  or 
cannot  publish  its  transactions  might  as  well  surrender  its  charter, 
for  its  usefulness  is  practically  ended. 


MASSAGE:  MECHANICAL  PROCESSES.  PRINCIPLES  AND  PRACTICE  OF 
REMEDIAL  TREATMENT  BY  IMPARTED  MOTION.  By  Geo.  H.  Taylor, 
M.  D.    New  York:  John  B.  Alden,  1887.    Pp.  173. 

The  author  is  evidently  one  of  our  self-reliant,  practical  men— 
a  man  who  would  make  a  success  of  any  special  study  which  he 
undertook.  He  has  very  successfully  adapted  the  mechanical  pro- 
cesses to  the  treatment  of  nearly  every  form  of  disease,  and  in  this 
small  volume  the  reader  can  find  out  how  to  do  it,  if  he  will.  Many 
cases  of  chronic  invalidism  where  drugging  has  been  too  indis- 
criminately used  until  the  patient  has  lost  all  faith  in  drugs,  in  his 
physician  and  in  himself,  can,  by  the  rules  there  laid  down,  be  re- 
stored to  health  and  usefulness. 


The  Century.— After  finishing  a  series  of  papers  on  "  The 
War,"  unrivalled  in  interest,  and  giving  the  best  "Life  of  Lin- 
coln "  yet  written,  The  Century  will  soon  bring  out  another  series 
of  papers,  ** Siberia,  and  the  Exile  System"  by  Kennan,  author  of 
Tent  Lift  in  Siberia,  who  has  spent  four  years  in,  and  travelled 
•ver  15,000  miles  through  European  and  Asiatic  Russia.  Sub- 
scribe now,  if  you  are  not  a  constant  reader,  and  secure  the  entire 
volume. 


Gray's  Anatomy.— Lea  Brothers  &  Co.,  announce  for  Novem- 
ber a  new  edition,  thoroughly  revised  with  much  additional  mat- 
ter and  113  new  engravings,  many  of  them  original,  and  a  part  of 
them  colored,  for  which  an  extra  charge  of  81.25  will  be  made. 


Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


488  The  Medical  Advance.  Not. 

BOOKS  AND  PAMPHLETS  RECEIVED. 


CYCLOP-fiDTA  OF  OBSTETRFCS  AN 0  GYNECOLOGY  Vol  TX.  DISEASES  OF 
TUB  FEMALE  MAMMARY  GLAND.  By  Th-  filllrotli.  M  i>..  and  New 
Growths  of  ihe  Uterus.  By  A  Giisseniw,  M  I>.  Vol.  X.  DISEASES  OF  THE 
FEMALE  UKETHUA  AND  BLADliKK.  By  F.  Winkel.  M.  D..  aud  Diseases  of 
the  Vagina.  By  A.  Briesky.  M.  D.  Edited  by  £.  H.  GraodiD.  M.  D.  NewYort: 
WUllaiu  Wood  Si  Ck>.,  1887. 


THE  CREMATION  OP  THE  DEAD:  CONSIDERED  FROM  AN  ^^THETIC. 
8\NITAKY.  ItELIOIOU-i.  HISTORICAL.  MEDICO-LEGAL  AND  ECONOM- 
ICAL hTaNDPCINT.  By  Hiiro  EricbseD,  M.  D.  With  au  Introductory  Note 
by  Sir  T.  Spencer  Wells.  Bart,  F.  K.  S.  lUustrated.  Detroit:  D.  O.  Hayoes  Ss 
Co.,  1887. 

ON  THE  PATHOLOGY  AND  TREATMENT  OF  GOXORRH(EA  AND  8PERMA- 
TORRHCEA.  By  J.  I.^  Mlltou.  General  Surgeon  to  St.  John's  Hospital  for  Dis- 
eases of  the  Skin.  London.  Octavo.  Pp  484.  Ilhistrated.  Price,  bound  In 
extra  luuslln,  f4.   New  York:  Wra  Wood  &  Co..  1887. 


MANUAL  OF  CLINICAL  DIAGNOSIS.  By  S  Otto  Selfert  and  Dr.  Frledrlck  MIU- 
ler.  Revised  aud  corrected  by  Dr  MQIIer,  aud  Translated  by  W.  B  Canfleld, 
H.  D.(Berllu):  with  sixty  lUustrallons.  New  York  and  London:  G.  P.  Put- 
nam's Sons,  1887. 


DIFFERENTIAL  DIAGNOSIS:  A  MANUAL  OF  THE  COMPARATIVE  SEMEI- 
OLOOYOFTHE  more  IMPORT  \ NT  DISEASES.  By  F.  DeHavlland  HaU. 
M.  D.   Third  American  Edition.    Philadelphia:  D.  G.  Brintou,  1887.    Pp.  255. 


THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  ANTISEPTIC  METHODS  APPLIED  TO  OBSTETRIC 
PRACTK  E.  By  Dr.  Paul  Bar.  Translated  by  iienry  D.  Fry,  M.  D.  Phila- 
delphia: P,  BUklston  Son  &  Co..  1887.    Pp.  175. 

DIFFERENTIAL  DIAGNOSIS  OF  THE  DISEA«E^  OF  THE  SKIN.  FOR  STU- 
DENTS AND  PRACTITIONERS.  By  Condit  W.  CuUer,  M.  D.  New  York:  G. 
P.  Putnam's  Sons,  1887. 


THE  TREATMENT  OF  HEMORRHOIDS  BY  INJECHONS  OF  CARBOLIC  ACID 
AND  OTHER  SUBSTANCES.   By  S.  T.  Yount,  M.  D..  Lafayette,  Ind. 

A  MANUAL  OF  THE  PHYSICAL  DIAGNOSIS  OF  THORACIC  DISEASES.    By 
E.  D.  Hudson,  M.  D.    New  York:  William  Wood  &  Co.,  1887. 

8PECUL  \TIONS:  SOLAR  HE  \T,  GR  WITaTION  AND  SUN  SPOTS.    By  .1.  H. 
Kedzle.    Chicago:  8.  C.  Griggs  &  Co  ,  1886.   Pp.  304. 


VASO-RENAL  CHANGE  V8.  BRIGHT'S  DISEASE.    By  J.  MUner  Fotherglll, 
M.  D.   New  York:  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons.    Pp.  219. 

INSANITY;  ITS  CLASSIFICATION,  DIAGNOSIS  AND  TREATMENT.   By  E.  C. 
Spltzka,M.  D.   New  York:  E.  B  Treat,  lt587. 


WINTERING  ABROAD.   By  Alfred  Drysdale,  M.  D.,  Cannes,  France.   Second 
Edition.   London :  J.  8.  Virtue  &  Co.,  1887. 


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1887  Editor's  Table.  46(9 

EDITOR'S  TABLE. 


DiL  Geo.  Blatchford,  has  removed  to  Clinton,  Mich. 


Db.  Ed.  Ulrich  has  removed  to  178  North  3d  St.,  San  Jose,  Cal. 


Dr.  W.  B.  Huron,  has  removed  from  Jerome  to  Tipton,  Indiana. 

Dr.  Howard  Crutcher,  formerly  of  Chicago,  has  removed  to 
Louisville,  Ky. 

Dr.  E.  G.  Grahn  has  removed  to  Korth  Vernon,  Ind.,  succeed- 
ing Dr.  T.  B.  Gullefer. 

Dr.  T.  F.  Pomeroy's  address  for  the  present  is  No.  200  A.  Street, 
S.  E.,  Washington,  D.  C. 

• 

Dr.  Thomas  Skinner  has  returned  to  his  former  address,  25 
Somerset  street,  London,  W. 

Dr.  Rufus  L.  Thurston,  formerly  of  Brooklyn,  is  now  located 
at  136  Boylston,  Boston,  Mass. 


Married.— Dr.  Chas.  G.  Wilson  and  Carrie  K  Wallace,  at  Clarks- 
ville,  Tenn.,  on  Thursday,  Sept.  29, 1887. 


Dr.F.  B.  Adams,  (Plymouth,  Mich.)  reports  the  arrival  of  a 
hrand  new  daughter.    Congratulations. 


L.  L.  Helt,  of  Chillicothe,  O.,  is  attending  lectures  at  Pulte. 
Address,  132  Carlisle  Ave.,  Cincinnati,  O. 


Dr.  D.  C.  McLaren,  formerly  of  Brantford,  Ont.,  has  removed 
to  Nashville,  Mich.,  succeeding  to  the  practice  of  Dr.  Barber. 


Dr.  J.  M.  Griffin,  (Detroit)  has  removed  his  office  and  residence 
to  167  Congress  street  East,  formerly  occupied  by  Dr.  Richards. 


Another  Homceopathio  College.— As  we  go  to  press  a  new 
college  is  announced  at  Bogotd,  S.  A.    Opens  February  15, 1888. 


Frank  Kraft.  M.  D.,  for  the  past  year  associate  editor  of  the 
Advance,  has  relinquished  journalistic  work  and  resumed  practice. 


Dr.  H.  a.  Barber  having  removed  from  Nashville,  is  now 
devoting  his  attention  to  Surgery  and  office  practice  at  Hastings, 
Mich. 


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490  The  Medical  Advmee.  |foT. 

Dr.  £.  D.  Brooks,  (Flushing,  Mich.)  formed  a  partnership  with 
Miss  Gertrude  Lawrence,  of  Three  Rivers,  on  May  25th  last.  No 
cards. 


Dr.  E.  Stevenson  has  removed  from  Victoria,  B.  C,  to  Van- 
couver, B.  C,  the  terminal  City  of  the  C.  P.  R.  R.,  on  the  Pacific 
Coast. 

The  Hahnemann  Medical  College  and  Hospital,  of  Chicago 
opened  its  present  session  with  151  matriculates  as  against  138  of 
last  year. 

The  opening  ceremonies  of  the  new  hospital  building  of  the 
Hahnemann  Medical  College,  (Phila.)  were  held  on  Monday,  Oct.  3, 
1887,  at  8:30  p.  m. 

Dr.  Lucien  B.  Wells,  (Utica,  N.  Y )  and  his  amiable  compan- 
ion nee  Orissa  M.Searle,  celebrated  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  their 
wedding,  Oct.  3, 1878. 

The  second  quarterly  meeting  of  the  Homoeopathic  Medical  So- 
ciety of  Western  New  York,  was  held  at  Power's  Hotel,  Roches- 
ter. N.  Y.,  on  Oct.  14, 1887. 

Married.— At  the  First  Reformed  Church,  Kingston,  N.  Y.,  on 
November  22,  at  six  o'clock.  Dr.  William  More  Decker  and  Miss 
Bessie  Smith.    Congratulations. 

The  Popular  Science  continues  to  be  one  of  the  most  inter- 
esting monthlies  which  comes  to  our  table.  In  making  up  your 
list  of  periodicals  for  ^88,  be  sure  to  include  it. 


The  ceremonies  attendant  upon  the  opening  of  the  new  hospital 
of  the  Women's  Homoeopathic  Association  of  Pennsylvania,  oc- 
curred October  13th,  a  success  in  every  way. 


Dr.  Chas.  D.  Tufford,  (Louisville,  Ky.)has  met  with  a  terrible 
bereavement,  in  the  loss  of  his  nine  year  old  boy,  who  accident- 
ally shot  himself  during  the  temporary  absence  of  the  family. 


C.  S.  MoRLEY,  M.  D.,  has  removed  to  Detroit,  and  will  make  a 
specialty  of  operative  gynecology.  In  his  extended  field  of  labor 
we  hope  to  hear  of  his  continued  success  as  a  surgeon.  The  pro- 
fession in  Detroit,  are  to  be  congratulated  on  this  accession  to  their 
numbers. 


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1887  Editor^s  Table.  491 

0.  B.  GAtJSE,  M.  D.— A  few  weeks  ago  when  we  met  him  in 
Saratoga,  as  a  member  of  the  Intercollegiate  committee,  a  repre- 
sentative of  the  Philadelphia  College,  we  littfe  thought  that  the 
aissociations  and  work  of  a  quarter  of  a  century  would  so  5oon  be 
broken  up.  But  such  is  life.  Dr.  Gause  is  now  out  of  the  college 
where  for  years  he  has  so  successfully  labored,  and  permanently 
located  at  Aiken,  S.  C,  and  any  of  our  readers  having  patients  vis- 
iting the  South  during  the  winter  months*  will  be  glad  to  know 
that  there  is  a  homoeopathic  physician  in  Aiken,  capable  of  caring 
for  any  who  may  need  care. 

The  Magazine  of  American  History,  for  November,  is  one 
of  the  brightest  and  most  ilchly  illustrated  issues  of  the  year 
Oliver  Cromwell's  portrait  appears  as  its  frontispiece,  incident  to 
the  romantic  story  of  the  first  settlement  of  Shelter  Island,  in  1652, 
is  told  by  Mrs.  Lamb  in  her  happiest  vein,  entitled  the  "Historic 
Home  of  the  Sylvesters."  Shelter  Island  was  erected  into  a  manor 
in  1666,  and  cultivated  by  negro  slaves  until  it  became  a  gem  of 
beauty.  During  the  Quaker  persecution  in  Massachusetts  it  was 
where  the  sufferers  fled  for  shelter;  and  its  history  is  interwoven 
with  the  wrangles  between  the  Dutch  of  New  York  and  the  English 
of  Connecticut  while  the  two  parent  nations  were  at  war  in  Europe. 

A  new  Society,  to  be  known  as  "  the  ffahnemannian  Associo 
tion  of  Penn"  was  organized  on  Tuesday  evening,  Oct.  11th,  at 
the  Continental  Hotel,  Philadelphia.  Like  the  Lippe  Society  and 
kindred  organizations  it  proposes  to  deal  solely  with  Homoeopathy 
in  iispurity.  Its  distinctive  feature  is  a  clause  of  its  constitution 
requiring  that  new  members  shall  join  the  Association  by  degrees, 
viz.:  They  are  first  elected  to  associate  membership,  in  which  they 
have  full  privilege  to  enter  into  debate  and  receive  appointments 
for  work,  but  cannot  hold  office  nor  vote.  Before  applying  for 
active  membership  they  are  required  to  attend  ten  (10)  stated  meet- 
ings as  associates  and  to  present  three  original  papers.  Three  nega- 
tive votes  are  then  necessary  to  reject  to  active  membership. 

The  Lippe  Society  is  a  more  exclusive  organization  and  is  a 
social  as  well  as  a  medical  club.  The  object  of  this  association, 
(while  friendly  to  the  L.  S.)  is  "  strictly  business.** 

The  following  officers  were  elected:  Dr.  Mahlon  Preston,  Presi- 
dent, of  Norristown,  Penn.;  Dr.  C.  Carleton  Smith,  Vice-President^ 
of  Philadelphia;  Dr.  Wm.  Jefferson  Guernsey,  Secretary,  of  Frank- 
ford,  Phila  ;  Dr.  Geo.  H,  Clark,  Treasurer,  of  Germantown,  Phila. 

Dr.  John  V.  Allen,  of  Frank  ford,  Phila.,  was  appointed  to  pre- 
pare an  original  paper  for  the  next  meeting,  when  Dr.  Smith  will 
offer  an  article  on  Spongia,  and  Dr.  Clark  will  give  a  dissertation 
on  on©  para^^raph  of  the  Organon.  Adjourned  to  meet  in  Novem- 
ber arthesaine  place.  *       *    -  -.  - ^  ^fr^J.G. 


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492  The  Medical  Advance.  Not. 

PUBLISHER'S  PAGE. 


SUBSCKiPTiONS.— We  wish  to  thank  our  readers  for  their 
promptness  in  remitting  subscriptions  for  current  volume.  There 
are  still  a  few  pieces  of  paper,  however,  to  which  we  would  like  to 
attach  our  autograph. 

For  Sale.— My  practice  of  twelve  years  standing,  in  a  city  of 
17.000  inhabitants  in  Northern  Indiana,  surrounded  by  a  rich  farm- 
ing country.  No  competition  and  no  homoeopathic  physician 
within  twenty-five  miles.  Entirely  satisfactory  reasons  given  for 
leaving.    Address  C.  W.  L.,  care  Mepical  Advance. 


See  Halsey  Bros,  new  ad.  in  this  issue. 


A  Christmas  Gift.— A  most  acceptable  present  for  either  wife 
sister  or  mother,  and  one  that  should  grace  the  parlor  table  of 
every  Homoeopath  in  America,  is  Dr.  Helmuth's  new  poem  " Hu- 
man y."  It  is  beautifully  illustrated  and  elegantly  bound.  See 
notice  in  a  future  issue.    Ask  your  pharmacy  for  it. 


The  Journal  of  Morphology,  a  new  candidate  for  journal- 
istic favors  is  announced.  The  first  number  (Sept.)  will  contain 
seven  double  lithographic  plates  and  one  heliotype  plate. 


Those  who  employ  antiseptic  methods  in  surgery  should  inves- 
tigate Listerine — safer  than  corrosive  Mercury. 

The  N.  J.  State  Homceopathic  Medical  Society  held  its 
semi-annual  meeting  at  Atlantic  City.  The  attendance  was  good 
and  so  were  the  papers. 


There  are  many  excellent  preparations  of  concentrated  foods 
for  the  sick,  for  babies  or  for  invalids,  in  th is  issue.  See  t  he  adver- 
tisements of  M«-llin's,  Carnrick's,  Lactated  foods  and  Bovinine 
and  Colden's  beef.  A  good  selection  can  be  made  tor  almost  any 
patient.    Send  for  sample  jind  mention  this  journal. 


Sample  of  Ilorsford's  Phosphate, Pinus  Canadensis,  Crystalline 
Phosphate,  or  Fellow's  admirable  preparation  sent  to  any  address 
on  application,  if  you  mention  the  Advance. 


Well  Done  Kansas.— The  program  and  bill  of  fare  of  the 
State  Society,  for  the  next  annual  meeting  in  May,  1888,  is  on  our 
table.   No  member  need  complain  of  not  receiving  timely  notice. 


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AN  ADVOCATE  OF 

HOMOEOPATHIC  MEDICINE. 

H.  O.  AXLBN,  M.  D.,  Editor  and  PabUsher. 


The  Editor  is  not  responsible  for  the  opinions  of  contributori.  Personalities 
being  foreign  to  soientifle  discussion,  must  be  excluded. 

To  accommodate  both  reader  and  publisher  this  Jonmal  will  be  sent  until 
arrears  are  paid  and  It  is  ordered  discontinued. 

The  date  to  which  subscriptions  are  paid  will  be  found  on  the  address. 


Vol.  XIX.  Ann  Arbor,  Micuigan,  December,  1887.         No.  6. 


MATERIA  MEDIOA. 


A  COMPARATIVE  STUDY  OF  SEPIA  AND  SULPHUR.* 


EDWARD  RUSHMORE,  M.  D..  Plalnfleld.  N.  J. 


Dr.  Qros^  in  his  "  Comparative  Materia  Medica/'  has 
given  many  comparisons  and  contrasts  between  allied  rem- 
edies, which  have  often  been  of  the  greatest  use  to  me  in 
selecting  a  remedy  for  the  sick.  There  are,  however,  many 
more  points  of  distinction  between  the  remedies  I  have 
chosen  for  this  study,  which  I  have  put  in  easily  available 
form  for  my  own  use,  and  which  I  now  endeavor  to  arrange 
for  still  more  extended  and  convenient  reference.  I  need 
hardly  say  to  any  one  to  whom  this  study  may  come  that 
Boenninghausen  has  been  my  chief  guide. 

Beginning  with  the  symptoms  according  to  the  Hahne- 
mannian  schema,  we  find  affections  of  the  intellect  in  the 
highest  degree  characteristic  of  Sepia;  even  indifference, 
absence  of  mind,  difficult  comprehension.    Sulphur  haa 


«  N.J.  state  Society. 


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494  The  Medical  Advance.  Dea 

less  tendency  to  intelleotoal  disturbance,  except  as  to  fan- 
tastic illusions. 

Sulphur  has  a  more  decided  action  on  the  hair,  but  the 
complaints  calling  for  Sepia  are  mostly  found  in  dark- 
haired  people. 

Sepia  has  a  comparatively  slight  affinity  for  the  eyes, 
although  the  eye  symptoms  are  numerous.  Sulphur,  on 
the  contrary,  affects  almost  all  tissues  of  the  eye  powerf  ully, 
with  many  disturbances  of  vision.  Sepia  predominantly 
acts  on  the  upper  eyelid;  Sulphur  on  the  margins  of  the 
Uds. 

Sepia  acts  more  than  Sulphur  on  the  internal  ear,  caus- 
ing acuteness  of  hearing;  Sulphur  complaints  have  rather 
hardness  of  hearing  and  noises,  especially  humming  in  the 
ears. 

Sepia  has  inflammatory  irritation  of  the  tip  of  the  nose; 
Sulphur,  bleeding  of  the  nose  on  blowing  it  Under  Sepia 
the  smell  is  lessened  or  lost;  under  Sulphur  there  is  smell 
of  old  catarrh  in  the  nose. 

Both  remedies  have  pale  or  yellow  face,  but  red  si>ots  on 
the  cheeks  decide  for  Sulphur.  The  facidl  eruption  of 
Sepia  is  around  the  mouth  and  on  the  nose;  that  of  Sul- 
phur more  on  the  upper  lip. 

Sepia  has  a  puffy  nose,  but  Sulphur  has  freckles  on  the 
face. 

Sepia  affects  mainly  the  lower;  Salphur  the  upper  lip. 

Sepia  has  pain  and  decay  of  the  teeth;  Sulphur,  distur- 
bances of  the  tongue  and  lessened  saliva. 

Sepia  has  loss  of  appetite;  Sulphur,  thirst  and  aversion 
to  meat  Under  Sepia  the  taste  is  mostly  bitter  or  salt; 
under  Sulphur  it  is  sour. 

The  chief  gastric  disturbance  of  Sepia  is  vomiting  of 
bile;  but  Sulphur  has  water  in  the  mouth,  qualmishness, 
nausea  and  sour  vomiting. 

Sepia  affects  mainly  the  liver;  Sulphur,  the  stomach. 

Sulphur  has  rumbling  in  the  abdomen,  while  the  com- 
plaints of  Sepia  prevail  in  the  hypogastrium. 

Sulphur  has  offensive  flatus,  obstructed  stool  or  diar- 
rhoea, and  stools  bloody,  green,  knotty,  mucous,  offensive, 


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1887      Comparative  Study  of  Sepia  and  Sulphur.        495 

scanty,  with  asoarides,  lambrici,  taenia.  In  comparison 
with  these  Sepia  has  only  the  bloody  stool  in  equal  degree. 
Sulphur  also  has  aggravation  duriug  stool  and  ineffectual 
urging  to  stool,  and  Sections  of  the  perineum. 

Sepia  gives  dark  urine,  with  reddish  or  bloody  sediment; 
Sulphur,  increased  desire  to  urinate,  flow  of  urine  by 
drops,  involuntary  urine  at  night 

While  they  act  equally  on  the  female  genitals.  Sulphur 
has  the  same  tendency  to  affect  the  male  genitals,  especi- 
ally the  penis;  but  Sepia  is  suited  to  discharge  of  pros- 
tatic fluid,  and  also  acts  mainly  on  the  vagina  aud  womb, 
causing  labor-like  pains;  it  is  equally  indicated  in  abortion. 
Both  have  late  menses,  but  Sulphur  also,  delay  of  the  first 
menses,  and  the  periods  short,  scanty  or  suppressed. 
Sepia  has  a  yellow  leucorrhoea,  which  also  attends  many 
other  complaints. 

Sepia  has  a  slimy  nasal  catarrh,  and  complaints  attended 
with  disordered  respiration,  but  both  have  oppressed  or 
quick  respiration. 

Both  have  cough;  Sepia  with  expectoration,  which  ia 
mostly  at  night  or  in  the  morning,  and  is  purulent  or  salt- 
ish, while  the  expectoration  of  Sulphur  is  bloody. 

Sulphur  acts  upon  the  external  chest  and  nipples;  Sepia 
equally  on  the  scapulae. 

Sepia  acts  predominantly  on  the  back  of  the  hand;  Sul- 
phur on  the  fingers,  but  Sepia  again  on  the  finger  joints. 

Sepia  causes  symptoms  of  the  legs;  Sulphur,  of  the 
back  and  inner  side  of  the  thighs. 

Sepia  acts  on  the  tendo  achillis;  Sulphur,  on  the  sole  of 
the  foot 

Sulphur  acts  on  the  toes  in  general ;  Sepia,  on  the  tips 
of  the  toes  and  in  the  production  of  corns. 

Sepia  symptoms  are  characteristically  better  or  worse; 
those  of  Sulphur  worse  on  awaking.  Sepia  is  worse  before 
sleep. 

The  Sulphur  patient  is  worse  from  motion  of  the  body; 
Sepia  symptoms  are  worse  from  exertions  of  the  mind. 
This  is  a  distinction  which  has  been  to  me  of  great  practi-^ 
cal  value. 


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496  The  Medical  Advance.  Dec. 

Sulphur  symptoms  are  worse  before  or  from  suppression 
of  the  menses;  those  of  Sepia  are  worse  or  occur  after 
coition,  menstruation  or  sexual  excesses. 

Aggravation  after  all  eating,  especially  pork,  belongs  to 
the  symptoms  of  Sepia;  aggravation  after  taking  milk  is 
characteristic  of  both  remedies. 

Under  Sulphur  we  find  aggravation  during  or  from  sup- 
pression of  sweat;  under  Sepia  during  fever  and  during 
and  after  sweat. 

XJniler  Sepia,  worse  from  riding  either  in  carriage  or  on 
horseback;  uuder  Sulphur,  worse  from  running. 

Under  Sepia,  worse  when  sitting;  under  Sulphur,  worse 
on  rising,  and  when  standing. 

Under  Sulphur,  worse  during  sleep;  under  Sepia,  worse 
during  the  first  sleep. 

The  Sepia  patient  is  worse  from  getting  wet;  but  symp- 
toms for  Sulphur  are  worse  in  the  warmth  of  the  bed. 

It  v/ould  be  easy  to  draw  many  more  comparisons  from 
our  rich  records  of  these  drugs,  but  I  fear  to  weary  you 
with  more  of  what  appeals  so  largely  to  the  memory  and 
so  little  to  the  other  faculties.  From  neglecting  to  consult 
or  consider  these  differences,  many  a  mistake  has  no  doubt 
been  made,  and  the  patient  has  missed  his  best  help  and 
the  physician  his  truest  pleasure. 

I  have  sought  to  bring  out  the  differences  rather  than 
the  likenesses  of  these  drugs.  Of  the  likenesses,  it  has 
been  said,  that  we  have  an  almost  confusing  abundance  in 
our  repertories  and  Materia  Medicas.  In  presenting  these 
contrasts  it  is  not  implied  that  a  symptom  mentioned  of 
one  remedy  is  not  found  under  the  other,  only  that  it  is 
less  likely  to  occur  under  the  one  not  mentioned,  and  is 
further  in  the  highest  degree  characteristic  of  the  remedy 
to  which  it  is  ascribed. 


Comparative. — The  losses  of  property  by  fire  in  the 
United  States  last  year  were  $120,000,000.  During  the 
same  time  there  went  up  in  the  smoke  of  cigars,  pipes 
and  cigarettes  $180,000,000,  about  half  a  million  dollcurs 
daily. 


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1887  Brief  Notes  on  Materia  Medica,  497 

BRIEF  NOTES  ON  MATERIA  MEDICA  * 


J.  E.  WINAN8,  M.  D.,  Lyons  Fanns.  N.  J- 


APOCYNUM  CANNABINUM 

Is  a  remedy  which  should  be  borne  more  frequently  in 
miud  in  cases  of  persistently  slow  pulse  (50  to  60),  in  acute 
affections  of  men  much  addicted  to  smoking. 

Last  winter  we  had  a  young  married  man  for  a  patient, 
who,  to  all  outward  appearances,  was  a  strong  and  robust 
man.  Was  taken  with  pleuro-pneumonia  of  right  side,  and 
improved  promptly  under  Bryonia,  but  suffered  a  relapse, 
so  liable  in  pleurisy  cases,  and  the  pulse  remained  persist- 
ently slow  for  a  long  while  after  the  other  symptoms,  cough, 
temperature,  etc.,  were  no  longer  of  any  moment.  We 
were  puzzled  for  a  while  ho)v  to  account  for  this.  The 
pulse  was  soft,  full,  remaining  from  52  to  56  for  many  days; 
was  not  intermittent  but  somewhat  variable,  showing  at 
times  two  or  three  beats  more  in  a  minute,  or  half  minute, 
than  it  had  just  preceding.  We  questioned  him  as  to  his 
previous  tobacco  allowances,  and  found  that  it  had  been 
his  habit  to  smoke  an  average  of  five  to  six  cigars  a  day, 
and  from  two  to  three  glasses  of  beer.  Here,  we  thought, 
we  had  the  clue.  By  referring  to  Tabacum,  we  found  a 
slow,  soft,  variable  pulse;  as  to  beats,  as  low  as  45  in  one 
case,  and  50  to  60  in  another.  This  much  then  was  ex- 
plained. At  the  time,  we  were  engaged  in  looking  up 
cough  symptoms  for  our  "Time  Table,"  and  were  led  to 
the  remedy  in  this  way,  through  other  symptoms.  We 
found  pulse  to  be  just  about  tbis  slow,  and  variable,  under 
Apocynum  can.  which  also  met  several  other  symptoms. 
By  consulting  symptom  40  in  Allen's  Materia  Medica,  we 
found  starred:  "  Sense  of  oppression  about  epigastrium  and 
chest,  several  times,  so  great  that  there  was  the  greatest 
difficulty  in  getting  breath  enough  to  smoke  a  cigar,"  etc. 
(To  those  who  may  wish  to  investigate  further,  we  would 
say  look  up  Drs.  Chapin's  and  Wanstall's  provings,  re- 
corded in  the  appendix,  Vol.  X  of  EncyclopsBdia. )     Other 


•N.J.  state  Society. 


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498  The  Medical  Advance.  Dea 

symptoms  indicative  of  the  remedy,  in  onr  patient,  were: 

"Lowness  of  spirits"  (like  many  other  remedies). 

"  An  irresistable  inclination  to  sigh  frequently." 

Mouth  very  dry,  on  awaking. 

Tongue  coated  brownish-white — never  before  met  with 
under  any  remedy  we  were  acquainted  with. 

Cough,  with  pain  in  lower  anterior  right  chest  extend- 
ing upwards  (at  times)  to  clavicle,  and  with  "expectora- 
tion of  white  mucus.'' 

Now,  as  to  clinical  application  in  future  cases.  We 
think  enough  has  been  given  to  make  this  remedy  a  prom- 
inent one  in  cases  of  the  so-called  "  tobacco  heart,"  as  the 
result  of  excessive  smoking.  We  know  we  were  very  glad 
of  its  aid  in  this  instance.  We  gave  Boericke  and  Tafel's 
1000th  potency  and  were  well  satisfied  with  it,  as  in  fact 
we  have  always  been  with  the  action  of  their  higher  poten- 
cies, 200th  and  upwards. 

In  cases  of  hydrothorax,  following  pleurisy,  or  in  cases 
of  relapse  after  the  previous  exhibition  of  Bryonia,  or  in 
abuse  or  over-action  of  the  same,  it  would  be  well  to  bear 
this  remedy  also  in  mind. 

Likewise,  in  haemorrhages  from  lungs  or  uterus,  when 
attended  by  the  characteristic  tongue,  or  slow  pulse,  in 
connection  with  other  concomitants,  as  above  given. 

It  resembles  Lycopodium  in  bloating  of  feet  and  ankles, 
and  acts  well  as  a  complementary  remedy,  in  incipient 
cedema  of  the  lower  extremities.  Compare  with  Apis,  Bry., 
Cainca,  Oleum  an.,  Colch.,  and  Dig.,  principally. 

LYCOPODIUM. 

Speaking  of  the  effects  of  tobacco,  leads  us  to  make  a 
few  observations,  in  this  connection,  upon  Lycopodium  as 
£L  remedy  very  frequently  called  for  in  tobacco  chewers- 
Breyf ogle's  Epitome  gives  as  one  indication:  ^^  Ulcers  in 
mouth,  or  on  tongue,  from  tobacco."  However  that  may 
be,  we  think  it  of  enough  importance  to  speak  of  it  in  other 
connections — the  more  especially  as  Boeuninghausen  gives 
but  one  remedy  for  the  ill-effects  of  tobacco-chewing,  viz., 
Arsenicum.     To  this,  we  think,  should  at  least  be  added 


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1887  Brief  Notes  on  Materia  Medica.  499 

three  very  prominent  remedies — Carbo  veg.,  Lycopodium, 
and  Nux  yom.,  with,  perhaps,  Ipecac,  in  beginners. 

Before  proceeding  to  give  Lycopodium  indications,  we 
would  remark  the  widespread  prevalence  of  hernia  among 
tobacco-chewers,  the  general  muscular  laxity  being  espe- 
cially prominent  in  the  inpruinal  region.  Allen*  gives: 
"feeling  of  powerlessness  in  the  right  groin,"  under  Taba- 
cum,  but  I  am  satisfied  that  its  special  local  influence  over 
the  muscles  immediately  associated  with  the  inguinal  canal 
has  been  hitherto  overlooked,  perhaps  unsuspected.  Ber- 
ing's Guiding  Symptoms  give  indications,  by  way  of  clin- 
ical verification  of  this  local  affinity  of  Tabacum  for  these 
parts,  for  its  administration  in  case  of  strangulated  hernia, 
but  we  will  not  here  transcribe  them.  Suffice  it  to  say  that 
our  attention  has  been  called  so  forcibly  to  the  prevalence 
of  hernia  among  tobacco-chewers,  and  also  the  even  more 
frequent  indication  of  Lycopodium  than  of  Nux  vom.  in 
the  troubles  of  such  patients,  that  we  felt  impelled  to  call 
the  attention  of  members  of  our  State  Society  to  this  clin- 
ical observation  which  we  have  verified. 

The  dyspepsia  of  tobacco  users  are  such  as  call  most  fre- 
quently for  the  three  remedies  previously  named — viz., 
Carbo  veg.,  Lycopodium  and  Nux  vom.  We  will  distin- 
guish them  briefly  as  follows: 

Nux  vom.  seems  more  adapted  in  such  cases  wherein  the 
patients  are  also  "high  livers"  and  drinkers,  use  strong 
coffee,  have  constipation  with  hemorrhoids,  eta,  and  are 
much  given  to  mental  work.  The  dyspepsia  is  mainly  gas- 
tric, with  pains  in  stomach  directly  after  eating,  or  even 
while  eating,  and  succeeded,  later,  by  heart-burn,  water- 
brash,  and  sour  or  bitter  eructations,  the  flatulence  due  to 
this  indigestion  pressing  upwards  upon  the  thorax. 

The  Carbo  veg.  dyspepsia  seems  to  begin  where  Nux 
vom.  leaves  off,  and  to  occupy  an  intermediate  abdominal 
sphere  between  Nux  vom.  and  Lycopodium.  The  dys- 
pepsia is  especially  apt  to  be  induced,  or  aggravated,  by 
butter,  and  fatty  foods  in  general,  pastry,  etc.,  etc.  The 
flatulence  is  usually  confined  to  the  stomach  and  upper 
bowels,  but,  here  it  is  not  infrequently  quite  excessive, 


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500  The  Medical  Advance.  Dec. 

causing  at  times  much  painful  distress  as  well  as  annoy- 
ance from  belching,  etc. 

Carbo  veg.  patients  are  also  apt  to  be  worse  in  warm, 
sultr3P  weather  (like  Belladonna),  and  are  especially  found 
among  such  as  are  sufferers  from  albuminuria,  from  one  or 
another  cause,  and  in  such  as  have  been  previously  over- 
dosed by  Arsenicum.  The  distress  pressure  is  more  apt 
to  be  located  on  the  left  side  of  abdomen  and  back,  so  that 
patient  can  not  sit  or  lie  well;  feels  most  comfortable  lean- 
ing backwards  with  a  pillow  under  the  part  of  back  and 
side  complained  of. 

Lycopodium  patients  are  mentally  active,  and  frequently 
more  than  ordinarily  intelligent,  but  much  given  to  irrita- 
bilHy,  imperious,  scolding,  dictatorial,  hard  to  please,  and 
given  to  discrediting  the  value  of  any  and  every  therapeutic 
agency  employed  for  their  relief. 

The  tongue  is  usually  but  slightly  coated,  moist,  and 
slightly  tremulous,  Especially  frequent  is  a  very  slight 
light-grey  coating  upon  the  tongue,  which  we  have  not 
found  under  any  other  remedy.  It  is  a  purely  clinical  ob- 
servation, so  far  as  we  know.  The  flatulence  is  mostly  in 
the  lower  bowels,  and  accompanied  by  a  sensation  of  full- 
ness in  stomach  and  abdomen  after  eating  a  few  mouthfuls. 
Patient,  though  feeling  hungry  on  sitting  down,  can  often 
make  but  a  moderate  meal,  and  must  desist. 

Other  symptoms  of  Lycopodium  we  would  call  attention 
to,  are  the  dryness  of  the  palms  of  hands,  in  fever,  and  its 
adaptation  to  delicately  organized  patients  in  general. 

But,  before  leaving,  we  must  again  recur  to  its  use  in 
tobacco-chewers.  We  find  the  following  in  Allen,  under 
Tabacum,  Symptom  1116:  "  Convulsions,  the  head  firmly 
drawn  back,  with  rigidity  of  the  muscles  of  the  posterior 
part  of  the  neck;  there  were  constantly  recurring  rigid 
tetanic  spasms,  the  muscles  of  the  back  being  principally 
affected,  till  death,  a  week  after  he  chewed  the  tobacco." 
We  have  verified  this  effect  of  tobacco,  only  our  patient 
did  not  die.  He  had  clonic,  opisthotonic  spasms,  closely 
simulating  cerebro-spinal  meningitis,  which,  in  fact,  we 
believe  it  really  was — only,  in  this  case,  induced  by  exces- 


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1887  Brief  Notes  on  Materia  Medica.  501 

sive  tobacco-chewiDg.  Lycopodium  cm.  and  mm.  with  sin- 
apisms to  spine  (made  with  white  of  eggs  instead  of  water, 
to  avoid  blistering),  brought  this  case  through  nicely  and 
speedily.  The  medicine  was  repeated  after  each  tetanic 
spasm,  as  recommended  by  Dr.  H.  N.  Guernsey,  in  his  work 
on  obstetrics,  under  head  of  Cerebro-spinal  Meningitis. 
To  those  extremists  in  our  ranks  who  may  feel  inclined  to 
criticise  the  use  of  any  local  adjuvants,  we  would  say  that 
we  have  never  yet  seen  any  ill-eflfects  from  this  course 
while,  on  the  other  hand,  we  have  never  failed  (as  yet)  to 
promptly  cure  such  few  cases  of  this  comparatively  rare 
affection  as  we  have  hitherto  met  with,  by  this  procedure 
in  conjunction  with  the  homoeopathic  remedy  internally, 
and  what  more  can  we  ask? 

Some  one,  I  think  at  last  year's  meeting  of  the  I.  H.  A. 
at  Saratoga,  spoke  of  Silicea,  as  a  remedy  frequently  dis- 
appointing him  in  bone  diseases,  when  given  high.  This 
leads  me  to  remark  that  I  think  a  close  analysis  of  many 
of  these  cases  would  show  them  to  have  been  those  simu- 
lating certain  Silicea  indication^  perhaps,  but  where  the 
totality  of  symptoms  would  have  pointed  out  some  other 
remedy,  such  as  Calcarea  carb.,  Calcarea  phos.,  Lycopo- 
dium, and  Phosphorus  more  especially. 

Two  points  of  similarity,  as  given  in  our  books,  we  will 
here  notice;  they  are  symptoms  ascribed  to  Silicea,  where 
we  judge  Lycopodium  to  be  as  often  called  for,  perhaps  as 
a  complementary  remedy.  (!) 

Bell,  in  his  monograph  on  diarrhoea,  in  his  closing  re- 
marks under  Silicea,  says:  "  The  forehead  is  also  often  coldy 
but  becomes  warm  if  lightly  covered,  which  is  a  very  marked 
symptom  of  Silicea."  However  that  may  be,  all  we  can 
say  is  that  we  noted  this  very  condition  once  in  a  case  of 
congestive  chill,  in  an  infant,  calling  for  Lycopodium. 
While  speaking  of  this,  do  not  forget  Lycopodium  in  per- 
nicious intermittents,  with  a  long-lasting  chill  coming  on 
at  9  A.  M.,  and  finally  passing  off  without  subsequent  heat, 
or  sweat.     It  may  prove  invaluable. 

Another  is  the  symptom,  aggravation  from  nursing  du- 
ring the   period  of  recovery  from  confinement.     Hering 


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502  ITie  Medical  Advance.  Deo. 

gives:  "  The  mother  complains  every  time  she  puts  child  to 
breast;  pure  blood  flows  every  time  child  nurses."  We 
recently  had  just  such  a  case,  where  Silicea  signally  failed 
to  relieve  this  condition.  We  were  absent  from  home  for 
two  or  three  days  thereafter,  and,  on  returning,  learned 
that  oar  patient  had  had  a  hard  chill  at  9  A.  M.  the  day 
after  we  saw  her  last,  but  that  the  powders  (Silicea)  had 
not  seemed  to  affect  those  uterine  pains,  etc.,  from  nurs- 
ing, in  the  slightest  Taking  into  consideration  that  the 
day  in  question  was  cold  and  rainy,  and  that  Lycopodium 
had  some  years  ago  carried  the  patient  nicely  through  a 
severe  attack  of  pleuro-pneumonia,  we  have  no  doubt  that 
it,  if  given  instead  of  the  Silicea,  would  have  met  the  whole 
case  completely.  As  we  could  not  follow  up  the  case,  we 
can  only  speculate  in  the  matter,  but  thought  by  referring 
to  it,  perhaps  some  member  might  be  able  to  verify  our 
conclusions  at  some  future  time. 

It  seems  even  more  often  called  for  than  Dulcamara  in 
case  of  infants  who  become  worse  from  a  sudden  accession 
of  cold,  damp  weather. 

A  peculiar  and  characteristic  Lycopodium  indication  is 
odorless  stools  oj  green,  stringy  mucus.  In  general,  Lyco- 
podium most  resembles  Bryonia,  and  probably  follows  it 
oftener  than  any  other  one  remedy. 

OLEUM  ANIMALS. 

With  this  remedy  we  will  conclude.  In  the  August  num- 
ber of  the  HomoBopnthic  Physician  we  noticed  a  condensed 
symptomatology  of  this  somewhat  peculiar  and  complex, 
we  might  say  multiplex,  remedy,  by  Dr.  Julius  Schmitt,  of 
Rochester,  N.  Y.  This  led  us  to  add  some  clinical  verifi- 
cations, not  otherwise  to  be  noticed,  perhaps.  We  are  led 
to  do  so,  moreover,  by  reason  of  its  being  suggested  by  ob- 
servntions  under  Apocynura  cann.  with  relation  to  slow 
pulse,  in  adults.  Pulse  is  givin  as  55,  60,  and  65.  We  have 
verified  the  lowest  pulse  here  given  in  a  case  of  bilious 
fever,  some  years  ago,  in  a  rather  fleshy  old  lady.  Bry- 
onia did  well  at  first,  but,  when  the  temperature  was  re- 
duced, new  symptoms  appeared.     We  give  the  leading  ones. 


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1887  Brief  Notes  an  Materia  Medica.  603 

which  led  us  to  give  Oleum  animale.  Together  with  the 
nntisually  slow  pulse  (55,  or  thereabouts),  the  patient  had 
the  desire  for  soft-hoiled  eggs  (like  Calcarea  carb.),  and  an 
**  itching  of  the  left  lower  lid,  at  7 :30  p.  M."  The  eye  symp- 
toms of  this  remedy  are  said  to  be  improved  from  rubbing, 
but  we  do  not  remember  it  in  this  particular  case.  For 
mental  concomitants,  we  had:  ^'Sad  mood,  morose;  noth- 
ing delights  her.  She  was  absorbed  in  herself,  sad,  and 
spoke  little."  This  was  followed  by  a  jaundiced  condition 
which,  in  some  respects,  was  so  peculiar  we  will  mention 
it  by  giving  the  succeeding  remedy. 

SEPIA. 

This  remedy  was  Sepia,  the  patient  among  other  things 
having  a  thirst  upon  awaking,  in  the  morning.  (Apo- 
cynum  cann.  we  have  seen  to  have  dryness  of  mouthy  but 
may  or  may  not  have  thirst,  accompanying.)  Along  with 
the  blood-red  urine,  common  also  to  Berberis  vul.,  Bryonia 
and  Hepar  sulph.,  the  jaundiced  appearance  of  this  patient 
was  quite  unique.  While  we  failed  to  note  yellowness  of 
conjunctiva,  the  palms  of  hands  were  very  markedly  dis- 
colored, a  deep,  dark-yellew.  Perhaps  the  conjunctiva 
might  have  taken  on  its  characteristic  discoloration  later 
on,  had  the  disease  been  left  to  itself,  but  it  did  not — at 
least  not  enough  to  be  readily  recognized. 

Chelidonium  is  the  only  other  remedy  we  find  having 
*'  yellowness  of  palms,"  and  we  here  call  attention  to  it  us 
a  clinical  observation  in  each  instance,  not  to  be  found  in 
the  Materia  Medica. 

Sepia  promises  to  be  a  leading  homoeopathic  remedy  in 
jaundiced  conditions,  as  we  had  occasion  to  prescribe  it  to 
another  member  of  the  family  just  afterwards,  where  the 
patient  had  periodical,  occipital  headache,  coming  on  at 
midnight — in  other  respects  quite  resembling  a  Eupato- 
rium  perfol.  headache.  This  case  was  more  stubborn,  but 
finally  yielded  to  Aurum  as  the  succeeding  remedy,  which 
cured  the  case. 

NITRO-MURIATIC  ACID.      (AQ.  REGIA.) 

Here  we  have  a  remedy  long  and  familiarly  known,  and 
yet  of  whose  clinical  application  we  as  yet  know  almost 


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504  The  Medical  Advance.  Dea 

nothing.  Its  effects  seem  to  incline  more  towards  those 
of  its  hydrochloric  partner.  We  were  led  to  look  it  up  in 
one  case  of  bilious  fever,  following  Alumen,  by  reason  of 
the  patient  complaining  of  a  burning  in  the  roof  of  the 
mouth. 

Allen,  in  his  Materia  Medica  (Index),  gives  this  as  the 
only  remedy.  Upon  turning  to  Symptom  26  [Generalities], 
we  found,  as  effects  from  the  30th  potency:  "Very  much 
worn  out  by  much  hard  study  and  little  exercise;  felt  men- 
tally and  physically  depressed,  as  1  did  previous  to  having 
typhoid  fever;  felt  very  weak  after  moderate  exercise  in 
gymnasium,"  etc. 

Then  turning  to  Vol.  X  [Appendix],  we  found,  as  results 
following  bathing  in  acidulated  baths  for  four  successive 
days:  "Since  yesterday  have  felt  some  pain  in  my  throat, 
seeming  to  follow  the  course  of  oesophagus.  Throughout 
this  forenoon,  I  had  a  sense  of  burning  over  the  roof  of  my 
mouth  and  down  the  gullet,  like  that  arising  from  having 
chewed  an  acrid  vegetable  substance." 

The  next  day,  mouth  somewhat  painful,  although  not 
ulcerated. 

"  Four  days  later,  effects  still  felt  in  mouth,  pulse  quicker 
than  usual,  and  some  degree  of  languor,  the  weather  being 
very  hot.  A  month  later,  the  prover  records  that  the  effects 
upon  his  mouth  and  pulse  remained  for  a  fortnight  after 
leaving  off  the  bath.  At  length  little  specks  or  small 
ulcerations,  extending  no  deeper  than  the  cuticle,  are  seen 
on  the  interior  surface  of  the  mouth  and  over  the  tongue, 
so  that  some  degree  of  excoriation  or  rawness  is  produced. 
This  is  attended  by  considerable  ptyalism,  with  an  in- 
creased  feeling  of  lownass  or  depression."  (The  symp- 
toms  here  clinically  verified,  and  italicised,  should  be 
likewise  either  starred  or  italicised  by  all  possessors  of 
Allen's  Materia  Medica.) 

"  The  excoriation  from  this  acid  never  reaches  deeper 
than  the  cuticle;  it  never  gives  rise  to  fetid  ulcerations  of 
any  kind,  nor  does  it  produce  any  offensive  smell  in  the 
mouth  or  of  the  breath.  The  excoriations  in  the  mouth 
generally  disappear  in  a  day  or  two,  if  the  remedy  be  dis- 


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1887  Brief  Notes  on  Materia  Medica.  505 

continued,"  etc.  The  salivary  secretion  seems  to  be  poured 
forth,  and  suspended  by  turns,  at  varying  intervals. 

Now  to  our  patient  more  particularly.  The  vesicles  upon 
the  tongue,  preceding  epithelial  desquamation,  were  more 
especially  seen  upon  the  leftside,  of  a  dry,  yellowish-coated 
tongue — such  as  we  not  infrequently  meet  with  in  cases  of 
pneumonia  Nitro-muriatic  acid  30th  and  then  60th  (of 
our  own  potentizing)  was  administered,  and  was  possibly 
repeated  too  frequently.  It  was  followed  by  an  irregular 
pulse,  intermitting  every  fourth  bent,  showing  the  predomi- 
nance of  Nitric  acid  effects.  (Muriatic  acid  has  intermis- 
sion with  every  third  beat;  Nitric  acid  and  Nux  vom.  every 
fourth  or  fifth.)  The  tongue  felt  swollen,  (Bapt.  Petrol.) 
and  there  was  a  feeling  of  weakness  and  "goneness"  at  the 
pit  of  stomach,  with  an  aching  extending  thence  to  the  spine. 
These  latter  symptoms  led  us  to  decide  upon  Baptisia  as 
the  remedy  to  succeed  Nitro-mur.  acid,  and  marked  im- 
provement set  in  promptly  thereupon.  As  to  Nitro-mur- 
iatic  acid  symptomatology  again,  the  mouth  symptoms  cited 
seem  sufficiently  analogous  to  those  from  Arum  triphyl- 
lum,  as  to  suggest  it  in  cases  of  poisoning  from  the  latter, 
as  a  possible  antidote. 

It  may  perhaps  be  found  serviceable  likewise  in  follow- 
ing the  latter  remedy,  in  cases  of  remaining  debility  after 
malignant  scarlatina  or  diphtheria,  where  Arum  tri.  has 
been  previously  indicated.  It  may  possibly  be  antidotal 
also  to  Alumen,  which  it  followed  in  the  case  above  nar- 
rated, and  be  itself,  in  turn,  an ti doted  also  by  Baptisia  ( ?). 

Other  of  its  symptoms  (provings),  are  "fluttering  of  the 
heart  while  eating  dinner,"  upon  two  successive  days. 
(Sepia  has  palpitation,  excited  after  eating. )  After  fifteen 
minutes  at  dinner,  the  provor  "  started  for  the  cars;"  was 
late,  and  so  "  had  to  run  part  of  the  way,  but  after  running 
slowly  half  a  square,  was  taken  with  fluttering  of  the  heart, 
obliging  him  to  walk."  Soon  after  the  fluttering  of  the 
heart,  ptyalism  set  in,  with  rapid  secretion  of  saliva  for  a 
few  minutes,  then  gradually  decreasing — for  about  one 
hour,  in  all.  This  might  suggest  its  application  to  persons 
travelling,  with  but  a  few  minutes  for  "lunch"  at  the  rail- 


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606  The  Medical  Advance.  Dea 

way  eating  houses,  or  when  obliged  to  leaye  their  own 
homes,  after  hasty  eating,  in  order  to  take  a  train.  (Naja 
tri  has  bad  feelings,  from  quite  a  similar  state  of  affairs. ) 

Symptoms  of  stool,  are  desire  with  ineffectucd  urging,  by 
reason  of  oonstriotion  of  sphincter  ani.  This,  again,  is 
tiaoeable  to  its  Nitric  acid  constituent,  and  would  doubt- 
less be  antidoted  by  either  Alumina  or  Nux  vom.,  which 
have  similar  conditions. 

Under  "  respiratory  organs "  we  find  the  fumes  to  have 
produced  serious  inflammation  of  larynx  and  bronchial 
tubes.  Other  symptoms  are  ''pain  in  right  side  of  back 
while  taking  a  cold  bath;"  slowness  of  digestion,  especially 
of  bread  or  bread  and  milk.  (Compare  Arg.  nit,  Bry., 
Merc,  Nit.  ac.,  Nux  m..  Sepia  and  Zinc.) 

Symptoms  mostly  present  or  aggravated  in  the  afternoon 
and  evening.  "  Sleepy,  with  headache,  at  1  P.  M.,  worse  at 
4  p.  M.,  but  continuing  until  retiring  rather  late  at  night. 
(11  p.  M.)  Likewise  chilliness  at  1  P.  M.,  while  sitting  by 
the  stove,  reading,  beginning  at  a  line  drawn  around  chest 
and  arms  at  about  the  level  of  the  diaphragm  and  passing 
upwards  to  vertex.  Other  effects  arising  from  positions  of 
body,  are  "  contractions  of  pharynx,  while  writing  at  a  low 
table,"  and  "  a  languid  aching  through  hips,  anterior  of 
thighs,  and  small  of  back,  from  having  rested  arms  upon 
the  thighs."  __^.^___ 

For  Meddling.— The  following  is  related  by  the  Med- 
ical Record,  Dr.  W.  J.  Cruikshank  recovered  a  $1,600  ver- 
dict, iu  his  suit  for  $50,000  damages,  against  William  (Jor- 
don,  the  trial  for  which  was  brought  in  the  Supreme  Court 
in  Brooklyn,  N.  T.  The  doctor  asserted  that  Mr.  Gordon 
went  to  the  mother  of  a  child  he  was  attending,  and  urged 
her  to  secure  another  physician  without  delay,  as,  in  his 
opinion,  Dr.  Cruikshank  had  not  the  skill  necessary  to 
attend  a  sick  dog.  There  are  few  physicians  who  do  not 
suffer  at  times  from  the  class  of  meddlers  to  whom  Gordon 
belongs.  If  a  few  more  of  these  people  were  held  to  ac- 
count there  would  be  less  interference  with  the  work  of  the 
physician. — Maryland  Medical  Journal 


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1887  Therapeutics  of  Diphtheria.  507 

CLINICAL  MEDICINE. 


THERAPEUTICS  OF  DIPHTHERIA .• 


SAMUEL  L.  EATON.  M.  D..  East  Orange,  N.  J. 


It  is  with  great  diflSdenoe  that  I  undertake  to  read  an 
essay  before  this  society,  nearly  all  of  whose  members 
have  had  an  incomparably  wider  experience  than  I.  For 
this  reason  I  have  selected  a  common  subject,  for  there 
are  few  so  inexperienced  as  not  to  have  seen  some  cases  of 
diphtheria.  But,  though  common,  the  theme  is  certainly 
not  a  trivial  one,  nor  is  it  sufficiently  hackneyed  to  secure 
a  neglect  of  its  study.  Like  debt  and  taxes,  the  social 
evil  and  original  sin,  diphtheria  is  something  with  which 
we  are  called  upon  to  grapple  with  our  most  strenuous  ex- 
ertions, a  plague  which  will  continue  to  harrass  mankind 
until  the  end  of  time. 

Bat  the  subject  is  entirely  too  large  for  one  brief  essay, 
and  I  shnll  confine  myself  to  one  branch,  viz.,  the  Thera- 
peutics of  Diphtheria. 

My  remarks  upon  this  naturally  range  themselves  under 
three  heads: 

First — Constitutional  treatment; 

Second. — Local  treatment; 

Third. — Stimulation. 

I  take  it  for  granted  that  we  all  believe  that  diphtheria 
is  a  constitutional  disease  with  a  local  manifestation.  Nat- 
urally, then,  our  first  daty  is  to  affiliate  a  remedy.  How 
shall  this  be  done?  Shall  we  ignore  the  diagnosis,  deny 
the  existence  of  an  entity  in  disease,  and  proceed  to  hunt 
up  a  remedy  by  the  assistance  of  a  repertory?  I  do  not 
think  that  the  best  way;  and  yet  I  believe  the  symptoma- 
tology to  be  the  only  basis  for  a  prescription.  Even  with 
the  strictest  Homoeopathist,  the  diagnosis  should  be  some- 
thing more  than  ornamental,  and  have  a  use  beyond  fur- 
nishing the  basis  for  a  prognosis. 

By  means  of  the  diagnosis  we  are  able  to  restrict  our 


•N.J.  state  Society. 


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608  The  Medical  Advance.  Deo. 

iDitial  search  for  a  remedy  to  a  comparatively  limited 
space,  instead  of  attempting  to  survey  the  whole  field  at 
once.  To  illustrate:  Toward  the  close  of  a  busy  day  1  am 
attacked  by  a  variety  of  symptoms,  mental  and  physical; 
there  is  a  slight  headache,  the  power  of  close  continued 
thought  seems  much  impaired,  an  irritability  of  temper 
manifests  itself,  I  cannot  walk  with  my  accustomed  elas- 
ticity, there  is  a  peculiar  sinking  sensation  at  the  epigas- 
trium. Before  looking  further  for  symptoms,  I  make  out 
a  diagnosis,  which  is  hunger;  the  bill  of  fare  at  the  near- 
est restaurant  provides  a  class  of  remedies  from  which  to 
select,  and  their  exhibition  usually  causes  the  symptoms  to 
disappear  together.  But  should  the  headache  remain,  or 
the  irritability  remain,  or  any  of  the  other  symptoms  per- 
sist, then  it  will  be  time  to  view  the  field  with  a  more  com- 
prehensive glance,  and  employ  a  "symptom  register." 

A  little  work  by  Dr.  Gregg,  of  BufFiJo,  has  been  ridiculed 
by  many  since  its  appearance  five  years  ago,  and  has  been 
the  foot-ball  of  critics  and  reviewers  from  all  quarters. 
Wit  and  malice  would  seem  to  have  been  exhausted  years 
ago,  but  still  the  writers  in  our  medical  journals  must  have 
a  shy  at  the  "wild  theories"  of  Dr.  Gregg. 

Well,  Dr.  Gregg's  classification  of  the  remedies  to  be 
used  in  diphtheria  seems  to  me  anything  but  "  wild."  Tou 
will  remember  that  he  divides  the  remedies  into  three 
classes.  The  first  class  includes  only  Lachesis  and  Lyco- 
podium.  The  second  class  is  larger:  Apis,  Arum,  Bella- 
donna, Bryonia,  Kali  bichromicum,  Lac  caninum.  Mercury, 
and  Phytolacca.  The  third  class  includes  Aconite,  Arsen- 
icum, Bromium,  Cantharis,  Lacnanthes,  and  Sulphur.  I 
shall  not  weary  you  with  a  recital  of  the  guiding  symp- 
toms for  each  of  these  remedies;  but  I  desire  to  add  my 
testimony  to  the  very  large  number  of  cases  that  can  be 
cured  by  one  of  the  remedies  of  the  first  class,  viz.,  by 
Lachesis  or  by  Lycopodium,  according  as  the  disease  com- 
mences on  the  left  or  on  the  right  side. 

Next  to  these  the  remedy  which  I  have  found  most  use- 
ful has  been  the  Mercurius  protoiodide  (for  which  a  lead- 
ing indication  is  the  thick  yellow  coating  of  the  tongue 
toward  the  base). 


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1887  Therapeutics  of  Diphtheria,  609 

Bichromate  of  Potash  sometimes  does  grand  service 
where  croupal  symptoms  intervene.  One  day  last  spring 
I  was  called  to  see  a  case  of  diphtheria  in  a  young  woman 
who  had  been  ill  several  days  before  calling  a  doctor.  The 
disease  had  taken  a  firm  hold,  and  there  was  marked  pros- 
tration. Inspection  of  the  fauces  showed  the  heaviest 
membrane  to  be  on  the  left  tonsil.  The  patient,  however, 
was  positive  that  the  right  tonsil  first  began  to  be  sore. 
Further  inquiry  revealed  the  fact  of  a  flatulent  condition 
of  the  bowels.  Also  red  sand  in  the  urine,  and  the  patient 
always  felt  worse  during  the  latter  part  of  the  afternoon. 
Of  course  there  was  no  doubt  of  the  remedy.  I  gave  it  in 
repeated  doses  for  twenty-four  hours;  then  stopped  all 
medication,  and  she  made  a  rapid  recovery.  There  was 
nothing  singular  about  that  case  except  its  startling  clear- 
ness. But  why  was  it  that  she  had  red  sand  in  the  urine? 
And  why  should  a  diphtheria  commencing  on  the  right 
side  be  aggravated  from  4  to  8  p.  m.  any  more  than  one 
commencing  on  the  left  side?  These  things  are  a  great 
mystery.  What  is  sometimes  called  the  picture  of  ajdrug 
is  sometimes  as  startling  as  the  handwriting  on  the 
wall. 

I  recently  prescribed  Lachesis  for  a  case  of  diphtheria 
commencing  on  the  left  side,  and  found  no  improvement 
whatever  at  the  end  of  twenty-four  hours.  This  was  not 
surprising,  for,  cdthough  the  leading  indication  for  Lache- 
sis in  this  disease  was  present,  other  important  symptoms, 
such  as  great  fetor  of  the  breath,  aggravation  after  sleep- 
ing, and  intolerance  of  the  pressure  of  clothing  about  the 
throat,  were  wanting.  I  noticed  that  the  color  of  the 
fauces,  where  not  covered  by  the  membrane,  was  a  bright 
scarlet,  and  prescribed  accordingly.  On  my  next  visit  the 
patient  asked  me,  in  an  injured  tone,  why  I  gave  her  Bel- 
ladonna. To  my  inquiry  as  to  why  she  thought  that  the 
remedy,  she  replied  that  it  gave  her  such  a  terrible  head- 
ache, as  was  always  the  case.  I  apologized  for  my  igno- 
rance of  her  idiosyncrasy,  but  was  well  pleased  with  the 
result,  the  t}iroat  showing  extraordinary  improvement  for 
that  length  of  time.    This  case  was  interesting  to  me  as 


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610  7%6  Medical  Advance.  Dec. 

illustrating  the  power  of  a  high  potency,  the  aggravation 
being  caused  by  a  so-called  40m. 

The  subject  of  local  treatment  to  the  throat  is  a  vexed 
one.  My  own  opinion  is  decidedly  opposed  to  it,  and  it  is 
the  result  of  observations  as  well  as  of  a  priori  reasoning. 
If  the  disease  is  a  constitutional  one,  why  attack  the  local 
manifestations?  It  seen:s  to  me  that  such  treatment  is 
exactly  analogous  to  cauterizing  a  syphilitic  chancre.  Dr. 
Gregg,  the  author  mentioned  above,  argues  against  the 
use  of  sprays,  gargles,  etc,  because  they  increase  the  action 
of  the  mucous  surfaces,  thereby  causing  a  loss  of  albumen, 
and  thus  increasing  the  excess  of  fibrin  in  the  blood,  which 
must  be  gotten  rid  of  by  means  of  the  diphtheritic  exuda- 
tion. This  theory  does  not  commend  itself  to  my  judg- 
ment When,  however,  he  goes  on  to  express  the  fear  that 
by  suppressing  the  exudation  on  the  fauces,  the  fibrin  may 
be  deposited  on  some  vital  internal  organ,  with  fatal  result, 
ihere  seems  just  ground  for  such  apprehension;  nor  can  we 
doubt  that  he  is  correct  in  supposing  that  the  nervous 
shock  of  the  spray  and  the  gargle  will  do  much  to  increase 
the  tendency  to  a  paralysis  of  the  muscles  of  deglutition. 
During  my  undergraduate  days  I  was  in  the  office  of  a 
successful  practitioner,  and  closely  observed  his  treatment 
of  this  disease.  He  made  frequent  use  of  gargles,  usually 
some  form  of  potash.  Subsequently  I  spent  a  year  with  a 
member  of  this  society,  whose  success  is  known  of  all  men, 
and  who  never  employs  a  gargle  or  any  other  local  treat- 
ment to  the  throai  Thus  I  was  enabled  to  institute  com- 
parisons, not  invidious,  I  hope,  but  salutary.  My  conclu- 
sions were  very  strcngly  against  local  treatment 

I  hope  that  I  do  not  appear  over-confident  in  the  use  of  the 
methods  advocated;  nor  do  I  claim  the  ability  to  cure  all 
cases  intrusted  to  me.  That  would  be  monstrous  assurance 
in  the  face  of  a  disease  which  sometimes  baffles  the  most 
skillf  al.  There  lies  heavy  on  my  heart  to-day  the  case  of 
a  lovely  little  boy,  eight  years  old,  lost  within  the  past  year. 
This  seemed  a  perfectly  plain  case.  The  first  day  gave 
Lachesis;  the  next  day  he  was  much  better,  and  gave  no 
medicine;  on  the  third  day  the  membrane  had  entirely  dis- 


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1887  Therapeutics  of  Diphtheria.  511 

appeared:  continued  the  placebo.  On  the  fourth  day  he 
was  still  feeling  first-rate,  and  the  throat  continued  clear. 
The  breath  was  still  slightly  offensive,  the  base  of  the 
tongue  coated,  and  he  received  one  dose  of  the  Mercurius 
protoiodide.  On  the  morning  of  the  fifth  day  unmistaka- 
ble croupal  symptoms  supervened,  and  Kali  bichromicum 
was  administered.  By  evening  he  was  worse,  and  I  asked 
for  counsel.  A  physician  of  wide  experience  was  called, 
who  expressed  the  opinion  that  there  was  a  fair  chance  of 
saving  him,  but  that  it  would  be  necessary  to  fight  it  out 
"hammer  and  tongs."  We  proceeded  to  fight  it  out  on 
that  line.  Extensive  use  was  made  of  the  vapors  arising 
from  slaking  quicklime,  which  seemed  to  afford  some  little 
relief.  Chlorinated  lime  was  also  used  in  a  steam  atomizer. 
Iodine  was  used  externally  and  internally.  Bromine  ditto. 
Cloths  wrung  out  of  hot  water  were  applied  to  the  outside 
of  the  throat  Eali  bichromicum  was  administered  in 
doses  strong  enough  to  produce  emesis.  The  nutrition 
was  carefully  attended  to,  and  devoted  parents  carried  out 
all  instructions  implicitly.  The  little  fellow's  breathing 
became  more  and  more  labored,  and  after  a  five  days'  fight 
death  closed  the  struggle.  On  the  day  when  he  was  com- 
mitted to  the  grave,  with  all  the  ceremonies  of  the  church 
of  Bome,  I  buried  the  "hammer  and  the  tongs"  without 
benefit  of  clergy. 

The  question  of  the  use  of  stimulants  was  for  a  long 
time  debated  in  my  own  mind;  but  my  convictions  have 
settled  to  the  conclusion  that  they  are  indispensable  in 
some  cases.  The  argument  about  the  folly  of  spurring  a 
jaded  horse  is  familiar  to  all  of  us;  but  there  are  circum- 
stances when  I  would  spur  him  with  hearty  good  wilL 
Suppose  that  I  were  riding  along  a  country  lane,  while  my 
charger's  drooping  head  betokened  the  weariness  of  a 
bard  day's  work;  suppose  a  mad  bull  appeared  on  the 
scene.  If  a  vigorous  application  of  the  spur  could  induce 
my  horse  to  clear  the  fence,  his  life  might  be  thereby^ 
saved.  It  is  true  that  the  subsequent  exhaustion  would  be^ 
greater  than  if  I  had  led  him  around  by  the  gate;  but 
there  was  no  time  for  that  gentle  measure.    We  are  cdl 


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512  The  Medical  Advance.  Deo. 

familiar  with  the  astonishiDg  stories  told  of  the  use  of 
whiskey  in  cases  of  poisoning  by  snake  bites.  Yet  modern 
chemistry  has  demonstrated  that  the  serpent  poisons  are 
not  antidoted  by  alcohol.  Therefore  we  are  forced  to  the 
conclusion  that  in  such  cases  the  alcohol  simply  sustains 
the  vital  forces  until  nature  has  accomplished  the  process 
of  eliminating  the  poison.  I  believe  that  it  is  sometimes 
possible  to  save  a  victim  of  the  diphtheritic  poison  on  the 
same  principle.  I  have  seen  a  child  who  was  apparently 
moribund,  extremities  cold,  and  the  radial  pulse  impercepti- 
ble, revived  by  the  liberal  use  of  champagne,  which  was 
continued  in  large  quantities  for  several  days  until  nature 
had  had  time  to  cast  off  the  poison  and  resume  its  functions 
without  adventitious  aid.  I  do  not  advise  the  use  of  stim- 
ulants in  ordinary  cases,  because  they  render  convalescence 
more  difficult  and  protracted ;  but  they  constitute  in  extrem- 
ities an  aid  which  should  not  be  neglected. 


A  PECULIAR  CASE. 


A.  L.  WALTZ,  M.  D.,  CoIIinwood.  O. 


Mr.  J.  H.  W ,  an  Englishman  by  birth,  came  to  this 

oountry  when  two  years  old.  He  has  been  a  "railroad 
man"  for  nearly  seventeen  years.  In  May,  1883,  he  was 
taken  with  a  fever,  which  an  old  school  physician  pro- 
nounced malarial.  He  was  sick  about  a  month.  Since  this 
fever  he  never  fully  recovered  his  strength,  and  soon  after 
began  to  complain  of  a  weakness  in  his  back,  and  would 
avoid  lifting  any  weight  whatever.  In  September  he  care- 
lessly stepped  into  a  hole  which  hurt  his  back  severely, 
causing  him  to  fall  to  the  ground  in  an  unconscious  con- 
dition. Since  then  has  always  been  in  fear  of  severe  jars, 
from  which  he  suffered  excruciating  pain,  and  was  given 
relief  by  administering  opiates. 

At  this  juncture  he  consulted  an  old  school  physician, 
who  ordered  him  to  bed  and  pronounced  his  disease  inflam- 
mation of  the  spine.  Previous  to  this  a  number  of  old 
school  physicians  examined  him,  but  were  not  able  to  diag- 


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1887  A  Peculiar  Case.  513 

nose  the  trouble.  The  sorest  spot  was  in  the  lower  part  of 
the  right  hypochondriac  region.  He  was  compelled  to 
walk  with  his  body  leaning  to  the  right  After  he  went  to 
bed  the  pain  gradually  left  him,  but  was  compelled  to  take 
opiates  in  order  to  sleep.  His  stomach  now  gave  out,  as  a 
result  of  the  drugging.  The  treatment  at  this  time  was 
blistering  the  whole  length  of  the  spine  with  the  usual 
allopathic  internal  treatment.  Was  confined  to  his  bed 
four  months.  His  physician  advised  him  to  have  an  appa- 
ratus made  that  would  transfer  the  weight  of  the  body 
from  the  spine  to  the  hip,  which  he  did. 

Just  a  week  before  he  put  on  his  apparatus  to  get  up,  a 
peculiar  feature  of  his  disease  began,  which  to  the  present 
time  has  never  left  him.  About  three  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing he  awoke  suddenly  with  a  terrible  thirst,  drinking  large 
quantities  of  water.  He  supposed  he  had  quite  an  inter- 
nal fever,  and  consulted  his  physician  for  it,  who  examined 
him  thoroughly  and  found  that  he  had  diabetes  insipidus. 
His  urine  was  examined  at  this  time  and  was  found  to  be 
as  clear  as  glass.  There  never  was  any  sugar  found  in  bis 
urine.  The  amount  of  urine  passed  in  twenty-four  hours, 
for  twenty-six  days,  was  from  nine  quarts  as  a  minimum  to 
fifteen  quarts  and  one  pint  as  a  maximum. 

This  same  amount  of  urine  is  still  kept  up,  and  the  spe- 
cific gravity  has  never  changed — always  1000.  He  never 
could  bring  on  a  prespiration,  either  by  exercise  or  by 
drinking  hot  drinks,  but  instead  would  produce  a  terrible 
prickling  feeling,  especially  in  the  face,  which  would  com- 
I)el  him  to  get  in  the  open  air  and  rub  his  face  violently. 
This  man  is  at  present  a  flagman  on  the  L.  S.  &  M.  S. 
Railway,  and  is  feeling  some  better.  He  has  always  felt 
better  when  he  has  taken  no  medicine  of  any  kind.  In  all 
this  time  he  has  employed  six  allopathic  and  two  homoeo- 
pathic physicians,  and  has  received  no  benefit  To  all 
appearances  he  is  a  strong,  healthy  man.  He  is  troubled 
now  at  times  with  a  severe  headache  at  the  base  of  the 
brain,  which  Nux  vomica  3x  relieves  in  a  short  time.  Tak- 
ing the  case  all  in  all  it  seems  as  though  the  patient  ought 
to  receive  help  from  some  carefully  selected  homoeopathic 


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614  The  Medical  Advance,  Deo. 

remedy.     I  do  not  know  what  remedies  he  received  from 

the  other  Homceopaths,  but  I  have  confidence  enough  in 

them  to  know  that,  from  the  time  they  had  to  study  the 

case,  they  made  good  prescriptions.    He  has  been  sick  now 

for  four  years,  and  is  no  worse.     In  some  respects  he  is 

considerably  better.     His  spine  has  improved,  but  neither 

the  amount  of  water  he  drinks  nor  the  urine  he  voids,  has 

decreased.     Neither  sugar  nor  albumen  has  ,ever  been 

found.    He  is  cheerful  and  works  every  day.    I  never  have 

treated  the  case  myself  only  for  complications  that  arise 

from  time  to  time.     I  would  gladly  receive  any  suggestion 

that  anyone  might  give. 

[Look  for  the  cause  in  the  suppression,  by  quinine,  of 

the  original  fever;  and  the  remedy  will  b^  found  in  the 

characteristic  symptoms  of  the  original  attack,'  before  its 

suppression. — Ed.  ] 

-   — ^»»   - 

CURES  BY  Dll.  PROLL. 


Translated  by  A.  McNeil,  M.  D..  from  Alg.  Horn.  Zettung. 


Displaced  Uterus:  Sepia. — A  hard  working  woman  of 
34  has  suffered  for  years  from  gastric  complaints  and 
weakness  of  the  legs,  so  that  after  many  attempts  with 
both  internal  and  external  treatment  she  became  so  re- 
duced in  strength  that  she  can  scarcely  walk  or  stand,  so 
that  she  was  brought  to  me  in  a  rolling  chair.  She  is  a 
|>runette,  large  in  stature,  has  given  birth  to  and  nursed 
two  daughters.  After  her  confinements,  owing  to  extreme 
poverty,  she  must  get  up  on  the  fourth  day  and  attend  to 
her  household  duties.  Her  face  pale  with  several  yellow- 
ish-brown spots;  tongue  normal;  appetite  almost  entirely 
absent;  sour  stomach;  pulsation  in  the  epigastric  region; 
digestion  very  poor;  abdomen  hard  and  enlarged;  bowels 
almost  always  constipated — only  regular  during  her  peri* 
ods;  menses  irregular,  too  late,  too  scanty;  urine  often  and 
little  at  a  time,  often  cloudy  with  yellowish  clouds  or  red 
sediment;  acrid  leucorrhoea;  legs  objectively  natural,  as 
well  as  the  hip  and  knee  joints,  and  yet  she  can  walk  a  few 
steps  only,  with  difficulty. 


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1887  Cures  by  Dr.  Proll  615 

I  diagnosed  prolapsus  and  flexion  of  the  uterus,  caused 
by  her  enforced  too  early  getting  up  after  her  confine- 
ments; and  I  considered  the  displacement  to  be  the  cause 
of  the  disorders  of  the  stomach  and  digestive  organs  (par- 
ticularly on  account  of  her  clean  tongue),  and  also  the  con- 
stipation, as  I  have  always  observed  that  when  the  stool  is 
regular  only  during  the  menses,  or  even  too  frequent  then, 
that  the  cause  of  the  constipation  is  to  be  found  in  dis- 
placement of  the  uterus. 

I  gave  her  Sepia,  3d  trit,  twice  a  day,  guided  by  the 
symptoms  which  I  have  designated  by  italics.  The  result 
which  followed  quickly  confirmed  the  correctness  of  the 
selection,  as  two  days  after,  the  stool  began  to  be  regular; 
and  after  Sepia,  6th  potency,  the  gastric  complaints,  which 
for  years  had  resisted  all  treatment,  were  considerably  im- 
proved; and  after  Sepia  lOx  entirely  disappeared.  Even 
the  weakness  of  the  legs,  which  I  traced  to  the  pressure  of 
the  displaced  uterus,  disappeared  gradually,  and  now,  after 
some  months,  the  highly  rejoicing  patient  declares  herself 
entirely  welL 

In  many  other  cases  I  obtained  the  same  result,  t.  6., 
decrease  or  cure  of  the  complaints  of  the  stomach  and 
digestion  as  well  as  the  constipation  with  Graphites,  6th  or 
10th  potency,  in  women  and  girls  in  whom  I  could  find  no 
prolapsus  or  flexion  of  the  uterus;  in  whom  the  following 
symptoms  guided  my  choice:  itching  of  the  skin;  soreness 
of  the  nostrils^  the. angle  of  the  mouth  and  between  the 
legs;  redness  of  the  nose;  heavy  coating  of  the  tongue; 
rancid  heartburn;  bloated  abdomen;  frequent  passage  of 
flatus;  scanty  or  very  hard  stool;  burning  in  the  anus; 
delayed  or  suppressed  menses;  burning  leucorrhoea;  great 
mental  irritability,  and  easily  frightened. 

I  often  give  nothing  but  Graphites  5x,  morning  and 
evening,  for  half  a  month. 


Dr.  G.  S.  Norton,  of  New  York,  read  a  paper  at  the 
recent  International  Congress,  on  "The  Relative  Import- 
ance of  Small  Degrees  of  Astigmatism  as  a  Cause  of  Head- 
ache and  Asthenopia." 


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616  7%6  Medical  Advance.  Dea 

A  CASE  OF  TRIGGER  JOINT.— SULPHUR  * 


PHOEBE  D.  BEOWN.  M.  P.,  Hilton,  N.  J. 


Doight  d  ressort  is  the  name  given  by  N^laton  to  a  pecu- 
liar inhibition  of  motion  occurring  in  fingers  otherwise 
normal. 

Pathologists  difiFer  as  to  the  nature  of  this  afiFection, 
some  considering  it  of  a  surgical  nature,  while  others  class 
it  among  the  neuroses.  But,  nearly  all  authors  agree  upon 
the  existence  of  a  nodosity  in  the  course  of  the  tendon,  at 
some  distance  from  the  articulation,  in  which  the  arrest  of 
motion  takes  place.  Various  experiments  have  been  made 
upon  the  cadaver,  and  the  results  lead  to  the  conclusion 
that  a  thickening  of  the  tendon,  accompanied  by  a  con- 
striction of  the  sheath,  is  essential  to  the  production  of 
this  phenomenon. 

The  aetiology  in  most  cases  is  found  in  rheumatism; 
next  in  frequency  is  traumatism;  while  some  cases  ap- 
pear without  any  known  cause.  Women  are  more  subject 
than  men.  The  thumb  and  ring  finger  are  most  frequently 
affected. 

The  case  to  which  I  call  your  attention  was  of  five 
months'  standing;  was  treated  homoeopathically  and  cured 
by  the  use  of  tbe  indicated  homoeopathic  remedy  alone. 

In  April,  1886,  a  lady,  aged  56,  applied  to  me  for  relief 
from  a  painful  and  peculiar  arrest  of  motion  in  her  right 
thumb.  She  could  flex  the  thumb  voluntarily  and  without 
pain,  but  on  attemptiiig  to  extend  it  the  segments  of  bone 
became  arrested  in  their  movement  upon  each  other  and 
she  could  not,  without  the  help  of  the  other  hand,  overcome 
this  arrest  of  motion,  and  fully  extend  the  thumb.  The 
exteosioD  always  caused  severe  pain,  and  so  great  was  her 
dread  of  this  that  she  would  go  about  with  her  thumb 
flexed  for  hours  rather  than  endure  the  suffering  of  ex- 
tending it.  It  was  also  accompanied  by  a  short,  sharp 
snapping  sound  which  could  be  heard  across  my  office. 
She  located  the  pain  in  the  interphalangeal  joint,  but  on 


*  N.  J.  state  Horn.  Med.  Society. 


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1887  A  Case  of  Trigger  Joint  517 

examination  the  only  point  aensitive  to  pressure  was  the 
metacarpo-phalangeal  articulation. 

The  history  of  the  case  was  as  follows:  She  had  had 
vague  rheumatic  pains  in  her  hands  for  four  or  five  years, 
but  no  severe  or  acute  attack.  Both  hands  were  stiff,  and 
the  flexor  muscles  contracted  so  that  she  could  not  extend 
fully  any  finger  of  either  hand.  She  suffered  great  pain 
at  times,  especially  in  the  fingers  and  palm  of  left  hand. 
There  was  no  other  abnormal  appearance,  neither  did  she 
complain  of  rheumatic  pains  in  any  other  part  of  her  body. 
She  suffered  from  a  dull,  heavy  pain  in  forehead  (over 
eyes)  when  she  awoke  in  the  morning;  this  came  on  daily 
and  usually  disappeared  during  the  forenoon.  Also  from 
a  long  continued  habitual  constipation,  for  which  she  had 
taken  the  usual  list  of  catheu*tics,  with  the  usual  temporary 
relief  and  permanent  injury.  Her  complexion  was  sallow. 
Mentally  she  was  discouraged  and  anxious,  €ls  she  was 
obliged  to  earn  her  living  by  manual  labor,  and  it  was  be- 
cause of  her  inability  to  do  this  that  she  sought  help 
from  me. 

I  left  my  diagnosis  blank,  prescribed  Sulphur  and  for- 
bid  all  lotions,  poultices,  cathartics,  etc,,  etc. 

The  following  week,  reports  less  pain  in  hands.  Consti- 
pation same,  less  headache;  sleeps  much  better.     Placebo^ 

Twelve  days  later:  Less  severe  and  less  frequent  pain  in 
hands.  Complexion  clearer,  and  movement  from  bowels 
every  other  day.     Continued  placebo. 

Two  weeks  later:  Not  improved  since  last  call.  Sulphur. 

Three  weeks  later:  Bowels  more  regular  than  they  have 
been  in  five  years;  headache  gone;  hands  do  not  feel  so 
stiff,  and  can  extend  the  thumb  without  the  aid  of  the 
other  hand;  though  attended  with  pain,  feels  better  every 
way,  and  begins  to  think  that  there  must  be  power  in  the 
sugar  pellets. 

Two  weeks  later:  A  little  more  than  eight  weeks  from 
beginning  of  treatment,  can  extend  thumb  easily  and  with- 
out pain  or  sudden  quick  movement,  and  no  snap  while 
extending.  There  is  tenderness  on  pressure,  but  no  actual 
I)ain.    The  fingers  are  not  entirely  free  from  stiffness,  but 


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518  The  Medical  Advance.  Dea 

she  can  work  without  snfiFeriDg,  earning  her  own  living  by 

performing  all  the  duties  included  in  general  housework. 

Complexion  clear,  headache    gone,  and  no  constipation 

unless  imprudent  in  diet     It  is  now  one  year  since  the 

cure  and  there  has  been  no  return  of  the  symptoms,  and 

when  I  meet  her  she  is  so  anxious  to  give  a  demonstration 

of   the  efficacy  of   sugar  medicine  that  my  hands  ache 

instead  of  hers. 

<»» 

REPORTS  OF  CURES.  FROM  WHICH  WE  LEARN 
NOTHING. 


S.  LILIENTHAL.  M.  D.,  San  Francisco.  Cal. 


1.  Dr.  Hansen,  of  Copenhagen,  reports  a  case  of  ischias, 
where  the  pain  was  diminished  by  continued  motion,  but 
increased  at  the  beginning  of  motion.  After  the  failure  of 
Rhus-tox,  Lycopodium  30  cured  the  patient 

Is  Lycopodium  the  only  drag  which  has  as  a  character- 
istic symptom,  pain  diminished  by  continued  motion, 
though  increased  at  first  when  moving  about?  Do  we  not 
find  the  same  symptom  under  Bhus,  where  Dunham 
teaches,  these  rheumatic  symptoms  come  on  with  severity 
during  repose,  and  increase  as  long  as  the  patient  keeps 
quiet,  until  they  compel  him  to  move.  Now,  on  first  at- 
tempting to  move,  he  finds  himself  very  stiff,  and  the  first 
movement  is  exceedingly  painful.  By  continuing  to  move 
the  stiffness  is  relieved,  but  by  continued  motion  the  par- 
alytic  symptoms  interpose  their  exhausting  protest,  and 
the  patient  enjoys  the  grateful  rest,  till  the  pains  come  on 
again  and  the  patient  is  forced  to  move  again  as  before. 

Slow  and  enfeebled  primary  and  secondary  digestion  is 
the  character  of  Lycopodium,  hence  waterbrash,  heart- 
burn, the  production  of  flatus  in  the  intestines,  stools  thin, 
brown,  liquid,  or  pale  fecal,  mixed  with  hard  lumps ;  con- 
stant sensation  as  if  the  bowels  were  loaded,  with  torpor  of 
bowels.  It  will  be  far  more  indicated  in  chronic  cases  of 
ischias,  with  complete  intermissions.  There  are  no  more 
difficult  cases  of  loose  stools  to  heal  than  where  the  liquid 


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1887  Cures  from  Wiich  we  Learn  Nothing.  619 

drains  off  and  leaves  the  feoal  matter  to  harden  or  by  its 
pressure  on  the  sciatic  plexus  produces  the  sciatica.  Con- 
tinued motion  moves  the  fecal  matter,  and  thus  gives  relief 
for  the  time  being.  Dr.  Hansen  forgets  the  necessity  of 
the  totality  of  symptDms,  and  thus  his  case  loses  its  value. 

2.  Dr.  Glotz,  of  Ulm,  reports  a  case  of  ichthyosis  cornea 
cured  by  Phosphorus  and  Arsenicum  in  alternation.  A 
young  woman  of  23  years,  in  good  health  and  strength  con- 
sulted the  doctor  on  account  of  a  congenital  horny  eruption 
in  the  nasal  region,  upper  lip,  eyelids  and  especially  on  the 
extensor  side  of  the  knees  and  feet  Upper  lip  and  nose 
were  greatly  swollen,  covered  with  thin  whitish  scales,  the 
scales  at  the  margin  of  the  eyelids  were  somewhat  more 
compact.  At  the  extremities  the  scales  were  larger,  rather 
of  a  bluish  color  and  could  be  pulled  out  without  causing 
any  great  pain.  She  took  for  a  whole  month  Arsenicum  and 
Phosphorus  in  alternation,  and  her  face  was  now  free  from 
swelling  and  scales.  Continuation  of  the  same  treatment 
cured  her  entirely.  She  had  been  treated  before  from  other 
physicians  with  Graphites,  Clematis,  Hef>ar,  etc.,  without 
the  least  benefit 

Ichthyosis  consists  in  an  excessive  proliferation  of  the 
cells  of  the  epidermis,  together  with  more  or  less  hyper- 
trophy of  the  papillsB  of  thecorium;  there  is  diminution 
or  total  absence  of  perspiration  from  faulty  development  or 
early  atrophy  of  the  sudoriferous  glands.  Treatment  of 
>  the  old  school  is  merely  palliative,  mostly  hydropathic 
packs,  though  Jaborandi  and  Ustilago  are  put  down  as 
haviug  greatly  ameliorated  such  cases. 

Teste  in  his  Materia  Medica,  p.  257,  groups  togethe 
Silicea,  Calcarea  osfc.  Graphites,  Phosphorus  and  Hepar. 
In  all  these  drugs  we  find  more  or  less  capillary  engorge- 
ment and  diminution  of  the  vital  heat  and  action;  red 
papulous  blotches  on  the  skin,  especially  on  the  sides  of 
the  head,  on  the  face,  on  the  back,  chest,  and  we  see  that 
Graphites  and  Hepar  failed,  while  Phosphorus  and  Arseni- 
cum succeeded.  Kafka  (Hom.  Therapie.  11.  481)  recom- 
mends Phosphorus  internally  and  externally,  as  in  acne  in- 
durata,  as  the  remedy  possessing  the  nearest  physiological 


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520  The  Medical  Advance.  Dee. 

relations  to  indurations  and  hypertrophy  of  the  skin. 
Just  as  Glotz  used  Arsenicum  as  an  adjuvant  to  the  Phos- 
phorus, so  Hughes  in  his  Pharmacodynamics  relates  a  case 
where  Thuja  was  the  adjuvant  to  Phosphorus.  Would  it  not 
b^  well,  as  in  most  cases  we  deal  with  persons  otherwise  in 
good  health,  to  go  a  good  deal  above  the  30th  potency  and 
tincture?  Whether  in  those  nearly  congenital  cases  in 
children  Arsenicum  may  not  sometimes  touch  the  palm, 
cannot  be  denied,  but  Graphites,  Hepar  and  Calcarea  suit 
far  more  cases  of  moist  skin  troubles,  than  where  scales 
prevail  which  can  be  taken  oflf  without  much  eflfori  Tu- 
berculosis  may  follow  the  eradication  of  these  outward 
manifestations,  and  we  are  pleased  to  see  even  in  the  old 
school,  high  authorities  for  constitutional  treatment,  for 
how  could  the  acarus,  bacillus,  or  anything  else  find  en- 
trance, if  the  soil  were  not  ready  to  receive  it  We  owe 
thanks  to  Semmola,  of  Naples,  who  feeu*lessly  attacked  the 
bacillomania. 

Let  us  study  a  case  now  which  shows  how  a  report  ought 
to  be  made.  D^  Mossa  (Hom.  Monatsblatter)  relates :  A 
woman  of  29  years,  sanguine  temperament,  her  face  slightly 
flushed,  complained  for  the  last  five  years,  after  drinking 
some  cold  water  when  overheated,  of  loss  of  appetite,, 
disgust  for  milk,  nausea  after  eating,  vomiting  of  food;  the 
vomited  matter  is  so  acid  that  it  chills  the  teeth.  She  can- 
not digest  anything  sour,  nor  herrings;  meat  or  coflfee  with 
cake  sits  heavy  on  the  stomach.  She  sometimes  vomits  in 
the  morning  on  an  empty  stomach,  but  mostly  after  eating/ 
headache^  a  hammering  in  frontal  and  temporal  region, 
formerly  most  on  the  left,  now  more  on  the  right  side,  of 
such  severity  that  she  fears  an  apoplectic  stroke.  Copious 
menses,  every  three  weeks,  with  sensation  of  pressure  in 
abdomen  and  small  ot  back,  bowels  regular,  sleep  restless^ 
disturbed  by  anxious  dreams,  feels  not  refreshed  in  the 
morning,  anxiety  in  the  evening,  so  that  she  has  to  loosen 
her  clothes,  cannot  bear  anything  tight;  pulse  100.  Never 
had  chlorosis,  and  always  enjoyed  good  health.  In  spite  of 
five  years  ailing  she  is  not  emaciated.  R.  FenH  Phos.  6th 
trii,  thrice  daily  before  meals,  a  small  powder.     In  two- 


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1887  How  to  Get  Rich.  521 

weeks  she  was  a  changed  woman,  considered  herself  well,  but 
for  precaution  sake  she  was  advised  to  take  a  powder  yet  once 
and  a  while.  The  vomiting  of  food  after  eating  and  the  acid 
fermentation  of  the  food  are  characteristic  of  Ferrum  and 
cur33  will  follow  just  as  well  with  a  higher  potency. 

Here  again  we  mast  difiPerentiate  the  preparations  of  iron: 
thus  Ferrum* phos  has  painless  vomiting  of  food;  Ferrum 
aceticum  especially  vomiting  before  midnight,  most  violent 
when  lying  on  one  side,  and  everything  vomited  tastes  sour 
and  acid,  in  fact  all  ferric  preparations  give  us  abdominal 
atony,  a  kind  of  flatulent  dyspepsia  from  fermentation. 
We  must  compare  here  Pulsatilla,  Veratrum  alb.  second 
Kreasote,  Sulphur.     Bobinia  pseudo-acacia  has  also  this 

acid  dyspepsia,  but  it  has  not  the  vomiting  after  food. 

'  <*»  

HOW  TO  GET  RICH. 


[Very  few,  especially  professional  men,  realize  the 
astounding  fact  verified  by  abundant  statistics,  that  over 
90  per  cent,  of  business  and  professional  men — the  exact 
figures  in  England,  France  and  Germany  are  93  or  94  per 
cent,  and  in  America  94  or  95  per  cent — not  only  fail  to 
realize  a  competence,  but  die  insolvent  These  are  hard 
facts;  and  a  life  of  professional  toil  would  seem  to  deserve  a 
better  reward.  The  great  drawback,  however,  is  over-anx- 
iety to  become  wealthy,  and  this  national  passion  leads  the 
professional  man  to  that  certain  goal  of  disappointment  and 
failure,  speculatioru  He  is  not  satisfied  with  the  slow  but 
sure  method— the  natural  method — of  accumulation,  but 
is  induced  to  dabble  in  stocks,  in  mining,  grain,  oil,  "puts 
and  calls,*'  to  invest  in  a  joint  stock  company,  or  some- 
thing else  of  which  he  knows  nothing,  etc.,  etc.;  to  trust 
some  one  to  handle  and  invest  his  money  with  the  usual 
result,  that  he  obtains  the  experience  and  the  other  fellow 
the  money.  Now,  this  plan  proposed  by  General  Butler 
is  just  as  applicable  to  the  doctor  as  the  lawyer;  it  com- 
pels him  to  collect  his  accounts  and  put  his  money  where 
there  is  the  best  chance  of  keeping  it  and  the  least  chance 
of  losing  it.  Try  it  instead  of  searching  for  a  new  loca- 
tion—En.] 


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622  The  Medical  Advance,  Dec 

In  answer  to  a  request  of  the  Boston  Herald  to  write 
some  practical  hints  for  young  men  on  the  acquirement  of 
wealth,  Gen.  Benj.  F.  Butler  responds  as  follows: 

A  difficult  task  is  set  me,  as  circumstances  under  which 
young  men  commence  life  are  so  widely  varied.  But  I 
think  that  more  young  men  fail  in  the  investment  of  what 
they  earn  or  receive,  than  in  any  other  way  to  acquire  pro- 
perty. The  temptations  to  speculate  are  so  great,  and  the 
desire  to  become  suddenly  rich  so  strong,  that  I  believe 
eight  out  of  ten,  if  not  more,  of  young  men  are  wrecked  at 
the  very  beginning. 

If  a  young  man  is  earning  something  more  than  the  ex- 
pense of  his  living,  and  has  no  object  in  view,  he  is  likely 
either  to  increase  those  expenses  carelessly  or  to  loan  his 
money  to  his  friends,  and  in  so  doing  in  the  majority  of 
cases  he  will  lose  both  friends  and  money.  So  that  the 
best  thing  that  he  can  do  is  to  have  an  object,  gather  up 
his  money;  and  to  have  a  call  for  it  which  shall  be  a  profit- 
able one.  He  makes  no  investment  because  he  says,  "  I 
have  got  so  little  money  that  it  won't  come  to  anything.  I 
will  wait  until  I  get  more;"  and  in  waiting,  generally,  what 
he  has  goes. 

When  a  young  man  has  a  very  little  money,  let  him  buy 
some  property,  preferably  a  piece,  however  small,  accord- 
ing to  his  means,  of  improved  real  estate  that  is  paying 
rent  He  had  better  buy  it  when  sold  at  auction,  ander  a 
judicial  sale,  paying  in  cash  what  he  can,  giving  his  notes 
for  the  balance  in  small  sums  coming  due  at  frequently  re- 
curring intervals,  secured  by  a  mortgage  on  the  property, 
and  then  use  all  his  extra  income  in  paying  up  those  notes. 
It  is  always  safe  to  discount  your  own  note,  and  if  the  notes 
come  a  little  too  fast,  as  soon  as  he  gets  anything  paid  his 
friends  will  aid  him  when  he  is  putting  his  money  where 
it  cannot  be  lost,  and  where  the  property  is  taking  care  of 
the  interest,  and  in  a  very  short  time  he  will  find  that  he 
has  got  a  very  considerable  investment  He  will  become 
interested  in  it,  save  his  money  to  meet  his  notes,  and  he 
will  directly  come  into  a  considerable  possession  of  proper- 
ty,  and  hardly  know  how  it  came  to  him.    That  is,  he  will 


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1887  How  to  Get  Rich.  523 

have  had  a  motive  for  saving,  and  will  get  the  result  of  that 
saving,  and  will  not  be  tempted  to  enter  into  speculations. 
Nothing  is  so  safe  for  an  investment  as  improved  real 
estate.  Nothing  is  likely  to  grow  in  value  faster.  In  the 
last  fifty  years  ninety  per  cent  of  all  the  merchants  and 
traders  in  Boston  have  failed.  In  the  last  fifty  years  ninety 
per  cent  of  all  the  business  corporations  have  failed  or 
gone  out  of  business,  so  that  their  stock  has  been  wiped 
out  In  the  last  fifty  years  all  the  improved  real  estate  on 
the  average  has  paid  its  interest  and  taxes  and  quadrupled 
in  value.  If  a  young  man's  father  can  give  him  anything 
to  start  him  in  the  world,  he  had  better  invest  it  in  that 
way  and  let  it  accumulate  and  earn  his  living,  and  he  will 
be  richer  than  if  he  had  gone  into  business.  Jay  Gould  is 
said  to  have  started  from  a  mouse  trap  seller  to  become  a 
millionaire.  Assuming  that  to  be  true,  he  is  only  one  of 
60,000,000  of  people;  and  if  any  young  man  thinks  that  he 
is  going  to  imitate  Jay  Gould,  there  are  60,000,000  chances 
to  one  that  he  won't  succeed. 

The  rule  I  would  lay  down  for  a  young  man  is,  never  do 
a  mean  thing  for  money.  Be  prudent  and  saving  of  your 
money.  Be  careful  not  to  have  an  interest  account  running 
against  you,  unless  you  have  an  equal  or  greater  interest 
account  running  in  your  favor.  Work  diligently,  and  you 
are  sure  of  a  competency  in  your  old  age;  and  as  early  as 
possible,  if  you  can,  find  a  saving,  prudent  girl  who  has 
been  brought  up  by  a  mother  who  knows  how  to  take  care 
of  a  house,  and  make  a  wife  of  her.  She  will  aid,  and  not 
hinder  you. 

I  claim  no  originality  in  this  advice,  and  will  relate  you 
an  incident  in  my  own  experience  to  illustrate  it:  In  my 
earliest  practice  in  my  profession  I  was  quite  successful  in 
earning  money,  and  I  had  a  small  balance  in  the  Lowell 
Bank,  at  the  head  of  which  was  Mr.  James  G.  Carney.  The 
bank  was  directly  across  the  hall  from  my  officeu  I  stepped 
into  the  bank  to  deposit  a  little  money  on  one  occasion,  and 
Mr.  Carney  said  to  me:  "Why  don't  you  invest  your 
money?"  "Invest,"  said  I;  "I  have  nothing  to  invest" 
"Oh,  yes,"  he  says;  "you  have  quite  a  little  sum  of  money. 


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524  The  Medical  Advance.  Dec. 

and  I  see  that  your  young  friends  corae  with  your  checks 
occasionally,  evidently  borrowing  it.  Now  you  had  better 
invest  it."  "  How  can  I  invest  it?"  "  Invest  it  in  real  es- 
tate." " I  know  nothing  about  real  estate."  "Go  to  the 
first  auction  and  buy  the  property.  You  cannot  be  much 
cheated  in  that,  because  you  will  have  to  give  very  little 
more  than  somebody  else  will  be  willing  to  pay  for  it. 
Give  your  notes  for  it,  save  your  money,  collect  your  fees, 
pay  your  notes  as  they  become  due.  See  that  the  property 
is  improved  property,  so  that  the  rent  will  keep  down  your 
interest  account,  and  when  you  get  any  other  money,  invest 
it  in  the  same  way,  and  if  your  notes  press  upon  you  a 
little  faster  than  you  can  pay  them,  why  we  will,  when  we 
find  that  is  what  you  are  doing  with  your  money,  discount 
your  note  and  give  you  a  little  more  time,  so  that  you  can 
pay  it  up.  This  will  necessitate  the  prompt  collection  of 
your  bills,  for  I  know  that  you  would  rather  work  and  earn 
a  hundred  dollars  than  dun  a  man  for  it,  unless  you  have 
a  pressing  need  for  it.  Tou  have  not  even  asked  for  a  little 
bill  that  we  owe  you  in  the  bank,  which  shows  me  that  you 
do  not  promptly  collect  your  dues."  I  followed  the  advice 
and  bought  a  number  of  pieces  of  property  in  that  manner, 
and  I  never  did  exactly  know  how  they  were  paid  for,  but 
they  were,  and  in  a  few  years  I  owned  some  twenty  differ- 
ent pieces  of  property  in  Lowell  that  came  to  me  in  that 
way.  I  can  only  say  that  I  wish  I  had  been  wise  enough 
to  have  continued  this  course  through  life. 

I  do  not  think  that  I  need  to  extend  these  sugges- 
tions any  further,  because  if  a  young  man  won't  mind 
these,  he  won't  any  others,  and  I  cannot  suggest  any 
better  ones. 

I  am,  yours  truly, 

Benjamin  F.  Butueb. 


As  physicians,  as  healers  of  the  sick,  we  seldom  im- 
prove when  we  have  no  other  models  than  ourselves  after 
whom  to  copy.  Why  not  follow  Hahnemann,  that  master 
of  therapeutics,  instead  of  allopathic  journals  and  text- 
books. 


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1887  Prolapsus  Recti.  525 

PROLAPSUS  RECTI. 


Editor  Advance, — In  answer  to  the  inquiry  by  C.  8. 
Durond,  M.  D. :  "  What  is  the  remedy "  for  his  case  of 
prolapsus  recti  ?  I  must  say  that  Podophyllum  has  been 
the  remedy  par  excellence,  in  my  hands,  and  has  produced 
some  wonderful  cures  that  have  delighted  me  as  well  as 
many  of  my  patients.  I  will  give  one  case  in  particular 
that  I  remember  with  great  satisfaction  and  pleasure. 
There  lives  in  the  village  of  Mi  Pleasant,  Hamilton  county, 
Ohio,  a  family  of  German  parentage,  by  the  name  of  Wer- 
ner. About  ten  yebrs  ago  I  was  called  to  attend  one  of  the 
children  for  some  slight  ailment  When  I  entered  the 
house  I  noticed  one  of  the  other  children  sitting  ''astride'* 
a  chair,  with  her  hands  clasped  on  the  top  piece  of  the 
back  of  the  chair.  After  preparing  the  medicine  in  the 
adjoining  room  for  the  little  one  I  was  called  to  see,  I 
again  passed  through  the  sitting  room,  when  I  saw  the  lit- 
tle girl  about  five  years  old,  still  sitting  in  the  same  posi- 
tion. I  now  noticed  that  she  was  hohling  on  to  the  top  of 
the  chair  with  a  tight  grasp,  as  if  to  support  a  part  of  her 
weight  from  the  seat  of  the  chair.  I  asked  the  mother 
what  was  the  matter  with  this  child  ?  "  Oh  I  doctor,"  she 
replied,  "the  condition  of  that  child  is  nearly  breaking  my 
own  and  my  husband's  hearts ; "  that  she  had  prolapsus  of 
the  rectum  ;  that  there  had  been  two  physicians  attending 
her  ;  that  they  had  done  everything  for  her,  and  that  they 
had,  after  months  of  treatment,  told  her  that  she  could  not 
be  cured — that  possibly  in  time  she  might  outgrow  it  I 
found,  on  further  inquiry,  that  what  they  had  done  for  her 
was  altogether  local;  and  the  case  which  at  first  prolapsed 
only  during  stool,  or  rather  at  the  time  of  stool,  had  now 
been  permitted  to  remain  protruding  for  days  together, 
because  it  u)Ould  protrude  as  fast  as  replaced.  The  child  ' 
was  in  a  truly  deplorable  condition.  The  tumor-like  pro- 
trusion was  as  large  as  an  ordinary  inkstand.  I  said,  after 
examination,  ''  I  believe  I  can  cure  this  child.*'  Obtaining 
permission,  I  prepared  six  powders  of  about  two  grains 
each  of  Podophyllum  3x,  and  told  her  to  give  the  child  one 

H* 


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626  The  Medical  Advance.  Dec. 

every  day,  and  instructed  her  to  return  the  rectum  as  sbe 
had  done  before,  and  which  I  did  with  considerable  diffi- 
culty before  I  left  the  house.  In  three  days  Ihat  child  was 
well  The  prplapsus  occurred  but  three  or  four  times  after 
taking  the  first  powder,  and  only  three  powders  were  ad- 
ministered. I  report  this  because  a  severe  case  and  as  a 
true  homoeopathic  cure.  She  has  never  had  a  return  of 
the  trouble. 

Dunham  says,  Vol.  IL,  page  241:  "This  (the  Podophyl- 
lum) prolapsus  is  to  be  distinguished  from  that  of  Carbo 
veg.  Ignatia,  and  Hamamelis  ;  that  it  occurs  before  the 
evacuations,  and  not  after."  In  this  case,  it  appears  to 
have  occurred  before,  during  and  after,  Hale's  Symptom- 
otology  :  "  Prolapsus  at  every  evacuation."  I  must  say 
I  have  treated  many  such  cases  in  children,  and  Podophyl- 
lum cured  them  all.  I  do  not  say  it  will  cure  all,  but  it  has 
cured  all  that  I  have  treated,  and  the  number  has  not  been 
few.     We  hope  it  may  cure  Freddy  O.  J.  Febbis. 

College  Hill,  O. 

Editor  Advance, — Please  tell  Dr.  C.  S.  Durand  to  give 
his  case  of  prolapsus  recti  Ignatia  cc,  one  dose  at  bed  time 
till  better  ;  then  omit  till  worse.  E.  H.  Peck. 

Clrvblano,  O. 

[If  the  doctors  would  carefully  study  the  symptoms  of 
the  case  as  given  by  Dr.  Durand,  they  would  see  they 
had  a  train  of  symptoms  with  which  to  deal  not  found 
under  Ignatia  or  Podophyllum,  although  both  remedies 
have  made  excellent  records  in  the  treatment  of  this  a£Fec- 
tion.  This  patient  not  the  prolapsus  must  be  treated  if  a 
permanent  cure  is  made. — Ed.] 

♦ 

CANCER  OF  THE  TONGUE.— KALI  CYANATE. 
E.  T.  ADAMS.  M.  D.,  Toronto.  ODtario. 


J.  S.,  aet  58,  hard  case  and  thoroughly  whiskey  soaked; 
had  been  under  treatment  of  many  old  school  physicians, 
latterly  under  a  well-known  surgeon,  and  each  diagnosed 
cancerous  ulcer;  prognosis,  death.     The  description  of  the 


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1887  Cancer  of  the  Tongue.  527 

case  of  cancer  of  the  tongue  in  the  November  issue,  by 
Dr.  Tyrrell,  exactly  gives  his  condition— a  deep  ulcer  in 
right  side  of  tongue,  in  which  the  first  joint  of  a  man's 
thumb  might  be  laid. 

Could  not  take  solid  food,  and  only  with  great  pain, 
liquid;  was  so  weak  he  could  scarcely  move  from  his  bed. 
Under  the  Cyanate  he  improved  quickly,  so  much  so,  that 
this  eminent  surgeon  gave  hope  of  recovery,  not  knowing 
a  heretical  Homoeopath  was  attending  him.  In  about 
eight  days  was  so  much  stronger  he  could  go  for  a  long 
walk  before  6  a.  M.;  the  last  I  saw  of  him  he  was  eating 
dry  bread  and  boiled  beef,  with  comparative  ease  and  com- 
fori  This  good  surgeon,  this  "  humane  aggressor,"  res- 
cued him  from  the  heretics,  and  working  upon  his  ignor- 
ance and  fears,  gained  his  unwilling  consent  to  have  the 
tongue  removed.  This  was  done  at  once  and  he  lived  only 
about  seventeen  days,  dying  in  great  agony;  so  much  for 
"scientific"  treatment 

The  Cyanate  of  potassa  deserved  all  the  credit  for  im- 
provement in  this  case,  and  I  am  morally  sure  it  would 
have  cured  if  left  alone. 

Dr.  J.  D.  Tyrell  ^dds:  One  lady  we  know  of  is  so  sen- 
sitive that  any  dose  either  aggravates  her  condition,  or 
reproduces  the  chronic  sore  throat  Tbere  is  no  getting 
away  from  the  truth  of  these  facts  and  it  behooves  us  to 
prove  this  drug  and  verify  the  pathogenesis.  Kali  hydro- 
cyauate  or  more  properly  Cyanate,  must  not  be  confounded 
with  the  familliar  Cyanide,  as  it  differs  from  it  both  chem- 
ically, physically  ami  therapeutically — the  chemical  form- 
ula for  cyanide  K  C  N,  all  know,  while  the  Cyanate  is 
KCNO. 

[This  drug  deserves  a  careful  proving,  not  to  produce 
cancer  of  the  tongue,  because  drugs  do  not  produce  dis- 
eases, bat  t)  obbain  the  subjective  and  objective  pheno- 
mena by  which  we  may  successfully  prescribe  it  in  the 
treatment  of  our  patients.  Dr.  J.  D.  Tyrrell,  Toronto^ 
Ontario,  will  be  glad  to  furnish  the  remedy  for  proving  in 
any  potency  required.  Let  us  have  another  valuable  drug 
added  to  our  armamentarium. — ^Ed.] 


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528  The  Medical  Advance.  Dea 

SOME  MODERN  MEDICAL  "SCIENCE."* 


''What's  in  a  name?"  Sometimes  nothing  and  some- 
times all,  for  a  name  may  be  a  wing  or  a  weight.  Oar 
author  is  fortunate  in  his  patronymic,  as  Prosopalgia 
Fothergillii  testifieth.  Of  that  blood  and  that  Quaker 
ancjestry  is  J.  Milner  Fcthergill,  and  the  Fothergill  of  the 
Eighteenth  century  is  not  disgraced  by  the  scion  of  the 
Nineteenth. 

The  present  writer  first  learned  of  the  industrious  au- 
thor under  notice  some  fifteen  years  ago,  and  from  a  vol- 
ume that  has  ever  since  remained  a  favorite.  Between 
then  and  now  Dr.  F.  has  published  ten  different  works,  and 
that  fact,  we  are  free  to  avow,  led  us  to  regard  him  with 
the  unfavorable  suspicion  of  his  being  a  book-maker  from 
malice  prepense.  Your  true  book  is  made  as  a  hen  lays 
an  egg:  because  she  has  something  in  her  that  by  Nature's 
law  must  come  out — she  can't  be  easy  until  she  is  rid  of  it 
Of  course  we  have  writers  who  attempt  the  hen  act,  who 
are  uneasy  until  they  have  gotten  something  out;  but  there 
be  certain  preliminaries  to  an  honest  egg  without  which  it 
<»n  only  addle,  and  of  these  your  mere,  writer  is  incapable. 
Hence,  as  we  devoutly  believe,  the  innumerable  books  that 
are  only  so  many  Sebastopal  stinkpots— an  offense  to  both 
God  and  man.  That  is  not  impiouis:  a  fraudulent  book  is 
a  Lie^  and  that  is  an  offense  to  God,  and  to  man  so  long  as 
his  face  is  turned  Godwards.  Will  mere  book-makers 
^ake  a  note  of  that,  for  it  is  a  fact  of  singular  salubrity  to 
.the  soul  if  well  pondered.  We  now  plead  with  certain 
•''editors  "  to  note  this  fact,  for  we  know  one  "editor  "  of  a 
voluminous  work  who  once  treated  a  case  of  interstitial 
pneumonia  for  intermittent  fever,  and  who  told  the  victim 
of  a  chronic  pyelitis  that  the  pus  in  his  urine  came  from 
the  supra-renal  capsules!  Methinks  such  an  "editor" 
should  sit  in  sack  cloth  and  ashes,  and  not  imagine  that 
justice  is  blind  because  her  eyes  are  bandaged. 

Dr.  Fothergill's  fecundity  also  led  us  to  suspect  him  of 

•  Vaso-Rrnal  Change  vermis  Bright's  Disease.    By  J.  Milner  FothergUU 
M.  D.    New  York:  G.  P.  Putnam's  jJous.  1887. 


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1887  Some  Mpdem  Medical  ''Science^  529 

endeavoring  to  write  himself  into  practice.  That  can  be 
done — for  to  very  many  an  egg  is  an  egg  to  all  appearance, 
just  as  printed  paper  and  pasteboard  is  a  book  to  all  ap- 
pearance; and  to  such  folk  as  use  only  the  cerebellum  ap- 
pearances are  everything.  To  some  physicians  such  pa- 
tients are  the  patrons  desired,  for  it  is  only  child's  play  to 
convince  them  that  pyuria  is  a  semeion  of  supra-renal- 
capsule  suppuration.  Happy  physicians  whose  "practice" 
combines  both  profit  and  pleasure! 

Perhaps,  however,  in  so  large  a  city  as  London,  and  un- 
der the  pressure  of  so  intense  a  competition,  a  man  of  Dr. 
Fothergill's  calibre  and  attainments  is  justified  in  making 
known  his  qualifications,  natural  and  acquired,  by  recourse 
to  authorship.  At  all  events,  in  so  capable  a  man  we  can 
easily  extenuate  such  book-making  as  may  be  traced  to 
him.  Nor  do  we  wholly  condemn  him  for  writing  a  book 
with  one  eye  on  the  profession  and  the  other  on  the  patient 
— there  be  many  less'  venial  sins  than  this. 

Equally  condonable  is  Dr.  Fothergill's  style  if  one  will 
study  it  long  enough.  At  first  it  may  be  mistaken  for 
affectation  because  it  is,  at  times,  almost  dramatic.  It  has 
a  novelty  of  phrase  and  figure  that  suggests  a  greater 
knowledge  of  rhetoric  than  an  intimate  acquaintance  with 
research;  but  if  the  casual  reader  is  thus  impressed  he  has 
only  to  follow  Dr.  F.  through  his  various  volumes  to  be 
undeceived.  His  style  is  the  voice  of  him,  and  is  a  gift 
for  which  his  reader  may  well  be  grateful.  It  is  also  gen- 
ius, and  we  are  confident  that  Dr.  F.  can  sit  beside  dear 
Dr.  John  Brown  of  Edinburgh  (that  was,  Eheuf)  if  he  will 
only  turn  for  a  time  to  pure  letters.  It  is  indeed  startling 
to  find  in  a  staid  medical  treatise  such  a  sentence  as  the 
following,  which  is  used  in  describing  the  typical  child  of 
this  high-pressure  age: 

"  Compared  to  other  children,  she  is  a  harebell  in  an 
onion  bed."    P.  191. 

Such  touches  are  by  no  means  infrequent  with  Dr* 
Fothergill,  and  fortunately  they  do  not  smell  of  the  lamp; 
they  have  a  spontaneity  inhering  that  shows  them  to  have 
leapt  unbidden  from  his  pen,  and  they  also  prove  that  the 


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680  The  Medical  Advance.  Dec 

author's  ZeAr/aAre  included  the  felicities  •£  a  rural  practice: 
that  best  of  all  initiations  for  a  physician. 

With  matter  of  fact  men  so  poetic  a  diction  may  lead 
them  to  condemn  unheard  the  one  who  indulges  therein; 
to  those  who  read  between  the  lines  the  two  characteristics 
of  our  author^s  style — vivacity  and  alertness — will  be  recog- 
nized as  grained  in  the  nature  of  the  man.  Couple  with 
such  a  style  a  wide  reading  in  helle  letres  (of  which  Dr. 
F'a  pagfes  give  ample  evidence)  and  one  can  see  in  the  for- 
tunate possessor  those  qualifications  that  gave  old  Sam 
Johnson  "a  peculiar  pleasure  in  the  company  of  physi- 
cians." 

Because  Dr.  Fothergill  most  certainly  has  violated  the 
traditions  concerning  the  siyle  medical  we  have  thus  far 
written  in  the  hope  of  reconciling  certain  precisians  who 
might  ignore  him  to  their  loss:  turn  we  then  from  his  man- 
ner to  his  matter. 

An  observant  reader  will  perforce  \)e  struck  by  the  title 
of  Dr.  F's.  last  volume,  "Vaso-Renal  Change  versus 
Bright's  Disease."  That  "  versus  "  is  full  of  meaning:  it 
and  the  opening  sentence,  *  So  long  as  a  disease  carries  a 
man's  name  it  show^  we  know  little  about  it,'  strike  the 
key-note  of  the  whole  treatise.*  It  denotes  an  endeavor  to 
put  the  concrete  in  the  place  of  the  abstract  in  our  concep- 
tion of  Morhus  Brightii,  That  the  author  has  succeeded 
is  not  clear  to  us.  We  are  better  satisfied  with  Stewart's 
more  inclusive  name,  Bright's  Diseases:  Ihat  recognizes 
three  pathological  conditions  having  dropsy  dependent 
upon  renal  change  and  therefore  including  Bichard  Bright's 
discovery.  True,  Fothergill  discerns  the  "necessity  for 
some  other  term  than  *  Bright's  Disease '  in  the  present 
state  of  our  knowledge,"  bat,  that  **vaso-renal  change  "fills 
the  demand  is  not  proven.  This  term  applied  to  the  con- 
tracting kidney  is  justified  to  a  degree  by  the  changes  found 
in  the  conducting  circulatory  apparatus,  but  is  most  "lame 
and  impotent"  when  used  concerning  the  lardaceous  and 
the  amyloid  degeneration.  In  defining  this  "vaso-renal 
change"  Dr.  F.  adds  nothing  to  our  knowledge  of  the  ex- 
isting morphological  di£Ferentia;  all  that  he  finds  has  been 


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1887  Some  Modem  Medical  '*Seience."  531 

found  before.  He  spends  his  strength  in  the  endeavor  to 
find  and  define  the  cansative  materies  morbid  and  this  he 
holds  is  uric  acid.  In  other  words  the  substratnm  on  which 
the  whole  pathological  strnctnre  rests  is  gont. 

Having  broached  his  hypothesis,  he  at  once  with  most 
commendable  frankness  tnrusover  his  ''Depurative  Theory'* 
to  Dr.  F.  W.  Mott  for  criticism.  That  theory  is,  in  brief: 
Gout  loads  the  blood  with  uric  acid;  this  the  kidneys, 
chiefly,  attempt  to  eliminate,  and  the  long-continued  depura- 
tive  effort  ruins  these  organs  besides  inducing  other  con- 
secutive, or  dependent,  tissue  changes.  The  stress  of  Dr. 
Mott's  most  scholarly  criticism  falls  upon  this  postulate: 
'Hhe  uric  acid  accumulation  in  the  blood  stimulates  the 
vaso-motor  centre,  thus  raising  the  general  blood-pressure, 
and  causing  an  increased  flow  of  urine." 

It  will  be  apparent  to  the  reader  that  Dr.  Mott  ap- 
proaches the  subject  from  the  side  of  the  laboratory  while 
Dr.  Fothergill  views  it  in  its  clinical  aspects.  If,  and  it  is 
a  large  //,  the  physiological  laboratory  were  indeed  an  in- 
fallible tribunal  having  no  "reversal,  with  costs,"  then 
must  it  be  admitted  that  Dr.  Mott's  criticism  has  given  ihia 
"Depurative  Theory"  the  coup  de  grace.  Dr.  F.  listens 
most  politely  to  the  adverse  finding,  and  complacently  turns 
with  a  smile  of  unruffled  confidence  to  the  clinical  evidence 
as  he  reads  it 

Having  a  high  regard  for  the  physiological  laboratory 
and  also  a  knowledge  of  the  mare's-nests  so  often  dis- 
covered therein,  we  are  free  to  own  that  in  the  case  of 
Laboratory  versus  Bedside  we  stand  with  Dr.  F. 

Bat  laboratory  or  bedside,  we  must  dissent  when  asked 
to  accept  the  following  as  ''the  present  position  of  our 
knowledge": 

"A  waste-laden  condition  of  the  blood  causes  contraction 
of  the  arterioles,  producing  high  arterial  tension.  This  in 
turn,  leads  to  enlargement  of  the  left  ventricle.  The  stis- 
tained  high  arterial  tension  sets  up  atheromatous  change 
in  the  arterial  wall;  and  from  this  spring  a  number  of  mala- 
dies."    P.  7. 

The  italics  are  ours  and  they  denote  the  ground  of  our 


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632  The  Medical  Advance.  Dec. 

dissent  Does  "  sustained  high  arterial  tention  "  have  such 
an  effect?  It  certainly  is  not  proven,  and  physiological 
analogy  is  against  it — a  blacksmith's  biceps  does  not  athero- 
matise;  but  that  is  not  sustained  tension.  Well,  an  over- 
worked heart  from  aortic  stenosis  is  an  example  of  stis- 
iained  tension:  is  atheroma  a  constant  factor  in  such  cases? 
Here  we  see  the  curse  of  the  laboratory  blinding  the  clin- 
ician. It  is  the  outcome  of  the  mechanical  philosophy  of 
to-day:  as  if  the  organism  were  only  an  apparatus  of  levers, 
springs,  and  wheels! 

Having  wisely  began  as  an  humoi-alist  Dr.  F.  flies  in  the 
face  of  his  own  denominated  materies  morbi,  uric  acid, 
when  by  a  summersault  he  becomes  a  solidist 

To  the  supreme  question  what  can  you  do  for  the  victim 
of  "vaso-motor  change"  Dr.  F.  can  say  only:  avoid  albu- 
minoids and  put  your  trust  in  the  potash  salts  or  the  car- 
bonate of  lithia:  the  one  is  the  great  source  of  the  uric  a^id 
poison,  and  the  others  are  its  best  solvents. 

This  is  indeed  a  brief  statement  (for  we  hope  our  many 
readers  will  study  the  whole  work),  but  we  sincerely  trust 
that  even  in  our  brevity  we  have  done  Dr.  Fothergill  no 
injustice.  We  turn,  then,  from  him  and  his  to  those  of 
of  our  own  therapeutic  faith. 

First,  then,  we  desire  most  gratefully  to  acknowledge  the 
benefit  we  have  derived  from  this  book  :  it  has  been  to  us 
the  most  suggestive  volume  that  we  have  read  in  years ;  it 
has  instructed,  and  (more  blessed  function  !)  it  has  educed. 

Secondly,  this  fruit-bearing  book  has  come  to  us  when 
we  are  past  our  meridian,  when  our  shadow  grows  longer 
behind  us,  and  the  twilight  deepens,  and  the  night  wherein 
no  man  can  work  steals  on,  and  the  dimming  eyes  can  see 
in  the  school  that  on(3  has  served  through  one's  working 
life  only  a  deepening  "eclipse  of  faith;"  yet  from  this 
book  come  the  assurances  that  all  which  we  have  held 
truest  in  Medicine  is  founded  on  eternal  truth  and  fixed  as 
the  fiat  of  Omnipotence. 

[The  mock-modest  "we"  of  editors  and  reviewers  entails 
tedious  circumlocutions ;  allow  me,  then,  to  avail  myself 
of  the  directness  of  the  first  personal  pronoun]. 


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1887  Some  Modem  Medical  "Science"  533 

Be  patient,  then,  while  I  give  account  for  the  faith  that 
is  in  me ;  a  faith  hallowed  by  the  precious  memory  of  men 
who  had  not  mine  infirmities. 

In  Dr.  Fothergill  I  recognize  one  of  the  ablest  products 
of  a  school  of  medicine  that  is  the  antagonist  of  my  own. 
I  honor  his  broad  culture,  his  sagacity,  his  keen  observa- 
tion, his  insight :  in  theiapeutic  puissance  I  pity  his  im- 
potence. And  not  only  that,  for  in  pathology  proper  I 
deem  him  unworthy  to  bni&h  the  dust  from  Samuel  Hah- 
nemann's shoes.  Crowned  with  the  culture  of  time-hon- 
ored univerities  and  richly-endowed  laboratories,  in  which 
I  should  receive  only  scorn  and  contumely,  he  finds  in 
"  Vaso-Benal.  Change  "  gout  for  the  substratum.  To  him 
gout  is  a  consequence  of  over-indulgence  in  albuminoids 
(flesh  eating),  and  hydro-carbons  (liquors).  The  Esqui- 
maux live  on  albuminoids  and  hydro- carbons,  and  to  them 
gout  is  unknown.  They  breathe  a  highly  ozonised  air,  and 
consequently  fully  oxijdise  foods  that  are  pernicious  in 
vegetable-producing  zones.  Therefore  incomplete  oxyida- 
tion  is  one  factor  in  Dr.  Fothergill's  "  Vaso-Eenal  Change." 
So  much  for  a  favorable  zone  ;  and,  begging  pardon  from 
all  Darwinians,  perbaps  the  God  who  made  the  Esquimaux 
adopted  their  air  to  their  food.  I  am  "  unscientific  "  enough 
to  believe  this,  and  uncultured  to  that  degree  to  be  not 
ashamed  of  my  belief. 

Turning  to  the  temperate  zone,  I  learn  from  history  that 
the  Germans  whom  Caesar's  legions  met  were  notedly  car- 
niverous,  and  the  moat  devoted  disciples  of  Gambrinus. 
They  did  not  perish  from  Brighfs  Disease,  as  they  should 
have  done  in  difference  to  "Science."  Every  English 
squire,  beef-fed  and  beer-soaked,  does  not  succumb  to  gout 
and  vaso-renal  change.  Therefore,  the  air  of  a  temperate 
zone  is  not  ecp-necessilate  a  factor  in  vaso-renal  change. 

Evidently,  then,  something  more  than  albuminoids  and 
hydro-carbons  is  essential  for  the  production  of  this  vaso- 
renal  change,  and  the  victims  of  this  change  must  be  sub- 
oxidants— GrauvogPs  "  carbo-nitrogenoid  constHniion.** 

This  factor  Dr.  Fothergill  has  overlooked,  and  yet  his 
gout  and  his  uric  acid  are  consequents  of  an  antecedent 


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534  The  Medical  Advance,  Deo. 

cause.  His  laboratory  teachers  will  tell  him  that  uric  acid 
is  a  c-ousequence  of  sub-oxidation  ;  bat  why  the  sab-oxi- 
dation? Dr.  F.  says  becaase  of  the  gout.  But  sub-oxida- 
tion is  also  the  cause  of  spinal  sclerosis,  which  never  is 
found  in  any  other  than  a  "  carbo-nitrogenoid  constitution/' 
and  spinal  sclerosis  is  not  gout. 

According  to  Dr.  Fothergiil's  cirrhosis  (connective  tissue 
hypertrophy)  is  the  morphological  factor  in  the  contracted 
kiduey.  We  finti  this  factor  also  in  spinal  sclerosis,  in 
hobuail  liver,  in  interstitial  pneumonia,  and  in  the  various 
^'fibroid"  growths.  What  is  there  in  sub-oxidation  to  de- 
termine these  differences  of  location  for  the  connective 
tissue  hypertrophy?  The  "Science"  of  Dr.  Fothergiil's 
school  is  dumb  ;  but  Hahnemann's  despised  Psoric  Theory 
has  a  voice  and  a  meaning.  Psora,  Syphilis,  and  Sycosis — 
has  Virchow's  vision  pierced  the  darkness  as  far  as  that  ? 
Not  yet :  he  must  sit  below  the  son  of  the  porcelain  painter 
of  Meissen.  So  much  for  the  insight  of  Samuel  Hahne- 
mann as  a  medical  philosopher. 

Take  up  the  first  volume  of  Hahnemann's  Chronische 
Krankheiten,  O  weak-kneed  Homoeopath  who  fain  wouldst 
sell  thy  birthright  for  the  miserable  "  mess  of  pottage"  of 
allopathic  patronizing;  learn  the  dimensions  of  thine  in- 
heritance, and  spurn  the  seducing  flesh-pots  of  Egypt. 

To  Dr.  Fothergill  the  uric  acid  of  sub-oxidation  is  the 
materics  morbi  of  taso-renal  change^  and  the  grand  aim 
and  end  of  his  therepeutics  is  to  with  bold  the  supply  of 
nitrogeneous  material  from  the  food-source,  and  to  "dis- 
solve" that  which  is  already  dissolved  in  the  living  blood.* 
And  this  is  "  Scientific  Medicine"  in  the  Nineteenth  Cen- 
tury !  This  the  "  fellowship  "  for  which  some  homoeopathic 
physicians  yearn  ! 

To-day  "the  totality  of  the  symptoms"  method  in  pre- 


*  Has  Dr.  FotliergUl  foi^ottcn  the  sound  teaching  of  Hnssall.  concerning  '*  the 
«blef  solvent  remeilles  employed  In  tliA  treatment  of  uric  ucid  deposits?  " 

••  ll'e  mtust  never,  however  Imc  HifflU  of  the  fact,  that  these  remedies  not  go  to  the 
root  of  tlic  mischief,  but  are  merely  paUtative.**  The  Ukixb  ik  Health  and 
Disease,  p.  94. 2d  edition,  London.  1863. 

The  italics  are  Dr.  HusselVs,  und.be  It  known  to  all  **adjuvantic"  HonioBopaths, 
they  are  now  twenty-four  years  old  ! 


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1887  Some  Modem  Medical  "Science^  535 

scribing  is  despised  and  rejected  by  the  quasi  "  scientific  " 
homoeepathic^  physicians  whose  beau  ideal  of  a  Materia 
Medlca  is  an  emascula  Cyolop(EDIA.  Such  recalcitrants 
will  doubtless  withhold  albuminoids,  and  administer  potash 
salts  or  carbonate  of  lithia  in  granular  kidney,  and  the  un- 
dertaker will  greet  them  with  the  same  sweet  smile.  O  ye 
of  little  faith  (and  less  sense),  was  ever  in  thisGod*s  earth 
a  consequence^  a  cause  t  Tell  me,  is  there  under  Heaven 
any  other  clue  to  the  curative  action  of  any  agent  than  the 
action  thereof  in  corpore  sano  f  You  know  there  is  not, 
or  if  you  do  not,  in  your  heart  know  it  you  should  drop  the 
name  Homoeopath.  But  you  are  beguiled  by  the  pseudo- 
scientific  twaddle  about  the  ''physiological  action"  of  a  drug 
concerning  which  such  pitiful  petty-larcenists  as  a  Brun- 
ton  make  such  an  ado.  Have  you  read  Dr.  Dudgeon's 
public  exposure  of  this  respectable  thief  ;  have  you  noted 
how  he  was  nailed  like  an  unclean  bird  to  a  barn  door ; 
have, you  asked  your  most  worthy  self — "If  this  much 
vaunted  *  physiological  action '  of  a  drug  is  the  great  desid- 
eratum, the  ne  plus  ultra  ot  therapeutics,  why  in  the  name 
of  common  decency  should  T.  Lander  Brunlon,  M.  D.,  F. 
R.  S.,  knock  the  eighth  commandment  into  splinters?" 
Have  you  ever-  tried  to  imagine  how  many  centuries  in  ad- 
vance of  all  pathology  is  Hahnemann's  "  totality  "  method 
of  prescribing  ?  If  you  have  failed  in  applying  that 
method,  have  you  ever  dreamed  that  the  sole  fault  may  be  in 
the  cranial  contents  of  the  skull  of  even  your  mother's  son? 
Let  me  close  with  "  an  owre  true  tale."  A  homoeopathic 
physician  was  once  treating  an  occult  case  of  disease  that 
baffled  his  best  endeavors.  At  last  his  patient  said  him,  if 
you  will  only  relieve  me  of  the  pain  in  my  heel  I  will  bear 
the  rest  The  pain  in  the  heel  was  as  if  she  were  stepping 
on  a  pebble  in  her  shoe.  This  "symptom  "  that  physician 
sought  for,  and  found  in  Lycopodium.  (See  the  Symp- 
tomen  Cadex*)  He  was  astonished  to  find  that  all  her 
other  symptoms  were  "covered"  by  Lycopodium.     That 

♦  Fide  SvMPTOMRjf  CODRX,  Vol.  II.  p.  127  ;'also  Allen*8  •' Encyclopkdt a," 
Vol  VI.  p.  62— Symptom  24(2.  As  this  particular  symptom  is  one  of  Hahnemmui's* 
and  as  he  proved  Lycopodium  in  potencies  that  certain  homoeopathic  **  scientists;" 


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636  The  Medical  Advance.  Dec^ 

remedy  was  given,  and  away  went  the  pebble  in  the  shoe 
and  the  rest  of  her  ailing.  That  physician  is  long  since 
dead,  but  never  did  he  know  that  the  pain  in  the  heel  was 
a  manifestation  of  gout  He  could  have  learned  that  from 
FothergilPs  book  on  "  Vaso-Renal  Change,"  but  he  didn't 
tarry  here  to  read  God's  truth  at  second-hand. 

Now  recollect  that  practically  gout  is  a  surplus  of  uric 
acid  in  the  blood,  and  recollecting  what  the  **  red  sand  in 
the  urine"  of  Lycopodium  denotes,  you  may,  happily,  dis- 
cern what  "  the  totality  of  the  symptoms  "  is  worth  to  one 
who  will  faithfully  apply  it  The  agnostic  oscillation  of 
to-day  must  swing  to  the  other  end  of  the  arc,  and  in  the 
Benaiscence  of  Medicine  the  name  of  Hahnemann  will 
shine  like  a  planet  in  the  firmanent  Heaven  speed  the 
day  for  the  sake  of  the  weaklings!  8.  A.  J. 

P.  S. — A  much-suffering  editor  of  an  eastern  so-called 
"  Homoeopathic  "  journal  facetiously  suggests  that  I  should 
do  some  "  constructive  work."  Not  nowy  thank  you !  The 
most  urgent  demand  of  "our  School,"  as  it  now  is,  is  for 
reconstructive  work.     How  is  it  ?. 


ANEMONE  PULSATILLA  AND  THE  ANEMONIN 


Vigier  proved  on  himself  different  preparations  of  Ane- 
mone Pulsatilla  and  found  that  the  alcoholic  extract  of  the 
leaves,  taken  in  daily  doses  of  6-10  grammes  diminishes 
the  fever  usually  appearing  at  the  beginning  of  a  catarrh 
and  inhibits  the  secretion  of  the  mucous  membranes.  The 
same  effect  was  produced  by  Anemonin,  0,02-0,05  per  day, 
which  also  showed  a  stimulating  action  on  the  cardiac 
muscle.  Far  less  oflScacious  is  the  alcoholic  extract  of  the 
single  parts  of  the  plant,  of  which  the  alcoholic  extract  of 
the  root  is  still  the  most  reliable,  whereas  of  other  Banun-^ 
culacesB,  especially  so  of  Aconite,  the  dry  extract  shows 
the  most  effect  The  preparations  do  not  keep  long  and 
soon  lose  their  medical  power.  He  uses  one  kilo  root  to 
one  kilo  alcohol,  to  be  macerated  for  two  weeks  and  then 
filtrated. — Journal  de  Medicine  de  PariSy  26,  '87, 

declare  to  be  nU,  It  is  doubtful  if  this  symptom  could  And  a  place  in  Ihe  imrnrov^A 
CyclopcBdia.  But  as  it  has  won  verificatiou.  wliat  becomes  of  tlie  *  scientists"^ 
and  their  Cyclopcedia  T    Verily,  **  it  U  hard  to  icicle  against  ttie  priclcs  ! " 


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1887  Surgical  Notes,  537 

SURGERY. 


SURGICAL  NOTES. 


J.  G.  GILCHRIST.  M.  D..  Iowa  City.  la..  Editor. 


Anesthesia. — In  the  last  (October)  issue  I  had  occasion 
to  touch  upon  the  necessity  for  individualization  in  the 
selection  of  anesthetic  agents.     Since  then  a  number  of 
articles  have  appeared  in  the  journals,  more  or  less  worthy 
of  note,  the  couclusions  up  to  date  being  beautifully  sum- 
marized in  an  editorial  article  in  the  October  number  of 
the  Annals  of  Surgery,    The  positions  sketched  in  the 
Advance  have  been  confirmed,  but  some  points  of  addi- 
tional interest  are  touched  upon,  chiefly  with  reference  to 
the  mortality  attending  the  use  of  the  two  chief  agents, 
chloroform  and  ether.     For  general  anesthesia  it  seems  to 
be  quite  generally  conceded  that  these  two  agents  are  to  be 
preferred,  all  others  having  proved,  on  due  trial,  to  be 
<X)mparatively  valueless,  or  dangerous,  and  not  presenting 
any  superior  excellences,  either  in  eflBcacy  or  safety.     If 
rapidity  of  action  is  required,  there  can  be  no  other  choice 
than  chloroform;. if  the  minimum  of  danger,  ether  must 
take  precedence,  and  yet  none  but  the  grossly  ignorant 
could  assume  that  danger  to  life  is  confined  to  chloroform  an- 
esthesia. Certainly  tlieie  are  a  far  greater  number  of  deaths 
attributable  to  chloroform  than  to  ether,  but  the  latter  has 
plenty  of  such  unfortunate  occurrences  to  account  for.  An 
analysis  of  the  cases  on  record  will  show  that  deaths  from 
chloroform  may  be  called  primary,  and  those  from  ether 
secondary.     In  other  words,  under  chloroform  death  usu- 
ally occurs  in  the  early  stages  of  narcosis,  at  all  events 
during  its  administration.     If  the  patient  recovers  from 
the  anesthesia,  there  is  little  probability  that  any  accident 
will  occur  later.     In  the  case  of  ether,  on  the  other  hand, 
death  usually  occurs  during  the  last,  or  may  even  be  post- 
poned to  a  late  period  in  the  history  of  the  case.   Thus,  fatal 
pneumonia,  acute  nephritis,  cerebral  apoplexy,  may  all  be 
late  effects  of  ether  anesthesia,  not  to  speak  of  other  and 


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638  The  Medical  Advance.  Deo. 

equally  serious  lesions — and  thus  the  anesthetio  itself 
escape  all  blame  for  the  fatal  result  As  it  has  beeu  pith- 
ily expressed:  Should  the  patient  escape  death  during  the 
narcosis,  he  may  be  considered  safe,  as  far  as  the  chloro- 
form is  concerned.  He  is  not  safe  in  the  case  of  ether 
until  final  recovery  from  the  operation.  Notwithstanding 
the  above,  there  are  other  considerations,  not  less  impor- 
tant. The  primary  effect  of  ether  is  a  profound  distur- 
bance of  the  circulation,  gi*eatly  increased  arterial  tension, 
and  cerebral  excitement.  In  the  case  of  elderly  people, 
with  the  characteristic  "  brittleness"  of  the  cerebral  arteries, 
there  is  imminent  danger  of  intercranial  haemorrhage,  and 
taken  by  itself,  this  wou}d  contraindicate  the  selection  of 
ether.  But,  in  this  same  case,  there  is  likely  to  be  feeble 
heart-action,  and  while  the  ether  wimld  be  indicated  on 
this  account,  from  its  stimulation  of  the  circulation,  there 
would  be  danger,  equal  in  degree  and  significance,  of  rup- 
ture of  the  cerebral  arteries.  Now,  chloroform  would  prom- 
ise safety  to  the  vessels,  but  threaten  the  heart,  thns  em- 
barrassing our  selection  greatly.  Primary  stimulation, 
that  is,  before  commencing  the  anesthesia,  has  been  prac- 
ticed by  some  surgeons,  but  as  now  well  known,  such  a 
practice  is  not  only  false  in  theory,  and  opposed  to  the 
teachings  of  physiology,  but  is  uncertain  and  dangerous  to 
a  degree.  Alcoholic  stimulants  do  not  affect  all  alike;  in 
some  they  produce  dangerous  depression  without  apparent 
primary  exhilaration;  in  others  the  primary  excitement  is 
as  great  as  in  the  case  of  ether,  and  thus  eminently  dan- 
gerous; in  others  the  effects  will  be  delayed,  and  the  dan- 
gerous first  stage  of  chloroform  will  be  unopposed,  the 
later  development  of  stimulation  (should  the  patient  live 
long  enough )  having  the  effect  to  antidote  the  chloroform, 
and  retard  anesthesia.  Furthermore,  in  the  case  of  those 
who  are  habituated  to  the  use  of  alcohol,  the  effects  will  be 
very  different  from  those  who  are  not  so  educated.  From 
any  point  of  view  there  is  too  much  uncertainty  and  dan- 
ger in  primary  alcoholic  stimulation  to  warrant  its  prac- 
tice by  thoughtful  practitioners.  It  follows,  therefore,  that 
in  the  case  of  elderly  people,  that  the  nature  of  the  opera- 


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1887  Surgical  Notes.  539 

tioD,  its  emergency,  must  determine  its  proceedure,  as  dan- 
ger attends  the  use  of  either  agent,  each  of  its  own  kind* 
AU  things  being  equal,  the  best  practice  seems  to  be  to 
protect  the  heart  first,  and  then  the  cerebral  vessels.  Thus 
the  inhalation  of  ammonia  is  practiced  by  some  operators, 
just  before  commencing  the  anesthesia.  Others  advise 
cautious  administration  of  ether,  taking  plenty  of  time, 
and  avoiding  crowding  it  in  the  patient,  and  later  continu- 
ing with  chloroform.  Others,  again,  advise  the  admixture 
of  a  small  quantity  of  alcohol  with  the  chloroform  vapor, 
thus  securing  a  moderate  stimulation  sufficient  to  avert 
overwhelming  the  centres;  but  in  this  method  there  is  the 
danger  of,  to  some  extent,  antidoting  the  chloroform. 
Looking  at  the  case  from  all  points  of  view,  I  am  of  the 
opinion  that  the  "London  mixture"  (A.  0.  E:  L  2.  3) 
fulfils  these  various  indications,  and  thus  having  equal 
application  to  operations  in  the  aged  and  to  those  suffering 
from  renal  lesions.  The  above  does  not,  by  any  means, 
exhaust  the  subject  of  selection  of  anesthetic  agents;  it 
has  no  such  purpose.  It  is  with  the  hope  that  practitioners 
may  have  their  attention  called  to  the  fact  that  something 
more  than  mere  fancy  or  personal  choice,  or  availability  of 
one  or  the  other  agent,  is  to  govern  a  choice,  and  that  ob- 
serving surgeons  may  assist  in  more  closely  differentiating 
the  indications  for  the  agents  now  so  indiscriminately  em- 
ployed. 

Kegeneration  op  Bone. — There  has  lately,  within  a  few 
years,  arisen  quite  a  discussion  as  to  the  part  played  by 
the  periosteum  in  repair  of  fractures,  or  regeneration  of 
bone.  In  spite  of  the  notable  experiments  related  in 
Holmes'  System  of  Surgery,  in  the  first  English  edition, 
there  were  and  are  now  a  few  who  strenuously  held  to  the 
ancient  theory  that  a  bone  deprived  of  its  periosteum,  or 
where  the  connection  had  been  loosened,  death  of  the  bone 
was  inevitable.  Ziegler  (Pathogenesis)  shows  conclu- 
sively that  new  tissue  is  always  built  up  by  elements  de- 
rived from  its  kind.  Thus  epithelium  can  only  grow  from 
epithelial  cells  pre-existeut    This  is  true  of  all  tissues  to 


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640  The  Medical  Advance.  Deo. 

a  considerable  extent,  although  there  are  a  few  ioBtances 
of  tissues*  being  organized  out  of  materials  that  are  not 
exactly  analagous.  Thus  cartilage  may  furnish  elements 
that  later  become  calcified,  and  bone  results.  From  this  it 
would  seem  that  new  bone  must  come  from  the  organiza- 
tion of  elements  derived  from  already  existing  bone.  If 
proof  were  needed,  in  addition  to  that  so  abundantly  fur- 
nished by  Ziegler  and  others,  the  October  number  of  the 
Annals  of  Surgery  will  freely  meet  the  demand.  Mr.  C. 
B.  Keetley  fufnishes  a  most  excellent  series  of  clinical 
observations,  going  to  show  that  bone  will  not  perish  when 
deprived  of  periosteum,  even  to  complete  destruction  in 
large  areas;  that  fractures  repair  readily  under  similar  cir- 
cumstances. Furthermore,  destruction  of  bone  and  peri- 
osteum by  morbid  action,  when  the  latter  is  arrested,  may 
be  repaired  withoat  the  periosteum  being  at  all  concerned 
in  the  process.  In  one  or  two  very  remarkable  cases  re- 
corded, the  circumstances  were  such  that  badly  crushed 
bones  were  continually  under  observation;  from  complete 
loss  of  soft  tissues  it  was  seen  that  new  bone  derived  its 
elements  from  the  existing  bone,  and  new  periosteum  from 
the  periosteum  remaining;  in  fact  sometimes  the  osseous 
repair  outstripped  the  periosteal.  The  more  precise  our 
knowledge  of  physiology  and  biology  becomes,  the  less 
tenable  become  the  old  doctrines  of  "constitutional"  pri- 
mary causes  for  disease.  The  list  of  morbid  processes 
that  are  positively  known  to  have  a  purely  local  origin  is 
daily  growing  larger,  until  it  is  to  be  anticipated  that  all 
morbid  action  will  ultimately  be  found  to  have  a  purely 
local  origin,  systematic  infection  starting  therefrom  as  a 
focus. 


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1887  Foreign  Sketches.  641 

CORRESPONDENCE. 


FOREIGN  SKETCHES. 


HABOLD  B.  WILSON.  M.  D..  Ann  ArlK>r.  Mich. 


Second  Paper, 


8TBA8SBUBQ.— HEIDELBEBG. 

The  university  of  Strassburg  used  to  be  one  of  the  fore- 
most seats  of  learning  in  France,  not  so  very  long  ago. 
Now,  however,  it  is  denationalized,  just  as  Strassburg  and 
Elsass-Lotbringen  are,  and  figures  as  a  part  of  the  domain 
of  Kaiser  Wilhelm. 

The  only  traces  of  its  former  self  are  found  in  a  course 
or  two  delivered  by  Prof.  Aubenns,  on  obstetrical  subjects, 
wet  nursing,  or  something  of  that  sort,  and  in  some  of  the 
old  buildings  still  occupied  by  portions  of  the  university; 
such  as  the  BUrger  Spital  for  instance,  whose  rather  ricke- 
ty, and  certainly  very  old  buildings,  with  some  half  dozen 
odd  stories  of  windows  in  their  roofs,  aflPord  a  marked  con- 
trast  to  the  elegant  new  stone  structures  the  German  Gov- 
ernment has  built  for  university  and  hospital  purposes.  In 
this  old  Spital,  (or  hospital)  which  belongs  to  the  city, and 
the  use  of  which  for  a  clinic  or  general  diseases  under 
Kussmaul,  and  an  eye  and  ear  under  Laqueur,  is  simply 
accorded  to  the  University,  was  given  the  first  instruction 
wet  nurses  in  Germany  ever  received,  and  I  believe  the 
same  sort  of  instruction  is  still  given.  Some  portions  of 
the  Spital  are  devoted  entirely  to  the  use  of  the  city  and 
are  presided  over  by  men  not  in  any  way  connected  with 
the  university.  On  the  whole  the  university  is  pretty 
thoroughly  germanized,  and  has  been  so,  ever  since  its  re- 
organization in  1872,  and  is  well  fitted  to  assist  in  putting 
German  ideas  into  Alsatian  minds,  as  well  as  to  carry  on 
its  legitimate  educational  work. 

For  American  medical  students,  I  have  no  doubt,  that 
V.  Becklinghausen  is  the  most  attractive  figure  in  the  fac- 
ulty.   To  begin  with,  his  reputation  as  a  pathologist  is 


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6i2  The  Medical  Advance.  Dec. 

world  wide,  and  then  simply  as  a  teacher,  there  are  few 
men  in  Germany  his  superiors.  He  looks  quite  like  a 
German— has  reasonable  abdominal  proportions — wears 
spectacles,  and  has  a  little  bald  spot  on  the  top  of  his  head; 
but  so  far  as  mere  looks  go,  might  be  anything  else  than  a 
university  professor.  His  powers  of  observation  in  the 
class  room,  are  wonderful  I  have  seen  him  directing  four 
simultaneous  post-mortems,  in  none  of  which,  the  slightest 
mistakes  of  any  of  the  students,  or  abnormalities  in  any 
organ  of  the  subjects,  escaped  his  eye,  nor  from  which 
the  class  did  not  get  the  greatest  possible  benefit  In  his 
courses  in  microscopical  anatomy,  if  the  student  cannot  at 
last  tell  liver  from  kidney,  it  is  no  fault  of  v.  Reckling- 
hausen's. I  believe  that  he  declares  that  there  is  no 
man  in  Strassburg  over  32  years  of  age,  who  has  not 
cirrhotic  kidney,  as  a  result  of  too  much  beer,  but  this 
statement  does  not  seem  to  have  affected  the  manufacture 
or  consumption  of  this  beverage,  and  there  is  the  usual 
amount  of  kneiping  going  on  every  evening  among  the  stu-r 
dents  and  soldiers. 

The  names  of  Hoppe-Seyler,  Lacke,  Goltz,  Jolly,  Freund, 
and  others  of  the  medical  faculty,  are  likewise  well  known. 
I  saw  Prol  Lacke,  whose  clinical  amphitheater  is  a  model 
of  most  excellent,  convenient  and  antiseptic  construction, 
perform  or  try  to  perform,  the  radical  operation  for  the 
relief  of  hernia,  but  by  some  anomaly  no  hernial  sac  was 
anywhere  to  be  found,  and  after  a  long  and  fruitless  search 
for  it,  the  patient  was  finally  sewn  up  and  sent  into  the 
wards. 

The  special  interest  for  me,  centured  about  the  ophthal- 
mic wards  and  clinic.  Laqueur  is  the  ordinary.  Stilling  the 
extraordinary  x>rofessor,  both  very  pleasant  and  able  gen- 
tlemen,  the  latter  Known  to  us  through  ''  Stiiling's  opera- 
tion." The  clinic  directed  by  Prof.  Laqueur,  is  meanly 
housed,  in  a  part  of  the  BUrger  Spital.  The  hospital  wards 
are  neat  and  clean,  but  the  policlinic  is  obliged  to  get  along 
with  very  insufficient  facilities.  One  of  the  interesting 
cases  I  saw  was  the  rare  one  of  congenital  hypertrophy  of 
the  upper  lid.    The  patient  was  a  girl  aged  17  years;  one 


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1887  Foreign  Sketches,  543 

upper  lid  had  always  beoD  larger  than  the  other,  but  during 
the  past  four  years  it  had  very  much  increased  in  size,  and 
now  measured  35  mm.,  from  orbital  ridge  to  ciliary  margin 
— was  thick,  soft  and  painless,  with  the  globe  and  vision 
normal.  At  the  present  time  the  patient  could  see  only 
through  a  very  small  space  at  the  inner  angle  of  the  eye. 
In  the  ophthalmoscopic  room.  Prof.  Laquear  showed  me, 
what  was  to  me  at  least  new,  a  binocular  microscope  or 
telescope,  as  you  choose  to  call  it,  designed  for  examining 
the  external  portions  of  the  eye,  iris,  and  anterior  chamber. 
It  gives  very  much  magnified  images,  and  affords  the  ob- 
server a  splendid  means  of  studying  gross  -pathological 
changes,  finding  foreign  bodies,  etc.  It  is  probably  a 
double  Gallilean  telescope,  with  a  working  distance  of  6-7 
inches.  For  determining  corneal  astigmatism  the  ophthal- 
mometer of  Javal  and  SchiOtz  was  in  frequent  use. 

This  valuable  instrument,  in  spite  of  the  great  aid  it 
affords  in  the  study  of  this  anomaly  oE  refraction,  is  very 
little  employed,  either  in  America  or  here  in  Germany.  Its 
cost  is  rather  too  great,  in  its  present  form,  but  its  inven- 
tors are  at  work  I  believe  upon  a  simple  model,  to  cost 
somewhere  in  the  neighborhood  of  fifty  francs. 

Prof.  Stilling  lectures  upon  the  relation  of  constitutional 
and  eye  diseases;  on  refraction,  and  the  use  of  the  ophthal- 
moscope, and  in  additioi)  to  his  university  duties,  has  a 
daily  clinic  at  the  Israelitish  Hospital.  By  invitation  I 
called  upon  him  at  his  home,  and  had  the  pleasure  of  look- 
ing over  the  advance  sheets  of  his  forthcoming  work  on 
Myopia,  in  which,  upon  the  evidence  of  certain  recent 
pathological  studies  of  his,  the  present  and  ordinarily  ac- 
cepted theories  as  to  the  pathology  of  this  trouble,  are  very 
much  modified,  if  not  done  away  with  altogether.  At  hi» 
clinic,  I  found  antisepsis  to  play  an  important  part  as  8 
remedial  agent;  iodoform  dusted  into  the  eye — the  iodo- 
form bandage,  if  the  case  be  severe— is  largely  relied  upott 
in  the  treatment  of  inflammatory  affections  of  the  eyes,  even 
taking  the  place  of  nitrate  of  silver  in  the  treatment  of 
ophthalmia  neonatorum. 

As  a  city,  Strassburg  is  not  particularly  interesting,  ex- 


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644  The  Medical  Advance.  Deo. 

oept  for  its  history.  Still  it  has  a  beautiful  cathedral  and 
wonderful  clock,  some  fifty  storks,  more  or  less,  who  stand 
idly  on  their  great  nests,  balancing  themselves  on  one  leg» 
when  they  are  not  fiyinf^  leisurely  about  to  or  from  some 
fayorite  frogging  ground,  and  who,  if  German  tradition  is 
to  be  believed,  ought  to  bring  babies  enough  with  them 
materially  to  enlarge  Dr.  Freund's  obstetrical  clinic.  It  has 
also  world  renowned  patfis  of  fat  goose  livers — prepared 
with  all  the  skill  of  Alsatian  cooks,  and  displayed  in  the 
most  tempting  little  jars— plenty  of  the  narrowest  and 

most  crooked  streets,  and  soldiers  without  end. 

«        «        « 

From  Strassburg  to  Heidelberg  is  only  a  step,  geograph- 
ically speaking,  but  once  there  one  breathes  a  very  differ- 
ent atmosphere.  There  is  nothing  Frenchy  about  this  old 
place,  and  no  need  of  government  interference  to  loyalize 
its  natives.  There  is  a  Utile  too  much  of  the  English  flavor 
to  the  population — too  much  of  one's  native  tongue  heard 
in  the  Sladt  Oarlen  concerts,  to  harmonize  with  one's  pre- 
conceived ideas  of  the  town,  that  is  all.  One  wishes  it  to 
be  a  trifle  more  thoroughly  German. 

The  University  is  more  than  five  hundred  years  old, 
having  celebrated  its  fifth  centennial  last  year,  and  is 
widely  known;  perhaps  more  through  its  pbilosophical 
than  through  its  medical  faculty.  Still  this  latter  is  of 
high  rank  and  embraces  many  well  known  names. 

The  hospitals  are  decent  structures,  largely  built  upon 
the  pavillion  plan,  and  surrounded  by  well  laid  out  grounds, 
luxuriating  in  roses  and  other  attractive  flowers.  The 
Augeii  Klinik  is  a  large  and  very  handsome  stone  build- 
ing, not  owned  by  the  University,  but  certain  use  of  which 
is  given  to  the  students.  Its  director  Prof.  Geheimrath, 
Otto  Becker,  (Geheimrath  you  know,  is  only  a  title),  has  a 
scientific  reputation  which  places  him  well  in  the  front  of 
German  ophthalmologists.  In  his  company  I  visited  the 
various  wards  of  the  hospital.  Everything  is  scrupulously 
neat  The  patients  are  divided,  in  true  German  style,  into 
three  classes,  on  the  basis  of  respectability  and  money. 
Those  of  the  third  class,  form  the  material  for  the  public 


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^1887  Foreign  Sketches,  645 

clinics.  They  wear  a  sort  of  aniform,  consisting  of  clean 
linen  suits  and  slippers,  and  thereby  look  vastly  better  and 
more  wholesome,  than  if  they  were  allowed  to  wear  their 
own,  generally  dirty  clothes.  The  wards  are  fitted  with 
hot  water  tubing  and  small  coils  for  each  bed,  for  the  local 
application  of  heat  to  the  eyes,  by  which  the  application 
may  be  made  constant  and  uniform  for  as  long  a  time  as  is 
desired.  It  certainly  is  the  best  thing  I  ever  saw  for  the 
purpose.  It  would  also  be  possible,  though  not  so  easy, 
by  any  means,  to  use  a  similar  system  of  piping  for  the 
distribution  of  cold  water,  for  cold  applications.  The  wards 
are  provided  with  large  shutters  to  the  windows,  by  which 
nearly  absolute  darkness  can  be  secured.  In  this  Egyptian 
darkness,  cataract  and  similar  operated  cases  are  made  to 
sit  or  lie  out  their  times  of  probation.  The  hallways  are 
large  and  light,  and  in  them,  upon  a  "Heidelberg  chair" 
the  cataract  operations  are  performed.  Large  photographio 
copies  of  the  Soemmering  bas  reliefs  to  von  Graefe's  mem- 
ory hang  in  the  halls  leading  to  the  clinic  room.  This  room, 
though  small,  is  beautiful.  A  high  arched  ceiling — the 
walls  hung  with  elegant  drawings  and  engravings,  pro- 
fessional, of  course,  —  the  light  coming  in  through  one 
very  large  window,  and  the  scrupulous  cleanliness,  con- 
trive to  make  it  one  of  the  nicest  clinic  rooms  in  all 
Germany. 

There  are  treated  here  annually  between  five  and  six 
thousand  eye  patients  and  Prof.  Becker  holds  public  clinic 
five  days  in  the  week,  before  a  class  of  twenty  or  twenty- 
five  students.  Heidelberg  is  quite  an  ophthalmological 
center,  for  every  summer  during  the  last  of  August,  or 
early  in  September,  the  ophthalmologists  from  all  over 
Germany  and  even  from  other  countries,  assemble  for  a 
brief  session  of  society  work,  and  to  exchange  views  on  the 
most  recent  advances  in  their  specialty. 

The  Ear  Clinic  of  Prof.  Moos,  is  not  so  favored  in  the 
matter  of  building,  or  rooms,  and  one  has  to  mount  some 
three  flights  oi  stairs,  past  the  scenes  of  various  sorts  of 
domestic  occupations  before  reaching  it,  for  it  is  obscurely 
set  in  the  top  story  of  an  ordinary  apartment  house.    How- 


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546  The  Medical  Advance.  Deo. 

ever,  plenty  of  good  solid  work  in  the  ear  emanates  from 
this  almost  inaccessible  altitude. 

.  Prof.  Erb  is  a  good  clinicfan,  and  has  the  faculty  of  per- 
cussing a  chest  so  that  the  note  may  be  heard  all  over  the 
clinic  room  or  hospital  ward.  Arnold's  pathological  courses 
are  sought  after,  like  those  of  ▼.  Becklinghaasen  in  Strass- 
burg,  and  it  is  not  easy  to  gain  entrance  to  his  laboratory 
courses  after  the  semester  has  begun.  One  of  the  things 
worth  seeing  connected  with  the  university  is  the  famous 
chemical  laboratory  of  Bunsen,  whose  director,  although 
now  seventy-six  years  old,  is  still  in  active  service  as  a  pro- 
fessor. 

Another  noteworthy  feature  of  the  university  is  its  cele- 
brated career  or  prison  which  has  the  honor  of  having  once 
held  Prince  Bismark,  as  an  offending  student,  and  the  walls 
of  which  have  been  grotesquely  decorated  by  the  artistic 
hands  of  generations  of  student  prisoners. 

There  is  a  dreamy  something  in  the  air  of  Heidelberg, 
tempting  one  idly  to  enjoy  life;  to  row  or  float  upon  the 
Necker,  to  clamber  about  the  famous  old  castle,  or  to  stroll 
in  some  of  the  thousand  delightful  walks  of  those  wooded 
hills  that  overlook  the  little  old  town  and  its  ancient  uni- 
versity. There  are  numerous  little  wine  shops  across  the 
river  and  in  the  vicinity,  where,  if  you  are  so  disposed,  you 
may  play  the  part  of  Silenus,  and  in  your  mellower  mom- 
ments  wish  that  the  great  tun  in  the  castle  cellar  were  filled 
for  the  fourth  time,  for  the  especial  and  private  use  of  idle 
and  pleasure  loving  students. 

OUR  FOREIGN  LETTER. 


It  is  curious  to  notice  the  uhiqiiity  of  many  epidemics. 
Last  spring  an  epidemic  of  scarlet  fever,  measles  and 
whooping-cough  broke  out  apparently  simultaneously  in 
Paris,  Vienna,  London,  and,  in  fact,  all  over  Europe.  This 
corner  of  the  globe  did  not  escape,  and  what  is  also  curi- 
ous the  epidemics  were  marked  by  the  same  peculiarities 
wherever  they  appeared,  a  feature  being  that  measles  and 
scarlatina,  contrary  to  what  has  been  their  wont,  attacked 


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1887  Our  Foreign  Letter.  647 

grown-up  people  and  those  who  had  previously  had  it,  as 
readily  as  children  and  those  who  had  hitherto  escaped. 
Moreover,  the  cases  of  measles  schemed  to  have  lost  that 
character  for  mildness  which  we  have  been  accustomed  to 
expect  of  them,  several  cases  under  my  own  management 
proving  fatal,  whereas  I  had  previously  never  lost  a  case. 

These  epidemics  still  continue — at  least  in  the  large 
towns,  and,  indeed,  in  London  are  worse  than  they  have 
ever  been  as  far  as  numbers  are  concerned.  Scarlet  fever 
heads  the  list,  and  the  authorities  have  found  great  diffi- 
culty in  providing  accommodations.  All  the  fever  hos- 
pitals are  full  to  overflowing,  and  huts  are  being  erected  in 
the  court-yards  and  recreation  grounds  attached  to  them. 
On  Wednesday,  October  12,  there  were  1,676  fever  cases 
in  the  hospitals,  and  on  Friday,  October  23,  2,448  cases. 
As  I  have  said,  this  remote  region  has  not  escaped.  During 
the  summer  in  the  village  of  St.  Martin  Lantorque,  con- 
taining 500  inhabitants,  forty-four  children  have  died  from 
measles  and  coqueluche  ( whooping-cough ).  It  is  of  course 
very  unusual  for  children  to  die  of  measles  and  also  very 
unusual  for  them  to  have  whooping-cough  in  the  summer 
months,  and  these  two  circumstances  combined  show  how 
very  severe  the*  epidemics  must  have  been.  They  have, 
however,  now  died  down  partly,  I  presume  for  want  of  fuel 
and  partly  from  the  salutary  effects  of  the  cooler  weather. 

Another  epidemic,  however,  of  a  still  stranger  character 
is(according  to  the  local  newspapers) raging  at  this  moment 
at  Toulon,  viz.,  an  epidemic  of  suicide.  How  it  is  to  be  ex- 
plained I  know  not,  but  it  is  a  fact  that  during  the  last 
three  weeks  hardly  a  day  has  passed  without  a  suicide. 
The  day  before  yesterday  (October  17)  a  mason  named 
Marcel  Dalle  attempted  to  commit  suicide  in  the  usual 
French  manner.  Having  first  carefully  stopped  up  every 
cranny  by  which  air  could  enter,  he  heaped  up  the  stove 
with  charcoal  and  then  laid  himself  down  on  his  bed  to 
await  the  toxic  effects  of  the  carbonic  acid.  Fortunately 
he  was  interrupted  in  his  operations  by  the  entrance  of  his 
landlord,  who  had  him  conveyed  to  the  hospital  where  the 
surgeon  succeeded  in  resuscitating  him,  though  he  was  to 


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648  The  Medical  Advance.  Dea 

all  appearances  defunct  Yesterday  (October  18)  an  indi- 
vidual adopted  a  still  more  sensational  measure  for  de- 
stroying himself  and  was,  unhappily,  only  too  successful 
Having  hired  a  furnished  room  on  a  fourth  story  he  de- 
liberately got  out  of  the  window  and  began  to  perambulate 
the  ledge  outside  to  the  great  horror  of  those  in  the  streets. 
He  made  signs  as  if  he  would  dive  head-first  on  to  the  pave- 
ment but  apparently  his  courage  failed,  as  he  was  seen  to 
sit  down,  close  his  eyes,  and  let  himself  slowly  slip  over 
the  edge.  The  feelings  of  those  in  the  house  and  those 
outside  who  witnessed,  without  being  able  to  prevent  these 
proceedings,  may  be  imagined.  Needless  to  say  he  was 
picked  up  a  shattered  mass  and  expired  in  the  hospital  an 
hour  after.  I  have  mentioned  these  two  instances,  but  they 
are  only  two  among  many.  The  probable  explanation  is 
the  unusually  "  hard  times  "  and  the  approach  of  winter 
combined. 

The  autumnal  rains  here  are  now  over  and  the  weather 
glorious.  The  mean  temperature  during  the  last  month 
(September  20  to  October  20)  has  been  55.2  Fab.— one 
fine,  bright  day  succeeds  another.  The  air  is  free  from 
moisture,  is  dry,  light  and  rarefied;  for*  this  reason  it 
speedily  loses  its  warmth.  Directly  the  sun  sets  it  becomes 
chilly,  hence  visitors  should  be  indoors  shortly  before  sun- 
set, and  should  live  in  rooms  facing  south  so  as  to  get  the 
sun  as  long  as  possible. 

It  is  now  the  season  here  for  gathering  cassie^  which  is 
no  other  than  our  old  friend  the  cassia  of  the  wise  men  of 
the  East  It  is  a  round,  very  prickly  shrub,  two  or  three 
feet  high,  and  bears  little  yellow  tassel-like  flowers  about 
the  size  of  a  large  pea  or  small  marble.  It  is  grown  in 
gardens  situated  on  the  sunny  slope  of  a  hill,  and  the 
flower  is  used  for  the  extraction  of  a  scent  which  forms  the 
basis  of  nearly  all  perfumes  and  pomatums.  Other  flowers 
now  in  season  and  likewise  grown  in  fields  for  making 
scent,  are  the  white  jasmine,  certain  kinds  of  roses  and 
violets. 

Though  a  few  swallows  may  be  seen  in  Cannes  all 
through  the  winter,  the  majority  leave  us  about  this  time 


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1887  Our  Foreign  Letter.  649 

(October  20)  for  Africa.  Nambers  may  now  be  seen  col- 
lected under  the  eaves  and  on  the  ledges  of  houses  and  on 
telegraph  wires. 

This  is  the  season  also  for  champignons  or  mushrooms, 
and  other  edible  fungi.  After  the  autumnal  rains  num- 
bers of  these  dainties  make  their  appearance  as  if  by  magic. 
Besides  the  ordinary  umbrella-sbaped  mushroom,  white 
above  and  rose-colored  on  its  under  surface,  there  are  sev- 
eral other  varieties  of  fungi,  not  eaten  in  England,  which 
are  here  esteemed  the  greatest  delicacies.  There  is  the 
piconpd  which  grows  from  the  roots  of  oak  trees,  and  is 
eaten  with  oil  and  garlic  to  the  accompaniment  of  a  glass 
of  muscateh  A  greater  delicacy  still  is  the  oronge,  which 
makes  its  appearance  in  pine  woods  ''where  the  wild  thyme 
grows,"  first  resembling  a  snow-ball,  but  after  exposure  to 
the  sun's  rays  shedding  its  white  pellicle  and  appearing  as 
a  "ball  of  gold."  It  is  eaten  stuffed  with  "fowl's  liver, 
brea J-crumbs,  shalots  and  olives  finely  minced,"  the  whole 
washed  down  with  a  glass  of  old  alicante.  A  third  variety 
is  the  "courcoule";  it  is  shaped  like  a  mandarin's  bonnet 
and  bears  a  sort  of  collar  and  bracelet  on  its  stalk.  It  is 
fried  with  a  little  olive  oil,  pepper,  salt  and  lemon  juice. 

Apropos  of  fungi  in  general,  it  is  a  curious  fact  that 
the  ordinary  well-known  variety,  known  in  England  as  the 
mushroom,  is  the  only  one  which  has  ever  been  successfully 
cultivated. 

It  may  be  useful  to  physicians  to  know  that  the  toxic 
qualities  of  a  fungus  can  be  at  once  detected  in  the  follow- 
ing manner:  Place  a  silver  spoon  in  warm  water  contain- 
ing the  suspected  cryptogam  —if  poisonous,  the  spoon  will 
be  at  once  blackened. 

No  one  can  have  failed  to  be  struck  with  the  very  wide 
influence  exerted  by  politics,  apparently  upon  matters  in 
no  way  connected  with  them.  Last  spring  the  greatest 
German  pathologists  and  diagnosticians  of  the  day  declared 
that  the  Prince  Imperial  of  Germany  was  afflicted  with  a 
cancerous  growth  in  the  larynx  and  counselled  the  removal 
of  that  organ  as  a  measure  which  could  not  indeed  save  the 
Prince's  life,  but  which  would  "postpone  the  evil  day."    It 


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650  The  Medioal  Advance.  Deo, 

is  quite  possible  that  that  Deus  ex  machina  Bismark  may 
have  hailed  this  news  with  too  great  eagerness,  for  it  is 
well-known  that  he  looks  upon  the  Prince's  accession  as 
one  of  the  great  dangers  to  the  German  Fatherland,  but  it 
is  quite  inconceivable  that  such  great  medical  authorities 
could  have  pronounced  judgment  so  decidedly  unless  the 
case  was  unmistakable,  or  have  been  influenced  by  mere 
party  motives,  where  the  event  would  so  speedily  refute 
their  predictions,  were  they  in  error.  However,  certain 
adversaries  of  Bismark,  among  whom  were  the  eminent 
pathologist  Virchow  and  the  Crown  Princess,  thought 
proper  to  summon  from  London  the  facile  throat  specialist, 
Dr.  Morell  Mackenzie.  This  easy-going  gentleman  was 
made  to  pluck  out  a  piece  of  the  growth  through  the  rima 
glotiidis  with  the  tenaculum  and  scalpel;  the  piece  was 
then  placed  under  the  microscope  and  pronounced  by  the 
great  Virchow  himself  to  be  "a  warty  growth,  not  only  in- 
nocent but  beuign  in  character,"  to  use  the  technical  jargon 
of  the  craft,  and  the  illustrious  patient  was  pronounced  in 
a  fair  way  of  being  cured,  and  sent  off  to  Eugland  partly 
to  take  part  in  the  jubilee  celebrations  in  honor  of  his 
mother-in-law  and  partly  to  be  under  the  immediate  care 
of  Dr.  Morell  Mackenzie.  The  hoUowness  of  the  whole 
proceedings  now  stands  revealed,  for  the  Crown  Prince  is 
obliged  to  pass  the  winter  at  San  Bemo  on  the  Riviera. 
We  may  ask,  why  should  this  be  so  if  he  is  merely  suffer- 
ing from  "a  warty  growth  of  a  benign  character"  which, 
moreover,  has  been  repeatedly  "entirely"  removed  by  so 
skilful  an  operator  as  Dr.  Mackenzie? 

The  following  table  of  meteorological  observations  made 
at  Cannes  from  Wednesday,  October  19,  to  Tuesday,  Octo- 
ber  25,  may  be  interesting  to  some  of  your  readers: 

Barometer  height) 
reduced  to  Freez  [ 
ing  Point ) 

Tension  of  Aqne- ) 
ous  Vapor ) 

Keliitivft  hnmiilitv,) 
SJituration   point  [     65         77  78         84        85       82       86 

being  taken  as  100) 


Wed. 

Thu. 

Fri. 

Silt. 

Sun. 

Mon.    Tue. 

30.24 

30.21 

30.32 

30.35 

29.72 

3020    30.00 

inch. 

inch. 

inch. 

inch. 

inch. 

inch.   inch. 

0.32 

0.343 

0.4044 

0.3844 

0.464 

0.324  0.3188 

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1887    Haknemannian  Association  of  Pennsylvania.      551 

Wed.    Thu.    Fri.     Sat.    Sun.    Mod.    Tue. 
inch.   inch.    inch.  inch.  inch.   inch.  inch. 

Then  in|'!liShr     45         44         46         48       46       43       45 
Shade.]  9    o'clock     ^        g-         gg         68       63       66       62 

^       A.  M. 

Wind «   So.       So.       So.       So.       So.  8.W.M.W.   S.W. 

Relative  velocity 12  1113  2 

Rain  fallen none  none  none    none,  none    none  none 

)  G.,«     G..«     Sun  Sun     Sun     Sun 

Sky /  Sun-    Sun-      &  Sun        a         A  a 

)    ^^'      ^^'    cloud  cloud  cloud  cloud 
■  <>» 

SOCIETIES. 


HAHNEMANNIAN  ASSOCIATIOX  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 


The  second  stated  meeting  of  the  "  Hahnemannian  As- 
sociation of  Pennsylvania,"  was  held  in  the  Continental 
Hotel,  Philadelphia,  Nov.  8th,  1887.  Dr.  Mahlon  Preston, 
of  Norristown,  presiding.  Present  all  the  active  members 
— one  honorary  member  and  eight  visitors.  Dr.  C.  Carleton 
Smith  read  a  paper  on  Spongia  tosta,  after  which  the  fol- 
lowing discussion  took  place. 

Dr.  Smith:  Oranges  should  never  be  allowed  to  children 
suffering  from  croup.  In  my  experience  they  usually  ag- 
gravate the  disease,  so  much  so,  that  I  have  made  it  a  rule 
to  forbid  them.  When  this  aggravation  is  marked  and  has 
been  noticed,  it  is  a  characteristic  of  Spongia. 

Dr.  Preston:  Your  paper  refers  to  the  Spongia  ameliora- 
tion from  food  or  drink.  Anacardium  has  an  amelioration 
of  stomach  symptoms  by  eating. 

Dr.  Robt.  Farley:  I  have  verified  that  symptom  person- 
ally. 

Dr.  Wnj.  Jefferson  Guernsey:  lodium  and  Pulsatilla  also 
have  it. 

Dr.  John  V.  Allen:  Anacardium  has  nausea  and  vomit- 
ing from  cold  drinks. 

Dr.  Preston:  At  one  time  I  was  subject  to  attacks  of  pain 
in  the  right  side  of  the  abdomen  which  would  last  for  days; 
it  was  always  better  by  eating,  and  on  this  account  I  took 
Anacardium.     This  helped  me  greatly  for  several  attacks, 


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662  The  Medical  Advance.  Dea 

but  finally  ceased  to  do  any  good.  I  discovered  that  after 
eating  I  was  not  so  much  troubled  by  constantly  voiding 
flatus,  and  on  this  indication  took  Teucriunji,  (which  has 
that  symptom)  and  found  immediate  relief. 

Dr.  Farley:  Anacardium  has  the  desire  to  swear  with 
his  ailment. 

The  next  business  was  the  reading  of  §  245  of  the  Or- 
ganon,  by  Dr.  Geo.  H.  Clark,  who  presented  a  brief  paper 
on  the  Repetition  of  the  Dose.  The  Doctor  said  Hahne- 
mann's views  were  not  to  be  improved  upon,  so  that  there 
was  no  necessity  for  discussing  the  question.  Failures 
were  due  to  neglect  to  adhere  strictly  to  his  advice. 

Discussion: 

Dr.  Clark:  Administer  y?rs/ the  medicine  that  is  strongly 
homoeopathic,  then  wait,  even  though  it  does  not  show  an 
immediate  improvement 

Dr.  E.  J.  Lee:  The  question  whether  to  repeat  the  old 
medicine  or  to  give  another,  amounts  in  either  case,  to  a 
new  prescription. 

Dr.  Clark  was  granted  time  to  read  an  extract  from 
Gregg's  "  Diphtheria"  relative  to  the  point 

Discussion: 

Dr.  Lee:  Dr.  Pomeroy  once  told  me  that  he  had  made  his 
best  cures  through  mail,  as  he  would  then  send  medicine 
and  be  compelled  to  await  report  without  chance  to  change 
the  remedy.  I  know  of  a  lady  who  had  her  eyes  examined 
by  an  allopathic  occulist  of  celebrity  who  pronounced  her 
trouble  cataract  and  who,  on  being  told  by  him  that  an 
operation  was  necessary,  consulted  Dr.  Lippe,  who  cured 
her  with  one  dose  of  Calcarea.  The  Allopath  on  hearing 
of  it  said  that  he  must  have  made  a  mistake  in  diag- 
nosis. 

Dr.  Clark:  Dr.  Fellger  cured  a  case  of  congenital  catar- 
act with  Natrum  mur. 

Dr.  Lee:  A  child  had  convulsions  and  was  better  in  each 
attack  by  being  carried  about  quickly  in  the  arms.  One 
dose  of  Chamomilla  caused  it  to  urinate  twice  freely 
(which  it  had  not  done  at  all  for  some  time)  and  would,  I 
think,  from  other  indications,  have  cured  the  case,  had  not 


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1887    Haknemannian  Association  of  Pennsylvania,      653 

the  family  been  persuaded  to  change  to  Allopathy  and  the 
child  died. 

Dr.  Gaernsey:  Arsenicum  has  relief  of  symptoms  from 
being  carried  rapidly. 

Dr.  Smith:  A  difficult  thing  to  contend  with,  is  the  repe- 
tition of  the  dose.  I  have  no  fear  to  leave  a  patient  on  the 
single  dose  at  any  time.  If  the  physician  has  any  such 
doubt  whether  to  give  medicine  continuously  or  wait,  he 
should  always  do  the  latter.  Since  doing  this  myself  I 
have  lost  fewer  cases.  If  the  patient  seems  to  need  a  repe- 
tition, have  a  powder  dissolved  in  water  and  give  a  few 
doses  in  quick  succession,  then  wait  on  Sac.  lac.  till  your 
next  visit. 

I  saw  a  case  once  where  Belladonna  was  clearly  indicated 
and  learning  that  the  previous  doctor  bad  used  that  reme- 
dy continuously,  gave  c.  m.  potency  for  a  few  doses  and 
then  Sac.  lac.  After  the  third  dose  it  needed  no  more 
medicine.  The  cases  I  do  not  have  access  to,  I  euro  the 
best 

I  once  cured  a  case  of  long  standing  catarrh  with  one 
dose  of  Kali  bich.  mm.  The  case  was  a  clergyman  who 
had  written  me  that  he  had  been  compelled  to  leave  town 
every  year  on  account  of  ii  Had  I  seen  him  I  might 
have  prescribed  medicine  to  be  taken  continuously;  but, 
as  it  was,  I  sent  that  one  dose,  and  not  hearing  from 
him  it  operated  uninterruptedly  and  worked  a  perfect 
cure. 

One  case  of  gonorrhoea  which  had  been  treated  allopath- 
ically  for  some  time,  came  to  me  and  I  gave  Pulsatilla, 
which  was  indicated,  one  dose,  in  the  mm.  potency,  which 
caused  a  resumption  of  the  flow  and  subsequent  cure  in  ten 
days. 

In  regard  to  Hahnemann's  idea  of  olfaction,  I  would  say 
that  I  saw  Hering  cure  a  case  of 'convulsions  with  a  single 
inhalation  of  Opium. 

Cases  for  advice  were  next  in  order,  but  none  being  pre- 
sented. Dr.  John  V.  Allen  (as  per  appointment)  offered 
a  paper  entitled,  Typhoid  Fever,  having  as  an  appendix  a 
repertory. 


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654  The  Medical  Advance.  Deo. 

Discussion: 

Dr.  Allen:  I  have  used  milk  diet  mainly. 

Dr.  Guernsey:  I  frequently  use  unfermented  wine. 
There  are  three  valuable  preparations  on  the  market  Drs. 
Welche's,  of  Vineland,  N.  J. ;  Spear's,  of  Passaic,  and  Dr. 
Tuller's,  of  Vineland.  The  latter  is  hardly  sweet  enough 
to  suit  most  patients. 

Dr.  Clark:  If  it  contains  sugar  it  will  cause  fermentation 
in  the  stomach  and  trouble  will  follow. 

Dr.  Gaernsey:  I  have  not  had  the  least  trouble  in  that 
way  and  have  used  it  a  great  deal. 

Election  of  members  being  next  in  order,  nine  were 
elected  to  associate  and  two  to  honorary  membership. 

The  following  appointments  were  made  for  the  next  meet- 
ing: On  Materia  Mediea,  Dr.  Geo.  H.  Clark;  On  Organon, 
Dr.  R.  B.  Johnstone;  On  Original  Paper,  Dr.  Bobt  Farley. 

Dr.  Guernsey  presented  a  number  of  papers  published 
by  the  London  Anti-Vaccination  League,  and  offered  a 
resolution  condemning  vaccination,  which  was  tabled  for 
further  discussion. 

Adjourned. 

Wm.  Jefferson  Guernsey,  M.  D.,  Secretary. 


THE  NEW  JERSEY  STATE   HOMOEOPATHIC  MEDICAL 

SOCIETY. 


For  the  first  time  in  several  years  the  New  Jersey  State 
Homoeopathic  Medical  Society  met  for  a  two  days'  session, 
Oct  5  and  6.  Atlantic  City  ( Winsor  Hotel)  was  the  place 
chosen  for  the  experiment  which,  thanks  to  the  exertions 
of  the  President  of  the  Society,  was  an  entire  success; 
every  member  present  expressing  genuine  pleasure  in  the 
event.  Si)ecial  B.  B.  arrangements  were  made  with  the 
Pa.  K.  R.,  in  order  to  get  members  from  the  northern  part 
of  the  State  in  Atlantic  City  in  time  for  the  opening  of  the 
session,  and  early  rising  was  a  necessity  for  many  who  had 
been  in  the  arms  of  "  Murphy  "  but  a  few  hours.  It  will 
be  long  before  one  man  in  particular  is  in  another  such  a 
hurry  we  hope. 


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1887  New  Jersey  State  Society.  555 

President  Butler  called  the  meeting  to  order  at  11:15  a. 
M.,  and  prayer  was  offered  by  G.  W.  Richards,  M.  D.  An 
address  of  welcome  was  made  by  Dr.  G.  W-  Crosby,  of  At- 
lantic City,  on  behalf  of  the  local  committee  of  arrange- 
ments and  responded  to  by  the  President  After  the  roll 
call  the  Board  of  Censors  reported  favorably  npon  the  ap- 
plications for  membership  made  by  Drs.  Mary  Miller,  Theo. 
G.  Bieling  and  Jas.  F.  Goodell. 

Two  amendments  to  the  Constitution  were  oflFered,  one 
to  the  effect  that  the  annual  meeting  occupy  two  days  and 
be  held  wherever  it  may  be  agreed  upon  at  the  previous 
annual  meeting,  and  the  other  that  the  Semi-annual  meet- 
ing occur  some  time  in  September. 

Reports  were  received  from  delegates  to  "The  American 
Institute  of  Homoeopathy,"  "The  International  Hahne- 
mannian  Association,"  "The  West  Jersey  Homoeopathic 
Medical  Society,"  and  "The  Pennsylvania  Medical  Society." 

The  following  papers  were  read:  "Diagnostic  Signifi- 
cance of  the  Epithelia  of  the  Genito-Urinary  Passages," 
by  M.  D.  Yowigman,  illustrated  by  drawings  made  by  A. 
W.  Baily,  both  of  Atlantic  City;  "Phthisis,"  by  W.  C.  Ri- 
cardo,  of  Passaic;  "Typhoid  Fever,"  by  E.  M.  Howard,  of 
Camden;  "A  Case  of  Suppurative  Synovitis  at  Knee,  with 
Operation,"  by  B.  ffB.  Sleght,  of  Newart;  "An»sthesia," 
by  G.  W.  Woodward,  of  Camden;  "The  Contamination  and 
Analysis  of  Drinking  Water,"  by  C.  F.  Adams,  of  Hacken- 
sack. 

This  finished  the  day's  business,  but  in  the  evening 
there  followed  a  banquet  given  by  Drs.  Youngman  and 
Baily  to  the  Society,  in  the  dining  room  of  the  Wtusor,  at 
which  about  sixty  persons  sat  dowoi  to  translate  the  fol- 
lowing 

menu: 

Ostrea  Abseconii  Na.Cl.,  (in  forma  natura.) 

Sorbitio,  Chelydm  serpentina. 

Picis  maritimus  cum  8olanum  lulier.  comp. 

Corrugated  Oris,  Pomum  amatorius,  Lactu  carim,  Poma  condita. 

S,  Bivalvffi  P.    P.    1\    P. 

SfCheloniaS,        gridironedensis        P.    P.    P.    P. 

S,  a  la  Atlantic         P.    P.    P.    I>. 

P.    P.    P.    P. 


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666  TTie  Medical  Advance.  Dea 

Carcinoma  Encysted  ^  Rnn 

Sataniensis  11  jdatf  d  ^  '^^ 

B.    Gallus  doinest.  minuatim  consecare       o  ij 
Kalamazoo  Apium  graveoleos  q.  s. 

Si  nape  gr.  iij 

Acetic  acd.  dil.  oz  ij 

Oleum  oliv  oz  j 

Cum  grano  sails  e  piper  nig. 
M.  Sig.  quantum  volveris 

(antidote  Verat  alb.) 

F.  E.  Bovinum,  congealed,  cum  C,*  H^  0«,  +  C,4  TT^,  O^,  +  ? 

Vanilla,  Chocolate,  and  Bisque  with  a  stick  in  it. 

Pomum  Adami,  Auranti  Florida,  Plantago  elongata. 

"  Multiim  in  parvum." 

Susrar-coated  mummies  tuus  proa  via,  red  tape. 

Caloric  H,  O  +  desecated  Nucis  aramatica, 

Potentized  to  suit  the  taste 
Oscillatory  vibrations  of  inferior  maxilla  cum  post  pliocene  scin- 
tillations of  modern  Saxon. 

VAPOR. 
AUantic  CUy,  Oct.  5, 1837. 

On  the  following  day,  (Oct  6)  the  remaining  papers 
were  discussed,  viz. :  "  Notes  on  Materia  Medica,"  by  J.  E. 
Winans,  of  Lyons  Farms;  "High  Potencies^vs.  Intermit- 
tent Fever,"  by  Samuel  Long;  "A  Comparison  Between 
Sulphur  and  Sepia,"  by  Edward  Rushmore,  of  Plainfield; 
"A  Cure  By  Sulphur,"  by  Phoebe  D.  Brown,  of  Hilton; 
"The  EflScacyof  High  Potencies,"  by  J.  K.  Mulholland, 
of  Newark;  "A  Study  of  Lachesis,  Croton  and  Naja,"  by  J. 
N.  Lowe,  of  Newton;  "Treatment  of  Diphtheria,"  by  D.  L. 
Nevill,  of  Jersey  City;  "  Therapeutics  of  Diphtheria,"  by 
S.  L.  Eaton,  of  E.  Orange;  "Notes  on  the  Use  of  Drugs 
During  Pregnancy,"  by  C.  M.  Conant,of  Orange,  and  "The 
Effects  Which  Excited  Mental  States  have  upon  Physical 
Conditions,"  by  J.  Younglove,  of  Elizabeth;  besides  some 
papers  read  by  title  only.  After  the  adjournment  the 
members,  by  invitation,  of  Dr.  G.  W.  Crosby,  enjoyed  an 
extensive  drive  about  the  city  before  they  took  their  wait- 
ing train  for  home,  unanimously  voting  that  Drs.  Crosby, 
Youngman  and  Bailey,  played  their  part  of  hosts  to  per- 
fection. * 

B.  H'B.  Sleqht,  a.  M.,  M.  D.,  Secretary. 


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1887  American  Institute  of  Homceopathy.  557 

AMERICAN   INSTITUTE  OF  HOMOEOPATHY:    BUREAU 
OF  GYNECOLOGY. 


Dear  Doctor. — The  Chairman  of  the  Bureau  of  Gyneoo- 
logy,  for  1888,  has  selected,  as  the  general  subject  for  dis- 
cussion; "  Uterine  Therai)eutic8." 

The  following  are  the  special  subjects,  with  the  names 
of  those  members  to  whom  has  been  assigned  the  duty  of 
preparing  reports,  and  of  those  who  are  to  discuss  them: 

I. 
**  Changes  in  Form  and  Position  of  the  Uterus.*' 

(a)  Pathological     j  ^^  R^ort-Dn.  0. 8.  RUNNELS. 

Indications:  ^  ^^  Discuss-iyR.  L.  L.  DANFORTH. 
(6)  SYMPTOMATIC        \  ^^  i2^rt-DR.C.B.KENY0N. 

Indications:  J  ^^  ])i8cu88-J)n.L.  A.  PHILLIPS. 

n. 
"Neoplasms  of  the  Uterus.'* 
(a)  pItholooical      C^^  RepoH^Dn,  T.  G.  COMSTOCK. 

Indications:  {to  Di8cu88-DR.n.LUDLlLM. 
(6)  SYMPTOMATIC        \  ^^  R^^^^^^  S.  P.  HEDGES. 
Indications:  \to DUcus^-Jyn.  A.  CLAYPOOL. 
IIL 
"  Nutritive  Disturbances.^' 

(a)  Patholooical     j  '^^  Repart^Dn.  E.  M.  HALE. 

Indications:  (to  DUmsa-BR.  PHILIP  PORTER. 
(6)  Symptomatic        f  ^^  Report-^Bn.  B.  F.  BETTS. 

Indications:  [ToDiscuss—Dn.  N.  SCHNEIDER. 

Each  writer  must  furnish  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Bureau 
one  month  before  the  opening  of  the  Institute,  an  abstract 
of  his  x>aper,  whether  it  be  read  or  not  This  is  in  com- 
pliance with  a  standing  resolution  of  the  Institute. 

As  the  subject  selected  must  prove  of  great  interest  to 
the  profession,  and  will,  no  doubt,  meet  with  a  hearty  re- 
ception from  the  Institute,  you  are  especially  requested  to 
assist  the  Bureau  by  presenting  as  complete  a  paper  as 
possible.    Any  additional  information  regarding  the  work 


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658  The  Medical  Advance,  Dec 

of  the  Bureau  may  be  obtained  through  the  Secretary. 
The  Chairman,  recognizing  the  importance  of  a  thorough 
and  comprehensive  discussion  of  the  various  papers  pre- 
sented, trusts  you  will  be  sufficiently  interested  in  the  re- 
port, to  give  your  personal  experience  in  this  department 
Other  members  of  the  Institute,  specially  interested  in 
these  subjects,  are  invited  to  come  prepared  to  discuss  them. 
An  early  acknowledgment  of  this  notice  is  requested. 
Respectfully  yours, 

Edwin  M.  Hale,  M.  D.,  Secretary. 
Phil.  Porter,  M.  D.,  Chairman. 


THE  KED  CROSS  CONG  HESS. 


The  fourth  international  meeting  of  the  Bed  Cross  So- 
ciety was  held  last  month  at  Carlsruhe,  and  in  many 
respects  was  the  most  noteworthy  conference  of  the  society, 
which  is  every  year  growing  in  usefulness  and  numbers. 
It  is  to-day  one  of  the  grandest  humanitarian  organizations 
the  world  has  yet  seen — one  of  which  crowned-heads  are 
proud  to  acknowledge  membership.  The  following  inter- 
esting letter  has  been  issued  by  the  President  of  the 
American  Association  to  the 

Societies  of  the  Red  Cross  of  America.— Previous  to  the  depart- 
ure of  the  delegates  to  the  InternatioDal  Congress  at  Carlsruhe, 
there  was  addressed  to  each  associate  society  of  the  Red  Cross  in 
our  country,  a  circular  letter  giving,  so  far  as  possible,  the  objects 
of  the  conference,  and  such  facts  as  could  be  known  concerning  a 
matter  which  had  not  yet  transpired. 

Now  that  the  conference  has  been  held,  and  has  closed,  I  take 
the  opportunity  to  write  again  confirming  what  has  already  been 
stated,  and  adding  such  facts  as  I  trust  may  not  be  without  interest. 

As  had  been  decided  the  conference  met  on  the  22d  of  Septem- 
ber, in  the  Representatives  Hall  of  the  State  House  ot  the  Grand 
Duchy  of  Baden,  at  its  capital,  Carlsruhe.  There  were  present  at 
its  opening  one  hundred  and  thirty-^ight  delegates  representing 
nearly  every  nation  within  the  treaty. 

Our  own  delegation  consisted  of  Dr.  J.  B.  Hubbell,  [Horn.  Dept. 
U.  of  M.],  and  myself,  &^  governmental  delegates.  As  delegates  ap- 
pointed by  the  National  R^  Cross  Association,  Dr.  Lucy  M.  Hall, 
physician  and  professor  in  Vassar  College ;  Mr.  Theodore  Kruger, 
American  Vice  Consul  at  Kehl,  Germany,  and  Dr.  George  W. 


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1887  The  Red  Cross  Congress.  559 

Evans,  of  Paris,  known  for  his  excellent  humanitarian  work  in 
both  our  own  and  the  Franco-German  wars. 

There  were  present,  the  members  of  the  entire  International 
Committee  of  Geneva,  and  the  National  Committee  of  Germany. 

The  conference  was  opened  by  the  Minister  of  State  of  Baden. 
Count  de  Stolberg,  President  of  the  National  Society  of  Germany, 
was  dhosen  President  of  the  conference. 

Vice  presidents  and  secretaries  were  elected  from  the  various 
memberships.  America  had  the  honor  of  a  representation  on  this 
board.  Dr.  Hubl)ell  being  elected  to  a  seat. 

The  sessions  commenced  at  10  o'clock  each  day  with  an  after- 
noon session,  commencing  at  2  o'clock,  and  many  most  interesting 
exhibitions  were  somehow  interspersed,  all  indicative  of  the  won- 
derful progress  in  the  direction  of  humanity. 

The  Grand  Duke  and  Grand  Duchess  of  Baden,  our  royal  host 
and  hoitess,  were  in  constant  attendance  at  the  sessions.  There 
were  no  more  interested  nor  attentive  listeners. 

The  Emperor  of  Brazil,  who  was  a  guest  of  the  Grand  Duke,  lis- 
tened with  great  interest  to  the  debate,  and  examined  very  closely 
all  improvements  placed  upon  exhibition. 

The  questions  discussed  were  such  as  pertain  to  the  relation 
which  the  Red  Cross  bears  to  the  military,  viz.,  the  prevention  and 
relief  in  all  practical  ways  of  suffering  from  the  necessities  or 
barbarities  of  warfare. 

Naturally  a  conference  under  a  treaty  would  confine  itself  to 
the  limits  of  its  treaty,  but  this  did  not  prevent  the  most  intense 
interest  in  the  methods  pursued  by  ourselves,  under  our  constitu- 
tion, in  the  relief  of  national  calamities  outside  of  war,  and  in 
time  of  peace  [the  Mississippi  inundation,  etc.]  From  having 
doubted  its  practical  wisdom  at  first,  other  nations  have  come  to 
regard  it  as  not  only  an  acceptable  work,  but  worthy  of  all  imita- 
tion. To  be  known  as  a  member  of  the  Red  Cross  of  America  ia 
an  honor  in  a  foreign  country  to-day.  *  ♦  *  We  were  im- 
portuned for  a  descriptive  recital  of  the  civil  work  of  the  Red 
Cross  societies  of  America.  It  would  have  been,  as  you  will  well 
realize  far  too  voluminous,  if  properly  represented  to  be  given  in 
the  time  of  any  conference,  and  in  place  of  this,  the  promise  waa 
given,  to  write  it  in  detail  for  foreign  circulation.  This  remaina 
an  unfinished  part  of  the  conference. 

Another  unfinished  topic  is  a  prize  of  money  and  twelve  medals 
offered  by  Her  Majesty,  the  Empress  of  (Jermany,  for  the  best  in- 
side furnishing  of  a  transportable  field  Darrack.  The  specifications 
for  this  will  be  duly  made  and  sent  to  the  various  national  asso- 
ciations, and  it  will  be  our  pleasure  to  furnish  them  at  once  to  our 
associate  societies. 

With  every  confidence,  and  the  strongest  of  fraternal  feeling, 
1  remain  sincerely,  Clara  Barton^ 

CARLfiRUBB,  GBRM ANY,  Octolcer  15, 1887. 


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660  The  Medical  Advance.  Dea 

The  insignia  of  the  Association  has  no  sooner  become  a 
sign  of  honor  that  it  is  degraded  by  being  attached  to 
many  articles  as  a  trade  mark.  "Thus  we  are  met  by  Bed 
Cross  cigars,  Red  Cross  brandy,  Red  Cross  whisky,  Bed 
Cross  washing  machines,  Bed  Cross  churns.  Bed  Cross 
soap,  etc.,"  and  to  prevent  this  abuse  and  protect  the  sign 
from  such  use,  the  following  resolution  was  presented  by 
the  American  delegates  and  was  unanimously  adopted  : 

As  the  civized  nations  of  the  world  in  acceding  to  the  Treaty  of 
Geneva,  have  thereby  accepted  its  insignia  of  a  Red  Cross  on  a 
white  ground  as  an  international  sign  of  neutrality  and  humanity 
in  war,  we  deem  it  necessary  that  some  action  be  taken  by  each 
government  to  protect  this  sign  from  abuse  ;  therefore, 

Resoloed,  That  the  International  Conference  at  C  irisruhe,  rec- 
ommend that  each  national  delegation  earnestly  solicit  its  govern- 
ment to  adopt  such  measures  as  it  may  deem  most  suitable  for 
making  the  use  of  the  insignia  of  the  Red  Cross  of  the  convention 
of  Gtoneva  of  1864,  for  any  other  purpose  than  that  contemplated 
by  the  treaty,  an  offense  punishable  by  such  penalty  as  each  gov- 
ernment may  deem  appropriate. 

COMMENT  AND  CRITICISM. 


SKEPTICISM  OP  CONCEIT! 

A  member  of  the  American  Institute  of  Homoeopathy, 
at  the  session  of  1887,  says: 

*  *  *  *  **I  simply  refer  to  one  paper  that  was  read  on  the 
.suppression  of  eruptions.—that  wiis  what  especially  attracted  my 
attention.  I  can  say  honestly  that  I  do  not  believe  in  it,  because 
I  personally  have  seen  no  bad  results."  *  *  *.*  **I  still  maintain 
that  scabies  cannot  be  cured  except  by  external  applications,  and 
notwithstanding  all  that  I  have  heard  from  these  gentlemen 
present,  and  they  have  been  so  kind  as  to  think  that  they  could 
make  convincing  suggestions,  they  cannot  change  my  ideas  one 
iota." 

The  Transactions  of  the  Institute  for  1887  have  just  been 
received,  and  on  page  587  is  found  the  above  extract,  which 
appears  in  a  discussion  of  papers,  read  at  the  late  session, 
on  the  subject  of  *'  Infantile  Eczema."  And  certainly,  in 
that  discussion,  there  appears  no  more  remarkable  or  sur- 
prbing  statements  than  these  which  we  have  extracted. 


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1887  Skepticism  of  Conceit  561 

It  is  certainly  not  a  little  remarkable  that  oue  who  has 
seen  bo  much,  and  would  appear  in  his  public  discussions 
of  what  he  has  seen  as  if  he  knew  all  about  these  matters, 
has  "seen  no  bad  effects"  from  " suppressed  eruptions," 
when  the  world  is  really  so  full  of  them.  They  are  to  be 
seen  every  day  and  any  day  by  one  who  has  eyes  to  see 
what  is  before  him,  and  these  "bad* results"  are  often  not 
so  obscure  matters  as  not  to  be  recognized  readily  by  even 
observers  who  may  be  the  victims  of  amblyopia  of  no  more 
than  average  extent 

Here  is  one  instance  of  such  "  bad  results  "  from  "  ex- 
ternal application  "  to  an  eruption  on  the  scalp  of  a  child 
of  nine  years.  The  eruption  was  of  the  kind  which  in 
common  language  is  spoken  of  as  "  ringworm  of  the  scalp." 
The  application  was  bruised  leaves  of  the  black  walnut 
tree.  The  spot  on  the  head  denuded  of  hair,  with  small 
herpetic  vesicles  at  its  circumference,  was  described  to  me 
as  circular  and  of  the  size  of  a  half  dollar.  The  bruised 
leaves  were  laid  on  this  spot,  and  the  eruption  disappeared. 
The  hair  returned  as  it  was  before  the  appearance  of  the 
disease,  and  lo!  a  cui*6  which  might  greatly  please  and  sat- 
isfy old  physic  and,  perhaps,  even  this  member  of  the 
Institute,  who  has  never  "seen  bad  results"  from  external 
applications  to  skin  diseases. 

But  this  disappearance  of  the  eruption  and  the  reappear- 
ance of  the  hair  was  almost  immediately  followed  by  most 
violent  neuralgic  pains,  which  pierced  the  bodily  trunk  in 
all  its  parts.  They  were  so  violent  as  to  destroy  the  con- 
sciousness of  the  patient.  Her  motions  were  convulsive, 
and  her  moans,  which  were  constant,  were  mingled  with 
cries  to  her  attendants  not  to  allow  imaginary  beings  "  to 
thrust  those  knives  into  her."  This  is  but  a  weak  descrip- 
tion of  the  paroxysm  for  which  I  was  first  called  to  pre- 
scribe. She  had  had  many  such  before  I  saw  her.  They 
came  at  intervals  of  a  week  or  ten  days.  I  soon  relieved 
the  pains  of  this  paroxysm,  but  was,  after  the  usual  inter- 
val, called  again  to  a  similar  paroxysm,  and  then  to  a  third 
and  a  fourth,  and  the  relief  of  the  paroxysms  by  the  most 
similar  remedy  not  preventing  their  return,  led  to  enquiry 


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662  The  Medical  Advafice,  Dec. 

into  the  history  of  the  case,  when  the  facts  as  given  above 
oome  ont 

This  led  to  a  new  study  oC  the  case,  and  to  its  more  per- 
fect understanding.  I  was  fresh  from  the  study  of  the 
Organon,  and  was,  as  I  have  been  ever  since,  a  firm  be- 
liever in  the  truth  of  its  philosophy.  I  was  a  beginner  in 
practical  Homoeopathy*  but  I  recognized  the  suppressed 
eruption  as  the  cause  of  the  sufferings  I  had  relieved, 
but  had  not  been  able  to  prevent  their  return.  I  told  the 
parents  of  the  child  that  I  regarded  this  suppressed  erup- 
tion as  the  cause  of  their  child's  sufferings,  and  that  these 
paroxysms  would  return  and  torture  their  child  till  the 
eruption  was  brought  again  to  the  surface.  The  new  study 
of  the  case,  under  the  guidance  of  this  new  view  of  its 
nature,  brought  to  light  a  remedy  which  in  a  short  time 
reproduced  the  eruption  on  the  scalp,  with  intolerable 
itching.  This  was  now  cured  by  proper  specific  medica- 
tion, and  the  paroxysms  of  neuralgia  returned  no  more. 

At  the  end  of  this  cure  could  there  be  any  reasonable 
doubt  as  to  the  true  cause  of  these  paroxysms?  To  be 
sure,  they  were  not  seen  by  this  member  of  the  Institute, 
but  we  do  not  see  that  this  fact  affected  in  any  way  or 
degree  the  sufferings  or  history  of  the  case.  The  one  were 
as  great  and  the  other  as  true,  and  the  cure  was  as  com- 
plete and  was  effected  in  the  manner  related,  all  the  same 
as  if  this  member  had  seen  the  facts  of  the  case  twenty 
times.  These  were  facts  in  themselves,  their  existence 
depending  on  no  man's  observation  of  them.  But  this 
member  refuses  to  be  instructed  by  the  testimony  of  his 
fellow  members,  who  had  observation,  experience  and 
knowledge  of  the  matters  under  discussion,  and  he  gives 
this  very  remarkable  reason  for  his  refusal:  ^'Because  I 
personally  have  seeti  no  bad  resiiUs"  But  others  have, 
many  times  and  oft,  and  they  tell  him  so.  But  is  he 
grateful  to  them  for  their  contributions  to  his  defective 
knowledge?  Apparently  not  in  the  least,  for  he  tells  them 
to  their  faces  that  they  "  cannot  change  mtf  ideas  one  iota!  " 
This  would-be  oracle  must  have  been  feeding  on  some 
fitrange  meat  that  has  made  it  necessary  to  the  authority 


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1887  Skepticism  of  Conceit  568 

and  eLOoeptance  of  a  truth  that  it  should  first  have  been 
*'seen  by  him  personally"  It  is  not  very  obvious  how  his. 
vision  could  have  given  weight  or  importance  to  facts  more 
than  does  that  of  the  witnesses  whose  testimony  he  so 
offensively  and  foolishly  rejects.  He  must  be  of  less  im- 
I)ortance  in  the  world  of  medical  knowledge  than  he  sup- 
poses, and  it  is  certain  his  skepticism  as  to  the  matters 
under  discussion  is  of  just  no  importance  whatever.  He 
had  seen  nothing  of  the  "  bad  results  "  from  "  suppressed 
eruptions/'  and  therefore  he  knew  nothing  of  them,  and 
therefore  his  skepticism  is  not  of  the  least  consequence  to 
any  one  except  himself  and  his  patients.  The  ''gentlemen 
present"  who  would  make  to  him  ''convincing  sugges^ 
tions"  had  seen  these  results^  and  therefore  knew  some- 
thing of  them,  and  therefore  were  in  a  condition  to  be  his 
teachers,  but  unteachableness  is  evidently  a  large  element, 
^n  his  mental  make-up,  and  so  this  testimony  of  those  who 
had  seen,  and  did  know,  was  unable  "to  change  his  idecus 
one  iota.'*  Did  this  man  see,  when  in  refusing  the  testi- 
mony of  others  on  matters  of  which  he  confesses  complete 
Ignorance,  and  insists  on  his  personal  observation  of  facts 
before  he  will  accept  them,  how  very  narrow  and  small  he 
must  be  as  to  knowledge  of  many  and  most  important 
truths?  The  man  whose  conceit  of  himself  thus  limits  his 
pursuit  of  knowledge  to  matters  of  which  he  can  have  no 
personal  observation,  is  by  this  folly  doomed  to  dwarfed 
intellect  and  attainments  in  this  life.  His  living  example 
demonstrates  that  with  him  "  all  is  vanity." ' 

We  will  give  one  more  example  of  "  bad  results  "  follow- 
ing external  application  to  a  case  of  cutaneous  disease,  not 
as  a  "  convincing  suggestion  "  to  this  member,  whom  the 
skepticism  of  conceit  has  evidently  carried  away  beyond  all 
hope  of  relief  from  facts  unless  he  has  "seen"  them 
"himself,  personally,"  and  from  all  logical  perception  of 
their  relations  and  consequences,  except  as  they  may  have 
passed  under  the  shadow  of  his  omniscient  observation. 
We  think  the  case  may  be  instructive  to  some  who  may  be 
less  unfortunately  constituted. 

The  sufferer  was  my  own  son.     It  was  during  my  ab- 


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664  The  Medical  Advance.  Deo. 

sence  from  the  country,  and  in  his  first  college  year,  that 
he  contracted  what  my  substitute,  in  my  absence,  called 
scabies.  And,  apparently,  with  as  little  fear  of  "bad 
results  '*  as  this  member  of  the  Institute,  or  any  other  un- 
instructed  man,  he  proceeded  to  treat  this  eruption  with  a 
plentiful  supply  of  sulphur  ointment,  well  rubbed  in.  The 
eruption  disappeared,  and  behold  a  cure  of  the  disease — 
but  what  of  the  boy?  It  was  a  notable  example  of  that 
practice  which  "  treats  the  disease  and  not  the  patient,'' 
though  this  often,  as  in  this  case,  is  fearfully  at  the  pa- 
tient's  expense.  The  disease  was  cured,  according  to  the 
traditions  of  old  physic,  but  the  young  man,  heretofore  an 
example  of  young  health  and  vigor,  such  as  rejoices  all 
friends,  had  never  been  sick,  except  as  he  passed  through 
his  experiences  of  measles,  whooping-cough,  etc. — the  al- 
most necessary  accompaniments  of  young  life — but  now  he 
emaciated,  had  embarrassed  breathing,  with  violent  cough, 
with  expectoration,  loss  of  strength  (he  had,  before  this 
blundering  crime,  been  counted  as  the  second  best  gymnast 
in  his  college).  His  mental  powers  followed  the  decay  of 
his  physical,  and  it  became  necessary  to  take  him  from  his 
studies,  which  he  was  able  to  resume  only  after  a  year  of 
sick-suffering,  which  was  finally  conquered  and  his  health 
restored  by  a  twelve-month  of  carefully  considered  anti- 
psoric  treatment  Perhaps  this  character  of  the  treatment 
may  be  worth  remembering  as  indicative  of  the  nature  of 
the  cause  of  the  sickness,  and  the  perfect  cure,  as  witness- 
ing to  the  wisdom  of  the  choice  of  the  remedies  which 
effected  this,  and  to  the  truth  of  the  psoric  nature  of  dis- 
ease, first  taught  us  by  Hahnemann.  This  young  man  has 
enjoyed  uninterrupted  good  health  since  this  cure,  which 
was  effected  in  the  year  1859. 

But  this  member,  while  thus  exhibiting  so  unexampled 
conceit  in  refusing  to  listen  to  those  who  knew  what  he 
confesses  he  did  not,  and  were  thus  qualified  to  be  his 
teachers,  goes  beyond  this  refusal  of  beUef  in  their  testi- 
mony, and  thus  declares  the  impossible — 

"  I  stili  maintain  that  scabies  cannot  be  cured  except  by  exter- 
nal applications.** 


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1887  ''Dynamization  or  Materialization.''  566 

In  this  a^Bertion  he  only  gives  unneeded,  but  additional, 
evidence  that  he  is  not  an  omniscient  after  all.  We  as 
confidently  affirm  that  scabies  can  be,  and  has  been,  cured 
by  the  internal  administration  of  the  most  similar  remedy, 
without  help  or  hinderance  from  any  "  external  applica- 
tion "  whatever.  We  affirm  this  because  toe  have  seen  such 
cures.  More  than  this,  we  have  made  such  cures  ourself, 
and  know  the  truth  of  what  we  affirm.  We  are  unmindfiil 
of  the  dodge  of  frequent  resort,  by  a  class  of  doctors  who, 
when  brought  face  to  face  with  facts  which  disprove  their 
favorite  notions  or  positive  affirmations.  They  deny  the 
correctness  of  the  diagnosis,  where  results  of  treatment 
have  demonstrated  the  falsehood  of  their  notions  or  affir- 
mations. It  does  not  matter  at  all  to  these  men  who  thus 
defame  the  intelligence  of  their  peers,  that  they  themselves 
know  absolutely  nothing  of  the  cases  they  thus  judge. 
Their  decision — "  wrong  diagnosis  " — is  none  the  less  pos- 
itive  for  this  reason.  Indeed  in  some  cases,  notably  in  one 
by  this  skeptical  member  of  the  Institute,  it  seemed  only 
to  be  more  so.  Knowing  nothing  of  the  case  they  know 
nothing  of  objections  to  their  creeping  out  of  their  diffi- 
culty into  which  facts  have  brought  them  through  this 
small  hole — "false  diagnosis."  And  so  they  creep  and 
seem  satisfied.  They  seem  fully  impressed  with  the  con- 
sciousness of  a  monopoly  of  diagnostic  knowledge,  and 
this  even  when  they  have  given  no  evidence  to  others  of 
superiority  to  their  neighbors  in  this  depai*tment  of  knowl- 
edge. The  peculiarity  in  their  case  is  only  in  the  falsity 
of  their  decisions  without  knowledge.  The  worthlessness 
of  such  decisions  the  skepticism  of  conceit  effectually  ex- 
cludes from  their  view. 

*DYNAMIZATION  OR  MATERIALIZATION;' 


Editor  Advance. — I  have  received  a  document  with  the 
above  caption  which  was  "  presented  to  the  Massachusetts 
Homoeopathic  Medical  Society,"  a  **  Beprint  from  the  New 
England  Medical  Qazette^  It  is  from  the  pen  of  J.  P. 
Sutherland,  M.  D.,  editor  of  said  Gazette.     The  writer 


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566  The  Medical  Advance.  Dec. 

does  me  the  honor  of  paying  especial  attentiou  to  an  arti- 
cle of  mine  which  appeared  in  the  Advance  for  January, 
1887.  It  is  very  gentlemanly  and  on  the  whole  fair,  but  it 
errs  a  little  in  placing  me  in  a  ''faction"  which  looks  upon 
dynamization  "  as  a  sacred  shibboleth."  I  was  really  doing 
nothing  more  than  trying  to  show  the  doctrine  of  the 
Organon  with  some  recently  developed  scientific  principl^i. 
rendering  the  doctrine  scientifically  possible,  which  at. 
least  look  that  way,  and  which,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  in 
Hahnemann's  day  these  principles  were  mostly  unknown, 
indicated  a  sagacity  little  short  of  inspiration.  For  this, 
it  seems,  I  am  called  a  ''devout  modern  commentator.*' 
If  I  seem  that  way  to  the  writer  of  the  article  referred  to 
I  shall  not  quarrel  with  him  on  that  account  I  will  ven- 
ture also  to  say  a  little  more  on  the  subject  of  dynamiza- 
tion and  materialism,  or  the  transmission  of  substantial 
power  from  one  body  to  another  without  any  material  con- 
nection as  far  as  "  science  "  can  discover. 

Perhaps  the  most  tangible  illustration  is  the  induction 
of  electricity.  Its  sudden  presence  in  one  medium  or  con- 
ductor from  its  generator  appears  in  another  medium 
which  is  not  connected  with  a  generator  at  all,  and  which 
has  no  connection  with  the  primary  medium  on  which  it 
depends, — must  not  touch  it,  indeed;  there  must  be  a  non- 
conductor between,  the  more  perfect  the  better.  Nor  is  it 
essential  that  these  two  media  shall  be  just  alika  The 
first  medium  may  be  copper;  the  second  may  be  iron;  or 
it  may  be  steel,  and  in  this  case  the  electric  force  will 
remain  after  it  departs  permanently  from  the  primary 
medium,  long  after  the  generator  stops  working.  May  not 
a  drug  force  be  transferred  on  a  similar  principle  and 
remain  after  the  primary  drug  is  dissipated  and  gone?  I 
do  not  say  it  does,  but  do  say  that  science  has  not  dis- 
proved it,  but  on  the  contrary  rather  favors  ii  The  only 
way  to  know  is  to  try  it  and  see. 

Is  there  drug  force  left  after  "science"  declares  that  the 
original  drug  is  all  gone?  Is  it  tangible?  Can  we  feel  it. 
without  knowing  what  to  look  for?  Can  persons  ordina- 
rily do  so?    Can  they  select  the  medicines. which  contain  it 


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1887  "Dynamizaiion  or  Materinltzation."'  567* 

when  mixed  with  blanks?  Nothing  short  of  all  this,  in 
view  of  the  power  of  mind  apon  the  body,  can  establish 
the  doctrine.  The  rules  ought  to  be  fully  as  rigid  here  as 
in  the  proving  of  crude  drugs.  It  will  not  do  for  a  person 
to  take  them  and  then  record  every  abnormal  sensation  for 
days,  weeks  or  months. 

We  jare  told,  in  the  article  of  Dr.  S.,  that  the  dynamic 
^'faction"  of  the  medical  profession  ^'scoffs  at  the  revela- 
tions of  the  microscope,  chemical  re-action,  and  other 
tests  "  of  natural  science  by  which  discoveries  are  accepted 
or  rejected.  Really!  What  "revelations  of  the  micro- 
scope," or  "  chemical  reaction,"  ever  discovered  or  estab- 
lished induced  electricity? 

We  are  told  again  that  the  "  materialistic  mind,"  that  is, 
the  scientific  mind,  concludes  that  "  the  potential  medicinal 
force  of  a  drug  dose  is  in  proportion  to  the  number  of 
medicinal  atoms  it  contains."  Who  is  theorizing  beyond 
science  now?  When  did  science  discover  atoms?  The 
whole  atomic  theory  is  a  mere  hypothesis.  It  has  never 
been  proved  by  science  or  by  anything  else.  It  is  a  bare 
supposition,  resting  mainly  on  the  fact  that  chemical  ele- 
ments combine  according  to  certain  corresponding  weights. 
Atoms  or  even  molecules  have  never  been  discovered.  "  No 
glass  can  reach,  no  science  can  define  "  them. 

Nor  can  science  prove  that  all  force  is  not  dynamic, 
something  spiritual  or  "spirit-like,"  acting  into  or  through 
material  substance,  capable  of  changing  or  being  trans- 
ferred from  one  form  to  another.  The  statement  that 
drug-power  "  resides  in  drug-matter  and  can  no  more  be 
useful  on  this  earth  when  separated  from  it,  than  may  be 
the  vital  forces  or  the  soul  of  man  when  disembodied,"  is 
an  evasion  or  misstatement  of  the  dynamic  doctrine. 
There  is  no  claim  that  drug-force  is  separated  from  drug- 
matter.  There  is  a  material  drug-medium  still  in  which 
the  force  resides,  no  matter  what  the  potency  or  attenua- 
tion may  be.  If  none  of  the  original  is  left,  there  is  yet 
something  in  place  of  it  There  is  no  "dematerialized 
medicine  "  about  it 

Need  I  repeat  that  I  have  not  undertaken  to  prove  dy- 


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668  The  Medical  Advance.  Deo. 

namizatioD  from  science  or  in  any  other  way?  Have  merely 
attempted  to  show  what  it  is  as  one  of  the  fundamentals 
of  the  Organon,  and  that  it  does  not  conflict  with  science, 
by  the  agency  of  which  its  enemies  undertake  to  overthrow 
it  It  may  or  may  not  be  true,  as  far  as  science  is  con- 
cerned. Science  cannot  touch  it  as  yet;  it  is  out  of  her 
reach.  I  have  been  careful  not  to  say  whether  I  believe  it 
or  not,  for  the  reason  that  my  opinion  would  amount  to 
nothing  as  evidence.  Nor  do  I  rely  upon  any  other  man's 
opinion,  not  even  that  of  Hahnemann,  on  this  or  any  other 
point  If  I  cannot  see  a  thing  to  be  true  when  fairly  pre- 
sented, it  is  no  truth  to  me.  This  is  why  I  have  tried  to 
show  what  the  Organon  teaches,  that  whoever  reads  may 
judge  for  himself,  as  I  think  every  person  ought  to  do. 

Lewis  Babnes,  M.  D. 

Dkla  WARE,  Ohio.  ^_ 

AN  EXPLANATION-NOT  AN  APOLOGY. 


Editor  Advance, — My  attention  was  called  to  "Dr.  T.  F. 
Allen's  Views  upon  Homoeopathic  Practice  "  in  the  Novem- 
ber issue  of  The  Homoeopathic  Physician,  and  "I  am 
happy,"  (as  he  says  Ae  is)  to  be  able  to  congratulate  him 
as  being  the  author  of  as  fuliginous  a  lucus  a  non  lucenda 
as  can  be  found  in  our  literature. 

With  your  permission,  I  will  deal  with  this  effort  of  his 
on  another  occasion  ;  for  "  it  will  give  me  pleasure  to  de- 
fend my  opinions  against  all — fight  as  they  may.  Perhaps 
I  may  be  able  to  show  Dr.  Allen  that  "  opinions "  which 
rest  on  truth  and  are  buttressed  by  convictions  are  not  to 
be  blown  away  by  the  imputation  of  "  unworthy  notices ; " 
that  an  "epithet"  may  "offend"  simply  because  of  ita 
very  truth  :  whether  or  not  I  shall  "fight  fair,"  he  is  not 
the  one  to  decide — nor  is  a  "packed  jury"  of  renegade 
"  Homoeopaths." 

On  this  occasion,  I  wish  to  reach  across  the  broad  Atlan- 
tic and  button-hole  "  Richard  Hughes,  M.  D.,  Brighton,^ 
England. 

I  have  not  seen  Dr.  Taber's  "  criticisms,"  but  have  read 
the  reply  of  Dr.  Hughes,  and  finding  myself  published  aa 


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1887  An  Explanation — Not  an  Apology.  569 

one  who  withheld  certain  ''provings"  from  the  editor  of 
the  CyclopoediOf  I  incontinently  "  rise  to  explain.** 

That  MS.  was  twice  written  for  by  Dr.  Haghes,  and  one 
J.  P.  Dake,  M.  D.,  made  an  endeavor  (sinuons  and  sug- 
gestive of  the  snake)  to  obtain  it  by  applying,  not  to  me, 
its  lawful  custodian — but  to  the  late  Dr.  E.  A.  Lodge.  To 
Dr.  Hughes  my  only  reply  was  a  significant  silence  ;  for 
Dr.  Dake  my  only  reply  is  a  contempt  that  I  have  not  the 
cunning  to  conceal.* 

To  the  profession  that  has  had  the  best  days  of  my  poor 
life  I  owe  not  an  appology  but  an  explanation,  and  here  it 
is  :— 

1.  I  have  ample  evidence  that  Dr.  Hughes  ilid  not  com- 
prehend Picric  acid  out  of  the  Cyolopcedia^  and  I  had  no 
shadow  of  reason  to  expect  that  he  could  put  it  intelligent- 
ly "  in  the  Cyolopoedia.^  Why  then  should  I  give  him  my 
MS.  to  "monkey  with?'* 

2.  I  knew  bom  personal  experience  that  Dr.  Hughes  in 
his  editorial  capacity  could  misrepresent  one,  and  then 
refuse  to  publish  a  reply  that  convicted  him  of  ignorance. 
With  such  an  editor  one  such  experience  suffices. 

3.  Knowing  the  Cyclopedia  to  be  subversive  of  the  only 
therapeutic  art  that  does  not  veer  with  every  changing  wind 
of  doctrine,  I  would  not  aid  and  abet  it  in  any  instance. 

4  I  have  known  homoeopathic  physicians  who  are  now 
in  the  lumen  siccum  of  eternity ;  I  know  their  probity,  I 
know  their  practice,  I  know  their  puissance,  and  I  have 
not  forgotten  their  convictions.  I  am  able  to  measure  all 
manner  of  Hugheses  and  Dakes  by  these  dead  Anakims, 
and  loyalty  to  the  dead  so  fills  me  that  there  is  left  for  the 
Cyclopoedia  only  a  righteous  curse.    I  loan  MS.  to  it ! 

This  is  all  the  explanation  I  have  to  offer ;  it  rests  on. 
''  my  opinions  "  of  certain  facts  and  phenomena ;  I  have  no 
fear  for  the  fate  of  these  opinions  so  long  as  a  copy  of  the 
Cyclopoedia  is  left  to  accuse  them. 

Perhaps  Dr.  Hughes  is  pardonable  for  such  errors  in 
Picric  acid  as  have  been  pointed  out    Not  having  the  MS. 

•  It  should  be  stated  that  this  contempt  is  for  the  object  of  tt  as  aa  authorltj 
Id,  and  an  editor  of  a.  Materia  Medica. 


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.670  The  Medioal  Advance.  Dea 

how  oonld  he  avoid  them  ?  Bat,  in  his  defense,  Dr.. 
Hughes  inadvertently  reveals  the  spirit  that  instigated  the 
Cyclopaedia,  He  admits  that  he  '^reconstructs''  the  patho- 
geneses. That  is,  in  unequivocal  English,  he  gives  the  path- 
ogeneses not  as  they  are,  but  as  Dr,  Hughes  fancies  they 
should  be.  This  is  the  curse  that  kills  the  Cyclopocdiaj 
and  debases  those  who  uphold  it ;  this  is  the  diabolus  ex 
machina  that  is  doing  for  Homoeopathy  that  which  all  the 
malignity  of  the  Old  School  could  never  accomplish. 

Dr.  Hughes  has  access  to  some  of  the  finest  libraries, 
and  Dr.  Hughes  has  acquired  the  scholar's  knack  of  using 
the  scholar's  tools — would  to  God  that  he  had  spent  his 
strength  in  correcting  the  textual  errors  that  weaken  our 
confidence  in  Allen's  "-BncjcZoprrdio." 

*'  Reconstruct "  pathogeneses  !  any  mere  novelist  can  do 
such  fancy  work — and  yet  a  scholar  stoops  to  such  employ — 
oh,  the  pity  of  it !  S.  A.  Jones. 

•VALUE  OF  CHARACTERISTICS.*' 


Editor  Advance. — I  was  much  impressed  by  this  article 
in  the  November  issue. 

Dr.  B.  LeB.  Baylies,  no  doubt  wishes  to  do  what  is  right 
as  far  as  he  knows,  and  to  warn  novices  against  imminent 
danger.  Pope  says:  ''He  who  smarts  has  reason  to  com- 
plain." In  this  case  I  am  one  of  the  injured  novices,  hence 
I  complain.  I  am  not  an  old  practitioner  by  any  means, 
or  perhaps  I  should  not  be  a  novice,  but  I  have  been  taught, 
ever  since  my  birth  as  a  homoeopathic  doctor,  the  value  of 
"  key-notes  "  as  guides  to  the  selection  of  the  remedy.  This 
method  I  have  rigidly  followed  and  with  excellent  results 
and  find  that  the  more  closely  I  adhere  to  it,  the  less  liable 
I  am  to  alternate. 

The  last  paragraph  of  Dr.  Baylies'  article  reads  as  fol- 
lows: "  The  only  means,  therefore,  of  ascertaining  the  hom- 
ceopathic  and  curative  remedy,  is  not  to  search  for  the  '  key- 
notes,' but  the  study  and  comparison  of  all  the  symptoms.** 
I  would  like  to  ask  any  practitioner,  who  has  any  business 
at  all,  if  this  is  practical. 


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1887  ''Value  of  Characteristics:'  571 

The  late  Dr.  Henry  N.  Guernsey,  in  his  Obstetrics,  page 
292,  says:  ''  And  yet  the  totality  of  the  symptoms  will  often 
be  indexed  by  the  characteristic  symptom  on  the  side  of 
the  patient  and  by  the  corresponding  '  key-note'  on  the  side 
of  the  remedy." 

How  many  single  repertories  have  we,  or  how  many  col- 
lective repertories  are  there  in  our  list  whose  covers  enclose 
the  multitude,  of  remedies  and  symptoms,  which  is  con- 
tained in  our  (homoeopathic)  literature  and  how  many 
physicians,  destitute  of  these  repertories,  have  memory 
enough  to  retain  all  the  symptoms  of,  not  850  remedies 
but,  simply  six  ?  (Take  Aconite,  Calcarea  or  Sulphur,  for 
instance).  Don't  you  believe  that  a  man  is  better  off,  who 
has  memorised  the  "key-notes"  of  all  our  remedies,  together 
with  as  many  of  the  more  important  symptoms  as  he  can 
thoroughly  master,  th|ui  the  one  who  tries  to  remember  all 
the  symptoms,  good  or  bad,  of  the  six  remedies? 

Why  did  Dr.  Allen  in  his  masterly  monograph  on  Inter- 
mittent Fever,  and  Dr.  J.  B.  Bell,  to  whom  the  blessings  of 
thousands  are  due,  in  his  corner-stone  monograph,  mark 
the  "key-notes"  in  heavy  types  and  impress  and  call  the  pre- 
scriber's  attention  to  them  if  they  were  of  no  more  value 
than  any  other  symptom? 

I  do  not  approve  of  prescribing  for  the  single  symptom, 
but  as  these  three  cases  recently  came  under  my  notice  I 
will  relate  them. 

Case  I. — A  child,  set  two  years:  this  child,  was  to  h\l  ap- 
pearances well,  complained  of  nothing,  except  that  when 
asleep  the  head  (especially  the  back  of  the  head)  would 
sweat  so  as  to  wet  the  pillow  through.  This  is  a  charac- 
teristic symptom  of  great  value,  and  the  only  one  present 
and  was  cured  by  Calcarea  6x,  four  doses. 

Case  XL — A  girl,  fourteen  years  old,  felt  well  in  every 
respect,  except  that  she  was  dizzy  when  going  down  stairs. 
Single  symptom,  but  a  characteristic  of  great  value.  Borax 
6x  cured. 

Case  III. — A  man,  set  26,  nervous-bilious  temperament, 
well  built  Could  only  elicit  that  he  was  very  thirsty  and 
drank  little  but  often.    All  his  food  and  drink  was  ejected 


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672  The  Medical  Advance.  Dea 

as  soon  as  it  reached  the  stomach.    Arsenicmn  6x  cored. 

Case  IY.— Not  long  ago  I  was  called  to  ti  case  of  measles 
in  a  child  two  years  old.  I  could  learn  nothing  satisfactory 
from  its  parents.  The  rash  was  sappressed,  or  rather  had 
receded  and  attacked  the  chest  and  was  making  rapidly  to 
the  brain.  The  mother  laid  the  child  down,  and  as  she 
did  so,  it  clung  to  her  as  for  life  and  screamed  fearfully.  I 
noticed  this  and  prescribed  Borax  6x  and  saved  a  life 
which,  had  this  characteristic  symptom  escaped  my  notice, 
might  otherwise  have  been  lost 

Perhaps  it  would  be  better  for  wiser  folks  to  look  a  little 
more  to  the  practical  ^'key-notes*'  of  our  remedies.  If  so, 
they  might  learn  what  end  these  novices  are  trying  to  gain. 
These  "  key-notes,*'  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten,  are  the  only 
symptoms  that  decide  our  choice  as  to  the  single  remedy. 
If  this  be  so,  then  they  are  of  the  greatest  importance  to  a 
Homoeopath  and  a  novice. 

Alfred  Pulfobd. 

AK80NI  A,  Conk.,  Nov.  21, 1887. 

"TOPICAL  APPLICATIONS  TO  THE  ENDOMETRIUM." 


Editor  AdtYi/ice.— Perhaps  your  readers  in  Michigan  may  be  in- 
terested in  knowing  that  Prof.  Porter,  our  new  teacher  of  Gyne- 
cology, has  given  complete  satisfaction— in  fact,  has  captured  the 
class  and  I  imagine, surprised  himself.  He  lectures  without  notes 
and  is  as  cool  as  an  old  stager.  The  following  is  an  extract  from 
his  lecture  on: 

Applications  to  the  Cavity  of  the  Uterus,—^*  There  is  no  method 
of  treatment  to  the  uterus  more  susceptible  of  abuse  and  no  treat- 
ment less  efficacious  than  the  so-called  *' topical  applications  **  to 
the  endometrium.  From  the  time  of  Simpson,  with  his  fuming 
Nitric  acid  and  the  solid  stick  of  caustic,  down  to  that  noble  pio- 
neer in  modem  gynecology,  Emmett,  there  has  been  a  growing  de- 
mand for  less  heroic  treatment  of  that  organ,  now  so  ruthlessly 
assailed  by  man,  for  all  ailments  woman  is  heir  to.  Would  that 
some  of  the  teachers  in  our  own  colleges  could  pattern  after  this 
progressive  Allopath  and  strike  from  their  list  such  methods  of 
treatment  as  are  now  declared  by  the  dominant  school,  as  almost^ 
if  not  entirely  obsolete.  Yes  gentlemen,  we  have  much  to  learn  in 
the  field  of  gynecology  from  our  neighbors  on  this  vital  question 
of  topical  applications  to  the  uterus.  The  subject  to^lay  is  at  best 
but  a  chaotic  mass  and  it  must  be  one  of  our  duties  before  the 


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1887  Topical  Applications.  573 

session  is  over  to  sift  out  the  grain  from  the  chaff.  There  is  no 
branch  of  gynecology  I  dread  more  to  approach  than  the  one 
which  we  shall  consider  this  morning  and  if  my  teaching  should 
be  in  error,  attribute  it  to  my  anxiety  to  present,  what,  I,  in  my 
own  experience  have  found  most  beneficial.  It  shall  be  my  aim  to 
ocfiupy,  as  \^early  as  possible,  a  conservative  position  between  that 
taken  by  som»  of  my  colleagues  in  other  cities  and  the  one  adopted 
by  the  majority.  The  former  excluding  all  physical  examinations 
and  local  treatment,  and  adhering  to  the  dynamic  theory  of  the 
action  of  drugs;  and  the  latter— to  the  other  extreme— relying  al- 
together too  much  upon  the  empirical  method  now  so  universal  in 
the  treatment  of  these  diseases,  in  the  curative  effect  of  remedies 
from  a  physiological  stand-point.  There  must  be  a  middle  position 
between  these  two  extremes  for  us  to  occupy  and  now  let  us  care- 
fully search,  as  we  progress  in  our  winter's  work,  for  this  happy 
medium  and  avoid  cultivating  bigotry  and  egotism  in  a  fleld  of 
study,  of  which  there  is  no  peer  in  the  practice  of  medicine."    x. 

When  the  Professor  teaches  that,  "there  most  be  a 
middle  position  between  these  two  extremes,"  we  must 
take  issae  with  hioL  There  is  no  "  middle  position  "  be- 
tween right  and  wrong,  the  true  and  the  false,  law  and 
anarchy,  science  and  empiricism.  It  is  true,  many  of  our 
homoeopathic  brethren  are  at  present  trying  to  accomplish 
the  difficnlt  feat  ot  riding  two  horses,  going  in  opposite 
directions,  at  the  same  time.  Bat  their  success  is  not  bril- 
liant It  is  a  thankless  task,  however,  to  attempt  to  mix 
oil  and  water;  to  endeavor  to  practice  both  systems  at  the 
same  time.  The  process  is  slow;  the  result  donbtfoL 
Get  off  the  fence,  Professor,  and  teach  Homoeopathy 
pure  and  simple.  Pulte  is  a  homoeopathic  college.  We 
need  her  gradaates  to  culd  strength  to  our  school;  bat 
to  strengthen  the  school  they  mast  practice  Homoeop- 
athy, noi  Eclecticism;  we  have  more  than  enough  of  the 
latter  already.  It  mast  not  be  said  of  them  as  Beecher 
said  of  his  Diacons:  "every  one  added  made  it  a  point  to 
get  on  his  left  hand  side  and  thus  make  him  a  smaller 
decimal" 

Errata.— In  our  report  of  case  of  sunstroke  we  unfortunately 
located  Dr.  Nelson  In  *•  Carson  City,"  instead  of  Canon  City  ;  also 
on  the  morning  of  August  19,  when  the  pulse  suddenly  ran  up  to 
78  at  5  A.  M.,  it  fell  by  8  A.  m.  to  48;  report  made  him  say,  "  pulse 
fell  to  78." 


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674  The  Medical  Advance.  Deo. 

EDITORIAL. 


**Wb«i  we  h*Te  to  do  wltb  an  an  whose  end  to  Ihe  MTlnc  of  homan  lift,  any  negleot  to 
make  oonelvee  thorongbly  masters  of  It  becomes  a  crime."— HAHicxifAirir. 


"Phosphorus  in  the  Treatment  op  Rachitis." — This 
is  one  of  the  ponderous  questions  in  modem  therapeutics 
with  which,  for  the  last  few  years,  the  shining  lights  of  the 
dominant  school  haye  been  wrestling.  To  say  that  the  re- 
sults have  been  as  unsatisfactory  and  contradicting  as  such 
clinical  experiments — in  every  attempt  to  treat  thenlisease 
instead  of  the  patient— must  always  be,  is  to  state  a  truism 
familiar  to  erery  true  follower  of  Hahnemann.  Appar- 
ently it  is  impossible  for  our  allopathic  friends  to  see  that 
one  key  will  not  fit  every  lock,  that  one  hat  will  not  fit  every 
head,  or  that  any  man  cannot  sit  for  your  photograph. 
Their  practice  is  founded  on  error;  it  overlooks  the  indi- 
viduality of  the  patient,  and  can  never  have  any  but  un- 
scientific and  unsuccessful  results.  The  Medical  Record 
of  Oct  15,  thus  rei)orts: 

It  is  now  about  four  yean  since  Kassowitz  j>ublished  his  first 
report,  noticed  in  these  columns  at  the  time,  of  cases  of  rickets 
treated  by  the  exhibition  of  phosphorus  in  small  doses  in  solution 
in  cod-liver  oil.  This  report  was  of  the  most  encouraging  nature, 
and,  allowance  being  made  for  the  enthusiasm  of  the  writer,  was 
apparently  so  conclusive  of  the  value  of  this  remedy  as  to  lead 
many  others  to  give  it  a  trial  in  their  private  and  hospital  prac- 
tice. The  medical  journals  since  that  time  have  been  filled  with 
the  reports  of  these  experiments,  and  with  the  more  or  less  con- 
flicting opinions  as  to  the  efficacy  of  the  drug  in  this  disease. 

One  of  the  first  to  adopt  this  treatment  was  Guidi,  of  Florence, 
who  reported  a  number  of  cases  in  which  excellent  results  were 
obtained  by  the  employment  of  phosphorus.  Alter  him  cameSigel, 
Boas,  Betz,  Escherich,  Hagenbacb,  Soltmann,  Toeplitz,  and  many 
others,  all  of  whom  were  loud  in  their  praises  of  this  mode 
of  treatment.  Petersen,  of  Kiel,  reported  upward  of  two  hundred 
cases  of  rachitis  treated  with  phosphorus.  The  cases  were  fol- 
lowed up  for  a  long  time  by  means  of  personal  observations  and 
corr««pondence  with  the  parents,  and  in  none  of  them  did  he  faU 
to  obtain  a  cure  of  the  malady.  Canali,  of  Parma,  has  also  treated 
a  number  of  cases  after  this  plan  with  almost  uniformly  good  re- 
sults. The  results  obtained  by  these  observers  were  very  striking 
There  was  a  marked  improvement  in  the  general  condition  of  the 


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1887  Editorial  575 

children;  the  diarrhoea  was  in  many  cases  speedily  checked,  denti- 
tion was  accelerated,  the  attacks  of  laryngismus  stridulus  became 
less  frequent,  and  soon  ceased  entirely,  the  bones  became  firm,  and 
the  patients  were  soon  enabled  to  stand  erect  and  walk,  where  be- 
fore their  weakened  limbs  had  refused  to  support  them. 

All  the  reports,  however,  are  not  of  this  favorable  nature. 
Weiss,  Monti,  Baginsky,  Torday,  Schwechten  and  others  have' re- 
ported negative  results,  and  even  injurious  effects  from  the  em- 
ployment of  phosphorus  in  rickets.  The  unfavorable  symptoms 
said  to  be  caused  by  the  administration  of  this  drug  are  chiefly 
diarrhoea  and  digestive  troubles.  The  weight  of  evidence,  how- 
ever, is  thus  far  strongly  on  the  side  of  the  advocates  of  phos- 
phorus. 

«  «  ♦ 

But  experiments  of  a  similar  character  are  not  confined 
to  our  all-wise  brethren  of  the  allopathic  school.  Was  not 
Dr.  Fleischman's  attempt,  in  the  Vienna  hospital,  to  cure 
all  cases  of  pneumonia  with  Phosphorus,  of  a  similar  char- 
acter? Did  not  Dr.  Dittmann,  of  St.  Peter sborgh,  recently 
request  a  hospital  ward  set  apart  for  him,  where  he  oould 
treat  diphtheria  with  Mercorius  cyanatus  30th?  The  fol- 
lowing mercurial  treatment  of  gonorrhoea  advocated  by 
Dr.  T.  F.  Allen,  is  none  the  less  to  be  deprecated  beoaose 
practised  by  the  Prof,  of  Materia  Medica  and  Dean  of  a 
homoeopathic  college.  The  name  does  not  affect  the  thing; 
the  experiment  is  none  the  less  misleading,  none  the  less 
devoid  of  law  because  taught  by  a  homoeopathic  teacher: 

He  who  in  these  days  will  not  wash  out  with  distilled  water 
and  one  five-thousandth  of  a  grain  of  corrosive  Mercury  a  fresh 
case  of  gonorrhoea  and  cure  his  erring  brother  in  twenty-four  to 
forty-eight  hours,  must  give  up  the  treatment  of  such  diseases* 
The  fact  that  one  in  a  hundred  gets  an  orcliitis  or  rheumatism 
shows  rather  that  the  water  was  too  cold  than  that  the  cleaning 
out  of  a  poison  which  is  unclean  and  purely  local  caused  a  sup- 
pression of  sycosis  or  any  other  -osis.  But  we  do  not  know  much 
about  these  poisons  which  get  into  us  and  ferment  in  our  blood 
and  tissues  when  we  are  below  par.  What  I  think  is  that,  unlesa 
we  know  definitely  all  about  it  the  best  plan  is  to  treat  our  patients 
carefully  and  homoeopathically,  but  when  we  do  know  somethings 
about  it,  expel  the  intruder  first. 

Are  not  our  journals  filled  with  similar  trash?  Because 
diseases  are  treated  by  professed  Homoeopaths  with  homoe* 
opathio  remedies,  even  in  the  30  and  200  i)otenoie8,  the 


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676  The  Medical  Advance.  Dec. 

practice  is  not  less  empirical  or  unscientific.  This  is  the 
kind  of  Homoeopathy  which  Phillips,  Ringer  and  Bronton 
are  accused  of  pilfering;  but  it  will  do  them  little  good. 
They  have  only  stoUen  the  shadow;  the  substance— the  in- 
dividualization of  Hahnemann,  the  secret  of  true  homoeo- 
pathic practice — they  have  not  yet  seen,  have   not  yet 

learned  to  use. 

«         *         « 

Phosphorus,  it  is  true,  will  cure  many  patients  suffering 
from  rachitic  But  so  will  Calcarea,  Iodine,  Mercury,  Si- 
licea,  Sulphur,  Theridion,  and  many  other  remedies,  and  if 
our  allopathic  brethren  will  only  learn  how  to  apply  each 
individual  remedy  to  the  sick  patient,  these  mortifying  con- 
fessions would  not  have  to  be  made.  That  Phosphorus 
does  not  cure  every  case  of  Bachitis,  is  neither  the  fault  of 
Phosphorus  nor  of  its  preparation,  but  of  the  doctor  who 
does  not  know  how  to  apply  it.  It  can  only  cure  patients 
to  whom  it  is  adapted  by  the  correspondence  of  symptoms, 
and  this  adaptation  can  only  be  learned  in  one  way,  viz., 
by  a  comparison  of  the  symptoms  of  the  patient  with  the 
recorded  symptoms  of  the  remedy.  What  an  amount  of 
guessing  would  be  avoided,  of  time  saved,  of  mortif3ring 
failures  confessed,  to  say  nothing  of  lives  sacrificed  if  our 
friends  would  be  guided  by  law,  in  therapeutics,  as  in 

chemistry. 

*         *         * 

An  explanation  of  the  want  of  uniformity  in  the  results  obtained 
may  possibly  be  found  in  the  difllciilty  of  making  a  satisfactory 
and  stable  solution  of  the  drug.  The  solution  in  cod-liver  oil,  as 
was  first  proposed,  becomes  worthless  after  it  has  been  kept  a  cer- 
tain time.  Other  menstrua  which  have  been  used  do  not  make  a 
perfect  solution,  so  that  at  one  time  the  patient  may  be  taking 
absolutely  no  phosphorus,  while  at  another  he  receives  a  danger- 
ously large  dose  of  the  drug,  and  unpleasant  or  even  alarming 
symptoms  are  produced.  Hasterlik  has  proposed  a  solution  in 
bisulphide  of  carl»on.  But  possibly  phosphide  of  zinc  would  give 
equally  as  good  results  as  phosphorus,  and,  if  so,  it  would  be  far 
preferable,  since  the  dose  could  be  regulated  perfectly,  and  all 
sources  of  error  and  danger  could  be  eliminated. 

No!  "  the  want  of  uniformity  in  the  results  obtained  "  is 
to  be  found  in  the  want  of  a  law,  the  want  of  an  unfailing 


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1887  New  Publications.  577 

guide  in  therapeutics,  rather  than  in  the  mode  of  prepara- 
tion of  remedy.  Neither  will  the  mixing  of  Phosphorus 
and  Zinc  solve  the  problem.  And  the  editor  of  the  Medical 
Record  might  learn  that  there  is  a  method  of  prepar- 
ing Phosphorus  which  is  safe,  efficacious,  always  available 
and  always  uniform  in  its  results.  But,  there  are  none  so 
blind  "  as  those  who  will  not  see  "  an  improvement  Ver^ 
hum  sap. 

m*m   

NEW  PUBLICATIONS. 


DISEASES  OF  THE  FEMALE  MAMMARY  GLANDS.  By  Th.  Billroth.  M.  D.. 
of  Vienna,  and  NEW  GROWTHS  OF  THE  UTERUS.  By  A.  Gusserow.  M.  D..  of 
Berlin.  Illustrated.  These  two  works  constitute  Vol  IX.  of  the  *'Cyc}ap<edta  of 
ObsUtfiM  and  Oynecolooy,*'  (12  vols,  price  $16.50)  Issued  monthly  during  1887. 
New  York:  William  Wood  &  Company. 

DISEASES  OF  THE  FEMALE  URETHRA  AND  BLADDER.  By  F.  Winckel, 
M.  D..  of  the  Royal  University,  Munich ;  and,  DISEASED  OF  THE  VAGINA,  hy  A. 
Brelsky.  M.  D.,  of  the  Royal  University,  Vienna.  Edited  by  Egbert  H.  Grandln^ 
M.  D.,  of  New  York.  These  two  treatises  constitute  Vol.  X,  of  "  A  CyclopaBdia 
of  ObntttricB  and  Oynecology.** 

Billroth  the  ^reat  Vienna  Surgeon,  has  so  long:  occupied  the 
first  rank  as  a  European  author,  that  any  work  from  his  pen  is 
certain  to  receive  the  most  careful  and  considerate  attention  from 
his  professional  brethren.  This  work  is  no  exception.  It  excels 
in  pathologry  and  differential  diagnosis  and  on  the  diseases  of  the 
mammse  will  he  considered  authority.  The  promises  of  the  pub- 
lishers have  thus  fjir  been  fully  sustained  by  the  character  of  each 
successive  volume.  Their  contents  are  fully  abreast  of  the  times; 
clear,  concise  and  practical. 

INSANITY;  ITS  CLASSIFICATION.  Dl  A(JN0SI8  AND  TREATMENT.  By  E.  0 
Spttzlca,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Medical  Jurisprudence  mid  of  the  Anatomy  and 
Physiology  of  the  Nervous  System,  at  the  New  Yoric  Post-Graduate  School  of 
Medicine,  President  of  the  New  York  Neurological  Society,  etc.  Second  edi- 
tion.    New  York:  E.  B  Treat,  1»87.    Pp.  425. 

This  forms  Vol.  II,  of  Treat's  Medical  Classics,  "a  series  of 
standard  Medical  works  by  American  authors  including  recent 
foreign  works  with  notes  and  additions  by  American  Editors.'* 
This  has  been  carefully  revised,  corrected,  and  much  new  matter 
added  by  the  author,  and  is  now  one  of  the  best  works  on  the  sub- 
ject which  has  been  published  in  America  since  the  days  of  Rush. 
It  is  divided  Into  three  parts: 

Part  /.—The general  character  :md  the  classification  of  insanity* 

Part  //.—The  special  forms  of  insanity. 

Part  ///.—Insanity  in  its  practical  relations. 


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578  The  Medical  Advance.  Deo. 

With  the  latter  the  non-specialist  is  most  concerned.  It  consists 
of  the  folio  wing  chapters:  How  to  Examine  the  Insane,  The  Dif- 
ferential DiagTiosis  of  the  Forms  of  Insanity,  the  Recognition  of 
Simulation,  The  Physical  Causes  of  Insanity,  The  Psychical  Causes 
of  Insanity.  The  Medicinal  and  Dietetic  Treatment  of  Insanity  and 
The  Psychical  Treatment  and  Management  of  the  Insane.  These 
suhjects  are  well,  even  elaborately  discussed,  the  language  is  clear 
and  forcible  and  the  author's  aim  appears  to  be  practicality 


HUMANITY:  A  POEM.    By  William  Tod  Helmuth.    New  York:  E.  P.Dutton  & 
Co.,  1887.   Illustrated.    Price,  $t.25.   To  be  had  at  all  Pharmacies. 

We  briefly  alluded  to  this  beautiful  work  of  the  book-makers 
art  in  our  last  issue.  The  author  divides  it  into  two  parts  *'  A 
vision— a  Reality."  In  the  former,  St.  Luke,  "  the  loved  physician 
arose"  and  repeats  the  "old,  old  story"  that  humanity,  as  well  as 
flkill,  is  required  in  the  ideal  physician.  The  "  Reality "  is  the 
touching,  yet  beautiful  story  of  Surgeon  Langdon,  mortally 
wounded  while  nobly  doing  his  duty  on  the  field  of  battle,  yet  who 
lives  long  enough  to  attend  the  wounded  soldier  beside  him,  al- 
though his  bitterest  enemy.  We  can  give  our  readers  no  better 
idea  of  its  grace  and  beauty  than  by  quoting  the  following: 

Amid  the  groans  of  wounded, 

Or  loud,  triumphant  yells, 
Courageous  in  his  duty. 

Calm  in  his  sense  of  right. 
Amid  the  crash  of  cannon. 

And  thunder  of  the  fight. 
He  gave  the  wounded  comfort, 

To  suffering  men  his  aid. 
On  many  a  gash  of  sabre 

His  gentle  hand  was  laid. 
His  presence  cast  a  halo 

O'er  ambulance  and  tent. 
And  voice  and  eye  spoke  blessings 

Wherever  Langdon  went; 
Till  bending  at  his  duty. 

The  foremost  In  the  line, 
A  murderous  missile,  straying, 

Went  crashing  through  his  spine* 

This  would  make  a  most  acceptable  Christmas  gift  and  should 
^  grace  the  table  of  every  Homoeopath. 


VASO-RENAL  CHANGE  w.  BRIGHT'S  DISEASE.  Or  sixty  years  further  study 
of  the  pathological  process  first  observed  by  Dr.  Richard  Bright.  By  J.  Milner 
Fothergill,  M.  D.    New  York:  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons.    Pp.  219. 

This  work  is  written  in  the  author's  most  entertaining,  even 
eharming  style,  and  those  of  our  readers  who  are  at  all  familiar 
with  his  writings,  will  know  just  what  this  means.  Bright,  spark- 
ling, full  of  interest,  at  times  almost  dramatic,  he  captivates  the 
reader  at  once.    So  much  for  the  style:  but  what  of  the  contents? 


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1887  New  Publicattons.  579 

The  first  sentence  in  Chapter  I,  evidently  sounds  the  author's 
objective:  '**  So  long  as  a  disease  carries  a  man's  name  it  shows  we 
know  little  about  it,'  was  the  remark  of  Sir  James  Paget,  to  the 
writer  of  this  monograph,  when  discussing  its  subject  matter  with 
him,  preparatory  to  writing  it."  But  we  fail  to  see  how  the  dis- 
tinctive pathological  lesions  of  the  renal  organs,  as  first  described 
by  Dr.  Bright,  can  be  made  more  clear  or  distinctive,  under  the 
high  Bounding  title  of  **  Yaso-Renal  Change."  To  be  sure,  Dr. 
Fothergill  has  added  a  new  theory,  viz.,  that  these  changes  are 
attributable  to  gout  or  occur  in  the  gouty  diathesis,  which  we  do 
not  think  he  has  proved— yet  this  only  adds  another  perplexing 
problem  in  the  labor  of  the  therapeutist.  It  is  only  another  theory, 
with  which  the  general  practitioner  has  to  contend,  another  load 
to  carry. 

Again,  in  the  Preface,  the  author  says:  '*0f  the  necessity  for 
some  other  term  than  '  Bright's  Disease '  in  the  present  state  of 
our  knowledge,  no  question  can  exist.*'  But  Hahnemann  says: 
''The  physician's  highest  and  only  calling  is  to  restore  health  to  the 
sick."  How  does  the  change  of  name  from  "  Bright's  Disease  "  to 
"  Vaso-Renal  Change,"  or  the  change  of  theory  to  gout,  help  us  to 
cure  the  sick?  Study  Hahnemann's  Chronic  Diseases  and  you 
will  find  a  better  theory  than  gout  and  a  safer  mode  of  practice 
than  is  here  outlined.  This  book  is  well  written,  and  well  printed 
but  we  fear  it  will  add  very  little  to  our  therapeutics. 


OBIGG'S  PHILOSOPHICAL  CLASSICS  :  Devoted  to  a  critical  exposition  of  the 
masterpieces  of  German  thonght 

The  following  comprise  the  set : 

KanVs  Critique  of  Pure  Reason.    By  (Jeorge  S.  Morris,  Ph.  D. 

Schelling's  Transcendental  Idealism.    By  John  Watson,  LL.  D. 

Fichte's  Science  of  Knowledge,    By  C.  C.  Everett,  D.  D. 

HegeVs  JEstheties,    By  J.  S.  Kedney,  S.  T.  D. 

KanVs  Ethics.    By  Noah  Porter,  LL.  D. 

HegeVs  FhUosophy  of  the  State  and  of  History.  By  George  8. 
Morris,  Ph.  D.,  University  of  Michigan. 

We  congratulate  the  publishers  upon  this  most  excellent  series, 
containing  as  they  do  the  brightest  gems  of  German  philosophical 
thought,  not  only  rendered  in  acceptable  English  but  in  a  mode  of 
thought  capable  of  being  comprehended  by  those  not  specially 
trained  in  metaphysics  or  philosophy.    But  it  is  with 

HegeVs  Philosophy,  the  last  of  the  series,  we  are  most  pleased. 
In  this  work  Professor  Morris  has  proved  himself  not  only  a  mas- 
ter of  German  philosophy,  but  a  clear  and  concise  writer.  He  has 
conferred  a  lasting  benefit  on  the  American  student  by  clearing  up 
and  rendering  attractive  a  most  difficult  and  abstruse  subject.  He 
has  not  only  done  justice  to  Hegel,  but  has  made  the  mastery  of 
the  best  of  all  his  works  a  comparatively  easy  task. 


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680  The  Medical  Advance.  Dec 

FAULKNERS  HOMCEOPATHIC  PHYRI'^IAN'S  VISITING  U8T.  Second  edi- 
tion. Boerlcke  and  Tafel :  New  York  and  Philadelphia.  1888. 
This  visiting  list  is  very  popular.  It  contalDs  a  calendar  from 
1883  to  1890 ;  an  obstetric  calendar ;  poisons  and  their  antidotes ; 
Hairs  ready  method  in  asphyxia ;  81  pages  of  a  practical  pocket 
repertory ;  and  a  visiting  list  for  40  patients  a  week,  with  daily  en- 
gagements on  one  leaf  and  a  prescription  record  on  the  opposite 
one.    It  is  one  of  the  best  on  the  market. 


THE  LITERARY  REVOLUTION:  John  B.  Alden.  Publisher,  393  Pearl  street. 
New  York. 

The  foregoing  is  the  title  of  a  publishing  house,  an  enterprise 
which  is  destined  to  revolutionize  the  book-making  business.  The 
following  is  the  business  basis  upon  which  it  is  conducted,  and 
evidently  the  publisher  is  in  earnest : 

Give  the  best  book  for  the  least  money  possible. 

One  price  for  all  books  for  book-readers  not  for  book-seUers. 

1.000,000  books,  profit  l  cent  each,  $10.000 ;  but  1,000  books,  profit  $1.00  each» 
$1,000  only. 

Publish  books  only  that  deserve  to  sell— merit  wins  in  the  epd. 

To  make  $1.00  and  a  friend  is  better  than  $5  00  prodt. 

"  Push  things  "  and  '*  flght  it  out  on  this  line."— U.  S.  Grant, 
ALDEN'S  MANIFOLD  CYCLOPCBDIA  :  Published  in  30  or  more  volumes,  pro- 
fusely illustrated,  ideal  edition,  640  pages  each,  brevier  type.   Price  per  vol., 

cloth,  50c ;  half  morocco,  marbled  edges,  65c.    Specimen  pages  free.    Volumes 

I.,  II.  and  III.  now  ready. 

The  work  combines  the  characteristics  of  a  "  Cyclopoedia"  and 
a  "  Dictionary,"  including  in  its  vocabulary"  every  word  which 
has  a  recognized  claim  to  a  place  in  the  English  language/'  The 
volume  is  neat,  compact  and  comprehensive,  is  in  good,  clear  type 
and  well  bound.  It  is  just  such  a  volume  as  the  popular  reader 
requires,  and  how  it  can  be  furnished  at  such  a  costt  is  beyond  our 
comprehension.    We  are  much  pleased  with  the  book. 


THE  PHYSICIAN'S  VISITING  LIST  tor  1888.    Philadelphia:  P.  Blakiston,  Sod 

&Co. 

This  is  the  37  annual  edition  and  not  only  contains  the  useful 
and  practical  features  of  former  editions,  but  new  ones  have  been 
added ;  the  chief  of  these  are  two  pages  of  aids  in  the  diagnosis 
and  treatment  of  the  more  common  superficial  affections  of  the 
eye.    It  is  the  most  conpact  visiting  list  we  have  seen. 


The  December  Century  opens  with  a  frontispiece  portrait  of 
Lincoln  from  a  photograph  made  about  the  time  of  his  inaugura- 
tion. The  historical  sketch  begins  with  Mr.  Lincoln's  departure 
from  Springfield,  and  includes  an  authentic  account  of  his  fare- 
well to  his  neighbors,  and  the  speeches  at  Indianapolis,  Columbus, 
Steuben ville,  Trenton,  Philadelphia,  and  Harrisburg.  An  exact 
statement  of  the  facts  in  regard  to  Lincoln's  secret  night  journey 


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1887  Editor's  Table.  581 

through  Baltimore  is  given,  accompanied  by  unpublished  letters 
from  Seward,  Scott,  and  General  Stone.  The  circumstances  attend- 
ing the  revision  of  the  inaugural  address  are  related  with  particu- 
larity, the  text  of  that  document  being  printed  in  full,  with  the 
references  to  Mr.  Seward's  suggestions  for  alterations  in  footnotes, 
so  that  the  reader  may  see  which  of  these  suggestions  were  adopted 
by  the  President  and  which  rejected.  The  comparison  is  very  in- 
teresting. The  famous  closing  paragraph  is  printed  in  fac-simile, 
accompanied  by  a  similar  reproduction  of  Seward's  suggestion  for 
the  same  paragraph.  This  '*Life  of  Lincoln"  is  alone  worth  a 
year's  subscription. 

The  contents  of  the  Holiday  issue  of  the  Magazine  of  Ameri- 
can History  are  diversified.  "  Our  Country  Fifty  Years  Ago,"  by 
the  editor,  presents  a  series  of  quaint  pictures  made  at  the  time, 
and  never  before  published  in  this  country,  together  with  inci- 
dents in  connection  with  the  journeyings  of  Lafayette  in  1824  and 
1825.  "  Stephen  A.  Douglas  and  the  Free  Soilers,"  by  A.  W.  Clason; 
"Aaron  Burr:  a  Study,"  by  Charles  H.  Peck;  "A  Winter's  Work  of 
a  Captain  of  Dragoons,"  by  General  P.St.  George  Cooke,  of  Detroit, 
gives  the  reader  new  light  concerning  the  movement  of  troops  in 
New  Mexico  in  1846;  "  Notes  from  Harvard  College,"  by  Rev. 
Hency  C.  Badger,  furnishes  interesting  data,  touching  upon  the 
physical  basis  and  intellectual  life  of  Harvard.  The  December 
number  is  a  baautiful  specimen  of  the  printer's  art— not  a  dull 
page  in  it. 

The  St.  Nicholas  for  December  contains  many  good  papers, 
but  "  Santa  Claus  in  the  Pulpit,"  by  Rev.  Washington  Gladden, 
reveals  the  welcome  old  saint  in  a  new  r61e. 


EDITOR'S  TABLE. 


Note  chansre  of  Business  Manasrement  on  Page  582. 

The  California  Homoeopath  will  appear  as  a  monthly  January, 
1888,  "  enlarged  and  otherwise  improved."  Success  to  our  contem- 
porary of  the  Golden  Gate. 

The  Clininal  Review,  we  fear,  has  stranded  on  the  rock— non- 
support,  both  literary  and  financial.  One  energetic  man.  the  edi- 
tor, may  publish  a  journal  and  pay  for  the  privilege,  but  he  can 
generally  employ  his  time  more  profitably  studying  the  Materia 
Medica. 

A  Temperance  Medical  Journal  will  be  published  by  Dr.  S. 
F.  Smith,  of  Louisville,  Ky.,  as  soon  as  he  receives  pledges  for  1000 
copies.    It  is  to  be  a  24-page  weekly,  at  $2.00  per  year. 


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682  The  Medical  Advance.  Deo. 

MR.  W.  A.  CHATTERTON,  NO.  O  CANAL  STREET,  CHI- 
CAGO, has  assumed  the  Business  Manafirement  of  the  Ad- 
vance, and  in  future  all  Subscriptions  and  Advertisements 
must  be  sent  to  him  direct. 

Married,  September  28, 1887,  at  the  residence  of  the  bride's 
parents  in  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  Miss  Theresa  Palmer  and  C.  H.  Eyer- 
mann,  M.  D. 

Married,  Thursday  evening,  November  24,  1887,  Helen  Ger- 
trude Cooley  to  Dr.  Lemuel  Martin  Roberts  (U.  of  M.  *82,)  Brain- 
erd,  Minn. 

Dr.  J.  E.  WiNANS,  of  Lyons  Farms,  N.  J.,  was  made  in  our  No- 
vember number  to  reside  at  New  Brunswick,  N.  J.  The  paper  was 
read  at  the  latter  place,  that  is  all. 

HuLDA  H.  Sheffield,  M.  D.,  of  Napoleon,  Ohio,  clled  Nov.  19 
of  peritonitis.  She  graduated  at  the  Clevt'land  Homoeopathic  Col- 
lege in  1877,  and  was  in  her  sixty-seventh  year. 

George  H.  Carr,  M.  D.,  of  Galesburg,  111.,  died  Oct.  23, 1887, 
after  a  ten  months*  illness.  He  was  an  earnest  student  of  Materia 
Medica,  a  careful  and  close  observer,  a  very  successful  pres^^riber, 
and  a  Hahnemannian  in  practice.  In  his  early  death  our  school 
has  lost  one  of  its  best  working  members. 

Dr.  Joseph  Meter,  of  the  University  of  Berlin,  and  an  author 
of  some  repute,  died  very  soon  after  Langenback. 

Dr.  Van  Lakobnbach.  the  author  of  one  of  the  best  set  of 
anatomical  plates  ever  produced,  and  an  extensive  contributor  to 
the  current  medical  literature  of  the  day,  died  at  Wiesbaden, 
September  30. 

C.  T.  Sterling,  M.  D.,  has  been  appointed  Professor  of  Oph- 
thalmology and  Otology  in  the  Homoeopathic  Department  of  the 
University  of  Michigan,  vice  D.  J.  McGuire,  M.  D.,  resigned  on 
account  of  ill  health.  Dr.  McGuire  is  now  in  Passadena,  Cal.,  to 
spend  the  winter. 

Dr.  H.  W.  Champlin,  of  Chelsea,  Mich.,  after  six  years  of  hard 
work,  has  decided  to  take  a  well  earned  rest.  He  will  spend  the 
winter  in  the  hospitals  and  colleges  of  New  York  and  Philadel- 
phia, locating  in  the  east  when  he  again  resumes  practice.  This 
leaves  a  fine  opening  and  an  established  practice  for  some  good 
Homoeopath. 

A  Gynecological  Institute  has  been  opened  at  5506  Jeffer- 
son Ave.,  Chicago,  by  Drs.  Lucy  Waite  and  Clara  W.  Peaslee,  for 
the  treatment  of  the  diseases  of  women  exclusively.  The  best 
surgeons  in  Chicago  operate  in  cases  requiring  surgical  interfer- 
ence, and  chronic  cases  which  cannot  be  treated  properly  or  suc- 
cessfully at  the  home  of  the  patient  are  especially  solicited. 

The  Southern  Homoeopathic  Medical  Association  meets  in  New 
Orleans,  December  14, 15  and  16. 

See  our  Clubblnfir  rates  for  Periodicals  on  Advertising 
Pa^e  26. 


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