a single injection of one grain of cocaine thrown into the bladder. The resumption of treatment in this instance was largely due to the enthusiastic approval of the husband, who had himself experienced complete relief from the injection of a drachm of the tenper-cent solution into the deep urethra for a violent urethrismus. In another instance, in a woman with irritable piles, red as a ripe strawberry, and who was suffering extreme discomfort, the piles shrank and turned pale under the cocaine application, and were then painted with tincture of iodine, with entire absence of pain.

DR. KEATING has used cocaine for some time in the same class of cases. He now uses eight-per-cent solutions with great success, especially in children's throats. He employs salicylate of cocaine in diphtheria in a five or six per cent solution; sensibility disappears in a short time, and he can then use any application without discomfort; he applies carbolic acid, tinct. of iodine, etc., in this manner without exciting pain. He also applies cocaine before injecting carbolic acid into piles, and also applies it on cotton to prevent its action ceasing too soon.

DR. THOMAS said that the strength of the solution may, with propriety, be greatly varied, and that in his practice upon the eyes, even a one-per-cent solution was strong enough to be of considerable value in conditions of irritation produced by foreign bodies in the eye; but in other cases, as urethral caruncle, it might be well to use it even in saturated solution. The question of strength is largely a question of expense, for in local applications no toxic results are likely to be produced.

TRANSACTIONS OF THE GYNECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF CHICAGO.

Meeting, November 27th, 1885.

The President, DR. DANIEL T. NELSON, in the Chair.

DR. JOHN BARTLETT read a paper entitled

REMARKS ON THE TOXIC PROPERTIES OF SASSAFRAS.

After giving a historical sketch of the drug and the toxic effects of the oil given in doses of a drachm or more, the author said: "Years ago I was called to a woman among the poorer classes, of good intelligence and education, who was having a miscarriage. Upon my inquiring as to the cause of the mishap, with a prefatory reference to her poverty and already large family, she stated that she had induced the abortion herself-that she had done so on previous occasions. She had employed, she said, 'what other women used,' sassafras tea. She was surprised that I did not know of the property of sassafras as an oxytocic. She spoke as if all her friends knew how to use it as an ecbolic, and she evidently looked upon it as a specific. Tea, she said, made

from four or five pieces of the root, as large as the thumb and twice as long, would produce abortive effect.

"A year or two later, I was called to a woman two months pregnant. For several days she had had symptoms of miscarriage of so pronounced a character that arrest of the process was doubtful. I found the patient very anxious to have a child; she disclaimed the intention of inducing abortion, and to all my inquiries as to a possible cause of the hemorrhage, she gave answers which left me no further question except this: 'Have you been drinking sassafras tea?' Surprised, she replied that for a week past she had used it at breakfast and supper. The proper remedies for her condition were prescribed, the possibly offending tea left off, and in twenty-four hours all was quiet in utero.

"Farther than this my experience with sassafras as a possible abortifacient does not extend; possibly some one present can supplement my remarks with knowledge or experience of his own.

"A study of the toxic effects of sassafras, as reported by Dr. Hill, would seem to show a triple resemblance to three familiar articles, opium, strychnine, and ergot.

"In its action as a narcotic and sudorific it resembles opium. "In its property of inducing tetanic and clonic spasms, followed by paralysis, it is similar to strychnine.

"In its power hinted at of exciting the uterus, it may be likened to ergot.

"It may be of interest here to call attention to the fact that the first reference to the use of ergot as an ecbolic was made by Stearns in 1807, whereas it had been used by midwives certainly as early as 1688, and probably very much earlier."

DR. JAMES H. ETHERIDGE referred to the action of the oil of sassafras on the motor centres in the spinal cord supplying the

uterus.

DR. EDWARD WARREN SAWYER said, in New England, sassafras was a popular emmenagogue. Mothers were in the habit of giving decoctions of sassafras and tansy to their daughters in case of delayed or suppressed menstruation. Many of the essential oils produced the effects ascribed to sassafras by Dr. Bartlett. In the South, oil of sassafras was a popular remedy for uterine dis

ease.

THE PRESIDENT inquired as to the chemical constitution of the volatile oils.

DR. H. P. MERRIMAN replied that many of the volatile oils were identical in chemical relations, but differed in physical properties. Such oils were isomerides. The essential oil of lemons, of bergamot, neroli, lavender, pepper, chamomile, caraway, clover, etc., are isomerides of the oil of turpentine.

Oil of sassafras was an isomeride; whether or no of the turpentine group he could not say. Oil of turpentine was a hydrocarbon, possessing the formula C10H16.

DR. H. T. BYFORD was of the opinion that the oil of sassafras exerted its influence locally upon the alimentary canal and pelvic viscera, through which it was excreted, rather than upon the uterine nervous centres, as in the case of ergot. This would account for

its popularity as an emmenagogue, mentioned by Dr. Sawyer. He had recently given one drop, combined with one-half grain of piperin, every three hours, for two weeks, in case of typhoid diarrhea. Slight strangury, disappearing with the discontinuance of the drugs, was produced.

DR. CHARLES WARRINGTON EARLE presented for Dr. Joseph Haven

A TERATOMA,

corresponding in development to the third month, and bearing an asserted resemblance to a pup.

The following history was read:

Dr. Haven had attended the family of Mrs. H. for the past four years. During this time he had had occasion to notice that the younger daughter was a person unusually strong in her likes and dislikes, of a nervous temperament, slight build, yet a sensible, educated, and attractive girl.

On the 8th of September, 1885, this young lady, in company with her sister, called at his office to consult him with reference to her condition. He made the following entry in his case-book, as the result of her visit:

"Mrs. D., 19 years old, married one and one-half years, always regular as to her courses up to July 21st, since then no show. Physical signs point to pregnancy in the sixth week."

A few days later he saw her again. She was nervous and highly excited-almost hysterical. She told him in an excited manner that a dog had jumped on her, and that she "hated dogs." She complained of pain in the abdomen, low down.

From that day until the 1st of November, Dr. Haven saw her several times. Each time she was threatened with miscarriage. and each time she declared she was positive she could never carry that child. Her husband and sister told him that, asleep or awake, her mind seemed to dwell continually upon that dog; that she daily wondered if the child would be marked. Mr. D. said that ever since he has known her she has been afraid of dogs; she would always cross the street rather than meet one, and he has often jokingly refused to take her out with him, telling her, as an excuse, that they might see a dog, and she would make a scene.

On the night of November 1st, the husband roused Dr. Haven, desiring him to go over and see his wife, thinking it to be only a repetition of former attacks. An examination proved that Mrs. D. was about to lose the contents of the uterus. She was flowing constantly. The os had dilated slightly, and Dr. Haven could just reach the presenting part. The history of the miscarriage was the usual one, and the result is seen in the specimen presented.

She insisted on seeing the fetus, and declared it to be the image of a dog that had frightened her.

TRANSACTIONS OF THE OBSTETRICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON.

Meeting, Oct. 8th, 1885.

J. D. POTTER, M.D., F.R.C.P., President, in the Chair.

The following specimens were shown

Diseased Ovary, by Mr. Doran.

Fetus and Placenta from a case of extrauterine gestation, by Mr. Grün.

DR. MATTHEWS DUNCAN read a paper

ON THE HYPERTROPHY OF LUPUS OF THE FEMALE GENERATIVE

ORGANS,

of which the following is an extract:

Hypertrophy is not an essential part of lupus. Extensive ulceration may occur without any hypertrophy. Hypertrophy rarely occurs without some ulceration. Ulceration and hypertrophy are to be regarded rather as alternative conditions than as concomitants. The hypertrophy may be minute, or may approach that of elephantiasis. The destruction by ulceration in severe cases is greater than the growth by hypertrophy in severe cases. The hypertrophy affects the skin, the mucous membrane, the connective tissue, or the clitoris. The hypertrophy tends to be an outgrowth, not to grow deeply, like a cancer. Hypertrophies are generally morbid in form and appearance, but may resemble healthy natural parts. The hypertrophy may affect the thigh and hip. A hypertrophied part may be ulcerated, or the ulceration may heal without the hypertrophy being destroyed. Hypertrophies are generally not sensitive unless inflamed, but some small hypertrophies, especially urethral caruncles, are often excessively sensitive and painful to touch. Hypertrophies may vary in degree of induration; they are liable to inflammation. Hypertrophied parts may have polypous hypertrophies growing from them. The color may be red, brown, purple, or white.

MR. JONATHAN HUTCHINSON, while acknowledging the value of Dr. Duncan's carefully observed cases, felt bound to question his diagnosis. First, he thought lupus was a wrong term to apply to the disease, and secondly, he strongly suspected syphilis in all the six cases. Indeed, he was surprised at the absence of any disproof of syphilis in the cases. All the drawings looked like tertiary syphilis, and the history of the cases rendered a suspicion of syphilis justifiable. Chronic gonorrhea complicating syphilis often produced great edema, and then hypertrophy of the female genital organs. Dr. Duncan's portraits showed these conditions; although not all alike, most of them showed a combination of elephantoid hypertrophy with ulceration and the formation of scars

He did not think he had seen true lupus, such as we see on the face, more than once or twice on the vulva, and it would be a pity if these cases were permanently recorded under that name; for not only were they very unlike common lupus, but lupus elsewhere on the body was not recorded in a single case. In Dr. Duncan's former paper, lupus of the nose coincided with this disease of the vulva, but even in this instance there was a perforation of the palate, a condition very rare in lupus, very common in syphilis. He entirely agreed with Dr. Duncan in his treament by excision and free cauterization. The fact that these affections yielded to local treatment, and not to antisyphilitic remedies, was no proof ot their non-syphilitic origin, for this was often the case with tertiary syphilitic affections. He believed these were cases of tertiary syphilis, and if the word "lupus" were applied to them, it ought certainly to carry the prefix "syphilitic.

DR. PLAYFAIR said that he had been in the habit of describing cases like those figured by Dr. Duncan as elephantiasis. He had seen many cases in India, and some of these were very like Dr. Duncan's cases. For his own cases he had used free incision. his opinion, Dr. Duncan had only given a new, and questionable name to an old disease.

In

DR. GALABIN asked as to the histology of the disease, especially in its relation to new growths. In a case of perforation of the body of the uterus by an ulceration, shown by Dr. Duncan some time back, he had found some tendency to the characters of a new growth, in the fact that in some parts the cells were joined by tailed processes. He had also regarded lupus of the vulva as a very rare disease. In cases similar to those shown by Dr. Duncan, he had generally found some evidence of syphilis; they did not yield to antisyphilitic remedies alone, but yielded to excision, followed by such remedies.

DR. THIN had found the microscopical appearances the same in all Dr. Duncan's cases. There was in all the cases more or less small-cell infiltration beneath the epithelium, and a number of blood-vessels ran straight to this part. There were no marked inflammatory changes in the fibrous tissue, which was found in all stages of development. The changes found in lupus vulgaris were absent, but so were also those of syphilitic gumma, as well as of cancer and elephantiasis. The appearances suggested a persistent form of irritation acting peripherally.

M. Vidal, of Paris, informed him that in about 150 cases of women affected with lupus vulgaris, the region of the vulva had not been affected once. Prof. Kapcsi, of Vienna, bore the same witness. He believed that Dr. Duncan's cases formed a separate disease, separate, that is, from syphilis, lupus vulgaris, cancer, and elephantiasis. He did not agree with Mr. Hutchinson, because, apart from the absence of syphilitic history, the appearances themselves differed from syphilis, compared with which the hypertrophy was out of all proportion to the ulceration, and the ulceration was not typically syphilitic in appearance, still less could he agree with Dr. Playfair as to the cases being elephantiasis, which was well known to be due to obstruction of lymphatic vessels by filaria sanguinis hominis.

DR. WEST believed that he was the first in this country to describe the disease; it was described twenty-five years ago in his lectures on the Diseases of Women. In none of his cases could either he or Mr. James Paget discover any evidence of syphilis.