The great popularity and large sales of Horsford's Acid Phosphate have caused many imitations to be put upon the market, with the apparent intention to deceive the dealer and public. Some of these imitations are put up in a similar style package, and bear names resembling the genuine, well calculated to deceive the careless purchaser. Even the color of the paper and the wording of the directions and descriptive matter are closely copied, and the compound is usually recommended as "The same as Horsford's," or "Just as good as Horsford's." We have an alyzed all these imitations, and there is not one that is "the same as Horsford's," and some contain a form of acid that is poisonous. Be sure that the word "HORSFORD'S" is on the label. None other is genuine. RUMFORD CHEMICAL WORKS, PROVIDENCE, R. I. OBSTETRICS. ON THE CONTRACTIONS OF THE UTERUS THRoughout PreGNANCY, AND THEIR VALUE IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF PREGNANCY, BOTH NORMAL AND COMPLICATED. A paper sent by J. BRAXTON HICKS, M. D., F. R. S., of London, England.-Fifteen years ago the author had first directed attention to the fact that the uterus contracted throughout pregnancy at intervals of from five to twenty minutes; since then he had added much to his previous knowledge. A soft condition of the Before the fourth month bimanual palpation was necessary, later external examination was sufficient for its detection. The pregnant uterus was very soft, and offered no appreciable resistance to palpation except during contraction. In a young girl suspected of pregnancy abdominal palpation was often all-sufficient, though internal examination might be necessary. It was of great advantage to obtain decisive proof before making any allusion to pregnancy. uterus, with a localized lump, often pointed toward the death of the fetus or to ectopic gestation. The uterus might contract about fibroids. A knowledge of the contractions often rendered easy a diagnosis otherwise difficult, as in ovarian tumor, ovarian tumor and pregnancy, ectopic gestation, and normal gestation, twin pregnancy, and hydramnios (palpation and the stethoscope as aids). With a dead fetus the walls might be rigidly contracted. We should always look for corroborative signs. Several cases were then cited in which the diagnosis was rendered certain only by this sign. The conclusions were: I. That the uterus contracted at intervals of from five to twenty minutes during the whole of pregnancy, remaining contracted for from three to five minutes. 2. The uterus is firm when contracted, and the fetus cannot be distinctly felt, though when the uterus is soft the fetus is easily mapped out. 3. By noticing the contractions we are often enabled to diagnose normal pregnancy from other conditions. 4. The contractions have the physiological use of emptying the uterine veins of the carbonized blood. 5. The carbonized blood probably excites the contractions. Professor ALEXANDER SIMPSON, of Edinburgh, Scotland, thought the phenomenon of uterine contraction during pregnancy was now a widely recognized fact. We often met cases requiring all our diagnostic skill, and should employ all known means. The sign mentioned was especially valuable before the fetal heartsounds could be distinguished, and in the third month when it could be employed in addition to Hegar's sign. One important result of these contractions was that when the uterus contracted forcibly, its contained blood was suddenly emptied into the surrounding parts, distending them, and thus favoring the dilatation of the parturient canal. Dr. A. F. A. KING, of Washington, D. C., said there was sometimes difficulty in recognizing the contractions of the uterus, and they might be excited by polypi, by the retention of menstrual fluid, or by fibroids. They were principally of value after the third month. During the first and second months we had no positive means of diagnosis. In single women the diagnosis of pregnancy could not be certainly made by uterine contractions alone. An important point in searching for this sign was to irritate the uterus slightly to make it contract. Professor CHARPENTIER, of Paris, France, appreciated thoroughly the value of Dr. Hicks' sign, and related a case of hydramnios where its presence made the diagnosis possible. DYSTOCIA FROM RIGIDITY OF THE CERVIX AND ITS MANAGEMENT. DR. GEORGE WHEELER JONES, of Danville, Ill.-After a consideration of the various conditions which might cause rigidity of the cervix, he spoke of the most important-spasmodic contraction. Here opium was most valuable, together with chloroform and Barnes's dilators, if quick dilatation was necessary. Sitz baths, warm vaginal douches, delivery in a warm room, morphia hypodermically, quinine where there was malaria, salicine in rheumatic cases, and electricity were all useful. He would never use chloral, as it was dangerous to mother and child tailed some original investigations into the me radix, delphinium, and ipecacuanha. DR. A. F. A. KING, of Washington, D. TT ne rere fact that the thinning of the uterine segment and the cervical canal, conditions which led to the rigidity of the abnormalities. When the uterus and child maintained during pregancy their normal lateral obliquity, the canal of the cervix from the external to the internal os will remain unobliterated until full term, which is the normal condition both for primiparæ and multiparæ. Under the same normal circumstances the great thinning of the lower uterine segment, the tearing of the decidual mucous membrane, the "formation of a new rvical canal," and the other tissue-changes observed by Bandl will be absent during pregnancy. They are abnormal. They may nevertheless occur during labor from abnormal mechanical obstruction to delivery. Dr. King also objected to the use of chloral. DR. BROOKS H. WELLS, of New York, did not agree with Dr. Jones concerning the great danger to the unborn child from the use of chloral. In about one hundred cases out of between six and seven hundred which he had had under his charge, or had witnessed, it had been used both as an anesthetic, where the first stage had been unusually painful, and in spasmodic rigidity of the cervix, and in no case had he seen any harm accrue to mother or child, but only the most gratifying results. He always used the precautionary measure mentioned by Dr. Jaggard, viz: to keep himself informed of the condition of the uterus by a hand placed over the fundus, slight rotary friction overcoming any possible tendency to relaxation, and had never had any serious post-partum bleeding, either with or without the use of chloral. Its administration might, in full doses, blunt the pains somewhat. He was accustomed to administer the drug in ten to fifteen grain doses, by mouth or rectum, until this result was attained-usually from two to four doses. He considered morphia and the hot douche important agents in treating the class of cases mentioned. THE PROGNOSIS OF THE CESAREAN OPERATION. DR. WILLIAM T. Lusk, of New York.-If it were proposed to beat out the brains of a living child, the suggestion would be received with horror, no matter how great the surgical emergency might be, and yet, with the child unborn, craniotomy was often done for insignificant reasons. A careful resume of the statistics showed very favorable results, even with the old method, when the surroundings were favorable, and the operation was performed with proper surgical skill and accessories, Death was most often the result of an avoidable cause. The reader compared the brilliant results obtained abroad with the mortality attending recent American operations, and thought that a more favorable prognosis could not be expected until we had learned to recognize the conditions requiring the operation before the time when it should be done. Defective diagnosis was the great bar to progress in this country, and all practitioners should qualify themselves to recognize the various degrees of pelvic deformity. An operator should possess at least a theoretical knowledge of the technique of the procedure, and while it was not desirable that anyone should attempt to perform the section, men ca |