REPORTS OF SOCIETIES.

The New England Eclectic Medical Association Incorporated. We hazard no opinion in the assertion that in no part of the United States of equal territory and population is there greater need of systematic organization among Eclectic physicians than in that section whose western boundary is the State of New York. True, New England can boast of some very excellent and influential State societies; but being so remote from the usual place of its meeting, the greater part are seldom, if ever, represented at the meetings of the National. Therefore it was a happy thought when the fertile brain of that staunch Eclectic and indefatigable worker, Dr. H. N. Waite, of Johnson, Vt., conceived the idea of organizing the Eclectic physicians of New England into an association auxiliary to the National Eclectic Medical Association. No sooner had the idea attained definite proportions than the originator, a host in himself, set about securing the coöperation and support of other prominent New England Eclectics. The success of his efforts in this direction speak volumes for his ability as an organizer, for he soon had the pledged support of some of the best-known and most influential physicians in New England. Among these were: Dr. Stephen B. Munn, of Waterbury, Conn., a physician whose name has a national reputation; Dr. Frederick Wallace Abbott, of Taunton, Mass., a successful physician and gifted writer, and associate-editor of the Massachusetts Medical Journal; Dr. Theophilus J. Batchelder, of Machias, Maine, than whom few, indeed, have contributed more largely to the success of the Eclectic Medical Society of Maine; Dr. W. F. Templeton, of Manchester, N. H.; Dr. Darius L. Powe, of Providence, R. I. ; and others.

The association was organized at the State House in Montpelier, Vermont, June 6th, 1895, with some twenty members. The organization then proceeded to elect the customary officers, choosing Dr. Templeton president, and Dr. Waite secretary. In June, 1896, a very pleasant and profitable two-days' meeting was held, and Dr. Waite succeeded to the presidency of the association. Through the labors of its president the organization was chartered by the Vermont Legislature November 12th, 1896, nine members

being named in this charter. A meeting of these members will be held at Montpelier June 1st, 2d and 3d, 1897, when the remaining members will undoubtedly be admitted to charter membership. The officers of the association under the charter are as follows: President, H. A. Waite, M.D., Johnson, Vermont; first vicepresident, Stephen B. Munn, M.D., Waterbury, Conn.; second vice-president, Frederick Wallace Abbott, M.D., Taunton, Mass. ; third vice-president, Theophilus J. Bachelder, M.D., Machias, Maine; recording secretary, W. E. Fleet, M.D., Cambridge, Mass. ; treasurer, H. N. Waite, M.D., Johnson, Vt. ; censors, H. J. Potter, M.D., Bennington, Vt., Frederick Wallace Abbott, M.D., Taunton, Mass., J. D. S. Smith, M.D., Bridgeport, Conn., Theophilus J. Bachelder, M. D., Machias, Me., Darius L. Powe, M.D., Providence, R. I., Wm. C. Hatch, M.D., New Sharon, Me., and W. E. Fleet, M.D., Cambridge, Mass.; corresponding secretary, Stephen B. Munn, M.D., Waterbury, Conn.; assistant corresponding secretary, H. N. Waite, M.D., Johnson, Vt.

The association occupies an important field, and its friends are sanguine in their predictions of its future. New Sharon, Me.

WM. C. HATCH, M.D.

SELECTIONS.

A NEW TREATMENT OF CANCER.

Dr. Denissenko, observing that warts were successfully removed by the juice of freshly-gathered Chelidonium Majus, made trial of the same remedy in epithelioma. For a year he has made trial of this drug both internally and externally, giving from 24 to 75 grains daily of the Extract of Chelidonium, in watery solution. At the same time he makes injections at several points into the tumor, near to its border, of a mixture of equal parts of Extracts of Chelidonium, Distilled Water and Glycerin. If the neoplasm is ulcerated it is painted with the same Glycerin Extract. Its internal use is well borne by the stomach. The external application produces a slight burning, which, however, soon subsides, and the injections cause a sharp, smarting pain, general debility, a chill and fever (100-102 degrees F.), but all these symptoms disappear upon the next day.

From the first day of this treatment the cancerous cachexia declines, the tumor softens and seems to melt away. After several days there form, at the points of injection, fistulous tracts, around which the tumor disappears. In fifteen to twenty days later the diseased is clearly separated from the healthy tissue and the tumor has diminished by half; in some cases it is entirely gone and the enlargements of the glands have subsided. In support of his statements the author reports eight cases: two of epithelioma of the lip (cured); one of the root of the nose (cured); two cancers of the esophagus (marked amelioration, treatment interrupted as the patients were obliged to leave); one of malignant neoplasm of the right hypochondrium (?), much improved (still under treatment); one of very large malignant tumor of the neck, bleeding very easily, improvement 'very marked, the tumor having diminished by three-fourths, and the treatment being continued. In all the cases of external tumor the diagnosis was based upon histological examination.

Dr. Denissenko asks that this method be tested by his colleagues. It is only necessary to avoid causing irritation by the use of too large quantities. It is of importance that the extract should be well prepared, as otherwise it is not active.-La Medecine Moderne.

DOCTORS IN COLONIAL DAYS.-DOCTORS' BILLS OF SOME CONNECTICUT VALLEY SETTLEMENTS.

Educated physicians were so few that, almost perforce, the clergymen were found shining forth in what Mather, in the "Magnalia," called the "Angelical Conjunction "-combining minister and physician in one. It is also pleasant to note that the woman highly skilled in medicine had also come upon the scene as early as 1631; for the wife of Rev. John Eliot was one of those possessing skill in both medicine and surgery-but attending the sick and maimed without reward; and, later on, at the close of King Philip's war, Mrs. Allyn was allowed £20 for attending sick and wounded soldiers by the Connecticut Council. Also the wife of William Miller, of Northampton, sometimes acted as a surgeon; and in 1688, in an authentic history of Virginia, "a gentlewoman, a noted female doctress," is mentioned, who cured those bitten by mad dogs.

Many of the towns along the Connecticut River were without any resident physician for long periods-thirty and forty years; but it was almost inevitable that in their pioneer life there should be calls for the knowledge and services of a bonesetter-and there are men just as surely inspired to do this work as are the dictionary makers and the collectors of queer and useless articles. Their vivisection must have been confined to the killing and cutting up of domestic and wild animals for food; for Eliot, writing in 1647, says: "We never had but one anatomy (skeleton) in the country, which Mr. Giles Firmin did make and rede upon well; " but Mr. Firmin was in advance of his times in medicine, and found it a scarcely paying business, for he writes to Gov. Winthrop : am strongly sett upon to study divinitie. My studyes else must be lost, for physik is but a meene helpe." And he went back to England.

For half a century after the settlement of the four towns, Northampton, Hadley, Hatfield and Deerfield, the average annual expense of doctor's bills was not more than $200, including those who were wounded by Indians. In 1727 the town of Hadley voted to give £50 toward inducing a good bonesetter" to locate among them if other towns would join them. We occasionally read of some of those tough old pioneers living to a great age; but let no one imagine that those "former days were better than ours. The average of human life was far shorter than now; and plain food and earlier hours were the rule-and the mischief of intoxicating drinks was almost unknown. Only those who can realize how anesthetics alone save life-for simple pain kills, if severe enough can appreciate how suffering men and women laid down. their lives untimely, because they had been born too soon; for, with all the flippant sneers at doctors and their inevitable limitations, there is no question that a well-educated physician, also endowed with common sense, is a valuable man in any community.

The above sketch includes palpable diseases capable of being cured by tangible remedies, and does not touch on the large province of the disease of "Faith" and Fascination, surrounded and enhanced by a profound belief in the abilities of what were called. thepowers of darkness," among which was witchcraft, and the forces which were brought to bear against it.-N. Y. Independent.

MEDICAL AND SURGICAL GLEANINGS.

Hay Fever.-R. Eucalyptus Oil, j; Glycerin, 3j; Tincture Opium, 3ij; Distilled Water, ad. q.s. 3vj. M. S. Use with atomizer three times daily.-Canada Lancet.

Guaiac Resin as a Purgative. For two years I have used this drug as a purgative, as well as in the treatment of chronic rheumatism, sciatica, amygdalitis, dysmenorrhoea, etc. I give from forty-five to ninety grains three times daily. The purgative effect is very pronounced; and in one case the drug produced a violently itching eruption on the arms and legs, which disappeared with a cessation of the remedy.-Doctor Murrell, in Le Bulletin Medical.

Neurasthenia.—An excellent nerve tonic and sedative is: R. Quinine Valerianate, 40 grains; Iron Subcarbonate, 80 grains; Arsenious Acid, 1 grain; Strychnine Sulphate, I grain; Asafoetida, 120 grains; Extract Sumbul, 60 grains. Make forty-eight capsules. Sig. Take one after each meal.-Virginia Medical Monthly.

Migraine. The following formula has been recommended in the treatment of migraine: R. Phenacetin, gr. xxx.; Caffein. Citrat., gr. xx.; Sacchar. Alb., gr. xv. M. Fiat, capsulæ x. Sig. One every three to four hours during the attack.-Gazetto Medico di Roma.

Strongly Put.-If you were to take an eminently practical boy and school him in the superficial, sentimental, emotional and dependent habits of the average girl, with the ordinary attendants of a corset, tight and high-heeled shoes, indoor training, and insufficient clothing, and let him live on de-oxygenated air, with no other hope except to get married, and not allow him to purchase even as much as a railroad ticket for himself, never have a pocket in his clothes, spend hours daily curling his hair and preparing to spend a frivolous evening, he would develop into a veritable hysterical nonentity, capable of producing only his kind. -LUCINDA H. CARR, in Am. Jour. of Surg. and Gyn.