Finally, at ten o'clock on the 28th, he ceased to breathe. His remains were incinerated at Cincinnati the ensuing Sunday, for he was always pronounced in such matters.

Thus passes off from the stage one of our truest and worthiest. Would there were more like him! To a noble colleague, farewell!

REMINISCENCES OF DR. ANTON.

Dr. Anton, though a native of Aberdeenshire, could not be considered as altogether a Scotchman. His ancestors were from Flanders, as his French name implies, and his parents were Roman Catholics. He was baptized in that communion in infancy; whether confirmed we are not informed. When he came to adult age he abandoned that form of religion, never uniting with any other religious body. He read the Bible diligently, and examined carefully every new opinion that was offered apparently deserving of attention. His belief and theory were entirely his own; he was lenient and courteous to all, but notably differed in certain respects with every one that he met.

The late Sidney Smith declared that it was impossible to get a witty utterance into a Scotchman's head without a surgical operation. Dr. Anton was by no means thus obtuse. In his letters there were frequent humorous sentences, and he warmly appreciated the wit and humor of others. In 1878 the National Eclectic Medical Association met at Detroit, Dr. H. S. McMaster, then secretary of the Medical and Surgical Society, and Dr. J. W. Kermott superintended the local arrangements. Dr. McMaster wrote that the members would be treated to a boat ride on Lake St. Clair, a supper and a dance. The secretary replied that he had never learned to dance, and must leave that part to Dr. Anton as being more expert and accomplished than himself, or even President Munn. When the worthy treasurer appeared with crutch and staff, Dr. McMaster, who had expected a man of vigorous age, lithe and trim, perceived that there was a difference.

Dr. Anton unwittingly carried out the joke. A violent storm was on the lake during the excursion, and one of the doctors from Western New York was terribly frightened. In his terror he besought the secretary to remain with him away from the party. Meanwhile Dr. Anton was with the gay, enjoying everything

of 4 per cent. I have never seen any toxic effects, even when a

considerable amount has been used."

Dr. Lohmann, in publishing the results of its use in surgical cases, says: "The more dilute solutions (3 per cent.) we very soon abandoned as too weak, and resorted to 10 per cent. solutions, which yielded very satisfactory results. We had opportunities of employing this concentration of Eucaine B in operations on abscesses and carbuncles, parenchymatories, inflammations, and phlegmons, extraction of foreign bodies, and exarticulations of the fingers.

"For abscesses we injected 1 to 2 Pravaz syringes of a 10 per cent. solution, and could then prosecute incision, curettage, etc., without pain to the patient. We became convinced that any phlegmons could be excised under Eucaine anæsthesia painlessly, as much as 45 grains Eucaine, i. e., 30 syringefuls of a 10 per cent. solution, may be injected into adults without fear of toxic symptoms.

"From the great number of extractions of foreign bodies performed with Eucaine B, I select one very characteristic case. A needle had penetrated the foot of a girl 10 years of age and broken, leaving about 2 centimetres in the foot. The point was situated deep in the foot below the fasciæ. Its discovery and extraction occupied more than three quarters of an hour. The examination and extraction could be quietly accomplished after injection of one syringeful of a 10 per cent. solution; only toward the end of the operation did the girl regain a slight sensitiveness. In exarticulations of the fingers, 1 to 2 syringefuls of the solution also sufficed. The first case was that of a boy, 13 years of age; we amputated the third finger at the joint of the first and second phalanx, and the fourth finger at the joint of the second and third phalanx. In each finger we injected syringefuls (about on the inside and on the outside). The operation. was commenced about one minute after injection; the boy cried, but we convinced ourselves by running a needle into the boy's finger and asking him if he felt anything, that he did not cry from pain. Covering the boy's face both amputations were carried out without further disturbance.

"A second boy, on whom we had operated and removed a

DEATH OF DR. JAMES ANTON AND A TRIBUTE TO HIS
MEMORY.

BY ALEXANDER WILDER, M.D., NEWARK, N. J.

Another of the heroes of American Eclectic Medicine has passed from among those living upon the earth. James Anton died at his residence in Lebanon, Ohio, on the morning of Thursday, October 28th, 1897. It was an event by no means unexpected. For years he had been unable to attend to active business, and required the most assiduous care and attention.

Whether we regard his energy of character, his tenacity to conviction, his rigid probity, or his fidelity, Dr. Anton was a noble example to contemplate. He sprang from the ranks of the people, without aid from circumstances or family influence, and though crippled in body achieved for himself a professional career and distinction of a most deserving character. Though a native of Scotland, his peculiar physiognomy, personal traits, and his relish for cheery conversation and vivacious sallies of wit, were more indicative of his Flemish ancestry. He abhorred deception, selfseeking and insincerity, and was always ready to render good offices and to fullfil his obligations to the letter. To understand him right, either in his stronger or weaker points, required a thorough acquaintance.

Dr. Anton served in the ranks some forty years. He was diligent, unpretentious, careful-doing all in his power to honor his

HarM

He was one who would not

calling and promote its interests. abate an effort to place the medical art above the plane of a mercenary and self-seeking pursuit and raise it to the rank of an honorable profession. He cordially detested meanness and petty tricks, and he would not let self-interest swerve him from justice in thought, speech or action. He possessed all that steady purpose and conviction that characterized the early pioneers of Reformed Medicine; and with it sound judgment and a readiness both to render and exact justice and fair play. He was distinctly marked by the traits of the "North Countryman"-exactness of habit, tenacity of opinion, passion for knowledge, together with the relish and quick perception of wit which Sidney Smith has denied to that matter-of-fact people.

James Anton was born in Huntley, Aberdeenshire, on the 12th of November, 1812. He sprang emphatically from the ranks of the people. His parents were plain, industrious, pious and honest, but limited in pecuniary means, and not able to give their children more than a limited course of instruction. This would seem to have rendered his case the more arduous, for he had received an injury to the spine in infancy, from which he never recovered. All his life thereafter he was compelled to use crutches in walking.

This event, which so many would deplore as an unmitigated misfortune, we heard him speak of at Pittsburg in 1877 in quite other terms: "It was the luckiest thing of my life," said he. "My family all had to work for a livelihood; my father and brothers were bound down to severe labor, with little opportunity to better themselves. I could not work like them, and this operated to give me a chance for myself."

Whatever chance James Anton had he diligently employed. Unable to work in the field, he was placed with a tailor to learn the trade. His master failed in business, and he worked two years with another man in the city of Aberdeen.

He was now seized with the "divine discontent.” A Scottish town, with the opportunities which it afforded him, was too cramped and insufficient. He became eager to try his fortunes in America. To this, however, his parents were unwilling to conFor a season it was analogous to the irresistible force en

sent.

Presently-as others

countering the unsurmountable obstacle. have found the like-while the father persisted, the mother yielded. One night young Anton heard her pleading with her husband:

"James has set his mind on going," said she. "You know his disposition. He will never give up his purpose. He is temperate; he has no bad habits or bad companions. We can trust him. And I have no fear that he will not get on successfully.” His emotions on hearing this are more easy to imagine than to describe. His mother's praises and faith led him to deep reflection. His parents had yielded to his wishes because of his persevering disposition and good habits. He formed the determination to adhere to these with stronger resolution, and to rely upon them in future endeavor.

He left home in June, 1833.

Only sailing vessels crossed the Atlantic Ocean at that time, and he reached New York on the 1st of August, after a voyage of six weeks.

He remained in that city ten years. He then made a tour of the States. There was no "West" then beyond the Mississippi. Michigan was a territory, and half of Illinois and Indiana remained unsettled. Mr. Anton became a resident of Michigan City, where he speedily became generally popular. In 1841 he was elected city treasurer, his friends giving him a non-partisan nomination.

He now began the study of medicine, It was his practice to work twelve to fourteen hours each day, and then to read two hours longer. This was too severe a taxing of his physical energies, and his health succumbed. Misfortunes did not come singly. The overthrow of the United States Bank had been attended by a rapid inflation of the paper currency, and a consequent period of wild financial operations. Mr. Anton had been prosperous in business, and purchased numerous city lots. The revulsion of 1837, one of the most terrible ever known in this country, rendered these almost worthless. Mr. Anton was compelled to travel in order to regain his lost health, and at the same time to find employment to meet his necessary expenses. He engaged in lecturing upon phrenology, and also taught classes in physiology and hygienic science.