"But I wish now that the time and money therein spent had been directed to the western instead of the eastern hemisphere or continent; and now I venture to predict that ere long it will be to the medical schools of America rather than to those of Europe that our students will travel, as did the apprentices of old before they settled down to the serious exercise of their own craft. American visitors abroad, who have given weeks and months to see me work, have one and all impressed me with their possession of that feature of mind which in England I fear we do not possess, the power of judging any question solely upon its merits, and entirely apart from any prejudice, tradition, or personal bias. No matter how we struggle against it, tradition rules all we do; we cannot throw off its shackles, and I am bound to plead guilty to this weakness myself, perhaps as fully as ary of my countrymen inay be compelled to do. I may have thrown off the shackles in some instances, but I know that I am grimly bound in others, and my hope is that my visit to a freer country and a better climate may extend my mental vision." PRAIRIE ITCH.-Dr. J. H. Warmuth, in the Nashville Medical Neurs, claims that the disease vulgarly called "prarie itch, "scratches," "Texas mange," etc., is eczema papulosa contagiosa. Eczema is generally described in text-books as a non-contagious affection and yet this dermatosis, which is essentially a papular eezema, is undoubtedly contagious ---but has nothing of the character of common itch or scabies. Dr. Warmuth thinks there is a parasite which causes the trouble and with that idea made his treatment in the first stage simply inunctions of lye soap or sapo viridis all over the body at bed time every other night and a morning bath in warm water. Blue mass, when needed; if not, then three drams of sulphate of magnesia in a wine-glassful of water every morning before breakfast. This is generally sufficient, but if the trouble has gone on to the vesicular stage, he gives Plumbi acetatis Acidi carbolici ää zij Ext. belladonnæ fid. fz ss Aquæ q. s. ad f=x M. Sig.-Apply soft cloths moistened with this to affected parts and repeat when dry. This immediately subdues pain, burning and itching. Internally is given: M. R Magnesii sulphatis giv Tinet, gentianæ triij S.-Teaspoonful after each meal. When the vesicles have burst and become confluent with dark brown crusts, poultices are applied until removed, or if already removed then a mixture of two drams each of carbolic acid and oxide of zine in two ounces of cosmoline is applied two or three times a day. In all stages frequent ablutions and changes of under-clothing are requisite to success. ADVERTISING "REGULARS."--The New York Medical Record very properly chastises some of the most prominent physicians of Chicago for advertising in the daily newspapers. And the mode of advertising is the worst kind because while it brings the gentlemen interested before the people in a most pronounced way yet there is no way of reaching the guilty parties since the practice is not in violation of the letter of the code. The Record says: "Some of our medical colleges are energetic, at least. The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Chicago accompanies its opening with a column and a half rotice of the school and the various members of the faculty, illustrated with cuts. The Rush Medical College, also, celebrates at equal length and with similar richness of illustration. If they are faithful presentments of the distinguished teachers, we lament the decay of manly beauty in Chicago. The practice of using the teaching institutions for the purpose of personal advertisement, as is done in the two notices referred to, is pernicious and likely to lead to grave results. The general practitioner asks himself why he should not be able to advertise with impunity also; and a tendency to lax practices is encouraged--practices which, if carried to their logical and legitimate end, degrade the profession to the level of quacks, or, at the best, to that of mercenary, enviously-competing tradesmien." Parke, Davis & Co., GLEDITSCHINE, THE NEW LOCAL ANESTHETIC. announce that they are thoroughly investigating at their laboratory the properties of the alkaloid derived from Gleditschine Triacanthos, or Thorny Locust, which under the name of Stenocarpine has been claimed to possess greater anaesthetic power than cocaine, and mydriatic effects exceeding those of homatropine. Anticipating that the fluid extract Gleditschia Triacanthos may possess, in view of the anesthetic action of its alkaloid as does the source of cocaine--Coca Erythroxylon, valuable medical properties, they are prepared to supply physicians with samples of the fluid extract for investigation and clinical trial, and with working bulletin containing all the facts regarding this drug and its application, collected from the reports from their scientific department, and those that have appeared in current medical literature. They hope to be able in a short time to supply the alkaloid itself. It is claimed that the renal sequelae of scarlatina never occur in patients placed on exclusive milk diet from the very first manifestation of the disease to the terminatim of all symptoms. It is well to have the subject, unless very young, drink as much as three quarts per diem. LITTLE ITEMS. Von Langenbuch, the distinguished Berlin surgeon, is dead. Dr. Horace Chapin, a prominent physician of Lincoln, Nebraska, is dead. The South Kansas Medical Society meets at Wichita, Tuesday November 7. Lieberkuhn, the eminent anatomist of Marburg, recently died aged seventy-five. The Tri-State Medical Association meets at Memphis, Tenn., No-" vember 7, 1887. For the incontinence of urine in young boys there is nothing so good" as circumcision. An Atlanta physician recently committed suicide. He was a subject. of the cocaine habit. It is now regarded as a settled question that croupous pneumonia is a contagious affection. Prof. Wm. B. Atkinson recommends enemata of tincture of assafoetida as a cure for seat worms. Billroth has performed resection of the pylorus for cancer fifteen times-seven times successfully. Dr. A. B. Anderson, of Pawnee City, Nebraska, has lost his most estimable wife after a long illness. Dr. Moses T. Runnels has returned from a trip to Colorado where his family has been passing the summer. Dr. Virgil O. Hardon has been elected professor of obstetrics in the Atlanta Medical College--a wise selection. The Kansas City District Medical Society met in this city Thursday, Oct. 6. Minutes will appear in next issue. The Railroad Surgeons' Society, of Nebraska, met in Lincoln September 6. An interesting session is reported. Dr. W. H. Hawkins, president of the Arkansas State Medical Society, died at his home near Texarkana, September 4. For all plastic operations on the female genitals Professor Parvin uses silver wire in preference to either silk or catgut. Cases of diphtheria were recently so numerous in St. Louis as to cause the schools to close, but the epidemic is now checked. Dr. Sophronia M. Lane has been elected Secretary of the Lincoln, Nebraska, Medical Society-an excellent selection. Pure carbolic acid, warmed so as to become liquid, will cure ringworm in one application if care be taken to touch every affected spot. Prof. Alonzo Clark, M. D., LL. D., one of the most prominent physicians of New York City, died Sept. 14, 1887, aged eighty-one years. The American Public Health Association meets at Memphis-six teenth annual session-November 8 to 11 inclusive. Fare one and one third rate. Dr. G. French Harvey, of Parsons, Kansas, recently passed a week in this city making analyses in the chemical laboratory of Professor F. A. Holton. Dr. J. W. Bryant, of East Eighteenth St. has accepted a position as surgeon to the Wabash Railway and has been assigned to hospital duty at Peru, Indiana. The International Congress was a great success in every way. Diphtheria has been prevailing in St. Louis to an alarming extent. There are more than ten thousand opium eaters in the state of Iowa alone. There is a man in London who is eight feet and nine inchss in height. Dr. W. M. Line, of Nebraska City, Neb., has removed to Aberdeen, Dakota. Dr. A. L. Hunt has removed from Hutchinson, Kansas, to Pueblo, Colorado. Dr. Grant Cullimore, of Jacksonville, Ill., recently passed several days in this city. Dr. W. E. Barker, of Chanute, Kansas, is still pursuing his medical studies in Europe. Scarlet fever was the cause of death of more than 17,000 persons in England last year. Tait says that no case of puerperal peritonitis should be left to die with on unopened abdomen. A card from Mrs. Nanny Brueckmann announces the recent death of Dr. E. Brueckmann, of Jackson, Mo. Dr. Victor Anderson has given up his office in this city to take a place in the Wabash Railway hospital service. The Senate of Pennsylvania has passed a bill providing for the infliction of capital punishment by electricity. A birth-card from Dr. E. J. Dennis, of Geneseo, Kansas, announces the birth of the first son, Congratulations. Dr. A. E. Prince, of Jacksonville, Ill., one of the most prominent surgeons of the West, was in the city some days ago. Prof. E. R. Lewis has been spending a few weeks' outing in the mountains of Colorado and Utah, but is now returned. Dr. J. D. Osborne, of Cleburne, Texas, has been appointed Medical Examiner of the Grand Lodge of Knights of Honor, of Texas. Dr. W. O. Henry, of Pawnee City, Neb., recently removed, successly, an ovarian tumor from a woman suffering from acute peritonitis. This is said to be a certain remedy for gleet: R Acidi nitrici dil. gtt. v, decoctionis cinchonæ flavæ tj. M. Sig. Inject three times a day. The news of the dispersion of the socialist picnic by a mad dog in London suggests new and gratifying uses for both socialists and mad dogs. A letter from Professor F. B. Tiffany brings intelligence of the de parture of himself and lady on steamship "Etruria" from New York to Liverpool. The Western Dental Journal says: "Dental societies lately seem to be composed largely of red tape. I had a case and repeat."-Ditto medical societies. Prof. C. H. Hughes, of St Louis, claims that general paresis-paralysis of the insane-may be cured by early recognition and appropriate therapeutic measures. Dr. John P. Haynes, a negro living in Galveston, Texas, has been appointed Demonstrator of Anatomy in Dartmouth Medical College, Hanover, New Hampshire. Prof. A. B. Shaw, of St. Louis, regards bromo-soda as almost a specific for congestive headache. Fluid extract of guarana is also of much benefit in some cases. Pajot's rule in regard to the use of ergot in obstetrical practice is: As long as the uterus contains anything, be it child, placenta, membranes, or clots, never administer ergot. Atropine sulphate and extract of ergot are the two remedies best calculated to control night sweats of phthisis, though aromatic sulphuric acid answers admirably in many cases. The abundant secretions of sub-acute nasal catarrh may often be controlled by the administration of minim doses of tincture of belladonna' every half hour until eight or ten minims are taken. Dr. Frank S. Billings, director of the biological laboratory of the Nebraska State University, claims to have discovered the specific germ of Texas fever-the terrible cattle disease of the west. Dr. Robert Battey, of Rome, Ga., was elected president of the American Gynecological Society at its last session. The next meeting will be held in Boston on the third Tuesday of September 1888. Dr. G. W. Robinson, of Trinidad, Col., says that the fluid extract of jaborandi has proven in his hands a valuable local remedy for ecze ma. The intense itching is relieved after one or two applications. Dr. S. T. Yount, of La Fayette, Ind., recommends indigo in doses of one dram two or three times a day with a little sub-nitrate of bismuth and followed by a small drink of whiskey as an emmenagogue of decided value. Dr. E. Mc. D. Coffey, one of the prominent physicians of North Missouri, gave the INDEX a brief call while in the city attending the Kansas City District Society. He reports a few cases of typhoid fever in Platte City and vicinity. Dr. A. B. Anderson, of Pawnee City, Neb., strongly recommends antipyrine in the treatment of puerperal fever, claiming (Denver Medical Times) that the mortality can be greatly reduced by its judicious administration. The twentieth anniversary of the Nebrask |