seeks to keep apace with the tide of thought that is always rapidly rising, makes him too much the servaut of his profession to the exclusion, largely, of all other thoughts and schemes that should demand at least some of his time and influence. He cannot divorce himself from the manifold concerns of the community in which he lives, without divesting himself of much of the influence which his position as a physician would, with care, ensure for him. Nor can he maintain his place as a physician unless he is conversant, in a measure, with the social and commercial world, as well as alive to the workings of disease in the sick bodies of those people whose every-day life he must study and know. There must be a manifest interest on the part of the doctor in the welfare of the public, if he will claim to be a guide for their actions in days of bodily distress. There is no need that he shall sacrifice his time to be thus a participant in the general affairs of the laity-no need that he should enter the marts of trade or the turmoils of politics, but he must not be an uninterested outsider, one unwilling to do his full share to push forward all schemes that will advance the cause of education and promote social purity, as well as serve as a safe counselor in all matters directly relating to the health of his people. The position these men, whose memory Dr. Mitchell has so beautifully recalled, sustained to the general public is the sure testimony that they lived and worked not alone for themselves and within the exact confines of their profession; but were imbued with an enthusiasm to fill the full measure of true manliness and to serve the ends of a great and humane profession, that was rewarded by the trust of their fellowcitizens and to the satisfaction of noble ambitions.

The accomplishment of such a commanding position in a community is secured by constant and untiring study-study not hampered by the metes and bounds of medical literature, but enlarged into such general subjects as pertain to general knowledge. The great free State of Literature has no time set for naturalizing those who desire to become citizens of her gentle domain. For to all there is the bidding to enter in and possess the good land and enjoy its blessings the only compensation asked is that return shall be made, in kind, or in practice, of the good deeds which are therein laid up as great moral and intellectual examples in the lives and thoughts of great men and women that have helped to people this realm.

CORRESPONDENCE.

NOTES OF A VISIT TO SOME OF THE NEW YORK HOSPITALS.

Messrs. Editors North Carolina Medical Journal:

Perhaps nowhere in the great European centres of learning can the advanced student of medicine find fitter opportunities for the acquisition of general or special knowledge, than in the great metropolitan city of New York.

I do not offer here anything beyond a mere coup d'œil of what came under my observation in a rather hurried and curtailed visit. The hospitals are numerous; those of a general character are about eighteen in number, including the new Maternity, built by the Vanderbilt family, in connection with the College of Physicians and Surgeons; besides these, there are many private institutions for the care of the afflicted. Doubtless there has been no period in the world's history when so much has been done for suffering humanity, in all of its phases, as the present.

The practitioners with whom I came in contact seemed to be a live, go-a-head set of men, fully abreast with the progress of scientific medicine, hard workers, receiving apparently a healthy impulse from their invigorating and bracing climate. Among them it is pleasant to note the thrift and success of quite a number of Southern men who have settled in the city since the war, some of whom are attaining, and have arrived at, deserved prominence in special departments and in general practice.

When one considers the abundant material and numerous advantages afforded professional men in these great cities, with their museums, hospitals, clinics, libraries, etc., it is not remarkable that the masters in the art and science of medicine should be found here. It is all the greater honor, therefore, when men in our profession, in less favored communities, rise to high position and distinction in their calling.

Through the kindness and influence of Dr. A. H. Goelet, one of the rising young physicians of the city, and a former North Carolinian, I had daily invitations to interesting work going on at the

different hospitals. In this way I came to visit the wards in the German Hospital in the service of Prof. Lange. I found the doctor a very agreeable and courteous gentleman. On this occasion, the day being dark and gloomy, he said there would be no operation performed, but politely invited me to accompany him. through his surgical wards of sixty beds, at the same time remarking that this would perhaps be of more interest to me than any operation he might perform. Here I witnessed a great variety of surgical cases and methods of treatment, the history and management of which he seemed to take great pleasure in explaining and requesting me to examine. Having asked me to come back the next day. I did so, and saw him remove a large portion of the femur, in a boy of fourteen, for necrosis extending from above the middle of the shaft down to the condyles. When the chiseling was completed the bone appeared almost a mere shell; the wound was then made thoroughly aseptic by the sublimate irrigation, 1 to 2500, and the integument, instead of being sutured and strapped in the usual manner, was folded closely and firmly in the excavated bone, drainage-tubes inserted, absorbent pads placed longitudinally along the line of incision, and the limb firmly secured by bandage. This dressing he will not disturb for several weeks, if the case progresses favorably. This method, he informed me, he had learned from one of his fellow-assistants in Esmarch's service, and was not aware that it was practised by any of his colleagues. The advantage to he gained is that the wound heals in much less time, the result is better, and patient discharged from hospital sooner than by the old plan.

Dr. Lange has recently successfully performed a nephrotomy for pyonephrosis in a female, and nephrectomy in a male. During our conversation he inquired if we had many cases of stone, and I was somewhat surprised when he said he preferred the suprapubic method in lithotomy, giving as his reason that the various steps of the operation could be better seen, and now that we had such thorough antisepsis, the wound was not so extensive and serious as the perineal, and, moreover, in elderly persons, where there was prostatic enlargement, the finger could not, on account of depth of the parts, be made to sweep the bladder so well.

Dr. Lange has been in this country only nine years, but speaks English with remarkable elegance and fluency. He is very deliberate and thorough in his surgical work, and plain and unostentatious

in manner. I felt impressed with the idea that he was one of the coming great surgeons of the country. To him, also, is due the credit for the introduction of antisepsis in the New York hospitals.

Dr. Gerster is also a German, and one of the visiting surgeons to this hospital, as he is to Mt. Sinai, the Jewish hospital; at the same time he is one of the professors at the Polyclinic. He, too, is a fine English scholar, and one of the most forceful and common-sense clinical lecturers I have ever heard.

The Post Graduate schools are among the new features of the day for advanced medical instruction. They are attended mostly by physicians from different sections of the country, who generally have been some years in practice, and who repair to them for special knowledge in some particular branch, or for a general brightening up, taking courses for a greater or shorter length of time, as their duties at home will permit. These schools, or rather clinics, are presided over by a very meritorious and progressive class of comparatively young men, many of whom are professors and visiting physicians and surgeons to the various hospitals of the city; the others are simply doctors and lecturers, with perhaps some dispensary service.

The Polyclinic seemed to be better fitted up and to have a larger attendance than the others. Here Prof. Gibney gives a very instructive course on orthopedic surgery, with many illustrative cases. In one young woman, who he stated worked in a silk factory, and who had been under treatment for sometime for Potts' disease, the result was marked. In this instance, he said, as she was doing so well, he would replace the permanent plaster jacket with what he called his convalescent jacket, which is applied in the usual manner, and before it is quite dry slits it up in front, takes it off, places a row of eyelet-holes on each side, so that it may be laced, when it is ready for use, and can be taken off and on at the pleasure of the wearer. Noticing a young woman of rather plain and homely appearance present in attendance on the clinic and watching every procedure with great interest, I asked her if she was studying medicine. "O, yes," she replied; "I am a graduate, but I am taking a six-weeks' course in general and orthopedic surgery." "But," said I, "do you practice surgery?" "Certainly I do," she said. "I am from New England, but I now reside and practise in the Sandwich Islands, and on one occasion I was called up at night, and rode

eight miles through the forest and amputated a man's leg." "Ah, indeed," I remarked; "that is better than some of the men doctors could do." One of the attending physicians informed me afterwards that this adventurous and strong-minded female doctor had been sent to study here by some missionary society.

Here, also, the clinic for general surgery and diseases of the genito-urinary organs is presided over by that accomplished Southern gentleman, Prof. John Wyeth. The material ne presents is apt and abundant. He is the Secretary of the Polyclinic and enjoys the reputation of a careful and pains-taking surgeon, with that of an accurate anatomist, having been for some years demonstrator of anatomy in the Bellevue College, and but for extraneous influences would have been professor of either anatomy or surgery in that institution. He is also one of the attending surgeons to Mt. Sinai Hospital.

The gynecological clinic is in charge of Profs. Wylie and Mundè, the first named one of the former assistants of Dr. Sims, and the latter the author of a well-known practical treatise on gynæcology I was somewhat surprised at the respectable and genteel appearance of many of the patients, who avail themselves of the advantages of these clinics. A great variety of uterine disease is here represented, examined and treated in the presence of the attending physicians.

In addition to the above there is clinical instruction by other gentlemen in diseases of children-of the skin, mind and nervous system, of the throat, eyes and ears, of the chest and general medicine, also in chemistry.

St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital is a noble brick structure, with well-kept ornamental grounds, and located in one of the most fashionable quarters of the city, being on 54th street and 5th avenue. It contains about two hundred and fifty beds, and is one of the most orderly and best governed charities in the country. Having a note of introduction to Dr. Otis, the clever young house surgeon and son of Prof. Otis, I was very politely received by him. and invited to visit the different wards. One of the latter contained thirty beds, occupied by little children with various surgical affections, and for the amusement and occupation of the young convalescents were to be seen hobby-horses, dolls and various games suitable to their age. They all seemed to be happy and contented as they cheerfully hailed the doctor as he passed along. It was