able adjuvant in such as have a distinct neurotic base as an etiological or complicating factor.

It is the hope of the writer that the few clinical notes jotted down above may serve as a stimulus to further inquiry into the therapeutical worth and more extended application of gold and its salts, as it is a matter of interest and possibly of the greatest importance, more especially in the treatment of many chronic affections of viscera and organs.-New York Medical Journal.

NEW OBSERVATIONS IN GONORRHEA.-At the recent meeting of the German dermatological association, considerable time was devoted to the discussion of the etiology of gonorrhea, and among the interesting points brought out, an observation by Wertheim is deserving of especial attention. This careful investigator has found that gonococci obtained from the secretions of chronic gonorrhea can be cultivated so as to acquire a high degree of virulence, and when inoculated in the urethra of the patient from whom they were derived will give rise to an intense gonorrheal inflammation. It has been quite frequently observed that patients suffering from latent gonorrhea at the time of marriage have infected their wives and at a later period acquired from them in return an acute urethral inflammation. Wertheim's experiments are, therefore, of importance in affording a rational and scientific explanation of this clinical observation.-International Journal of Surgery.

Two EASY AND DELICATE TESTS FOR ALBUMIN IN URINE.- Dr. C. Fouchlos (Progrés Medical) recommends two new tests for albumin in urine, for which he claims utmost delicacy and absence of any possible fallacy.

(1) Add to the suspected urine a few drops of a 1 per cent. solution of corrosive sublimate; in case of turbidity, add some drops of acetic acid. If the turbidity persists it is due to the presence of albumin.

(2) Take 100 cc. of a 10 per cent. solution of sulpho-cyanide of potassium, and mix with it 20 cc. of acetic acid. Add a few drops of this mixture to the urine. If albumin is present in small quantities, an immediate turbidity will ensue; if in larger quantities, a heavy white precipitate will appear.-Med. and Surg. Reporter.

BUFFALO MEDICAL AND SURGICAL JOURNAL

A MONTHLY REVIEW OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY.

THOMAS LOTHROP, M. D.

EDITORS:

WM. WARREN POTTER, M. D.

All communications, whether of a literary or business nature, should be addressed to the managing editor: 284 FRANKLIN Street, BUFFALO, N. Y.

PELVIC INFLAMMATORY

DISEASE-WHAT IS TRUE

CONSERVATISM IN ITS TREATMENT?

A REMARKABLY interesting discussion was held at the last meeting of the American Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, in which the history, clinical features, causation, pathology, diag nosis, prognosis and treatment of inflammatory disease of the uterus, its appendages and of the pelvic peritoneum were exhaustively considered. Some eight or nine referees took part in the discussion and these gentlemen were exceedingly well chosen, for they were fitted by experience and training to deal with the subject in a masterful manner.

This discussion was published in the American Journal of Obstetrics as well as in the transactions of the association, hence has become the property of the profession and is a most valuable contribution to the literature of gynecology-perhaps the most important one made in this country during the year 1894.

The frequency with which the diseases in question-acute or chronic, primary or secondary-are met, makes the subject one of absorbing interest to every practicing physician whose province is to deal with the pelvic organs of women. It is particularly important that the family doctor should be well versed in the clinical history and diagnosis of these affections in order that he may be prepared, either in person or by appropriate counsel, to make early application of rational and effective treatment. It is, moreover, of paramount importance that he shall not be misled by the dangerous doctrines that have been lately preached under the disguise of the misapplication of the term conservatism.

In reading this discussion we have become particularly impressed with the clearness and forcefulness of the arguments made on that point. There has sprung up, of late, an attempt on the part of a few men, who heretofore have been regarded in a

certain sense as leaders, to decry the surgical treatment of these affections and to prove that they can be cured by tentative measures, such as can be applied during a long residence in a private hospital. These, of course, include rest, massage, electricity, diet and almost every known luxury that a proud purse can provide. It is not to be contended that these remedies have not a place in certain well-chosen cases and in appropriate environment; but it cannot be affirmed with any approach to truthfulness that they are to be employed for the cure of pus-laden tubes, cystic ovaries or in cases where the pelvic tissues, through neglect or otherwise, have become matted together until their anatomical outlines are no longer to be mapped out.

The debaters in the discussion above referred to have, in several instances, paid their respects to this dangerous teaching in unmistakable terms, and we believe the effect of their arguments will go far towards checking the false position into which many good men were being betrayed. At all events we have observed that the medical journals throughout the country have ceased to echo these taking, but dangerous, arguments. The principles enunciated by experienced surgeons, who have derived their knowledge from long-suffering effort at the operating table, and who are able to point with satisfaction to a long record of cures are, after all and in the long run, more convincing than the pretty vagaries of the theorist.

When pus has ravaged a woman's pelvis until her organs are no longer anatomically recognizable or physiologically useful, it stands to reason that the best way to cure such a patient is through the prompt application of the best known surgical principles; and this is about the sum and substance of the whole matter. It is, at all events, the conclusion that thinking and observing physicians will reach, after listening to all the arguments and observing the results that the opposing methods bring.

We've got a

THE Kansas medical practice bill was defeated chiefly through the influence of the populists. In the house, according to the Kansas Medical Journal, Mr. Winters, a populist member, said: We Western people can't support your plug-hat doctors. lot of old women who are better than any of them." And this is the kind of argument that prevails against reform in medical education beyond the Mississippi! Time, however, will set this question right. "Time and I," said Mazarin, "against any other two."

TOPICS OF THE MONTH.

THE Buffalo General Hospital has received the munificent gift of $55,000, which is to be applied in the building of a new structure. This royal donation was made by four of Buffalo's most philanthropic women. Mrs. George B. Gates contributed $40,000 of the amount, and her three daughters-namely, Mrs. William Hamlin, Mrs. Charles W. Pardee and Miss Elizabeth Gates, each added $5,000 to the sum.

There is much cause for congratulation in this splendid liberality of these sterling women. In the first place Buffalo has great need of improved hospital accommodations. At present there is no adequate structure for the reception of patients that may be properly classed as general in character. Buffalo is rapidly increasing in population, and its hospitals should keep pace with the progress of events.

It is understood that a new general hospital has been contemplated for some time. The gift of Mrs. Gates and her daughters will make a substantial beginning in the erection of an appropriate building. Buffalo deserves a charity of this kind that ought to cost $1,000,000. Who of Buffalo's philanthropic citizens will supplement the Gates' fund, increasing it to the amount named? The princely gift of these charitable women ought to bring the blush of shame to some of our wealthy citizens, and stimulate them to prompt action in swelling the fund to an amount that would put in immediate process of construction a building such as the picture we present, indicates.

It is stated that action will be taken at once looking to the erection of one wing of the new structure in accordance with plans drawn by Mr. George Cary, architect, of this city. The plan contemplates the erection of a quadrangular group of buildings as exhibited in the illustration, which shows the High-street elevation.

Mrs. Gates, principal donor of the fund mentioned, is now eighty years old. She takes an active interest in the prosperity of Buffalo, and especially in charitable work, and we hope that she and her three daughters may be spared many years to witness and enjoy the fruition of their princely charitable enterprise.

THOUGH Our Contemporaries, in a number of instances, refer to the "New York State Medical Society," we beg to inform them that