The results of Senger's investigations seem thus, so far at least as the discovery of a peculiar exciter of cancer goes, to have fallen out negatively. Nor can the great aim of the discovery of the cause of cancer be reached in a short time. On the contrary, before any other thing, the foundation of an earnest, purposeful bacterio-logical endeavor to find the cause of cancer must be laid in its transmissibility by inoculation. Without this basis the discovery of a bacterium by cultivation is not only difficult but without prospect of result. It should not be forgotten that the mechanism of the etiology of cancer is a very complicated one, and that, after successful transmission of the disease by inoculation, only by new methods of cultivation can it be deduced which of them best suits the physiological necessities of the hypothetical micro-organism. - Edinburgh Medical Journal.

LOCAL APPLICATION OF CALOMEL IN PHAGEDENA. I had a case of phagedena ulceration of the under surface of the glans penis under my charge at the Station Hospital, Brighton, in August last, which defied the recognized treatments of this disease. I applied nitric acid in the most thorough manner on six different occasions during a period of eighteen days without success. I then applied pure carbolic acid, but the disease again returned. Constitutional treatment with opium was adopted throughout. For six days the patient sat in a hot-water hip bath on an average about four hours daily without any appreciable effect on the course of the disease. The condition of the penis on the twenty-first day was as follows:

A large ulcer existed, covering the entire under surface of the glans, molding it like the mouthpiece of a flute, and extending to the reflected foreskin in the vicinity of the ulcer. A third of the glans had been destroyed. The surface of the ulcer was covere with a reddish gray secretion, irregularly disposed, and pierced here and there by large red granulations. The edges were angry and undermined.

I applied calomel powder on the twentyfirst day of the disease, spreading it thickly, and pressing it well into the interstices of the ulcer. The calomel acted like magic; the ulcer began to heal rapidly. Now and then a suspicious spot appeared, but it was at once dissipated by a thorough application of the calomel. The patient made an excellent recovery, and was very pleased at the result, for he believed he was going to lose the whole affair. I could give him very little hope. I had used all the recognized methods of treatment, and the literature of the subject pointed to those slow, creeping ulcerations as almost incurable, except by amputation, and then very often the disease returned in the stump. I was tempted to use calomel, as I have found it very useful in all forms of syphilitic ulceration.-T. J. Gallwey, British Medical Journal.

A HANDY CURE FOR HICCOUGH. There may be some occult connection between hiccough and the auditory apparatus. Not long ago we published an account of somebody's method of stopping hiccough by applying a drop of water to the external ear. Now Dr. Dresch, of Foix, in France, has written a letter to the editor of the Bulletin general de Therapeutique, in which he describes another method, almost as simple, also relating to the ear. Dr. Dresch states that the procedure was not original with him, but that he can not remember how it was made known to him. The method is as follows: The sufferer should close his external auditory canals with his fingers, exerting a certain degree of pressure; at the same time he is to drink a few sips of any liquid whatever, the glass or cup being held to his lips by another person. The effect is

said to be immediate.-New York Medical Journal.

OIL OF TANSY.-A curious effect has been observed by M. Peyraud to result from the administration of oil of tansy, Tanacetum vulgare (Compt. Rend.). The symptoms produced by it in animals almost exactly resemble those of hydrophobia, such as hallucinations, convulsions without loss of consciousness, opisthotonos, spasm of the pharyngeal muscles of the larynx, and of the whole of the thorax, abundant salivation, asphyxial phenomena, sensorial excitability, tendency to bite, the characteristic cry, diminution of sensibility and movement, momentary paralysis, bloody mucous foam from the windpipe and bronchial tubes, subpleural hemorrhage, and hemorrhagic infarction of the liver.-Therapeutic Gazette.

PERMANGANATE OF POTASH AS AN EMMENAGOGUE.-Dr. L'voff, writing in a Moscow medical journal on the emmenagogue action of permanganate of potash as described by Drs. Ringer and Murrell in 1883, states that during the four years which have elapsed since the publication of the English physicians' paper he has treated some two hundred cases with permanganate. His results are thus summarized in five classes of cases: (1) Thirty-two cases of otherwise healthy girls who suffered from dysmenorrhea with diminished flux, no assignable cause made out. Here pills containing permanganate and extract of pulsatilla were ordered for a week or ten days before the period, with excellent results. (2) Seventeen cases where the involution of the uterus after childbirth had been excessive, or where atrophy of the uterus and the ovaries had occurred during lengthened puerperal affections, especially during parametritis. These patients took the pills regularly for from three to six months. Improvement in the quantity of the flux generally commenced in from four to six weeks in young women, and in from three to four months in older subjects. (3) Sixty-two cases where pelvic peritonitis occurred after labor. Here a good result was obtained in the majority of the cases, but in a few no effect was observed. (4) Sixty-five cases of young married barren women, in whom gonorrheal gonococci were mostly to be found, and many of whom suffered from affections of the tubes or ovaries. In this group of cases the results obtained from permanganate were not very striking-indeed in many of them it was useless. (5) Eleven cases of early appearance of the change of life (from thirty-five to forty years of age), an atrophic condition of the uterus being always recognizable. Here the permanganate proved useless.

THE AIR OF EDINBURGH THEATERS.-An interesting account has been given by Mr. Cosmo J. Burton of the amount of carbonic acid and organic matter in the Theater Royal and Royal Lyceum Theater in Edinburgh. At the time of the experiments the theaters were by no means full; nevertheless, the temperature was from ten to fifteen degrees above that recorded immediately before the houses were opened, while carbonic acid was multiplied from three to five times.

Mr.

Burton remarks that the vitiation of the air proceeds with extraordinary rapidity at first, but the rate of change soon decreases, till, toward the end of the performance, the air becomes little or no worse, and, indeed, in a

few instances it appeared to slightly improve. The atmosphere of all parts of the theater was not equally vitiated; the air of the gallery was considerably worse than that of any other part of the house; the amphitheater, dress circle, and pit did not. come in the same order as to degree of impurity in the experiments, but the pit was always worse than the dress-circle. The

late Dr. Parkes stated that headache and vertigo are produced when the amount of carbonic acid in the air of respiration is not more than from fifteen to thirty volumes per 10,000, and our experience of some theaters leads us to suspect that Mr. Burton's results are not special to Edinburgh. The facts as to all theaters ought to be known; for the public had much better lose an evening's enjoyment than submit to the enforced inhalation of a polluted atmosphere for a number of hours.-Lancet.

ACUTE GASTRIC CATARRH.-Catarrh of the stomach is perhaps more frequent in infancy than catarrh of any other mucous membrane; it attacks the feeble, the anemic, the convalescent, and the sufferer from any form of fever, while the healthy babe is not exempt.

The gastric juice is altered in quality and diminished in quantity; the digestion is consequently impaired, while the muscular coat may be paralyzed or too irritable. The treatment should consist more in the avoidance of certain articles than in the administration of drugs. Small quantities of iced water, seltzer, or other effervescing water relieve the thir-t; and Jacobi recommends greatly diluted muriatic acid in the proportion of one part to three or ten thousand. Milk should not be given if there be much mucus ejected from the stomach; indeed, it is well to withhold milk entirely for a day or two, and give only whey or some mucilaginous or farinaceous liquid.-Ibid.

USE OF BORACIC ACID.-It is well known that boracic acid is practically harmless. Gaucher has found it useful in impetigo, and the more so because it is without color or odor. The scabs should be removed by means of poultices, and a solution of boracic acid in glycerite of starch, 1-10, is then applied. Gaucher has cured a case of tuberculosis of the skin in the same way, and has given the acid in ten-grain doses in pulmonary tuberculosis, with advantage. The urine eliminates the acid readily and rapidly, and, as would be supposed, boracic acid is useful internally in cystitis, especially of old men.-Ibid.

It appears that Dr. W. B. Meany is soliciting the British Government to recognize American diplomas. Dr. Meany is a clever gentleman, and was once a citizen of Louisville. After taking his degree in medicine here he went to London to continue his studies. A short time back he asked Parliament to give diplomas issued in America the same currency in the United Kingdom that British diplomas are given in the United States. He introduced the subject by means of a letter addressed to Mr. Arnold Morley, M. P., who brought it before Parliament by inquiring of the Government "whether registered medical practitioners in the United Kingdom were afforded privileges of practicing in the United States of America, and whether any steps have been taken or were in contemplation by the Privy Council, under section 17 of "The Medical Act, 1886,' in the direction of similar privileges being given to legally qualified American practitioners who might be desirous of practicing medicine in the United Kingdom." Sir W. Hart-Dyke replied, that "no statement had been received from the Government of the United States showing the privileges offered in America to registered medical practitioners of the United King

dom, nor did he find that any request had been made by the United States Government for the extension of privileges to American medical men in this country."

Sir Hart Dyke's reply furnishes, we think, an effective quietus to the whole matter. It is very clear that our own Government cares nothing about it one way or another. Nor does the profession as a whole care any more. An American diploma has always secured to its owner, if he be an American, entrance without charge to all British institutions where medicine is taught. He is welcome to such hospitals as he chooses to visit. He receives all needed courtesy while within their walls, and if he have reputation at home or be provided with suitable letters, both professional and social attentions greet him on every hand.

That one of our home-made diplomas does not convey a warrant to practice physic in the United Kingdom can affect but few very few-American doctors; for the number who may desire to open offices there is, in the nature of things, exceedingly small. The average Brother Jonathan seeks pastures new. He goes West. His eyes turn to the setting rather than the rising sun. In his chosen fields he has more elbow-room, more breathing space, and this suits him better.

The profession is as much crowded in England as here. The emoluments are no greater. The social status of the doctor is not so good. And we know no adequate reason that can be assigned why an American should wish to practice medicine there. Where one, however, does elect to do so, the way is plain and the undertaking on the whole easy. For it is little if any more difficult to pass the required examination before the colleges there than to pass that of such States in America as enforce an examination of all physicians who desire to practice within their borders.

Did England discriminate against American diplomas alone the matter would be wholly different. But she does not. Continental diplomas are put in the same category. Indeed, none other than British diplomas go in Great Britain. The candidate's nationality may be this or that, his education may be ever so finished, his reputation ever so commanding, yet if he be

not an alumnus of a British school he must go before a British board to get license to physic British subjects. The same may be said of cer'tain States in our own Union-States whose laws require all persons who wish to practice our benign art within their sovereign borders to have their fitness to do so passed upon by a board of examiners.

Great Britain requires nothing more.

early rising and longevity. No doubt many people will hastily seize upon the sentence just quoted and employ it in edifying lectures or essays for the perusal of youth, or embody in it popular medical works.

Im

portant qualifications follow in Dr. Humphry's report, but they are likely to be overlooked. Doubtless the habit of early rising is in itself healthy; most of all, it is a

fies rapid recovery from fatigue. Again, it usually denotes a strong will, the gift, as a rule, of a good physical condition, or at least the safeguard of average bodily strength. Late risers are generally either invalids or persons of bad habits, idlers who are never free from other vices besides idleness. The nervous exhaustion which keeps a man wakeful throughout the small hours produces sleep late in the morning. This exhaustion is invariably due to one of several life-shortening influences, especially anxiety or indiscretion in diet or drink. Early rising is rather one effect of certain favorable influences, another result of which is longevity, than a cause of longevity.

To turn a weakly man out of bed every morning at seven o'cock will not prolong his life. It will be noted that by "good sleeping" Professor Humphry signifies quick sleeping, "that is, the reparative work which has to be done in sleep is done briskly and well." Here, again, we have an effect of a cause; but preventing a weakly subject from sleeping more than four or five hours nightly would not cause him to live long, but would rather tend to shorten his life. Equally important are Professor Humphry's observations which show that by "early" he does not entirely mean the time by the clock. The word "has a relative significance with reference to the time of going to bed. A person who retires to rest four hours after midnight and gets up at 10 A. M. may be strictly regarded as an early riser.'" Thus early rising is synonymous, in long-life histories, with short sleeping, which means rapid recovery from fatigue, a sign of bodily strength. These

scientific facts in nowise contradict the alleged value of early rising as a practice to be cultivated by all persons in good health. It is excellent as moral discipline, and eminently healthy as a matter of fact. Most persons will eat three meals daily. When a man gets up late those meals will probably follow each other at too short intervals to be wholesome. When he is an early riser it will probably be otherwise. He can enjoy a good breakfast, and by the time for his lunch or mid-day dinner he will have an honest appetite again.-British Medical Journal.

WE notice that Prof. Unna, of Hamburg, has made a new departure in his system of teaching. Instead of a number of courses of from four to six weeks each, he gives but two of six months each, and includes practical histology, bacteriology, diagnosis, and therapeutics of skin diseases. Those who have studied abroad and taken the short courses will appreciate this change, and many Americans (to whom, by the way, Prof. Unna seems specially attached) will avail themselves of the opportunity which his great knowledge and large clinic affords to become thorough dermatologists.

INFLUENCE OF ERYSIPELAS IN LUPUS.There is a popular idea that an attack of erysipelas is beneficial to lupus (Monatshefte für praktische Dermatologie); the observations of Winternitz of Prague are conclusive in dispelling this. He relates the histories of three cases in which well-marked erysipelas attacked the areas affected with lupus; there seemed in some a transitory improvement, and the lupous process appeared afterward aggravated, and the patches to become larger. He believes we must adhere to the view expressed by Pick, that therapeutic measures and inflammations of the lupous tissues and their neighborhood, if not of sufficient intensity to remove all the disease, are injurious, while the lupous deposits find a most suitable soil for increase in the subsequent infiltration. — Edinburgh Medical Journal.

AN ERGOT-MILL FOR OBSTETRIC BAGS.— Dr. Loviot, in describing Professor Pajot's obstetric bag in the Annales de Gynécologie, notes that it contains an ergot-mill. This instrument resembles a small coffee-mill, bearing, like the familiar domestic instrument, a handle, but in size it is not larger than a pepper-mill, and might work by the same simple mechanism. It may readily be packed in the bag, as it takes up a very little room. The practitioner can only rely on freshly pulverized ergot of rye. This mill enables him to powder the ergot on the spot, so that in the hour of need a strong preparation of the drug may be made in the patient's chamber, even in the most remote county districts. In this manner perilous delays caused either by inert liquid prepara tions of ergot, or by waiting till some fresh tincture or fluid extract is brought to the lying-in room from some distant druggist's shop, are avoided, to the great advantage of the patient and the practitioner.-British Medical Journal.

use.

STRYCHNINE IN ALCOHOLISM.-Dr. T. J. Korona speaks strongly in favor of the value of hypodermic injections of strychnine in most forms of alcoholism. From five to ten milligrams were administered daily in divided doses for three or four days, and a mixture containing ethereal tincture of iron and nux vomica prescribed for internal Under this treatment the neuralgic pains in the waist and calf of the leg, shaking of the hands, and the tabetic gait ceased entirely, but no diminution in the size of the enlarged liver could be detected. In acute alcoholism strychnine appeared to have but little effect. In ten or eleven cases the patients stated that after three or four injections, vodka, the spirit to which they were addicted, became repugnant to them. In cases where no symptoms had been produced by drink, strychnine had much less effect than in cases of a much more serious description.-Lancet.

SIR ANDREW CLARK succeeds Sir Wm. Jenner as President Royal College of Physicians.