but a duty the State owes to its citizens, to protect them against such crime, whether committed ignorantly or maliciously. Furthermore, the history of epidemics in this and other countries shows clearly that there are many matters affecting public health that can be dealt with by the authorities of a community alone, and that such action has been productive of the greatest good. Of this nature, examples are measures to control and arrest infectious diseases, the proper disposal of the dead, the control of the water consumed, the removal of excreta and other refuse, supervision of nuisances, the regulation of trades in matters affecting health, the control of quality in food supplies, the conditions of habitations, public and private institutions, the conditions of open lands, forests and streams affecting health, etc. These various departments of work are more efficiently carried on through aid of the information obtained by collection of vital statistics, which are means of ascertaining the causes of sickness and mortality, and the relation thereto of social conditions, employment, environment, etc.

The registration of births, deaths and marriages, when effective, furnishes a reliable record of events, often essential to the just distribution of property, and also by its requirement serves to prevent or detect crime. Through the study of such statistics we gain a more correct appreciation of the natural causes of disease, and laws of its distribution and conditions of communication. With such knowledge, a wiser sanitary legislation and administration must follow, and result, as we believe, in decisive benefits to the human family in the never-ending struggle with disease and death.

A well-organized sanitary service, directed by a Board of Health invested by law with such powers as can be discreetly exercised, and provided with abundant means to secure effective work, will in the near future be recognized as a necessary safeguard against the creation and continuance of conditions unfavorable to public health. The work of such a Board will increase in importance from year to year, and will call for the highest scientific and administrative ability in its membership. Compensation for such labors commensurate with their importance is essential. The State has no right to expect such service otherwise. Such a Board should have the hearty support of all good citizens. Mistakes in law can be corrected, and errors in administration eliminated, as experience accu

mulates. In its work it deals with questions of the greatest delicacy, and that mistakes should occur is too common an experience in life to cause surprise; but with a hearty determination on the part of law-abiding citizens to improve the law as the conditions require, the injury from errors will cease. The term of service of part of the members of the present Board will soon expire, and a re-organization will again be required. If legislative provision for the support of the work of its successor can be secured, the present Board will feel that its efforts under such discouraging circumstances will not have been fruitless. Our present laws are imperfect, and amendment in several particulars will be recommended to the next Legislature. These recommendations are designed to clear up ambiguities and supplement the deficiencies in the present law, not to make radical changes therein. Fuller particulars will appear in the annual report, but space and time forbid their enumeration here.

We bespeak your influence as physicians and citizens with your legislative representatives, toward securing to the State what was intended in the laws as they now exist, but which are powerless for benefit without both financial and moral support.

THE next meeting of the Tennessee Eclectic Medical Association will be held in Nashville, at the Commercial Hotel, on the 8th and 9th days of February, 1887. All Eclectics are urged to attend, as there will be business of importance.-W. H. HALBERT, Secretary, Lebanon, Tenn.

THE Fourteenth Volume of Transactions of the National Eclectic Medical Association is in the printer's hands. If any have neglected their papers or reports, they will do well to address the Secretary, Dr. Alexander Wilder, at once, at Newark, N. J.

HEPATIC COLIC.-Prof. Bartholow had at his clinic a patient with hepatic colic, who was not jaundiced. "The stone may be of such a size," said he, "that suffering is produced by its passage through the cystic duct, while it passes without pain through the common duct, and without obstruction; therefore jaundice is not produced. To keep the bile alkaline and so prevent the further formation of gall stones, give persistently sodium phosphate or chlorate."-Am. Med. Digest.

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MEDICAL ITEMS.

SALICYLATE OF LITHIUM IN RHEUMATISM.-M. Vulpian has read, before the Academie de Medecine, a summary of the results of his experiments on salicylate of lithium in articular rheumatism. He states that his experiments indicate that lithium salts are not so poisonous as they are supposed to be. Salicylate of lithium is not more dangerous than salicylate of sodium, and can be administered in almost equally strong doses. In acute articular rheumatism, salicylate of lithium relieves the pain which often remains in the joint after the swelling has disappeared, whereas colchicum and salicylate of sodium have no effect. M. Vulpian believes that salicylate of lithium is especially beneficial in fibrous rheumatism. In progressive sub-acute rheumatism, M. Vulpian has seen salicylate of lithium produce great improvement. Salicylate of sodium has been successful in such cases and produced amelioration of the patient's condition; but both greater and more lasting benefit is obtained by salicylate of lithium. In chronic articular rheumatism, M. Vulpian has found salicylate of sodium useless, whereas salicylate of lithium has had a marked effect on the joints, which become less swollen than before the treatment. In order to obtain evident results, four grammes, sometimes four and a half or five grammes, must be given daily. Larger doses are followed by toxic symptoms. This drug sometimes induces headache and deafness, but is never followed by the distressing noises which characterize treatment by salicylate of sodium. The headache and deafness disappear quickly. -London Med. Record.

IODOLUM-IODOL.-This drug is prepared from pyrol, by precipitating it with iodine dissolved in iodide of potassium. It is a brown or reddish-brown powder, nearly inodorous. It is almost insoluble in water, but dissolves readily in alcohol, ether and chloroform. In 1885-86, iodol was tested in the syphilitic wards of Rome as a dressing for ulcers. It acted upon them as a stimulant, like iodoform-was used as a powder upon the raw surfaces, or on prepared gauze, or in vaseline ointment, or suspended in glycerine, or in an alcoholic solution diluted (iodol 1 part, alcohol 16 parts, glycerine 16 parts). As a dressing, it does not seem to be poisonous. In lupus it showed a healing power, after injections were made in the

morbid tissue. In fungus of the joints its alcoholic solution shrivelled the vegetations and cured. In cancer of the rectum and uterus it has promoted cicatrization when applied on tampons. Applied as a fine powder, or 20 to 30 per cent. vaseline salve, it has been found useful in pannus, corneal opacities, serous iritis and blepharitis. I have found it useful in chancre and suppurating bubos, used in powder with bismuth or vaseline, as the case may demand.

LANOLIN. This, the latest addition to our therapeutic resources (Practitioner, xxxvi. 453), has been favorably commented upon by Dr. Walter Smith. Lanolin is a neutral fatty salt of cholesterin, and according to Dr. Smith is possessed of the following properties: It is capable of absorbing and intimately blending with large amounts of water, standing thus in marked contrast to popular notions of the mutual relations of water and fats. It is neutral to test-paper, is not liable to rancidity, and is not easily saponified by alkalies. It is miscible with glycerine, unlike other fats. It rapidily, and in a remarkable degree, possesses the power of penetrating the epidermis. It greatly facilitates the absorption through the skin of drugs mixed with it. He has found it of use in eczema and psoriasis, and in rheumatic exudation, and he also recommends it for acne and chapped hands. For general use he advises that its stickiness is best counteracted by admixture with one-eighth or one-fourth of another fat, e. g. castor oil. A few minims of oil of lavender or eucalyptus oil may be added to impart an agreeable odor to the ointment.-Brit. Med. Journal.

SUBNITRATE OF BISMUTH AS A DRESSING. .-I. Subnitrate of bismuth possesses antiseptic properties at least equal to those of iodoform. 2. No poisonous effects are to be apprehended, as in the employment of iodoform. 3. The subnitrate of bismuth, being a chemically indifferent substance, does not irritate the wounds; secretion is diminished. 4. Its action is very prolonged, though not vigorous, so that the dressings do not require to be frequently changed, and rest is insured for the wounds. 5. There is no action at a distance, nor does any specific effect attach to it. 6. It does not afford protection against erysipelas and other wound diseases, at least no more than iodoform. 7. It is no disinfectant, but as an antiseptic it keeps the wounds pure. 8. All wounds capable of healing by

first intention can do so when dressed with bismuth.

9. It also

represents an excellent material for forming scabs under which epidermis can grow over the wound. Its use on granulating wounds has not, however, been sufficiently studied as yet.-Annals of Surgery.

SWEATING FEET.-M. Vieusse, principal medical officer of the Medical Hospital at Oran, states that excessive sweating of the feet, under whatever form it appears, can be quickly cured by carefully conducted friction with the subnitrate of bismuth, and even in the few cases where this suppresses the abundant sweating only temporarily, it still removes the fetidity which often accompanies the secretion. Dr. Vieusse has never found any ill consequences to follow the suppression or the sweating.-Laws of Life.

MENTHOL IN UTICARIA AND PRURITUS.-Among the myriads of remedies for these troublesome affections, we have no other which affords such complete and instantaneous relief as a solution of menthol. Not only is the itching relieved for the time, but a cure seems to be effected. In pruritus and in eczema, moistening the parts with menthol solution causes an immediate cessation of the pain. The solution should contain from two to ten grains of menthol to the ounce of water.-Amer. Jour. of Pharmacy.

OINTMENT FOR GLANDULAR AFFECTIONS.-R. Ext. belladonna, 3j.; ung. hydrargyri, ziv. Dr. Kæmmerer asserts that the judicious use of this ointment, when used in time, will prevent suppuration, cause the enlargement or swelling to disappear, and the gland to resume normal action. Indicated in strumous and syphilitic affections.

BELLADONNA IN ECZEMA.-In case of infantile eczema, Professor Bartholow, besides directions given as to diet, placed the child (two years of age) upon tinct. belladonnæ, gtt. v., ter die, or sufficient to cause dryness of the mouth. The object in view is to affect the cutaneous circulation, and thus bring about a cure.-Med. Record.

TO CLEAN TARTAR FROM TEETH.-Dry hypochlorite of lime, 3ss.; red coral, zij. Triturate well and mix thoroughly. To employ it, moisten a new brush slightly, dip it into the powder, and apply to the teeth. A few days' use will produce a marked alteration in the appearance of the teeth.-Scientific American.