Ramsay, was called upon to speak. He announced that, in his endeavors to discover a compound of argon, he had experimented with a rare earth,-clevite, we believe,-which was said to yield nitrogen when acted upon by sulphuric acid. Instead of nitrogen, argon was evolved, but associated with it was some strange gas. On examination this turns out to be helium, the lightest of all the possible elements, whose existence, apart from the demands of chemical theory, had only been inferred from the line D, in the solar spectrum. It is the first of all the elements, for below this comes the hypothetical "protyle," that pre-elementary cosmic stuff from which all the elements are supposed to have condensed. Although this small quantity of helium was only found a few days ago, its existence has been confirmed by Professor Crookes, who has identified its spectrum, of which the most powerful line is that at a wavelength of 587.47 micromillimetres. This line is almost identical with the well-known yellow sodium lines, and at first Professor Crookes thought that he had to deal with these, but all the magnifying power at his diposal was incapable of separating the lines into two, and careful measurement confirmed the suggestion that the line was no other than the D, line in the solar spectrum, attributed to an unknown element, provisionally termed helium. A more remarkable vindication of our chemical theories than this it would be difficult to find, and Dr. Ramsay is to be congratulated deeply on this fresh addition to our knowledge and to his own laurels.

-Lancet.

COMPARATIVE Value of the CODLIVER-OIL PREPARATIONS.-In a paper on this subject, in the New England Medical Monthly, Dr. John J. Berry, of Portsmouth, N. H., concludes: "For the reasons above noted, many have advocated the use of pure codliver-oil as the ideal form for administration. But even here we are confronted with many and diverse preparations, each of which is supposed to possess peculiar and decided curative properties. There are many grades of such oils, from the standard and reliable preparations, like Burnett's, which have not been subjected to chemical manipulation, down to those which are colorless and almost tasteless,

and from which have been abstracted many important ingredients. It is more than probable that the curative properties of codliver-oil lie not in the oil itself, but in the leucomaines and crystallizable substances which enter into its composition. Hence, we may feel confident that in the best grades of pure and unmodified oil we are giving the best, and, provided the patient can assimilate it, the one which will give the most satisfactory results.

"Experience has shown that no remedy pos

sesses so wide a field of usefulness as this, and that its value is dependent upon certain active principles existing in the same. Hence, it is very important that the physician should know just what he is administering and should be able to familiarize himself with the exact composition and mode of preparation of the oil or compound which he prescribes."

DIABETES MELLITUS AND ITS PREVENTION.

-Under this title an elaborate paper was presented by Dr. K. C. Bose before the Indian and exercise is dwelt upon by the writer. He Medical Congress. The value of diet, climate, states that antipyrin moistens the skin, reduces and promotes sleep, but must not be given the frequency and specific gravity of the urine, where there is the slightest suspicion of Bright's

disease.

Pilocarpine is another remedy which has been given to diabetic patients with considerable advantage. One-fourth of a grain of pilocarpine would keep the tongue and the mucous membrane of the mouth soft.

Opium when given internally by the mouth has a decided effect upon the oversecretion of urine and its specific gravity. But opium when given hypodermatically to a case of diabetes, fails to give any relief.

Sulphonal, if judiciously given, will surely bring on sleep which has been denied to a diabut does not in the slightest degree affect the betic patient. It reduces the frequency of urine, quantity of sugar.

Assafœtida is another thing which needs men. tion. In chronic cases of diabetes, where a patient complains of a sense of sinking depression over his stomach, assafoetida, either alone or combined with nucis vomica, may be given with considerable advantage.

The writer appends to his communication a a tabular statement of 250 cases. The following is a summary: With albumin, 56 cases; with trace only of sugar, 18 cases; with below I grain of sugar, per ounce, 3 cases; with sugar only, 173 cases. Total, 250 cases. Sex: Males, 250; females, nil. Total, 250. Race: Hindoos, 231; Mahomedans, 2; Europeans, 17. Total, 250.

PARAPLEGIA DURING VARIOLA.-Auche re

ports a case in which the patient was stricken with paraplegia and died of variola. Autopsy revealed the presence of streptococci and especially of coli bacilli in the medulla. paraplegia was explained by the production of extensive myelitis due to these microbes. —

Medical Standard.

The

DR. MARJOLIN, Honorary Surgeon of the Paris Hospitals and Associate of the French Academy of Medicine, died in Paris recently, at the age of 83.

BOOK REVIEWS.

The International Medical Annual and Practitioner's Index. A Work of Reference for Medical Practitioners. 1895. Thirteenth Year. New York: E. B. Treat. Price, $2.75. Within this volume of moderate size the reader will find much valuable information collected and condensed from various sources. The quality of the work is guaranteed by the names of such contributors as Fancourt Barnes, Wil. liam H. Elam, E. Hurry Fenwick, T. Colcott Fox, F. Dundas Grant, W. Arbuthnot Lane, H. P. Loomis, Hector W. G. Mackenzie, John Ridlon, M. Armand Ruffer, W. Gilman Thompson, and others equally well known. After a short article on therapeutic progress for 1894, we find a brief description of various new remedies concerning which reports have been made during the year. Prot. Alfred H. Carter furnishes an excellent account of antimicrobic treatment as applied to diseases of the alimentary canal and respiratory passages. Part II contains a compendium of new methods of treatment in medicine and surgery, the diseases being classified alphabetically. This constitutes the largest portion of the work, has been carefully prepared, and references to the authorities accompany each section. A practical compend of this kind will be found of great use. M. Armand Ruffer writes a short but valuable paper upon the treatment of diphtheria by antitoxin serum. The method of preparing and using the serum is described, and a favorable opinion is expressed as to the results. Part III includes a paper on " Sanitary Science," by Joseph Priestley, and one upon the "Progress of Pharmacy," by F. W. Koch. A work of this

kind, consulted in connection with the periodical

medical literature of the year, cannot fail to be useful to the practitioner.

A Manual of the Modern Theory and Technique of Surgical Asepsis. By CARL BECK, M.D. With 65 Illustrations in the text and 12 fullpage Plates. Saunders's New Aid Series. Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders, 1895. Price, $1.25, net.

An important subject well treated, without unnecessary verbiage, renders Dr. Beck's work one that can be recommended to that numerous class who desire conscientiously to avail themselves, in their daily practice, of the revolutionary improvements and changes in technique and applications which have followed the development of bacteriology, and to gain an appreciation of its relations to wounds, inflammations, and infections. The author has set before himself an object in which he has well succeeded,-viz., that of describing the methods for securing asepsis, which procedures cannot, perhaps, be ade

quately explained in the large, systematic treatises on surgery. His work is founded upon his own experience in hospital practice and teaching in the New York Post-Graduate School. The author presents his subject clearly, the typography and illustrations are excellent, and the volume will take rank as one of the best of the series. Book of Detachable Diet-Lists for Albuminuria, Anæmia and Debility, Constipation, Diabetes, Diarrhea, Dyspepsia, Fevers, Gout or UricAcid Diathesis, Obesity, Tuberculosis, and a Sick Room Dietary. Compiled by JEROME B. THOMAS, A.B., M.D., Assistant Bacteriologist Brooklyn Health Department, etc., etc. Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders, 1895. Price, $1.50.

Dietetics is as important as medication in the treatment of disease. Not infrequently the former is of more importance. The value of strict attention to diet in chronic disease cannot be overestimated. The careful preparation of diet-lists is of decided assistance in the effort to influence disease by the nature of the aliments taken. This fact constitutes the value of Dr. Thomas's book. The blanks, which are easily detached, specify for each disease an ample number of foods which the patient may take and enumerate those which must be avoided. Text book of Diseases of the Kidneys and Urinary Organs. By PROFESSOR DR. PAUL FUERBRINGER, Director of the Friedrichshain Hospital, Berlin, etc. Translated from the German with Annotations by W. H. GILBERT, M.D., Physician in Baden-Baden, with Commendatory Letter from SIR THOMAS GRAINGER STEWART, M.D., F.R.S.E. In two volumes. Vol. I. London: H. K. Lewis, 1895.

The eminence of Professor Füerbringer and the special attention which he has given to diseases of the genito urinary system will render this well-performed translation acceptable in England and America. The present volume is devoted exclusively to medical affections and in its size furnishes a pleasing contrast to the writings of many German authors who, in their desire to be thorough, become prolix. The significance of albuminuria is well explained by the author, who discourages the application of exceedingly delicate tests. Practitioners are recommended to adopt, as much as possible, the old and reliable procedures of testing for albumin, and should not trouble themselves about small, unimportant hazes, but only reckon with decided deposits, which even at first sight show their importance. The meaning of blood and bloodglobules in the urine is clearly explained and the causes of dropsy are considered, although it is admitted that the pathogenesis of renal dropsy is not yet fully and satisfactorily explained. The various theories of the origin of uræmia are

Medical Gynecology.

A Treatise on the Diseases of Women from the Stand point of the Physician. By ALEXANDER J. C. SKENE, M.D., Professor of Gynecology in the Long Island College Hospital, etc., etc. With illustrations. New York: D. Appleton & Company, 1895. The conspicuous change, the tremendous advance achieved within the domain of gynecology by the adoption of aseptic and antiseptic surgical methods, has, within the space of two decades, almost led practitioners to forget that medical means had any place in the management of women's diseases. The ready and confident resort to operative surgery and the efforts of pupils to follow in the paths of their teachers are doubtless responsible for much and needless intervention in these affections. As the author of this work justly remarks, however, unreasonable devotion to either medicine or surgery is wrong. Dr. Skene believes that there is now room for a new work on the medical branch of gynecology. A most important part of the present work treats of the proper method of caring for the health of young girls in order to avoid uterine ovarian difficulties The succeeding two parts of the work deal, respectively, with the diseases incident to the period of active functional life and to the menopause and advanced years. The writer constantly endeavors to define the boundary-line between medicine and surgery, so that each may be thoroughly understood and employed. That he is competent to thus draw the line results from his acquaintance both with surgical and medical modes of treatment, and a calm judgment which permits him to view more than one side of a subject. The author's style is lucid, the work is well issued, and is admirably fitted to answer a good purpose.

Transactions of the Antiseptic Club. Reported by ALBERT ABRAMS, a Member of the San Francisco Medical Profession. Illustrated. New York: E. B. Treat, 1895.

The Transactions of the Antiseptic Club are interesting reading. The parody upon excessive and ostentatious antiseptic methods is well executed. The sketches of Dr. Sartorius, Dr.

By CHARLES MILAntisepsis and Antiseptics. TON BUCHANAN, M.D., Professor of Chemistry, Toxicology, and Metallurgy, National University, Washington, D. C. With an introduction by PROF. AUGUSTUS C. BERNAYS. The Terhune Company, publishers of medical books, Newark, N. J., 1895.

The subjects under discussion in this volume are divided into nine chapters. Beginning with an historical description, the author, after considering "The Products of Vital Cellular and Bacterial Activity," takes up the questions of infection, susceptibility, and immunity. The chapter on "Antiseptics and their Relative Value" is carefully considered, and contains much of value. The practical use of antiseptics in sugery and obstetrics is thoroughly reviewed by the writer, who has added greatly to the value of the book by giving a fine description of the methods of sterilization in use by various surgeons.

This little volume should have a ready sale, as it is thoroughly practical and modern.

CURRENT MEDICAL LITERATURE.

Biographical Sketch of Prof. John M. Scudder,

M.D.

Extrait des Comptes rendus des séances de la Société de Biologie. (Octobre, Novembre, Décembre, 1894.) M. Ch. Féré. Un fait pour servir a l'histoire des bouffées de chaleur et des rougeurs morbides.

Kola. Illustrated. Johnson & Johnson, Publishers, New Brunswick, N. J., 1895. Radical Treatment of Hernia, with 100 Tabulated Cases. By John B. Deaver, M.D., Philadelphia.

Chicago Summer School of Medicine, Chicago, Ill. Regular Session, opening March 6th and closing September 4th. Announcement, 1895. Hygiene of the Anus and Contiguous Parts. By J. Rawson Pennington, M.D., Chicago, Professor of Dermatology, Syphilology, and Diseases of the Rectum in the Chicago Summer School of Medicine, etc.

The Indications and Nature of Treatment in Severe Abdominal Injuries and Intra-abdominal Hæmorrhages Unaccompanied by External Evidence of Violence. By John B. Deaver, M.D., Professor of Surgery, Philadelphia Polyclinic, etc.

COMMERCIAL NEWS.

PRACTICE FOR SALE.

I have an unusually desirable location, delightful residence and surroundings in the most beautiful part of the State of Maryland. Practice pays about $2000; no competition. Fish, crabs, and oysters landed within a hundred feet of the house. Fine agricultural country; healthy, vigorous, salt-water location. Low price; easy terms. For further particulars mention this journal and address George J. Meekins, Cambridge, Md.

MISS KATE FIELD, editor and owner of Kate Field's Washington, of Washington, D. C., a paper devoted to the cause of temperance, stated in a recent speech that the prohibition laws, as enforced in the several States, were not promoting the temperance cause, and her advice would be to make a moderate allowance of mild beverages. In her estimation this would help the temperance cause more than prohibition laws. Miss Kate's head is level, and as to mild drinks we recommend Anheuser Busch Brewing Association's beer.

MESSRS. BRINTON & BROSIUS.

GENTLEMEN: I have been using your Lithiated Vichy, in siphons, for the past two or three years, quite extensively, and have found it carefully prepared and uniform in its excellence.

In my own person it acts as an efficient prophylactic against a somewhat decided rheumatic diathesis, in doses of two or three glasses daily. I have it in use, also, among numerous patients with a similar tendency, and find it grows in favor with continued use.

As an adjuvant to other treatment in subacute gout and rheumatism and also in lithiasis, I esteem it highly.

Yours very truly,

J. B. WALKER, M.D.

PHILADELPHIA, April 18, 1895.

PRICE REDUCTION.

Schering & Glatz inform us that, until further notice, the price for Diphtheria AntitoxinSchering (Dr. Aronson's) will be $1.50 per 5-cubic-centimetre vial; this price will include packing, postage, and insurance or expressage o all parts of the United States and Canada.

MICROSCOPES.

For more than forty years Joseph Zentmayer, of No. 209 South Eleventh Street, Philadelphia, has been one of the leading manufactries in America, if not the world. There are urers of microscopes and mechanical accessobut few men in active practice who are not familiar with his marvelously accurate instruments. He has just issued the fifteenth edition everything appertaining to microscopes, slides, of his illustrated catalogue, which includes and optical apparatus, copies of which he will be pleased to send free to any physician sending his address and at the same time mentioning this journal.

DR. CHAUNCY STEWART, of Allegheny City, Pa., has used Iodia very extensively in his practice, and regards it as the "ideal alterative—the sine quâ non—in the treatment of syphilis, scrofula, and all diseases arising from syphilitic contamination or a strumous diathesis. Iodia has this advantage over mercurial treatment in syphilis: when the patient does get well, he is well. He is not tortured with mercurial rheumatism nor made to blush through the syphilitic blossoming of his face in after years. He is well. Unlike the longcontinued use of other alteratives, Iodia does not reduce and debilitate the constitution, but invigorates and restores the vital powers and enables the patient at all times to continue in the discharge of his vocation."

VOL. XVII.

ADDRESSES.

THE MEDICAL PROFESSION AND
THE STATE. ALUMNI ORATION.
BY HON. MARIOTT BROSIUS,
LANCASTER, PA.

I

SALUTE the members of the graduating class with cordial felicitation upon their arrival at that point in their progress at which the congratulations of their friends are due. It is no trivial achievement to have con cluded with credit the scholastic preparation for a useful and honorable professional career. And I think they will be acquitted by every discreet and well ordered judgment if they accept this first reward of their industry and fidelity with some complacency.

I doubt if, at any period of their lives, they will feel so profound a sense of relief and so buoyant a hope for the future as they experience in this early dawn of their professional day, when they look backward with satisfaction and forward with expectation. Indeed, if they went to the length that many have in their pursuit of the phantoms of hope,-of believing that they are already at the end of their troubles,-you, gentlemen of the alumni, whose eyes have been opened, would not be so cruel as to disillusion the minds of these enthusiastic and heroic recruits to your army by suggesting which end they are at.

"The more I think of it," said Ruskin, "the more I am impressed with the thought that the greatest thing a human soul ever does in this world is to see something and tell what it saw in a plain way." We have seen a tendency in professional men to become so engrossed in their special work as to seriously

No. 6

slight, if not entirely neglect, their obligations to the political organism, which needs, as its suitable and necessary sustenance, the best service the citizen can give. I make bold, therefore, to tell you in a plain way what I think is the reasonable service of the medical profession to the State.

For such a purpose no happier occasion could arise than that which marks the assumption, by educated young men, of new and responsible relations to society,-signalizing their embarkation in a noble and honorable profession. I therefore invite you to dwell with me upon those relations to society whose claims upon you are prior in right as well as in time. In the pursuit of life two sentinels will challenge you daily and hourly and exact a double countersign, and you must give both before you establish your title to pass with honor. The first is a broad and comprehensive devotion to the public welfare; the second, a loyal love to your chosen profession. There is no real conflict between these claims. The seeming divergence will lead to unity in purpose, endeavor, and achievement. But you must be imbued with the idea that when you become doctors of medicine you do not cease to be citizens, and that no exactions of professional duty will excuse you for the neglect of obligations which have a paramount claim. Let me drive this thought home by a passage from the "Christmas Carol," whose pathos and power affect me more than the profoundest utterances of social philosophy on the necessity of individual submission to the requirements of collective efficiency. The admonition of Marley's ghost has as profound a meaning for us as for the tight fisted, grasping, old sinner to whom it was addressed. Scrooge had vent