originated in this country and owes its existence to the practical sense and ingenuity of a representative American physician. It is most gratifying news that there is a prospect of a revival of the Index Medicus. Every member of the medical profession, in this as well as in all other civil ized countries, no doubt regrets that the publication of this great work has ever been interrupted. In the East, active work has been going on for some time for the purpose of securing subscriptions for this most use ful book of reference, whose importance to all writers on medical subjects-and every physician should also be a writer-ought to be appreciated by the entire med ical profession. work would not be diminished to an appreciable extent by such an alteration." The Lancet, July 27, says: "In our issue of June 29 we pointed out how important a matter it was that the Index Medicus should not be allowed to perish. The yearly cost of production is about £1,000, and it is proposed to raise this sum by 200 subscriptions of £5 each. The United States, it is estimated, will supply 120, Great Britain 60, and the Continent 20. We think, however, that Great Britain, with all her learned socie ties, might well subscribe £400 by herself. If £5 is too heavy a tax for one individual to undertake, there are surely five medical men in every one of our large towns, each of whom would subscribe £1, and so form a group which would receive a copy of the Index for their com mon use; while institutions and societies should have no hesitation in voting the required amount." To Dr. Sajous belongs the honor of having taken the main initiative in the resuscitation of this great book of reference. He has undertaken to enlist two hundred subscribers to the work, of twenty-five dollars each. A number of Eastern physicians have already subscribed, It is but just that all countries interested in the ador pledged themselves to do so, and are receiving col-vancement of the medical sciences and of original inlections for the undertaking, among them are Drs. vestigations, should aid in keeping up a work of so Jacobi, Frederick Home Wiggin, Dr. Geo. Thomas much merit and of usefulness to all, irrespective of Jackson and others. nationality. Dr. Sajous has made the New York Medical Journal the medium and through it we have learned of the subscribers and from the same journal we glean the following practical hint to the profession, which we deem worthy of a wide distribution: Nevertheless, we think that the sentiment of all leading American physicians is expressed by the following patriotic words of the New York Medical Journal: "Among the desirable achievements that the coming autumn is sure to witness let the resuscitation of the Index Medicus be one of the foremost; our national pride, if nothing else, demands it. There is nowhere in all the world, and there never has been, anything of the sort approaching it in value. We Americans created it; let us sustain it, Foreign aid may be had to some extent, and certainly should not be spurned, for the suc. "It will be creditable if other individuals, not content with subscribing themselves, constitute themselves canvassers among their friends. In that case it will of course be in the highest degree desirable for them to arrange with the editors of the Index as to the details of the course they are to pursue in such matters as giving receipts, forwarding subscriptions, etc. These de-cess of the resuscitated journal calls for all the resources tails are apt to be overlooked under the influence of enthusiasm, especially among members of a profession not noted for the strictness of its business methods, but they are highly important and should not be left for haphazard settlement in the indefinite future." As an illustration of the estimation in which the Index is held in other countries we herewith quote the British Medical Journal: that can be made available; but we in the United States should feel the incentive to the greatest degree.” Such are the convictions and the sentiments in the East and abroad, with regard to this question and it is to be hoped that this section of the country will take an equal pride in contributing its mite to so praiseworthy an undertaking as the resuscitation of the Index Medicus. The longer, however, the resumption of its publication "As will be seen by the correspondence between Mr. is postponed, the greater will be the difficulty for the MacAlister, the librarian of the Royal Medical and editors in making up for the time which has elapsed Chirurgical Society, and Dr. Billings, the librarian of since the discontinuation of its publication. Therefore, the surgeon general's office at Washington, a determined let the watchword of the whole country be, for the next effort is to be made to resume the publication of the few weeks or months: "Volunteers to the front! For Index Medicus. There ought to be a sufficient number the resuscitation of the Index Medicus." of libraries and societies alone in this country to supply a large proportion of the sixty subscribers required from us. The margin might probably be made up, as The Mischievous Press and Dr. Bauduy's Letter. Mr. MacAlister suggests, by groups of medical men formed for the purpose of obtaining a copy in common. The suggestion to issue the Index Medicus in future Our readers will find in this issue of the REVIEW a quarterly instead of monthly will, we believe, meet reply of Dr. Bauduy to a correspondence signed S with general approval, inasmuch as the value of the Grover Burnett. Nearly all, if not all the St. Louis papers, in their reports of the Duestrow and Dreher "there should be sufficient esprit de corps in the medical trials, made the statement that Dr. Bauduy testified on profession of St. Louis to prevent the publication by a the witness stand that in his practice he had treated journal in such excellent standing as the one you repre2,000,000 insane patients. What the Doctor really did sent, as the one which appeared in your issue of testify he states in his letter. August 24," etc., we wish to refer the Doctor to our edi torial of May 25, 1895, entitled "The Duestrow Case," in which the convictions of the REVIEW, with regard to medical expert testimony in the Duestrow trial, are unequivocally expressed. The controversy between Dr. Bauduy and Mr. Burnett is but another illustration of the mischief, which may be done by, intentionally or unintentionally, circulating false reports by means of the daily press. If Dr. Bauduy were not a gentleman, who has made his reputation in the medical profession and who is too well known to be above reproach as a physician and man, such reports might have done him irreparable damage. Fortunately, the Doctor is in a position to smile at the misrepresentation of the papers. We are glad, however, that he has answered Mr. Burnett's letter; for we know that some of the doctors who are not well acquainted with Dr. Bauduy, personally or by reputa tion, and a part of the laity, really did think that he had made the statement as the daily papers had reported it. The REVIEW has made untiring efforts in the past to convince the profession of the immeasurable damage the daily press may cause by incorrect reports of medical matters, and we are in the possession of such reports as well as interesting interviews, which we shall carefully preserve for future reference. While it is often an easy matter to every initiated person to explain the origin of such reports in the daily press when medical controversies, in or outside of med. cal societies, are concerned, it seems almost incredible that the papers should not be more careful with regard to furnishing reliable and exact reports of witness-testimonials in court. There can be no question that the defense in the Duestrow trial was represented by experienced and renowned psychiaters, and they deserve, indeed, unqualified praise for having had the courage of fearless ly expressing their convictions in spite of the almost rabid opposition of the whole press and the majority of the laity. The almost unheard of atrocity of the crime, committed by Duestrow, had made any other view of the mat ter than that represented by the entire press, exceedingly unpopular, and it required an unusual amount of moral courage and determination on the part of the expert testimony for the defense, to testify upon the unpopular side of the question. The REVIEW Maintains, in matters of this nature, an entirely neutral standpoint, and does not allow its sympathies or antipathies to interfere with its good judgment. From a purely objective aspect, controversies of this nature can only redound to the benefit of the wronged party. In other words, had Mr. Burnett not written the letter for publication, he would still believe that Dr. Bauduy's statement upon the witness stand had really been made according to the reports published in nearly all the St. Louis papers; which reports were, no doubt, reproduced in all the papers of the United States, if not in other countries as well; and, although many people know that under these circumstances press-reports must be accepted cum grano salis, there are a great many, also, who implicitly believe in what appears in print. Consequently, we do not think that it was a mistake to publish Mr. Burnett's letter; because it had the confidently expected effect of eventually correcting the false reports of the papers in consequence of which we have heard many derogatory comments, on the part of doctors as well as laymen, as to the reliability and worth of medical expert-testimony. The innumerable and diversified tricks which were resorted to by some of the lawyers, the distortions of actual occurrences and statements of witnesses by the daily papers, all contributed to give anything but a correct impressiou of the true state of affairs. In consequence of all this Drs. Bauduy and Bremer have been greatly wronged, primarily in the discussion of the Duestrow trial in the daily press and, secondarily, by the public in general. The latter is, however, not so culpable as the former, because its information on the subject could only be obtained by the reports in the papers and not from a personal cognizance of the occurrences, statements of witnesses, etc., at the trial. With the exception of the intelligent element, which, unfortunately, is, under similar circumstances, always in the minority, the public certainly has been successfully mislead by almost unanimous, intended or unintended, newspaper distortions. As to Mr. Burnett's letter, we wish to say that, in sympathizing with the alleged opinion of Judge Peckham, whom the correspondent quotes as follows: We are confident, that all of Dr. Bauduy's friends will indorse his action of stating through the columns of the REVIEW what he really has testified, thereby dis pelling any wrong impression that has been made upon "Expert evidence so called, or, in other words, evithe minds of some by the incorrect reports of the dence of the mere opinion of witnesses, has been used papers. to such an extent that the evidence given by them has As to Dr. Bauduy's hint that, to use his own words, come to be looked upon with great suspicion by both JEROME K. Bauduy, M.D. courts and juries, and the fact has become very plain porters do not edit papers, nor control their policy, no that where opinion evidence is admissible, particular correction was ever made. kind of opinion desired can be readily procured by paying the market price therefor," he neglects to mention, as a contrast, the merits and achievements of a profession, which has, from time immemorial, counted the noblest and most high minded men among its followers. BOOK REVIEWS CORRESPONDENCE Books reviewed in this column may be obtained, post-paid, by addressing the publisher of this journal, and remitting the quoted price. Editor MEDICAL REVIEW.-It occurs to my mind that there should be sufficient esprit de corps in the medical profession of St. Louis to prevent the publication of a correspondence in a journal of such excellent standing as the one you represent, as that which appeared in your issue of August 24, by S. Grover Burnett without the thorough investigation of the facts in the case. I would not pay any attention to this letter were it not for the fact that your journal is frequently read by my former students and medical friends. Regarding the 2,000,000 cases of insanity that (he alleges that) I claimed to have treated, when testifying in the Duestrow case, had he consulted the official stenographic record of the trial, he would have ascer. tained that what I did swear, was that I never treated 2,000,000 individual cases of insanity, but estimating the number of insane which have been under my charge in various institutions for thirty years, "that those 1 was daily responsible for, would in the aggregate run over 2,000,000. It was fully explained to the jury that these included the same number of chronic insane daily visited with the usual influx and afflux of the acute insane. The calculation was not made for me by myself, but was made by my friend, Dr. A. E. Mink, an eminent alienist of this city, who had no interest in the matter either directly or indirectly. Essentials of Chemistry and Toxicology. For the use of Students in Medicine. (Woods' Pocket Manuals). By R. A. WITTHAUS, A.M., M.D., Professor of Chemistry and Physics in the University of New York; Professor of Chemistry and Toxicology in the University of Vermont; Member of the Chem ical Societies of Paris and Berlin; Member of the American Chemical Society; Fellow of the American Academy of Medicine; of the New York Academy of Medicine, etc. Twelfth Editiou. 1894. New York: William Wood & Co. 32 mo; 314 pages; muslin, red edge, price, $1.00. This little volume is especially adapted for the use of the American Medical student, and all topics which are not essential to an understanding of those chemical problems which have a direct bearing upon the practice of medicine, have been omitted. It is for this reason that the work will prove of great value to the medical student. The convenient pocket size of the book will also help in increasing its usefulness and in making it, what it evidently was intended to be, an aid in the study of more voluminous works on chemistry, which are more or less overburdened with descriptions of techni cal and pharmaceutical processes, which are of no direct importance to the practitioner in medicine. The fact that the book has reached a twelfth edition seems to bear witness that it has met with great favor at the hands of medical students and professors. The present issue has been brought quite up to date. The portion relating to the compounds of carbon has been in great part re-written and re-arranged to keep pace, so far as is possible, with the advances in Organic Chemistry. The new chemical orthography has been followed in this work. To show the intense prejudices which the defense had to stem in the reports of this case, especially the medical experts who had the moral courage to testify in the very teeth of public opinion upon the unpopular side of the question, I would cite the fact that the Post-Dispatch of this city criticised me editorially in Illinois State Laboratory of Natural His. this connection. Upon its publication a reporter of the tory.-Among its other appropriations, the Illinois Post-Dispatch at the Duestrow trial, approached me in Legislature has set apart $1,000 for the improvement of the presence of Dr. Ludwig Bremer, of this city, and the library of the State Laboratory of Natural History; apologetically stated, without the slightest solicitation $1,500 per annum for the experimental investigation of on my part, that he had written a letter to his paper the contagious diseases of insects, and $1,500 per annum asserting, "that the editorial did great injustice to both for one-half of the expense of the Illinois Biologic Dr. Bauduy and the paper," but unfortunately as re- Station. ABSTRACTS MEDICINE. becoming reconciled to the prospect of surgical inter. ference as the only means of overcoming his trouble, when the author suggested the olive oil treatment, with out, however, any belief in its efficiency. The patient gladly agreed to try it as a last resort before having recourse to a surgeon, and towards the end of February he began treatment, taking 5 grains of calomel at night, followed by 8 fluid ounces of pure olive oil in the morn. A Case of Hepatic Colic Cured by the In- ing. He experienced no difficulty in swallowing the gestion of Olive Oil.-Gubb writes a note in the oil, which never provoked nausea, still less actual sickBritish Medical Journal, in which he points out that a ness. After the very first dose the pain ceased, and the great deal of skepticism has been felt and expressed in motions became darker, evidently containing bile. In regard to the benefit alleged to have been derived from the course of two or three days they resumed their the ingestion of tolerably large quantities of olive oil in natural appearance. At the same time the urine, from the treatment of hepatic colic. The fact that the oil a dark brown, became quite light in color. during its passage through the intestines undergoes It is now a year since he began the treatment and changes therein, and is voided in masses which bear a eleven months since he discontinued it, and he has never striking superficial resemblance to gall stones, has on vari had the slightest return of the symptoms, in spite of the ous occasions been used as an argument against the oil fact that he has long since abandoned all restrictions as having any share in procuring the expulsion of genuine to diet, though on the writer's advice he became an engall stones. A case which recently came under the thusiastic cyclist and, weather permitting, takes daily writer's observation seems, however, to show that benefit exercise. No stone was ever detected in the feces, can be and is derived from this treatment, whatever though for a time, at any rate, the patient made dilimay be its modus operandi gent search, which was rendered very tedious by the The patient was a gentleman, aged forty-six, who had presence in the motions of concretions of cheesy cona first attack of trouble in the region of the gall bladder sistence, evidently due to the partial saponification of in June, 1890. It began with sharp pain associated with the oil. Nothing can at present be felt in the region of sickness, relieved only by repeated hypodermic injec- the gall-bladder, and the patient is in every respect in tions of morphine. The pain recurred in paroxysms for the best of health.-Therapeutic Gazette. Treatment of the Fulgurant Pains of Locomotor Ataxia.-A very interesting case of this most obstinate symptom of locomotor ataxia, which re. sisted ordinary therapeutic measures, is reported by Dr. R. Blondel (Revue de Therapeutique Medico Chirurgicale), in which the following simple method succeeded After all methods had been tried without success, the author remembered the following method, which he had read in an article by a Russian military surgeon whose name he could not recall. Its rationale consists in the elongation of the spinal cord in the canal, without suspension and the danger of luxation that accompanies that method. a week, during which period he remained in bed. There was no jaundice, but the motions were markedly light in color. No search was made for a gall-stone. A week later the symptoms recurred along with the vomiting, and this time he was systematically purged by means of mineral waters, turpentine stupes and poultices being applied freely to the painful region, and the diet carefully regulated. No relief from the pain resulting, ex-admirably, producing a lasting result. cept by the aid of morphine, he was ordered hot baths every night for a quarter of an hour, and told to wear a piece of spongiopiline over the liver. The symptoms having partially subsided, he was sent to the Engadine, with directions to take plenty of exercise, and in six weeks he returned free from trouble. He remained free from pain until November, 1893, when the old symp toms returned, associated with intense jaundice. This The patent was told that each evening before going condition persisted, at first with intervals of comfort for to sleep he should perform the following exercise; lying three weeks, until February, 1894. The intervals gra flat upon his back on the bed, he should flex his thighs dually became shorter, until at last he was never free from upon the body and the legs upon the thighs, bringing the pain for more than thirty or forty hours at a stretch. knees as near as possible to the chin, advancing the Needless to say that during this period the diet was head to meet the knees as much as possible. A band carefully regulated, but without any effect either on the was passed about the neck and beneath the knees, enpain or the jaundice. On one occasion he tried the ex- abling the patient, without too much strain, to mainperiment of abstaining from food altogether for three tain the position for five minutes. Sometimes he redays, but he felt worse after than before. The patient's mained upon his back, sometimes upon his side. In this condition was rapidly becoming one of gravity, for he position it is easy to comprehend that the vertebral had lost nearly three stone in weight and was practi- column, bent in a curve, concave anteriorly, produced cally incapacitated from attending to business. The an elongation of the spinal cord, especially in the region gall-bladder was greatly distended and tender, and hard of the posterior columns of the spinal cord, or the disbodies could be felt on palpation. He was gradually eased portion. The extension would be as long as that produced by suspension, and has the advantage of being applied only to the diseased portion and without any danger of luxation of the cervical vertebra. The patient was not seen for one year after treatment was advised, when the change for the better was very marked. The patient said that eight days after he began treatment the pains disappeared. One month afterwards, however, having ceased exercising, they returned, to disappear again after a renewal of treatment for fifteen days, three or four minutes each evening. There had been no relapse since over a year, and the patient said he intended to get married. The patient was seen after his marriage and blamed for marrying without the doctor's permission. He affirmed, however, that he had never had any pain in hie limbs, nor paralysis of the bladder, although he con tinued to practice the exercise once a month, as he had been advised. Although this is but a single instance in which this method has been employed, and the cure has lasted but two years, yet the rationale of the method is in favor of its probable usefulness.-Therapeutical Gazette. The Treatment of Chlorosis.-The treatment of this condition, which is but a symptom in many cases where there is a deeper underlying cause, is discussed in its various forms by Potain (Journ. de Med de Paris) in a very comprehensive lecture. The treatment of that form of chlorosis dependent entirely upon the condition of the blood, and not complicated by other lesions is in general stimulation. The stimulation may be produed in various ways and by various agents, as salt baths, sea baths, dry frictions, etc. Then exercise used with due caution should be employed, adapting the form and amount to the indi. vidual case. Moderate exercise is useful; excessive exercise is harmful, Excessive mental activity is also a form of exercise that is dangerous in certain cases, and consequently it should be carefully regulated. Nervous excitation is harmful to chlorotic patiente; this includes sexual excitement. Marriage should, therefore, be postponed in chlorotic cases until the diseased condition has been overcome. In those cases of chlorosis presenting cardiac symptoms, Chlorotic dyspepsia plays a prominent part in the production of chlorosis. It may be either primary or secondary. The primary or hereditary dyspepsia provokes or predisposes to chlorosis. It is, therefore, one of the primary causes to which our efforts should be directed. It should be corrected by a proper regulation of the diet and the administration of bitters or alkalies, according as the dyspepsia depends on atonicity or hyperacidity of the stomach. In those cases where the dyspepsia is dependent upon the chlorosis, the treatment is more difficult and depends on the form of dyspepsia present. PAINFUL DYSPEPSIA.-In this form it is necessary, in order to cure the dyspepsia, to use the most easily tolerated form of iron in curing the chlorosis. In those most difficut cases where no medicine is tolerated by the stomach it may be necessary to use hypodermic injections of iron. In the atonic form of dyspepsia there is sometimes an excess, sometimes a deficiency in hydrochloric acid. The alkaline treatment does not always succeed in these cases. The best treatment is, then, strict attention to hygiene, cutting off wines and alcoholic beverages and limiting the diet very strictly. In some cases the administration of oxygen produces very favorable results. In some there is an atomic dilatation of the stomach, accompanied by chronic gastritis In these lavage of the stomach is necessary, sometimes accompanied by electrolysis. If the case is one of nervous excitation or depression, exercise or rest, as the case requires, combined with a strict diet and iron, is the best The Treatment of Chronic Coryza.-The treatment of this most common and yet often most persistent disease is studied carefully by Lermoyez (L'Union Med.) Diet is of the utmost importance. Foods that build up the tissues should be given; but here we find great medication.-Therapeutic Gazette. difficulty in the intolerance of the stomach and the in. activity of the intestines. In order to give sufficient iron in the food an excessive amount must be taken; it is, therefore, necessary to administer iron in other ways than with the food. Phosphorus, in the form of the phosphates, should also be administered, especially in The patients are divided into two classes,-the indifthose cases where there has been an excessive loss of ferent and the hypochondriac Treatment should con. phosphatic tissues. The use of foods containing phossist in two factors: 1. The suppression or, at least, the phates, such as milk, eggs, and beans, is not sufficient, treatment of the conditions that give rise to the coyz3; and to them must be added the acid phosphates, the bi- 2. the local treatment of the catarrh of the pituitary basics, and others. The author has proved by his ex- body. periments upon himself that the amount of phosphates The predisposing cause must be carefully sought out; excreted in the urine is equal to the amount ingested, it may be found either (a) in defective hygiene through and that they are consequently taken into the system. the use of foods or drink, or an occupation or smoking, |