We are also pleased to note the importance placed by in addition to this, an examination should be required some of the colleges upon laboratory instruction.

by disinterested representative men selected from all It is a fact, which is generally accepted by represen- the medical faculties of the State and also from men, tative men in the medical profession, that laboratory not connected with any faculty. This should be done instruction, together with dissections, should form the in such a way that every branch of medicine is repre

sented by an examiner of some faculty and by one not pose of acquiring an education in all of the illustrious connected with any medical college; both being elected educational institutions of this great country. by a vote of all the members of the medical profession that have a license to practice. These gentlemen should constitute a Board of Medical Examiners whose duty should be to examine candidates for a license under the direct supervision of the State Board of Health.

This examination should be conducted in such a manner that none of the members of the examing board could know the party he is examing, nor the college the , candidate has been attending; which could easily be arranged by means of written and numbered questions and answers.

To be called upon to act as one of the final judges of the fitness of a physician to practice, should be looked upon as a position of honor and trust, and this duty should be done without compensation.

*

*

We wish to emphasize that the views expressed by the REVIEW with regard to the immediate necessities of reform in medical education are of a completely objec tive nature and represent our individual convictions. We shall be pleased to hear the views of other physic ians on this, at the present time, all absorbing topic and will be glad to give space in this journal to their

views as well.

Ask one of these students, after they have arrived at middle age and have gathered some experience in life, whether they consider their way of acquiring knowledge a great hardship and their answer will be that, tout au contraire, it has been a blessing. This apparent hardship has made men of them; men who, by this very school of life, have often developed their character into a moral firmness and earnestness of purpose, which is not infrequently wanting in their more fortunately situated classmates. The world has often been benefited by men who have undergone similar, so-called, hardships. They are not infrequently the representatives of the purest and truest manhood, a manhood, which can not be lashed into opprobrious submission by any prospects of apparent advancement or financial gain.

*

Dr. Sherwood Dunn.

With regard to the best interests of the medical colleges in general, we must admit that, as we are not connected with any college, we may not thoroughly understand their momentary interests and, as we do not claim to be infallible, we are ready to listen to other views. The columns of the REVIEW are always open to the ventilation of the pro and contra of scientific as well as all other matters concerning the welfare of the profession. We have been informed that some members of the In ventilating our individual views, opinions and con. profession, connected with medical colleges, claim that victions, we have only done our duty to the best of our the requirements of the Missouri State Board of Health knowledge and information; but we are not oblivious are too severe because they are an hardship to many a to another duty, which is expressed in the hackneyed poor student who is ambitious and might, by ardent ap maxim: "audi alteram partem.” plication to his studies, become a very useful, or even distinguished, member of the medical profession, although he did not possess the qualifications required by the Board at the time of his entrance of a medical col. lege. There is undoubtedly some truth in this view of the matter; but it appears to us that the evils connected with the admission of students, who do not possess these requirements for entering a medical college, by far outweigh the wrong that might possibly be done in a few instances to individuals that have not the means to acquire the education required by the Board. But no law can be enacted by mortals which is absolutely perfect, and it is, moreover, an indisputable fact that such students, who are able to grasp whatever they are taught at a medical college in good standing, can easily and without the slightest hardship, acquire the education necessary to fulfill the minimum requirements of the Missouri State Board of Health. On the contrary, the greatest scholars, and educators of international fame, recognize the great help, nay, necessity, of a lib. eral preliminary education, before the study of medicine can conscientiously be undertaken. A liberal prelimi nary education, literary or scientific, is a help for all medical students. The work connected with its acquirement is not a hardship, but a blessing to the poor as well as the better situated students. How many poor students work as waiters, and in other humble occupa tions, and, in this way, earn the tuition fee for the pur

At the meeting of the St. Louis Medical Society of October 5, its members had the rare honor of listening to a lecture on "Vaginal Hysterectomy," as practised by some of the Paris surgeons, by Dr. Sherwood-Dunn, who has been an assistant of Dr. Pozzy, of Paris, for the last ten years. In the method of vaginal hysterectomy advocated by the speaker, clamps are used instead of ligatures, as the operation can thus be done aseptically with greater certainty. Speaker claimed that some of the Paris surgeons had, by this method, extirpated the uterus in two minutes and a half. One of the main indications for vaginal hysterectomy is presented by the great variety of purulent inflammations of the pelvic viscera, on account of the natural drainage obtained by this operation; he never observed the occurrence of va ginal hernia after the operation; but the patient must be kept in a recumbent position until the wound is entirely healed.

We were quite impressed with the modest, yet firm, bearing of the speaker and the conciseness and clearness of diction in his address, to which we have listened with much interest. There can be no doubt in the mind of any one, who is acquainted with the modern literature on the subject, that the speaker's standpoint in the

treatment of pelvic suppurations is the most natural and logical one, as it affords abundant drainage at the most dependent part of the collection of pus.

Dr. Dunn had come here from Chicago where he had addressed the American Gynecological and Obstetrical Society, and was introduced to the members of the St. Louis Medical Society by our associated editor, Dr. W. B. Dorsett.

We extend our hearty welcome and best wishes to Dr. Dunn, who has returned to this, his native country, in order to locate in Los Angeles, Cal.

The Meeting of the American Public
Health Association at Denver.

low fever, which he has already used successfully in hundreds of cases. The treatment is by inoculation by subcutaneous injection in the cellular tissue of the arm of urine taken from the patient between the fourth and fifteenth days of the fever. The fever can be guarded against also in this manner, just as smallpox can be avoided by vaccination. Dr. Valle reported that his discovery had been investigated and approved by Dr. Sternberg, Surgeon General, U. S. A.

A paper on yellow fever by Dr. Eduardo Liceogo, President of the Supreme Board of Health of Mexico, the newly elected paesident of the Association, was read by his son. Dr. Liceogo said the disease had developed in alarming proportions this year in Cuba, the Central and South American republics, but in Mexico it had not got beyond its epidemic sources, Vera Cruz and the cited district in Yucatan. Dr. Liceogo claims that the means of combating the disease must be sought in the inoculation of blood serum from persons already attacked or by inoculation of blood serum from animals that have already acquired immunity.

The recent meeting of the American Public Health Association has been a most profitable and enjoyable one. It goes without saying that the prevention of disease is the noblest object of medical science. The great advances made in sanitary science are due to the development of bacteriology and studies closely allied to it. The prevention of the spread of epidemics, which in former years, when the theory of their origin was a matter of hypothetical conjecture and philosoph ical speculation, proved to be a comparatively useless task, is now, thanks to Pasteur, Koch and other hygien ists, placed upon a scientific basis, and an organization like the American Public Health Association is of the greatest national and international importance; from their intelligent and efficient co-operation great achieve- New York. ments may be expected in the future.

What has already been accomplished in preventive medicine has, as every fair-minded and well-informed person admits, greatly indebted the human race to those engaged in original research in this ideal branch of medicine-Sanitary Science.

Among the interesting transactions of the recent meeting of the American Public Health Association at Denver, we may mention the report of the Committee on the Abuse of Alcoholic Drinks, from a Sanitary Standpoint, made by Dr. Felix Formento, of New Orleans, which gave rise to an animated debate.

The report made the following recommendation: Increase the penalty for adulterations; remove the tax on beer, wine and coffee; total prohibition in communities composed of vicious classes; high licenses diminish the number of bar rooms and causes better liquor to be sold; enforce a strict sanitary inspection of all drinks sold over the bars; promote the culture of grapes; double the penalty for selling to minors; drunken men should be compelled to work when sent to jail; condition of workmen should be improved; eating houses should be established. The committee had no faith in the Sunday closing laws.

Dr. Manuel Carmona Y. Valle, Director of the National School of Medicine, of Mexico, read a paper on "Prophylaxis of Yellow Fever," in which he announced the discovery by him of a certain cure for yel

The following officers were elected: President, Dr. Eduardo Liceogo, City of Mexico; Vice-presidents, Col. A. A. Woodhull, United States Army, Dr. Henry Sewall, Denver; Secretary, Dr. Irving A. Watson, Con cord, N. H.; Treasurer, Dr. Henry Holton, Brattleboro, Vt.; Executive Committee-Drs. J. C. Schrader, Iowa City, Ia.; R S. Goodwin, Thomaston, Conn.; J. T. McShane, Baltimore, Md.

The Convention next year will be held at Buffalo,

Pasteur.

Pasteur-What disciple of medical art, or its allied sciences, does not become electrified by the sound of this name? Is Pasteur dead? No, he is not. His personality will live in the memory of man as long as there will be any civilization upon this globe. His name, like the names of all great benefactors of mankind, will be mentioned by cultured people in the remotest future with the greatest admiration, the profoundest reverence and deepest gratitude. But it is above all the present generation of scientists and physicians that is paying him the greatest homage. For many of them have come in contact, more or less closely, with his inspiring genius along lines of work and thought in which he too was interested, and in which he worked faithfully, honestly, persistently and indefatigably.

He has laid the scientific foundation of all the modern therapeutic achievements in surgery as well as medicine. His researches constitute the foundation of Lister's great discovery, and upon the latter German investigators principally perfected the doctrine of antiseptic surgery, which now has arrived at a point of completeness, the important outlines of which apparently admit of but little or no improvement. So that surgery now is almost looked upon as an exact science. And it is

shown that while certain smaller animals infallibly tained Pasteur, but confessed itself not yet satisfied killed by the parasite of splenic fever, birds defied it. The suggestion thus presented to Pasteur was too en ticing to be overlooked. His reason once satisfied as to the cause of this immunity in birds, that it existed in the fact of the higher temperature of the blood of fowls, nothing but experimental proof could satisfy him. This he was speedily able to obtain, and the parasitic origin of fowl cholera was established.

that human beings could be protected in this manner. In a communication to the International Medical Congress, in 1844, Pasteur, who was, perhaps, the most celebrated of all scientists there assembled, declared that he was ready to demonstrate the possibility of protecting human beings by inoculation after this method, and that he would do so, should he find any one who was willing to place himself under his care.

The scientist made steady advances in his work. and when, in 1885, it was announced that ne had discovered a cure for hydrophobia, it was regarded as one of the greatest feats of the age. Since that time he has become more famous than ever. The treatment has been successful in a number of cases in Paris, in New York and elsewhere. He has successfully treated a number of children bitten by dogs sent from America to Paris.

In October, 1888, the Pasteur Institute was opened at 25 Rue Dutot. Paris. The funds to support it were secured from international subscriptions, and soon reached the sum of $500,000. Pasteur lived at the in stitute, where he could be found at all hours of the day.

Pasteur's funeral took place from the Pasteur Insti

In his experiments in this direction he first obtained what is knowu in scientific terms as "attenuated virus." Jenner's discovery of the prevention of smallpox by the introduction of vaccine into the system, by this means exhausting, so to speak, the soil and rendering it inert under the influence of the more powerful disease, is but one equation in the general problem which Pasteur had grasped, and which he applied with the audacity of genius welcoming any tests which were proposed to him. Secure in the belief that he had his hand upon the cause of splenic fevers, by his method of inoculation, turned it against itself, and he accepted an invitation from the Society of Agriculture, at Melun, to make a public experiment. Fifty sheep and a herd of cows were provided. One-half of them M. Pasteur vaccinated with the attenuated virus; the other half tute October 5th, with military escort, the military were left. Fourteen days afterwards the entire number of sheep and cows were inoculated with virulent virus, and in three days a large body of interested stock-raisers and agriculturists assembled to learn the result. Out of the twenty-five unvaccinated sheep but two remained alive and these were dying. The twenty-five vaccinated sheep were, however, unharmed by the virulent in oculation, as were the vaccinated cows, while the rest of the herd was suffering from intense fever. So practical an application and exemplification of a scientific theory was not without its results, for by the end of the year 1881 34,000 animals in France had been vaccinated, a proceeding so prolific of good that the number rose in 1883 to nearly 500,000.

Pasteur's researches into the causes and consequences of rabies have probably served to make his name more widely known than any other work he undertook. In this work he was most laborious and painstaking. He tried many thousands of experiment upon animals to ascertain in what species the poison developed most readily, and in what it was diminished in virulence. Thus he found that by inoculation from rabbit to rabbit the virulence was increased. On the contrary, in passing from the dog to the monkey, and from monkey to monkey it is decreased, and if a dog is then inoculated with this "attenuated" virus thus produced, the disease is much milder. He was thus able to procure a virus which would occasion such a mild form of the disorder in a dog that the animal was not seriously ill, and yet was ever after protected from the poison, whether by bite, by inoculation or any other method. The experiments of Pasteur were considered of such importance that the French Government appointed a commission to examine the subject. In its report the committee sus

governor of Paris at its head. Ministers, senators, deputies of scientific and other societies of France and many other countries honored the occasion with their attendance. At the religious service at Notre Dame church, the President of the Republic, the members of the diplomatic corps and many other high dignitaries, as well as foreign princes, were present. His remains found a temporary resting place in the catacombs of Notre Dame church.

MEDICAL SOCIETIES

State Board of Health of Missouri. MINUTES OF SPECIAL MEETING HELD IN ROOM NO. 468 OF THE SOUTHERN HOTEL, IN THE CITY OF ST. LOUIS, ON SEPTEMBER 3, 1895.

In answer to a call of the President, the State Board of Health of Missouri met in special session in room No. 468, Southern Hotel, St. Louis, Mo., on Tuesday, September 3, at eleven o'clock A. M. The members present were Frank J. Lutz, President; Dr. A. W. McAlester, Vice-president; Dr. Paul Paquin, Dr. E. L. Standlee, Dr. E. S. Garner and Dr. Thos. H. Hudson. Absent, Dr. Willis P. King, the Secretary.

A communication from Dr. J. M. Shirley, of Brewer, Perry County, Missouri, regarding a stagnant pond in that town, was read by Dr. Lutz. The letter was under date of August 7th, and was addressed to Governor Stone and had been referred to Dr. Lutz for reply. Dr.