Dec. 30-Jan. 5.. 3 1 1 3 Monterey. Official List of Changes in U. S. Marine Hospital Service.-The following is the official list of changes of station and duties of commissioned and non-commissioned officers of the U. S Marine Hospital Service for the seven days ended, January 12, 1899: BANKS, C. E., Surgeon. Detailed to attend meetings of the National Pure Food and Drug Congress at Washington, D. C., January 18-21. January 10. KINYOUN, J. J., Passed Assistant Surgeon. Detailed to attend meetings of the National Pure Food and Drug Congress at Washington, D. C., January 1821. January 10. STIMPSON, W. G., Passed Assistant Surgeon. Granted leave of absence for two days. January 12. THOMAS, A. R., Assistant Surgeon. Upon being relieved from duty on U. S. transport "Obdam" to proceed to Stapleton, Staten Island, N. Y,, for duty and assignment to quarters. January 6. GREENE, J. B., Assistant Surgeon. Detached from duty on U. S. Revenue Steamer McCulloch and directed to report to Medical Officer in Command, San Fran ciscy Quarantine, Angel Island, Cal., for temporary duty. January 12. GRUBBS, S. B., Assistant Surgeon. To report at Wash ington, D. C., for special temporary duty. Janu. ary 12. RODMAN, J. C., Sanitary Inspector. Granted leave of absence for 30 days from January 12. January 12. MCGUIRE, E. S., Hospital Steward. Granted leave of absence for 30 days from February 4. January 12. GOODMAN, F. S., Hospital Steward. Relieved from duty at the Cape Charles Quarantine Station and directed to proceed to Philadelphia, Pa., and report to Surgeon H. W. Austin for duty and assignment to quarters on the barge "Protector" en route to Havana, Cuba. January 6. CVRLTON, C. G., Hospital Steward. To proceed to Chicago, Ill., and report to the Medical Officer in Command of the Service for duty and assignment to quarters. January 6. SOUTHARD, FRANK A., Hospital Steward. To proceed to Stapleton, Staten Island, N. Y., and report to the Medical Officer in Command of the Service for duty and assignment to quarters. January 7. PURIFAY, JOHN, JR., Hospital Steward. To proceed to New Orleans, La., and report to the Medical Officer in Command of the Service for duty and assign ment to quarters. January 7. Seasickness.-Dr. H. Taylor (Lancet; American Medico-Surgical Bulletin) says that the nausea and subsequent vomiting of the first few hours are to a passenger prone to this malady almost inevitable, but seldom require interference, though the retching may become distressingly violent and, if accompanied by streaks of blood, especially alarming to the patient. He has found that the best way of relieving this condition is to apply a mustard leaf to the epigastrium, to give a hypodermic injection of morphine, some crushed ice to suck, and to insist on the recumbent posture being maintained by the patient. A whif of amyl nitrite or chloroform is often useful; alcohol is best avoided, though a little iced champagne may be sipped in very small quantities. The frequently present con stipation must be relieved by an enema or suppository, as purgatives by the mouth will usually be quickly rejected. Too much must not, however, be expected of this or any other line of treatment, but the urgency of the symptoms usually abates in from twelve to fortyeight hours, the patient gradually acquiring that sta. bility of the nervous system nautically termed "getting his sea-legs." The cases of prolonged nausea and seasickness in which the patient refuses or rejects all food, are very trying, both to the invalid and the surgeon. If the cabin is a fairly large one and is not crowded, the author thinks these cases do better in their berths than on deck, though meddlesome friends will urge them to go on deck, to "walk about," and to "fight against" the malady. This unequal combat generally ends in the victory of Father Neptune, and the van. quished one staggers or is carried below-sick, blue with cold, and generally wretched. Hot bottles, A handful of grapes and a small barley cake constitute a day's rations for the Arab. De Lesseps stated publicly that he never could have constructed the Suez Canal without the aid of the date and barley eating Arabs, who alone were able to endure the necessary labor in the unfavorble climate of that region. The writer is personally acquainted with a man who was an assistant civil engineer under De Lesseps in the construction of the Suez Canal, and recently received from this gentleman an account of observations which exactly blankets, a little stimulant, or hot beef tea, will quickly "No, thank you; this is not my day to drink. I drank make the patient more comfortable. For general fluid yesterday." nourishment the writer uses beef-joice. These are of ten retained, especially if the first two are mixed previously with a little powdered ice and administered in teaspoonful doses. If they are rejected they should be given again directly the fit of vomiting is over. As regards drugs, a mixture of chloroform, nux vomica, and compound tincture of lavender proves quite successful. An alkaline stomachic mixture with nux vomica is also useful after the acute symptoms have vanished; it assists a lanquid or capricious appetite. A dose of potassium bromide and chloral or a hypodermic injection of tallied with those of De Lesseps.-Modern Medicine. morphia is beneficial at night, allaying restlessness and procuring sleep. The author has never seen the nu merous "quack" remedies do the slightest good, nor has he ever seen the at-one-time much-vaunted "chlora brom" retained where potassium bromide and chloral were rejected by the stomach. The farewell dinner or other jollification the day before commencing the seavoyage is to a person subject to seasickness the very worst possible preparation for it. A blue pill followed by a Seidlitz powder is far better, though certainly not so festive. Physical Immunity of the Arab.-The Lancet publishes the interesting fact noted by M. Vincent and reported at a meeting of the Academy of Med. icine recently held in Paris, that French soldiers are fully a hundred times more susceptible to typhoid fever than are native Arab soldiers. M. Vincent holds the opinion that this exemption of native Arabs from infec. tion by typhoid fever does not depend upon a previous attack nor upon a gradually developed immunity by the use of water contaminated with typhoid fever germs, but to a natural immunity. An examination of the blood by the reactiom method showed no serum reaction. It is thus shown that the immunity possessed by the Arab consists in ability to resist the invasion of typhoid fever germs. NOTES AND ITEMS Silence at the Operation Table.-Hubener (Zeit. f. Hygiene u. Infect.; Presse Med.) has made a series of experiments to ascertain the part played by the mouths of those about the operating table in producing wound contamination. On an operating table he disposed crosswise four Petri dishes. Then, having rinsed his mouth with a culture of bacillus prodigiosus, he stationed himself about twenty inches from the nearest plate and for ten minutes spoke, sometimes in an ordinary voice, sometimes in a low and sometimes in high one. In every case, and especially when he had spoken in a high voice, cultures of the bacillus devel. oped in the Petri plates, being particularly abundant in those plates nearest to him. Similar experiments, conducted by speaking through a mask similar to an Es. march's chloroform inhaler containing a layer of ab. sorbent cotton, left the plates sterile.-N. Y. Med. Jour. Medical Society of City Hospital Alumni, St. Louis.—The scientific programme of the Medical Society of City Hospital Alumni for the meeting on Thursday Evening, January 19, 1899, was announced as Throat Infection, with Subsequent Involvement of the Neck. The difference between the Frenchman and the Arab in his ability to resist infection must be largely attri-follows: butable to the difference in the dietary and modes of DR. ERNEST H. COLE-Remarks Upon an Ear and life of these two classes of men. The French nation has degenerated, within a few centuries, to a remarka ble extent. Although descended from a magnificent DR. race, the gigantic Gauls, who were able to strike terror into the hearts of their Roman enemies by means of their majestic stature and marvelous physical prowess, they have come to be, through the influence of wine, absinthe, immorality, and other deteriorating causes, DR. OTTO SUTTER-(Subject not stated; postponed from almost the smallest of European people. The average Frenchman devotes a considerable part of his energies to animal gratification. The Arab, on the other hand, is abstemious, a fact well illustrated by an incident reported by a traveler. Meeting an Arab in the desert on a very hot sultry day, he offered him a drink from his canteen, and was astonished at the reply he received, which was this: JOHN B. SHAPLEIGH-Some Practical Suggestions in Ear Examinations (postponed from January 5). DR. JOHN C. FALK-The Use of Water in Diseases of the Digestive System (postponed from January 5). January 5). came from the abdominal cavity. A similar abscess occurred later on the other thigh with the same cause. An abscess also formed on the right arm and knee. The pneumococcus was found at each incision. Recovery.-Presse Med.; Jour. Amer. Med. Ass'n. rectors, Dr. Herman von Schrenk, Dr. Julius Horter and Dr. G. Hambach. The annual reports of officers showed a present membership of 252, a gain for the last year of fifty members. After the business portion of the meeting had been passed, the event of the evening was taken up, a paper by Prof. Herman von Schrenk, of the Committes of the St. Louis Medical So-Chair of Botany, Washington University, who disciety.—The following committees have been appoint- cussed "Peculiar Fungus Disease of the Roots of Beech ed by the President of the St. Louis Medical Society to Trees." The Weekly Sanitary Report.-The sanitary division of the Health Department of St. Louis reports that one new case of small pox developed dur ing the week; 26 cases of diphtheria; 3 cases of croup; 11 cases of scarlatina; 9 cases of typhoid fever; 3 of cerebro spinal fever; 1 of measles, and 3 of whoopingcough. Two deaths resulted from small-pox; 4 from diphtheria; 1 from croup; 6 from typhoid fever; 3 from cerebro spinal fever, and 1 from whooping. cough. Academy of Science Meeting.-The annual maeting of the Academy of Science was held in the rooms of the Society, at 1600 Locust street. The elec. tion of officers resulted in the re-election of all of last year's officers, as follows: President, Dr. E. A. Eagler; Vice Presidents, Dr. Robert Moore and Dr. D. S. H. Smith; Treasurer, Dr. Enno Sander; Librarian, Dr. G. Hambach; Corresponding Secretary, Dr. Wm. Trelease; Counselors, Dr. M. H. Post and Dr. A. Ravold; Di MEDICAL REVIEW VOL. XXXIX. A Weekly Journal of Medicine and Surgery. ST. LOUIS, MO., JANUARY 28, 1899. ORIGINAL ARTICLES NO. 4. Jefferson... .Dr. J. M Epstein, Dr. N. C Shanahan. The Medical Inspection of Public School Washington..... Dr. F. G. Nifong, Dr. F. Reder. Children in St. Louis. A REPORT BY THE COMMITTEE IN CHARGE OF THE WORK TO THE MEDICAL SOCIETY OF CITY HOS. PITAL ALUMNI, JANUARY 19, 1899. The undersigned were appointed in December, 1896, as a committee, with instructions to bring to the notice of the Board of Education the matter of the medical inspection of public school children for the better con trol of communicable diseases, and to represent to that body the importance of inaugurating such a service in St. Louis. This duty was performed and a report thereon made to the Society in the early part of last year. The Committee was continued, and last September its functions were so enlarged as to embrace within the scope of its powers the supervision of an experimental free service tendered by volunteers among the Society's membership, this work to be done under the auspices of the Society, with the permissive sanction of the Board of Education, in order to practically demonstrate the asserted value of such a service. In the plan of organization of this service after ma ture consideration a number of schools were selected which, from their location, and other circumstances, were deemed fully and fairly representative of all classes and conditions of pupils to be found in the local public school population. The schools thus selected were ten in number and comprised those situated next north of the line of Washington avenue extending from the river to the western city limits, the school population thus represented embracing all classes and nationalities, and ranging from those in the eastern part, where the home conditions are of the worst, to those near the western suburbs, where the home conditions are of the best. The schools, and the assignments thereto, were as follows: Dumas (colored). Dr. Geo. Homan, Dr. H. W. Soper. The map submitted here with shows the location of these schools and their relation to the municipal territory, while the figures appended hereto show the enrollment of pupils during the opening week, and at the end of the first quarter in November. The work was commenced on October 10th and was conducted in accordance with the following rules, which were first submitted to and approved by the Society, and they were in all material points also concurred in by the school authorities: RULES. 1. The two physicians assigned to each school shall alternate weekly in the service. 2. The calls shall be made daily at the hour of 10 o'clock, and the principal must be at once notified of the presence of the physician. 3 Every pupil found ailing, or thought by the teacher to be indisposed, will be brought promptly to ties as the school may afford for examination in private the notice of the physician for inspection-such facili being placed at his disposal, and the principal, or his or her representative, must be present at every examina. tion. 4. Cultures shall then be taken in every suspicious case of throat disease for the purpose of bacteriological tests by the Health Department. Wooden spatulas shall be used in making examinations of the throat and these when once used must be immediately destroyed. 6. No medicine shall be given, nor medical treatment extended by the physician to the pupils during such calls, but every case of illness must be at once reported to the principal, with appropriate suggestions as to the proper care or disposition of the pupils found ailing; emergency aid may, however, be rendered on request of the principal. 7. No inspection of school buildings or premises on complaint of sanitary defects shall be made by the phy. sician under any circumstances. 8. Careful records shall be kept by the physician of every case examined, which records shall include the name, age, sex and residence of the pupil, the principal symptoms observed, the ailment or disease found or suspected to exist, the action taken and recommendation made in each instance. Carr Lane....... Dr. John C. Falk, Dr. M. J. Lippe. Crow... . Dr. Charles J. Orr, Dr. N. W. Sharpe. 9. Weekly reports shall be made to the Society and Dozier.. Dr. C. L. Fahnestock, Dr. H. R. Hall. a monthly synopsis of the returns submitted to the Franklin........ Dr. N. Saenger, Dr. A. E. Taussig. Board of Education. Some changes occurred in the medical personnel dur tation was probably not felt in the schools until after ing the course of the work, as follows: the close of the service on December 23d, and the evil Dr. Lippe resigned in December and the entire work wrought by it is as yet incapable of full estimation. at the Carr Lane devolved on Dr. Falk. Dr. Taussig was unable to undertake the work at the Franklin and withdrew, his place being temporarily filled by Dr. Soper Later, Dr. Saenger also withdrew and the entire work was assumed by Dr Soper, who, for this purpose, relinquished his duties at the Dumas to Dr. Homan, who continued in sole charge at that school. At the Jefferson, Dr. Epstein was in full charge, Dr. Shanahan from the outset having been unable to serve Dr Drechsler withdrew from the Shields late in No. vember and the work was continued by Dr. Frumson, returns for two weeks in December from this school, however, being wanting. At the Stoddard, Dr. Jacobson resigned in November and was succeeded by Dr. W. A. Brokaw. The necessary printed forms and blanks for keeping records and making weekly reports were provided by the Board of Education, the suggestions of the com mittee being followed in their preparation. In the practical prosecution of the work the visiting physiciens used their own instruments for making examinations; the Society supplied wooden tongue de pressors and absorbent cotton, while the Health De partment furnished culture outfits for bacterial tests. It is a pleasure to be able to state that the co-opera tion of the school authorities was hearty and effective, the principals and teachers generally seeming to appre ciate the importance of the work, and its usefulness in the early detection and prevention of spreading diseases. MEDICAL ASPECTS AND RESULTS. It will be seen from an examination of the table which accompanies this report, and which gives the complete figures for the eleven weeks service, that a total of 1,565 pupils were examined and 1,601 cases of ailments and diseases disclos-d; while it was recom mended that 156 pupils in all be sent home on account of existing infirmity or disease deemed dangerous either to the child affected, or to its school associates. Of the total morbidity found only 76 were of the kiads included in the class termed Specific Infectious Diseases, which embraces those mala lies that are most to be feared among the school population, as diphtheria, scarlet fever, measles, whooping cough, etc. The cases of diphtheria found were capable of exact identification only by means of culture tests the symptoms being mild to a degree that would not suffi se to detain the child at home; but, nevertheless, were potent for con tinuous wide spread communication of the infeciont to susceptible associates. During December influenza manifested itself to a degree unmistakable in a number of cases, but in many instances masking ts presence behind catarrhal symp toms of the air passages, or a suffused condition of the eyes (coryza). The full intensity of this pandemic visi ₩₩1000000000 MISSISSIPPI RIVER MAP SHOWING LOCATION OF SCHOOLS UNDER Of the total ailments found 787, or more than fortytwo per cent, were affections of the oral and respiratory tracts, and of these tonsillitis and pharyngitis lead the list, the number being respectively 261 and 198, both the acute and chronic forms being included in these figures. Next comes 182 cases of bronchitis in both forms, followed by laryngitis 51 cases, and rhinitis 49 cases. These figures serve to show how heavily the brunt of morbid influences falls upon the anatomical tracts under consideration, and what an important part they play in the morbidity and mortality of school life. Diseases of the ear numbered 37 cases, catarrhal and |