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New England Medical Gazette, and was a frequent contributor to medical journals.

Aside from active membership in many medical and other societies, he was an honorary member in twelve state medical societies and in the national homoeopathic societies of Great Britain, Germany, and France.

In 1856 Dr. Talbot married Miss Emily Fairbanks, of Winthrop, Me."

It would be presumptuous for one whose acquaintance with the deceased covers a period less than one half of his professional life to attempt a eulogy of such a man, but no one could know him but a short time without being deeply impressed by the untiring energy, the vast capacity for work, the diplomatic ability, and the kindliness and suavity of manner which pervaded the whole being of the man, and made him, as he was, a leader of men. He occupied a place in the homoeopathic profession which was in many respects unique and which henceforth must remain vacant.

Through an oversight on the part of the printer, an editorial note calling attention to Dr. S. C. Fuller's article on "Morphinomaniacs" was omitted. The points to which we desire to call attention are that the Massachusetts Homœopathic Medical Society has set aside the sum of one thousand dollars, the income of which is to be devoted to prizes to be awarded to any member presenting a paper which shows sufficient original research or merit; that this prize, a gold medal, was awarded for the first time this year, and that it was awarded to Dr. S. C. Fuller for his article on "Morphinomaniacs."

EDITORIAL NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Appleton's Popular Science Monthly for June contains a very interesting article by Bird S. Coler, comptroller of the city of New York, on the abuse of public charity.

The author states that New York City spends annually, in aid of charitable institutions, both public, semi-public, and private, $5,000,000, and indirectly about $2,000,000 more.

Much of this is given not of its own free will, but according to direction of the State Legislature - the only power the city directly has being a supervisory one, under the direction of the State Board of Charities, and the permission given to the comptroller to examine bills for expenditure.

The condition of affairs which is shown to exist is indeed. startling. All of these institutions are preyed upon more or less by a class of healthy, professional beggars, who get their whole living out of one or another or many of these institutions, one case being cited where a mother and daughter got a very comfortable living by selling the coal which they begged from various institutions.

The most serious aspect of the case, however, is that a large proportion of the money received by many of these charitable organizations is absorbed in salaries and expenses, the ratio ranging from thirty to ninety per cent of the total income.

The author believes that relief from these abuses will not come till "public charity be placed upon a practical basis and limited to the real necessities of the deserving poor; until the city government begins to deal with each society and institution upon its merits." It would certainly seem advisable to withhold aid to any society whose expenses and salary account exceeded a certain proportion of its income.

SOCIETIES.

BOSTON HOMEOPATHIC MEDICAL SOCIETY.

Business Session.

The regular meeting of the society was held at the Boston University School of Medicine, Thursday evening, June 1, 1899, at 7.45 o'clock, President Sarah S. Windsor, M.D., in the chair.

The records of the last meeting were read and approved. The obituary committees appointed at the last meeting to draw up resolutions on the deaths of Dr. William C. Cutler,

of Chelsea, and Dr. Laura M. Porter, of Boston, presented the following resolutions, which were adopted by the society:

WILLIAM C. CUTLER, M.D.

Whereas, The life work of our late colleague, Dr. William C. Cutler, has been ended, and,

Whereas, He was not only a man of high scientific attainments, but also endowed with a broad and noble character, and a gentle and lovable nature, therefore be it

Resolved, That by his death the medical profession has been deprived of a most valuable member; and we, his more intimate associates, have lost a true friend and wise adviser, who, by his true heart and cultured mind, won the love and respect of all who knew him.

Resolved, That we extend our sympathy to his bereaved family. Resolved, That these resolutions be spread upon our records, and a copy, properly engrossed, be sent to the family of the deceased. FRANK C. RICHARDSON,

S. H. CALDERWOOD,

N. R. PERKINS,

LAURA MAXWELL PORTER, M.D.,

Committee.

died of apoplexy at her home, 54 Rutland Square, Boston, May 2, 1899.

She was born in Scituate, Mass., and educated in the Boston public schools. On graduating from the Normal School, she spent many years in teaching, but eventually resigned this profession to become a physician.

She studied medicine in New York, graduating in 1878 from the New York Women's Medical College, and on her return to Boston entered upon a successful practice.

Dr. Porter possessed a character of unusual strength and sweetness, and was an inspiration to all who knew her. She was highly esteemed in her profession, and for a number of years was visiting physician to the Talitha Cumi Home, where her influence was strongly felt.

She was a member of the Massachusetts Homoeopathic Medical Society, the Boston Homoeopathic Medical Society, and the Nineteenth Century Medical Club.

Resolved, That this memorial be entered upon the records of the Boston Homœopathic Medical Society, and that a copy be sent to the home friends.

MARTHA E. MANN,

JANE K. CULVER,
MARTHA G. CHAMPLIN,

Committee.

Dr. Windsor of the Hahnemann Monument Committee reported progress, and stated that $335.50 had thus far been collected:

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Dr. Alonzo Boothby exhibited a specimen of uterine fibroid, complicated with pregnancy, recently removed by him. Examination showed presence of fibroids, and pregnancy was suspected but not actually diagnosed. The five months' foetus was living and quite large at the time of removal, but could not have been born because of the comparatively small canal due to the fibroid growth. Dr. Boothby stated that the operation was performed two days before, and the patient's temperature and pulse were at present almost normal. I have several times successfully removed the impregnated uterus, and in every case the progress has been much more favorable than when pregnancy had not taken place.

REPORT OF THE SECTION OF DISEASES OF CHILDREN.

F. A. HODGDON, M.D., Chairman;

KATE C. MUDGE, M.D., Secretary; J. HERBERT MOORE, M.D., Treasurer.

I. Intracranial Convulsions of Children. F. S. Piper, Discussion opened by Sarah S. Windsor, M.D.

M.D.

Nelson M.

2. Extracranial Convulsions of Children. Wood, M.D. Discussion opened by J. Herbert Moore, M.D. 3. Treatment of Convulsions, General and Medical. W. M. Townsend, M.D. Discussion opened by Edward P. Colby, M.D.

Drs. Grace E. Cross, Edward E. Allen, and Martha G. Champlin were appointed by the chair a committee to nominate sectional officers for the ensuing year, and reported the following, who were duly elected: Chairman, Clara E. Gary, M.D.; Secretary, Hovey L. Shepherd, M.D.; Treasurer, Anna Chipman-Palmer, M.D.

1. Dr. Piper's paper on "Intracranial Convulsions of Children" was listened to with much interest. He stated that he very strongly believed all tubercular disease to be infectious rather than contagious. He also referred to a very interesting article by a layman, which appeared in the Arena a few years ago, on the relation of epilepsy to people of great accomplishments. There seems to be a very interesting relation between epilepsy and some of the greatest geniuses the world has ever known.

Dr. Windsor, in discussing this paper, said in part: "I have not had the pleasure of reviewing Dr. Piper's paper, and therefore I am a little at a loss in discussing it. I have a great deal of sympathy with the idea that convulsions are an explosion and discharge of nervous force. Much can be done in preventing a loss of nervous force by quiet, steady discipline, and in this way we might overcome the hysteria of later life. The experience that I have had with convulsions has not been very wide. I have seen a number of sporadic cases, and have given some study to cerebro-spinal meningitis and marked the convulsive symptoms present. In these cases, where the special senses are involved, the prognosis is always unfavorable. This leads to one point that Dr. Piper has not made, but perhaps it hardly comes under his paper. I should like an expression of the opinion here, whether we can expect a real recovery where these convulsions occur. My experience has been that it takes a long time. In one case of cerebro-spinal meningitis, for a

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