tiseptic wash, dusted it over with aristol and bandaged up. I remained about two hours longer, being anxious. about the mother (and my first case of puerperal eclampsia). Finally, as all symptoms seemed favorable, and I had other patients to see, I left, leaving instructions to give chloral, twenty grains; bromide, half a drachm, every four hours, and chloroform "as directed;" that is, as near as I could direct an ignorant people how to use it. I returned about six o'clock, and found the woman again having horrible convulsions, those present stating that she had had sixteen "spasms" in my absence. I was again successful in controlling them, with the above mentioned drugs (which had been neglected), and stayed with her several hours. I also purged her freely. But that child! That to me, gentlemen, is the remarkable part of the case. At present writing, March 11th, mother and child are both doing well, and the only inconvenience or unfavorable symptoms, which as yet have developed with the child, are a slightly twitching and tremulous motion of the right arm, attributable, of course, to the nearness of the wound to the fissure of Rolando. I have consulted my text books; searched my recollection of Prof. Ernest Lewis, of Tulane University, New Orleans, Lecturer; have discussed the case with other physicians, and as yet, so far as I am informed, this remains an exceptional case of the recovery of the fetus from craniotomy. Will report death or progress of the child hereafter. -Dr. W. Gregg Austin in Med. Brief. PARTIAL STARVATION OF THE FETUS IN CASES OF CONTRACTED PELVIS.-In discussing premature labor (Amer. Jour Obstr., March 1892), Dr. Bettman says: This paper would not be complete without reference to an entirely new solution to the question of moderately contracted pelvis proposed by L. Prochownick, of Hamburg, in August, 1889. Prochownick tried the novel experiment of stunting the growth of the foetus in utero by starving the mother, or, rather by placing the mother on the ordinary diet for diabetics. His first patient had been delivered of four children; two prematurely, one by version, one by perforation; and all the infants had perished. Toward the close of the fifth pregnancy the patient was placed on the strict diet, and was delivered at term of a healthy infant weighing five pounds, three ounces, with adipose layer practically wanting, and with very movable skull bones. The infant developed rapidly and normally. Encouraged by his success, he repeated the experiment in two similar cases, and both the infants were born thin, had movable skull bones, and thrived perfectly. Thus three mothers who had borne eight dead children were enabled by these means to rear living offsprings. Prochownick has found imitators, and in March, 1890, A. V. Brehm reported a fourth successful case in the St. Petersburg Medicinische Wochenschrift. The departure of Prochownick is so novel, is based on such rational physiology and has been so signally successful that it merits not only the general attention of the obstetric world, but also general imitation in appropriate cases.-Doctor's Weekly. Items of Interest. Pilocarpine is said to be useful in the treatment of chronic articular rheumatism. Camphor has been found to possess the power of increasing the solubility of iodoform in alcohol and in ether. A soup made from onions is regarded by the French as an excellent restorative in debility of the digestive organs. THE Topsy of an "Uncle Tom's Cabin" troupe died recently and bequeathed her body to the doctors. Autopsy!--Texas Siftings. Dr. Morrow has resigned the editorship of the Journal of Cutaneous and Genito-Urinary Diseases. He is to be succeeded by Dr. John A. Fordyce. CALCIUM SULPHIDE IN CROUP.--The Medical Regulator (Ed.) recommends the use of the above drug in doses of one-tenth gr. hourly for the worst cases. The Pan-American Medical Congress will meet in Washington the first week of September, 1893, and will be of great interest and importance to the medical profession of this country. Van Harlingen says in the Polyclinic: Long familiarity with pediculosis capitis in hospital and dispensary practice has taught me that eczema of the posterior border of the scalp and nucha is always a sign. of the presence of lice. Camphor 1 ounce, disolved in turpentine oil 3 ounces, has been used in Columbia Hospital for Women, to check the secretion of milk in mastitis. claimed that this application relieves the pain, diminishes the induration, and reduces the inflammation. It is A young Texas physician, called to his first case of labor, found the bag of water presenting, which, mistaking for the bladder, he tried to replace, with the result of rupturing it, allowing the fluid to escape. Rushing frantically from the room to a neighboring physician, he cried: "By Jove! she's busted! Get your instruments, she won't live an hour,--Lancet and Clinic. A LAW has recently passed the senate creating new titles for army medical officers. Officers of the medical corps holding the rank of colonel will hereafter be designated as assistant surgeon-generals, and those holding the rank of lieutenant-colonel will hereafter be known as deputy surgeon-generals. Titles similar to these exist in the British army medical corps. HOW TO REMOVE NITRATE OF SILVER STAIN FROM THE FINGERS.--A correspondent of the Scientific American gives the following harmless process: First paint the blackened parts with tincture of iodine, let remain until the black becomes white. The skin will then be red, but by applying ammonia the iodine will be bleached, leaving white instead of black stains of nitrate of silver. A PERMANENT FEHLING'S SOLUTION.-Fehling's solution by the usual formula is quite unstable. The following modification is suggested by Rossel in Schweiz Wochenschr.: 34.56 grains pure cupric sulphate are dissolved in some distilled water; 150.0 grams glycerin and 130.0 grams caustic potassa and then made up to one litre. One c. cm. of this solution corresponds to 5 mg. of glucose. The solution is said to be a permanent one.-—Med. and Surg. Reporter, EPILEPSY.-Victor Horsley reaches the following conclusion in summing up a recent address on the origin and seat of epileptic disturbance: "Whatever be the point which the epileptogenous agency first attacks we must conclude that the principal seat of the disturbance of a general or idiopathic fit must be the cerebral hemispheres, and especially their cortical mantle. Further, that the condition of the cortex during the attack is one of congestion, and not anæmia; and, finally, that in all probability this portion of the encephalon is actually the place of origin of the disturbance." HOW CRIMINALS MAY BE DETECTED.-In his essay on "Criminology" in the New Englander and Yale Review Mr. Arthur Macdonald enumerates the following peculiarities in cranium structure which have. been found to be characteristic of criminals: 1. A frequent persistence of the frontal median suture; 2. partial effacement of the parietal or parieto-occipital sutures; 3 a frequency of the wormian bones in the regions of the median and lateral posterior fontanelles; 4, the development of the superciliary ridges, with the defacement, or even frequent depression, of the intermediary protuberance. SYPHILIS AMONG THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.-Proksch (Archives F. Dermatologie U. Syphilis, June 20, 1891) discusses the probable existence of syphilis among the ancient Egyptians. In studying a papyrus containing instructions about the management of a disease known to them as "uxedu," he has identified syphilis. The papyrus gives the treatment for uxedu in the anus, in suppurating wounds, in the mouth, in the eyes, in the bones, in tumors of the head, in the body, in pustules, etc., thus giving an almost complete history of the various situations in which syphilis may manifest itself. The author concludes that the uxedu of the ancient Egyytians is our syphilis.-N. Y. Med. Times. MEDICAL TEMPERANCE IN EUROPE.—It is admitted by professional men that in the struggle to check inebriety, which has so largely occupied the most cultured intellects on the Continent of Europe, very little has been done in the advocacy of practical abstinence. The prevailing idea, it is alleged, even among members of the medical profession there, has been that the increase of insanity and of other evils from drinking has arisen from the heavier alcohols, and that pure, unsophisticated spirits, wines and beers, are really temperance beverages. That a new departure is being taken in this respect by members of the medical profession is evident from the fact that such men as Professor Forel, of Zurich; Professor Bunge, of Tasle, and Dr. Wilhelm Bode, of Dresden, have established and are vigorously supporting total abstinence societies in those cities.- Times and Register. DONT'S FOR DRUGGISTS.-Don't spit in the mortar to soften a pill mass. Don't use alcoho¡ to make a solution of borax. Don't use asafoetida to perfume prepared chalk. Don't bite the corks to make them fit the bottle. Don't wipe the horn spoon on your shirt when a towel is not handy. Don't test the quality of a tooth brush on your teeth when making a sale. Don't insist that iodoform is a delicious odor if your customer don't like it. Don't use counterfeit coin to make a lunar caustic,-the acid knows the difference. Don't try to make alcohol and oil of sweet almonds stay mixed-old Liebig couldn't do it. Don't delay filling a telephone order for five postage stamps to be sent six blocks to a residence. Don't forget to wrap your stocking around the clapper of the night bell if you want to enjoy the sweet repose of the just. Don't show any displeasure when some all-night saloon-keeper rings you out of bed on a cold night to telephone for a keg of beer from a brewery. Don't fail to scrupulously follow the order on a prescription-when the doctor orders five or six grains of dry powder in a pill and orders you to make the pills small-have a hydraulic press handy to compress them to one-third the size. -H. Keehole, Meyer Brothers' Druggist. An editor, who does not mind a joke at his own expense, says he went into a drug store recently and asked for some morphine. The assistant objected to giving it without a prescription. "Why?" asked the editor; "do I look like a man who would kill himself?" "I don't know," said the assistant; "if I looked like you I should be tempted." ASSOCIATION OF IDEAS. "I want something,” said a farmer, as he entered a Michigan avenue drug store the other day. "Well, what is it?" "I didn't tie a string round my finger, but I guess I can get around it all the same. What's the name of the lake below us?" "Lake Erie." "Exactly. What's the name of the bay the boat runs to?" "Put-in Bay." "Correct. Now, then, who put in there?" "Perry." "Straight as a string. I want ten cents' worth of perrygoric. My old woman said I'd be sure to forget it, but here's proof that I didn't."- World. A CLEAR STATEMENT.-Being a brief summary, from the note-book of an undergraduate, of a lecture on tuberculosis by a professor of liberal but uncertain opinions. The microbe of consumption that Koch has hunted out, And so I wish to state, with no periphrasis or doubt, I'm nearly, quite, almost convinced the thing cannot be done. Who is it comes with solemn tread, And measures you from feet to head And then departs to come once more, Who are those two bronzed sons of toil, Who, while at work beneath the soil, Who serve you last under the sun, And charge a smaller fee For harder work and better done, Than all the other three ? The grave-diggers. K —Charles A. Myers in the Louisville Evening Times, October 23. FROM THE MAN WHO SOJOURNETH AT HOT SPRINGS. PROLOGUE. His mind upset with business cares, And body much distressed, The young man in Chicago pines He grumbles at the early spring. He buys a ticket for the bath, Of the Park hotel becomes a guest, Discards cigars for chewing gum, Goes in for change and rest. ACT III. (But alas!-woe is me-and don't you forget it.) BUSTED. One week gone by, he's all played out, His mind is sore depressed, He finds the bathman has his change, And the hotel has the rest. The Lady Physician. I was ill and in a fever, But I didn't like the doctor, Or the drugs he used to give. It was by some strange mishappening, She was fair and nearly thirty, They said she was a doctor, When she pressed her little fingers On my rapid-beating pulse, It sent a thrill of pleasure To my very finger tips. Oh, she was a ministering angel, As she soothed my aching head; And the pain was soon forgotten When I heard her gentle voice. She came to see me often, Till we meet at Heaven's gate." -E. G. Jones, M. D. Wit and Humor. LINES TO A TAPEWORM. Pale wanderer from thy native place! I would commune with thee a space, Who tænia solium art hight, Why didst thou dwell in human gut, Why didst thou not release thy foot Couldst thou such pleasure then derive Whilst there in luxury thou didst thrive, Cestoidean beat? And mulishly thou didst refuse To writhe away in flight, And leave that mucoid, villous ooze, With household gods all round about, Until we quickly fired thee out Methinks e'en then thou hadst preferred In the duodenal home to nap. Hadst thou not feared some doctor churl And his worm-trap. But now, praise Bacchus ! for thy fall Let hallelujahs ring And alcohol surround thy pall Forever, damned thing. -The Corpuscle, A very interesting case recently came under my observation which, on account of its rarity, is worthy of report. A young man, 30 years of age, was referred to me by Dr. O. P. Bennett, of this city, with the following history: He had masturbated for some years, beginning at the age of fifteen. For the last ten or twelve years he had intercourse at quite frequent intervals, latterly two or three times weekly. He had never been able either by masturbation or during sexual intercourse to have an ejaculation of semen. The act, he said, was pleasureable, but absolutely unattended by anything like orgasm or seminal emission. inquiry he stated that he had tired himself out in the attempt repeatedly, but without success. He seemed. to be aware that it was not the fault of secretion, as he stated that he frequently had after intercourse. lascivious dreams with copious emissions. On On examination I found the sexual organs perfectly normal, with the exception that there was absolute anæsthesia of the prostatic sinus. Sounds produced no sensation whatever, nor was a strong faradic current more successful. The patient in all other respects is perfectly normal-indeed, he is an exceptionally robust man. During strong sexual excitement he states that there escapes from the meatus a small quantity of fluid, which, from his description, is unquestionably prostatic secretion. Sexual desire is well marked, which makes his condition particularly. aggravating for the patient. He says that copulation is not unattended with gratification, else he would not have intercourse so frequently. The condition existing in this patient has been termed aspermatism, and has been described by several competent observers. The late Prof. Ultzmann, of Vienna, has related a very typical illustration of this condition. * The only explanatory theories thus far advanced are, on the one hand, that the semen is prevented from entering the prostatic urethra by spasms about the ejaculatory ducts. That this is not true is shown by the fact that relaxation of the spasm produced by sexual exhaustion is not followed by the dribbling of semen. The more logical explanation is that of Keys who says: "The fault is evidently in the nerves. There is no pleasurable sensation, no call for the secretion of prostatic mucus, or for a supply *1. Wien Medical Presse, Nos. 2-3, 1878. of spermatic fluid. There is anæsthesia of the prostatic sinus, and although the power of having an orgasm and the ejaculation remains, as proved by dreams, yet there is some connecting link missing in the chain which transforms friction of the glans penis unto pleasure of the prostate, and finally into secretion of the testicle." As already remarked my patient does experience pleasurable sensation. It seems to me very possible that in some of these cases there may exist at the time of copulation some peculiar inhibitory mental influence that prevents culmination of the sexual act. Mental influences sometimes have this effect in perfectly healthy individuals. Once let the sexual act be naturally per formed in these cases of aspermatism and the spell is apt to be broken. When once the sexual act is coördinated with the mental elements necessary to the proper performance of the sexual function, not only will ejaculation occur, but the impression is likely to be a permanent one, and the necessary sensibility be called forth in a normal manner on all proper occasions thereafter. The prognosis in these cases is not particularly promising. Faradism is to be recommended both from its moral and physical effects. A strong faradic current applied to the prostatic sinus, daily if possible, thrice weekly at least-in combination with mildly irritant injections into the prostate from time to time seem to be the rational indications. The patient under consideration has asked me regarding the question of matrimony, and as the matter of sterility as far as the male is concerned is of comparatively little importance, provided he be capable of performing the sexual act, I can see no reason why the patient should not get married, particularly as marriage is likely to afford the mental condition and the environment necessary to awaken the more or less dormant sexual sensibility. Roubaud's suggestion of the use of antispasmodics, on the theory of the dependence of the disease upon muscular contraction, is, it seems to me, a little fanciful. Inasmuch as antispasmodics are usually sedative, success might be obtained by their administration through their effect upon the brain and incidentally the production of mental quiet where unfavorable circumstances of disquietude previously existed at the time of copulation. It is generally supposed that it is necessary for the semen to distend the prostatic sinus in order that an orgasm may occur. This may be true of individuals who have never had an emission of semen, but that it is not true in general is shown by the fact that individuals who expell no semen whatever, may have an orgasm as keenly pleasurable as that of a healthy individual. Thus, in one of my cases in which I removed a tuberculous testicle and the remaining epididymis subsequently became occluded from epididymitis and chronic thickening, the patient had a restoration of previously impaired power, has intercourse regularly, and experiences the normal amount of pleasure therein, but has never since the involvement of the remaining epididymis had an emission even of prostatic fluid. NOTE-Under Faradism and irritant applications to the prostatic, the case above described recovered completely, and as might be imagined, the patient is correspondingly grateful. A FRANK CONSULTANT.-Sir William Gull may be taken as a type of the candid consulting physician. His remarks to his professional brother, who had called him in, were sometimes almost as unreserved as if he were thinking aloud. In a recent memorial notice of Dr. Gull, in Guy's Hospital Reports, we find mention of the following instances bearing on this subject: He once met a physician in a case of rheumatism in which Dr. Gull recognized a pericardial friction sound. Nothing was said to the family about this newly discovered element in the case; the gen. eral treatment was approved and the two medical men left together. The physician in charge expressed his thanks to the other that he had not disclosed the "dreadful oversight," and added: "I cannot think how I can possibly have failed to detect the pericarditis." "Never mind," said Gull, "it is just as well, for, if you had detected it, perhaps you might have treated it." To a family practitioner who had much to say about his patient's constitution and peculiarities Gull would say: "How can you understand anything about this man's 'constitution' when you have never made an examination of his urine?" FINE DIAGNOSIS.-Dr. Lauder Brunton in a recent address laid great emphasis on the necessity of care in diagnosis and gave some amusing instances of errors in this important part of a physician's work, due to too hastily formed opinions. In one case he was among a class of students around a man suffering from heart disease, when it was noticed that the pupil of one eye was more dilated than the other. At once numerous more or less learned suggestions were made to account for the mydriasis. Eventually the man informed them that the eye over which there had been so animated a debate was a glass one. Another instance related to a learned professor who used to boast that he could tell much concerning the medical history of his patients by their teeth. When holding forth on his favorite theory one day he was considerably disconcerted by the patient taking out the complete set of masticators, and saying: "Perhaps the gentleman would like to look at them. closer. St. L. Med. and Surg. Journal. THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.-Under the will of the late Professor D. Hayes Agnew, the University is to possess the copyright of his surgical text-book, also many specimens and tuition-drawings, and the sum of fifty thousand dollars will go to the hospital on the death of his widow. The Maternity and Kensington Hospitals also will then be the recipients of $1,000 each, and the College of Physicians will receive a like bequest. To detect when a part is antiseptically clean, use only two preparations; Marchand's peroxide of hydrogen and potassium permanganate. The former will cause violent effervescence if pus be present, and will continue to do so until all the pus be destroyed. The permanganate will turn from its bright red to a dirty brown in the presence of disorganized organic matter. The peroxide is much neater, however, and more generally satisfactory. TO REMOVE ANILIN STAINS FROM THE SKIN.--Unna recommends washing first with a five per cent solution of salt in water, then with the same strength of hydrogen peroxide, and finally with alcohol. Subscription, $1.00 a year; to Europe, $1.25. Entered at Chicago post office as second-class matter. THE EDITOR would be glad to receive any items of general interest in regard to local events, or matters that it is desirable to call to the attention of the profession. Letters written for publication or containing items of information should be accompanied by the full name and address of the writer, although not necessarily to be published. All communications should be addressed to WESTERN MEDICAL REPORTER, 163 State Street, Chicago. A Monument to Professor Gross. The American Surgical Association passed the following resolution at its last meeting: Resolved, That the President be empowered to appoint a committee with authority to confer with the friends and admirers of the late Professor S. D. Gross and with the profession at large, for the initation of a movement on the part of the Association, having for its object the erection of a monument to Dr. Gross, in Washington, D. C. Dr. L. McLane Tiffany represents the State of Maryland on the committee. The monument will cost about $12,000, $3,500 of which is already assured. It is to be hoped that every medical society. will open a subscription list for this fund. Few physicians would refuse to honor themselves by contributing to erect a monument to America's greatest surgeon. ABSTRACTS. Medicine. BRAIN SURGERY FROM THE PHYSICIAN'S POINT OF VIEW. In an exhaustive article on this subject in the Sammlung Klinischer Vorträge Dr. Hermann Sahli thus concludes: 1. Horsley recommends deligation of the carotid in every case of spontaneous cerebral hæmorrhage to which the practitioner has been summoned within the first four hours. Such treatment would be contrary to medical opinion, and, in the majority of cases, would either be useless or do harm. 2. The author would, in the interest of patients, protest most strongly against the practice of trephining in all cases of headache which may have resisted other methods of treatment. It would he rash, without exact diagnosis of a local cause of the headache, to submit the patient haphazard, and without the smallest guarantee for success, to an operation which, in spite of all antiseptic precautions, is likely to be attended by risk. 3. Exploratory trephining should not be performed unless it be comparatively necessary, as this operation is not free from danger. |