Periscope.--On Paracentesis Thoracis. 187 its steady and daily repetition,—by which means the inflamma, tory action is moderated, and thereby the destruction of the cutis vera, and subcutaneous cellular substance, and consequent pitting prevented; and also from the relief it affords to the itching, preventing the involuntary scratching and tearing, so frequently a cause of great evil; how far it may be judicious to make a more extended application of the remedy over the body, I am not prepared to say: from what I have witnessed, I feel favorably disposed to it. are we in some degree to remove the burning and itching peculiar to the disease; the application of the tincture was repeated daily, with marked good effects, the tumefaction of the face in some degree subsiding, and the pustules becoming flat, as the remedy appeared to abate the violence of this inflammatory action, on the parts to which it had been applied; it was extended over the whole face; a comparative test was therefore not fully instituted; however, the parts most frequently painted formed much thinner scabs than those which had been less so; these crusts fell off sooner, leaving a surface distinguishable by the fewer pits and slighter marks. Although this case was very severe, and terminated fortunately, it was by no means a favorable occasion for experimenting, the eruption having already been two days out, and the inflammation and tumefaction having attained a considerable height, before the opportunity was afforded for using the application: in addition to which, the cautious and sparing manner in which it was used, necessarily limited its effects materially; however, they were suffi. ciently evident to encourage further trials and warrant its safety. Shortly after this, a case of variola discreta occurred in the Hospital, accompanied with considerable sever and delirium; the patient said he never had been vaccinated; the cruption was profuse but distinct. The tincture was applied over the whole face daily from the first day, for about five or six days. The pustules went through their regular stages, but did not accumulate, re. maming flat: and the face did not swell. The thin crusts on the face fell off at about the end of a week, leaving it free from any pitting. The pustules over the rest of the body filled well, and formed thick scabs, which remained several days longer-one of the hands was also painted to show the contrast, and had a very By H. M. HUGHES, M. D., Assistant Physician to Guy's Hospital. satisfactory result. The third case was one of variola modificata; in this case the face was at first only partially painted (as was also one hand) to show a contrast; the good effects were soon evident, and the application was then extended over the rest of the face, to prevent any risk of pitting, as the patient was a good-looking young wo. man; on the parts most frequently painted, the eruption scarcely formed any pus, and the crusts were very thin and soon fell off, leaving the parts free even from discoloration, rendering them for Come time distinguishable from the others. The last case that I shall notice, is most particularly satisfac tory; not only from its issue, but also from its being under the care of Dr. G. W. Campbell of this city, with whom I frequently visited it. The violence of the febrile symptoms, and extent of the eruption, led Dr. Campbell to suppose, that it would prove a confluent case. He ordered the tincture to be applied over the whole face, and on visiting the patient next day, was so pleased with the result, that he directed its application to be made daily; the postules on the face, although they went through their regular stages, remained flat and small; the face remained free from tumefaction, with the exception of one of the eyelids which was slightly puffed. She had no delirium after the application of the tincture; the crusts, which were very slight on the face, fell off early, leaving it free from pitting, while extensive thick and continuous scabs covered the limbs, and principal parts of the body; and which confined her to bed many days after those on the face had fallen off, giving her a great deal of uneasiness and discom. fort. Throughout her complaint, she said her face was her only tolerable part, and although the tincture gave her pain for about an hour after its application, it quite removed the variolous pain and itching, and left her so far comfortable during the rest of the day. Very little constitutional treatment was resorted to in any of these cases; which have been seen by several members of the profession. I have heard that some of my medical brethren have been fol. lowing up the above suggestion, and I learn the application has given satisfaction; my object, however, not being for the purpose of recording cases, but rather to offer a hint generally to the profession; that the application may be fully and fairly tested, I have preferred giving merely my own personal experience on the present occasion. I believe almost every one will admit the inefficacy of the several applications hitherto recommended, for the above contemplated object, as well as the disagreeable nature of most of them, or the difficulty of their application. The tincture of iodine will be found, I apprehend, not only more efficacious, but also more manageable and endurable by the patient; I am of opinion that the advantages derivable from its use, will in a great measure de. pend on its employment in the earliest stages of the eruption, and I shall trespass a moment longer, to notice an observation which has been made to me on one or two occasions, namely, not likely, by an interference with the progress of a specific disease, to repel a morbid poison on the system, which nature appears to be endeavoring to throw off?" Without attempting any refu. tation of this antiquated view of the pathology of the disease, I shall merely notice, that the regular progress of the eruption is not interfered with, that the moderating of the inflammatory symptoms, by this application, renders the discase milder, and it is evident that whatever tends to effect this object, without de. pressing the vital powers, will be the surest means of saving the life of the patient, and of obviating the other dreaded conse. quences. I am, Gentlemen, your obedient servant, JAMES CRAWFORD, M. D. Montreal, March 15, 1844. SURGERY. ON PARACENTESIS THORACIS. [Pleuritic effusion, without very careful examination, is very liable to be mistaken; its progress is often so insidious, and its symptoms so latent, it may, and frequently is, confounded with consumption, liver disease, or indigestion. Whatever merit is due to the proposer of the operation, whoever he may be, it is the late Dr. Thomas Davis, who merits the praise of pointing out how the function of the lung may be restored and deformity prevented. In 1844, a paper was published in Guy's Hospital Reports by Mr. Cock and Dr. Hughes on this subject, and very soon after a paper was read before the Medico-Chirurgical Society, by Dr. Rowe, in which the operation was recommended for the same purposes. Dr. Davis was in the habit of leaving a piece of elastic catheter with a stopper in the wound, and drawing off a little fluid daily, but Dr Rowe and Mr. Cock immediately close the wound and repeat the operation as often as is necessary. M. Cock and Dr. Hughes believe that the admission of air into the pleural sac is injurious, while Drs. Davis and Rowe assert that it is not attended with any bad consequences: the former assert that the admission of air keeps up the compression, to some extent, on the lung, which it is the intention of the operation to obviate. Dr. Hughes observes,] It is with a view of withdrawing the fluid before firm adhesions have been formed, before the lung has been strongly bound down, and plastered over with a thick coating of fibrin or albuminous matter, that the operation has been recently recommended, in contradistinction to that of merely relieving urgent distress or of preventing suffocation. Until a comparatively recent period the operation, simple as it is, and harmless as it has been proved to be, had not been performed until almost every other mode of relieving the patient had been tried without effect, and the powers of the patient had become greatly exhausted. Hence it happened that the operation was not only generally unsuccessful, but was con. sidered an affair of much importance, and of considerable danger. If operations for other complaints had been thus unreasonaby delayed-if that for hernia, for example, had been almost uniformly deferred till gangrene had taken place, it may be fairly assumed that surgeons would not have had so many cases of that disease to point out as triumphs of their art. I have never seen a single case in which, when it was performed in the manner recommended by Mr. Cock and myself, it was attended with the slightest risk, though in an earlier period of our practice I know that a case occurred in which the individual fainted, and was affected with alarming collapse, in consequence of the fluid being drawn off too rapidly through a large canula; and though one person certainly contracted an attack of bronchius, followed by pneumonia, from exposure during operation, I believe that in most persons the "risk" of the operation is not greater, and that in many persons it is really not so great, as the risk of a pro 'longed mercurial course. CASE OF AN ABSCESS IN THE NECK COMMUNI- "That the remission of air may rekindle the inflammation" we as I am able to judge, from a pretty extensive opportunity of believe, and "that its admission may convert the adhesive into observing its effects, without danger.-Med. Gaz., Feb. 13, 1846, the suppurative inflammation" we also believe; but we are very p. 281. far from thinking that "its admission cannot be prevented." It is, indeed, a rare circumstance with us for a single bubble of air to enter the pleura-though two, three, or four pints of fluid have been withdrawn; and though in many cases the operation has been performed several times, and in one case as many as thirteen or fourteen times. In this individual air did, on two occasions, enter the pleura during the act of coughing or a sudden involuntary gasp. Air is there still, and has remained there ever since: we are, indeed, far from being certain that in this individual there may not have been a very minute communication with one or more bronchial tubes, but we have never had any evidence of the air having been absorbed, and the patient's own strong impression ie, that since it first entered it has never been removed. The fluid in this case remains perfectly inodorous. By GEORGE BUSK, F. R. C. S. E., and Surgeon to the Seaman's Hospital. The subject of the case was a woman, aged 35, who died on June 3rd, 1846. An abscess had formed in the neck anteriorly, which burst spontaneously about five months before her death, and had continued to discharge white purulent matter through a small-funnel-shaped fistulous opening in the hollow immediately above the upper edge of the sternum, and in the mesial line. On The reason why air does not necessarily enter the pleura, and the morning of the 1st of June, hæmorrhage of arterial blood took the mode in which, with proper care, it can be prevented doing so, place, and recurred in the evening, on the compress being remov. are both, I think, sufficiently evident. Unless the lung is capable ed. The blood welled up with indistinct intermissions, and was of full and free expansion, we do not attempt to draw off all the readily stayed by pressure. The hemorrhage recurred more effused fluid. We remove, indeed, only as much as the expand-violently on the following afternoon, and on being stayed by com. ing lung and the surrounding compressed organs are capable of press, the cavity of the abscess became filled with blood, and then replacing. The opening is carefully watched, particularly during communicated the feeling of diffuse pulsation like that of an an. the act of inspiration and coughing; and when the stream begins eurism. The woman sank, and died about forty-eight hours from to fail, the body is turned towards the punctured side, till there is the first appearance of the hæmorrhage. Post mortem examina. at length an alternate flow and stoppage of the stream during tion displayed a large old abscess occupying the front of the neck the acts of expiration and inspiration. When this occurs we below the larynx, and extending behind the sternum to the right withdraw the canula-when, in fact, there exists a tendency for side of the arch of the aorta; and a lateral extension of it passed the external air to enter the cavity, that tendency is at once between the right bronchus and arteria innominata to the spine, stopped by closing the aperture Sometimes it is true that a but the bone was not diseased. The external cellular coat of the considerable portion of fluid is thus left behind. This remaining aorta, where that vessel entered into the formation of the wall of fluid, if not absorbed, must be removed by a second operation, the abscess, and also of the arteria innominata, was entirely re which is so slightly painful, and when properly and carefully per- moved, and the middle fibrous tunic exposed, so that its structure formed, is so simple, and is usually the means of affording such was quite evident for a considerable space. In the centre of this great comfort, that I have never known a patient object to it who portion of the aorta was a small lacerated opening, about a quar had once gone through the ordeal. ter of an inch in length. This opening penetrated the middle and internal tunes of the vessel, the edges of the rent were sharp, and a little ragged, and immediately around the opening, the internal surface of the aorta was slightly roughened by the deposition of lymph. A similar roughening was present on the inner surface of the arteria innominata, opposite the portion deprived of its external coat, and much thinned. [On compression of the parictes of the chest and abdomen, Dr. H. says] Now, from having observed that an attack of coughing has often followed the exercise of this process, in consequence, as we presume, of the greater expansion of the lung which is thereby induced, we now believe, that this part of the directions may be advantageously omitted, and that it is better to take away only so much of the liquid as flows spontaneously by inclining the body.peared to be the length of time (forty-eight hours) after the com. Secondly, with the view of preventing cough, arising from the too sudden expansion of the lung, and of allowing the organ gradually to accommodate itself to the enlarged space, we are now in the habit of applying a flannel bandage with moderate firmness around the chest, after the operation is completed. In reference to the operation itself, I have been accustomed to prescribe to myself certain rules and precautions, which may be, perhaps, advantage. ously here introduced for the direction of those who are not accustomed to see it performed : The author remarks, that the points of interest in this case apmencement of the bleeding from the aorta before death was caused; the fact of the perforation of a large arterial trunk by ulcerative action proceeding from without, and the circumstance of the abscess assuming the pulsating character of an aneurismal tumour when distended with fluid blood, a character which was previously entirely wanting. MISCELLANEOUS. THE POTATO DISEASE. 1.-It is well never to propose it without having previously inquired into the history of the case, and minutely investigating the general symptoms, as well as carefully ascertaining the physical signs. After this has been effected, and all the ordinary As the season approaches when the ravages of this disease ge. means of diagnosis have been fairly and fully brought into requisi-nerally make their appearance, it is desirable to know how far tion, the trochar should never be introduced before the exploring investigations already entered into, have proceeded towards the needle has been employed for the purpose of confirming the cor- detection of the cause of such an evil, and the suggestion of a rectness of the diagnosis previously made. 3.-The puncture of remedy. Little has yet been done on any organized plan in one side of the chest, excepting under circumstances of imminent this country. In Europe the case has been very different. In danger, should never be made before it has been clearly ascertained Holland and Belgium a committee was first appointed to collect that the lung of the opposite side of the chest, if not quite free facts calculated to throw light on the nature of the disease. In from discase, is at least capable of carrying on the respiration. one of the Dutch provinces, Groningen, a separate commission 4. The fluid should be drawn off slowly through a small-sized was appointed for the same purpose. canula, if the effusion is thin and serous, and through one of rather larger size if the fluid is thick and purulent. 5.-So much only of the fluid should be withdrawn as flows spontaneously without the admission of air. 6.-The escape of the fluid should be favored by an inclination of the body towards the punctured side. 7.-It is desirable, after the operation to support the chest with a moderately tight flannel bandage, to keep the patient in bed and desire him not to talk for a period of twenty-four hours; after which, if his complaint would not on other accounts confine him to his bed, he may leave it without inconvenience or danger. With these rules or precautions the operation may be performed, in very many cases, with great benefit; and in all cases, as far In Germany. Liebig among others has turned his attention to the potato, and has lately published some observations on its nitrogenous constituents. A number of the French philosophers, both alone, and under the auspices of the Central Society of Agriculture, have also at tended to the subject. M. Payen has lately published three or four reports containing the results of elaborate microscopic and chemical rescarches. The English Government sent a commission to Ireland, of three distinguished scientific men, with directions to obtain as much information as possible on the nature and extent of the disease. In Scotland originated the most extended scheme of all. The Periscope.-Muriate of Zinc as a Preservative for Subjects. subject was taken up in its several branches as it is connected with botany, meteorology, entomology, and chemistry. Each branch was referred to a competent person, and the investigation is still in progress. It is not as yet even certainly determined in what form the disease first attacks the plant. A great number of observers have considered that it is first seen in patches of dark colored fungi on the leaves, thence gradually spreading down to the tubers. Dr. Ferguson in Paris, and several others in England, think that they have detected the sporules of the fungus passing down through the stem in the ordinary circulation of sap. But there are well authenticated instances where the potato tops have remained green and flourishing, while the tubers were much diseased; it cannot therefore be said with certainty that the discase first appears as a fungus on the leaves. All agree that the nitrogenous compounds in the tuber are af. fected, and to a peculiar state of these constituents, Liebig and others have referred the origin of the disease. The starch is at. tacked last, and often remains uninjured when the walls of the cellular tissue that enclose its globules are nearly destroyed. From potatoes which have become even offensive in their smell, per. fectly good starch has been extracted. The manufacture of starch becomes of great importance in the economical disposition of the diseased potato. The report of the Groningen commission ascribes the disease to the wetness and sudden changes of the two last years. M. Payen thinks that excessive moisture has predisposed the potato to yield to the attacks of fungi. Mr. Phillips of London has published a pamphlet in which he describes the whole thing to the same cause. These are only a few of those who advocate this view of the question. All who have experienced much rain, assign this as the cause of disease, not knowing that it has been quite as bad on dry soils and where there has been little rain. In all the west of Scotland the summer of 1845 was considered rather a dry one, and in Islay, one of the Western Islands on the Scotch coast, the streams had not been so low for many years. The potatoes were as much affected in this part of Scotland as on the cast coast. These facts seem quite decisive on the subject of wetness, for one well authenticated case where the disease has occurred under circumstances that preclude the idea of its being caused by wet, renders the theory quite untenable. 189 saline manures, and even during the last season it was thought that they were in some degree beneficial. We are not aware that any plan heretofore suggested has proved uniformly successful over any great breadth of country. The preservation of the crop during the winter has excited the deepest interest, and here also the number of methods proposed defies enumeration. The result of all the trials seems to be that the disease makes very slow progress, and in many instances none at all, when the potatoes are kept perfectly dry and well ventilated. Both of these conditions seem absolutely essential; packing them in dry absorbent earth, and even in charcoal has proved a signal failure. It is necessary in any case where the disease has inade much progress to pick over the heaps frequently, and carefully select all the affected tubers. Kiln drying has been resorted to in cases of extremity; this preserves the potato for food but of course destroys its vitality. Of the various plans proposed for the planting of potatoes in spring, none has been found more efficacious than cutting care. fully selected potatoes into sets, containing each two or three healthy eyes. These sets are sprinkled with sulphuric or hydrochloric acid, diluted in the proportion of one pound of acid to four gallons of water.. Newly slaked lime, or gypsum is then added so as to form a crust over the cut surface. The diseased potatoes have not been found injurious as food. In Scotland all kinds of domestic animals have been fed with them freely, and actually thrived upon them. We have in the present communication glanced merely at the principal points of interest hitherto touched, in the researches upon this subject; it is much to know which are false theories, even if we have made little positive advance. Professor Johnston in a late communication has informed us that from attentive consideration of the analyses of diseased and healthy potatoes made in his laboratory during the past year, he has been led to recommend the application of a certain manure to the potato crop, as calculated, in many cases, if not universally, to arrest the disease. He does not speak of this with confidence, but as a thing yet to be tried. The publication containing his paper has not yet reached us, and we are consequently unable to say more. We are forced to conclude that the origin and causes of this disease are at present unknown; its mysterious marks have appeared suddenly on two continents, separated by wide oceans; under heat and drought, rain and cold, on wet and dry, light and Those who have most carefully investigated its peculiarities, most widely examined its range, are most undecided as to its cause. Only by a very long and extended series of experiments, by an accumulation of accurate results, can we hope to arrive at a solu tion of this mysterious problem. No subject of the present day offers more attractions to a scientific man, or a wider field of usefulness. The very existence of a crop of incalculable import. ance seems at stake; practice has entirely failed in its efforts to correct the evil, and looks to science for that aid, which, if within the limits of possibility, should be afforded. J. P. N. -American Journal of Science and Arts. It is not so easy to decide whether atmospheric influence is the cause of the disease. In order to arrive at any certain conclusion on this point, extended meteorological observations are ne-heavy soils, at every elevation, and in every variety of potato. cessary. It is a singular fact that three or four counties forming the extreme northern point of Scotland were entirely free from it; without any essential difference in their season from that of the other counties, so far as was known by ordinary observers. The overseer of Mr. Fleming of Barochan, in Renfrewshire, Scotland, lifted from one of his fields on the 5th of September last (1845) about 5 cwt. of potatoes; these were stored in the house and remained perfectly sound at the date of his writing, in the middle of winter. From the same field on the 15th of December were lifted 5 cwt. more of the same potatoes. These after being in the house two days, were tainted and decaying, as was the case before the end of September with all that were left in the field. In this instance the crisis in the change from the healthy to the diseased tuber took place between the 5th and 15th of September. If the disease had shown itself at this time simultaneously in every part of that district, this fact would go far to show that it was caused by some atmospheric influence; but the contrary was the case. In some fields it appeared as early as July, even on adjoining farms. The cause then remains still a mystery. Of remedies a very great number have been suggested; many without due consideration. The commissioners sent by the English government into Ireland were particularly unfortunate in this respect, for want of a little practical knowledge added to their undoubted scientific attainments. All the means of prevention that have formerly proved successful failed during the last year. An excellent method has been to change the seed every year, taking it from a high country to the lowlands, but this was found to have lost its efficacy. Gypsum, and hot slaked lime, have also been of little benefit. The greening of potatoes intended for seed, by letting them lay in the sun, has been much recommended, and on cutting up the sun burned potatoes it has been found, according to some statements, that the greened parts were never diseased. It may be well to turn attention to this subject. In former years some persons succeeded in invigorating the crop by means of certain CHEMISTRY, MATERIA MEDICA, &c. MURIATE OF ZINC IN THE PRESERVATION OF SUBJECTS, &c., FOR DISSECTION. Allusion has already been made to the employment of this substance, as well as sulphite of soda, p. 343 of this volume. It an. swers perfectly well alone, as we are enabled to speak from some little experience in the matter. In the London Medical Gazette, (Ap., 1846, p. 663,) there are a number of certificates, speaking in the highest terms of the use of this substance in disinfecting subjects for dissection, by injecting a solution of it into the vessels, and occasionally applying it externally with a sponge. It costs but a few cents to prepare a subject in this way, and the prepar ation has no corrosive effects upon the knife and other instruments. It is peculiarly well adapted to dissections during the warm months; and in the Ecole Pratique, at Paris, all the sub. jects are said to be prepared in this way with great practical be. nefit. A very ready way of preparing the mixture is as follows. Take the ordinary muriatic acid of commerce, dilute it with its weight of water, and pour it upon fragments of sheet zinc, placed in an earthen-ware bowl or other convenient vessel; a violent ac 190 Editorial Department.--Medical Meeting at Three Rivers. tion ensues, with an escape of hydrogen gas; allow the action to real, the professional corps of which is strong, num. go on until it ceases; however, when the action becomes exceed. ingly feeble, the remaining portion of acid is most readily neutra. bering about sixty, furnished five; "all of whom lized, by throwing in a little carbonate of zinc, the only calamine belong to the incorporated School of Medicine." The of the shops. The solution being thus made, to every pound of the zine that has been consumed, add water enough to make comparative smallness of the meeting, when we conthree gallons, and the liquid will be in a fit state for injecting. It sider the number of practitioners in the Province, may is even proposed to make it more dilute, but there is no doubt that the concentration alluded to above will be found most convenient. be undoubtedly ascribed to its having been called at -Southern Journal of Medicine and Pharmacy, for July. Three Rivers. Had it taken place either at Quebec or this city, it would have been much more numerous、 Lotions for treatment of Baldness and falling out of the Hairly attended, and there would have been a greater (N. Y, Journ. of Med., March,, 1846, p. 277, from Wilson on Healthy Skin.) amount of discussion, and possibly "less unanimity." Dr. Wilson recommends for failing out and loosening of the hair, Certainly the sense of the meeting would have been to immerse the head in cold water, morning and night, to dry the directly taken on several subjects which have been hair thoroughly, and then brush the scalp until a warm glow is pro. duced. In women with long hair, the scalp is to be brushed until passed over in silence, and which constituted at least redness and a warm glow are produced, then wet the roots of the some of the most important items of the " prohair with one of the following lotions: I. R. Vinegar of canthar. ides 3 ss., Eau de Cologne ij, rose water 3j., M.; or II. Eau ject" of the delegates, as submitted in their late cirde Cologne 3ij., tinc. cantharides 3 ss., oil of nutmegs 3 ss., ol. cular. lavender, ten drops, M.; III. R. Mazerion bark 3j., horse-radish root 3j., boiling distilled vinegar, Oss. Let it stand for a week If we are permitted to draw an obviously plain and strain. If the lotion produce smarting or tenderness, the inference from the proceedings had at the meeting of brush may be laid aside, but if no sensation is occasioned, the the 14th, we would conclude that, inasmuch as a part brushing should be resumed, and a second application of the lotion. This treatment should be practised once or twice a day, or at in- of the "first clause" only, on Dr. Bibaud's motion, tervals of a few days, according to the state of the scalp; namely, was expunged, all the remaining portions of that "proif tender, less; if insensible, more frequently. The same treat. nent will prove successful in baldness; which, if it happen in ject," as conveyed in the circular, are to stand in full patches, the skin should be well brushed with a soft toothbrush, force, and form the basis of the ulterior proceedings of dipt in distilled vinegar, morning and evening. If either of the above lotions proves too irritating to the skin, use it in smaller the "permanent committee." Again, then, comes up quantity and less frequently. No. III. may be diluted with more before us the monstrous intention of compelling all distilled vinegar. Qil should be used to keep the skin soft and pliant. British graduates and surgeons to submit to a second degrading examination before men, many of whom PETRIFACTION OF ANIMAL SUBSTANCES. have received no collegiate education whatever, and The Abbé Baldaconi, conservator of the Museum of Natural who are therefore the inferiors of the former class, in History of Sienna, has invented a new process for petrifying aniinal substances. It consists in keeping for a long time, the sub point of professional rank, involving, moreover, the stance to be petrified, in a saturated solution of twelve parts of bi. palpable absurdity of testing the professional compechloruct of mercury and one or two parts of chlorhydrate of am. monia, The chlorhydrate of ammonia seems to determine the tency of men, who have proved themselves well quali petrifaction; and the inventor attributes to this salt the property fied to practice, by their obtention of the honours of the the solution possesses of preserving the natural colour of the organs. M. Baldaconi has sent to the Academy of Sciences, of Paris, a dog's livez perfectly petrified, and of its natural form and colour, -Southern Journal of Medicine and Pharmacy for Medical News. THE highest medical institutions existing in the world. Against such an intention we emphatically protest, and we seriously warn the profession at large of the rock upon which its honourable distinctions are likely to be wrecked. Ambition must be curbed, when to secure its object, it sports with, and would degrade, British American Journal, the honours of the profession. To use the strong lan guage of a talented correspondent, "the avowed object MONTREAL, NOVEMBER 2, 1846. of the project is to place the profession upon a more sound and respectable footing, but the real one, howMEDICAL MEETING AT THREE-RIVERS. ever cunningly disguised, is to strike at the root of the The meeting of the profession, summoned for the sound and British educational establishments, and by 14th inst., a Three Rivers, has taken place, and in elective majorities to get the licensing powers into the point of numbers we regard it a failure. Thirty- hands of the ambitious leaders of the scheme, and thus five members only were present; approbatory letters give to their colleges and institutions an undue and were received from twenty-six more, and publicly ac- unfair importance among students, who must ultimateknowledged, while letters of disapproval were not ly (should they succeed) come before them." We noticed at all (one such at least, we know was sent).have already, in an editorial article in our May numQuebec furnished eleven members; and Mont-ber, denounced the pretensions of the "School of Me Editorial Department.-Medical Meeting at Three Rivers. 191 dicine" of this city, as injurious to the best interests Colvin Alexander and S. Bourgeois, St. Gregorie; Ed. Poisson, Batiscan; Hy. Carter and Nèry Goin, St. Anne de la Perade; of the profession. Had that body and its supporters D. S. Marquis, St. Anne La Pocatiere; Louis Tremble, St. Roc been as anxious to consult the interests of the profes-es Alumets; H. P. Ouellet, St. Louis de Lotbiniere; Thos. Fortier, Gentilly; Ovide Roussean, Nicolet; Charles Maillot, Pointe sion at large, as to advance their own views of aggran- du Lac ; Andre Fournier, St. Pierre les Becquets; Doctors Badeau dizement, the profession would now have been placed and Gilmour, Three Rivers; Doctor Kimber, Chambly; Doctor Valois, Pointe Claire; Guill. Poisson, L'Assumption; Doctors® under efficient legislative protection; its not being so Nelson, Bibaud, Badgley, Regnier, and Arnoldi, Jr., Montreal. The meeting began to organize itself at half-past 10 a. m., by is wholly ascribable to the opposition which the meunanimously calling the senior member present, Dr. Nelson, to dical bill encountered from them, in consequence the chair, and Dr. Gilmour as Vice-President. Drs. Arnoldi, Jr., of its denegation to the schools of medicine of the pri- and Fremont were requested to act as Secretaries. vilege of confering ad practicandum diplomas, a principle, the admission of which they sought to obtain. We are bold to say, that had that principle been 'conceded, the Medical Bill would have encountered no opposition. It is proper that the profession should be made acquainted with the cause of the fate of the bill the nature of the opposition it received, and the source whence it emanated. ; The President opened the meeting by stating in a very concise manner the object for which it had been called. He then requested the Secretary to the convention of District delegates to read its Report, which was accordingly done. This Report informed the meeting of the particulars connected with the fate of the two Medical Bills which Attorney General Smith had introduced to the two last Sessions of Parliament, the special difference between the second and the first, and the circum. stance of the Medical Profession of Upper Canada having Resolved on petitioning the ensuing Legislature for an Act of Incorporation. That consequently the Delegates when they sat in convention at Quebec on the 5th September last, abandoned the idea of pushing any further for a Medical Bill, and to co-operate with the Upper We have already remarked, that against the princi-Canadians in trying to obtain for Lower Canada a similar Act of Incorporation, and the following preliminary Resolutions unani. ple of a measure like that proposed, we have no objec-mously passed :That the Report of the District delegates, as read, be adopted, tions to urge; the restrictive clauses have been by the meeting of the 14th removed; the fellowship is done that the cordial thanks of the Medical Profession have been earned by those gentlemen for the ability and zeal displayed by them in away with, and the council to consist of thirty-six mem-the discharge of the duties confined to them, and that the said bers is to be elective. If the formation of a college delegates be now relieved from their charge. It was then moved by Dr. Badgley, seconded by Dr. Thomas 1. That this meeting, while it deeply deplores the inadequacy of the existing laws, for regulating the Medical Profession in this section of the Province of Canada, both as regards the education of intending members, or the protection of those duly licensed to practise the same, congratulates itself on the feeling manifested on the present occasion, to devise ways and means by which such difficulties may be obviated, and the Profession of Medicine made to assume that position to which it is entitled among the other learned professions. Carried unanimously. A division then took place on the project as contained in the printed circular, which is as follows: That a Petition be presented to the Legislature at its ensuing session, signed by all the members of the Medical Profession, resi is deemed by the profession expedient, the mode of Fortier dent in Canada East, whose Provincial Licenses bear date at least twenty years, and who may feel disposed to become parties to it; based upon the inadequacy of the existing laws to regulate the practice of Medicine, Surgery and Midwifery, in this section of the Province: to establish a certain and fixed course of study previously to obtaining license to practice these branches; and to regulate druggists and others vending or distributing medicines by retail. It shall pray for the repeal of all the existing acts or portions of acts referring to these subjects; and it shall further pray for an Act of Incorporation, by which the persons, whose names are appended to the said petition, shall be embodied and incorpoes-rated into a College, to be styled, "The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada East," and that the said persons constitute the original Corporation of the said College. Pursuant to public advertisement, a general meeting of the members of the Medical Profession, resident in Canada East, was held at Three Rivers on Wednesday, the 14th instant. There were present :— When, after a few interchanges of sentiment, it was moved by Dr. Bibaud, seconded by Dr. J. C. Hall: 2. That the words in the first clause, "Whose Provincial Licenses bear date at least 20 years, and" be struck out. Carried unanimously. Moved by Dr. Russell, seconded by Dr. Jackson: 3. That the governing body or council of the College, do con. sist of all such members of the Corporation, as hold qualifications: to practice of not less than 15 years date, and who shall have resided in the province not less than 5 years. The period of 15 years, gave rise to some discussion, after which it was moved in amendment by Dr. Rousseau, seconded by Dr. Doctors Blanchet, Edd. Rousseau, Painchaud, R. H. Russell, Marquis, that the governing body or council of the college shall James L. Hall, Wolff, Jackson, Thos. McGrath, Pre. G. Touran-be elective; that all members of the College shall have a right to geau, C. Fremont, and Morin, from Quebec; Doctors Von Iffland, vote, and that the council so elected, shall be from among mem St. Michel, Yamaska; Frs. Fortier, St. Michel, Belle Chasse ;bers in actual practice, whose licenses bear date not less than |