Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB
[blocks in formation]

The western waters have oysters of their own, coppery little things, one of which might fill a thimble, but the sloops bring into North river no bivalve more tempting in quality than the Toke Point or the Drayton Harbor oyster, which, born in Long Island sound or along the Rockaways, makes the journey in carloads across the continent in his infancy and at maturity finds his fate on the tables of Portland, Tacoma, Seattle and Spokane.

Oysters have not as yet bred on the Pacific coast. It was Professor Wm. Brooks of Johns Hopkins University who first grew oysters from the eggs. He made millions of dollars for the State of Maryland by his patient work in biology. The writer knew him well. He was a great teacher and naturalist.

A. W. B.

NO TYPHOID FEVER IN THE ARMY OR NAVY.

WASHINGTON, December 31.-The army got through the year 1913 with only two cases of typhoid fever in the enlisted strength of more than eighty thousand officers and men. One was that of a man who had not been immunized with the typhoid vaccine, and was believed to have contracted the fever before he enlisted; the other case was among the troops in China, and though the man was immunized in 1911, the history of the case is in doubt.

The navy, which adopted the vaccine later than the army, and did not make its use at once compulsory, had among its fifty thousand jackies only seven authentic cases of typhoid in the year ending last June. Four of those were treated at a remote tropical station, where the vaccine had deteriorated.

Scourge Wiped Out.

Such is the wonderful record of the prophylactic treatment, which has wiped out one scourge among the nation's defenders and which many medical officers believe has had something to do with decreasing the rate of tuberculosis.

Under the direction of Surgeon-General Blue, of the public health service, many thousands of sailors, on merchant ships have been treated with the serum at the government's marine hospitals.

Before the resort to immunization typhoid cases in the army averaged about three to a thousand enlisted strength or in the neighborhood of 250 cases a year. In 1910, before the beginning of the treatment, the rate was 2.32 a thousand; in 1911 it dropped to .80; in 1912 to .62; this year the rate is practically nothing.

The difficulties in extending protection to sailors is said by the naval surgeons to be much greater than in the case of soldiers, owing to the fact that the former are landed in strange ports, going to all sorts of places and eating all kinds of food and generally are beyond the watchful eyes of their superior officers. Typhoid cases in the navy, which in 1911 numbered 3.61 a thousand, dropped to fifty-seven cases, or .92 a thousand in the following year. During the current year up to October 1, the percentage was only .30. Where typhoid occurred among those who had been treated the cases were mild and the convalescence rapid. The fleet surgeon of the Atlantic fleet now reports that the prophylatic treatment has practically eradicated typhoid from the fleet.

The above press note printed in every great newspaper in the United States should arouse the people and their physicians to the necessity of typhoid vaccination. In no civilized army will there

ever be an epidemic of typhoid again. To die by typhoid is now left only to civilians. It is a crime to allow one's children to attend college without this protection. It has no discomfort or afteraffects, costs but little and is absolutely effective.

TEMPLE OF PROSERPINA FOUND.

Prof. Boni, who is carrying out the excavations in the ruins on Palatine Hill, has located the imperial palaces of Nero and Caligula (Caius Caesar), and also that of Domitian of a later period. There have been found houses of the republican epoch. There is a network of pipes and drains and several circular rooms cut in the Tufa stone and lined with plaster to protect from dampness. This information comes from Rome Oct. 28. It will be interesting to medical men who are students of mythology that on Jan. 4, Boni discovered what was the center of the original city, a section consecrated to the goddess Proserpina. Here in temple, according to ancient Romans, the venerable Queen of the Shades ruled over the souls of the dead with Pluto. .

Our readers will call to mind the story of mythology that Proserpina was the daughter of Ceres, who was carried off by Pluto, whilst gathering flowers in the field of Enna. When her mother had discovered her, it was betrayed by some person, that she had eaten the seed of a pomegranate in the infernal regions and therefore could not be restored; but she afterward spent part of her time in the under world and part in the upper world. The mother wandered over the earth searching for her daughter in vain, and in her anguish, refusing food or drink, and threatening a famine for mankind, till Zeus agreed to allow Prosperpina in future to live half the years with her mother on earth. The other half she must remain with Pluto in the lower world. But a deeper meaning appears to be found in the myth by those who were initiated into the mysteries of Eleusis, in which seems to have been taught the principle of a new life after

death, founded on the return of Proserpina to the upper world or rather on the process of nature by which seed sown in the ground must first die and rot before it can yield new life, a process which the annual going and coming of Proserpina was designed to illustrate. For favors, when leaving Eleusis, the mother gave to Triptolemus, the king's son, her chariot drawn by winged snakes, with the injunction to travel over the world teaching men to cultivate grain as she had begun to teach them. S. E. E.

FROM A SUBSCRIBER.
Indianapolis, Dec. 31, 1913.

Dr. S. E. Earp, City.

My Dear Doctor: Enclosed find $1.00 for Medical Journal 1914. I like the Journal, not alone for the excellent medical help it gives, but its literary merit as well. You and Brayton make an excellent team. Success to Journal and a Happy New Year.

Fraternally yours,

GEO. H. F. HOUSE.

NEWS ITEMS.

As a result of a college romance that was begun while they were students together at Indiana University, the wedding of Dr. Asher McMahon of Memphis, Tenn., and Miss Geraldine Sembower, was celebrated in the First Methodist Church at Bloomington, Ind., Dec. 6. Dr. J. W. Jones officiating. Dr. and Mrs. McMahon are graduates of the class of '05.

A ten days' campaign to obtain money for Hope hospital, Fort Wayne, Ind., resulted in a total subscription of $78,000. All pledges were taken contingent on $75,000 being obtained. It is expected that the amount will eventually reach $100,000.

Dr. Charles S. Woods, former city sanitarian and an independent candidate for mayor of Indianapolis in the recent city election, left Indianapolis Dec. 28 to become professor of preventive medi

cine in the University of Iowa. The professorship carries with it a great deal of extension work.

At a recent meeting of the Indiana State Board of Health an order was issued that the New Albany water company build a new filtration plant. This action is taken under the new law and it is the first time the board has resorted to this measure.

Dr. E. E. Padgett announces that after January 1, 1914, his work will be confined to General and Abdominal Surgery, Gynecology and the Obstetrical Operations. Office, 610 Hume-Mansur Building. Hours 10-12, 2:30-4.

Dr. W. W. Vinnedge, of Lafayette, Ind., was injured December 3, when an automobile collided with his buggy. The injury is not dangerous, it is said.

Dr. Harry S. Mackey has been appointed physician at the workhouse and Dr. J. D. Nusbaum county health officer.

Dr. H. S. Thurston wishes to announce the removal of his office from the Willoughby to 624 Hume-Mansur Building.

Dr. H. G. Pierce, of Cloverdale, Ind., will do some post graduate work in Baltimore in February.

Dr. O. A. Byers, of Petersburg, Ind., visited friends in Indianapolis during the holidays.

Dr. John N. Hurty will deliver a course of lectures on hygiene at Austin, Texas, in February.

Dr. G. B. Jackson has returned from a visit of several weeks at Owensboro, Ky.

Dr. T. C. Hood visited friends in New York in January.

The Delaware county commissioners have appointed Dr. Herman S. Bowles as

county health commissioner to succeed Dr. Hugh A. Cowing, who has served in the office for twenty-three years.

ANOTHER MEXICAN QUESTION.

The Mexican imbroglio has recently presented another question having to do with international law and obstetrics. On or about the 12th day of October last, near Eagle Pass, Texas, along the Mexican border, according to press dispatches, a crowd of refugees fled on foot into the United States from advancing Mexican troops. Among them was Alaria Hernandez, who had the night previously given birth to a child. In the detention camp at Eagle Pass, Texas, she gave birth to a second child. Thus the twins were born three days apart-one in Mexico, the other in the United States. When the immigration superintendent undertook to deport the band of refugees back into Mexico as undesirables his effort was halted-as to the twins and their mother -the second twin was a native American citizen and not deportable under our laws, and, since he could not be safely separated from his subsistence - his mother and lacteal supply, he and his fellow twin were perforce allowed to remain in the United States at their pleasW. W. V.

ure.

[blocks in formation]

BOOK AND JOURNAL REVIEWS.

The Practice of Medicine. By James Tyson, M. D., LL. D., and M. Howard Fussell, M. D. Sixth edition, revised and rewritten with six plates and 179 other illustrations. Philadelphia. P. Blakiston's Son & Co., 1012 Walnut St., 1913.

This new edition of Tyson's "Practice of Medicine" will be welcomed by the medical profession. It has always been recognized as a standard publication. The author does not make a claim that what is said is based upon his personal experience only, for in these days of specialized work the field is too great, and he therefore takes from the ripe experience of others whatever he deems of value to this book. The illustrations are unsually good and not only explain the text but also aid materially the reader in obtaining a thorough understanding of the points in treatment and other things. We are glad that proper attention is given the metric system. Typhoid fever embraces a description of inoculation and vaccination and under syphilis, the treponema pallidum of Schaudinn is described together with the Wassermann test and the use of neosolvarsan. Mercury is not abandoned but on the contrary holds a very important place in treatment. Mediastinal disease is timely discussed. That portion relative to the disease of the heart and blood vessels is very complete and perhaps with good grace we might say that nothing important is omitted relative to the chest. The terms diabetes mellitus and glucosuria are not used interchangeably in accordance with an impression in Vogue in some quarters. The author speaks of true diabetes mellitus which some have seen fit to designate as pancreatic glucosuria. Furthermore we find a consideration of glucosuria from disturbance of the pituitary body, from glucosuria due to disturbance of Cromaffin system, glucosuria resulting from nervous disturbances and from alimentary glucosuria. It is absolutely necessary to draw a fine line in such conditions otherwise there will be a false prog

nosis. The use of electricity in diseases of the nervous system is made clear. In the treatment of epilepsy antifebrin is mentioned. It is high time that scientific men favor such a term as acetanilid. What is said concerning the acute infectious diseases is of inestimable value, detail is used when necessary. Therapeutic nihilism is not characteristic of this author and while all means of treatment other than drugs is in no wise slighted, yet the drug treatment is so carefully given that both doctor and student would be better informed by seeking a betterment of their knowledge from the contents of this book.

S. E. EARP.

Treatment of Internal Diseases for Physicians and Students. By Prof. Norbert Ortner. Edited with additions by Nathaniel Bowditch Potter, M. D. Translated by Frederic H. Bartlett, M.D. Second edition in English. Revised and reset from the fifth German edition. J. B. Lippincott Company, publishers. Price, $5.00.

Relative to the text it may be said that as much of the pathological physiology of the various diseases is discussed as bears upon rational treatment. There are well presented mechanical, climatic, dietetic, hydro-therapeutic and other extra-medicinal methods. The applicability of drugs and the advantages of the same in the cure of disease together with many formulae favored by the author are found in this treatise. The experience of other prominent men is also drawn upon: Symptomatic treatment is liberally given. A successful effort has been made to adapt the text to the needs of the American student. The notes from clinicians of this and other countries are valuable.

Much is said about metabolism and well said. Too little attention has been given this subject by some authors. Fifty pages devoted to the genito-urinary tract is not too much. The fifty-four pages devoted to the blood includes

[blocks in formation]

Anyone wishing to review the above named subject in its various phases can do no better than consult this book. Dr. Norris has placed before us in this volume an exceedingly comprehensive study of every phase of the subject and, moreover, he has been able to present the subject matter in a most interesting and systematic manner. The book comprises over 500 pages and is profusely illustrated from original drawings and microscopic studies conducted in the pathologic laboratory of the Gynecologic Department of the University of Pennsylvania, and contains a complete compilation of the literature on the subject of gonorrhea in women.

Some idea of the scope of the work may be obtained from the introductory, which was written by John G. Clark of Philadlephia.

In the chapter on Bacteriology and the Pathogenesis of Gonorrhea, the author has clearly described the best cultural and staining methods and traced the destructive effects of the gonococcus upon the pelvic organs and other tissues of the body.

On the chapter on Sociology, the relationship of gonorrhea to sterility and abortion is shown, besides the havoc wrought in the destruction of the eyesight of the new born infant.

An exceedingly instructive chapter is that dealing with the methods adopted by the governments of Europe and the Orient for the limitation and suppression of the social evil and the situation as it exists in the United States. The entire subject of municipal control is reviewed up to the present date.

The chapter devoted to the Operative Methods of Treatment is well worthy of special mention. The technic is explained in detail, both in the text and by illustrations, but the noteworthy feature is the author's remarks on conservative medical treatment before surgical intervention is undertaken. The inexperienced surgeon, who is prone to operate in gonorrheal infections, regardless of the stage of the disease, will find profitable reading in the part of this work devoted to the Medicinal Treatment of Gonorrhea.

The following opinion of Dr. Norris' book by Dr. J. G. Clark is worthy of repetition:

"The careful student will find that the author has written a highly instructive treatise, in which he has most satisfactorily encompassed the many aspects of this complicated question. He has reviewed in detail the several divergent sociologic views concerning the colossal evil and, as a commentary, offers judicious suggestions that will be of value to those who are endeavoring to find the best solution for these problems. Because of the broad and comprehensive character of the book, it will be of great value to the physician, the surgeon, the specialist, the legislator and the sociologist." A. W. B.

Progressive Medicine. Vol. XV. No. 4. Whole No. 60. A quarterly digest of advances, discoveries and improvements in the medical and surgical sciences. Edited by Hobart Amory Hare, M. D., assisted by Leighton F. Appleman, M.D. December 1, 1913. Lea & Febiger, Philadelphia and New York. Price, Six Dollars per annum.

The contributors to this volume are Joseph C. Bloodgood, Charles W. Bonney, John R. Bradford, Edward H. Goodman and H. R. M. Landis. Perhaps one of the

« AnteriorContinuar »