That he had observed 500 males that he had performed vasectomy on with no untoward effects, but rather beneficial.

In view of the above stated facts, shall it be said that the Empire State of the South will lag behind in such matters of so great an import? I trow not. It is an easy matter to create a wide-spreading interest in anything when some Millionaire Philanthropist donates his millions in its interest. Let us not wait for that. Gentlemen, we live in an age of swift moving events; discov eries and inventions have been made, the consummation of dreamers for ages.

I am no septuaguenarian nor phophet, but I am con vinced that we will have no subject brought before us of greater importance, that so affects the individual as well as the commonwealth.

These suggested remedies are not ideal, and of course, will not find favor with idealist and sentimentalist, but we know of nothing better for the present, and they are a step in the right direction, and I am sure would produce results, "after a time,' until there is found something better.

Gentlemen, let us be up and doing so that coming generations will be blessed.

REFERENCES.

1. Mercier, Sanity and Insanity.

2. Church and Peterson, Nervous and Mental Dis

eases.

3. Maurice Craig, Psychological Medicine.

4. Berkeley Psychiatry.

5. Diefendorf, Clinical Psychiatry.

6. Dana, Mental and Nervous Disease.

7. Paton. Clinical Psychiatry.

8. Journal of Mental Science. Vol. 65.

9. Mendal-Krauss, Psychiatry.

10. Journal of A. M. A., Vol. LIII.

11. Report of New York Commission of Lunacy 1907 to 1908.

12. Report of Georgia State Sanitarium for 1890 and 1908.

DISCUSSION

Dr. Wesley Taylor, Atlanta: While our ideas about vasectomy or sterilizing these people strikes one as being very radical, there is much truth in what has been said regarding it; this procedure has been applied in numerous places and the results have been good. There is one thing, however, that has not been mentioned and which seems to be applicable in cases of this kind, sterilization by means of the x-ray; this method I believe to be both practical and feasible. It might be argued that sterilization by means of the x-ray is not permanent; this question I have heard debated; but I firmly believe that if the sterilization be thoroughly done by the x-ray, the tissues that form the spermatazoas will be destroyed or so altered that they will not return to their normal condition and again reproduce the essential male element. I believe that thorough sterilization by means of the x-ray is practical, although there may be some who do not agree with me. The procedure is easy and a good one; in most cases, especially in females, it is very applicable and does not create much distress. This is a means well worthy of consideration.

Dr. E. Bates Block, Atlanta: I have been very much interested in Dr. Swint's paper, but I think there has been some discrepancy in his statistics in regard to the hereditary taint and this is due to faulty methods of investigation and to the kind of facilities that are offered the investigators. When one merely asks whether there is any hereditary or nervous disease in a family, the members of that family will promptly answer, "No." When you ask about an individual in the family, if you

ask the mother, the father, the sister, the brother, the aunt you will often find that you cannot obtain a true history of heredity; you cannot get such a history by merely asking questions of them.

A few weeks ago a boy was brought to me; he was a mental case. His sister informed me that there never had been anything like it in the family; there was no history of heredity or of nervous disease in the family, so the sister informed me. Subsequently, I met the mother and found that, although living with the family, she was insane. I also found that there was a brother insane as well; not only was he insane, but he had died in an insane condition.

Therefore, statistics formed from the mere statements of members of the family are very misleading and unreliable. The statements made by friends of the family are far more trustworthy and valuable than statements made by members of the family.

With regard to sterilizing these people, I think it is a good idea; this should be adopted, but you cannot force it upon the public; it is not a procedure the public will stand for. No member of a family wishes to have another member sterilized, and it certainly would be very difficult to get any authority from legislature to do such an act. It would be almost impossible to get a measure through.

With regard to the x-ray, if you examine the semen of those men who have been exposed to its influence, you will find the spermatazoa have been killed; they have merely been killed, and do not possess motility. But later on the motility of other spermatazoa appears not to be diminished. I have never seen a case which has been exposed to the influence of the x-rays for any great length of time.

Dr. Kime, Atlanta: Is the condition referred to heritary or transmitted? This brings up the question of methods for the regulation of marriage, and what diseased conditions that heredity predisposes to should be

included. This brings up questions that are very important, and perhaps more than any other, the question of criminality. The question of criminality is as important as is the question of insanity. A confirmed criminal who marries and intends to propagate his own species is a menace to the entire country.

There is another thing that should be considered with care; every man upon whom vasectomy has been performed, and is turned out into the world will encourage immorality because intercouse with such an individual is not attended with any danger of the women becoming pregnant. I think this is an important point that should be carefully considered before any active steps are taken along this line of punishment.

Dr. R. C. Swint, Milledgeville, (closing the discussion) I think the questions raised are all very important. It is almost impossible, in fact it is impossible, to find any ideal remedy for the condition, but what I have suggested is the best remedy that I have been able to find. So far as the operation is concerned, it is very simple and not attended with any danger. It can be done without an anaesthetic.

So far as turning a man loose on the country and allowing him to have sexual intercourse here and there, that is far better than to turn him loose without such an operation and leave him to propagate his species of helpless defectives; they in turn will beget others.

I thank the gentlemen for their kind reception of my paper and for the discussion that it has produced.

PUERPERAL ECLAMPSIA.

H. A. Mobley, M.D., Vienna, Ga.

In this short paper I shall not attempt to discuss this formidable condition in other than from a purely praetical standpoint, striving to deal with it as we are called upon to handle it in the sickroom.

Furthermore, I shall describe it as it has appeared to me in the years I have come in contact with my share of this, one of the most trying complications of the puerperium.

Much discussion has been engaged in as to the real cause of this malady, if such it may be termed and ofttimes the argument has drifted into laboratory channels and out of sight of the general practitioner. So I shall content myself with stating the opinions that have become my own after experience and such study as I could make have been applied to it.

Albuminuria seems to me to be the underlying cause, with perhaps other excrementitious substances in the blood that the kidneys should have borne away. In addition we usually find the portal circulation extremely torpid and sluggish. These conditions are also exagerated in some instances by the presence of constipation. Add to this, the high tension to which the nervous system is keyed during the latter months of pregnancy, and we need not be surprised at the development of some form of violent symptoms.

My experience and surprise has been that convul sions failed to appear in many cases in which all the premonitory symptoms existed.

For this reason, viz: That eclampsia failed to manifest itself during labor in so many cases where albuminuria existed, some doubt that it (albuminuria) is the principal factor in the etiology of this disease. We