Diseases of Infants and Children. Ruhrah. $2.50. W. B. Saunders Co. Case Histories in Pediatrics. Morse. W. M. Leonard. Excellent, instructive and interesting. SURGERY. Surgical Diagnosis. Johnson. 3 vol. $6.000 per vol. D. Appleton & Co. Surgical Anatomy. Campbell. 2nd Ed. $5.00. W. B. Saunders Co. Operative Surgery. Binnie. 5th Ed. $7.00. P. Blakiston's Son & Co. This has proven very widely popular. Manual of Surgery. Stewart. 2nd Ed. $4.00. P. Blakiston's Son & Co. This book continues to "make good" in its new dress. Minor Surgery. Bedwell. $2.00. Oxford University Press. Minor and Emergency Surgery. Dannreuther. $1.25. W. B. Saunders Co. Principles and Practice of Bandaging. Davis. 3rd Ed. $1.00. P. Blakiston's Son & Co. Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery. Kolle. $5.00. D. Appleton & Co. Treatment of Fractures. Scudder. 7th Ed. $6.00. W. B. Saunders Co. Undoubtedly the most widely read book in America upon this subject. Radiographic Atlas of Pathologic Conditions of Bones and Joints. Granger. $6.00. A. L. Chatterton. We believe this to be an excellent book but have not seen it. Tuberculous Disease of Bones and Joints. Cheyne. $5.50. Oxford University Press. A treatise on a wide-spread class of cases written by a man of unusually wide experience and facility of expression. Surgery of the Kidneys. Clarke. $4.00. Oxford University Press. Practical Anæsthesia. Boyle. $1.50. Oxford University Press. Practical exposition of a seemingly simple subject but one only too often of vital importance. Anæthesia and Analgesia. Mortimer. $2.00. Oxford University Press. Enlargement of the Prostate. Moullin. 4th Ed. $1.75. P. Blakiston's Son & Co. One Hundred Surgical Cases. Mumford. W. M. Leonard. We have already expressed our pleasure in reading these cases in a preceding number of the "Gazette." Collected Papers of the Staff of St. Mary's Hospital 1905-1909. Mayo. $5.50. W. B. Saunders Co. Both this and the following book have received very wide popularity on account of the intrinsic value of the papers as well as from the well known personality of the author. Collected Papers of the Staff of St. Mary's Hospital 1910. Mayo. $5.50. W. B. Saunders. GYNÆCOLOGY. Practical Gynæcology. Montgomery. 4th Ed. $6.00. P. Blakiston's Son & Co. Continues to enjoy a very enviable and justly deserved reputation. Gynecology. Gillian. 4th Ed. $5.00. F. A. Davis Co. The new edition Compend of Gynæcology. Wells. $1.00. P. Blakiston's Son & Co. Operative Obstetrics. OBSTETRICS. Davis. $5.50. W. B. Saunders Co. A volume that continues to be in the forefront in the obstetrical world in America. Essentials of Obstetrics. Ashton. 7th Ed. $1.00. W. B. Saunders Co. Reference Handbook of Obstetric Nursing. Wilson. 2nd Ed. $1.25. W. B. Saunders Co. GENITO URINARY DISEASES. Diseases of the Genito-Urinary Organs. Keyes. $6.00. D. Appleton & Co. Possibly less popular than some others because treating of somewhat less enticing class of disease. In its field it is complete and will yield to all that information that is so frequently essential. Practical Cystoscopy and Diagnosis of the Surgical Diseases of the Kidneys and Urinary Bladder. Pilcher. $5.50. W. B. Saunders Co. This subject seems to be becoming constantly more and more important. NEUROLOGY. Nervous and Mental Diseases. Church & Peterson. 7th Ed. $6.50. W. B. Saunders Co. This old and well established work keeps well up-to-date by frequent new editions. A friend of thousands of physicians. Diagnosis of Nervous Diseases. Stewart. $4.50. E. B. Treat & Co. We believe this to be a good book, although we have not seen it. Case Histories in Neurology. Taylor. W. M. Leonard. The review of this compilation in the present number of the "Gazette" well expresses our very favorable opinion obtained after careful study from cover to cover. Regional Diagnosis in Affections of the Brain, and Spinal Cord. Bing. $2.50. Rebman Co. The publishers report a very large sale and most complimentary reports. Meningitis Sinus Thrombosis and Abscess of Brain. Wyllie. $2.60. Chicago Medical Book Co. can speak from personal experience of the usefulness of this book from day to day. Pocket Medical Dictionary. Dorland. 7th Ed. $1.00. W. B. Saunders Co. Medical Dictionary. Gould. 6th Ed. $1.00. P. Blakiston's Son & Co. This, on a smaller scale than the one above, has proven a faithful companion for a number of months. Old Age Deferred. Lorand. 3rd Ed. $2 50. F. A. Davis Co. Internal Secretions and the Principles of Modern Medicine. Sajous. 4th Ed. $6.00 F. A. Davis Co In some respects an epoch making work. The result of laborious and prolonged study and investigation on the part of the author. It is probably more highly esteemed at present than it was when it first appeared. Vicious Circles in Disease. Hurry. $2.00. P. Blakiston's Son & Co. A book that brings familiar topics to us in a new and novel light. Medical Jurisprudence Toxicology. Reese. 8th Ed. $3.00. P. Blakiston's Son & Co. The year has seen a new edition of this justly popular work. The Abdomen Proper. Morton. $12.00. Rebman Co. International Medical Annual 1911. $3.50. E. B. Treat & Co. One of the most important books of the year to the practitioner who desires a summary of the most recent thought and investigation. Textbook of Massage. Despard. $4.00. Oxford University Press. Among other things this will seemingly explain some of the "cures" of osteopathy. Physical Training for Women. Galbraith. $2.00. W. B. Saunders Co. State Board Questions and Answers. Goepp. 2nd Ed. $5.50. W. B. Saunders Co Many prospective candidates for examination for state registration in medicine will gladly vouch for the use of this work. However much we may deplore the modern examination methods, such methods persist and while they so continue this book or others will prove of great service. Handbook of Cosmetics. Joseph. $1.00. E. B. Treat & Co. A subject hackyened from the standpoint of the layman and the charlatan, here treated from the standpoint of the physician. Reduction of Domestic Mosquitoes. Ross. $1.75. P. Blakiston's Son & The Mechanism of Life. Leduc. $2.00 Rebman Co. Electricity in Medicine and Surgery. Potts. $4.75. Lea & Febiger. A Oxford University CORRESPONDENCE. CHICAGO LETTER. The Chicago Homœopathic Medical Society began its year's meetings with a banquet at the Sherman House, October 19. About one hundred were present. The cordial greetings of the members as they came together for this first meeting seemed to indicate a growing acquaintance among them, which is always a good omen for the future growth and success of any organization. Dr. A. H. Gordon, the president, gave a short report of the International meeting in London, which he attended, then introduced Dr. Royal S. Copeland, of New York, the guest, and speaker of the evening. Dr. Copeland's address had a double topic,-The Present Status of Scientific Medicine, and, The Present Status of Homoeopathy. He took as a text for the first part the assertion of the Flexner report that there is no longer any need of Homœopathy as a separate school of medicine, since all of proved value is incorporated into the scientific medicine of today. He reviewed the most recent works of the old school writers, and quoting from their treatment of such diseases as typhoid, pleurisy, scarlet fever, etc., not only disproved this assertion but showed that there had been but slight advancement, therapeutically, in the last half century. He fearlessly charged Potter with plagiarism in his Materia Medica. As an instance, he quoted from Potter's article on Pulsatilla, and asserted that whole sentences were copied verbatim from Hughes' Pharmacodynamics. The His second topic was treated more as an appeal for greater loyalty and a more aggressive policy on the part of homoeopaths individuals and institutions. The necessity for maintaining the high standards of our medical schools, especially along laboratory lines, demands cash. alumni of colleges should be willing to contribute toward this demand, and any loyal homeopathic physician living in the vicinity of a homœopathic college is just as responsible as its graduates, and should be just as willing to work and give for its support. His arraignment of the factions in our school was fearless, and, to those of us who regret this unfortunate and unnecessary division, was none too severe. Dr. Copeland is a convincing speaker, but the driving force of his magnetic earnestness is conviction,-belief. Hahnemann College has adopted a new method of raising an endowment fund. They call it "The Living Alumni Endowment Fund." Each alumnus gives the Alumni Association his note for whatever amount he chooses, on which he agrees to pay annually six per cent. interest. They propose to make this fund $100,000, which would yield the college $6,000 per year. The principal is not payable now, or at any future time. The contract terminates at death, and may be cancelled at any time by giving six month's notice to the Secretary of the Alumni Association. This method is used by the New York Homeopathic Medical College and some Universities. It seems to be meeting with general approval. Undoubtedly, many would give annually the interest on an amount which they might not feel able to give in a flat sum. RHODA PIKE BARSTOW. Chicago, Ill., Nov. 28, 1911. MONTREAL LETTER. The year 1911 has been the most successful in the history of the Homœopathic Hospital of Montreal. More patients have been treated, and the popularity of the hospital is constantly increasing. The work of the Lady Supt., Miss Ida F. Bulmer, R.N., is deserving of special mention. She has worked faithfully for over four years and has displayed unusual executive ability. Much of the success of the hospital is due to her untiring efforts. Dr. Arthur E. Robertson has decided to locate in Montreal after finishing his term as interne at the Homoeopathic Hospital. His brother, Dr. James Robertson, has succeeded him at the hospital and is proving most obliging and careful in his work. Dr. J. T. Novinger has returned from a visit to his old home in Missouri. The doctor is becoming a confirmed "convict." And by the way he holds the city championship as a golf player. Dr. and Mrs. A. R. Griffith, who were in Europe for two months, are at home again. The Mount Royal Sanatorium, owned and operated by Dr. Hugh M. Patton, has attained wide popularity in Montreal and vicinity. The buildings are situated in a commanding position on Dominion Square and are worth a fortune as a real estate holding. Dr. E. N. Perrigard, one of our younger men, has purchased a new Ford, an evidence of advancing prosperity. Dr. Laura Muller, who spent the summer in Europe, is working hard for the women and children of Montreal. The venerable Dr. Arthur Fisher at 96 years of age continues to take a deep interest in Homœopathy. He reads his materia medicia every day and makes copious notes, an example for many of our younger men. Dr. Fisher has helped to develop history in Canada. A COMMENT ON THE GAZETTE'S "FACTS REGARDING VACCINATION." By F. M. Padelford, M.D., Fall River, Mass. To those who have made a more exhaustive study of the cowpox vaccination question than the majority of physicians seem inclined to make, such articles as that published in the October number of the Gazette seem amusing, to say the least. They illustrate perfectly the fact that pro-vaccinators will accept any evidence, will believe anything, no matter how absurd it may be, if only it is favorable to vaccination. According to Dr. Heiser's report, in the districts in which there had been "from time immemorial," an average annual mortality from smallpox of "at least 6,000 persons," the total population was approximately 1,000,000. Dr. Keen assures us that 6,000 deaths annually would "mean 25,000 to 30,000 cases each year." This estimate regarding the number of cases is probably a conservative one-assuming, of course, that the number of deaths has been as it is now claimed. In Cuba, according to the War Department Report of 1899, out of 1,185 cases of smallpox among natives, who were for the most part unvaccinated, there were but 119 deaths, a fatality-rate of 101.1 per cent. Now how many non-immune persons is it probable that we should find in a population of one million, where, for centuries, the number of cases of smallpox occurring each year had been fully equal to two-thirds of the total number of births in that territory? In the April 14th report of the U. S. Public Health and Marine Hospital Service we are told that in one isolated district in which the population was about two thousand, smallpox was introduced, and before the facts became known to the outer world 1,000 persons contracted the disease. Vaccinators were sent there and an attempt was made to vaccinate those who had not yet manifested symptoms of the malady. They succeeded in vaccinating 800; "the remaining 200** fled from the vaccinators, and their condition is unknown." Here, you see, it is practically declared that with the exception of a few who are said to have been previously vaccinated, there were no immunes. It is not considered necessary, I think, to vaccinate people who have already had smallpox. If now we assume that this is a truthful statement of the facts we must infer either that during the lifetime of the oldest inhabitant there had been in that district no case of smallpox, or that every case that had occurred during this period had been fatal. Both hypotheses are improbable. The truth undoubtedly is that the whole story concerning vaccination and smallpox in the Philippine Islands has not yet been told. In England and in the United States serious illness and even death has, on numerous occasions, followed vaccination. Whether these disasters were actually due to vaccination or to infection of the vaccination wound is here immaterial; what concerns us now is the fact that it is authoritatively admitted that in England in each 14,159 primary vaccinations one death has occurred. Notwithstanding that in England not every vaccinated person is as carefully guarded from infection during the three or four weeks immediately following the operation as he should be, we are confident enough that the precautions taken are fully as great as in the Philippine Islands among ignorant and uncleanly natives. Then is it possible, is it believable, that in these islands "in over 5,000,000 vaccinations** not one single death has occurred"? Alfred Russel Wallace, one of the world's ablest opponents of the cowpox practice, in a classical essay on this subject which every intelligent person should read, says :-"It is an absolute law of evidence, of statistics, and of common sense, that when two kinds of evidence contradict each other, that which can be proved to be even partially incorrect or untrustworthy must be rejected." AN OPEN LETTER FROM DR. PALMER. Impositions Upon Generosity. Why is the doctor so often the last one paid? The provision dealer, the milliner, the tailor, the seamstress, church benevolences, are paid, all bills except the doctor's bill. He must often wait months and years. But the laity demands the best from us. We must treat all patients with the utmost care, sometimes sacrificing needed rest, recreation, and even health. But that is nothing. That is our business, our blessed privilege, to devote our lives to humanity. And our pay? Pay? What can a physician want of money? Curious that we need the money which has been due perhaps a year, perhaps longer. Other bills are paid, often cheerfully, but the money owing to the doctor comes hard,-frequently never. Another phase of the subject, the impositions upon the physicians in the out-patient departments. These clinics are intended for the poor, people who cannot afford to pay a physician. To such, truly deserving, the profession gives heartily. It seems to the writer that the clinics are filling more and more with men and women who can afford to pay a physician. Many of these people are earning a weekly income, and are sure of a certain amount each week. They buy almost anything they want on the installment plan, then come to an out-patient department for treatment, and pay only ten cents. |