Medical Review of Reviews ing that the tiny patch of sky framed by AN INTERNATIONAL MONTHLY REVIEW OF CURRENT MEDICAL LITERATURE ESTABLISHED 1895 Edited by DANIEL LEWIS, M. D., LL. D. PUBLISHED BY THE the mouth of the hole is all of the universe worth while," is certainly an extravagant characterization, however striking the statement may be. It is unfair to assume that a man who studies for the Ph.D. Medical Review of Reviews Company degree is not well grounded in a general TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION: TWO DOLLARS A YEAR, when paid in advance, otherwise, $2.50, in the United States, Alaska, Cuba, Porto Rico, Mexico, the Hawaiian and Philippine Islands. In Canada, $2.50. In Great Britain, 10 Shillings. In France, 12 Francs. In Germany, 10 Reichsmarks. education before he receives his A.B. degree, and that he is necessarily lacking in ability to "get on with and to handle men." We venture the assertion that this ability to handle men is a matter of temperament, rather than of education, which cannot be acquired in any school or college. Is it not true that specialism in every department of education, as is the case These rates include postage only on subscriptions paid in medicine, has become a fact, simply be in advance. Extra postage will be charged on subscrip tions not paid within four months, to conform with the new postal laws and regulations pertaining to the second class of mail matter. The address tab on the wrapper of each copy sent by mail shows the date to which the subscription has been paid. Money can be sent safely by registered letter, bank draft, check, postal or express money order. Make all remittances payable to the order of MEDICAL REVIEW OF REVIEWS COMPANY. NOVEMBER 25, 1908. SPECIALISM IN EDUCATION. Mr. James P. Munroe, in the Popular Science Monthly, declares that specialism is the blight upon American education. This statement assumes that there is something radically wrong with our educational system, and there can be no doubt that such a view is entertained by many competent observers. It is questionable, however, whether the author of the article has given his readers a perfectly fair statement of the situation. For example, in speaking of the specialist who "digs a hole in the side of a small mound of erudition, getting into the farthest end of it, and maintain cause the ever-widening field of mental activity cannot be thoroughly mastered by any one person, and the specialist has thus become a necessity for securing the best possible service? It is doubtless true that many medical students of today select their specialty early in their medical course. This we believe to be a mistake, but he can never receive his M.D. degree without passing an examination in all medical subjects, for the State examination boards take no account of a special line of practice after the securing of his license. The machine teaching in our elementary schools in a city like New York does deprive the pupil of the personal influence of the teacher, but that seems to be an inherent fault of the necessarily large classes, and we cannot see any method of obviating the difficulty. An intellectually strong woman or man, with small classes, must be found only in the small schools of town or village. Yet the pupils in these schools far outnumber those in the great cities, so that Mr. Munroe's ideas may find large appli cation among them. We cannot admit for a moment that the title of his article, "The Curse of American Education," is well chosen. DR. REED'S LECTURE. be free from the suspicion of new patronage, and can never accomplish better results than are now possible under Surgeon-General Wyman and his staff. It is a pleasure to note a recent editorial in the New York Medical Journal, in which the great efficiency of the present health bureau is commended, and we would have every one of our readers Dr. Charles A. L. Reed of Cincinnati delivered a notable lecture before the New York Academy of Medicine, October 29, 1908, upon "The Character, Status carefully consider it before allowing and Economical Value of a National Department of Health." The address was exceedingly interesting, and the official standing of the author as a member of the Committee on Legislation of the American Medical Association invests it with an unusual authority. The fact that Dr. Reed may be in a position to exert a most decided influence upon medical legislation during the administration of President Taft, renders the paper of still greater importance. For these reasons it is noteworthy that the profession was not urged to favor a physician in the Cabinet, as some of our ultra reformers are constantly advocating, but a well-equipped medical department to supervise in an adequate manner all that concerns public health. We were not told that State and municipal boards of health were inefficient, and that the millennium of sanitation was near at hand, provided the medical men of the country made a sufficient amount of noise to attract the notice of Congress. We would now repeat what we have often said, that the U. S. Public Health and Marine-Hospital Service, as now organized and administered, is, in fact, a national department of health, and may, without the least difficulty, meet every requirement. A new department cannot. themselves to be committed to any new scheme, however ably recommended. AN ADVANCED STEP. Among the conclusions reached by the International Congress on Tuberculosis was the emphasizing of the need of hospitals for advanced cases. This comes as a natural corollary to the fact that the really effective work of stamping out tu berculosis is found in the methods of prevention. Although good food, fresh air and sunlight have aided many patients to recover, up to the present time the death rate has not been very much diminished, and this in face of the fact that nearly all established sanatoria thus far have been for incipient cases. Such hospitals are to be sustained, of course, but the great sources of infection which furnish the unending supply of new cases are those incurable advanced cases which are to be found dying in their own homes, because there is no provision made for their isolation in institutions. Hence we say that the one great need today is for hospitals for advanced cases. The Congress having recognized this fact, it is to be supposed that this necessity will be soon met by State and municipal authorities. NOTES AND COMMENTS. Plague in the Azores.-Plague, which has for some time been more or less active in the Azores, is reported to have broken out with greater activity in Terceira, one of the Azores group. Mississippi Valley Medical Association. At the last meeting of the Mississippi Valley Medical Association the following officers were elected for the ensuing year: Drs. J. A. Witherspoon, Nashville, Tenn., president; Louis Frank, Louisville, Ky., first vice-president; Albert E. Sterne, Indianapolis, Ind., second vice-president; S. C. Stanton, Chicago, Ill., treasurer, and Henry Enos Tuley, Louisville, Ky., secretary. The next annual meeting will be held in St. Louis, Mo., October, 1909. The Medical Directory of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut for 1908.The new medical directory just issued by the New York State Medical Society contains the names of 12,711 registered physicians in the State, an increase of 543 over the number recorded last year. Six thousand six hundred and forty-two are credited to New York city, and 6,069 to the rest of the State. The increase over 1907 in the Boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx is 336; in Brooklyn, 134, and in Queens, 18, while in Richmond (Staten Island), there is a decrease of two. In the State outside of the city of New York, an increase of 57 is noted. Admission of Women to the Royal College of Surgeons.-The long struggle of women for admission to the Royal College of Surgeons of England has at last been crowned with success. A poll was taken of the fellows and members of the college on the question of admis sion of women. A majority of the fellows voted in favor of admission and a majority of the members against it, but the Council has now decided, however, to admit women both to the membership and the fellowship examinations. A Million Dollar Gift to the Presbyterian Hospital in New York city was made by Mr. J. S. Kennedy on the occasion. of his golden wedding. The money is to be used for a new Administration Building, and what is left over is to be employed to carry out other works of construction and reconstruction of which the hospital has long stood in need. Ammonium Carbonate.- When your aged patients with pneumonia have a severe cough with scanty, viscid expectoration, particularly if the cutaneous circulation is diminished and the skin pallid and cold, with a tendency to collapse and syncope, the ammonium carb. in does of I-10 to 1⁄2 grain every hour will be a part of good treatment. Army Medical Corps Examinations.— The surgeon-general of the army announces that the first of the preliminary examinations for the appointment of first lieutenants in the Army Medical Corps for the year 1909 will be held on January 11, 1909, at points to be hereafter designated. Full information concerning the examination can be procured upon application to the "Surgeon-General, United States Army, Washington, D. C." The essential requirements to securing an invitation are that the applicant shall be a citizen of the United States, shall be between 22 and 30 years of age, a graduate of a votes. Mr. Winston Churchill received medical school legally authorized to confer the degree of doctor of medicine, 727 votes, and Dr. William Osler, 614. shall be of good moral character and habits, and shall have had at least one year's hospital training, or its equivalent in practice. The examination in subjects of general education (mathematics, geography, history, general literature and Latin) may be omitted in the case of applicants holding diplomas from reputable literary or scientific colleges, normal schools or high schools, or graduates of medical schools which require an entrance examination satisfactory to the faculty of the Army Medical School. In order to perfect all necessary arrangements for the examination, applications must be complete and in possession of the adjutant-general on or before December 10, 1908. There are at present 57 vacancies in the Medical Corps of the army. Prizes of the Tuberculosis Congress.The International Congress on Tuberculosis, which recently occured in Washington, gave New York the gold medal for the best State exhibit and New York city the gold medal for the most efficient laws and ordinances governing tuberculosis. The Committee on Tuberculosis of the New York Charity Organization Society shared with the Women's National Health Association of Ireland a $1000 prize. The Manhattan Tuberculosis Dispensary of the Health Department, the State Charities Aid Association, the School Farm League and the Sea Breeze Hospital were other local medalists. Lord Rector of Edinburgh University. Mr. George Wyndham, M.P., was elected to the Lord Rectorship of Edinburgh University October 24, receiving 826 Lowell Lectures on "Defenses Against Micro-organisms of Micro-organisms of Disease." - Prof. Theobald Smith of the Harvard Medical School will give eight Lowell lectures on the above subject, beginning March 16 and continuing every Tuesday and Friday. Yale Medical Journal.-The October number of the Yale Medical Journal, recently issued, is the second number of that paped issued under its newly-adopted policy and management. Beginning with the first number of the fifteenth volume, the Journal changed from an undergraduate paper to a scientific publication devoted to the discussion of medical problems and of interest to medical men generally, and particularly in Connecticut. The management of the paper has been put into the hands of a board of editors controlled by the Faculty of the Medical School, with student assistants. By an arrangement with the Connecticut State Medical Society the proceedings of that society will be published as a supplement in the back of the regular issues of the paper. Reports of the city and county medical meetings of Connecticut will be printed in some detail, and the magazine will thus take the nature of a Connecticut State Medical Journal. The distinctly Yale character and interest will be retained by the continued publication of school and alumni notes, those departments being in the hands of the undergraduate editors. The paper will be of interest to medical men generally through the original articles and discussions. printed in the forepart of each issue. The board of editors has been made up as follows: Dr. William H. Carmalt, pro fessor emeritus in the Medical School; Dr. George Blumer, professor of the theory and practice of medicine; Dr. Herbert E. Smith, '79 S., Dean of the Medical School; Dr. Charles J. Bartlett, '92 and '95 M., professor of pathology. Editor for the State Medical Society: Dr. Walter R. Steiner, '92, of Hartford, Conn. Student editors: Niles Westcott, '09 M., chairman; William Henry Beardsley, '10 M.; Harry St. Clair Reynolds, '10 M., and Herbert King Thoms, '10 M. -Yale Alumni Weekly, October 28, 1908. Dr. Frederic Brush of Boston has been appointed superintendent of the New York Post-Graduate Medical School and Hospital. Before assuming the position he will devote some time to a study of post-graduate instruction and hospital administration in the various American medical centers. DEATHS. ANDERSON.-In Salem, Ohio, October 1, 1908, Dr. James Anderson, aged 57 years. ANDERSON.-In Louisville, Ky., October 13, 1908, Dr. Turner Anderson, aged 66 years. BALL. In New York city, October 24, 1908, Dr. Alonzo Brayton Ball, aged 67 years. BECK.-In New York city, October 14, 1908, Dr. Alexander W. Beck, aged 56 years. BLAIR. In Cincinnati, Ohio, October 5. 1908, Dr. John J. Blair, aged 61 years. BROBST.-In Bernville, Pa., October 20, 1908, Dr. John A. Brobst, aged 73 years. BRODEUR.-In Montreal, Can., October 16, 1908, Dr. Azarie Brodeur, aged 58 years. October 9, 1908, Dr. John Edward Caldwell, aged 69 years. CAMERON.-In Iron Mountain, Mich., October 4, 1908, Dr. John D. Cameron, aged 57 years. CAMPBELL.-In Shelbyville, Ill., October 8, 1908, Dr. Frank Campbell, aged 39 years. CAMPBELL.-In Cleveland, Ohio, October 17, 1908, Dr. Robert Swenton Campbell, aged 25 years. CHAMPAGNE.-In Beaugrand, Mont., October 14, 1908, Dr. Aristide Champagne, aged 58 years. COLEMAN.-In Tucson, Ariz., October 4, 1908, Dr. James W. Coleman, aged 43 years. COOK.-In New York city, October 22, 1908, Dr. Irving J. Cook, aged 35 years. CROSSWELL.-In Streator, Ill., October 6, 1908, Dr. Thomas Crosswell, aged 93 years. DAVIS.-In Cleveland, Ohio, October 18, 1908, Dr. Elijah F. Davis, aged 79 years. DEARING.-In Braintree, Mass., October 15, 1908, Dr. Thomas Haven Dearing, aged 82 years. ELLIOTT.-In New York city, October 15, 1908, Dr. G. A. Elliott, aged 41 years. FAIRLAMB.-In Bellefonte, Pa., October 12, 1908, Dr. George Ashbridge Fairlamb, aged 82 years. FERGUSON.-In Toronto, Ont., October 7, 1908, Dr. Alexander K. Ferguson, aged 45 years. FERGUSON.-In Colfax, Wash., October 2, 1908, Dr. T. Dinsmore Ferguson, aged 52 years. FERNANDEZ.-In Monrovia, Cal., October 11, 1908, Dr. Manuel V. Fernandez, aged 71 years. FISK.-In Mooresville, Mo., October 2, 1908, Dr. Theodore Fisk, aged 74 CALDWELL.-In Huntersville, N. C., years. |