united states of america

1
50 change its position, but remained fixed when it was mapped out in the Trendelenburg posture. The authors operated on three of the patients in whom the pains in the thigh were particularly severe. In these three cases adhesions binding down the cseco-appendicular region low on the posterior wall were found at the operation. After resection of the appendix and freeing of the adhesions the patients were cured of their sciatica. M. Enriquez and M. Gutmann investigated the symptomatology, diagnosis, and pathogeny of this syndrome, and urged the necessity for radioscopic examination of the casco-appendicular region in cases of sciatica presenting certain abnormal symptoms, speaking highly of the surgical treatment of such cases. New Legacy for the Academy of Medicine. A new legacy has been made to the Academy of Medicine. Mdlle. Louise Morand leaves the residue of her property, after the satisfaction of all liabilities, to be devoted as the Academy of Medicine shall determine to societies or under- takings engaged in the treatment of children suffering from or threatened with tuberculosis. The Treatment of "Port-wine Marks." M. Albert Weil presented to the Societe de Medecine de Paris on June 13th three cases of port-wine marks in which he had obtained almost total blanching of the skin with very satisfactory æsthetic results by the use of X rays. He used a tube with a special window, which allowed the passage of only the slightly penetrating rays. Very few sittings were required. The Maison du, Medecin. This admirable and relatively recent foundation for the maintenance of aged or impoverished medical men at a minimal cost has recently benefited materially by a subsidy of 180,000 francs, granted by the Commission de Repartition des Fonds de Jeux, to enable it to acquire the Chateau des Charmettes at Valenton, whither its establishment is to be transferred. It is a splendid domain, very comfortable, close to Paris, a r1lS in 1brbe, with facilities for all necessary extension for its increasing demands. It will probably be opened in October. The Unveiling of the Monument to Dr. Guinard. On June 24th a monument to Dr. Guinard was unveiled on the very spot in the court of the Hotel Dieu where he was assassinated some two years ago. Speeches were delivered by M. Habert, municipal councillor, on behalf of the City of Paris; by M. Mesureur, representing the Assistance Publique; by M. Strauss, in the name of the Conseil de Surveillance ; by M. Landouzy for the Faculty of Medicine ; and byM. Delorme, on behalf of the Soci6te de Chirurgie, in all of which the admirable private and professional qualities that characterised the late Dr. Guinard were extolled. On first leaving St. Etienne, his home, Guinard said that within 30 years his address would be " Dr. Guinard, Surgeon of the Hotel Dieu, Paris." This prediction was fulfilled, and this monument and the memory of his tragic end will henceforth be insepar- able from the Hotel Dieu. The monument shows a weeping woman offering a palm to Dr. Guinard. Retirement of Professor Lacassagne. Professor Lacassagne has retired. For thirty years he has occupied the chair of legal medicine at the University of Lyons. His researches have made him universally renowned, and the scientific world pays him homage on his retirement. To him it is due that the responsibility of half- witted criminals is now more justly and properly appraised. He has helped to strengthen the defences of society. Legal medicine has become through him, and through those who have followed the path he marked out, a science indispensable to the life of a country. ’The teaching of Lacassagne covers a vast field, but the following axioms sum up its principal doctrines :-Every action injurioas to the community is a crime ; every crime is an obstacle to progress ; the social - milieac is the culture fluid of criminality ; the microbe is the criminal, a factor of small importance apart from the culture fluid which permits it to ferment ; and society has only the criminals that it deserves. The Medical Extcnaination of Motor-car Drivers. Mr. Bernard Auge has introduced a Bill into the Chamber of Deputies requiring every motor-car driver to append to his application for a licence a medical certificate certify- ing that he has a good constitution, normal eyesight and hearing, and that he has no organic lesion of the heart, pleural cavity, or kidneys, which could render him liable to sudden syncope; also to establish, as far as possible, hi& freedom from any neuropathic affection, monomania, hysteria, or epileptic taint. M. Auge thinks that the causes of numerous accidents remain unexplained. The ordinary record of accidents does not show whether excessive speed depends on the character of the wet surface, on a false manoeuvre, or on the sudden illness of the chauffeur. M. Auge thinks it probable that in a large number of cases the chauffeur’s state of health is at fault. The condition of health has not hitherto been taken into account in granting a certificate of fitness. July 1st. ___________________ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.) The Carnegie Foundation and lTedical School. THE report that the Carnegie Foundation would use its enormous fund, said to amount to$140,000,000, to crush sec- tarianism in medical colleges has been renewed since the announcement of Mr. Carnegie’s gift of$1,000,000 to the medical school of Vanderbilt University. Dr. Henry S. Pritchett, head of the Foundation (who with Mr. Abraham Flexner in a recent report stigmatised as worthless some of the American medical schools), while denying any animosity against sectarian colleges as such, says that an investigation may be held into the worthless medical schools that trade on the names of worthy institutions under whose charters they take refuge. It is hinted that men in an official capacity in the colleges concerned reap large profits from the commercialised medical schools. The somewhat sweeping reports of the Carnegie Foundation on American medical schools alreadvhave had good effects. Some of the inferior schools criticised in it have gone out of existence ; others have taken steps to improve their teaching facilities. The standard of medical education has been raised sensibly during the past decade, though there is yet much room for improvement. Fund for Medical Education. Mr. Andrew Carnegie has given £200,000 to the Vander- bilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, for the benefit of the medical department. £40,000 will be available at once to provide for the erection and equipment of new laboratories for the medical school, and the income from the remainder will be used for its maintenance. Death of Dr. F. Forchheimer. Dr. Forchheimer died in Cincinnati on June lst. He was born in Cincinnati on Sept. 25th, 1853, studied at the Universities of Strasburg and Wiirzburg, and graduated in medicine at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, in 1873. For 20 years he was professor of the theory and practice of medicine in the University of Cincinnati. He was president of the American Medical Association in 1910-11. Dr. Forchheimer was the author of severa) medical works, among which may be especially mentioned the " Prophylaxis and Treatment of Internal Diseases." June 17th. _______________ NOTES FROM SOUTH AFRICA. (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) Accommodation and Treatment of Persons of Unsoicrad llertd. IN April last a Select Committee of the House of Assembly was appointed to inquire into the adequacy or otherwise of the provision in the various Provinces of the Union for the accommodation and treatment of persons of unsound mind. The committee has recently presented a report which is perhaps one of the most valuable Parliamentary reports that. have been published in South Africa in recent years. The committee finds that the accommodation at present available in the asylums throughout the Union is quite inadequate to cope with the present demand for admission ; that in many cases it is of a character most unsuitable for the mentally afflicted, and that overcrowding exists in most of the insti- tutions to an extent which it is imperative to put a stop

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Page 1: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

50

change its position, but remained fixed when it was mappedout in the Trendelenburg posture. The authors operatedon three of the patients in whom the pains in thethigh were particularly severe. In these three cases adhesionsbinding down the cseco-appendicular region low on theposterior wall were found at the operation. After resectionof the appendix and freeing of the adhesions the patientswere cured of their sciatica. M. Enriquez and M. Gutmanninvestigated the symptomatology, diagnosis, and pathogenyof this syndrome, and urged the necessity for radioscopicexamination of the casco-appendicular region in cases ofsciatica presenting certain abnormal symptoms, speakinghighly of the surgical treatment of such cases.

New Legacy for the Academy of Medicine.A new legacy has been made to the Academy of Medicine.

Mdlle. Louise Morand leaves the residue of her property,after the satisfaction of all liabilities, to be devoted as theAcademy of Medicine shall determine to societies or under-takings engaged in the treatment of children suffering fromor threatened with tuberculosis.

The Treatment of "Port-wine Marks."M. Albert Weil presented to the Societe de Medecine de

Paris on June 13th three cases of port-wine marks in whichhe had obtained almost total blanching of the skin with verysatisfactory æsthetic results by the use of X rays. He useda tube with a special window, which allowed the passage ofonly the slightly penetrating rays. Very few sittings wererequired.

The Maison du, Medecin.This admirable and relatively recent foundation for the

maintenance of aged or impoverished medical men at aminimal cost has recently benefited materially by a subsidyof 180,000 francs, granted by the Commission de Repartitiondes Fonds de Jeux, to enable it to acquire the Chateau desCharmettes at Valenton, whither its establishment is to betransferred. It is a splendid domain, very comfortable, closeto Paris, a r1lS in 1brbe, with facilities for all necessaryextension for its increasing demands. It will probably beopened in October.

The Unveiling of the Monument to Dr. Guinard.On June 24th a monument to Dr. Guinard was unveiled on

the very spot in the court of the Hotel Dieu where he wasassassinated some two years ago. Speeches were deliveredby M. Habert, municipal councillor, on behalf of the City ofParis; by M. Mesureur, representing the Assistance Publique;by M. Strauss, in the name of the Conseil de Surveillance ; byM. Landouzy for the Faculty of Medicine ; and byM. Delorme,on behalf of the Soci6te de Chirurgie, in all of which theadmirable private and professional qualities that characterisedthe late Dr. Guinard were extolled. On first leavingSt. Etienne, his home, Guinard said that within 30 years hisaddress would be " Dr. Guinard, Surgeon of the Hotel Dieu,Paris." This prediction was fulfilled, and this monumentand the memory of his tragic end will henceforth be insepar-able from the Hotel Dieu. The monument shows a weepingwoman offering a palm to Dr. Guinard.

Retirement of Professor Lacassagne.Professor Lacassagne has retired. For thirty years he

has occupied the chair of legal medicine at the Universityof Lyons. His researches have made him universallyrenowned, and the scientific world pays him homage on hisretirement. To him it is due that the responsibility of half-witted criminals is now more justly and properly appraised.He has helped to strengthen the defences of society. Legalmedicine has become through him, and through those whohave followed the path he marked out, a science indispensableto the life of a country. ’The teaching of Lacassagne coversa vast field, but the following axioms sum up its principaldoctrines :-Every action injurioas to the community is acrime ; every crime is an obstacle to progress ; the social- milieac is the culture fluid of criminality ; the microbe isthe criminal, a factor of small importance apart from theculture fluid which permits it to ferment ; and society hasonly the criminals that it deserves.

The Medical Extcnaination of Motor-car Drivers.Mr. Bernard Auge has introduced a Bill into the Chamber

of Deputies requiring every motor-car driver to appendto his application for a licence a medical certificate certify-ing that he has a good constitution, normal eyesight and

hearing, and that he has no organic lesion of the heart,pleural cavity, or kidneys, which could render him liable tosudden syncope; also to establish, as far as possible, hi&freedom from any neuropathic affection, monomania,hysteria, or epileptic taint. M. Auge thinks that the causesof numerous accidents remain unexplained. The ordinaryrecord of accidents does not show whether excessive speeddepends on the character of the wet surface, on a

false manoeuvre, or on the sudden illness of the chauffeur.M. Auge thinks it probable that in a large number of casesthe chauffeur’s state of health is at fault. The conditionof health has not hitherto been taken into account in grantinga certificate of fitness.July 1st.

___________________

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

The Carnegie Foundation and lTedical School.THE report that the Carnegie Foundation would use its

enormous fund, said to amount to$140,000,000, to crush sec-tarianism in medical colleges has been renewed since theannouncement of Mr. Carnegie’s gift of$1,000,000 to themedical school of Vanderbilt University. Dr. Henry S.Pritchett, head of the Foundation (who with Mr. AbrahamFlexner in a recent report stigmatised as worthless some ofthe American medical schools), while denying any animosityagainst sectarian colleges as such, says that an investigationmay be held into the worthless medical schools that trade onthe names of worthy institutions under whose charters theytake refuge. It is hinted that men in an official capacity in thecolleges concerned reap large profits from the commercialisedmedical schools. The somewhat sweeping reports of theCarnegie Foundation on American medical schools alreadvhavehad good effects. Some of the inferior schools criticised in ithave gone out of existence ; others have taken steps toimprove their teaching facilities. The standard of medicaleducation has been raised sensibly during the past decade,though there is yet much room for improvement.

Fund for Medical Education.Mr. Andrew Carnegie has given £200,000 to the Vander-

bilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, for the benefit of themedical department. £40,000 will be available at once toprovide for the erection and equipment of new laboratoriesfor the medical school, and the income from the remainderwill be used for its maintenance.

Death of Dr. F. Forchheimer.Dr. Forchheimer died in Cincinnati on June lst. He

was born in Cincinnati on Sept. 25th, 1853, studied at theUniversities of Strasburg and Wiirzburg, and graduated inmedicine at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, NewYork, in 1873. For 20 years he was professor of the theoryand practice of medicine in the University of Cincinnati.He was president of the American Medical Association in1910-11. Dr. Forchheimer was the author of severa)medical works, among which may be especially mentionedthe " Prophylaxis and Treatment of Internal Diseases."June 17th.

_______________

NOTES FROM SOUTH AFRICA.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Accommodation and Treatment of Persons of Unsoicrad llertd.IN April last a Select Committee of the House of Assembly

was appointed to inquire into the adequacy or otherwise ofthe provision in the various Provinces of the Union for theaccommodation and treatment of persons of unsound mind.The committee has recently presented a report which is

perhaps one of the most valuable Parliamentary reports that.have been published in South Africa in recent years. Thecommittee finds that the accommodation at present availablein the asylums throughout the Union is quite inadequate tocope with the present demand for admission ; that in manycases it is of a character most unsuitable for the mentallyafflicted, and that overcrowding exists in most of the insti-tutions to an extent which it is imperative to put a stop