ARTICLE LXXI. Report of the Monroe County Homœopathic Medical Society, comprising: A. PROCEEDINGS OF THE ANNUAL MEETING. The annual meeting of the Monroe County Homœopathic Medical Society was held Jan. 30, 1868. The President, on taking the chair, made a few appropriate remarks upon the necessity of concentrated and continuous effort for the upbuilding of the cause we love and have espoused; our need for continued experimentation with already proven drugs, that a familiarity may exist with them as well as the new ones that are being daily brought to our notice. A committee, consisting of Drs. Hurd, Peer and Fiske, was appointed to draft a memorial, to be addressed to the Trustees of the Rochester City Hospital, for the admission of homœopathy in that institution, which was built and is sustained by the citizens, irrespective of party, religion or medical predilections. It is the intention of the physicians of this Society to push the matter to an open issue, and if necessary start a homœopathic hospital and dispensary. The following memorial was reported by the committee: To the Board of Trustees of the Rochester City Hospital: We, the undersigned, Homœopathic physicians of this city and county, call your attention to the following facts, relative to the Hospital over which you are placed, that impartial justice may be accorded our patrons and ourselves. Our reasons for making this appeal to your Hospital Board, are these : First.-The City Hospital is a public institution, erected, not by an individual or corporation, but by and through the efforts and means of the citizens of Rochester, irrespective of religion, political or medical party. Second. That it was built for the benefit of the sick, without reference to nationality, religion, politics or individual prejudices. Third. That the Hospital, in great measure, has been sustained by voluntary or solicited donations through a board of lady managers. Fourth. That a great proportion of these contributions came directly from the patrons of homœopathy. Fifth. That the physicians, placed in charge, assume to dictate, even to paying patients, what treatment they shall and shall not have, regardless alike of the patients' predilection or the pecuniary interest of the Hospital; absolutely refusing a patient the benefit of homoeopathic treatment within its walls; having repeatedly turned away paying patients who persisted in having the attendance of their homœopathic physicians. In view of these facts, we demand of your honorable Board that paying patients, desiring the attendance of a homœopathic physician, shall be admitted into said Hospital, and their request granted; that a room or rooms, and nurse or nurses be assigned, and proper facilities be extended to them and us in the way of nursing and care in their treatment. Signed by the members of the Society. Meeting adjourned. PROCEEDINGS OF A SPECIAL MEETING. A special meeting of the Society was held August 27, 1868, to take action with reference to the death of two of its members, Drs. George Lewis and M. M. Mathews, President and Vice-President of the Society. The following are the resolutions adopted: Whereas, Dr. George Lewis, after a long life of usefulness, has been called by God from his labors, having filled his mission faithfully and long, going from among us with his work accomplished and his labors, as a physician, ended; and, Whereas, The same inscrutable Providence has also removed suddenly from our midst, in the full vigor of manhood, with his whole armor on and his hands still upon the plowshare, our beloved brother and co-worker, Dr. M. M. Mathews; therefore, Resolved, That while we mourn the loss of two of our most useful and esteemed members, we bow with humble submission to that Omnipotence which directs our ways and in whose hands are our present and future destinies. Resolved, That their lives of usefulness and perseverance should be a guide for our present and future efforts; that their memories will ever be kept fresh in our hearts, and the swiftness with which death has overtaken them, a continual reminder of the uncertainty of life. Resolved, That these resolutions be placed on record of the Society; that they be published and a copy sent to the families of the deceased. Meeting adjourned. ARTICLE LXXII. Cases of Reflex Disease of the Stomach from Uterine Disease and Displacement. By W. M. L. FISK, M. D., Rochester. CASE I. Mrs. C, widow, age 35, the past three years has had, after each menstruation, vomiting, followed by gastralgia, so intense and persistent as to produce temporary insanity. Her friends fearing it would ultimately be a permanent disease, as every time seemed longer during her convalescence. Had been under all kinds of treatment, but with no success; in homoeopathy had had high and low potencies. I tried almost every remedy adapted to her case, but found atropine the only one which ameliorated the distress in the least. After three or four months' treatment I determined that at the next attack I would make a vaginal examination, though how to do it I hardly knew, as she could not keep quiet a minute, her agony was so intense. I should have said the diagnosis previously given were biliary calculi, liver complaint, sub-acute inflammation of stomach, cancer of the same, etc., etc.; as nothing was left for me to call it I wisely shook my head and held my tongue. The time soon came; I was summoned; gave her to understand she must keep still long enough for me to make a thorough examination. Found the uterus very much congested, prolapsed, and so much retroversion could hardly reach the os, I replaced the organ very nearly, though not relieving a retroflexion, as I subsequently ascertained. Gastralgia stopped entirely in half an hour; next day up; second day down-took my sound with me; reduced the flexion after an half hour's patient perseverance; left uterus in situ, and patient in bed, with instructions to stay there for a week, with hips higher than the head. She then got up, walked half a mile every day, a thing not done before in two years. After next menstruation the same old story, with this exception: the vomiting occurred but two or three times. When I was summoned found uterus out of position again and congested; replaced [Senate, No. 77.] 25 it, and the gastralgia did not touch her that time. I had but one pessary then in my possession, a simple ring, cracked in two or three places with the coating off, which I filled up with sealing wax; introduced it, and told her when I could I would get a perfect one if that succeeded. She got up next day, and no return of trouble. After a few weeks suggested the removal of the old pessary for a new one, but she said that felt so comfortable she preferred it, and I never could get my old one back, although I remained in that place six months after. CASE II. Mrs. S, age 45, had had paroxysms of bilious vomiting, followed by gastralgia, for about one year; had been treated for "liver complaint." At my first visit, upon examining the abdomen by palpation, noticed what I supposed to be a four months' pregnant uterus asked her how far gone she was; replied that she did not know she was gone at all; had noticed some enlargement of abdo but supposed it was her liver enlarged; had not menstruated regularly for a year and a half, there being severe hemorrhage every three or four months, accounted for by the previous physician as change of life. Could get no foetal heart sounds, or placental bruit, by auscultation; neck soft and patulous, but no ulceration. Treated the symptoms as they arose, but at a perfect loss to account for the abnormal size of the uterus. Vomiting and gastralgia every little while. After four and a half months a sanious discharge appeared, with cutting pains in uterus, and at last, after many perplexing diagnoses, pronounced it scirrhus. But after a week's discharge and pain the os began to dilate, then the pains gradually changed to expulsive; and, after a while, with the help of my partner, Dr. A. R. Bartlett, by means of a blunt hook, the patient being under the influence of chloroform, extracted a fleshy tumor or mass, weighing six and a half pounds. No osseous formation was discernible; very little hemorrhage followed; a quick convalescence, and perfect freedom from liver complaint and scirrhus after. A case that misled in diagnosis, but imparted a lasting lesson to the blunderer. CASE III. Mrs. B, aged 59, for years had been troubled, after a hard day's work, house cleaning, lifting, or gardening, with vomiting and gastralgia; radial pulse sometimes entirely gone; cold, clammy surface; frequently given up to die, but persisted in living, despite prognosis to the contrary; had been treated for years homœopathically; had a leucorrhoeal discharge for a long time. Experience with Case I led me to look more closely to the uterine organs. Speculum examination brought to view severe ulceration, with fungoid granulations of os. Local and constitutional treatment cured the disease, though she never became hearty and robust, as her constitution had become too much undermined, and she had to observe considerable precaution in eating, though never bringing on such severe attacks, simply uneasiness, and a feeling of fullness and heaviness in the stomach. CASE IV. Mrs. S, age 35, menstruates regularly, rheumatic diathesis; has been treated seventeen years for rheumatism of the stomach; comes on invariably after hard work, running a sewing machine or walking a long distance. It was a long time before I could prevail upon her to have an examination, as she insisted that the disease affected the stomach only; accordingly I had to prescribe as well as I could, and her husband was obliged to foot the bills. But one night, being called to see her die, as the family expected, I sat down by the bed side, and before she could say anything to the contrary I had replaced a prolapsed uterus. The pain soon ceased in the stomach. I afterward made a thorough digital and speculum examination. No ulceration or leucorrhoea, but a decided prolapsus on arising from a recumbent position. Gave her instructions to use cold water enemas every day, and when she felt any indication of pain coming on to lie down, with hips well elevated. She has taken one injection during the year, thinking it too much trouble after the first trial, but she never fails to try the other remedy; consequently has had but two attacks during the past year that required my attention, she avoiding the others by immediate attention to previous instructions. I have had other cases that were less marked than these, and have never observed a case of gastralgia in men in any degree as severe as in women. I have a lady now under treatment, suffering from functional disease of heart and kidneys, which, according to my convictions, arises simply from uterine disease, but as she has convulsions when remedies are applied locally, it is not a very encouraging case to the physician or patient. |