And the teacher had no more success in explaining her germ theories to Mrs. Baumkeester than she had with Hans.-Judge.

INGROWING NAILS.-1. Remove all pressure from the nail by cutting away a piece of the shoe.

2. Disinfect with hydrogen dioxid until no more "foam" appears.

3. Apply a drop of strong solution of cocaine in the base of the ulcer.

4. Apply a drop of Monsell's solution to the ulcer, then cover loosely with gauze. Repeat this process every second day, until the edge of the nail is released, by the retraction of the hypertrophied tissue. The patient suffers no pain from the application, and all pain has disappeared the second day. The cure is effected in a week or two, without inconvenience or interference with business. -Albright's Office Practitioner.

LOCAL ANESTHETIC.-Adrenalin chlorid 2 drams, cocain 5 grains, water half an ounce. Soak four layers of lint with the solution and place on the pad a positive electrode; place a large negative electrode elsewhere and slowly induce a current of fifteen to thirty milliamperes, five to ten minutes. Then wash the surface with ether, when any small operation may be done without pain. -Ex.

PUBLICITY AS A FACTOR IN VENEREAL PROPHYLAXIS.-P. A. Morrow, New York, declares that the concealment of facts regarding venereal diseases is a factor in perpetuating the evils attending them. The value of publicity in the suppression of evils has been amply demonstrated of late, but the venereal evil furnishes the most conspicuous example of an evil that flourishes in darkness and owes its power for mischief to the obscurity to which it has been relegated by traditional prejudice. Publicity here is desirable, he says, and is absolutely indispensable to the success of plans for prophylaxis. To the question, is publicity practicable, he answers that it is, and that the sentiment that forbids the open discussion of the subject has no place in the counsels of preventive medicine. Though the newspapers are not available, physicians can work with tracts, pamphlets, conferences, lectures, meetings of medical societies to which the public is invited. Another valuable agency would be a journal of popular medicine, devoted to the study and

prevention of all communicable diseases, especially those spread in the ordinary relations of social life. Such a one has already been projected. He believes the present a favorable time to dispel the indifferences of the public regarding this evil and to bring about reform.-Journal A. M. A.

A DUNDEE physician, because a teetotaler had a red nose, suspected the sincerity of the man's professions.

So he invited him to dine at a restaurant one night, and ordered champagne with the dinner.

The teetotaler did not hesitate at all over the champagne. He drank a half-dozen glasses and grew gay and boisterous.

Then the doctor, feeling that he had him, said gruffly: "Well, John, hoo does this square wi' yer teetotaler pretentions?"

The prohibitionist (as you would call him here) laughed and answered: "Tho' I'm a staunch teetot'ler, I'm no sic a fule as to refuse what the doctor orders."-Ex.

MUST PAY ALL THE SAME.-In a suit brought by a physician in Vienna for advice given over the telephone, the court held that such consultations must be paid for as other ordinary medical advice given directly to the patient.

CAUSE AND EFFECT.-"A few months ago," said the sufferer, "I had indigestion and rheumatism, but it is otherwise now."

"How's that?" queried the stranger.

"Since a rich uncle shuffled off and left me a half a million," explained the other, "the doctors call it appendicitis and locomotor ataxia."-Columbus Dispatch.

THE X-RAY IN LEUKEMIA AND HODGKIN'S DISEASE. A. H. Roth, Ann Arbor, reports two cases treated with the X-rays; one of Hodgkin's disease, in which the relief of symptoms was obtained, though they probably may recur unless the treatment is continued, and one of splenomyelogenous leukemia, in which the continued application of the rays for over a year has brought the blood down to the normal and largely reduced the splenic enlargement. Arsenic used as an adjunct to the treatment seemed to be of benefit. The first effect of X-ray treatment was to increase the number of leucocytes in the general circulation. This was accomplished by a

large increase of degenerate cells, most of them disintegrating myelocytes. No toxic symptoms have developed in the patient, and though the blood count has remained normal for two months, the continued use of the X-ray at intervals is advised to prevent possible recurrence. The application was made in the leukemic case over the spleen and long bones with a hard tube at a distance of ten inches from the anode, the applications lasting from seven to fifteen minutes. In the case of Hodgkin's disease the X-ray treatment was made over the enlarged glands.-Journal A. M. A.

VENEREAL DISEASES IN FRANCE.-T. Tuffier, France, describes the methods now employed in France to check the spread of venereal disease. They consist in the police control (reglementation) of prostitutes and resorts, and educational methods. The latter are carried on by lectures, distribution of pamphlets, etc., and there is an active Society of Prophylaxis composed of physicians, surgeons, obstetricians, eminent lawyers and police officials which meets monthly to consider important matters connected with the subject and which has accomplished definite results. The police regulation of women appears to be limited under the French law to those actually soliciting, and the need of more frequent examination by skilled venereal specialists and increased facilities for treatment is recognized and sought to be provided for. Most physicians believe that there should be a special service in all general and special hospitals to meet the necessities of this class of cases.-Journal A. M. A.

THE TEACHING OF THE PUBLIC REGARDING VENEREAL DISEASE. -A. E. Carrieer, Detroit, sees no reason why a child should not be taught the care of the sexual organs as well as that of the eyes or other organs. The instruction should begin as soon as the children become curious, and if they do not receive instruction from proper sources, we may consider it most probable that information will be given from improper ones. The need of accurate statistics of the effects of venereal disease is mentioned and the dangers of the common errors regarding gonorrhea and syphilis are pointed out. The public, he states, should be instructed as to the chronicity of these disorders and the difficulty and uncertainties of their cure. The danger of syphilitic inheritance is another matter that should be especially emphasized. If we could discuss these matters with the public with the same freedom as we can the subject of tuberculosis,

for example, much would be gained. The need of better hospitalization facilities for venereal diseases and of some sort of legal control of prostitution are also matters that should, in his opinion, be demonstrated to the public.-Journal A. M. A.

TEACHING REGARDING VENEREAL DISEASE.-G. Whiteside, Portland, Ore., believes that, as regards venereal disease, we must rely on the prophylactic value of very early education, and that it would be better if every mother could teach her children the anatomy and physiology of the sexual organs as soon as they are able to understand it, than to have them wait till puberty and acquire erroneous ideas in the meantime. Boys at the age of 15 or 16 could be instructed as to the nature and dangers of gonorrhea and syphilis, best by some physician, and not to frighten them, but simply as information. With older men such instruction is less effective. Girls of the better class should understand their anatomy and physiology, but why tell them of venereal disease or loathsome sexual perversions? Girls who have no one to look after them should, for their own safety, be as well informed as the boys are, and should be especially instructed as to the dangers of drink and of abortion. Whether such measures will make the world better he is doubtful, but we can not be sure without a trial.-Journal A. M. A.

THE DUTY OF THE STATE TOWARD VENEREAL DISEASES.-H. D. Holton, Brattleboro, Vt., says that, before we seek aid from the State in the combat against venereal diseases, there must be a strong public sentiment which will sustain action by authority, and there must also be a strong demand for State interference. All this can only be brought about by an educational movement beginning at the home and continuing through the high and preparatory schools and college. It is quite possible, too, that the medical profession will have to be educated along the line of duty; it has hardly done its duty yet in this matter. The obtaining of the needed information to carry on the work of prevention should be the first thing undertaken, and he reproduces the circulars approved to be sent out to physicians by the Conference of State and Provincial Boards of Health of North America, asking for data as to cases of syphilis and gonorrhea, and giving information as to their avoidance and prevention. So far as Holton is informed, these circulars have only been sent out thus far in the States of Ohio and Vermont. If all cases were reported to boards of health, as other com

municable diseases are (without names), so that a fairly accurate estimate could be made of the number of cases occurring, the number of each disease, how acquired, innocently or otherwise, and the effects on procreation, we would have a foundation on which to work for prevention.-Journal A. M. A.

INSTRUCTION REGARDING VENEREAL DISEASES. Bransford Lewis, St. Louis, holds that, for the public safety if for no other reason, the laity should receive instruction regarding venereal diseases and their dangers. The nature of the three diseases should be described and their modes of dissemination, especially the fact that they can all be acquired by other means than sexual intercourse, but that syphilis is especially dangerous on account of the contagiousness of its manifold lesions as well as by the blood of infected individuals, and the chances of the innocent acquisition of the disease are thus vastly increased. The far-reaching consequences and complications of these diseases should also be made known; their relations to matrimony and heredity, their longevity and mortality should be fully made known to the public generally, and the popular misconceptions thoroughly corrected. The dangers of gonorrhea to innocent wives and the fact that, contrary to current belief, it outranks syphilis as a direct cause of death should be explained. The conditions of cure of these diseases must be understood before entering into marriage relations or in any way exposing others to the infection.-Journal A. M. A.

THE MEDICAL PROFESSION AND VENEREAL DISEASE.-According to W. J. Herdman, Ann Arbor, there are three leading fallacies that the medical profession must first attack in their combat with venereal disease: (1) The physiologic one, that continence in sexual life is in any way injurious to him or her who practices it; (2) the social one, that permits one standard of recognition for the man and another for the woman who has fallen from virtue; and (3) a fallacy of method, built on a misconception of the factors of the problem, and consisting in the prevalent belief that an infraction of the normal law with its evil moral and physical effects, can be repaired by any system of legal restraint or license directed to the physical effects alone, especially since such legal control must of necessity be partial and complete. These must be cleared away before much can be done. The present machinery of the American Medical Association, he states, affords an excellent means of