Dr. Mortimer Warren gave a report on the blood units in Dr. Holden's cases. Dr. E. B. Finch opened the discussion. For the last eighteen months he had been struggling with a case of Hodgkins' disease. He has been making reports of this case in the Medical Record. After seemingly fully cured, this patient has returned on account of the reappearance of tumors. rays have always been reapplied and apparently successfully. Exposures are made of ten minutes duration at a distance of ten inches, and 147 were made in one series. X Dr. Finch's experience in the treatment of leukæmia had not been very satisfactory. Pertinacity he considered of the utmost importance in the X-ray treatment of those diseases. Dr. Finley R. Cook said he had no experience with the X-ray in leukæmia, but had used this treatment very successfully in tubercular glands. He had also cured a case of exophthalmic gotire. The one case of Hodgkins' disease which he had treated had not turned out very successfully. Dr. C. W. Allen thought it very much to be deplored that there existed so much fear as to the X-rays. Undoubtedly their therapeutic value in these diseases were much underesti mated. Dr. Hermann Grad thought Dr. Holding's results remarkable. The differences were very great between Hodgkins' disease and leukæmia. In the former it was not so difficult to understand how X-ray therapy might be of great use. leukæmia, however, he thought we should have a care not to become too enthusiastic. In A paper entitled The Abuse of Water Drinking was read by Morris Manges, M.D. He said that the normal amount was 1 to 2 liters a day. Only 10 per cent. is absorbed by the stomach. Excretion into the stomach may also take place. The more liquid taken into the body means so much more work for the heart. All the water must be expelled by the heart. Increased drinking of water does not cause increase in the breaking down of albumen. Metabolism is increased, but at the expense of fats and carbohydrates. Diuresis does not depend upon the amount of water so much as upon heart pressure. As to the common opinion of water at meals and obesity, more food can be taken at meals if large quantities of water are taken. The most striking abuse is seen in chronic nephritis. In heart disease the abuse is seen especially at the spas. Dr. Manges found the temperature of sodawater as obtained at the counter to be 40 degrees, and the ice-cream to be 32 degrees. This sodawater habit is much worse than eating a plate of ice-cream, as the latter was taken slowly. Dr. Simon Baruch opened the discussion. The greatest abuse is due to the inexact way prescribing water. The internal and external uses of water are much alike. A few ounces of ice-water are stimulating to the gastric mucous membrane. He uses it as a diuretic, in small quantities, not more frequently than every two hours. Dr. Alfred Meyer thought that this matter as well as all therapeutic measures needed, more than anything, to be considered with a due consideration for the personal idiosyncrasies of the patient. He believed that there was more excess in egg eating in tuberculosis than excess in water drinking in these cardiac, nephritic and gastric diseases. Dr. Beverly Robinson held to the opinion that water was most valuable in febrile conditions. He does not think the danger to the heart is usually present. He referred to the report of typhoid cases treated in Paris by the use of water internally, with results comparing most favorably with the reports from Germany, where the Brand method was used. Dr. Charles Cook Ransom believed there was no better stimulant to metabolism than water correctly prescribed. Dr. Charles B. Fitzpatrick had seen a number of cases where large quantities of water had been of the greatest use. He did not believe the drinking of water abused to any great extent in this city. Water is of the greatest value where a toxæmia exists. Meeting adjourned at 11 P. M. J. J. NUTT, Acting Secretary. Orange County Association. The regular meeting of this Association was held at the Russell House, Middletown, N. Y., on Wednesday, December 21, 1904, at 2 P. M. There was a good attendance, twelve. members being present. Dr. E. D. Woodhull, vice-president, opened the scientific session in the absence of Dr. W. E. Douglas, president, who arrived later, and took charge of the meeting. Dr. C. W. Many, of Florida, reported the case of a child 8 months old, who swallowed an open safety pin which was retained in the intestinal tract for the remarkable period of eight months before being discharged. Dr. Redfield reported some peculiar cases, as follows: A case of hypospadias, a case of supernumerary breast in a nursing mother, a case of menstruation in a 5-days'-old infant, a case of three abortions in nine months in a syphilitic mother who refused anti-syphilitic treatment, a case of appendicitis in which the diagnosis was in doubt with reference to urethral calculus, and a case of chicken-pox with a temperature of 106 degrees F. on the second day of the eruption. followed by complete recovery. Dr. Fancher then read a paper on "Some Personal Experiences in the Treatment of Gonorrhea." This paper was thoroughly discussed by all present. Dr. Fancher was given a hearty vote of thanks for his admirable and instructive NEW MEMBERS IN THE AMERICAN MEDICAL paper. At the business session, after the reading and approval of the minutes of the previous meeting, the following resolution was discussed and finally laid over until the annual meeting in January: "That an amendment to the by-laws be made whereby the meetings of this Association shall be held bi-monthly instead of monthly as heretofore, and at such places in the county other than at Middletown, as has been the custom since the organization of this Association." Dr. Distler made the following resolution, seconded by Dr. Dennis: "That an amendment to the by-laws be made whereby there shall be elected at the annual meeting three vice-presidents instead of one as heretofore, these vice-presidents to be from different parts of the county, and to aid the president in arranging a scientific meeting in the section of the county where the meetings shall be held." Unanimously carried, but ordered to lay over until the next meeting. Dr. Redfield called attention to the meeting of the Fifth District Branch to be held at Newburg on the first Tuesday in February. A request from the chairman of the Publication Committee of the State Association for papers read at the County Association meetings was read by the secretary, also a request for some one to abstract from journals and write editorials for the STATE JOURNAL OF MEDICINE was brought up. Dr. Redfield called attention to the fact that a surgical fee bill was under consideration, and that members from different parts of the county were to furnish the secretary with copies of the fees prevailing in those places, but as yet no one had responded. The secretary called attention to the fact that the annual meeting occurred in January, and thought that a nominating committee ought to be appointed. On motion, the president was authorized to appoint such a committee, the names to be known only to him. Dr. Redfield reported that the condition of Dr. J. B. Hulett, of Middletown, who had been ill since an injury in a railroad accident in November, had so far improved as to permit him to be out again. The secretary then presented his resignation, to take effect at the annual meeting in January, stating as reasons for such action that his extra duties as secretary of the State Association, together with private professional work, would compel him to relinquish the office. His resignation was received and placed on file. There being no further business before the Association, adjournment was made until Wednesday, January 18, 1905. (Signed) CHARLES I. REDFIELD, Secretary. ASSOCIATION. Calvin Thayer Adams, New York City. Charles Eugene Douglass, Lowville, N. Y. ADDITIONAL LIST OF MEMBERS OF THE NEW FIFTH DISTRICT BRANCH. New York County, Warren B. Chapin, New York; William P. Healy, New York; Hubbard Winslow Mitchell, New York; J. Hilton Waterman, New York; Percy Herbert Williams, New York; Brooks H. Wells, New York; Gessel Wolf, New York. Orange County, Andrew Curtin Santee, Scotchtown. LEGAL NOTES. There seems to be renewed activity in the direction of litigation wherein malpractice is charged, for three cases are noticed for trial, two in Utica and one in Niagara County at Lockport, for Monday, January 2d. It is expected that one of the cases will probably be disposed of, another will be put over until March to be tried at Rome, and in the third the complaint probably will be dismissed. The last action against one of the members of the Association is brought by a woman against Dr. G., of this city, for an alleged improper setting of the shoulder; the woman was subsequently taken to the German Hospital and there attended by physicians in that institution. The actions seem bound to involve the acts of several different physicians and surgeons. The answer in this case was served on November 26th. So far during the month of December there. has been no action brought, all of which demonstates the power which this malpractice defense is having in stemming this tide of malpractice suits. During the month of November the severest penalty for a first offense was imposed upon a midwife, Anna Dintenfass, of West 23d street, who was registered in the Board of Health under the name of Weill and also under the name of Weiss, where a plea of guilty was interposed. The sentence was thirty days in the City Prison in addition to a $150 fine. Usually these fines for a first offense, where the plea is guilty, are $50 or $70. In this particular case, after the woman had served her term in the City Prison application was made to the Court for a remission of the fine on December 14th, which was opposed by counsel, but upon the promise of the husband of the woman and the woman herself to leave the State, the Court thought that the Association should be glad to get rid of the defendant finally and remitted the fine, and the husband and wife have actually both left the State. Another case is one where a fine of $100 or sixty days in the Penitentiary was imposed upon a palmist by the name of Atwood; the defendant took the alternative and served her sixty days in the Penitentiary. On December 19th two cases were disposed of, one against Chira, a palmist, who was acquitted, and the other against Marcella Bryan, also a palmist, who received the severest sentence in the history of punishment of illegal practice of medicine, six months in the Penitentiary and a $50 fine. The severity of these sentences by the Court is bound to have the desired effect of checking this illegal practice. WAR ON HOODOO DOCTORS. The arrest of an east-side "wizard" at the instance of the State Medical Association is an act for the protection of the gullible public against the wiles of occult imposture of which there should be more in a city where the charlatan and the fakir of this order flourish and reap a golden harvest. This particular professor of the black art practised in a region where belief in sorcery is a race inheritance. He dealt in charms to avert the baleful effects of the "evil eye" and charged roundly for them. One customer had paid $70 for incantations and magic medicine. At such credulity on the east side the west side will smile. But in doing so let it ask of itself how many patrons it supplies the palmist, the fortuneteller and the necromancer located in a more fashionable quarter, and how implicitly it puts confidence in the shuffling of a pack of cards to forecast the complexion of the husband-to-be or to determine at what date a fortune will be inherited from the dark man. In Boston this fraternity has been sharply dealt with. New York has unwisely treated their deceptions with greater tolerance. The announcement by the counsel for the State Medical Association of a crusade against hoodoo doctors generally is good news.-The World, Tuesday Evening, December 6, 1904. N. Y. STATE JOUR. OF MEDICINE, OBITUARY. MEMOIR OF DR. EDWIN BARNES. BY IRVING DEYO LEROY, M.D. Dr. Edwin Barnes died at his home at Pleasant Plains, N. Y., January 22, 1904. He was born in Troy, N. Y., July 28, 1844. He was the son of Stephen S. Barnes and Huldah Britton Hall. His preliminary education was obtained in the district schools at Hyde Park, N. Y., and also at a private school taught by Rev. Sherman Hoyt. He began his medical studies with an uncle, Camillus Hall, M.D., at Burlington, O., where he remained a year and a half. He then entered the Albany Medical College, but in 1864, before his course was completed, he joined the army as a cadet on the medical staff. He served in the Department of the Cumberland, of West Virginia and of the East, until mustered out, February 3, 1866. In the meantime, his degree of M.D. had been conferred upon him by the Albany Medical College, December 28, 1865, while he was on duty at the Ira Harris Central Hospital. Ten days after his return home, he began the practice of his profession at Pleasant Plains, N. Y., where he has since resided. On November 13, 1866, Dr. Barnes married Miss Matilda, daughter of Truman Armstrong, who with a son and daughter, survives him. He was a member of the Dutchess County Medical Association, an original Fellow of The New York State Medical Association, and a member of the American Medical Association, attending the meetings frequently and always taking a lively interest in their welfare. His funeral, which took place from the Presbyterian Church at Pleasant Plains, N. Y., was largely attended by members of the medical profession and representative citizens. One of his conspicuous characteristics was his sympathy and tenderness in the sick room, personally administering to the wants of his patients. There are few physicians who possess more completely the confidence of their patients than sincerely mourned. Deeply must all regret that he did, few will be more widely missed or so one so capable by culture and long experience of doing good to his fellow-men should be taken. away in the full development and fruitage of a successful career. We can only explain such who controls every incident of the universe. mysteries by a reference to that Higher Power Requiescat in pace. MEMORIAL-WILLIAM R. PRYOR, M.D. BY C. J. MACGUIRE, M.D. Mr. President and members of the County Medical Association of New York: The invita tion extended to me to address you this evening, commemorating the life of our deceased friend and fellow-member, William Rice Pryor, I accepted with great hesitation and I might say reluctance; not that the subject did not appeal to all that is best in me, love of friend (and with my race that stands for a great deal), admiration of genius, and Dr. Pryor possessed it in a high degree, application of genius with acquired knowledge to the solution of unsolved problems in his chosen career, and he was original and independently solved problems-yet I accepted reluctantly because I felt that though closely and affectionately associated with him I cannot do justice to the subject. Pryor was a lovable and sweet character to those who knew him best. Introduced to the world at a most momentous and stormy period of the history of this country, just before the war of secession, it often seemed to me that he absorbed then, while yet unborn, that strong, uncompromising, defiant expression of what he believed was right or wrong, that we all recognize in the fiery and heated debates of that period. Dr. Pryor was born in Richmond, Va. His father, Hon. Roger Pryor, for many decades has been one of our most esteemed and distinguished citizens. Indeed, I might say that few men in our country have had such a long, eminent and spotless career. Minister to Greece in 1855, Congressman from Virginia in 1857 to the unfortunate secession of that State, a general in the Confederate army, sacrificing his all for what he then believed to be right; passing through the frightful war with his family suffering privations now hardly credible, a prisoner in New York, yet like the phoenix, rising from its ashes, we find him working his way through the legal ranks in New York to be one of the leaders of the bar and obtaining the ultima thule of legal ambition-a seat on the Supreme Court Bench. Paternity may be an accident. Maternity is a certainty. William Rice Pryor had great reason to be proud of the maternal side of his house, and he always was. Many times he told me of all he owed to his mother; the sacrifices she made, the privations she endured to make opportunities for him, the constant and ever dinning into his boyish brain the ambition for high ideals, the love of truth, of bravery and honor. After careful training at home and at preparatory schools in Virginia, young Pryor entered Princeton University, where he was distinguished, not alone in letters, but in athletics, and the same love of field sports remained with him to the end. I am informed, during his medical student. career, he enjoyed the reputation of being a conscientious worker, holding a fair average position in his classes. He graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1881 and from Bellevue in 1882. For four years he did general practice preparing himself untiringly for the special branch of medicine to which he devoted his life. In 1886 he was appointed clinical assistant to the Chair of Gynecology in the Polyclinic, and, filling all the intermediate positions, he was in 1895 made full Professor of Gynecology. During this time and until his appointment in 1893 to the staff of Charity Hospital, my acquaintance with him was slight. I well remember the first meeting of the Board at which he was present. Then the conditions in Charity Hospital, now the City Hospital, were not what they are to-day. At each monthly meeting resolutions were passed and sent to the Commissioners informing them of defects in management, of poor and insufficient equipment, of the impossibility of giving to the city's wards the advantages of aseptic surgery, or properly nourishing them, owing to the inferior character and meagerness of the food supplied. As a rule, these resolutions were received in a perfunctory manner and placed on file. At times they were told that the Commissioners did not see that the necessities pointed out existed, or that the appropriation did not perI must say that the Board rather tamely submit the expenditure the improvements called for. mitted to snub and reproof. This Board, consisting of men more or less distinguished in their profession, giving their time and scientific knowledge gratuitously to the care of the city's sick poor, men of independence and courage outside of the Board meeting, from month to month, saw their recommendations ignored or they were tersely told they were making demands unnecessary and absurd. This treatment, I blush to recount, was submissively submitted to with an occasional mild protest. Not so with the latest addition to our number. Though custom and tradition assigned a modest part in the discussions to the junior member, the abuses were so flagrant and the neglect of the Commissioners so manifest that Dr. Pryor could not sit still, but arose and fiercely and fearlessly denounced the system and appealed to his colleagues to stand together and exact what the city was paying for, the best possible treatment for the sick poor. Though some criticized and advised against any friction with the all-powerful Commissioners, that nothing would be gained by antagonizing them, I and others agreed with Dr. Pryor and the friendship that was formed that day between him and me increased and lasted to the end. Dr. Pryor, during his connection with the City Hospital, was an indefatigable worker. In the care of his patients before and after operation he exhibited a zeal and a sacrifice of personal comfort that were peculiarly his own. Most of you, gentlemen, are familiar with the cold, bleak winds of a winter's night on the East River between Blackwell's Island and 52d street. The run over on a launch was not comfortable. But many a night, with river full of ice and snow and sleet pelting straight in his face, Dr. Pryor crossed in a rowboat to see the poor waif he had operated on in the daytime and carry with him. some delicacy the hospital diet-sheet did not afford-physician and samaritan. During this time was laid the foundation whence sprung his success as a teacher, operator and writer. As a teacher, he was lucid, direct, enjoying great facility of expression, with a happy knack of conveying his knowledge without being prosy or verbose. Though ordinarily of a quick, nervous temperament, impatient and exacting from his assistants and nurses, before. operation, yet once the operation commenced, no steadier hand, no cooler, clearer head, no accident flurrying him, full of expedient he was equal to every emergency. His colleagues of the Polyclinic in their resolutions state he deserves the highest recognition for his enthusiastic advocacy of the vaginal route in the surgical treatment of pathological conditions of the pelvic organs of women and for the very great skill and originality of his technique in this work-in fact, that he did more. than any other to exploit and make popular the vaginal method in this country. His gynecology, published in 1903, describes fully his favorite operations and is strongly marked with his individuality. It was written when his health was already being sapped by overwork, when the day was too short for his labors. I will not now enumerate the many original operations that stand unquestioned to the credit of Dr. Pryor, his practically bloodless hysterectomy, the treatment of puerperal sepsis, a new and rapid method of dealing with intra-ligamentous fibro-myomota -and here permit me to do honor to one who in Pryor's lifetime had the manliness and sense of justice to give him credit for priority in the technique of this of this operation-Dr. Howard Keilly, of Baltimore. One word more to prove the scientific excellence of the man, a record of one-third of 1 per cent. in vaginal hysterectomy in pus cases. Mr. President and Gentlemen, this part of his career I leave where it will receive the recognition it deserves, I leave it to medical history. If I were asked what was Pryor's chief characteristic of medical excellence, I should say a tireless worker, an original thinker, logically working out his own conclusions, honestly believing in them, defending them against all comers, like the knights of old or the cavalier stock from whom he boasted his descent. Pryor did his own thinking, evolving his own conclusions, unanswerable if his premises were correct, ever fearess in expressing them. Every point connected with his chosen work commanded from the outset his earnest, concentrated attention. He devoured and digested every work published touching on his own specialty. In this he was exceptional, in my experience extraordinary. Once at dinner he, in his abrupt manner, said to me: "MacGuire. such a man has published a brochure on such an operation in gynecology, and though it amounts to nothing I am ashamed I have not read it-there may be something in it and, honestly, I should have read it." His mind once made up as to his diagnosis and treatment then all his thought, all his energy were given to embodying that decision in action, absolutely free and untrammeled by doubt or misgiving. To those who differed from him and saw only obstinacy in the strenuousness with which he upheld his opinions and sought to enforce them, he may have seemed intolerant, aggressive and prejudiced, but those who more intimately knew him, who were closely allied with him and who had opportunities to learn on how much careful thought and observation and research these opinions were based, could not fail to appreciate the pains he took to be right, his breadth of view and original thought. I approach now what was to me a trying epoch and the final one in his career, his sickness and carrying away. and carrying away. I will deal lightly with it, though I feel deeply. In the late spring, the symptoms of the fell disease that proved fatal to him manifested themselves and with some hopeful periods intervening continued to the end. Details are harrowing; enough to tell you that Dr. Pryor, while wrestling with what he knew himself to be a hopeless issue, displayed a courage, fortitude and resignation that would cast a halo on a martyr. Early in June he showed a marked improvement that inspired us with hope and he yearned for the country, for the mountains, the lakes and the wilderness of Nature he so dearly loved. Believing that health and vigor would be restored he insisted on going to his hunting club in the mountains of Pennsylvania-Bloomingrove Club-where he was so beloved, the most popular, keen and successful sportsman of the association. Alas, he was fated to be disappointed. His first letters to me breathed hope, but soon he wrote, "Dear C. J., I am going down hill, I am growing worse. I wish I could see you, but I am afraid of the journey. I am doing everything to get well, following instructions closely, but, old man, I am afraid we are licked in this fight." The same spirit, the same grit he always showed. I went to Bloomingrove and found his condition desperate. I frankly went over his case with him, showing the hopelessness of treatment where he was, the danger of transporting him to the city, pointing out the advantages he would enjoy when there. He said: "If you think I can stand the journey, I am satisfied, but I would like to go to St. Vincent's Hospital and have Room 33; my favorite room." Appreciation for every little attention, a chivalrous politeness to the good sisters who nursed him, the fondest expression of affection and. solicitude for his dear wife and children marked the last moments of my friend. "A fiery soul, which, working out its way, Pleased with the danger, when the waves went high, |