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Dr. James Thorington exhibited a boy, fourteen years old, with subluxation downward and inward of each lens. Vision-R. E., fingers at 14 inches; L. E., light-perception. R. E., cornea clear; anterior chamber deep, especially up and out; pupil round, 3 mm. in diameter; T-2. Under atropin pupil dilates vertically oval, 6×7 mm., showing transparent lens subluxated, the upper and outer periphery being 2.5 mm. from pupillary margin. Eye-ground healthy. The refraction through the pupillary area unoccupied by the lens is +13 S., with slight astigmatism, and in other portions by the lens-45 S. -15 cyl. axis 75. The estimate was obtained with the retinoscope, the point of reversal being at 8 inches. V. with this combination was. The ophthalmometer showed 1 D. cylinder, axis 90. The probable cause of the myopia was the subluxation of the lens, permitting it to assume an almost spheric shape, the rotation of lens on its vertical axis likewise resulting in the astigmatism.

Discussion. Dr. Hansell had seen a patient with congenital dislocation in which the myopia amounted to 18 D., with 8 D. of astigmatism. Dr. Harlan said that the high myopia in these cases simply emphasized the Helmholtz theory of accommodation.

Dr. C. A. Veasey reported a case of restoration of useful vision in a complicated case of acute inflammatory glaucoma of ten days' duration, with visual acuity reduced to the perception of light. The patient, an unmarried female, forty-two years of age, had glaucoma in L. E. six years previously, which, notwithstanding continued medicinal treatment by an oculist, had progressed to an abolute glaucoma. The present attack was in R. E., and when first seen by the writer on the ninth day, V = light-perception. The usual palliative treatment failing to ameliorate the condition, an upward iridectomy was made on the following day. Some vision was restored, and the eye became comparatively quiet. The lens continued to swell, however, and in a couple of months iritis and secondary glaucoma supervened. The lens was extracted, and with correcting glasses V. A year and a half later the patient returned with a closed pupil and reduced vision, for which an iridocystectomy was performed, V

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Dr. H. F. Hansell reported a case of tuberculosis of the conjunctiva in a healthy child thirteen years of age. The diagnosis was based upon the microscopic examination made by Dr. E. A. Shumway that demon

strated a central area of necrotic tissue surrounded by mononuclear cells and by cells of an epithelioid type, with many giant-cells. The growth was covered by thickened conjunctival epithelium and subconjunctival tissue, was hyperemic and infiltrated. No tubercle bacilli were found. Examination of the literature showed that five forms of the affection were recognized; that it is more frequently a primary than a secondary manifestation; that relapses are prone to occur, and that early removal of the diseased tissue offers the best means for permanent cure. Several cases have been reported in which traumatism of the conjunctiva was the only apparent cause of tubercular infiltration at the site of the injury. If excision is not practiced early, the preauricular and submaxillary glands become involved. The diagnosis rests upon the discovery of tubercle bacilli, upon the production of tuberculosis in animals after inoculation of the excised tissue, and upon the microscopic examination of the structural tissue changes.

Dr. W. M. Sweet exhibited a piece of iron imbedded in inflammatory exudate removed from the vitreous by forceps after failure of magnet. The patient, a boy aged twenty, was struck in L. E. two months previously while chipping a boiler-rivet. The physician who examined the eye a few hours after the accident advised him that there was nothing in the eye, and, after prescribing a wash and keeping him at home for a month, said he could return to work. So much pain and discomfort followed the use of his eyes for near-work that he was compelled to stop after three days. He came to the Jefferson Hospital on December 13th, at which time the pupil was moderately dilated, and the iris bellied forward in lower outer quadrant. A scar in the cornea and sclera could be plainly seen. In the lower outer portion of the vitreous was situated a mass of exudate over which a number of bloodvessels could be traced. The mass seemed to be attached to the lens and to the ciliary body. Uncertain light-perception with detachment of retina over other portions of fundus. Radiographs indicated a metallic body in the lower outer portion of vitreous, near ciliary body. The next day an attempt was made to remove the metal through an incision in the sclera. The flat extension point of the Hirschberg magnet attracted the body and drew it to the lips of the scleral wound, but failed to dislodge it. While the magnet held the body near the scleral opening, Dr. H. F. Hansell grasped the metal with forceps and removed it. The body was imbedded in a mass of tissue to which was firmly attached the crystalline lens. Dr. Sweet reported the case as

another evidence of the importance of positive and early diagnosiswhether by the X-rays or other means-in all suspicious injuries of the eyes from pieces of metal.

Discussion. Dr. Hansell called attention to the point that had been frequently manifested before the Society, of which this case was additional proof, namely, the necessity, in order to save useful vision, of the immediate removal of a foreign body that had perforated the coats of the ball. After vision had been destroyed and the eye degenerated, as shown by the opaque lens, fluid vitreous, detached retina, and large masses of exudation, the extraction of the metal could save only the ball, whereas immediate extraction might have saved both the ball and the sight. He alluded to the usefulness of the injection of physiologic salt-solution in collapsed eyeballs. In Dr. Sweet's case the vitreous chamber had been emptied of its fluid contents during the operation. Before the introduction of the sutures, two syringefuls of salt-solution had been injected, and after the final conjunctival suture and closure of the wound the hypodermic needle was again inserted into the incision and more solution injected, so that at the conclusion of the operation the eyeball had regained almost its previous form and size. During the healing, which was uneventful, the shape of the ball was restored and maintained. Dr. Risley said that the disappearance of the sympathetic irritation upon the removal of the mass of exudate was an important point in the case, and thought that possibly the contraction of this mass, dragging as it did upon the lens and the ciliary processes, was probably a factor in the cause of the irritation.

WILLIAM M. SWEET, Clerk of Section.

Experiments ON INTESTINal Suture.-Walter Edmunds and E. C. Stabb (Lancet) have made a number of experiments on dogs to determine the best method of circular suture of the intestine. The methods contrasted were by use of (1) Halsted's inflated rubber cylinders, (2) Murphy's button, and (3) Taplace's intestinal forceps. Seven experiments by each method were made, with the result that all seven dogs in which the Halsted cylinders were used recovered, with the Murphy button only five recovered, and of the seven with Taplace's forceps only four were successful. The failures were due to non-union. As far as the above results go, the verdict is entirely in favor of Halsted's method.-American Journal of Obstetrics.

"NEC TENUI PENNÂ."

VOL. 31.

MARCH 15, 1901.

No. 6.

H. A. COTTELL, M. D., M. F. COOMES, A. M., M. D., Editors.
ERNEST G. MARK, A. B., M. D., and JOHN R. WATHEN, A. B., M. D., Assistant Editors.

A Journal of Medicine and Surgery, published on the first and fifteenth of each month. Price, $2 per year, postage paid.

This journal is devoted solely to the advancement of medical science and the promotion of the interests of the whole profession. Essays, reports of cases, and correspondence upon subjects of professional interest are solicited. The Editors are not responsible for the views of contributors.

Books for reviews, and all communications relating to the columns of the journal, should be addressed to the Editors of THE AMERICAN PRACTITIONER and News, Louisville, Ky.

Subscriptions and advertisements received, specimen copies and bound volumes for sale by the undersigned, to whom remittances may be sent by postal money order, bank check, or registered letter. Address JOHN P. MORTON & COMPANY, Louisville, Ky.

PARASITE OF CANCER.

In a letter recently written to Prof. W. H. Wathen, of this city, by Professor Roswell Park, of Buffalo, N. Y., he says concerning the parasite of cancer:

We have an extraordinary chain of evidence, with observances extending over two years, and I think only needed to be welded together by some fresh link, which Gaylord suddenly found, or thought he found, the other day, in the observation of protozoa in vaccine lymph, which run through their life history in comparatively few hours, which life history proves to be an epitome of the life history of certain organisms which we have been getting from cancer for years, which is an exceedingly slow oneso slow as to have been exceedingly deceptive. That, at least, is the way in which it appears to us at present.

With the above evidence in the hands of two such observers as Professor Park and Dr. Gaylord, it would appear that the actual discovery of the parasite of cancer is only a question of time. With the discovery of the parasite which produces this most fatal disease, let us hope that its nature will be such as to enable us to find a ready destroyer for the germ that will not be fatal to human life.

KENTUCKY STATE MEDICAL SOCIETY.

The Kentucky State Medical Society will meet in this city May 22, 23, and 24, 1901. We are assured by the Committee of Arrangements that every thing is in readiness for the reception of members and the profession at large. The program is one of the best that has been presented for years, and it is certain that a scientific and literary treat is in store for those who attend. Clinics will be held at the hospitals of the Kentucky School of Medicine, the Hospital College of Medicine, and the University of Louisville for the benefit of the visiting members of the profession. Every thing will be done to make the stay of the visitors pleasant and profitable.

Current Surgical and Medical Selections.

OLIUM RICINI (CASTOR OIL).—By Dr. W. I. Cottell, at the Tenth Annual Meeting of the Oregon State Pharmaceutical Association.

This is a fixed oil, expressed from the seeds of the Ricinus Communis (Linne). The best is obtained by cold expression. Remington says: "It is an almost colorless, transparent, viscid liquid of a faint, mild odor, a bland and afterward slightly acrid and offensive taste. It is soluble in an equal volume of alcohol, and in all proportions in absolute alcohol and glacial acetic acid. When exposed to the air in a thin layer it dries to a varnishlike film. If 3 c.c. of oil be mixed with 3 c.c. of carbon disulphide and 1 c.c. of sulphuric acid, the mixture should not acquire a blackish-brown color (absence of many foreign oils)."

There is perhaps no other drug in the pharmacopeia whose therapeutic value is so well established. For over two hundred years it has held sway at the head of cathartics and laxatives; it is especially indicated in all the diseases of childhood, in all inflammatory diseases of the bowels, and it comes nearer being a panacea, a catholicon, for all complaints than any other article. It may be used internally, externally, and eternally, and with confidence on the part of the counter-prescriber that its use will not arouse the ire of the physician. Few objections can be offered against its exhibition. It is safe, sure, and harmless; it is mild in its action, seldom producing griping if fresh and pure. It produces copious liquid stools in from one to two hours. As a heavy oil it acts mechanically, and it contains a certain acrid principle which has not as yet been isolated, which aids its action. It does not lead to the formation of any pernicious drug habit, and it lightens the burdens of the young and the old, lubricates and allays friction

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