earning system. So long as this obtains, it is inevitable that every child should be looked upon as a grant-earning machine, and be worked to the utmost of his capabilities, regardless of the remoter consequences. In the second place, a knowledge of the hygiene of the eyes' should be a sine quâ non for a school teacher. The arrangements for the lighting of the schoolroom may be perfect, the desks of the newest style, and print excellent, but all these real advantages will be, to a great extent, neutralized by a teacher who does not understand the principles on which they are devised.

"We doubt whether a medical examination of the children's eyes on entering the school would elicit as much use ful information as a more deliberate observation by an intel ligent teacher. Fully 90 per cent. of young children are hypermetropic, and it would not be possible to lay down a hard-and-fast rule as to what degree of hypermetropia should be taken to indicate the necessity for glasses. The general condition of the child, and the work it has to do, are important factors which could be better measured in the school-room than in the consulting room.

"We believe that any fear of the nation becoming 'purblind' is entirely groundless, but that an enormous amount of temporary suffering and permanent injury is needlessly inflicted we have no doubt; and this is a state of affairs that calls loudly for some inquiry and remedy. On the whole, we believe that a committee should be formed consisting of school board members, teachers, and ophthalmic surgeons to investigate the whole subject."

THE Western Druggist noticed editorially last month the suit against Dr. Castleton, of Texas, for damages sustained by the death of a child. The prescription in ques

tion is stated to be:

To be administered in teaspoonful doses.

If a sufficient quantity of nitrous acid had been present to convert the methozin entirely into the isonitroso compound only about 171⁄2 grains could have been formed (177:206 :: 15: 17.4÷) or a trifle over one grain in each dose. If such was the case, and the salt in question really caused

the death of the child, a boy of five years, as only one dose was taken, it must possess intensely poisonous proper ties. Moreover, it is not likely that the acid was present in sufficient amount to have produced seventeen and one-half grains of the nitryl, and which would, theoretically, require 3.3% of nitrous acid in the two fluid drachms of spirits used.

Whatever may have been the cause of the deplorable results which followed the use of the mixture, the writer is impelled to offer the suggestion that from the fact that the formation of isonitril can be so easily prevented, there' is no excuse save ignorance for its appearance in a prescription. -Medical Herald.

TREATMENT OF TABES AND IMPOTENCY BY SUSPENSION. We hope our readers will not neglect reading the lecture of CHARCOT in this number of the MEDICAL NEWS, translated for us by Dr. Illowy, of Cincinnati, from the Journal de Med. de Paris. The MEDICAL NEWS, we believe, has the honor of being the first medical journal in this country to publish this very interesting lecture.

Dr. Charcot informs us in his lecture that suspension by the arms and head, so far as he has employed it at the pres ent time, affords almost certain relief to a number of the symptoms of ataxia-shooting pains, motor incoordination, sexual impotency and vesical trouble. But what seems to us still more remarkable, it produces restoration of virile power in those who have had it dimished by age. In fact, according to Charcot, it has, "as a principal result, the restoration of the sexual function."

But we will let our readers read the article for themselves. On account of the translation of Charcot's lecture, and also the article of Dr. Hopkins on SANITATION, having been handed to us after the present issue of the MEDICAL NEWS had made considerable progress in being set up, we have been compelled to give them positions out of the regular order of arrangement. Dr. Hopkins' article will be found to possess much valuable information.

MIND IS NOT MATTER, says Dr. O. Everts, of the Cincinnati Sanitarium, as it is only a manifestation of material activities, subject to endless variations, affected by the relations of living mechanisms to environments, however dimly the fact may be perceived.

AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION.-The fortieth annual meeting of this organization will be held the last week in June, of this year, in Newport, R. I. This will be the first year that a meeting will be held outside of a large city. Though it will assemble at Newport without the invitation of the local profession, yet there is every reason to believe that the meeting will be a success, for we understand that the resident physicians are putting forth their best efforts to that end. The whole of them constitute a local committee of preparation, of which Dr. Storer is Chairman. It is possible that the City Council or a citizens' committee will assist in the entertainment of the visitors, Mayor Coggeshall having suggested such action to the City Council, in connection with the observance of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the settlement of the city.

The last meeting was held in Cincinnati, at which not less than 1500 physicians, from all parts of the United States, were present; many of them brought their families. There were, besides, not less than 100 exhibitors of instruments, medical preparations, invalid appliances, books, etc.

The editor of the Journal says that all contemplating contributing papers to the Sections should communicate with the officers of the Section in which their papers will be read, as soon as possible. In preparing papers for the Sections, the rules of the Association, in regard to papers, should be borne in mind. Among the rules is this requirement: that any one proposing to present a paper, or a report, to any one of the Sections, should forward either the paper or a title indicative of its contents and its length to the Chairman of the Committee of Arrangements, at least one month before the annual meeting at which the paper or report is to be read.

It is not permitted to the Sections to refer papers or reports to the Committee of Publication, except such as can be fairly classed under one of the three following heads: 1. Such as may contain and establish positively new facts, modes of practice, or principles of real value. 2. Such as may contain the results of well-devised, original experimental researches. 3. Such as present so complete a review of the facts on any particular subject as to enable the writer to deduce therefrom legitimate conclusions of importance.

All papers must be so prepared that they can be at once put into the hands of the Permanent Secretary, to be transmitted to the Committee of Publication.

THE

CINCINNATI MEDICAL NEWS.

VOL. XXII. No. 255.
255. } MARCH, 1889. {

Old Series.

VOL. XVIII. No. 3.
New Series.

Original Contributions.

Peculiar Case of Triplets.

BY E. A. COBLEIGH, M.D., CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.

As triplets, in midwifery practice, only occur, according to published statistics, about once in 7,900 cases, and having recently had a second case in a professional career of about seventeen years, I have deemed this latter one worthy of report, because of its peculiar and rare complications, and measures required for surmounting them.

Mrs. A., white, thirty years old, of good family, mother of four children, was pregnant for the fifth time. She had a history of post-partum hemorrhage in one confinement, and severe and tedious puerperal fever in another. Ordinarily healthy, she suffered more than usual during the last pregnancy from trivial but annoying ailments, following each other in tolerably rapid succession, as neuralgias, headaches, backaches, disturbances of bladder, diarrhoea, undue weakness, edema of lower limbs, enlarged veins, etc. partner and myself were often called upon to prescribe for her during several months, and her husband was more than ordinarily anxious lest she was going to experience serious trouble in labor.

My

Menstruation last appeared in June, 1888, about the 16th. She was expecting confinement the last of March, or first of April, 1889, and as she got nearer the time her troubles increased in intensity. February 13, 1889, I was called to visit Mrs. A. about two P. M., by the husband, who said. she was having some pain; not sure that labor was imminent, though he preferred she should be seen. Found her tranquil, in good spirits and os uteri dilating normally, with

a vertex presentation and unruptured membranes. After waiting patiently rather longer than my habit, because of her former lying-in troubles, I ruptured the sack, but there was only a scant flow of amniotic fluid, and pains seemed deficient. Abdomen above usual size, pelvis roomy, occiput seemed to fill passage fully, and I surmised a rather large baby. There was no progress, and yet no appreciable cause for delay, at end of half an hour, and pains had become reasonably strong under proper medication and kneading of abdomen. I now put patient on right sideinstead of the dorsal decubitus, and immediately following the changed posture a single pain wholly expelled a living child of about six pounds' weight. At once examined for another, and found a breech presentation in an unruptured sack, uterus quiet, everything in good shape, and prospects of twins. Delivered first baby to nurse, told the mother and those present we were to have two, and got ready for renewal of pains. Just here had to leave mother in order to resuscitate infant, which had become asphyxiated. This took me twenty minutes, the mother meantime resting easily with light pains. The infant again in good shape I returned to the woman, whose uterus was contracting fairly well, but no advancement of contained foetus. Finally rup-tured sack. Profuse gush of fluid and child came down instantly, but stopped with arms hung at pelvic brim. These were brought down one at a time, and still my baby would not advance, though pains were quite expulsive. Suspecting extension of the head or misfit of diameters, I reached for the chin, which was posteriorly placed, but found myself at sea." No trouble to reach head, but geography thereof very puzzling, though my obstetrical experience covers about one thousand cases. After great trouble I succeeded in ascertaining that another infant was trying to present by the vertex, and that its head was in advance of my footling's, face front, and the two chins firmly locked together. No effort of mine was in the least effective toward pushing the interlocked heads up and dislodging the chin "tie." I saw trouble brewing, and sent for Dr. Rathmell, my partner, our office being only four squares away. Dr. R. responded at once with a fresh supply of anesthetics, and we chloroformed the patient forthwith to complete extent, as she had previously only had enough to render labor bearable, as is my habit. I now proceeded to decapitate the footling, already dead, as shown by pulseless state