able changes; but would warn the unthinking against the adoption of novelties-there is danger in the scheme.

If a could be changed to e in all cases, the argument in favor of eliminating the diphthong would have more strength. As it is, and ever will be, ardor urine will remain as it ever has been; so with os tincæ, cervix scapulæ, and in all cases where the terminal diphthong indicates the genitive singular-as neck of the scapula. But we may cease to use the Latin expressions and employ only. English. Well, why not? Simply because we have no English words to represent all anatomical parts. Then again we have æ and œ entering words similarly constructed, yet of variable meanings. We have cæcum, ilio-cæcal valve, etc., and cæliac axis, etc., cælia signifying a hollow or cavity, and not a blind pouch as does, cæcum. Now to make the single vowel e represent both diphthongs. is not admissible. Edema is perhaps as significant as oedema, but not so classical. However, I have known a scholarly pathologist. to pronounce a limb edematous. Anemia and edema will do, yet we may need a modified esophagus to swallow the terms. Such distortions expand the alæ nasi, and make twinge the columnæ carnæ as well as the chordæ tendineæ of sensitive hearts.

In conclusion I would say that orthoepy depends somewhat on orthography. For instance, perinæum spelled with a diphthong must have the accent placed on the penult, but with the double vowel reduced to e the accent is apt to fall on the antepenult.— HowE, Eclectic Medical Journal, 1891.

SPECIFIC MEDICATION.

Dr. Howe answers the often plied question as to whether he believed in specific medication. This article comes as near an expression on the subject by Dr. Howe as any we have ever seen from his pen.Ed. Gleaner.

SPECIFIC MEDICATION.-I am frequently asked if I believe in "specific medication," and my answer is, that I have always advocated the application of remedies specifically. I prescribe for symptoms when causes of disease are not understood. I believe in a well devised system of nosology for the convenience of the thing, when the ensemble of a series of morbid activities can be comprehended as designated, as it can be in pneumonia, measles, scarlet fever, small pox, and numerous other well known diseases. Then why quibble over a silly symptomatology? I am something of a

utilitarian, and have no time to haggle over non-essentials. If bacteriology means anything, it leans towards specific pathology. Here is the bacillus tuberculosis as the materies morbi of phthisisno, as the contagium vivum of consumption. Now what is to be done with the specific cause of the particular disease? Why, kill it with the Koch tuberculin, or some other parasiticide! The drift of pathology throughout the scientific world is in the direction of specific medication. The introduction of antipyrine and kindred drugs is in the line of employing specifics. All practitioners of medicine are in search of a remedial hammer which will hit the morbid nail on the head; and all sensible and progressive doctors take less and less stock in "glittering generalities and general principles." There is less and less shot-gun practice; less firing in the brushes; less and less mixing and compounding; and more and more rifle practice aiming at the bull's eye.

Yes, as ever, I am in favor of specific medication as I understand it. HowE, Eclectic Medical Journal, 1892.

SPECIALTIES IN MEDICAL PRACTICE.

"Man proposes, and God disposes." In the midst of life we are near to death. The last sentence of this selection shows how little one can bank upon heredity and how unexpectedly the fell destroyer may come upon us. "The lion in the path of the ambitious is that I am in the enjoyment of robust health, and my ancestors have been afflicted with longevity," writes Professor Howe. He could not foresee, nor little did his readers expect, that before this paragraph would be read Professer Howe would have passed the portals of life unto death. Even as his great heart was stilled his teachings went on, and to this day their influence is widely felt in Eclecticism. Professor Howe believed in specialties in medicine, but not to the extent that they are carried at the present time. To those whose mad desire is to rush at once into a specialty his words concerning fitness and preparation should prove profitable. Much that is now claimed by the specialist can be successfully and legitimately done by the general practitioner, and much that some general practitioners attempt should be referred to the competent specialist. The latter is especially true of surgery, which ought to be done chiefly by surgeons, and in places of surgical safety and not in the dangerously unsafe offices of most general practitioners nor in the surgically unprepared homes of the sufferers. The specialist should also have several years of general practice to fit him for special work.-Ed. Gleaner.

SPECIALTIES IN MEDICAL PRACTICE.-Although much fault has been found with specialties in medicine they seem to go on and

flourish. The alienist gives his time and attention to mental disorders; the oculist attends to defects of vision; the aurist confines his studies to the ear; the rhinologist restricts his professional labors to the nose; the pulmonist treats consumption and cardiac troubles; the gynæcologist spends his energies upon diseases of women; and the obstetrician engages in parturition; while the surgeon gives most of his time and attention to operative measures -to cutting disease from the human organism. But the most busy of all is the family physician. He works night and day in taking care of the little things as well as the great. He medicates febrile disorders; he manages "colds" and coughs; he prescribes for unaccountable aches and pains; he has to prescribe for senile asthma, paralysis, cystitis, insomnia, boils, corns, chilblains, and every sort and kind of ailment. And to do this successfully and satisfactorily he must be at home (or about home) all the time. He can not recreate in summer, nor deer hunt in winter-he is a fixture, or his practice will decline and eventually vanish.

The same necessity governs the obstetrician. If he would take engagements and keep them; if he would attain eminence in the art and science of obstetricy, he can not be away from home when the parturient women call for professional help. If the obstetrician would be an operative gynæcologist, responding to calls from a distance, he can not sustain a large obstetrical practice. While he is executing hysterectomy away from home his lying-in patients will have to seek professional aid elsewhere. Once I attended twenty or thirty obstetrical cases in a year, but now I have only accidental or consultation cases. The word is that "the doctor may be away from home, on some surgical tour, just when I may want him."

The ambitious practitioner may cater for all kinds of practice— aim to be oculist, dermatologist, surgeon, obstetrician, gynæcologist, and to do the duties of a general practitioner; but trying to cover everything he will fail in many ways-will prove a failure in all of the specialties. One specialty is enough for any practitioner to pursue. Besides, the nature of the doctor's education and general make-up will have much to do with success in any branch of practice. All are not fitted to be oculists, obstetricians, and surgeons. A good knowledge of anatomy is essential to surgical success; and the contingencies of abdominotomy are such that only the coolest and most courageous can overcome a set of unexpected contingen

cies. The timid will close the "exploratory" incision, and lose an opportunity to gain experience and reputation. To fight out of a complex abdominal difficulty requires the highest order of heroism. Furthermore, it requires many years of professional life to acquire a reputation which shall command a paying patronage. Unless a physician be well fitted physically, mentally, educationally, and ethically for a surgical career, to enter upon the course leading in that direction will prove unprofitable. I am led to make these remarks by several physicans, who, under the impression that I might be on the point of retiring from active practice, were desirous of entering upon a course that might lead to successorship. The lion in the path of the ambitious is that I am in the enjoyment of robust health, and my ancestors have been afflicted with longevity. HOWE, Eclectic Medical Journal, 1892.

VIBURNUM CORDIAL.

Viburnum Cordial represents the results of Professor Howe's studies in pharmaceutic combinations, and was originally devised by him for the relief of the stomach-pangs of the alcoholic tippler when suffering from the withdrawal of his favorite but damaging beverage. It was largely employed by him, as it is by others who follow his teachings, as an exceedingly efficient uterine sedative and tonic. The combination is ideal and shows the type of medicinal preparation to which Professor Howe was partial. Its popularity years after the death of the author attests to the worth of the preparation and the pharmacal and therapeutic skill of Professor Howe. See also paper on "Comments on the Action of Virburnum Cordial," etc.-Ed. Gleaner.

VIBURNUM CORDIAL.-Good words continue to come in regard to the results of the "black haw compound." Those who occasionally tipple too much find in the remedy relief from the cravings which attend inebriation.

Men who through age or over-indulgence begin to feel the approach of premature impotence, are finding the virtues of the remedy. Inasmuch as dyspepsia is a concomitant of such letting down, I write the following prescription:

Sig. Dose, half teaspoonful every three hours.

This course of medication has relieved the dyspepsia and given confidence where it was needed. The drug never does harm, and often acts like a charm.

As a female tonic viburnum has no rival. It should generally have the arsenical admixture, or be taken in alteration with acid solution of iron. It is important to know when to apply a remedy. When there is febrile action present the average tonic is out of place. When the solar plexus is alienating the visceral functions, veratrum is the remedy which corrects splanchnic derangements. More than half of human ailments hinge upon visceral derangements, yet the average practitioner never thinks of the splanchnic system of nerves. Digestion and assimilation are influenced by mental shock-by violent impressions made upon the cerebro-spinal centers yet a disordered splanchnic system of nerves is rarely considered. Think of the multiple plexuses of nerves along the front aspect of the vertebral column, and consider the functions of each. Treat the pectoral plexuses for an asthmatic cough. Arsenic and veratrum have relieved coughs no lung balsam will touch. What remedy will impress the semilunar and other vicinal ganglia? The ganglia and plexuses of the splanchnic system of nerves are neural centers where mandates go out to the viscera. Ergot is one of the agencies which influence splanchnic plexuses, especially the pelvic viscera. Ergot adds clonic action to parturient throes. The heart's action is impressed by the influence of digitalis; and the kidneys respond to viburnum.-Howe, Eclectic Medical Journal, 1892.

DYNAMYNE IN ORCHITIS.

This paper should be read in connection with the article on “Dynamyne."-Ed. Gleaner.

DYNAMYNE IN ORCHITIS.-Wider ranges of experience have led me to try dynamyne at full strength, locally, in the treatment of orchitis; and the results have been eminently satisfactory. Dr. Berry has cured three cases with the drug, and I have done the same in two instances. The patients did not complain of smarting, nor of other annoyances. I ordered my patients to go to bed, take a dose of Epsom salts, and apply the dynamyne to the inflamed testis and sensitive cord every hour or two. In two days they were well, yet were advised to wear suspensory bandages for awhile.

For years I have been seeking a local agent that would not irritate the thin and sensitive scrotal tissue; and now I have found the desideratum.

At present I am using dynamyne upon an acutely inflamed