co-operation of every physician in the State of Minnesota in procuring
the passage of the several bills that have been decided upon, and
either have been or will be introduced into the legislature during this
session. It is believed that there is not a man upon the roster of the
State Medical Society, or indeed any physician in Minnesota, who does
not see the necessity of certain legislation for the protection of the
physicians in the State, and also that the common weal will be advanced
by the passage of the telephone bill introduced by Senator Andrews, of
Blue Earth, and by the passage of the bill relative to trachoma, which
is a constant menace to the public health, and several other bills that
are in course of preparation, but which await certain developments
before their presentation. The committee earnestly begs of all the
physicians in the State that they will write to their representatives
and senators from time to time urging with great earnestness their
support for the several measures advanced by the Committee on Public
Policy and Legislation. It is believed that every physician can
influence at least from 10 to 100 votes at a general election, and this
fact, of itself, makes the physician a factor in the election of any
candidate. It is believed by this committee that the medical men of
the State, if they will but unite and act in concert, can measurably
influence legislation. The time has come for the physician to take his
place in the political system of the State, both as an active agent
and, indirectly, through his influence of others.
The telephone bill provides for physical connection between all
telephone companies in the State without extra charge, except a small
toll. It provides that telephone companies shall be placed under the
direction of the Railroad and Warehouse Commission. It provides that no
greater net income than 5 per cent shall be allowed upon the capital
actually used in the operation of the telephone companies. It provides
for intercity telephone service in the cities whose city limits adjoin
without extra charge.
The trachoma bill provides for the segregation of trachomats, and,
under certain circumstances, for the maintenance by the State of
special schools for their education in school districts having as many
as 20 trachomats.
There is also drafted and ready for introduction a bill requiring all
persons who seek to practice medicine in any form whatever to pass the
regular examination before the State Board of Medical Examiners.
There is in contemplation a bill for the purpose of procuring certain
lands for the building of cottages thereupon and establishing farms
to be worked by lepers who may be or shall have been committed to the
leprosarium farm, the intention being that those lepers in the State
that are able to work shall have an opportunity to do so, and that the
said lepers should care for lepers who are unable to work or earn a
living. It is also proposed to purchase a small tract of land not far
from the State University for the purpose of allowing an exhaustive
study of certain forms of leprosy with the aid of the State University
Medical Staff. The leprosarium farm would be under the direction of the
State Agricultural School.
The Chairman of this Committee will be very glad to receive advice and
suggestions from the physicians in the State.
Cornelius Williams, M. D.,
Chairman of the
Committee on Public Policy and Legislation.
St. Paul, Minn., February 3, 1915.
REPORTS OF SOCIETIES
MINNESOTA ACADEMY OF MEDICINE
The Academy met at the St. Paul University Club, Feb. 3. Dr. C. M.
Carlaw presided.
Four doctors were proposed for membership: Drs. W. H. Condit and
Stephen Baxter, of Minneapolis, and Drs. Wilhelm Lerche and F. C.
Schuldt, of St. Paul. All four names were referred to the executive
committee.
Dr. Arnold Schwyzer showed some x-ray pictures of a penetrating gastric
ulcer. He also made a report of a case where gall-stones gave a feeling
of emphysematous crackling, due to small marble-sized stones with no
more fluid than enough to fill the spaces between the stones (perhaps a
teaspoonful in all).
The paper of the evening was presented by Dr. A. E. Benjamin, the
subject being “Goiter Operations with Simplified Technic.” The paper
was thoroughly discussed, the whole evening being given over to its
consideration.
The reading of Dr. White’s thesis was deferred until another meeting.
Twenty-seven were present.
Fred E. Leavitt, M. D., Secretary.
CORRESPONDENCE
To the Editor:
In the February 15th issue of THE JOURNAL-LANCET is a discussion by
Dr. Klaveness, of Sioux Falls, S. D., on a paper on “Syphilis and Its
Relation to Society” by Dr. McLaughlin, of Sioux City, Iowa. In this
discussion Dr. Klaveness states: “We are unfortunate here in South
Dakota in this respect, that we do not have the population and the
laboratory facilities for resorting to the Wassermann reaction at all
times, and any man within the State who would systematically carry out
a Wassermann reaction now and then would invalidate his findings very
materially, inasmuch as it is very well established that, in order to
obtain reliable readings, you must have a serologist or bacteriologist
to follow this work exclusively in order to get accurate findings. It
is immensely important, and it would be a boon to the suffering people,
if we could have a state serologist.”
This statement by Dr. Klaveness is contrary to the facts as they now
exist and did exist at the time he discussed the paper at Watertown, S.
D., in May, 1914.
We have a well equipped medical laboratory in South Dakota in
connection with the medical department at the State University at
Vermillion, and we have been doing the Wassermann test.
This misstatement should have been corrected at the time it was made,
but was not, as I was in Watertown but part of one day during the State
Meeting last May and did not hear the paper or its discussion.
Permit me to state through your columns that we do the Wassermann test
at the State Health Laboratory and have been doing it on Thursday
of each week since March 21, 1914. At that time a circular letter
announcing the fact was sent to every physician in the State, including
Dr. Klaveness. This announcement was made only after several months of
experimental work in perfecting the technic and controlling all factors.
We do the original Wassermann test, using the Nogouchi antigen. All
our reagents are prepared in our laboratory and every possible control
is carried out each time the test is set up. We therefore believe that
our results will compare favorably with the best scientific work of
this character.
At the present time a fee of $5.00 for each test is charged, containers
and instructions are supplied upon request.
We have done the Wassermann test for the State Hospital for the Insane
at Yankton from the first.
Mortimer Herzberg, M. D., Director.
Vermillion, S. D., February 18, 1915.
* * * * *
THE LOYALTY OF NURSES
To the Editor:
My attention has just been called to an article published in THE
JOURNAL-LANCET, August 1, 1914, it being an address by Dr. George D.
Head to the graduating class of the Asbury Hospital. The advice Dr.
Head gives to the nurses seems very good, and very elevating to our
profession, but I would like to analyze it to show that it is not quite
practical.
It has taken considerable effort on the part of nurses to convince
the people, and to convince some doctors, that they are any more than
machines. Because we ask for three hours rest out of the twenty-four,
and because we asked for a fixed rate for service, Dr. Head says that
our loyalty to high ideals is diminishing. Unfortunately, in the
nursing profession, as in all other professions, there are some who
are incapable and unconscientious; and, if Dr. Head had the experience
of having a nurse leave a patient, unattended, at a critical time, she
probably was one of the few incapables, or was so overtired from loss
of sleep that it was necessary for her to have rest. When Dr. Head says
that a nurse should waive her rest hours for days or a week at a time,
if necessary, I think he is making a mistake. A nurse cannot do her
duty by a patient if she does not have proper rest. It is unfair to
both the patient and the nurse. Dr. Head may say that most patients are
not in need of constant attention for more than a few days or a week,
and that a nurse can stand it for that length of time without rest
hours. This is true; but we have to consider that the next case may be
just as critical, and so the nurse must reserve some strength for the
cases to follow. And more often than not, the nurse is obliged to take
cases with very little or no rest between them.
In the second place, Dr. Head thinks that the nurses ought to have a
varying scale of charges for service. The doctors do it; why shouldn’t
the nurses? Dr. Head does not seem to consider the fact that the nurse
has one patient, while the doctor has many. Suppose a nurse takes care
of a poor patient for five or ten dollars a week, where is the rich
patient who is willing to pay forty or fifty dollars a week to make up
the loss? The nurses have found that twenty-five dollars a week is the
price that is necessary for them to live on in order to keep themselves
clothed, pay for their laundry (no small item), and carry them over the
few weeks of rest or over the dull season. The average life of a nurse,
as a nurse, is, I believe, not more than ten years. In that length of
time, at the wages she gets, she is not able to lay away a great amount
for a rainy day, which usually comes all too soon.
We have a number of good hospitals in Minneapolis where people
in moderate circumstances can be very comfortably cared for at a
considerably less expense than employing a nurse in their homes. The
poor in our city, I think, are fairly well taken care of in the city
hospitals and by the visiting nurses, who are paid for such work.
As for nurses refusing cases because they are afraid of them: I think
there is usually some just cause. If a nurse has a tendency towards
tuberculosis, she should refuse such cases; or if she has a tendency
towards throat troubles, she should refuse diphtheria and scarlet-fever
cases. A nurse who is constantly with a patient runs considerably more
risk of infection than the physician, whose visits are usually short.
There are nurses who make a specialty of such cases, and usually there
is no trouble finding such a nurse. Nurses who make a specialty of
obstetrical cases or of children should not take contagious work. As
for a nurse refusing a typhoid case because she is afraid of it: I
cannot believe that any real nurse would do such a thing.
It also seems to me very ridiculous, and it surely cannot be a common
thing for a nurse to inquire before she consents to take a case whether
or not the plumbing is modern and how many servants are kept.
As to just what Dr. Head means by saying that a nurse should be willing
to do any kind of service about a house. I do not know; but I do know
that nurses are not usually physically fit for washing or scrubbing,
yet, as a rule, nurses are glad to perform duties which are not just
in their line, in order to help the household to run smoothly.
Most of the nurses in general work are engaged in nursing because they
are obliged to earn their living, and in most cases because they are
especially interested in this particular field; and, although most
nurses take some charity cases, it is impossible for them to take many,
even to satisfy what Dr. Head calls “the inner, higher longings of the
soul.”
Harriet M. Prime, R. N.
Minneapolis, February 4, 1915.
BOOK NOTICES
MANUAL OF OBSTETRICS. By Edward P. Davis, A. M., M. D., Professor
of Obstetrics in the Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia. 12mo
of 463 pages, 171 illustrations. Philadelphia and London: W. B.
Saunders Company, 1914. Cloth, $2.25 net.
As indicated by the name this is a handy book. It is well illustrated,
the text is brief and well written, and as complete as could be
expected in a work of its size.
It presents no features which are especially new, though it takes up
many of the most recent advances in obstetrics.
It is a work that aims to give those who wish it a concise account of
the status of obstetrics at the present time.
--Adair.
BALNEO-GYMNASTIC TREATMENT OF CHRONIC DISEASES OF THE HEART. By
Prof. Dr. Theodor Schott, Bad-Nauheim. Published by Blakiston,
Philadelphia. Price, $2.50.
This brochure sets forth in the main, preceded by a short chapter on
medical treatment, the philosophy, technic, and clinical results of
balneogymnastic therapy in chronic heart-conditions.
It would appear, inasmuch as Prof. Schott admits the non-establishment
of the probable curative factors of either the carbon dioxide or
mineral constituents, that possibly, as Dr. Anders in the foreword
surmises, the curative properties may reside in the “advantage of being
far removed from the cares and responsibilities growing out of the
practical affairs of life at home.”
Relative to the more firmly established value of the gymnastic
element, it is quite evident that the “resistance movements,” are an
improvement over the Zander mechanico-gymnastic, and of similar value
to the so-called “Terrain Kur,” with the added advantage of personal
application.
--Schneider.
DISEASES OF BONES AND JOINTS. By Leonard W. Ely. M. D., 220
pages, 94 illustrations. Surgery Publishing Co., N. Y. Price,
cloth. $2.00.
Few men are better fitted than Dr. Ely to write an authoritative book
on joint and bone diseases. He has gone at his study from the only
logical end; that is, the study of the underlying pathology. The
book throughout shows the result of much conscientious work in the
pathological and x-ray laboratories, carefully checked up from the
clinical aspect.
The average specialist who writes a manual for the use of the general
practitioner seems to think he must mention every theory which has ever
been brought out since the time of Hippocrates, together with a list
of every form of treatment ever proposed. The bewildered family doctor
gets about as much help as he would from the perusal of a few pages of
the Index Medicus. One good theory, clearly stated, even if it is not
universally accepted, may form a practical working basis which will be
of great aid to the doctor in the understanding and care of his cases.
In this particular Dr. Ely is most satisfactory. He has worked out
the pathology of the tubercular and other chronic joint diseases in
a clear and logical manner. While much may have to be altered in the
light of further research, at least one can feel sure that Dr. Ely has
convictions, and that his work will form a useful basis for further
investigations.
The illustrations are taken almost entirely from photographs or
photomicrographs and are mostly original. So many works on Orthopedic
Surgery appear which are filled with cuts handed down from one
text-book to another, cuts of impossible people wearing impossible
appliances, that it is hard to imagine that such a book, illustrated
with such quaint old prints, can represent the latest word or offer
anything new.
Dr. Ely’s discussion of the pathology of joint tuberculosis is perhaps
the most interesting thing in the book. His idea of the red bone marrow
and the synovia being the sole tissues to be primarily involved does
not agree with the recent work of Fraser, of Edinburgh. Evidently more
work must be done in order to harmonize these findings.
In general, while not much space is given to treatment, what there is,
is clear and is carefully selected by the author, instead of leaving
this important point to the discretion of the reader.
His discussion of the chronic arthritides is quite full and very
instructive. He points out particularly the resemblance between the
pathological conditions found in various chronic infectious joints and
in the various stages of joint tuberculosis.
This little book will certainly be of use to anyone who has to treat
bone and joint diseases.
--Reed.
NEWS ITEMS
Dr. Chas. Pierce, of Wadena, has moved to Menahaga.
Dr. J. L. Stewart, of Spearfish, S. D., has located at Custer, S. D.
Dr. Jas. Farrage, formerly of Deering, N. D., has located at Park
Rapids.
Dr. Hugo Neukamp is leaving Fessenden, N. D., to locate in Beulah, N. D.
The Dell Rapids Hospital was completed and opened the latter part of
February.
Dr. H. A. Gueffroy, of Chicago, has taken over the practice of Dr. D.
F. Sullivan, of Frankfort, S. D.
The new St. Alexius hospital, at Bismarck, N. D., was formally opened
to the public February 15th.
The entire surplus of the old Homeopathic Hospital Association,
amounting to $1,000, was voted to the support of the Maternity
hospital, of Minneapolis, at a recent meeting.
The Physicians’ Hospital company has been incorporated at Thief River
Falls for the purpose of building and maintaining a hospital at that
place. The company is capitalized at $25,000.
In a previous issue we stated that Dr. G. P. Shepard, of Chicago, had
located at Jamestown, N. D. Dr. Shepard is from Courtenay, N. D., and
not from Chicago, though he has been taking postgraduate work in that
city for the past few weeks.
The Medical Society of the State of New York invites all physicians
of the country to its hundred and ninth annual meeting which is to
be held in Buffalo, April 27-29. This will probably be the largest
medical meeting of the year, except perhaps that of the A. M. A. in San
Francisco.
Messrs. J. D. Edgar, Arnold Hamel, R. A. Johnson, and H. A. Rudd,
and Miss Olga Hansen, all of the class of 1915, have been elected to
the Minnesota chapter of Alpha Omega Alpha, the national honorary
fraternity in medicine, the membership of which is based solely upon
scholarship.
Dr. James E. Moore, who has practised in Minneapolis for thirty-two
years, twenty-eight of which have been devoted to the exclusive
practice of surgery, has given up his practice and will, hereafter,
give his entire time to the Medical School of the University of
Minnesota, except for a limited amount of consultation work.
In our last issue we made the statement that the Ramsey County Medical
Society would not admit a physician to membership until he had been a
resident of the county for one year. This should have been written so
as to convey the meaning that a physician must have been a resident of
some county for at least a year, not necessarily Ramsey County.
It is the desire of the publishers of the Journal-Lancet to make this
department of news as interesting to its readers as possible. The items
are obtained from a number of sources, and, though a great deal of
care is given to their preparation, mistakes will necessarily occur.
Will you not help to keep up the interest of this column by sending in
anything which may be of interest to the readers? Notify us of mistakes
as they occur that we may make a correction in the next issue.
“The Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, Incorporated,”
with an initial endowment fund of $1,500,000, has recently been
incorporated. It has for its object the endowment of the graduate
medical instruction and research work which has for years been a
feature of the Mayo Clinic, at Rochester. The founders are: William J.
Mayo, Charles H. Mayo, Henry S. Plummer, Edward Starr Judd and Donald
C. Balfour. The board of temporary trustees having in charge for the
present the investment of the fund is composed of Bert W. Eaton, George
W. Granger and Harry J. Harwick. The board of scientific directors is
composed of Louis B. Wilson, William F. Braasch, E. Hessel Beckman, A.
H. Sanford, and Walter D. Sheldon. For the present the expenses of the
foundation will be met by annual contributions from the Mayo Clinic,
the income from the endowment being allowed to accumulate and increase
the principal.
* * * * *
PHYSICIAN WANTED
To locate in a thriving North Dakota town. For full information
correspond with Andrew Erickson, Makote, N. D.
OFFICE FURNITURE FOR SALE
A good roll-top desk and other office furniture is offered for sale at
a reasonable price. 616 Syndicate Bldg., Minneapolis.
PRACTICE FOR SALE
An established practice in a town of 2,000 for sale for the price of
the office outfit. If you mean business, write at once. Address 205,
care of this office.
SANITARIUM FOR SALE
A new, strictly modern, 50-bed sanitarium with three acres of land on a
beautiful lake, located near the Twin Cities, for sale cheap. Address
206, care of this office.
WANTED
An eye, ear, nose, and throat man who is willing to work. Must be
sober, competent man. State the salary expected, and give credentials
in the first letter. Address the C. A. Hoffman Co., 814 Nicollet Ave.,
Minneapolis, Minn.
PRACTICE WANTED
In Minnesota or South Dakota town, with some future and where English
is spoken. This is wanted by physician who has had several years’
experience in practice, and has done laboratory and hospital work.
Address 198, care of this office.
WANTED
A physician and surgeon to locate at Judson, North Dakota. No doctor
located within seven miles on the west and twenty-three miles or more
in other directions. One who could start small drug-store in connection
with his practice preferred. Address First State Bank, Judson, N. D.
WANTED TO EXCHANGE
Contract mining practice, on Iron Range, with modern hospital, complete
equipment, autos, good roads, drive all the year, best contracts, $600
to $800 cash each month; future very bright. Owner wishes to correspond
with an A 1 physician and surgeon with a good stand in or very near the
Twin Cities, with the view of effecting an exchange for part of the
year. Address, 204, care of this office.
FOR SALE
To a man with surgical ability, one-half interest in my private
practice and well-equipped hospital, located in a live up-to-date
county-seat town in Minnesota; population 2,500; two railroads; good
schools and roads; good fees. This is an excellent opportunity to get
into a place with a good future. Price, $5,000 for one-half interest
in hospital building, equipment, office fixtures, and practice; $2,500
cash. Don’t write unless you mean business and have the cash. Address
202 care of this office.
* * * * *
Doctor: If you want practical post-graduate work during the fine season
in the delightful city, write for particulars. Twenty-eighth annual
session opens September 28, 1914, and closes June 5, 1915. New Orleans
Polyclinic, P. O. Drawer 261, Post-graduate Medical Dept., Tulane
University of Louisiana.
[Illustration]
The Battle Creek Method in Diabetes
Diabetes, though not always curable, is controllable. Practically all
diabetics can be made sugar-free and the acidosis disappears with the
sugar. By a special regimen the reappearance of the sugar and the
acidosis may be prevented.
The Battle Creek method is based upon experience gained in the
treatment of many hundreds of cases supplemented by the observations
and discoveries of Von Noorden, Falta, Guelpa, Benedict, Allen, and
numerous other investigators. The essential features of the method are--
1. A thorough preliminary examination and repeated examinations
comprising (a) complete quantitative examination of the urine daily,
(b) differential study of the blood, (c) chemical, microscopic and
bacteriological examination of the feces and study of the pancreatic
function, (d) X-ray examination of the stomach and intestine with
special reference to stasis.
2. Study of the patient’s metabolism by the respiration apparatus to
determine his respiratory quotient, CO2 tension and basal ratio.
3. Establishment, by the aid of metabolism studies of each case, of a
regimen adapted to the individual by determining the proper proportion
of protein, fats and carbohydrates to keep the urine free from sugar.
The kind of protein, fat and carbohydrate is considered important, as
well as the amount.
4. The patient’s metabolism is regulated by baths, voluntary and
automatic exercise, photo- and thermotherapy and other physiologic
means.
5. The results of the regimen and treatment are accurately controlled
by a “Metabolism Graphic” which shows the daily variations in the
amount of urine, amount of sugar, acidosis, coefficient of sugar
utilization, coefficient of carbohydrate utilization, nitrogen
balance, glucose nitrogen ratio, weight balance and energy balance.
These factors are all worked out by expert chemists and dietitians
and with this data before him, and a great variety of special foods
of known energy value suited to diabetics at ready command, and the
assistance of a strong corps of specially trained dietitians, the
physician is able easily to arrange a dietary adapted to each case and
to note each patient’s progress with the most careful scrutiny.
Under this comprehensive management the sugar usually disappears from
the urine in two or three days, and does not return so long as the
prescribed regimen is followed.
A few weeks’ treatment usually suffices to train the patient to a
suitable dietary which he may safely follow under the guidance of his
home physician.
We will be glad to send full information concerning the Battle Creek
Method in Diabetes to any physician who will mail to us the attached
coupon.
.....................................................................
The Battle Creek Sanitarium, Battle Creek, Mich.
Box 350
The SANITARIUM,
Battle Creek,
Michigan
Please send to the undersigned full information concerning the Battle
Creek method of treating diabetes.
Dr..............................
Street..........................