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POOR-LAW MEDICAL REFORM ASSOCIATION. (LETTER FROM MR. GRIFFIN.)
269 Sore-Throat: its Nature, Varieties, and Treatment, including
the Use of the Laryngoscope as an Aid to Diagnosis. By M. PROSSER JAMES, M.D., Senior Physician to the Metropolitan Dispensary, &c. pp. 155. London: Churchill. THE author has jotted down in apparently a very hurried manner some superficial observations on the varieties of sorethroat, of which he sketches some of the most palpable symptoms. A vast deal of "fine writing" is interspersed throughout the book, and we noticed several very questionable statements, to say the least, while perusing it. Thus Dr. James tells us that sloughing of the throat " may implicate the carotid artery, and so end in sudden death, unless it be previously tied"!Again, in the treatment of croup, we are informed that " students are told to open the jugular veins of infants without delay." We should be glad to learn the names of the teachers whose dictum is Lera quoted. Seeing the laryngoscope so prominently mentioned in the title, we had hoped to havefound some reliable information on the diagnostic signs revealed by that instrument. Two pages and a half, however, contain all the information the author can give us on the subject-viz., that he finds an oval anal speculum useful in looking at the back of the throat, and that the "immortal Liston" suggested, the late Mr. Avery invented, and Professor Czermak completed, an instrument which Dr. James himself was on the point of bringing forth. A few trite observations on the necessity for practice with the laryngoscope, and the remark in two places that it may be useful in discovering a fish-bone in the pharynx, or a polypus in the larynx, comprehend, moreover, all that the author tells us concerning the use of the instrument. The author speaks highly of the tincture of aconite in the treatment of almost every form of sore-throat, and gives it in very small doses; the appended cases amply illustrating, as a matter of course, the success of the treatment.
Lives of Eminent American Physicians and Surgeons of the Nineteenth Century. By SAMUEL D. GROSS, M.D. London : Trilbner and Co. AT the present time we possess no biography of English medical practitioners in any way worthy to be regarded as a national work. With the exception of the " Lives of British Physicians" and the " Gold-Headed Cane," no effort appears to have been made to popularize our profession with the public. It is creditable to Dr. Gross, so much occupied as he must be by his arduous duties as a professor of surgery, that he could find time to edit a work like the one before us. The " American Medical Biography" contains memoirs of thirty-two physicians and surgeons, from the pens of twenty-eight writers, some of them nearly related to the deceased, and most of them having the best opportunities of affording the most complete information respecting them. In a work so constituted, it was natural to expect that the memoirs should be of very different degrees of merit, and this is the case. Some are complete, full, and accurate ; others appear meagre, and carelessly written. As an effort, however, on the part of the Editor to familiarize the names and lives of his professional brethren to his countrymen at large, the book of Dr. Gross is worthy of commenda-
Second edition of Dr. Inman’s Foundationfor a .1.Vew T7teory of Medicine.—Though learned and clever, Dr. Imnan is conceited, pedantic, and dogmatical. There is much to interest in his book-much suggestive thought. It is to be regretted that a man who can write so well and so originally should not have more modesty and a sounder judgment.
POOR-LAW MEDICAL REFORM ASSOCIATION. (LETTER FROM MR. GRIFFIN.) To t7te Editor
of THE LANCET.
many of the Poor-law medical officers are anxiously forward for some account of the proceedings of the Select Committee on the operation of the Poor-law, and particularly so far as the medical department is concerned, I must again request the favour of space in your columns for the accompanying letter, which will explain that medical evidence will not be taken at present, though, I trust, it will ultimately be received; but still I cannot disguise the fact, that the last paragraph of the note leaves it doubtful. In another letter received from the Poor-law Board by a gentleman who tendered evidence, it is stated that " if it shall appear desirable to summon you as a witness before the Poor-law Committee, you shall receive a further communication in the course of a few weeks." I regret this delay, though it may have its advantages, as it will enable my brethren to think over the evidence they wish to tender. In the House of Commons last Friday (8th instant), " Mr. Beecroft asked the President of the Poor-law Board why the Poor-law Board did not cause to be carried out by boards of guardians their instructions to remunerate the Poor-law medical officers. Mr. Villiers said he had some difficulty in answering the question, because the hon. member assumed as a fact that which he, Mr. Villiers, did not know was the fact. The remuneration proceeded on the same principle as the payments of the other union officers, or at any rate he was not aware of any difference." I believe the above quotation to be the correct one; but as it is differently stated in five morning papers, I cannot vouch for its accuracy. Mr. Beecroft evidently referred to the fourth resolution of the Select Committee of 1854 on Medical Relief, which says: " They also recommend that the Poor-law Board should direct their attention to the salaries of the medical officers, which, in some cases, appear to be inadequate to the duties they are required to perform." As Mr. Villiers does not know what Mr. Beecroft says is a fact, I will here relate that there are 1174 medical officers whose salaries are so low that if they are divided by the number of patients attended they will average less than 3s. per patient, and yet some of these live many miles distant from the residence of the medical officer; and the average duration of their illness is over twenty-one days, and if those in the permanent list be included, and such ought to be the case, the period will be over three weeks. Of these 1174, 141 actually receive salaries so small that they average less than Is. per patient, and some are as low as 3d. I will not trespass further on your space but to urge on the Poor-law medical officers to continue their efforts, and lay before the Committee such a mass of evidence as will overwhelm the Poor-law Board, and compel the Government to bring in a Bill to amend the present disgraceful system of Medical Relief to the Poor.
SIR,—As
looking
tion.
T
am-
Sir-
vour
obedient servant-
____
RICHARD GRIFFIN. NEW EDITIONS. The second edition of Guy’s Principles of Forensic Medicine. In this issue a great number of the illustrative cases and tables have been omitted, and space thus given for a number of woodcuts, which are well executed, and many of them not to be met with in any shape elsewhere. We must, however, take exception to the very small type with which this volume is
printed. Fownes’ Manual of Chemistry, by Drs. Jones and Hofmann, eighth edition, brings up the science of chemistry to the requirements of the student of the present day.
Poor-law
Board, Whitehall, March 5th, 1861. Mr. Villiers to say, that the Poorlaw Committee held its first sitting to-day. As the inquiry to be made by the Committee is of a very extensive character, it is not expected that any evidence will be received upon the subject of Poor-law medical officers before the lapse of some considerable time; and you will receive a further communication in due course if it should be determined hereafter to require your attendance as a witness. I am- Sir. vour obedient servant. JOHN THORNELY.
SIR,—I
am
directed
by
the Use of the Laryngoscope as an Aid to Diagnosis. By M. PROSSER JAMES, M.D., Senior Physician to the Metropolitan Dispensary, &c. pp. 155. London: Churchill. THE author has jotted down in apparently a very hurried manner some superficial observations on the varieties of sorethroat, of which he sketches some of the most palpable symptoms. A vast deal of "fine writing" is interspersed throughout the book, and we noticed several very questionable statements, to say the least, while perusing it. Thus Dr. James tells us that sloughing of the throat " may implicate the carotid artery, and so end in sudden death, unless it be previously tied"!Again, in the treatment of croup, we are informed that " students are told to open the jugular veins of infants without delay." We should be glad to learn the names of the teachers whose dictum is Lera quoted. Seeing the laryngoscope so prominently mentioned in the title, we had hoped to havefound some reliable information on the diagnostic signs revealed by that instrument. Two pages and a half, however, contain all the information the author can give us on the subject-viz., that he finds an oval anal speculum useful in looking at the back of the throat, and that the "immortal Liston" suggested, the late Mr. Avery invented, and Professor Czermak completed, an instrument which Dr. James himself was on the point of bringing forth. A few trite observations on the necessity for practice with the laryngoscope, and the remark in two places that it may be useful in discovering a fish-bone in the pharynx, or a polypus in the larynx, comprehend, moreover, all that the author tells us concerning the use of the instrument. The author speaks highly of the tincture of aconite in the treatment of almost every form of sore-throat, and gives it in very small doses; the appended cases amply illustrating, as a matter of course, the success of the treatment.
Lives of Eminent American Physicians and Surgeons of the Nineteenth Century. By SAMUEL D. GROSS, M.D. London : Trilbner and Co. AT the present time we possess no biography of English medical practitioners in any way worthy to be regarded as a national work. With the exception of the " Lives of British Physicians" and the " Gold-Headed Cane," no effort appears to have been made to popularize our profession with the public. It is creditable to Dr. Gross, so much occupied as he must be by his arduous duties as a professor of surgery, that he could find time to edit a work like the one before us. The " American Medical Biography" contains memoirs of thirty-two physicians and surgeons, from the pens of twenty-eight writers, some of them nearly related to the deceased, and most of them having the best opportunities of affording the most complete information respecting them. In a work so constituted, it was natural to expect that the memoirs should be of very different degrees of merit, and this is the case. Some are complete, full, and accurate ; others appear meagre, and carelessly written. As an effort, however, on the part of the Editor to familiarize the names and lives of his professional brethren to his countrymen at large, the book of Dr. Gross is worthy of commenda-
Second edition of Dr. Inman’s Foundationfor a .1.Vew T7teory of Medicine.—Though learned and clever, Dr. Imnan is conceited, pedantic, and dogmatical. There is much to interest in his book-much suggestive thought. It is to be regretted that a man who can write so well and so originally should not have more modesty and a sounder judgment.
POOR-LAW MEDICAL REFORM ASSOCIATION. (LETTER FROM MR. GRIFFIN.) To t7te Editor
of THE LANCET.
many of the Poor-law medical officers are anxiously forward for some account of the proceedings of the Select Committee on the operation of the Poor-law, and particularly so far as the medical department is concerned, I must again request the favour of space in your columns for the accompanying letter, which will explain that medical evidence will not be taken at present, though, I trust, it will ultimately be received; but still I cannot disguise the fact, that the last paragraph of the note leaves it doubtful. In another letter received from the Poor-law Board by a gentleman who tendered evidence, it is stated that " if it shall appear desirable to summon you as a witness before the Poor-law Committee, you shall receive a further communication in the course of a few weeks." I regret this delay, though it may have its advantages, as it will enable my brethren to think over the evidence they wish to tender. In the House of Commons last Friday (8th instant), " Mr. Beecroft asked the President of the Poor-law Board why the Poor-law Board did not cause to be carried out by boards of guardians their instructions to remunerate the Poor-law medical officers. Mr. Villiers said he had some difficulty in answering the question, because the hon. member assumed as a fact that which he, Mr. Villiers, did not know was the fact. The remuneration proceeded on the same principle as the payments of the other union officers, or at any rate he was not aware of any difference." I believe the above quotation to be the correct one; but as it is differently stated in five morning papers, I cannot vouch for its accuracy. Mr. Beecroft evidently referred to the fourth resolution of the Select Committee of 1854 on Medical Relief, which says: " They also recommend that the Poor-law Board should direct their attention to the salaries of the medical officers, which, in some cases, appear to be inadequate to the duties they are required to perform." As Mr. Villiers does not know what Mr. Beecroft says is a fact, I will here relate that there are 1174 medical officers whose salaries are so low that if they are divided by the number of patients attended they will average less than 3s. per patient, and yet some of these live many miles distant from the residence of the medical officer; and the average duration of their illness is over twenty-one days, and if those in the permanent list be included, and such ought to be the case, the period will be over three weeks. Of these 1174, 141 actually receive salaries so small that they average less than Is. per patient, and some are as low as 3d. I will not trespass further on your space but to urge on the Poor-law medical officers to continue their efforts, and lay before the Committee such a mass of evidence as will overwhelm the Poor-law Board, and compel the Government to bring in a Bill to amend the present disgraceful system of Medical Relief to the Poor.
SIR,—As
looking
tion.
T
am-
Sir-
vour
obedient servant-
____
RICHARD GRIFFIN. NEW EDITIONS. The second edition of Guy’s Principles of Forensic Medicine. In this issue a great number of the illustrative cases and tables have been omitted, and space thus given for a number of woodcuts, which are well executed, and many of them not to be met with in any shape elsewhere. We must, however, take exception to the very small type with which this volume is
printed. Fownes’ Manual of Chemistry, by Drs. Jones and Hofmann, eighth edition, brings up the science of chemistry to the requirements of the student of the present day.
Poor-law
Board, Whitehall, March 5th, 1861. Mr. Villiers to say, that the Poorlaw Committee held its first sitting to-day. As the inquiry to be made by the Committee is of a very extensive character, it is not expected that any evidence will be received upon the subject of Poor-law medical officers before the lapse of some considerable time; and you will receive a further communication in due course if it should be determined hereafter to require your attendance as a witness. I am- Sir. vour obedient servant. JOHN THORNELY.
SIR,—I
am
directed
by