The medical colleges have resumed their regular lectures, the students having returned from their Christmas visit to their—mothers.
One of the societies inaugurated the new year by a banquet, which was a most delightful affair. It was given at the Eutaw House, was well attended, substantial, and well served. The toasts formed no small part of the enjoyment. Some of the reminiscences of the older members afforded much merriment.
A very interesting case of the heart displaced to the left side was exhibited to the Clinical Society by Dr. McSherry at the meeting of January 8. It is rare, and only a few cases are reported. Displacement to right side is not of unfrequent occurrence, and a number of cases are recorded. The apex beat in this case is heard two inches to the left of a perpendicular line through the left nipple. The first line of dullness is one inch and a half to the left of the center of the sternum. Attachment to a contracted lung due to phthisis is the probable cause of the displacement. At the same meeting there were reported two cases of laparotomy for intestinal obstruction. Both terminated in recovery.
A somewhat novel, but said to be successful, treatment for cases of "wry neck" due to neuralgia or "cold" was mentioned at the Medical and Surgical Society on the 14th. It is to sit for one half hour or more near a very hot stove, placing the affected side opposite an open door. A screen should be placed beyond the patient so as to confine the heat as much as possible to his immediate locality.
It was suggested by the mention of a case, in a child eleven years old, which had continued four weeks, in spite of treatment. One physician thought the Faradic current a specific in such cases.
I have read with pleasure a little work which, if I mistake not, will be most welcome to the profession. It is a book of nearly seventy pages, entitled 'Practical Notes on the Treatment of Skin Diseases.' I am glad to say also, that it is written and published by a Baltimore physician, Professor Rohé, whose 'Text Book of Hygiene' I took occasion to mention in my last communication.
I suppose all country practitioners, if not those of the city also, who are busy from morning till night with hardly two hours a day for reading, have felt as I have on many occasions, the need of some concise practical text books not given to speculations and generalizations! Especially is this needed in "Skin Diseases," because of the meager knowledge that we common practitioners have of the subject. There has seemed to me to be a tendency to call most skin diseases "eczema," just as it undoubtedly is to call all vague pains throughout the body "rheumatism."
Dr. Rohé very truly remarks that "most text books on dermatology have as their besetting sins complicated classifications or 'systems,' an awkward nomenclature, great prolixity and a lack of definiteness in the description of typical diseases, and an undue multiplication of morbid processes." No one better understands this than a practical physician who has spent half an hour hunting through one or two large text books for light on a case in hand and finally "falls back on" his 'Dunglison.' It seems quite clear that without a fine atlas most of the large works on dermatology are for the most part unintelligible.
Dr. Rohé's book is one of a series, the others to follow shortly if this is accorded a hearty reception. This first series is devoted to the diseases of the perspiratory and sebaceous glands. Their anatomy and physiology are briefly stated, then follows the descriptions of the diseases commonly met with, as well as the rarer forms, in terse, plain language. The last few pages contain formulæ which experience has shown to be of value. The subjects of "prickly heat" and "acne" are especially well treated, and either of them is more than worth the price of the book.
I have dwelt at much length on this subject because I feel that this little work ought to be in the hands of every busy practitioner who is not well acquainted with diseases of the skin. It can be had by sending twenty-five (25) cents to the author, Dr. George H. Rohé, 139 North Calvert street, Baltimore, Md.