CHAPTER II, Section 5.-The second paragraph is repealed, and the following substituted: "The Secretary shall send due notices of the annual meeting to each member, and publish notice of the same in three of the daily papers printed in this State." CHAPTER IX.-Expulsion of Quacks.-Said paragraph is hereby repealed, and the following substituted: "Each County Association shall have power to examine, discipline, or expel (in the manner prescribed in Sec. 7, Chapter IV, to which this shall be annexed), any member professing or avowing to practice allopathy, homeopathy, hydropathy, or according to any exclusive system or dogma." The Special Committees on itinerant practitioners and amendments to the charter of the Yale Medical School were instructed to report directly to the Convention. On motion of Dr. Chamberlain, the report of the committee, with reference to the first amendment, was accepted. There was then considerable discussion on the second amendment. Dr. Storrs requested the Secretary to read the paragraph it was proposed to repeal. The Secretary read as follows: "Each County Meeting shall have the power to examine and immediately expel any member notoriously in the practice of homœopathy, hydropathy, or any other form of quackery, without any formal trial, the same to be ratified by the succeeding Convention, any by-laws to the contrary notwithstanding." Dr. Storrs said he preferred the law as it stood and did not consider that it needed any revision; that the power to examine implied a trial; that the powers were definitely expressed, and should be possessed for use when necessary. Dr. Chamberlain thought the provisions which allowed expul sion without trial a disgrace to the society, and such star-chamber proceedings a relic of barbarism. Dr. Jewett said that as he framed and introduced the resolution originally, in 1851, he naturally was interested in it; that it fully met his present views, and should not be changed. Dr. White said that summary action under this rule had been taken several times, and it certainly was desirable that but one uniform system of discipline should prevail as provided by the bylaws preceding, this which had been a special resolution. Dr. Griswold moved to amend so that the resolution should read, "any member professing or avowing to practice according to any exclusive system or dogma." It was so voted. It was moved by Dr. Jewett, and seconded by Dr. Storrs, that the whole matter be indefinitely postponed. It was so ordered. A recess was taken for the election by the Fellows from each County Association of a member of the nominating committee. The following names were reported to the Secretary and announced to the Convention : L. S. Wilcox, M.D., Hartford County. S. G. Hubbard, M.D., New Haven County. C. J. Fox, M.D., Windham County. The committees then withdrew for the consideration of the various matters of business referred to them. That on County Resolves had the case of Dr. M. B. Pardee, expelled by the Fairfield County Society, presented to them. Various proposed amendments were referred to the Business Committee, and several names were presented to the Committee on Honorary Membership, for action. The following letter was read by the Secretary: AMSTERDAM, Avril, 1879. Le Comité d'organisation du Congrès international des Sciences médicales qui doit se réunir à Amsterdam du 7—13 Septembre de cette année, a l'honneur de vous envoyer le programme et règlement, qui ont été arrêtés pour ce congrès. Il vous invite à vous faire représenter au Congrès par un ou par plusieurs délégués, et vous prie de lui communiquer les noms de vos illustres membres, qui honoreront le congrès de leur présence. POUR LE COMITÉ : DONDERS, Président, On motion of Dr. White, it was voted that a committee of three be appointed to select one or more delegates, as requested, who would worthily represent us in the International Medical Congress. The chair appointed Drs. White, Wainwright, and Storrs, on this committee, who subsequently reported the following delegate, who was accepted by the convention: B. N. Comings, M.D., New Britain. The Treasurer's report was received and referred to the Auditing Committee, who subsequently reported that they had examined the accounts, compared them with the accompanying vouchers and found them correct. The report was then accepted; the following is a summary : There was an increase in the expenditures over those of last year $35.60 and a considerable decrease in receipts, but a portion collected in '77 was from arearages in taxes, and the balance is still larger than in '76 or '77. The following is the indebtedness of the different counties for the tax laid in 1878: There are nearly as large arrearages in New Haven County for the tax laid 1877, while for the tax of 1877-8 in Fairfield County, $35.00 was received from Dr. W. C. Burke, Jr., the Clerk of the County Society in 1877, since which no payment has been made to the treasury. There are no arrears of taxes due the Society in Hartford, Windham, Middlesex, and Tolland counties, and but one or two delinquent members in Litchfield and New London counties. These taxes are all due from men well able to pay with but very few exceptions, and were the honest dues, small in each individual instance but large in the aggregate, promptly paid, the Society would not only have a working cash balance each year, and be free from the credit system, thereby securing cheaper work, but gradually accumulate a fund that might be used to make its conventions more pleasant, attractive, and useful, and also to encourage and aid medical investigation and research in this State-interests which should be under the fostering care of this Society. It is earnestly recommended to County Associations to exercise the greatest care in the selection of county clerks, and to retain those that are efficient as long as possible. These clerks are a very important feature in this society; its prosperity is closely dependent upon the manner in which they perform their duties. Without any formal vote, the sentiment of the convention was strongly expressed in favor of sustaining the clerks in all necessary measures for the collection of present and past dues. The Secretary presented an informal request from the American Medical Association, that the State Medical Societies request the faculty of each medical college within their jurisdiction to deliver to the graduating classes at least one lecture on the value and importance to the profession of medical organizations, and the duty of every honorable-minded practitioner to support and sustain them by every means in his power. It was voted that the Secretary be instructed to communicate this request from the Connecticut Medical Society to the Dean of the faculty of the Medical Institution of Yale College. A communication from Gen. Walker, of the Census Bureau at Washington, was presented, requesting each physician to keep record of every case, and stating that blanks would be furnished on application to the department at Washington. The Secretary reported that there were sundry verbal and other changes relating to the clerical department, some discussed last year, and others rendered necessary by the change in the charter of Yale Medical Institution which was made at the last session of the legislature, the principal one caused by the abolition of the plan of gratuitous students from each county. These had been referred to the Business Committee, who presented a favorable report. On motion of the Secretary, they were adopted, and the Secretary directed to publish the By-laws, Charter, Code of Ethics, etc., in the transactions of 1879, incorporating all changes since the last edition. The committee also reported that the following be referred to the next Convention: PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO BY-LAWS. CHAPTER 5, SECTION 5.-The section shall be repealed, and the following substituted: "No member of this Society shall call in consultation or invite professional intercourse from any other than regular physicians in good standing. But when the professional advice or services of a regular physician or surgeon are required by the practitioners of any incomplete system and those under their charge, such professional services may in all cases be rendered.” After a lengthy debate on the general subject of ethics, illustrated by some "wise saws and modern instances," the amendment was indefinitely postponed, several substitutes sharing its fate. The by-law requires verbal amendment, however, as it limits consultation to licensed practitioners, whose number is very restricted at present. The following amendment to Chapter IV, Section 9, was, on recommendation of the committee, referred to the next Convention. In the 5th line, after Connecticut Medical Society, insert as follows: "A certified copy of the levy of tax, signed by the President and Secretary, shall be sent annually to the Clerk of each County Association.” This was stated to be necessary in case of contested dues. The Secretary moved that a committee of three be appointed, with reference to so much of the President's address as relates to the Metric System, to report to the next Convention as to the desirability of its adoption in Connecticut. The motion was passed, and the Chair appointed Dr. E. B. Lyon, New Britain; Dr. E. C. Kinney, Norwich; Dr. C. J. Fox, Willimantic. The following resolutions were introduced by Dr. Nickerson of Meriden, with reference to that portion of the President's address that related to the treatment of Insanity: Resolved, That it is the sense of this Convention that the government of this State should appoint three persons, two of whom, at least, shall be physicians of experience and ability, to act as Commissioners in Lunacy, who shall have the supervision of all the insane in this State, whether in hospital, private institutions, alms houses, their homes, or otherwise. It shall be the duty of this Commission to investigate the whole subject of insanity in all its bearings, relations, and causes,--to examine into and report annually to the governor and legislature of this State the condition and management of all the insane in this State, together with such recommendations as they shall think advisable as to the future management of the insane, instructing and enlightening the public as to the causes of insanity and proper means for its prevention ; and especially to inquire if the interests of science and the welfare of insane patients would not be promoted by hospitals for the insane being organized on the same principles as other hospitals. Resolved, That it is the sense of this Convention, that no commitment of any person should be made to an insane asylum without the certificate of two reputable physicians, the evidences of insanity being stated in said certificates, and, as far as possible, the causes of the disease and |