not generally admitted. Legon, Delorme, Niemier, French military surgeons, do not favor the first aid package. And until 1899 no such package was used in the French army.

In 1855 an order was issued in England from the medical department which required that a field dressing should form a component part of every British soldier's kit in active service, as a first aid dressing for wounds. It was ordered to be carried in the soldier's knapsack during the Ashanti war of 1873-74. During the Spanish-American war the Surgeon-General issued 272,000 first aid packages, such as I have shown you, in Cuba and Porto Rico.

As the quantity of dressing material must be necessarily limited in the dressing of gunshot wounds behind the fighting line, it is evident that better results will be obtained if it is impregnated with an antiseptic substance than if it is composed simply of sterile material. Perfect asepsis on the battlefield is a happy dream, which will probably never be realized.

CONCLUSIONS

- 1. The first aid packages are indispensable on the battlefield in modern warfare.

2. The first aid package must be sufficiently compact and light to be carried in the shirt of the uniform, or on the inner surface of the cartridge or sword belt to be of no inconvenience to the soldier or in conflict with military regularities.

3. The Esmarsh triangular bandage is of great value in the school of instruction, but as a component part of the first aid package it is inferior to the gauze bandages.

4. The first aid package must contain in a waxed aseptic envelope an antiseptic powder, such as boro-salicylic powder, two strips of aseptic lintin 4x8', a gauze handkerchief 40′ square, two safety pins wrapped in tinfoil, and between this and the outside impermeable covering, two strips of adhesive plaster an inch wide and eight inches long.

5. The first aid dressing must be applied as soon as possible after the receipt of the injury, a part of the field service which can be safely entrusted to competent hospital corps men.

6. The first aid dressing, if employed behind the firing line, should be applied without removal of the clothing of the injured part and fastened to the surface of the skin with strips of rubber adhesive plaster, the bandage being applied over and not under the clothing.

7. The first aid dressing must be dry, and should remain so by dispensing with an impermeable cover of any kind over it, so as not to interfere with the free evaporation of the normal secretions.

8. The first aid dressing should not be disturbed unnecessarily, but any defects should be corrected at the first dressing station.

PARTURITION AMONG THE ESKIMOS.

By C. C. GLEAVES, M. D., San Francisco.

Ex-Surgeon U. S. Steamer "Bear": Late Surgeon Kotzebue Commercial and Mining Co.

While spending the winter in northwestern Alaska I was very much interested in witnessing an Eskimo woman giving birth to a child. It is seldom that a "cablona" (whiteman) doctor is permitted to witness this trying ordeal. However, as I had treated different members of the family and had gained their confidence I was permitted on this occasion to be present.

It is the custom among the Eskimos not to be confined in an "igloo," or house. The woman must go into the woods or brush alone-no one, not even the husband, being allowed to be present and remain there with no food except a piece of dried fish for "five sleeps," when she is permitted to return to the "igloo"; no doubt, that being the time required for the lochial discharge to cease. Whereupon, she and her husband take a bath and change their undergarments, when they are fortunate enough to have a change. They are then supposed to be clean until the next confinement.

At the time of the monthly periods of menstruation a woman is not allowed to enter a boat or ride upon a sled of her husband.

In January, 1899, during the long winter nights after "old sol" had bid adieu to the people of northern Alaska, to seek a more genial clime in the sunny south, and in the midst of an Arctic blizzard, a messenger, a little Eskimo boy, came to my "igloo" and announced that "Mama speak catchem mickaninny by and by," "speak" being a term in universal use. I arose from my bed, dressed myself in fur clothing, and started for the scene, a short distance away, the thermometer ranging from 30 to 40° F. below zero, where I found the woman out in the brush in a snow pit, oval in shape, about two feet deep and six feet across, with a few spruce boughs thrown around the

margin as a windbrake, together with a smoky fire of twigs. The parturient chamber (?) had been prepared by the woman herself, by scattering a thin layer of dried grass prepared by her for this occasion, upon which was spread a reindeer skin, with no covering of any kind.

On my arrival at the parturient field I found the woman in labor, on her knees, with buttocks resting on her heels, and having severe bearing down pains, which came faster and faster and more severe until almost continuous, when the bag of waters ruptured. The mother of the woman and my interpreter, the little boy, who were near by, began to exclaim "Mama muckey, mama muckey,"-" muckey " meaning to die. I asked the boy what was the matter with mama, he said in reply, Mama look

see pechuck,"-" pechuck" meaning no, or negative, or in other words, she could not see; her blindness, no doubt being due to syncope. I assured them that mama would soon be all right, and not to be frightened. She soon rallied and labor progressed naturally through the second stage, and after an interval of onehalf to three fourths of an hour, the pains returned. She again had syncope, no doubt due to hemorrhage. She soon rallied again and expelled the placenta, whereupon she took a piece of sinew, which had been previously prepared from the hock of a caribou, and ligated the cord as close to the umbilicus as possible, then severed the cord close to the ligature with a piece of serrated flint as shown in the cut. She washed the babe in

snow, although it rebelled by kicking and squalling lustily at such a cold reception. Notwithstanding the rigorous conditions surrounding the Eskimo mother in childbirth, the rate of mortality of the babes born will agree favorably with our own deathrate, and the same may also be said of the mother. Nature moves in a mysterious manner to perform her miracles and reproduce herself.

The woman wore a belt or a piece of thong to confine her "parka" around the waist, and to it was fastened by short deerskin thongs, bits of ivory, buttons, leather bags in which

she kept tobacco, matches, and other small articles of value. After the snow bath she placed her babe underneath the folds of her "parka," which is the usual resting place of the young Eskimo (although sometimes astride the mother's neck), and proceeded in a bent over position with staff in hand for support, stepping slowly and laboriously, leaving a trail of blood, to another snow pit about fifty feet away which had been prepared, and where the above photograph was taken. She would not remain any length of time at the place where the babe was born, for it is considered unclean.

Our own women think they have an awful time during con finement, and some of them do, but what a contrast between them and their Eskimo sisters! Just imagine for a moment one of our women confining herself alone and under such conditions!

Generally speaking, from a moral standpoint, the Eskimos are not as immoral as one would naturally suppose. They seem to have a law which is inherent in the hearts of all rational beings, to "do unto others as ye would that others should do unto you," and I believe that these people live up to that law more nearly perfectly than do their more enlightened and civilized neighbors. They despise a thief. They are honest in their dealings among themselves and with strangers, but are simple and credulous and are easily deceived, showing they are not liable to deceive others. They are hospitable in their domestic relations, kind and devoted to each other. They have one good trait that is worthy of emulation, that is, the universal consideration paid by all to the very old and feeble. The extraordinary kind and indulgent treatment of their children is a trait common to all of those northern tribes.

THE ARMY HOSPITAL TRAIN DURING THE SPANISH AMERICAN WAR.

By MAJOR CHARLES RICHARD, Surgeon U. S. Army.

(Read at the Annual Meeting of the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States, at Kansas City, Mo., September 29, 1899.)

The army hospital train was organized and equipped early in the war for the purpose of transporting sick and wounded from the commands in the field to the general hospitals. These general hospitals were established at or near military posts, and were easily accessible by rail or boat.

The principal work of the train consisted in carrying sick from the camps in the South, though two trips were made with wounded from Santiago, who were taken from transports at Port Tampa, Fla.

The train was made up of ten hospital cars, a dining car, a combination baggage car, and a private car, thirteen cars in all. The private car was used as quarters for the officers on duty with the train. The combination baggage car contained two compartments, one of which was used as a store room, in which were carried patients' baggage, stores, tents, bedding, litters, tools, etc.; the other compartment was used as the train office