On Treatment of Cancer by Electrolysis. By W. H. MUSSEY, M.D., of Ohio 523 Removal of the Upper Portion of the Left Femur for Disease of the Hip- Remarks upon the Soft Palate and Adjacent Parts in Health and Disease. By HARRISON ALLEN, M.D., of Pennsylvania The Principles involved in the Treatment of Fractures of the Extremities with the Starch Bandage, Illustrated with a New Modification of that Dressing. By CHARLES N. HEWITT, M.D., of Minnesota Report on American Medical Necrology. By J. D. JACKSON, M.D., of Ken- 535 561 571 PRIZE ESSAY: What Physiological Value has Phosphorus as an Organismal Element? An Essay to which was awarded the Prize of the American Medical Association for the year 1872. By SAMUEL R. PERCY, M.D., of A Nomenclature of Diseases, with the Reports of the Majority and of the MINUTES OF THE TWENTY-THIRD ANNUAL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Held in the City of Philadelphia, May 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th, 1872. THE Association assembled at Horticultural Hall, on Tuesday, May 7, at 11 A.M., and was called to order by the President, DAVID W. YANDELL, M.D., of Kentucky, assisted by Vice-Presidents THOMAS M. LOGAN, M.D., of California, CHARLES L. IVES, M.D., of Connecticut, R. F. MICHEL, M.D., of Alabama, and J. K. BARTLETT, M.D., of Wisconsin. The Permanent Secretary, W. B. ATKINSON, M.D., the Assistant Secretary, D. MURRAY CHESTON, M.D., and the Treasurer, CASPAR WISTER, M.D., all of Pennsylvania, and the Librarian, F. A. ASHFORD, M.D., of the District of Columbia, were also present. The proceedings were opened with prayer by the Right Rev. WM. BACON STEVENS, M.D., D.D., LL.D., Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Pennsylvania. Prof. ROBERT E. ROGERS, M.D., of Pennsylvania, on behalf of the profession of Philadelphia, welcomed the delegates in the following remarks: Gentlemen, Delegates to the American Medical Association: It is with unfeigned pleasure, that, as chairman of the Committee of Reception, on behalf of the medical profession of Philadelphia, I extend to you a sincere and cordial welcome to our midst. Gathered to-day in this hall are representatives of our profession VOL. XXIII.-2 from every quarter of this vast country, reaching from the city of the "Golden Gate" to the capes of the Chesapeake, from the granite hills of Maine to the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, covering a domain of twenty-four parallels of latitude and fifty degrees of longitude, and embracing a population, of whose health its members are the guardians, numbering not less than thirty-eight millions of men, women, and children. With these boundaries, this area possesses features of climate, a meteorology and a geology, more diversified and extensive than those of any other single country on the face of the earth. What may we not hope of benefit to science and humanity by observations made upon these in their connection with disease and hygiene by so many intelligent laborers in the field! Meeting here on this 25th anniversary of the organization of the American Medical Association, there are brought together men of every type, of high tone, loyal to their profession, strong men and true; men of sparkling genius, of varied and solid attainments, those who have grown gray in their vocation, laden with the golden harvest of a life's long experience, and those blessed with youth, energy, and ambition, engaged in laborious research, all ready to lay their individual contributions upon the altar of our profession. In view of the reflections which here arise, what a spectacle of "moral grandeur" in possible achievements in the cause of suffering humanity does this assemblage present! More than any other department of human knowledge does medicine appropriate the laws of the other positive sciences as parts of its organic whole, modifying and assimilating them and finding in them sustenance and warmth and life. It is indeed the highest application of the truths of the other departments of knowledge directed to the beneficent end of preserving health and assuaging physical pain. It may, perhaps, be not unaptly compared to some vast sea, receiving the contributions from a thousand perennial streams flowing from distant and widely separated regions, and then dispensing the commingled waters on the wings of the ever moving winds, to spread their vivifying renovating showers over the wide circuit of the globe. Since the organization of our Association, as by curious coinci dence, a new era has been inaugurated; marvellous progress has been made in the developments of science bearing upon human comfort and the mitigation of disease. Thus, the electric telegraph, the vast extension of the iron track, the introduction of anesthesia, and the device of various instruments of precision for the exploration and cure of the maladies of our race. These grand opportunities and great advances have been within the reach of all; therefore, as a natural result, our numbers have continued to increase and the value of our Transactions greatly to improve, thus securing an unabated prosperity to our organization. Whatever qualifications may be made as to the amount of positive knowledge contributed through such annually recurring gatherings as these, it cannot be denied that they exercise personally a most wholesome elevating influence upon the members of the profession. They serve to strengthen old friendships and form new ones, to dissipate prejudices, to sustain self-respect, and cultivate a spirit of charity and humanity, and through the interchange of opinions and the abrasion of thought to brush away the cobwebs from the dusty corners of our brains-to sharpen the battleaxe which has grown rusty with disuse, and to lift us out of the monotonous groove of life in which we have been wont to move; leaving pleasant and cheering memories, which, like the arctic twilight, linger in the sky to meet the coming dawn of the next returning day. The present is the third occasion of our meeting in the city of Philadelphia, the earliest medical centre of our country, which has long since become the vigorous and lusty sire of many a stalwart son. And here let us congratulate ourselves and the world at large upon the vindication of those principles which have ever guided her medical affairs. As the genuine coin is liable to counterfeit, so have unscrupulous men aimed to speculate upon her fair name by spurious imitations. Thanks to a wise legislation, the atmosphere has been purified, and the parties engaged in the fraudulent issue of diplomas have been deprived of their charters and their institutions abolished. The first meetings of this Association were marked by harmony and good will throughout; so may it be now, and may the blessing of the "Author of peace and lover of concord" rest upon us and guide our deliberations. Once more, then, my friends, offering you our warmest greetings and a hearty welcome to our hospitalities, I give place to your further proceedings. Dr. EDWARD HARTSHORNE, of Pennsylvania, chairman of the Committee of Arrangements, then said: Mr. President and Gentlemen: As chairman of the Committee of Arrangements, I beg leave, in behalf of that committee, to add our cordial salutation to the eloquent greeting which we have just heard with so much interest from the chairman of the Committee of Reception. We are very glad to have reached this stage of the work of preparation; and take great pleasure in reporting the arrangements as sufficiently complete for the purposes of the present meeting. Not less gratified are we to meet with so large a body of delegates already registered at the opening of the session. It is much the largest number that has thus assembled on any similar occasion. There is every reason for believing, also, that it is as intelligent and well informed and well educated a body of our profession as it is a large one. We cannot forget that the sum of knowledge and skill and superior education-and with these the actual intelligence-are rapidly and greatly increasing in our medical profession, as they are in all the professions, and among the people, of our country. We must believe, therefore, that this assemblage of the representatives of the medical institutions, and medical men, from every part and quarter of our country, has not come together here for any other purpose and interest than those of science and of our profession, and of a common and truly social brotherhood. Under this impression we have endeavored to make such arrangements as may satisfy these professional and scientific purposes such as may encourage these interests and furnish them with food convenient for them. First, by preparing a museum or collection of objects of scientific and professional character. It is neither large nor very comprehensive, nor does it pretend to represent the whole and the latest advances, even in this city-still less of the country and elsewhere. It is, nevertheless, a collection of which we have no reason to be ashamed. It is one for the excellence of which we are very grateful, and most happy to acknowledge our obligations, to contributors and exhibitors, and to the efficient committee men and aids who have made it the admirable success it has proved itself to be. Secondly with the same or a still greater sense of obligation, we may say still more, if possible, of the exhibition of microscopes and microscopic objects which will be offered to us by the Biological and Microscopical Section of the Academy of Natural Sciences, in the foyer or upper hall, to-night. |