ending February 8th were forty-six, or nearly double the entire number from scarlet fever (nine), typhoid fever (two), diphtheria (eight), croup (seven) altogether, and almost equaling the number who died from consumption (fiftysix). This is thought to be without precedent in the annals of this city. The total motality was three hundred and fifty-three, those from pneumonia being thirteen per cent. of the entire number. Twenty-five persons died from old age.

CHICAGO.

Dr. John Bartlett has invented a new obstetric forceps, which was recently exhibited to the West Chicago Medical Society. It is specially designed for grasping the head when high in the pelvis, and for making traction in the direction of the axis of the superior strait, without disturbing the perinæum; in this particular it serves a similar purpose to the forceps of Professor Farnier and Dr. Hobbs. In Bartlett's instrument the shank is long and straight, and the two parts overlap each other when closed, like a pair of shears; the shank projects from the axis of the blades at an angle of perhaps thirty-five or forty degrees; the handles are large and strong, and project from the shank at the same angle, being thus exactly parallel to the axis and line of traction of the blades. Thus the operator may always know the direction of his traction by observing the axis of the handles. Dr. Bartlett believes they accomplish the same direct traction as those of Farnier, and in a much simpler manner. The overlapping of the parts of the shank make this part of the instrument occupy a very small space.

LETTER FROM WASHINGTON.

MR. EDITOR, In last letter there occurred some comments upon a my recent investigation held by the advisory board of Columbia Hospital upon the surgeon in charge. Since its publication, the annual report of that hospital has appeared, and further reference to the subject seems to be proper. It would seem from this report that the investigation was due to the action of the board of directors, the advisory board acting simply under their orders; that no testimony was given except under oath, was reported verbatim by a stenographer, and is now on file," open to inspection by all wishing to know the facts." This assertion should satisfy all interested in the matter, and is a much better mode of dealing with the subject than, as was suggested in my last, giving additional publicity to what should never have received so much consideration. Publicity was thought by the advisory board to be necessary, and is stated to have been complete; how much wisdom there was in this is very questionable, as, a charge once made public, the faintest suspicion of its possible truth is too apt to receive such confirmation in prejudiced minds which no amount of positive testimony can afterwards disprove, a fact which our politicians know too well how to take advantage of. It is hoped there will be no more public investigations of medical men, at least until the importance and consequence of the same have been well and duly considered. The advisory board has sustained a serious loss by the resignation of Dr. N. S. Lincoln, but has obtained a valuable addition in the appointment of Dr. D. R. Hagner. One of the most marked evidences, shown

by the report, of the appreciation in which the hospital is held is the more than double increase of pay patients during the year over that of any previous year. Another significant fact is the recent election by the District Medical Society of two of the present incumbents to honorary positions, one as president, another as vice-president, the surgeon in chief and one of the board of directors being also placed upon the board of censors.

The report of the health officer, Dr. Smith Townshend, for 1878, just issued, gives a valuable series of tables on vital statistics as applied to the district. The question of the Potomac flats, comprising hundreds of acres of swamp, covered at times with fermenting sewage, and almost encircling the city by the water front, is made of the first importance for sanitary consideration. Since Congress controls the power for remedial aid, and since the nation has been recently so overwhelmed with sorrow at the ravages of yellow fever, it is hoped that the nation's representatives will legislate to Washington's advantage. One interesting feature in the tables of vital statistics is the comparison of the rates of mortality, susceptibility to disease, etc., between the whites and blacks (or colored) of the population. The colored comprise a little over one fourth of the entire number, and, as a rule, live in the more insalubrious sections. The whites furnish a little more than fifty-two per cent., the blacks a little less than forty-eight per cent., of the death-rates. Phthisis stands first among the causes of death, and with the blacks the female deathrate is a little less than one per cent. over the white, the male being three per cent. over the white. In pneumonia the colored race supply nearly two thirds of all the cases. Diphtheria ranks as fifth and scarlet fever as sixth among the prevalent diseases. Trismus nascentium is still recognized as of common occurrence, but does not obtain the prominence it had in previous reports.

The Clinico-Pathological Society, which was organized in 1865, comprised at various times some forty odd members, held its meetings regularly until 1874, and published its transactions in the American Journal of Medical Sciences, held its final meeting in December last; deposited its pathological specimens in the Army Medical Museum, its books and papers in the library of the surgeon-general's office; and with a historical review by one of the original members, and the converting of the funds of its treasury into a supper, adjourned sine die, the termination of as effective and working a medical society as ever was organized in the district.

In January there was organized in this city the Cosmos Club, for social intercourse, by some sixty-four members, four of whom are non-resident. It is intended to bring together on the same basis with that of any other social club persons interested in science or literature, and bids fair from its outset to serve a valuable purpose. The club is duly incorporated for “the advancement of its members in science, literature, and art, their mutual improvement by social intercourse, the acquisition and maintenance of a library, and the collection and care of materials and appliances relating to the above objects." President, Prof. S. F. Baird, Smithsonian Institution; vice-president, Dr. Jas. C. Welling, president Columbian University; secretary, Prof. E. S. Holden, U. S. Naval Observatory; treasurer, Dr. J. S. Billings, surgeon-general's office, U. S. A. Among the members are the names of men prominent in every branch of science at the national capital. The non-resident members

comprise the president and part of the professional staff of the Johns Hopkins University. Several medical men have been honored by being included in the list of members, as congenial to and in sympathy with the work of scientists. Everything that may conduce to draw men together socially, such as the periodicals, cards, refreshments, etc., and handsome and comfortably furnished rooms, has been very judiciously provided for by the house committee, and already men begin to look upon the club as a part of their daily life. We all know how scientists, as they become more and more engrossed in their work, are apt to draw out of general society, from a feeling that they are out of place; they miss the sympathy with their especial work which they can find only in such an organization as this, where it is understood, and where it must be a pleasure to be able to detail to an interested listener work done and in anticipation, and they are insensibly drawn out of themselves to take interest in the work of others, on an equally scientific basis. And so with doctors: it is preeminently the club of clubs for them; not, to be sure, for finding patients, but for enlarging their views, and affording them a suitable relaxation. Apart from all this, the ability to introduce a visiting friend to a social circle of scientists, well known by reputation throughout the country, and to honor such from other sections of the country, and to know them away from the lecture room, etc., is certainly a great pleasure. W. L. February, 1879.

SHORT COMMUNICATIONS.

A NEW METHOD OF TREATING DISLOCATION OF THE FEMUR, WITH FRACTURED ACETABULUM.

BY W. L. FAXON, M. D., QUINCY.

MRS. FAXON, aged thirty-five, wife of Dr. W. L. Faxon, of Quincy, Mass., was thrown from a buggy while driving, October 1, 1877. When taken up there were symptoms of dislocation or fracture of the right femur. Examination proved the existence of a fracture of the lip of the right acetabulum and dislocation of the head of the femur downwards and backwards, with about four inches shortening. The fracture of the lip of the acetabulum was so deep that there was no feeling of the head of the femur being raised in its passage over the broken edge of the socket. Dr. John H. Gilbert, of Quincy, assisted her husband in the first care of the patient. Dr. Samuel Cabot, of Boston, saw the case in consultation on the Friday following the receipt of the injury, confirmed the diagnosis, and recommended the use of the long Desault splint. It was tried, but the patient's condition- she being five months advanced in pregnancy, and troubled with constant vomiting from the time she was injured led to its being abandoned. Her husband then prepared a bed of which the following is a description:

An iron cot-bed, six feet two inches by two feet three inches, was floored over with inch board to make a bottom that would not sag; on this was put a hair mattress of three parts, the upper part being thirty-seven inches long, the middle section twelve inches, and the lower section twenty-five inches. Under the twelve-inch section a corresponding piece of the flooring was adjusted for removal. Surrounding the bed, its lower edge just at the top of the mattress, was a frame of board, six inches wide, with legs at the corners extending to the floor, and securely lashed to the legs of the cot. Across the bed at the bottom of the upper section of mattress was a piece of board the same width at the ends as the side frame, but hollowed in the centre to one inch in width. About four inches on either end of this cross-piece were left of the same width as the sides, for reasons that will appear. On the upper piece of mattress thus cut off from the rest three bags of sand were put, the lower one extending from side to side, and its lower edge just covering the hollowed edge of the

cross-piece of frame. This bag was long enough to reach the small of the back, and was loosely filled with about three inches of sand. The space above this broad bag was occupied by two bags, each reaching to the middle of the bed. The sand was thoroughly baked before being bagged. The patient was removed to this bed about ten days after the date of injury, by her husband and Dr. J. A. Gordon. The sand in the loosely filled bags was adjusted by pushing and drawing to fit accurately all the curves of the back. The cross-piece, with the sand-bag just riding up on it sufficiently to take the shape of the lower part of the body, prevented the patient from slipping down in bed, and gave as perfect counter-extension as was ever seen. On the twelve-inch section below the cross-piece was a bag eighteen inches long and some six inches in diameter. This bag was quite tightly filled, and only by hard pressure with the ends of the fingers was made to accommodate perfectly the upper half of the thighs. This bag was made to lie close to the cross-piece. Below this the twelve-inch section was covered with a pillow, as was the lower section of the mattress. To keep the right leg in position a bag of sand was placed on each side of it. To support the foot several small bags, from one pound to four pounds' weight, tightly filled, were used as occasion required. The body was supported and confined on the sides by four bags, one on the side of each hip, with the lower end pressed against the uncut portion of the cross-piece. This end of the bag was made by setting in a piece of cloth the whole size of the end, so as to allow of an accurate adjustment at the hip-joint. The upper end of each bag extended nearly to the axilla. Smaller bags were placed above these to support the arms and keep the body from feeling its own weight.

The comfort and quiet brought by the removal of the splint and bandages were all that could have been desired. The patient's expression was: "There, now I feel perfectly comfortable." Almost as a matter of course the vomiting that had been present from the beginning soon ceased, and the stomach retained what was swallowed. The case progressed favorably. The bed linen was easily removed. The operations of nature, by the removal of the twelve-inch section of mattress with its sand-bag, were performed with comfort and cleanliness, and with not the slightest movement of the patient. No bandage or extension was necessary; passive motion was made as soon as it was deemed expedient, and on the fiftieth day from the receipt of the injury the patient was removed to a chair.

On January 21, 1878, she had a very easy accouchement, and the child, a boy weighing nine pounds, was apparently none the worse for his mother's injury.

At the present writing, December 5, 1878, Mrs. Faxon is able to walk a couple of miles with a cane, and barring a little pain, evidently not in the hip-joint, goes about her occupations as usual, and even has joined in a dance. Her weight, one hundred and sixty-two pounds, is a little against her very rapid recovery of complete use of the limb, but of the perfect recovery there is no doubt.

The simplicity of this new form of application of an old agent may be of benefit to other sufferers, and is the only reason for reporting the case.

DR. JONAH FRANKLIN DYER.

DEATH has again invaded the ranks of the medical profession of Cape Ann. At half past three o'clock Sunday morning, the 9th inst., died Jonah Franklin Dyer, a highly worthy and much respected physician and citizen of Gloucester.

Dr. Dyer was born in Eastport, Maine, April 15, 1826, and was consequently not quite fifty-three years old at the time of his death. After receiving his preliminary education, he commenced the study of medicine under the tuition of Dr. Trafton, of South Berwick, Maine, and finally graduated from the Medical School, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine, in the year 1849. Soon after receiving his degree, he commenced the practice of medicine in Boston, where he remained two years. Thence he removed to Annisquam, a village in the northern part of Gloucester, in July, 1851, where he continued the practice of medicine successfully till the war of the rebellion broke out; and when the first call for surgeons for the Massachusetts volunteers was issued, he promptly offered his services, was commissioned by Governor Andrew in August, 1861, and appointed to the Nineteenth Regiment as surgeon. His activity and fidelity to trusts committed to him while in the army are matters worthy of record; suffice it to say they gained him the honorable position of division surgeon.

Returning from the war at its close, he settled in the Harbor Village, but, through the intercession of his former friends and patrons, was induced, June, 1871, to move back again to Annisquam, where he continued to practice so long as his failing energies permitted.

Dr. Dyer was a man of public spirit and of decided political preferences, and therefore became somewhat prominent in public life. He was a representative to the state legislature from Gloucester in 1869; was connected with the school board several years; was city physician at one time; was alderman from Ward 6 from the commencement of the city government till his inauguration as mayor of the city in 1878; and also held the office of medical examiner till obliged to resign on account of failing health.

Intermittent fever had so shattered his constitution that after his return from the army exposure frequently incapacitated him for professional work. A chronic and troublesome cough was engendered, and finally, early in the month of June, 1878, an attack of pneumonia ushered in the more active symptoms of phthisis which terminated in his death.

As a professional brother Dr. Dyer was courteous, considerate, and free in the interchange of opinions. As a physician he was well abreast of the times, sympathetic, yet deliberate, decided, and judicious in measures and methods, and therefore a successful practitioner. A truly valuable professional and Christian example has been left by him, and we have occasion sincerely to mourn his loss from our midst. J. G. GLOUCESTER, February 11, 1879.

REPORTED MORTALITY FOR THE WEEK ENDING FEBRUARY 8, 1879.

Two thousand one hundred and twenty-three deaths were reported: 361 from consump tion, 217 from pneumonia, 131 from scarlet fever, 82 from diphtheria, 78 from bronchitis, 40 from croup, 27 from whooping-cough, 26 from typhoid fever, 18 from erysipelas, 13 from diarrhoea and dysentery, nine from cerebro-spinal meningitis, one each from cholera infantum and measles, and none from small-pox. A marked decline in acute pulmonary and in the prevailing zymotic diseases; erysipelas shows an increase, and also pulmonary con