1245

general dissatisfaction among the profession in Vienna, andthe party antagonistic to the Chamber denounces this ex-tension of its powers as an unwarrantable interference withpersonal liberty. This protest may appear astonishingin a country where political freedom is still in its infancy,and some suggestive comments on the question are

made in a letter written by a medical man to a non-

medical newspaper. The substance of his argument isthat in acquiring the power of cancelling medicaldiplomas, either temporarily or permanently, and therebydebarring a man from practising, the Medical Chambernominally exercises no more authority than the LegalChamber, each in its special sphere ; but in reality the twocases are by no means parallel, lawyers being much lessaffected by this disability than medical men. To berestrained from practice is no doubt a severe punishmentfor a lawyer, but he has the opportunity of making anincome by assisting another lawyer. A medical man, how-ever, is helpless without a diploma, and it is unjust thatthe Chamber should have the power of ruining him inthis way. Furthermore, in the event of the Chamber beingarmed with this authority, will it have the assistance of the

police in preventing advice being given to patients ? Medicalmen who have committed offences against the laws of theland, and have consequently been deprived of their diplomasby the State, forfeit public confidence, but such will not bethe case with those whose diplomas may be cancelled merelyfor transgressing the regulations of the Medical Chamber.In my next letter I will give some account of the proceedingsat the meeting.April 25th.

BUDAPEST.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Malignant Syphilis treated with Spermin.AT the last meeting of the Budapest Hospital Association

Professor Schwimmer announced that he had used sperminin six cases of malignant syphilis with very good results. Hehad chosen for this treatment only malignant cases in whichit was impossible to carry out the routine mercurial treatmenton account of the patients, in spite of the usual precautions,developing marked mercurial stomatitis as soon as treatmentwas begun. The last patient received twenty-five injectionsof the organic extract, which resulted in stopping theprogress of the syphilitic ulcerations. Professor Schwimmerascribes the beneficial effects of spermin to its property ofimproving metabolism.

Epilepsy Treated with Ovariin.This case was published by Dr. C. Bodon in the columns

of the Orvosi Hetilap. The patient was a girl, aged eighteenyears, who had during the last four years undergone allsorts of medical treatment without any appreciable benefit.Considering that the patient developed the disease since shebegan to menstruate, and that her menstruation used to bevery scanty and only of one or two days’ duration, thoughshe was not suffering from any disease which might haveexplained the diminution of the menstrual flow ; considering,lastly, that Dr. Bodon had seen several instances where thedifferent ailments connected with the climacteric and withmenstrual troubles had readily yielded to the ovariin treat-ment, he resolved to give the ovariin a trial in this case.

Before resorting to it he kept the girl under observation fora week, no medicine whatever being given. She had duringthis time three typical epileptic attacks and from two to fiveattacks of petit mal daily in addition. The day before thecommencement of the treatment she exhibited eighteen ofthese slight attacks. She was given on the first day onetabloid (Merck), the daily dose being gradually increased toeight tabloids. On the second day she had one epileptic fit,but not any more fits during the whole time that the ovariintreatment lasted-i.e., fifty days. After this date ovariin Iwas withheld for a week and large doses of bromides were given. She thereupon had three epileptic fits. Ovariinwas again resorted to, and the patient remained free fromepileptic fits during twenty-two days-i.e., up to the date ofpublishing the cases. The slight attacks (petit mal), how-ever, did not subside except at the time corresponding tomenstruation. Under the influence of the ovariin treatmentmenstruation became more copious and was of three days’duration. Dr. Bodon concluded that the ovariin treatment

should be tried in all cases of epilepsy which appear to beconnected with functional troubles of the reproductive-organs.

Endemic of Tetany in Budapest.It is known that tetany may sometimes become endemic,

and outbreaks of this kind have been observed in Paris,Vienna, and some other towns. Up to the present time ithas only occurred sporadically in Budapest, but it wouldseem that the disease has lately been assuming an endemic,character in this town, no less than ten well-marked case&having been notified during last week. No explanation or-the endemic is obtainable.April 24th. -

NEW YORK.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Medical Schools Combine.AT a special meeting of the Board of Regents of the-

University of the State of New York the faculties of theBellevue Medical College and the New York UniversityMedical College were consolidated, and will now be knownas the New York University Bellevue Hospital Medical

College. The determination to consolidate the colleges wasarrived at by their governing bodies on April 5th. The-

advantages of the scheme were so apparent to both bodiesthat it required but three weeks to complete the pre-liminary negotiations. The Council of the University onMarch 17th laid before the trustees and faculty of the-Bellevue College a statement of the benefits, both material’and educational, that would arise from uniting thetwo institutions. Two days later the trustees of the-Bellevue College unanimously decided to transfer the direc-tion of the college to the University on the assumption bythe latter of the obligations of the Bellevue institution tothe city. These obligations were formally undertaken by theCouncil of the University last Monday, and it only requiredthe consent given by the regents to give effect to the con-solidation. The fusion of the two schools, one of which hadan enrolment of 713 students last year and the other of 344-students, will make the new college one of the largest andmost important seats of medical instruction in the UnitedStates. The total faculty will number 113. The facilitiesand plant of the united colleges will be equal tothose of some of the best equipped schools in theworld. The University owns buildings covering a frontage-of 130 ft. opposite Bellevue Hospital. In addition to the

college premises, the Bellevue trustees possess the CarnegieLaboratory in East 26th-street, presented by Andrew Carnegie-about ten years ago ; also there has just been purchased bythe friends of Bellevue College a frontage of 150 feet inFirst-avenue, adjoining the Carnegie Laboratory. These twoproperties together would furnish ample building room forall the purposes of a great medical college. In length ofexistence the University Medical College is older by sometwenty years than the Bellevue College. The project ofestablishing a medical department was first discussed in-1838, though it was not until 1841 that the scheme tookpractical shape. The first faculty elected comprised Drs.Valentine Mott, Granville S. Pattison, John Revere, Martyn.Payne, G. S. Bedford, and John W. Draper. It has graduated6700 alumni. The Bellevue Hospital Medical College wasincorporated by a special Act of the Legislature in 1861. Ithas 4734 alumni scattered through this and other countries.

Suffering from the Overflow of the Mississippi.The enormous floods that have led to the overflow of the

: Mississippi River have caused an amount of suffering thatrenders the event a national disaster. The President has

sent a special message to Congress recommending a liberalappropriation for the relief of the sufferers. These are stated

on reliable authority to be the most destructive floods thathave ever devastated the Mississippi valley, the water being

much higher than the highest stage it has reached before.From Marion (Ark.) north of Memphis, to Greenville (Miss.),

a distance of more than 250 miles by river, it is reportedthat there are now at least fifty towns and villages’) under water, and a territory extending from 100 milesnorth of Memphis to 200 miles south, and from five’ to forty miles wide, is submerged. Hundreds of thou-t sands of acres of cultivated soil, with growing crops,.