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PROVINCIAL MEDICAL SOCIETIES.

EDINBURGH MEDICO-CHIRURGICAL SOCIETY.-At the

meeting on June 5th, Mr. Jos. BELL exhibited portions ojDiseased Bone removed from the head of the radius by themallet and chisel with antiseptic precautions. The case did

well, and the movements of the limb were restored. Mr.Bell also showed a man who had been run over by a tram.way car, the wheels of which passed over his left thigh,cutting through the adductors and the femoral vein. The

artery was uninjured. Much sloughing took place, and anabscess formed along the course of the vein. The goodresult was owing to the antiseptic treatment employed inthe case.-Dr. KIRK DUNCANSON showed a specimen oiAural Polypus removed from the external surface of themembrana tympani of a patient who had been under treat-ment for catarrh of the tympanum. The polypus was of thesize of a large pea, had been growing for less than a month,and apparently arose in an effusion of blood. Dr. Dun-canson also showed Helmholtz’s Model for illustrating theMechanism of the Ossicles of the Ear, and the effects pro-duced through them upon the labyrinth by sound waves.He also demonstrated Professor A. M. Mayer’s dynamicsignification of Fourier’s theorem-viz. : "Every periodicvibratory motion can always, and always in one manner, beregarded as the sum of a certain number of pendulum vibra-tions," "which, in acoustics, may read as follows: " Everyvibratory motion in the auditory canal corresponding to amusical sound can always, and always in one manner, beconsidered as the sum of a certain number of pendulumvibrations corresponding to the elementary sounds of thegiven musical note." The experiment showing this wellillustrates Helmholtz’s hypothesis of audition, founded orthe supposition that the rods of Corti co-vibrate to simplesounds, so that a sound falling upon the membrana tympan:is decomposed into its sonorous elements in the ear.-Dr,BYROM BRAMWELL read a paper on "Cases of Intra.Cranial Tumour, with specimens." He gave abstracts ofabout twelve cases, many with post-mortem examinations,In some of the cases the cerebral lesions in relation to thesymptoms during life did not accord with modern localisationtheories. Double optic neuritis was present in nearly allthe cases, many of which were of syphilitic origin.-Dr,Argyll Robertson said that optic neuritis might be present ircases where no intracranial disease was found after death,and that cases occurred (but rarely) where intracranialdisease existed, but no neuritis. Generally vision was noiaffected in the earlier stages of optic neuritis, not unti’atrophy of the nerve had taken place. - Dr. Clouston, refer.ring to the symptoms presented by four cases of intracrania:tumour in lunatics, said that the symptoms varied accordingas the more vital parts of the brain were affected, accordingto the rapidity of the growth and its nature, and to the pro,duction or not of degenerative changes in the brain. In casesof sudden arrest of the respiratory centres the blood is fluic’after death. When the mental functions are affected, thereis first irritability from want of nourishment of the brain,then a maniacal condition from incipient inflammation, and;lastly, dementia. He mentioned a case where a sar.

coma of five years’ growth had caused the protrusiorof portions of the brain through the dura mater, so that orremoving the skull-cap the membrane was covered witlsmall cauliflower excrescences composed of normal brainsubstance. He believed strongly in the good effects produced by the long-continued administration of large dose:of iodide of potassium.-Dr. Cadell pointed out the possibility of a person having syphilis at one time of his lif{without the syphilis being the cause of all subsequendiseases.-Dr. Wylie asked Dr. Byrom Bramwell whetherin the case of left hemiplegia with aphasia, the patient waileft-handed or not. - The President (Professor Sanderspointed out the value of accurate localisation of tumour!with regard to special paralysis. Experiment had not iithe past been confirmed by clinical observation to the extento be desired. When a tumour is of slow growth, the brairno doubt adapts itself to the disturbance, and other parts othe brain take on the functions of those which have beeldestroyed. Cerebral pathology still requires great atten

tion.-Dr. Bvrom Bramwell, in reply, expressed his regretthat time had not allowed him to give the cases in greaterdetail. He had found that iodide of potassium in largedoses, and continued for a long time, produced less iodism.It was necessary to distinguish cases of intracranial diseasefrom lead-poisoning. There were well-marked traces ofsyphilis in all the cases he had ascribed to that cause. Thecase of left hemiplegia with aphasia was what Hughlings-Jackson had described as "destroying" paralysis, as dis-tinguished from " discharging."EDINBURGH OBSTETRICAL SOCIETY.-At the meeting on

June 12th, Dr. Wilson, President, in the chair, ProfessorSIMPSON read a paper entitled " Notes on a Case of PelvicHaematocele." A lengthy discussion followed; and Dr.UNDERHILL read " Notes of Three Cases of AccidentalHaemorrhage."

Reviews and Notices of Books.Notes on Rheumatism. By JULIUS POLLOCK, M.D.

London : J. and A. Churchill. 1878.-The substance ofthese excellent and practical notes originally appeared inthe columns of THE LANCET, and the profession will begrateful to Dr. Pollock for affording an opportunity fortheir reperusal in a convenient and portable form. Theirtone is thoroughly practical, and the reader is madeto feel that the knowledge of the author is derived fromactual experience. This is not the case with much ofthe medical writing of the present day, to which Dr.Pollock’s work is, in many points, a strong contrast. Terse-ness and brevity are qualities which the modern medicalauthor too often seems to despise, and provided a book of acertain weight and length is produced, he cares but littlehow small is the amount of information vouchsafed. Dr.Pollock is a strong advocate for the use of salicylate ofsoda in the treatment of acute rheumatism, and findsthat it is advantageous to combine it with small quan-tities of carbonate of ammonia. He doubts whether the

generally received doctrine that one attack of rheumatismpredisposes to another, be correct. He thinks rather thatthe first attack merely indicates the peculiar diathesis of theindividual. He regards an attack of sudamina as an un-favourable indication, and to the form of acute rheumatismwhich is characterised by an excessively high temperaturehe assigns the epithet " malignant," a term which we thinkmay very well be accepted. The chapter on MuscularRheumatism in its various forms is fully as practical andinstructive as are those devoted to Rheumatic Fever.

The Antagonism of Therapeutic Agents, and what itTeaches. By T. MILNER FOTHERGILL, M.D. London :Macmillan and Co. 1878.-To this little essay from thefacile pen of Dr. Fothergill the Medical Society of Londonawarded its Fothergillian gold medal in the present year.The amount of work which has been done by variousphysiologists in elucidating the question of the antagonisticaction of drugs has, of late years, been very large indeed,but such work has now practically come to an end, owingto an Act of Parliament which has been forced on themedical profession. The book is not much more than a com-

pilation of matter which has appeared in various places pre-viously, and those who have had the patience to read allthe recent monographs on the physiological action of thealkaloids will not find in it much, if anything, that is new.The majority of the profession, however, have not been sodiligent, and these will feel grateful to Dr. Fothergill for hispainstaking summary. We would suggest that many of thefacts might be given in a tabular form, and we think if thishad been done the reader would have been saved much

labour, the facts would have appealed more effectually to hisunderstanding, and would have remained, probably, longerin the memory.