EDITOR LETTER BOX

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m EPOKU W 'IOIMIEU4(¶MR BOX.
feble;, the wm _~aw regul but wyle; she suffered We ar not so much a Iit. , as a Moni
mush fom oold extr ties; her a te was very small; when Our great object is not to shine as auhohs, but So
the bowels did not act for seeal d^, she suffered much from ourseves as mea
fMae. in the abdomen, removable by a motion, but sbe then To rouse and to sustain within our rauks the onviction of a
fel into a stat of prostration, cotinuing for some hours. corporate life, and that of a far higher character than charterd
Having read in the Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal universities can impart; to impose a check upon selfishness,-
for I82, a paper by Dr. Strong on the " Use of Sulphate of and to inoculate our hearts with the God-like sentiment of
Zin and other Astringents in Flatulent Colic and Constipa- being kindly affectioned one towards another, should ever con-
", Mr. Baly determined to try their effect; it being evident stitute the animating ambition of an institution like our own.
at aperients would only aggravate the cae. Having pre- Let us only succeed in cultivating the virtues of the pro-
piouly administered blue pill and colocynth, and an enema, he fession, and the treasures of the intellect must inevitably be-
ve two grains of sulphate of zinc three times a day, in pills, come ours; let us only excite within our ranks the cordial
immediately after meals. The medicine was continued for ten desire to unite, and we shall soon be in a position to accomplish
lays without causing sickness, and with decided relief to the whatever else may be thought desirable.
abdominal distension. The appetite also slightly improved, If majorities and minorities be forgotten, and if, with a spirit
and there was more power to make exertion. From the second of mutual forbearance and good-will, we zealously and heartily
day of the treatment (when she used the enema withouit Mr. combine, there are no limits but our erring selves to the good
Baly's knowledge) until the tenth, there was no evacuation of we may effect; and no hopes too buoyant for such an army of
the bowels. Four grains of calomel and six of colocynth were fellow-workers reasonably to entertain.
then given at bedtime,- and a cathartic draught in the morning; In conclusion, I would simply observe, that, to accomplish
this procured free evacuations without the enema. On the these results, an efficient weekly periodical is essentially neces-
second day after the medicine the bowels acted naturally; and sary; and that, in its establishment, no rightful expenditure
for nearly twelve months afterwards her bowels had been spon- should be withhield-no postponement of minor advantages be
taneously relieved daily. The zinc was continued for about regretted. I nm, etc.,
three weeks, and then gradually withdrawn; sulphate of quinine CiATARS COwAu.
with dilute sulphuric acid was substituted for a time. For some Reading, October 184.
time after the discontinuance of enemata, the patient was not
sensible of the action of the rectum during the passage of thle POOR-LAW MEDICAL FEES.
faces. Mr. Baly enforced the observance of a stated time daily
for making an effort to evacuate the bowels. LETTEPR FROM J. C. S. JENNINGS, Esq.
A second case in which Mr. Baly tried the same remedy with Suz,-I shall feel obliged by information as to the usual
simiar success occiured early in the present year. practice adopted by ulliou medical officers in demanding fees
A gentleman whose bowels had long continued very irre- for attendance in puerperal maladies arising out of delivery, and
gular, and who was in the lhabit of using enemata, had a whether such claim may be made for fever occurring on the
severe attack of bilious diarrhoea, immediately after which his ninth or tenth day, the patient not having been visited pre-
bowels became much constipated, only acting from the enema viouslv. Perhaps some member of the Association will kindly
or strong purgatives. The plan pursued was precisely similar answer this query. I am, etc., J. C. S. JENNINGS.
to the last. The bowels were confined for six davs before Abbey House, Malmesbury, October 18A.
Mr. Baly gave any aperient. They acted regularly without
medicine. The zinc was continued for about six weeks. It
had also been given in slighter cases with much benefit.
It is only in constipation dependent on want of tone in the SUPPLY OF NURSES FROM WORKHOUSES: QUERIES
muscular coats of the large intestines, that this remedy is OF THE EPIDEMIOLOGICAL SOCIETY.
indicated. The action of the medicine, which is a neurine LETTER FROM THE SECRETARIES.
tonic, is precisely analogous to that of quinine, gentian, etc., in
atonie dyspepsia, viz., restoring the healthy functions of the Sni,-The Committee appointed by ,the Epidemiological So.
part, and producing regular contractions of the debilitated ciety to consider a plan for providing nurses for the labouring
muscular fibres; all causes of irritation being at the same time classes in epidemic and other sickness, have recently issued
withdrawn. queries to a large number of union medical officers, with the
view to ascertaining the opinions of these gentlemen on certainL
points. Some have already kindly answered the questions, but
by far the greater number have not yet done so, as their replies
were not requested before the 1st of December.
EDITOR'S LETTER BOX. The Committee have recently been in communication with
the Board of Health; and it now becomes important that the
AN EFFICIENT WEEKLY PERIODICAL IS ESSENTIAL answers should be retumed without delav. We therefore ven-
TO THE PROSPERITY OF THE ASSOCIATION. ture to request you kindly to urge the expediency of sending
in the replies as early as possible to the undersigned.
LETTEB FROM CHARLES COWAN, M.D. You would confer an additional obligation by printing the
SnI,-Through the medium of the AssociAnoN JOURNAL, I queries which we enclose, as they might thus be brought to
am desirous to say a few words to my brother-associates. the eyes of gentlemen, to whom our scanty means may have
It is at all times easy to protract discussion, and to reiterate prevented our sending them. We are, etc.,
self-defence; but all will heartily acknowledge, that nothing is RicHARD HOLT, M.A. Hon. Secs. of the
more wearisome than oft-repeated personalities, and that no- E. H. SIEVEKING, M.D. I Committee.
thing is more alien to the objects of our Association, than the 3, Bentinck Street, Manchester Square, October 1854.
perpetuation of differences.
Whatever may be the financial or other shortcomings and i. Are you in the habit of obtaining nurses from the work-
delinquencies of the writer, I cheerfully leave their determina- house for the labouring classes in sickness?
tion in the hands of my opponents, content to let the results of ii. If so, to what kind of persons are they sent, and how do
our present arrangements speak for themselves, and feeling they behave?
morally certain of an ultimate verdict in my favour. m. Do you often feel the want of a nurse among the labour-
In common with every member of the Association, I regret ing classes in times of epidemic and other sickness?
tist the issue of the annual volume of Transaction has, for iv. Do you consider that material advantages would be
a period, been interrupted, and that we cannot reward the vs. gained (by the community at large as well as by the labouring
luable communications of our colleagues by that form of pub- population) by organising a system by which nurses could be
lity to which they are so justly entitled; but, at the same easily commanded, either gratuitously, or at a lo'w charge?
time, let us never forget, that the publication of Transaction., v. Would the labouring classes be likely to avail themselves
h6owever desirable, can neser become the basi of Association of nurses if the opportunity were offered?
p o.perlVy; nor, through such a medium, can we ever secure vi If a staff of nurses were provided in every union (eiter
ztemsive professional co-operation, or possess an instrument- in connexion with, or apart from the workhouse) so ea to be
ulky ada md opaecomplishing those high morel and be -
for social easily attainable by the poor, what results should you mnticipas
gpo s, on with which aU otbh should with regard to the onmt and pnvention of disea; mare
- useoday. part;e in egard to eontagious and e_idmic d Amr
jt 3uwe tzoi mx
I.
not beue it was a serious =ae, that I em.
'Would -myosing be IMely to accre to the mended and to apply to the dispensary.
seibed,
her
u eqr evetually? The case was never one of puerperal fever. When I gave up
vn. If the able-bodied females residing in workhouses were the charge to Dr. Tunstafl it was simple irriative fever, arsang,
eively employed as out-door nurses, in what manner as I considered, from bad nursing; but Dr. Tunstall informed
they be
should they be controlled and supevised' How could medical me that pelvic abscess formed, which burst into the vagina, d
best made to aid and follow the directions of the that the woman recovered after a protracted illness well.nine of
attendant ?
a. Could you find occupation for male nurses, as in cases of weeks. I met her in the street yesterday looking very
msanity and delirium? There was a degree of respectability about the woman, that,
x. Be good enough opinion, raised hier above the level of a pauper, and
to add any practical suggestions in r- in mv decided me on recommending her to the dispensary
ference to the special whicl
scheme proposed in the statement of the instead of the parish. In doing so I knew that she was a
in
Committee; or to favour them with yourfor the generallyand proper object of medical charity, as her husband earned only
views
reard to the. question of providing nuises paupers eleven shillings a-week as a porter, and I had no idea that the case
labouriig population. the house apothe-
x3. What was the total number of patients receiincg medical would be refuised, and was astonished when be admitted; more
relef at their own houses during last year? cary called on me to say the case could not to attend. With
especially at the reasons given for refusing
regard to the tirst reason, that it was contrary to the rules to
RECENT PROCEEDINGS AT THE EASTERN attend cases of illness occurring after lying-in, I can prove that
DISPENSARY OF BATH. there was no such rule; or, if so, that it had never been attended
to. I bave visited at their homes, in company with the medical I have
LETTER FROM JAIES TUNSTAr.L, M.D. officers of the dispensary, women ill after their lying-in. for the
Sim,-Having been justified in the course I pursuedmedical also seen such casesthe medical staff. at have dispensary given
at the when officiating the
I occasionally and
Eastern Dispensary by the subscribers at large, the various members of
profession, the press, and all classes of the community, I have letters of recomiimendation toremedies, andillI after lying-in
poor women
know that these
resigned my appointnment. I shall, as I have hitlherto done, unable to obtuin necessary as registrar of deaths
abstain from entering on a controversy, although the newspaper were attended at their own homes; and,is situate, I can prove
report is in some respects inaccurate, as may be seen froiu the for the district in whichi the dispensary died sixteen
errata published to-day. I fought the battle of the profession, that so late as December last afever, whilst patientcare of one of
dispensary
with the sanction of the profession, against a tyrannical ma- days after labour of puerperal form youir underopinion of the
jority, supported by a small committee on the attendance of the medical officers.forYou can to attend this poor woman.
the grounds
of other reasons given refusing
own
expediency only, and was noblv sunported by FREDERICK MASON.
a large body of subscribers, whose numbers dwindled down by I am, etc.,
the proceedings lasting three hours. I solicited no vote or 3, Axforl's Buildings, lBath, October 1854.
interest, but stood solely on the merits of my case; in fact, I
was in attendance on a patient in Yorkshire the day before the
meeting; in this matter might fell before right, supported by THE LONDON AND PROVINCIAL MEDICAL PROTEC-
the goodness of its cause. The object of my letter, then, is to TION AND BENEVOLENT SOCIETY.
protest against the doctrine, that the person in the nminority such LETTER FROM A. B. STEELE, ESQ.
should bow to the majority in all medical disputes. Were
a rule inserted in the laws of our charities, no man of honour SI,-I wish, through the medium of the JouIIYAL, to direct
and Pro-
would be a candidate: his professional reputation-his character attention to the Protectionand position of the Londoninstitution
progress
and Benevolent Society, an
as a man, would belong to men jealous alike of bis respectability vincial Medical condition
and success. I will mention a case in point. The medical staff which is, I believe, doing more towards improving- the that the
and committee of an hospital are anxious to elect a gentleinan of our over-work-ed and ill-paid profession, than all accom-
medical reformers has yet
to a vacant office, but the governors choose another: what a agitation of the most zealous this institution commenced their
condition you would place this bonourable member of your plished. The committee ofago, with Mr. Propert as president,
profession in with your majority rule! Sensitive, zealous, and operations about four years
conatantly watchful, his duties would be a burthen to him; for at a sacrifice of much time and trouble, andhas steadilyan outlay
involving
pursued
at any time a fancied breach of the bugbear etiquette reported of upwards of £2000. Since that period itattained a position in
it has now
by the majority of his colleagues to a committee anxious to its career of usefulness, untiland indeed its absolute necessity,
elect his opponent, would under your rule compel him to which its stability, utility, question. As a proof of its actual
reign. Thank God there are still subscribers and the public have ceased to be mattersitof durng
to protect the humane member of a medical staff from so benefit to the profession, appears from the reports, that the
absurd a rule and such monstrous tyranny. the first three years there has been collected for members
I am, etc., JAMES TuNSTALL. sum of £30,097, the greater proportion of which was consi-
Bath, Oct. 28th, 1854. dered irrecoverable when hianded over to the society, each cre-
ditor having, as he supposed, exhausted every means of recovery,
RECENT PROCEEDINGS AT THE EASTERN and regarding the debt as hopeless. I caannot, perhaps, better
DISPENSARY OF BATH. advocate its usefulness, than by quoting from arecent bimonthly
circular, in which it is said: "The committee have long fore-
T
LETTER FRox FREDERICK MASON, ESQ. seen, and the same conviction is daily becoming very general,
ultimately assume) is
Sin,-In the AssocwATroN JOURNAL of last week, you have pub- that the society (wlhatever of the it mayuseful institutioins ever
name
that took place at the Eastern destined to become one most
lished a report of proceedins A change from
Dispensary on the 17th instant. In consequence ofone espe- established in connexion with the profession.
some of
comparative povertv to competence is the reform most needed
the statements there made being incorrect, and as can effect this
cially may be considered to cast reflections on my professional by the medical profession. No ledgersIParliamentbetter attended
act of
must be
character, I must beg to refer you for a correct statement of the mighty change. The medical
biwiaess for nothing for
facts of the case, so far as I was concerned, to a letter written to, and the practice require noextensive must be abandoned. To
of doing
by me to the committee of the dispensary, and published at classes that really charity
is the great
page 1' in Dr. Tunstall's pamphlet, and which, as it justifies assist for bringing about this important change
in
my conduct in the matter, I should feel obliged if you could object which the committee carry on their labours."
flnd space in tAte Journal to publish. An illustration of the difficulties the society has to contend
The passagges to which I particularly wish to allude are the against is thus graphically depicted in the relation of an actual
following. It is stated in the report, that a Mrs. Smith was occurrence coming accounts for notice. illness brought on by
under their "A small tailor owes
attended in her confinement by Mr. Frederick Mason, who, three practitioners curing
tailor could
subsequently to the ninth day, " finding the case to assume a surfeit. Each medical that the money that the
man knows well
liquidate
serious aspect, puerperal fever having set in", etc. Again, the easily pay if forced, and goes, many times which wouldin excess
multiplied,
Rev. Mr. Wood says, "a medical gentleman was attending it: the wbole of the claim years lhas been accustomed to the
many
but when it assumed a serious aspect, he wished to throw it on As the tailor for of medical men, custom seems to have made
that institution". honorary services he
Now, in my letter to the committee, I bave shown that it was him regard those services as his birthright,-therefore pay
bcause the woman was unable to pay for the remedies I pre. will not. Now, the socisty wishes to force this man to seUle