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Apropos of the article on Club Doctors in THE LANCET OfAugust lOth, a case which has just occurred here deservesmention. One of the surgeons in the town, having resigned anumber of clubs, which he had held for some years, and forwhich he received, on the average, about 4s. per head, theusual competition followed. Applications from surgeons ingood practice to take the clubs at 2s. 6d., and some at even alower rate, were sent in. The Club Committees acted well,however, and appointed a practitioner at an average of about3s., with the prospect of a return to the old rate. Surely theclub doctors have made a "sign" unmistakeable enough toindicate their view of the recent agitation.Birmingham, August, 1867.
ABERDEEN.
(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
THE annual meeting of the North of Scotland MedicalAssociation was held here on Saturday, the 10th inst., and wasnumerously attended by medical men from the counties ofAberdeen, Kincardine, Banff, and Elgin. The proceedings ofthe day commenced by a visit to the Infirmary. Unfortunatelyfor the Association, it happens that the hospital at present isunusually empty, so that none of the capital operations werein the day’s programme, but Dr. Wolfe exhibited successfulcases of operations upon eyes. The members then met in thehall of the Medico-Chirurgical Society, Dr. Thomson, Inverury,the President of the Association, in the chair. After someformal business, including a short address by the President,the meeting proceeded to consider a reply by the Board ofSupervision to a memorial ordered to be transmitted by themeeting of last year, with reference to the position of parochialmedical officers. Their position was contrasted with that ofthe other Poor-law officials, such as inspectors, considerablyto the disadvantage of the former ; inasmuch as medical officersare elected annually, and may be superseded at any election bythe parochial board, whereas the inspectors, although appointedby the parochial board, cannot be dismissed without the specialsanction of the Board of Supervision. These points werebrought under the notice of the Board of Supervision. The
reply was to the effect that, without expressing an opinion onthe merits of the question, it was considered inexpedient totake up the subject at present.
Dr. Jamieson, Peterhead, proposed that the Association me-morialise the Home Secretary to put the position of the
parochial medical officers upon a satisfactory footing. Thiswas seconded by Dr. Bruce, Crimond, and agreed to.
Dr. Beveridge brought forward a motion that the Associa-tion endeavour to collect statistics of the leading diseases pre-valent in this part of the country. After a short discussion itwas agreed to remit the matter to the branch associations.
Dr. Kilgour then read a very interesting paper " On theNew Pharmacopoeia," giving a short history of the variousforms which the Pharmacopoeias have from time to time as-sumed, and concluding with a motion : ’’ That this Associationhas received with great satisfaction the new edition of theBritish Pharmacopoeia, and hereby resolves to follow it closelyin prescribing. That the thanks of this Association be tenderedto the General Council of Medical Education and Registrationof the United Kingdom for furnishing the profession with sowell-arranged, accurate, and practically useful a work as theBritish Pharmacopoeia of 1867." " This resolution, having beenput to the meeting, was carried unanimously.
Dr. McKay, Elgin, then read for Dr. Turner, Keith, a paperown the Lateral Operation of Lithotomy," in which he pro-posed as a means of facilitating the section of the prostate, touse a knife composed of a very short blade attached to anelastic handle, intended to fit upon the right forefinger, so as toallow the blade to project beyond the point of the nail.On the motion of the President, Dr. Gavin, Strichen, was
elected president for next year.The members then dined together, and spent a very pleasant
afternoon.We are glad to find that this as yet infant Association is
gradually assuming such a practically useful form as bids fairto ensure it a long career of prosperity.The examination for degrees in medicine concluded on
Thursday last, and was followed on Friday by the ceremonyof capping, which, as has been the case for some time back,was open to the public. A new feature this year has been the
introduction of clinical examinations, which, along with thepractical examinations in anatomy and chemistry, will, if
thoroughly carried out, relieve the degrees here of an imputa-tion at one time cast upon them, that they were conferredsolely on the ground of theoretical information, without acorresponding practical acquaintance with the subject.
Aberdeen, August 12th, 1867.
DUBLIN.
(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
I REGRET to have to inform your readers that the case ofaneurism of the subclavian artery, in which Mr. Porter so
skilfully applied compression to the arteria innominata bymeans of Mr. L’Estrange’s ingenious presse artere, and whichwas such an object of interest to the many visitors to theMeath Hospital during the Association week, expired on last .
Saturday evening, the eleventh day after the operation, inconsequence of haemorrhage (as the post-mortem examinationdisclosed), from the very point of the innominate where thepressure had been applied. Mr. Christopher Heath was pre-sent at the post-mortem examination, the result of whichclearly demonstrated that, so far as the operation went, it hadbeen carried out in its fullest details. In this case on a
previous occasion acupressure by Simpson’s fourth method hadbeen applied to the distal side of the artery : it presented noappearance of having suffered from the pressure so produced,the vessel being simply impervious, but showing no sign ofulceration. The different results produced by the pre.sse artereand acupressure are full of practical importance. In the onecase ulceration and perforation of the artery, haemorrhage, anddeath ; in the other, simple occlusion of the vessel. In bothinstances the pressure was continued for very nearly the samenumber of hours : with the presse artère for fifty-seven, withthe acupressure for fifty-two hours.Dublin, August 19th, 1867.
THE WEST RIDING MEDICAL CHARITABLESOCIETY.
THE annual meeting of the above-named Society, whichis established for the relief of the widows and orphansof the profession, was recently held at Huddersfield. Dr.Turnbull occupied the chair. The following gentlemen werepresent :-Dr. Chadwick, Leeds ; Dr. Holdsworth and Dr.
Kendal, Wakefield ; Dr. Webster, Golcar; Dr. Alexander,Halifax; Dr. Elliott, Sowerby Bridge; Dr. Dobson, Holbeck;Dr. G. C. Hall, Sheffield ; and Messrs. W. H. Phillips, J. B.Pritchett, J. E. Foster, W. J. Clarke. Thomas Brewer, ThomasWebbe, Wm. Robinson, and G. W. Rhodes, Huddersfield ;Samuel Hey, H. W. Price, Henry Chorley, and W. N. Price,Leeds; John Nicholson, R. M’Lachlan, W. Favell, and Martinde Bartolome, Sheffield; R. H. Meade, J. N. Terry, and-Lodge, Bradford; -Lambert, Farsley; J. Hodgson Wright,W. H. Peacock, and Wm. Nowell, Halifax ; J. B. Oldfield,Heckmondwike; J. Corry, Thornton; Robert Farrar, Brig-house ; and Henry Pritchett, Rastrick. There were also pre-sent J. C. Laycock, Esq., president of the Huddersfield In-firmary ; and T. H. Battye, Esq. The members and theirfriends dined together after the despatch of business.The CHAIRMAN, in proposing success to the Society, dwelt
upon the fact that they had met for no selfish object, but tofurther acts of benevolence and practical philanthropy to-wards their brethren-to cheer the heart of the widow andorphan, and to smooth the pillow of some professional brotherwho had been overtaken in the battle of life by sickness andpoverty.
" I need not tell the great majority of those whohear me that the life of a medical man is a life of toil, and thatthe prospect of realising wealth, and of making provision forold age and for a family, is not encouraging. I speak from noshort experience ; and I feel confident that one half of thosewho practise the healing art never do more than earn a baresubsistence. Should sickness come, therefore,-and come itwill,-poverty is its companion; and should the life be cutshort, should it succumb to the midnight toil, or fell epidemic,those whose daily bread depends upon that life are at onceplunged into abject poverty; hence the utility of such a society