Day, which have been increasing with alarming rapidity during the past few years, has brought keenly home to our communities the necessity for legal restriction of the sale of that most dangerous noise producer, the toy pistol. The cheapness of construction of this offensive nuisance enables it to be put on the market at a price within the reach of the means of almost every small boy, and the inherent passion of this individual for anything partaking of the nature of a weapon, which may have been engendered by a widely prevalent habit of perusing lurid literature encaptioned with titles such as "Hell Fire Jack, the Pirate King", or "Deadwood Dick's Last Stand", early makes almost every boy the possessor of one of these instruments of destruction. Bacteriological examinations have shown that the tetanus bacillus frequently is found in the wadding of blank cartridges, and the careless explosion of these in the hand, or in contact with other soft parts wherein particles of the wadding may be imbedded, frequently results in that very fatal malady, tetanus. We have legislation restricting the sale of poisons, and in some states it is a criminal offense to sell a pocket pistol; why, therefore, should not there be a law upon the statute books of every state making it a crime to sell an instrument which may be even more frequently a source of death than any of the other agents named? Legislative action in this respect is demanded, and we would urge that the matter receive immediate and careful consideration at the hands of our law makers.

EDITOR'S NOTES.

THE ALBANY MEDICAL ANNALS celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary by the publication of a jubilee number. The Annals is always interesting and attractively gotten up, but this issue is exceptional in many respects. Besides a number of excellent contributions to the original article department, it contains a historical sketch of the inception and development of the publication. The Annals was founded in 1880, and in 1891 became the official organ of the Alumni Association of the Albany Medical College. This journal has had an unusually successful career, and we wish for it many happy returns of the anniversary which it celebrates.

THE NEW YORK ORTHOPEDIC DISPENSARY AND HOSPITAL announces that during the last fiscal year its expenses exceeded its receipts by $9000, the total floating indebtedness of the institution now amounting to $17,000. An effort is being made to establish an endowment fund, the income from which will be used to make up the annual deficit. The trustees of the institution are soliciting contributions for this fund.

THE DIRECTORS OF PARKE, DAVIS & Co., the well known Detroit pharmaceutical house, have selected Mr. E. G. Swift for the general managership of the house, to succeed the lamented William M. Warren, whose untimely death was announced by us in our December issue. Mr. Swift succeeds to one of the most important positions in the pharmaceutical and business worlds, but we are sure that the mantle which was worn so well by his predecessor has fallen upon worthy shoulders.

THE UNITED STATES CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION announces an examination to be held on February 17th, 18th and 19th, 1904, to secure eligibles from which to make certification to fill eighteen vacancies to the position of copyist (male), at $900 per annum, in the Bureau of Pensions, and other similar vacancies as they may occur. The examination will consist of letter-writing, penmanship, copying, anatomy and physiology, diagnosis, general and special pathology, surgery and surgical pathology. Only graduates of recognized medical schools may be examined. Age limit, 25 to 30 years.

"THE FINSEN LIGHT CURE" is the title of an article by Dr. H. John Stewart, of Chicago, Illinois, which was published in the MONTHLY for January, this year, and likewise appeared in a few dozen, more or less, other medical journals that we have among our exchanges. While we cannot blame an author for wishing to secure wide circulation for an article, and can see no harm in simultaneously securing publication of a deserving contribution in a local medical journal and one of the larger weeklies, yet we must deprecate the practice which we see occasionally indulged in as did this author. It is not that the medical journals care very much about this imposition, but it would seem to indicate that the author's fund of information is too limited to permit his adding greatly to the stock of medical literature, so he must make the most of what little he does write, however indifferent it may be in quality.

MEMPHIS AND SHELBY COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY. Regular meeting, January 5th, 1904.

Dr. E. C. Ellett, President, pro tem.

Present were: Drs. Ellett, Barton, Farris, Johnson, Castles, Price, Morrow, Van Horn, Livermore, Buford, Ferry, W. B. Sanford, Blackburn, Webb, Burns, Winston, Venn, Edwin Williams, Huddleston. Visitors, Drs. Green, Bell and Graves.

PROGRAM.

Some Popular Fallacies Concerning the Use of Spectacles and Eye Glasses. J. W. Price, M.D. (See page (62).

Some Interesting Results in Minor Surgery. Dr. H. L. Farris. (See page (73).

Discussion of Fee Bill.

Dr. W. B. Sanford moved that the chair appoint a committee to formulate a black list. The chair appointed Drs. W. B. Sanford, chairman, Ellett and Buford.

Regular meeting, January 19th.

President, B. G. Henning, in the chair.

Present were: Drs. B. G. Henning, Barton, Frank Jones, Jacobsohn, D. M. Henning, Ham, Castles, Venn, Wadlington, Baldwin, Rudisill, McCown, Buford, Ferry, Black, McLean, McGehee, Anderson, Krauss, Morrow, Blackburn. Visitors, Drs. Martin, Lowe and Campbell.

PROGRAM.

Pleurisy -a Clinical Demonstration. Frank Jones, M. D. (Will be published in March issue.)

Pleural Complications as a Sequel of Pneumonia. O. S. McCown, M.D. (See page 89.)

Bacteriology of Pleurisy. N. S. Ferry, M.D. (See page 82.) The papers on pleurisy were discussed together, those participating being Drs. Frank Jones, McCown, Ferry, Venn, Krauss, Baldwin, Rudisill, Andrews and B. G. Henning.

On report of Dr. Anderson for the credentials committee, Drs. L. A. Green and J. C. Bell were unanimously elected to membership.

Dr. Buford made the report for the black list committee, stating that the committee thought it best for the society to make and keep a black list.

Dr. Krauss moved that the report be accepted and the black list discussed at another meeting. Carried.

Dr. Buford moved that the next meeting be devoted entirely to the discussion of the black list, and that the secretary so notify each member. Carried.

BOOK REVIEWS.

A Manual of the Practice of Medicine. By A. A. Stevens, A.M., M.D., Professor of Pathology in the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania; Lecturer on Physical Diagnosis in the University of Pennsylvania; Physician to the Episcopal Hospital and to St. Agnes' Hospital; Fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, etc. Sixth edition, thoroughly revised, enlarged and reset. Handsome post-octavo of 556 pages, illustrated. Philadelphia, New York, London: W. B. Saunders & Co., 1903. Flexible leather, $2.25 net.

Among manuals on the practice of medicine, this work by Stevens has gained a paramount place. It is now in its sixth edition, and this in itself will attest to the fact that the work has a much wider scope than the average book which goes in the classification of manuals. The work treats each topic discussed in a concise, clear and scientific manner, and thus serves to render it useful not merely to medical students but also to general practitioners. This sixth edition has been entirely reset and revised.

Whitman's Orthopedic Surgery. New (second) edition. A Treatise on Orthopedic Surgery. By Royal Whitman, M.D., Instructor in Orthopedic Surgery in the College of Physicians and Surgeons (Columbia University), New York; Associate Surgeon to the Hospital for Ruptured and Crippled; Orthopedic Surgeon to the Hospital of St. John's Guild; Chief of the Orthopedic Department of the Vanderbilt Clinic, etc. Thoroughly revised and much enlarged. In one octavo volume of 820 pages, with 507 engravings, mostly original. Lea Bros. & Co., publishers, Philadelphia and New York. Cloth, $5.50 net.

Among the departments of surgery, orthopedic surgery offers more opportunities for brilliant work than any other. The prevention of deformity is its most useful field, and in this line great advances have been made in late years. The correction of deformity is its peculiar province and the one which places it in most conspicuous light.

Whitman has become well known for his work in orthopedic surgery and has shown ample qualifications for the preparation of a good text-book, as is evidenced by the early exhaustion of the first edition of his work. In this second edition he has utilized the opportunity afforded by the demand for a new edition of subjecting the work to a thorough revision. This has also become necessary by virtue of the fact of the rapid strides being made in the field of orthopedic surgery during the past few years. In this new edition Whitman has incorporated every desirable feature that has been brought out in this field since the appearance of the first edition of his work, and he has also added some sixty new illustrations. We doubt not that the work will continue to enjoy as great popularity as it has in the past. Atlas of the External Diseases of the Eye. By Prof. Dr. O. Haab, of Zurich. Second edition, thoroughly revised. Edited, with additions, by G. E. DeSchweinitz, A.M., M.D., Professor of Ophthalmology in the University of Pennsylvania. With 98 colored lithographic illustrations on 48 plates, and 232 pages of text. Philadelphia, New York, London: W. B. Saunders & Co., 1903. Price, $3 net.

No one who has had an opportunity to see a volume of this beautiful series of medical hand atlases could have failed to be pleased with it, and in the present volume we have a work that is in keeping in every respect with the previous volumes. It is a splendid and life-like collection of beautiful chromo-lithographic plates depicting pathological conditions of the eye, and has the further value of an ample text descriptive of these conditions. This is the second edition of Haab's atlas, and it promises to have a limitless life.

The Four Epochs of Woman's Life. Maidenhood, Marriage, Maternity, Menopause. By Anna M. Galbraith, M.D., author of "Hygiene and Physical Culture for Women;" Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine, etc. With an introductory note by John H. Musser, M.D., Professor of Clinical Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. 12mo. volume of 247 pages. Philadelphia, New York, London: W. B. Saunders & Co., 1903. Cloth, $1.50 net.

This is another of those admirably prepared semi-medical works written by physicians for lay reading, and that it has not failed of its mission is evidenced in the fact that a second edition is now called for. The work treats in a clear and comprehensive manner a subject that is of interest to every woman, and its general reading by the members of this sex would result in much good. In this new edition the author has made numerous timely additions.

Progressive Medicine, Vol. IV, December, 1903. A Quarterly Digest of Advances, Discoveries and Improvements in the Medical and Surgical Sciences. Edited by Hobart Amory Hare, M.D., Professor of Therapeutics and Materia Medica in the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia. Octavo, handsomely bound in cloth, 434 pages, 46 illustrations. Lea Bros. & Co., publishers, Philadelphia and New York.

Among the numerous valuable features of this completing volume of Progressive Medicine for the year 1903 may be mentioned Dr. J. C. Hemmeter's article on diseases of the digestive tract, which is quite a monograph in itself, a discussion of the entire field of anesthesia, both local and general, by Dr. J. C. Bloodgood in the article on surgery, Dr. Belfield's article on genito-urinary diseases, and Dr. John Rose Bradford's section on diseases of the kidneys. These are all particularly well treated, and there are other sections contained in the volume which also have great practical and scientific value.

Progressive Medicine has won a high and firmly maintained position for itself in medical literature, and it will be no unwelcome news to the profession that the publishers announce a reduction in price with the new year from ten dollars to six. The volumes will be divested of the heavy cloth binding, and will each contain 300 pages, with abundant illustrations.

Ewing on the Clinical Pathology of the Blood. New (second) edition. A Treatise on the General Principles and Applications of Hematology, by James Ewing, M.D., Professor of Pathology, Cornell University Medical College, New York. Revised and enlarged. In one octavo volume of 492 pages, with 43 engravings and 18 full page colored plates. Lea Bros. & Co., publishers, Philadelphia and New York. Cloth, $3.50 net. The study of the clinical pathology of the blood has developed rapidly during the past two years, and, in truth, the additions to the knowledge of this science have been so extensive and so rapidly made during this time that the necessity for new editions of works on this subject is very apparent. Ewing's work sprang into immediate popularity with the first edition, and this entire edition was exhausted within less than two years. It not only met with a prompt welcome from practitioners, but was also adopted almost universally in medical colleges where the study of hematology is a part of the curriculum.

In preparing this new edition the author has instituted a number of changes, among which are considerable additions to the chapter of technics, the serum test for blood, and the subject of cryoscopy. It will be noted also that the chapters on the morphology of blood cells and leukemia have been enlarged, and that other desirable features have been given prominence. The number of engravings and plates has been considerably increased.