RUSSIA.
1
1602 RUSSIA—AUSTRALIA. <chronic nasal catarrh and emphysema. Dr. Kohn suggests that the mucous membrane of the nose was first affected, and the parasite aspirated thence into the lungs. Besides following his ordinary occupation the patient was a breeder of canaries, and as these birds are specially liable to suffer from aspergillus Dr. Kohn thinks that the infectious material may have come ’from the birds. Behring’s Serum. Dr. Bruschke 3 pricked himself with the needle of a syringe, with which he had just previously injected a mouse suffering from tetanus. The wound was immediately laid open and - disinfected. Four days afterwards (no symptoms having been noticed in the interval) a dose of Behring’s serum was in- jected. On the second day after the injection symptoms appeared which may be understood as having been caused "either by some irritating matter in the serum or as due to an ,attack of tetanus controlled and diminished in violence by the serum injection. The attack ended in complete recovery. Cholera. Dr. A. Lazarus 4 reports a case of "laboratory" cholera in an assistant at the Moabit Hospital. It was an extremely slight one and ended in complete recovery, but - comma bacilli were found in the stools, and the diagnosis was further established by cultures. The remarkable part of the case was that the patient’s blood serum, which a year previously had only a protective value against cholera of 1 : 250, was found after the attack to have a value of 1 :330,000. This seems to be a clear proof that Koch’s - comma bacillus, cultivated in the laboratory, is capable of .causing cholera. Dec. 19th. RUSSIA. (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) Russian Jledical Conference. THE fifth conference of the Society of Russian Physicians in memory of Pirogof will be held in St. Petersburg from Dec. 26th (Old Style) to Jan. 3rd of the coming year. Daily ’meetings will be held The president will be Professor ;Sutugin. Immediately after the St. Petersburg conference ,closes a similar congress will open in Moscow, where the Society of Russian Naturalists and Physicians will hold their ninth congress. The meetings will be held daily between Jan. 4th and lltb, 1894, and reports of the discussions will be published in a print to be issued daily under the title of the" Journal of the Conference." Cholera in St. Petersburg. Cholera still lingers in St. Petersburg. During the seven days ending at noon on Nov. 25th (Old Style) there were reported 20 cases of the disease and 11 deaths. In the previous week the figures were almost identical, the cases numbering 21 and ’the deaths 13. There remained under treatment on the date ’named 15 persons suffering from the disease. Cliolera in the Provinces. In the provinces cholera is still responsible for a consider- able amount of sickness and death, although it is certainly becoming less active as the winter advances. Podolia still retains the unenviable position of returning more cases of .cholera than any other government in Russia. In the week - ending Nov. 6th (Old Style) there occurred in this government 129 cases of the disease and 65 deaths ; in Tchernigof, 110 cases and 28 deaths ; in Kursk, 37 cases and 11 deaths ; and in Samara, 30 cases and 15 deaths. In Kief, in the fortnight - ending Nov. 13th, there were reported 100 cases of cholera with 38 deaths; and in Volhynia, for the same period, 122 cases with 65 deaths. Influenza, in St. Petersburg. Influenza is again epidemic in the Russian capital as well as in other parts of the country. Small,pox Inoczelation and the Empress Catherine. Last Sunday (Nov. 21st, Old Style) completed the 125th year since the introduction into Russia of protective inocula- tion against small-pox. On that date, in the year 1768, Her imperial Majesty Catherine II. recovered from the effects of vaccination, or, to speak more correctly, small-pox inocula- 3 Ibid. 4 Berliner Klinische Wochenschrift, No. 51. tion, which had been performed upon her by the famous English physician Dr. Dimsdale, and the day was conse- quently appointed by an ukase of the Senate to be kept as a high day and holiday. The story runs that the Empress was extremely anxious to be inoculated, and that after Dr. Dims- dale had made experiments lasting for two months he carried out the little operation upon his Imperial patient herself. All was done with the greatest secrecy. At ten o’clock at night on Oct. 12th a carriage drove up to a side door of the Winter Palace, and from it descended Dr. Dimsdale and the Tsezare- vitch (afterwards Emperor), Paul Petrovitch, the latter carrying under his furs an infant, who was to furnish the material for inoculation. On the next day the Empress retired to Tsarskoe Selo, where she is said to have passed "with great firmness of mind" through all the stages of the sub- sequent malady. The Tsczarevitch was soon afterwards inoculated, and when these facts were publicly announced it soon became the mode in St. Petersburg to submit to the process and the consequent illness. The infant from whom the Empress was inoculated was subsequently known as " Ospenni " (from ospa = small-pox). He was made a Court page but died at an early age. Dr. Dimsdale, as is well known, was liberally rewarded by the grateful Empress. He received the highest civil honours, a pension of £500 per annum for life, and was created a Baron of the Empire. Renewed O?ttbrea7z of Cliolc2-a in. St. Petersburg. During the past week there has been a sudden recru- descence of the cholera epidemic in St. Petersburg. For a considerable period the daily number of fresh cases had not exceeded two or three. On Saturday, Nov. 27th (Old Style), there was admitted to hospital only one person suffering from cholera, and on that day there were no deaths from the disease. On the following day there were no less than 13 new cases and 3 deaths ; on Monday, the 29th, there were 38 cases and 15 deaths ; on Tuesday, the 30th, 34 cases and 22 deaths ; and on Wednesday, Dec. lst, there were 16 cases and 5 deaths. At noon on the last date the total number of cholera patients under treatment, which in the previous week had fallen to 15, had again risen to 66. The cause of this sudden lighting up again of an epidemic which all thought was slowly becoming extinct has yet to be discovered. It may, however, be pointed out that Friday, Nov. 26ch, was St. George’s Day and was kept as a holiday among the Russian soldiers. Many of the recent attacks of cholera occurred amongst soldiers, and it is now stated that no less than 40 of these (of whom 15 are said to have died) had taken part in the banquet given at the Winter Palace on St. George’s Day to men of all ranks who had obtained the St. George’s Cross. For the present some caution is required in accepting these cases as instances of cholera. It is rumoured that the meat from which one of the dishes at the dinner was prepared was not good, and that this was the cause of the choleriform attacks. The matter will doubtless be investigated, and I venture to express a hope that the investigation will be thorough and that the results will be published. It is not unnatural to suppose that the unfortu- nate occurrence is an instance of ptomaine-poisoning on an extended scale, and all fresh evidence on this obscure subject will be welcomed. St. Petersburg (Dec. 8th). AUSTRALIA. (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) A Question of Medical Ethics, I FOR some time past the Illitstrated Sydney News has been publishing a series of articles under the heading I I Personal Portraits," giving a short biography accompanying a portrait of leading men in the colony, medical men being included. One morning a paragraph appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald, stating that the Council of the N. S. W. branch of the British Medical Association had been much concerned with the question of medical advertising, and had passed a motion expressing the opinion that certain statements in the press about some members of the profession were in the highest degree degrading. The Council at the same time wrote to two medical men, Dr. C. W. McCarthy and Mr. P. E. Muskett, whose "Personal Portraits " had recently appeared, asking if they had any explanation to offer of these notices of their lives "bearing unmistakable evidence of having been inspired " by
Transcript of RUSSIA.
1602 RUSSIA—AUSTRALIA.
<chronic nasal catarrh and emphysema. Dr. Kohn suggests thatthe mucous membrane of the nose was first affected, and theparasite aspirated thence into the lungs. Besides followinghis ordinary occupation the patient was a breeder of canaries,and as these birds are specially liable to suffer from aspergillusDr. Kohn thinks that the infectious material may have come’from the birds.
Behring’s Serum.Dr. Bruschke 3 pricked himself with the needle of a syringe,
with which he had just previously injected a mouse sufferingfrom tetanus. The wound was immediately laid open and- disinfected. Four days afterwards (no symptoms having beennoticed in the interval) a dose of Behring’s serum was in-jected. On the second day after the injection symptomsappeared which may be understood as having been caused"either by some irritating matter in the serum or as due to an,attack of tetanus controlled and diminished in violenceby the serum injection. The attack ended in completerecovery.
Cholera.Dr. A. Lazarus 4 reports a case of "laboratory" cholera
in an assistant at the Moabit Hospital. It was an
extremely slight one and ended in complete recovery, but- comma bacilli were found in the stools, and the diagnosiswas further established by cultures. The remarkable part ofthe case was that the patient’s blood serum, which a yearpreviously had only a protective value against cholera of1 : 250, was found after the attack to have a value of1 :330,000. This seems to be a clear proof that Koch’s- comma bacillus, cultivated in the laboratory, is capable of.causing cholera.
Dec. 19th.
RUSSIA.
(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
Russian Jledical Conference.THE fifth conference of the Society of Russian Physicians
in memory of Pirogof will be held in St. Petersburg fromDec. 26th (Old Style) to Jan. 3rd of the coming year. Daily’meetings will be held The president will be Professor;Sutugin. Immediately after the St. Petersburg conference,closes a similar congress will open in Moscow, where theSociety of Russian Naturalists and Physicians will hold theirninth congress. The meetings will be held daily betweenJan. 4th and lltb, 1894, and reports of the discussions willbe published in a print to be issued daily under the title ofthe" Journal of the Conference."
Cholera in St. Petersburg.Cholera still lingers in St. Petersburg. During the seven days
ending at noon on Nov. 25th (Old Style) there were reported20 cases of the disease and 11 deaths. In the previous weekthe figures were almost identical, the cases numbering 21 and’the deaths 13. There remained under treatment on the date’named 15 persons suffering from the disease.
Cliolera in the Provinces.In the provinces cholera is still responsible for a consider-
able amount of sickness and death, although it is certainlybecoming less active as the winter advances. Podolia stillretains the unenviable position of returning more cases of.cholera than any other government in Russia. In the week- ending Nov. 6th (Old Style) there occurred in this government129 cases of the disease and 65 deaths ; in Tchernigof, 110cases and 28 deaths ; in Kursk, 37 cases and 11 deaths ; and inSamara, 30 cases and 15 deaths. In Kief, in the fortnight- ending Nov. 13th, there were reported 100 cases of cholerawith 38 deaths; and in Volhynia, for the same period, 122cases with 65 deaths.
Influenza, in St. Petersburg.Influenza is again epidemic in the Russian capital as well
as in other parts of the country.Small,pox Inoczelation and the Empress Catherine.
Last Sunday (Nov. 21st, Old Style) completed the 125thyear since the introduction into Russia of protective inocula-tion against small-pox. On that date, in the year 1768, Herimperial Majesty Catherine II. recovered from the effects ofvaccination, or, to speak more correctly, small-pox inocula-
3 Ibid.4 Berliner Klinische Wochenschrift, No. 51.
tion, which had been performed upon her by the famousEnglish physician Dr. Dimsdale, and the day was conse-
quently appointed by an ukase of the Senate to be kept as ahigh day and holiday. The story runs that the Empress wasextremely anxious to be inoculated, and that after Dr. Dims-dale had made experiments lasting for two months he carriedout the little operation upon his Imperial patient herself. Allwas done with the greatest secrecy. At ten o’clock at nighton Oct. 12th a carriage drove up to a side door of the WinterPalace, and from it descended Dr. Dimsdale and the Tsezare-vitch (afterwards Emperor), Paul Petrovitch, the latter
carrying under his furs an infant, who was to furnish thematerial for inoculation. On the next day the Empress retiredto Tsarskoe Selo, where she is said to have passed "withgreat firmness of mind" through all the stages of the sub-
sequent malady. The Tsczarevitch was soon afterwardsinoculated, and when these facts were publicly announcedit soon became the mode in St. Petersburg to submit to theprocess and the consequent illness. The infant from whomthe Empress was inoculated was subsequently known as" Ospenni " (from ospa = small-pox). He was made a Court
page but died at an early age. Dr. Dimsdale, as is wellknown, was liberally rewarded by the grateful Empress. Hereceived the highest civil honours, a pension of £500 perannum for life, and was created a Baron of the Empire.
Renewed O?ttbrea7z of Cliolc2-a in. St. Petersburg.During the past week there has been a sudden recru-
descence of the cholera epidemic in St. Petersburg. For aconsiderable period the daily number of fresh cases had notexceeded two or three. On Saturday, Nov. 27th (Old Style),there was admitted to hospital only one person suffering fromcholera, and on that day there were no deaths from the disease.On the following day there were no less than 13 new cases and3 deaths ; on Monday, the 29th, there were 38 cases and 15deaths ; on Tuesday, the 30th, 34 cases and 22 deaths ; andon Wednesday, Dec. lst, there were 16 cases and 5 deaths. Atnoon on the last date the total number of cholera patients undertreatment, which in the previous week had fallen to 15, hadagain risen to 66. The cause of this sudden lighting upagain of an epidemic which all thought was slowly becomingextinct has yet to be discovered. It may, however, be pointedout that Friday, Nov. 26ch, was St. George’s Day and waskept as a holiday among the Russian soldiers. Many of therecent attacks of cholera occurred amongst soldiers, and it isnow stated that no less than 40 of these (of whom 15 aresaid to have died) had taken part in the banquet given atthe Winter Palace on St. George’s Day to men of allranks who had obtained the St. George’s Cross. Forthe present some caution is required in accepting thesecases as instances of cholera. It is rumoured that themeat from which one of the dishes at the dinner wasprepared was not good, and that this was the cause ofthe choleriform attacks. The matter will doubtless beinvestigated, and I venture to express a hope that theinvestigation will be thorough and that the results will bepublished. It is not unnatural to suppose that the unfortu-nate occurrence is an instance of ptomaine-poisoning on anextended scale, and all fresh evidence on this obscure
subject will be welcomed.St. Petersburg (Dec. 8th).
AUSTRALIA.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
A Question of Medical Ethics,
I FOR some time past the Illitstrated Sydney News has beenpublishing a series of articles under the heading I I PersonalPortraits," giving a short biography accompanying a portraitof leading men in the colony, medical men being included.One morning a paragraph appeared in the Sydney MorningHerald, stating that the Council of the N. S. W. branch of theBritish Medical Association had been much concerned withthe question of medical advertising, and had passed a motionexpressing the opinion that certain statements in the pressabout some members of the profession were in the highestdegree degrading. The Council at the same time wrote totwo medical men, Dr. C. W. McCarthy and Mr. P. E. Muskett,whose "Personal Portraits " had recently appeared, asking ifthey had any explanation to offer of these notices of their lives"bearing unmistakable evidence of having been inspired " by
