gentlemen, that every year makes me more grateful to the Almighty that he has permitted me, în conjunction with those I see around me, to form this Society; and that he has spared my life, not only to see its birth to see its adolescence-but, as I trust not, its old age, for I hope that it will go on for many years to come, and that it will increase from time to time, and the present founders of it may be spoken of with reverence by those who follow after. I thank you, gentlemen, most sincerely, not only for drinking my health, but connecting me with this great and noble Association as one of its founders. Dr. Hastings then resumed his seat amid loud applause. that has enabled me better to sustain those difficulties that arise in our profession. I confess that during the last few years from the workings of this Association I have been indnced to study my profession with the same earnestness which I did forty years ago, and the more I study it, the more do I find its beauties expand, the more deep its researches. I have now, gentlemen, passed the chair," as they say in some ancient Lodges, and have been a member of this Association for the last twelve years, and am now, I believe, among the senior members, for we have to regret every year the falling of of some through age, or infirmity, or death, but I am happy to say not from lukewarmness. But no meeting has afforded me so complete a consolation as the present one, for I have been struck mostly with the remarks of the junior members to whom I have been introduced during the last two days. If, then, we have grief upon one side in the falling off of some of our oldest members, I am sure those around me will agree that we are perfectly satisfied with the rising generation who are to supply our places when we are gone, and attend to the prosperity of this Association. I speak this after feeling it to have been my duty to attend your meetings from the cominencement of the Society down to the present time, and feeling as I do that we are much Mr. SODEN, of Bath, in proposing the next toast said-I have been called upon, gentlemen, very unex ex pectedly, to propose the next toast, and as far as the subject is concerned I have great satisfaction in so doing; but I feel a want of power to do justice to it, and am therefore sorry that it has not been placed in the hands of a more able advocate. So much has been said of the social advantages of medical science, that I shall not take up your time upon that point. I was, gentlemen, present at your first meeting, at Worcester, and since I have attended your meetings in various towns, at Bristol, Leeds, Birmingham, Sheffield, Cheltenham, Liverpool, Northampton, Nor-indebted to the junior members of our profession for the wich, and now Derby, though last not least. On these occasions it has been my good fortune not only to meet with old friends but to make new ones, who, I must say, have been among the greatest solaces to my life-gentlemen with whose names I was familiar from their writings, but who, without the means of this society, I should not have known personally; and wherever I have gone, I have found that the members of this Association have received such kindness and hospitality that it would be ungrateful in me not to mention it. We experienced it last year at Norwich, and all who are here and were there will, I am sure, bear testimony to the kind hospitality with which we were received by Mr. Crosse. His name is too well known to need any eulogy to be pronounced upon him; but were he absent I should, perhaps, say more than I now shall; but I am sure you will believe that I feel deeply the estimation in which such a character as Mr. Crosse's ought to be held. Society is greatly indebted to him for many things, not the least his conduct as President during the past year. I therefore beg to propose "The health of Mr. Crosse, the retiring President of the Association." The toast was drunk amid loud applause. The Mr. CROSSE, in returning thanks, said, Mr. President and gentlemen, I recollect at the first and earliest occasion of my attending a meeting of this Association, I said at its conclusion that I had been breathing a medical atmosphere; and during the many years that have since intervened I have breathed the same pure air, that no chemistry could have rendered better, or that would tend more to my health or my comfort. I beg to say that the information I have derived from meetings of this Association has been very great, and all those who have contributed to that information are entitled to my gratitude. I have not attended these meetings on one occasion that I have not found something in them communications they have made; and, without naming individuals, I can say that I have been much delighted at this part of the proceedings. I have now, gentlemen, to thank you for the kindness I have experienced from you upon this and all other occasions when we have met. It has been suggested to me, gentlemen, that I should allude to your present valued President, who has so ably performed his duties at this meeting. Of the earnestness with which he has undertaken and carried through those duties I have the best evidence, in having corresponded with him twelve months ago, and occasionally since that time, in order that be might take the best measures to secure our comfort, and I have great pleasure in proposing his health. I will only say that in paying these honours I feel sure that you are circumstanced as I am, and that you do it from the heart. The health of the President was then drunk with three times three. The PRESIDENT then rose and said,-Mr. Vice-President, Mr. Crosse, and gentlemen,-I can assure you I rise to thank you for your kindness with feelings hardly describable. My best powers shall be devoted to the interests of your Institution ; and if I can add one link to the chain, or add one stone to the vast building that my esteemed friend has so far built up, I shall retire from office at the expiration of the year with great feelings of satisfaction, that I have been able to do so much. Dr. HASTINGS then, in an appropriate speech, proposed the health of the Mayor of the borough of Derby, at the same time expressing the obligations they were under to the Mayor and Corporation, for the use of the Town Hall, and the general courtesy they had received from the authorities of the town. The toast having been drunk with applause, the last time before the present, being when they held their great meeting at the Queen of the West, the city of Exeter. He had intended being at Leeds, where he had understood the degraded position of the medical profession had been fully gone into, and where it was arranged that a memorial should be presented to the Queen, through the then Home Secretary; but from some feelings of delicacy that was not carried out. His next regret was that he was not able to meet the Association at Sheffield. It being somewhat singular that in that Hall in which they then met, dedicated to mechanical science, the genus loci gave them Some cutting remarks that might be useful to them if they had acted upon them. Their next meeting was under the able Presidency of Mr. Crosse, where many circumstances of an important nature were brought forward. In some degree he ought to apolo thanks, and assured the members of the Association of should have felt somewhat embarrassed after the the desire on the part of the Corporation to treat the eloquent speeches they had heard. Domestic circummedical profession with that respect due to them, stances had prevented him from attending their meetconsidering, as they did, that they were a body of menings so frequently as he otherwise should have done, who devoted much of their time to the advancement of science, and who bestowed its benefits gratuitously on those who could not afford to pay for their assistance. He need not remind them that Derby had been famed for medical science, as he need not tell them a Darwin lived in that town. It was such men as him and as the gentlemen who had so ably addressed them that evening, that made the public feel that their lives were prolonged, and their comforts enhanced, by the scientific attainments of the medical profession. In ancient times it was usual for medical men to be known by some sign or figure, but now he was happy to say they were known only by their sterling worth, or by their scientific attainments, instead of ancient quackeries. He thought that the comfort, the happiness, the convenience of every member of society was dependant upon medical science and skill, as he himself had experienced, beinggize as he had not known until lately that he should at the age of 60, free from disease, and fit to compete with any man in point of health. He regretted deeply that one class of medical men, who had important duties to perform, were not remunerated for those duties as they ought to be. He had not been Chief Magistrate of the town so long, but he had seen with respect and reverence the exertions of medical men among the poor, and feeling convinced they were not properly paid for those duties, he had mentioned the subject to his own immediate friends in Parliament, and he pledged himself he would not let the matter be forgotten, but endeavour to place those gentlemen on a better footing. It might be said to be presumption on his part as an humble individual to make that statement, but let them remember that the generous exertions of a few produced Magna Charta, and the oppression of one individual the famous Habeas Corpus Act, and he did hope they would do all they could in their power to unite, and use their exertions to obtain a remedy of the evil, and if they did that he thought nothing could stand against them. It had been said tbat in ancient times it had been necessary for the medical man to profess Atheism to gain notoriety, but in the present day a better taste was shown, for the profession now acted upon principle as well as science, and upon good sound moral principles, which he hoped they would continue to carry out. He hoped the Association would avail themselves of the accommodation offered in Derby another year, and any thing in his power to assist them there, or give to them that station and reward they ought to have, he should be always ready to give. Mr. WRIGHT, of Derby, Vice-President, proposed the health of Dr. Boisragon and the Vice-Presidents of the Association, Dr. BOISRAGON, in acknowledging the toast, which be did at some length, said, was he not aware that he was indebted for the distinguished honour of responding to the toast before the meeting, from being one of those in the situation of Vice-Presidents, and another not very pleasing reason, on account of his seniority, he be called upon to respond to the toast. He considered that they should as an Association, look first at the state of the profession at large, and then the mode which they should pursue to gain that position which they ought to maintain. His opinion was that the profession did not stand so high as it ought to do in the scale of society, nor was so much attention paid to its interests as there ought to be. They all knew that in law the poor man might plead in forma pauperis on account of poverty, but the lawyer got paid; not so the doctor, and he was sure there never was a plea of forma pauperis tendered to them, but it was at once taken cognizance of, and duly attended to. After alluding to the emoluments of the legal profession, to whom the highest offices and honours were thrown open, Dr. Boisragon contrasted the attention or rather negligence with which some of the medical men of this country, such as Harvey, or the Hunter's, and last not least the immortal Jenner, had been treated, to whom no mark of public gratitude had been shewn, and hoped that at no distant day the state of affairs would be altered, and medical men attain their proper position, and be rewarded for their efforts and discoveries, by which such great benefits were conferred upon the human race. Mr. DOUGLAS Fox, of Derby, proposed the health of Dr. Streeten, the Secretary of the Association, and was quite sure it was a toast that every gentleman in that room would receive with the greatest satisfaction; but, before he proposed that toast, he must, on behalf of himself and the members of the medical profession resident in Derby, say that it gave them the utmost gratification in seeing their professional brothers from a distance, but felt he ought perhaps to ask them to take the will for the deed. After paying a high compliment to the Mayor, as the most efficient chief magistrate they had had in Derby for a long period, he said he would then speak of one of those gentlemen connected with the Association, who had shown the utmost ability, zeal, and urbanity in the duties of his office. He alluded to their valued Secretary, Dr. Streeten, whose health he begged to propose, and he was sure that a great deal of the prosperity of the Association was dependant upon him. He could not express the delight he felt in having had an opportunity of making the acquaintance of so many distinguished members of the profession, whom he had before only known by repute, and trusted it was not the last time he should have an opportunity of seeing them; but that he should also see the Association hold another happy meeting at Derby. The toast was drank with loud applause. Dr. STREETEN, in reply, expressed his inability adequately to acknowledge the kindness with which the toast had been proposed and received. At that late hour of the evening he would not detain them, but he begged to say that whatever lay in his power to do for the welfare of that Association he should only be too happy to have an opportunity of doing it. He would beg, with the permission of the Chairman, to pass from speaking of himself, and propose the healths of the gentlemen who had so kindly undertaken the duties of the Local Committee upon the present occasion. He was sure all present would say with him that they were much indebted to them for the efficient manner in. which they had discharged their duty and received them in this town. The hospitality evinced toward the Association was beyond all praise. In no place in which they had before met had they been received with a greater amount of kindness than they had in the town of Derby; and he thought he should fail in his duty if he was not to propose the health of the Local Committee, who had acted so nobly for them. The toast was drank with rapturous applause. Mr. GISBORNE, of Derby, on behalf of the Local Committee, assured the Association that if the slight duties the Committee had had to perform had met with their approbation, or contributed to their comfort, the Committee would feel they had done their duty. At the same time passing a tribute of praise to Dr. Heygate, to whom great credit was due for his activity and his zeal in the promotion of the interests of the medical profession-a body of men, not met like a band of hydropathists, or mesmeric quacks-but men who sought to promote their profession on the solid and imperishable basis of scientific truth. Dr. CONOLLY, of Cheltenham, proposed the healths of Dr. Shearman and Mr. Walsh, and thanks to them for their instructive Medical and Surgical Addresses, at the same time congratulating the gentlemen named on the ability displayed by them. Dr. SHEARMAN, who delivered the Medical Address, briefly returned thanks, regretting the absence of Mr. Walsh, who had been obliged to leave Derby on the former evening. Dr. RANKING, in proposing the next toast, said the assembly had only drunk the healths of those who had contributed to their intellectual enjoyment, but as they had a social meeting of that night, he begged to propose the health of those who had had the arrangement of the table, he alluded to the Stewards, Mr. Fearn and Mr. Johnson, &c. Mr. FEARN, in reply, said he should be doing great injustice to his feelings, and those of his colleagues, if he was not to express feelings of thankfulness for the honour which had been done them, and on behalf of the medical residents of the town, he might say that the two days nearly over had been the happiest they had spent a long while. Mr. JOHNSON then addressed the meeting in a long and humorous speech, in which he spoke of the growing intelligence of the junior members of the Association, and the value of the papers contributed by them, a fact which he could hardly account for, seeing how few young men when he was one were enabled to express their thoughts on paper, and enunciate such bold and clear views as the younger members of the profession now did. The time was now gone by when men would go one, two, or three hundred miles to see a phy. sician in London; and while he would not disparage the men of the greatest talent in London, he was sare he should not be offering any thing derogatory to them in placing them with such men as Hastings, Conolly, Hodgson, and Johnstone, who were found in the Provinces. Mr. Johnson next referred to the treatment of the medical officers of Poor-Law Unions, and expressed his hope that the system of centralization would be done away with, and a better and more regular system exist in its place. Dr. JOHN CONOLLY then proposed the health of Mr. Wright, the vice-president of the evening, whom he described as one of the most amiable and kind men in the town of Derby, and hoped he should have many more opportunities of seeing him in health. Mr. Wright briefly returned thanks, soon after which the festivities of the evening were brought to a close by the Chairman vacating his seat. T. left his native county, (Pembroke,) in 1828, and was cast away upon a reef, in the South Pacific Ocean, whilst upon a whaling expedition. His party ultimately reached the Feegee Islands in 1829, and he returned to England in 1847, after having suffered extreme hardships, and having met with more misfortunes and extraordinary adventures than any other besides Ulysses and Robinson Crusoe ever experienced. "Multum ille et terris jactatus et alto," may fairly be applied to this man. He is now occupied with writing an account of his reverses for publication, I shall therefore confine myself to a description of a part THE WARM BATH IN DROPSY AFTER SCARLET FEVER. 447 of his misfortunes, which he will be unable to introduce the incision made by the native operator, and the left into a book intended for general reading. side of the scrotum covered with the scars of the twenty-seven punctures. The left testicle is high up and behind; in front of it is a very hard and oblong tumour, about two inches in length and one in breadth, which he says is the result of the puncture which pro It is very probably a deposit of fibrin, which has become organized. It is productive of no inconvenience, except that it compels him to wear a suspensory bandage, and he informs me that the function of the remaining testicle has escaped unscathed from all the numerous dangers which it has incurred. In the year 1831, he employed himself, and as many of his companions in misfortune as had escaped the danger of being swallowed by the waves, or the equally imminent peril of forming a part of a meal for some of the cannibal Feegees, in building a schooner, induced the effusion of blood into the tunica vaginalis. order to trade with the neighbouring islands. Whilst thus occupied he struck himself with the handle of an axe upon the right testicle. He was disabled from work at once, and the organ began to swell. In about three months it became very hard, and larger than he could grasp with his two hands, and being unable to walk without great difficulty, he put himself in the hands of a native surgeon, who recommended excision as the only remedy. The operator is obliged, by the laws, to practise upon pigs until he is considered sufficiently qualified to perform upon human subjects. The preparatory treatment consisted in feeding the patient as much as possible for two or three days previously, and immediately before the operation he was compelled to make a hearty meal. He was placed upon a bed of fresh leaves, and the surgeon, (using for his instrument the patient's razor,) made an incision about seven inches in length down the front of the tumour, simply cutting through the integument. The second incision of the same length, and in the same direction, penetrated the tunica vaginalis, and a quantity of clear fluid gushed out, revealing the nature of the malady. The patient, who watched every step of the operation, seeing his testicle of a natural size at the back of this large sac which was laid open, wished the operator to desist at this stage, but he was assured that the disease would return if it was not completed. The savage then seized hold of the gland with his fingers, and dragging it out of its situation, whipped it off at a stroke of the razor; and then, being well satisfied with his success, he held up the excised organ between his finger and thumb saying, "Shall I roast it and eat it ?" No after-treatment was adopted. He was kept cool, and not allowed to move hand or foot. On the fifth day he was washed by having cold water thrown over him, but the hæmorrhage continued until the tenth day, when it stopped spontaneously. When he was not too faint from loss of blood, in this interval, he could hear the blood spinning out against the vine leaves which formed his bed. The wound contracted and ultimately healed up. The disease then recurred upon the left side, and attained a large size, but having learnt a little by his former experience, he used to tap it himself with a lancet, and a quill, and this he performed at intervals varying from three to twelve months, twenty-seven times. Upon the last occasion he was startled whilst in the act of making the puncture, and "injured" him. self. This led to the formation of hæmatocele. He arrived in New Zealand in 1846, and was tapped again, and the sac was afterwards injected, and the disease cured. After the excision of the right testicle, the King of the Feegees used to visit him daily, having told the surgeon that if the patient died, he should be killed, and the patient buried on the top of him. On examining him I found a scar the result of THE WARM BATH IN DROPSY AFTER TO THE EDITOR OF THE PROVINCIAL MEDICAL AND SIR, I direct RAPE PERPETRATED ON A FEMALE WHILE UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF ETHER. That which had been suspected as a probable result on the introduction of the new narcotizing agent, has, according to the Gazette Médicale, actually occurred in Paris. Last week a female went to a dentist to have a tooth extracted. He advised that it should be stopped, and, to avoid the pain of the operation, recommended his patient to inhale the vapour of æther. What passed while the female was under the influence of the vapour may be inferred from the following facts:-The young female was observed to leave the dentist's house about three hours after she had entered it in a very disordered state. This attracted the attention of her employer, who could not account for her long absence. The injured party, notwithstanding the stupefying effects of the æther, retained some recollection of what had passed, and from some words which fell from her, It was proposed by Thomas Dorrington, Esq., and Capsules. seconded by Dr. Aikenhead : "That this meeting considers it desirable to form a Society to be called the Manchester Medico-Ethical Association,' the objects of which shall be to support the respectability of the medical profession, and promote good feeling amongst its members, by framing and adopting a code of etiquette, and by appointing a governing body to enforce the same, arbitrate upon disputed points, and adopt all such measures as appear best calculated to effect the above objects." Proposed by S. Crompton, Esq., and seconded by D. "That the following gentlemen be appointed a Provisional Committee for the purpose of framing laws and regalations for the government of the Society, and suggesting a code of etiquette for its adoption, viz. :Dr. J. L. Bardsley, Dr. Radford, Dr. Browne, W. J. Wilson, Esq., D. Noble, Esq., S. Crompton, Esq., T. Dorrington, Esq., T. Nursaw, Esq., T. Mellor, Esq., Dr. Aikenhead, aud R. Allen, Esq." Proposed by Thomas Nursaw, Esq., and seconded by "That the Provisional Committee shall at its discretion convene a meeting by advertisement of the members of the profession, resident in Manchester and its neigh. bourhood, for the purpose of receiving the result of their labours, constituting the Association, and electing the officers thereof." ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS. THE JACKSONIAN PRIZE. The Council of the College of Surgeous have announced that the subject for competition amongst the members for the Jacksonion Prize for the ensuing year is "Diseases of the Mammary Gland, Male and Female, and the Treatment thereof." SOCIETY OF APOTHECARIES. Gentlemen admitted Licentiates Thursday, July 22, 1847:-John White Bridgeman; Robert Baker. Gentlemen admitted Licentiates Thursday, July 29th.-James Herbert Budd, Guildford; Henry Bate, Truro; William Brook Charles Maxwell; Hugh Hastings, Stockenchurch; Edw. McDonnell, Culenton OBITUARY. Died, July 24th, at Saffron Walden, aged 38, Thos. Mickley, Esq. Lately, at Paris, aged 52, M. Texier, Physician to the Household of his Majesty the King of the French, and Surgeon to the National Guard. of the District Surgeons. The salary of the office, At Birmingham, from fever, Henry Bunn, Esq., one which Mr. Bunn had only held six months, is £20 per annum! Medical Entelligence. APPOINTMENTS. Robert Bentley, Esq., M.R.C.S., has been appointed Lecturer of Botany at the Medical School of the London Hospital, in the room of Mr. E. J. Quekett, deceased. The King of the Belgians has created M. Orfila an officer of the Civil order of Leopold. The King of Denmark has conferred the Grand Cross of the Order of Danebrog, a dignity to which is attached the title of Excellency, on Baron Berzelins. TO CORRESPONDENTS. Communications have been received from Mr. E. F. Dehane; Mr. T. C. Girtin; Dr. C. E. H. Orpen; Mr. T. H. Smith; Mr. Bartrum; M.R.C.S.; Dr. Pickford; Mr. A. Prichard; Dr. W. Gill; Dr. J. R. Wardell; Dr. Carlyon; Mr. R. Allen. M.R.C.S. may rest assured that the statement in his letter is altogether without foundation, and if he will favour us with his name and address, we will give him better authority than that of an anonymous informer that it is so. |