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447 To Correspondents. MJtMHfMttMt.—The best injection was decidedly the bismuth, and if it had been continued long enough would have effected a cure. Our correspondent does not say how long it was used, nor under what provocation the discharge returned. It would appear that the journey on horseback and other cir- cumstances gave rise, first, to inflammation of the neck of the bladder, and then to catarrh of the vesical mucous lining. The action of the catheter is a proof of this. The present gleety discharge is probably composed of prostatic mucus, and the patient is passing phosphatic urine. The emis- sions are owing to abstinence, and chronic inflammation about the neck of the bladder. The only addition we would suggest is about ten grains of citrate of iron thrice daily. Dr. Bingley.-John Hunter established the Lyceum Medicum Londinense in 1785. In 1793 he died. Dr. Drummond’s interesting case shall be inserted in our next impression. SELLING PRACTICES. To the Editor of Tan LANCET. SIR,-I have waited in the expectation that some pen more disinterested than mine.would vindicate my professional brethren from the charges con- tained in a letter in your journal of the 24th ult., signed "A Member of the Royal College of Surgeons of England," in which we are told that "a system has sprung up amongst us of obtaining money from the unwary under the most specious pretences." That any such system exists I most emphatically deny, and I do so upon an amount of experience which your correspondent can scarcely compare with his own. He quotes two cases, and implies, ex uno disce omnes. But "two swallows do not make a summer," and I venture to say that every re- spectable medical agent can conscientiously affirm that the attempts to make fraudulent misrepresentations by gentlemen declining practice, and desiring .to sell their professional connexions, are the exceptions to the rule. With an immense array of facts such as those which arise in my daily experience, I have arrived at the following conclusions-viz., that in nine cases out of ten where a charge of misrepresentation and fraud is brought against the vendor of a practice by his successor, that charge is based upon no proof of misre- presentation, but solely upon the fact that the successor has not been received by the patients, and has not made as large an income as the original holder, the fault lying with the buyer who has bought a practice for which he was wholly unsuited, and to which he could not adapt himself. I feel quite con- fident that one at least of the cases quoted by your correspondent is of this - nature. Fraudulent misrepresentations are possible by men who have recently established a practice; but they are almost impossible in the hands of old- established men, who are known and respected in the places where they Jive. As a general rule, frauds are only attempted by men who, like mush- rooms, are " here to-day and gone to-morrow;" and when these men succeed, it is usually in cases in which "no agents need apply," and in which no man with business acumen is allowed to exercise his judgment between the buyer and the seller. I do not mean to imply that any agent is infallible, and cer- tainly do not claim for myself the detective faculty in a supreme degree; but experience has proved by a thousand examples that, whether it be in the pur- chase of an estate, the transfer of a copyright, the sale of a medical or legal practice or partnership, or the negotiation of any matter of goodwill or pro- perty, immunity from fraud is best secured by making some third party to some extent responsible that justice be done to the other two. Professional agents, through whose hands such negotiations pass fre- quently, can generally at once put their finger upon exceptional charac- teristics or suspicious circumstances in any offer made through them, and ,ought to direct the attention of the purchaser to such points, so that he may not complain that he was misled. It may be argued in reply to this that the agent, being paid by the vendor, is blind to any other consideration than getting his commission in each particular case ; but the agent who would so act cannot hope to have any lengthy prolongation of his business, inasmuch as he would quickly sacrifice his reputation, and no man in large business would destroy his future for the sake of a little additional gain at the moment. After all, the fraudulent cases are few and far between, and our liberal pro- fession is not yet committed to a system of rascality, although, as the old proverb says, "there is a black sheep in every flock." Most of the cases in which the cry of " swindle" is raised are cases in which the successor has failed, from no fault of his predecessor, to secure the confidence of the patients formerly in the practice, and hence it is of the highest importance for the buyer to consider above all things his fitness for the sphere upon which he proposes to enter. In that lies the secret of his success or failure. I am, Sir, yours obediently, Lincoln’s-inn-fields, April, 1866. J. BAXTER LANGLEY, M.R.C.S., &c. A Provincial Fellow.-Unless vacancies should occur by death or resigna- tion, the retiring members of the Council will be Messrs. Luke and Hilton. The former gentleman was elected twenty years ago, the latter in 1854. 3fr. George Lewis Cooper.-Probably next week. B.-Yes, he can do so. Ilariala should consult Dr. Copland’s Dictionary of Practical Medicine. GLYCERINE SOAP. To the Editor of THE LANCET. SIR,-In your last number a correspondent, "W. W.," asks where he can obtain " soap made with thirty per cent. of glycerine." Soap made in that way would answer no good purpose. His better plan wilt be to melt some white curd soap with water, and then add thirty per cent. of glycerine. It will, of course, still retain a large amount of alkaline and saline irritants. April 17th, 1866. Yours truly, A MANUFACTURER. April 17th,1866. A MANUFACTURER. Pall-mall.-The Report of the Barrack and Hospital Commissioners, 1861, may be obtained at Hansard’s office. On the other points of cubic apace and hospital construction, our correspondent may consult Miss Nightin- gale’s Notes on Hospitals, M. Husson’s Etudes sur les Hopitsux, Captain Galton’s Report on the Construction of the Herbert Hospital, and Dr. Parkes’s valuable Manual of Hygiene. THE letter of Dr. Greenhalgh. " On the Expanding Uterine Stem" shall be published in our next impression. M.R.C.S.-We must decline entering into particulars at present. NAVAL INVALIDING. To the Editor of THE LANCET. SIR,-I was grieved to see a letter in your last week’s issue, signed by a Surgeon in the Royal Mail Steam Company’s service, on the subject of naval invalids received on board his ship for passage from Port Royal to England. The course this officer has taken in thus holding up his professional brethren to public censure seems to me a very reprehensible one. If he believed the medical officers were acting improperly or injudiciously, his obvious duty was to represent the matter to the naval authorities on the spot; and from the well-known character of Sir James Hope, the Commander-in-Chief, who was at Jamaica when your correspondent’s letter was written, there is no doubt that the matter would have received immediate attention. Instead of doing so, and then appealing to the press as a last resource, he makes a querulous address to "the profession," which in your journal-now so gene- rally read-means bringing a public accusation against men who cannot hear of the matter for weeks, and who are by the rules of the service debarred from answering him through the same medium. With regard to his cases. In the first instance, when he states that "the beautiful island of Jamaica affords every variety of climate," he appears to forget that Jamaica to the sick man-of-war sailor and to the invaliding officers means Port Royal Hospital alone; and, as I can testify from personal experience during several years served on that station, no locality can be worse for phthisis than that dreary and depressing sand-spit. He also ignores the natural weakness of humanity, which no doubt caused the dying boy to ask to be sent home to end his life among his friends, and which is often taken into account when surveying officers recommend the removal of poor fellows to England to die. Had the case of alleged neglect been reported on the spot, it would have been immediately inquired into, and, if proved, would have been severely visited on the careless parties. As to the remarks about insufficient invaliding, it can only be a matter of opinion; but I may remark that no man is sent home from Jamaica until he has been examined by four medical men, and pronounced a fit object for in- validing to the best of their belief. To judge by his remarks, this gentleman appears to find a difficulty in forming his diagnosis without a full and formal case. The documents sent with naval invalids are necessarily very concise, and I have found in general that the medical men to whom they are addressed consider them quite suffi- cient for every purpose required. It is to be hoped that your correspondent, who appears to be yonng and zealous, may in future combat those abuses he may meet with in a more pro- fessional and legitimate manner. I am, Sir, your obedient servant, April 17th, 1866. A NAVAL SURGEON. P.S.-I enclose my card. Pharmaceutist, (Liverpool.)-In an old newspaper of 1659 it is stated that "the feaver-bark, commonly called the Jesuits’ powder, brought over by James Thompson, merchant, of Antwerp, is to be had," &e. Di Legno proves, by his last communication, that he is not deserving of further notice. Studiosus.-1. Yes.-2. He should apply to the Briton Medical and General Life Association, in the Strand. Dr. S. Gourleg.-The Hospital for Epileptics, Queen-square, Bloomsbury. THE VALUE OF BROMIDE OF POTASSIUM IN NERVOUS DISEASES. To the Editor of THE LANCET. SIR,-In your number of the 7th instant you request your readers to state their experience of bromide of potassium. I beg to say that I find, on re- ferring to my note-book, that I first prescribed this medicine in diseases of the nervous system on November 15th, 1859, and that I have ordered it very extensively and almost daily ever since. According to my experience, it would be very difficult to over-estimate its importance in various nervous affections. I believe it to be one of the most valuable medicines we have. Yours, &c., Coleraine, April 13th, 1866. JAMES C. L. CARSON, M.D. 3f.D., (Brook-street.) - The College of Physicians in Warwick-lane was erected in 1670, and opened in 1674 under the presidency of Sir George Ent. The building is being demolished. The famous "gilded pill" can, no doubt, be purchased. Dr. Owen Davis’s case of " Puerperal Convulsions induced by Eating Mussels" shall appear in an early number. Cottonopolite-1. No.-2. Impregnation might take place. FRUITFUL SOURCES OF CHOLERA. To the Editor of THE LANCET. SIR,-I should feel obliged if, through the medium of your journal, any of your readers would inform me what is the power vested in a Poor-law medi- cal officer as regards nuisances; for several people here have applied to me to get open cesspools taken away from places only a few feet from their doors. Here, Sir, is a fruitful source of cholera and enteric fever. Large towns have their medical officers of health. Why should not the country places, which, though not so important to the community at large, must be far more so to their inhabitants P I remain, Sir, your obedient servant, Bagshot, Surrey, April llth, 1866. A COUNTRY MEDICAL OFFICER.
