There are several other springs of similar analysis in the town.

The analysis of the Middletown Springs by Prof. Collier of the Department at Washington.

The chief ingredients of these waters are the alkaline carbonates of soda, lime, magnesia and lithia.

Dr. Sidney Ringer says that "Large quantities of any alkaline water taken before meals increase the secretions of the gastric juice."

They neutralize the acid of the stomach, dissolve and wash away the accumulated mucus, also stimulating the respiration and heart's action.

The salts, assisted by the free carbonic acid gas and oxygen which the water contains, materially promote oxydation of the effete material of the tissues, rendering the urine alkaline, with an increase of the urates, and diminution of the uric acid.

In all the range of balneology, there is no class of water which admits of so large a scope of therapeutic usefulness to the physician, as does this class.

As anti-catarrhal they are of the highest order, acting not only upon the mucous membrane of the bladder and

gastro-intestinal tract, but also the mouth, throat and nasal passages. They are indicated in all chronic constitutional diseases, requiring an alterative, thus including many of the cutaneous affections.

From a fidelity to my own town, and a personal knowledge of the Sheldon Mineral Springs, I would for a few moments, call special attention to them. The Missisquoi a spring, the analysis of which has been given, is one of the most important.

The spring formerly called Kimball Spring was discovered sometime in the twenties, but did not attain any degreee of distinction until about 1864 or 1865, when it became widely known and advertised as a cancer cure, and the reported sales of the water, in a single year, exceeded $150,000.

That there was too much claimed for its remedial value in this line, there is no doubt, and it redounded to the disadvantage of the spring. Neither can there be doubt that in many well authenticated cases of cancer, in their incipient stages, a cure was produced, and in many other cases, a stasis of progress and temporary marked improvement was present, where a permanent cure was not obtained.

There is to-day no known specific for the cure of cancer, but I do think that the Missisquoi Spring water taken persistently, in large quantities, offers better prospects of good results than any other known pharmaceutical preparation.

Dr. Fordyce Barker, in his observations on the malignant disease of the uterus, before the New York Academy of Medicine, and published by that institution, remarks :— “The Missisquoi Spring water has in some cases seemed to

be of great benefit in arresting the progress of the disease. In a few instances, one of cancer of the breast, and four of uterine cancer, the apparent effect has been more striking than any results I have seen from any other agent."

Dr. Marion Sims says:-"I can fully endorse all that my friend Dr. Barker has said about the Missisquoi Spring water. I have prescribed it with benefit in a few cases of cancer; but I consider it a great remedy in all scrofulous diseases, and in syphilitic afflictions. In these diseases its true value has not yet been fully recognized by the profession. It is also an admirable remedy in affections of the digestive organs and in some diseases of the kidneys." Testimony from such authority as this cannot be questioned.

Many cases could be reported had I the time. But I have written enough to direct your attention and I presume tax your patience.

The subject to me has become a very interesting one, and its scope of usefulness far too large to be covered by this short paper, and I am convinced that it is a subject most worthy of attracting some part of our attention.

Inebriety and its Treatment.

By W. S. Nay, M. D., Underhill.

Gentlemen :-I assure you that I approach this subject with a great deal of diffidence, as I am conscious of my inability to handle it in a manner which so important a matter deserves, and lest I fail to convey to you the same degree of interest and enthusiasm with which I am possessed.

Since my earliest experience in the practice of medicine, I have been surprised that the subject of inebriety has received so little attention from the general practitioner, and that discussions, and papers if any, pertaining to it have been so meagre when reported, if reported at all. Physicians seem to stand aloof and sneer at all efforts of every kind to combat this evil, which explains in some measure the imperfect literature respecting it in this country.

There is probably not a wider field for investigation than is opened up by the discussion of this subject, for no physician can deny its importance, or plead lack of interest. I confess that we have in too great a measure become indifferent to the imperative needs-yes, even demands of many who are known in the circle of every physician's acquaintance and practice-but could we have known, or

even

now be conscious as we should be of each victim's cry of despair, many less important matters, looking from a practical standpoint would be overshadowed. Bacilli and all micro-organisms would stand in the background in order to give place to a more practical understanding of this baneful disease.

While it is not my purpose or desire to deliver a temperance lecture in this connection, yet I am not unmindful of the fact that no word picture can be painted which can portray in any particular the terrible effects and the misery occasioned by the toxic action of alcohol. Its victims are found in all walks of life. The keenest intellects among the professions, as well as the laity, suffer the penalties of indulgence, and to our shame be it said, those of our own profession are too often the victims of unbridled appetites, and proper subjects for treatment.

We are indebted to a few specialists for an active interest in, and close study of inebriety but their investigations solve the problem only so far as patients with ample means are concerned, who can avail themselves of the salutary influences afforded by the asylum and its surroundings. The average inebriate is more often, from the very fact of his over-indulgence, poor, homeless, and often friendless. His condition, while pitiful, does not awaken in the physician that degree of sympathy which it demands, or which it would do if a safe treatment could be given or a favorable prognosis be assured.

While we should uphold and encourage the many reform movements, brought about through the moral influence of the clergy, church, and all temperance organizations, we cannot overlook the fact that statistics disprove their success. The assurance that faith, coupled with the