ALCOHOL IN THE ISLES.-In 1885 the consumption of beer in England was 32 gallons per head; in Scotland, 16, and in Ireland, 16; the consumption of cider in England, 0.4, and none at all in the other two countries; the consumption of spirits in England, 0.8, in Scotland, 1.9, in Ireland, I; the consumption of wine o. 5 in England, o 5 in Scotland, and 0.2 in Ireland. The English drinker ́s partiality for beer and the Scotch and the Irish drinker's preference for spirits is clearly shown. When these amounts are converted into their equivalents of alcohol, we see that Ireland consumes least-1.4 gallons per head, Scotland comes next with 1.6, and England heads the list with 2.13 gallons of alcohol for each man, woman and child of the population; this, by a curious and undesigned coincidence, is just under one ounce a day per head the quantity which so many medical authorities assume can be safely taken—the physiological quantity which the country has heard so much of late years.

THE NEXT ANNUAL MEETING AND BANQUET OF THE HAHNEMANN ASSOCIATION will be held on Thursday, December 3, 1896, at the Windsor Hotel, Fifth Avenue, Forty-sixth and Forty-seventh Streets, New York. The great interest shown at the previous banquets, and the large attendance, warrant us in predicting that the present meeting will be even a greater success than the previous ones, especially so when the members find that this old and exclusive hotel has given the Association special arrangements, and promised an especially good menu at the very low price of Three Dollars per plate. The hotel has recently been elaborately redecorated and modernized so that it ranks with the best of New York's famous hostelries. This will be a particularly desirable place for the meeting and banquet for the accommodation of out of town physicians, as they can remain over night at the hotel, if rooms are ordered in advance. Not only are we warranted in predicting that the dinner will be exceptionally good, but the list of after-dinner speakers already secured, will certainly make this part of the dinner one of great enjoyment; and all members who desire to honor the memory of Samuel Hahnemann and enjoy a most delightful evening, should make their arrangements to attend.

DEDICATION OF THE NEW MEDICAL HOSPITAL took place on the afternoon of October 6th at half after three o'clock. A large platform had been erected at one end of the court between the hospital and college buildings and seats filled the remainder of the space. The trustees, faculty and invited guests occupied seats on the platform, while a large gathering filled the entire campus. The exercises opened with a dedicatory prayer by the Rev. John Wesley Brown. The Hon. Rufus B. Cowing, President of the Board of Trustees, made a short but eloquent address, and introduced the Dean, Professor William Tod Helmuth, M. D., LL.D., who spoke in earnest words of the college and hospitals, their past, their steady growth, and their bright prospects for future usefulness and fame. General James O'Beirne, Commissioner of Public Charities, made the oration of the occasion. His speech was a rippling stream of beautiful oratory, murmuring with tender pathos as he spoke of invalid and suffering humanity, thrilling with soulful eloquence as he lauded the immortal Hahnemann or extolled our glorious Republic. At the conclusion of the exercises the guests inspected the buildings. The new hospital is a gem of completeness, dainty, neat, with nothing lacking to carry out the rules of science, as well as make the suffering, who may be fortunate enough to be ill therein, feel happy and at home.

Series

NORTH AMERICAN

JOURNAL OF HOMŒOPATHY.

ORIGINAL ARTICLES IN MEDICINE.

ECHINACEA ANGUSTIFOLIA IN SOME DISEASES OF

MR

CHILDREN.*

BY CHARLES F. OTIS, M.D.

Honeoye Falls, N. Y.

R. President and Gentlemen: In telling you what I can of this valuable remedy it is impossible for me to confine myself strictly to diseases peculiar to childhood. I shall, therefore, ask the privilege of digressing somewhat and it is probable that this article might more properly come under the bureau of Materia Medica; but inasmuch as the drug has proved so useful in two of the most dreadful of children's diseases, it will do no harm to devote a short space of time to the study of its uses on other lines.

The plant is found growing on the prairies and marshes of the West from Missouri to Texas and is known under the common name of "Narrow-leafed Cone Flower" and "Black Samson." It grows from one to three feet high; it is in bloom from May to August; the flowers are of a brownish color and disc shape.

A strong tincture is made from the root which is brownish-red in color and at first, not very marked in its taste, however, when swallowed, it produces a tingling sensation of the tongue and fauces leaving an acrid after-sensation reminding one somewhat of Aconite. It has no decided chemical qualities being one of those organic compounds of decided therapeutical value but passive chemically. I believe that the drug varies much in properties according to the location that the plant is found and menstruum used in its manipulation and that, as obtained from some sections of the country, it is of little value.

*Read before the New York State Homœopathic Medical Society, at Rochester, N. Y., September 22, 1896.

This was a perplexing problem in developing the remedy but after strenous efforts mainly by the late Prof. King, these discouragements were ultimately overcome and a drug of standard and uniform strength developed.

The profession at large, are indebted to Dr. C. T. H. Myers, of Pawnee City, Neb., for this valuable remedy; he bringing it to the notice of the eclectic physicians. Dr. J. S. Hayes, of Denver, Col., has been the next largest contributor to the literature giving intelligent indications for its uses.

My attention was first called to the drug about ten years ago by one of Rochester's well-known physicians; I refer to my friend, Dr. E. Clayton Smith, of Tremont Street. It was at a time when I was struggling through with a most malignant epidemic of scarlet fever and the action of the drug was so marked, I might say magical, that its uses so far as I knew them, were indelibly fixed in my mind and from then until the present time I have always been careful to have a good supply of the drug on hand.

USES: With reference to the uses of this drug I wish to call your attention in particular, to malignant Scarlet Fever and Diphtheria.

I doubt if there are many physicians here assembled, who are general practitioners, who have not, at some period of their professional lives, come in contact with one or both of these diseases either in an epidemic form or isolated cases, and in instances, have met more than their match; have seen their patients with tongue so swollen that it protruded from the mouth; with membrane gradually extending from the throat into the posterior nares, possibly protruding from the nostrils, with the awful odor so characteristic; with a respiratory sound that told you too plainly that membrane was extending into the air passages and that the misery of your patient would soon cease, not because of your ability to afford relief but because death would close the scene.

I need not complete the picture by mentioning the enormously high temperature, the thread-like pulse, the cessation of the action of the kidneys, the awful agonizing expression of the face, and, perhaps, in your efforts, intubation had been practiced without good results. It is in just this class of cases that echinacea is king. So reliable has been its action in my hands that I am inclined to give a favorable prognosis and if I am so fortunate as to be called early, the application of the drug in question does not permit of the symptoms just enumerated. The whole case will usually be changed to one of a mild form followed by a quick recovery. Sepsis, putrescents and

malignancy are conditions where echinacea will do its greatest work and where its action is most reliable. I will here enumerate the symptoms for which I have learned to prescribe the drug :

HEAD-Meningeal pains; stupor.

EYES :-Dull and lustreless; corners of the eyelids get sore and raw from tears which excoriate.

NOSE-Ichorous discharges making the lips sore; foul-smelling discharge from the nose; membranous formations protruding from the nose.

MOUTH AND TONGUE:-Cankered sore mouth; gums recede from the teeth and bleed easily; corners of the mouth and lips crack open; get raw; exude a watery fluid which corrodes the healthy tissue with which it comes in contact; tongue dry and swollen; covered with sordes; cracked in places; tongue too large to be contained in the buccal cavity; color, brownish red or purple; tongue looks like raw beef which has been exposed to the sun or air; deglutition and articulation impossible; breath so offensive that it is difficult for attendants to stay in the room.

THROAT-Phlegmonous inflammation of the tonsils; tonsils, purple or black (the more strangulated the circulation the better echinacea is indicated); a gray exudation on the tonsils and throat extending into the posterior nares and into the air passages; much dryness of the throat; the moisture is similar to that which exudes from the cracked lips before referred to, seems to be the serum from the blood exuding from cracked or ulcerated surfaces.

LUNGS:-A noisy sawing respiration, impeded from membranous deposits; respiration from 40 to 60 per minute and face purple.

STOMACH :-Inasmuch as the conditions indicating its use generally preclude the use of much food, I have no symptoms; would suggest its use in ulceration and cancer.

LIVER-NO symptoms.

KIDNEYS :-Albuminous urine; post scarlatina dropsy; urine scanty; it increases both quantity and deposits.

BOWELS :-Always remember it in ulceration of typhoid fever; use it as a preventive, while it is not a cathartic I believe it increases very much the throwing off of broken down tissue through this channel.

BLADDER -No special symptoms.

UTERUS-Puerperal septicæmia; discharges suppressed; temperature high; abdomen sensitive and very tympanitic. In this condition echinacea should have first place.

GLANDULAR SYSTEM:-Enlargements of lymphatics following or accompanying septic, malignant or contagious diseases; glandular enlargements following the same; to prevent abscesses forming in glands and to clear the system in case of suppuration.

SKIN-Here the drug has an important action, both locally and internally, and would mention as conditions calling for its use: Irritations produced by poisonous plants, stings and insect's bites; recurring crops of boils; carbuncle in this disease while I have had no experience with the drug, I am reliably informed that its action is as reliable and beneficial as in malignant scarlet fever and diphtheria. Syphilis, acute and chronic; ailment from vaccination ;

eczema.

You see from the outline which I have given that echinacea is indicated in all purulent and septic conditions whether contagious or infectious, poisoned wounds, such as snake and insect bites, unhealthy surfaces not inclined to heal, etc. Method of administration: As far as my experience goes or I can learn from report of others, high attenuations have not been used. For internal use I sometimes use doses of ten to thirty drops in water and repeat hourly, but, ordinarily, I add one or two drams of the tincture to four ounces of water and give one dram of this solution at intervals of one to three hours. In membranous formations, I spray the throat and nostrils, or surface affected, with the tincture reduced one-half with water or one part to ten of water; locally it should be applied about the same strength on cotton and kept constantly moist. Should a case demand, I have it in mind to try the hyperdermic use of the remedy.

A few clinical cases.-Dr. Lyman Pike, of Terre Haute, Ind., reports the following: Recently I attended the worst case of malignant diphtheria I have ever seen. I used during the treatment, phytolacca, veratrum, eucalyptus, peroxide of hydrogen, baptisia, etc. Symptoms moderated for about two days, then rapidly the larnyx, nares, and entire buccal cavity became involved, breathing through the nostrils entirely ceased and the stench was fearful, sputa abundant. Something must be done. I was on guard the whole night. Finally gave the following: echinacea, 1⁄2 oz., aqua, 31⁄2 oz., and ordered one to one and one-half drams per hour. The patient

In

asserted that she could not recover, but recovery was speedy. less than five days after commencing echinacea the patient was discharged.

Dr. N. F. Jackson, who is doing an excellent business at Selma, Kan., writes of a recent pleasant experience he had in the use of