laughable commentary upon fashionable credulity; but it does no essential harm to our profession. It is outside of it. It is only one phase of the quackery which must always exist so long as there is either learned or unlearned credulity to create a demand for it. But the quackery that is among ourselves, does injure the profession; and those who practice it ought, if possible, to be put among the outside quacks, where they really belong. Till this is done, it is of little use to expose the impositions which are practiced upon the community by homoeopaths and other quacks. PROBE.

NEW YORK, DECEMBER 22d, 1854.

To the Editors of the Medical Times.

The general fidelity and accuracy which characterize your Journal, more especially in its statistical accounts, has led me to the correction of an error found in your notice of the assembly which took place upon the delivery of the Public Discourse, by Dr. J. W. Francis, on the occasion of the first anniversary of the New York Academy of Medicine, in November, 1847. You have recorded, that two thousand five hundred individuals gathered within the Tabernacle on that memorable night. The total audience on that occasion, including the medical faculty and our citizens at large, was somewhat rising four thousand; and, according to report, nearly an equal number went away, from not being accommodated, as the hall of that building was crowded to its uttermost. The organization of the Academy constitutes an era in the progress of the profession in this city, and the novelty of the occurrence would seem to have awakened public attention to the objects and measures there to be announced to the community. Why the Academy has seen fit, since that Inauguration night, to circumscribe these annual orators within a less public accommodation, must rest within the bosom of its members; but I am satisfied of one thing, that were the Academy's labors more generally known, and more widely promulgated, the medical profession would rally to its support in greater numbers, and with increased zeal for the furtherance of the noble and important objects, which its late incorporation by the legislature has set forth. VINDEX.

Editorial.

Anniversary Dinner of the N. Y. Society for the Relief of Widows and Orphans of Medical Men.-We continue our account of this festival. The Rev. Chancellor Ferris having returned thanks, the intellectual part of the entertainment then commenced. The President, Dr. Isaac Wood, according to custom, made a statement of the actual condition of the Society. Insti

tuted in 1842, its capital is now $17,000, securely invested in bonds and mortgages, at seven per cent. on improved property in New York and Brooklyn; the ground, in every instance, being worth the amount loaned. Receipts from all sources during the year (including interest), $1,797 15; Expenses, $318 25. One family is supported by the Society. Sixteen members have died since the organization, two of them (Drs. Mac Neven and Isaac Greene) during the past year. Number of members, 82; of whom, 42 are life members by the payment of $100 each. Benefactors, by the payment of $150 (three of them being laymen), 9. Dr. Wood, after congratulating the Society upon its great prosperity, announced the first toast, "Our Society-springing from a benevolent motive, the vigor of its youth gives promise of a good old age." Dr. Beadle, Treasurer, on a call from the President, then read a succinct history of the origin of the Society, its objects, and aims. To the second toast," Divinity, Law, and Medicine, essential elements of civilized society, may they ever be found united in sustaining the cause of truth and progress! "Rev. Dr. Potts responded for the Clergy. He had the honor of being invited as an orthodox clergyman, medically orthodox, and had never yet been able to discover in the isms, pathies, and reforms of an uneasy and shifting generation, that the wisdom of the past is folly. He alluded to the change in public sentiment in the medical profession within half a century as regarded the great doctrines of religion. The charge of materialism, then frequently made, is now seldom heard; and none now speak of dissecting out the human soul, as from the pineal gland. Neither do they talk of the mind, as synonymous with the brain, a thing to be weighed, or cut, or tested with the crucible. He made some playful allusions to the functions of the spleen, as a reservoir for the blood in diseases of great excitement. He claimed that the clergy, though not splenetic, might claim to be a sort of spleen, in its conservatism, in which, when public opinion is running riot and endangering the most cherished doctrines of the medical profession, sound principles may take shelter and be safe. He remembered the time when the clergyman in the sick-room was regarded with distrust and dislike by the attending physician; he was happy that this was no longer the case; better notions of psychology, and a sounder mental philosophy now prevailed. The reverend gentleman was listened to with marked attention and respect; he left a most favorable impression, both as regards his conservative doctrines, and sound practical good sense, upon the minds of all present. O! si sic omnes! for it is an incontestible fact that, as a class, the clergy have not exercised their influence to sustain the cause of legitimate medicine, but have been most prominent in abetting the cause of quackery and imposture.

For the Law, A. B. Le Bau, Esq., responded in an eloquent address. For Medicine, Dr. J. W. Francis responded in answer to the unanimous call. He spoke of the necessity for a literary diarrhea, in a speaker so often called upon to address them, as he had been; congratulated the Society on its pros

perity, its benevolent motives, and that there had been no bankruptcy or defalcation here. He spoke of the duty of cherishing every medically orthodox clergyman, since it was notorious that some of the strongest in theological lore had shown themselves weakest in physical science, and had fallen into the grossest errors. He also spoke of the pleasure he had received in examining, in the library of a medical friend, the works of Adrianus Spigelius, Bruxellensis, in ponderous folio, published in 1645; and could not but believe that if the standard of acquirements and learning was as high as in the times of these old scholars, we should find but few turning from our ranks into spirit-hunting, table-turning, Mesmerism, homœopathy, and similar stupid absurdities. Well-educated men never believe in such nonsense; but now when the whole science of medicine is published in a pamphlet form, we must expect these results; let us then follow the example of old Spigelius, and the profession of medicine will once more be distinguished for its learning and philosophy. Be kind to the physician's widow and his orphans; the Fejees and Sandwich Islanders will be cared for by a higher power; our duty is to care for our poor brethren around us. Like Fothergill, Rush, and Bailey, of N. Y., give—give freely, even if while you fill their pockets, you have to shut the door in their faces, and invite them earnestly to "go away." A little exegetical advice to a starving man, may comfort your own conscience and do him no harm; but remember, that it is much easier for a rich man to be good, than for a poor devil to be converted-The Rev. Chancellor Ferris was next called out. He seconded the views of Dr. Francis in regard to education, urging upon the profession to insist upon high classical and scholarly attainments in their graduates. The surest safeguard against the creeping in of foolish isms and ologies was in a sound education. It was a little learning which filled the community with quacks.-The toast of "Woman, lovely woman, nature made you to temper man; we had been brutes without you," was happily and eloquently responded to by Dr. Marion Sims. Dr. Beadle alluded feelingly to the decease of Prof. J. A. Swett, who, though not a member, had contributed liberally to its funds; he proposed the memory of Drs. Swett, Mac Neven, and Isaac Greene, which was drank standing, in silence, a dirge being at the same time performed by the band. Dr. Du Bois announced, that Dr. Swett had bequeathed a legacy of $300 to the Society, for the purpose of constituting three life-memberships, the individuals to be selected by the Society; also that, before his marriage, he had left $2,000 to this object, but was induced afterwards, by a change in his condition, to appropriate it otherwise.-Hon. Peter Cooper was next called up. He spoke of the advantages of early education, which he had not enjoyed; he gave as a sentiment, The Medical Faculty of New York. Professor Willard Parker was called up by all the house to respond. He contended that there were no more liberal and highly scientific, or better practitioners in any city in the world, than here in New York. Spigelius, and those old friends of Dr. Francis, were no

doubt very clever men in their day; but he thought that, for actual acquirements, they would make but a sorry figure here, to-night. He reminded the Society that Young America had graduated and entered upon practice. We must not look through the wrong end of the telescope, or be forever dwelling on the past. In making medical books, New York was not over famous, but it was not because we lacked brains, or scissors; it was because our practitioners are too busy to write.-Dr. Francis rejoined with spirit. He said that although we did not make many books here, yet the history of medical science could not be written without large mention of New York; as regards the treatment of croup, small-pox, diseases of the chest, ligature of arteries, &c., &c., the names of Ogden, Kissam, Miller, Post, and Mott, were immortal in their writings and works: let us then stand up for old New York.

Professor J. M. Smith, Drs. Gescheidt, of the German Society, Detmold, O'Reilly, Tuthill, and Sayre, were called up. Dr. J. King Merrit, with one of the stewards, sang a glee; Dr. Rockwell, told, for the nineteenth time, his story of the Yankee doodle quilting frolic and dancing lesson; he has promised to have a new one ready by next year. Messrs. Coleman & Stetson were toasted. Dr. James R. Wood acknowledged the obligations of the Society to these gentlemen, and responded for them; and finally, as all good things must have an end, the festival broke up at half past one, A. M., to the tune of "Auld Lang Syne." Although one of the stewards, we must be allowed to say that the occasion was a most profitable one for the Society, as well as most acceptable as an entertainment. Six Life Members made themselves benefactors, Drs. Beadle, Du Bois, G. Carter, Harsen, Gibért, and Adams; (one layman) E. B. Little, Esq., constituted himself a benefactor; Drs. John O'Reilly, J. W. Green, and J. C. Forrester, made themselves Life Members; and Drs. J. B. Gould, R. S. Chapin, E. Schilling, and G. Benedict, annual subscribers. The entire receipts on the occasion amounted to $1,250. The expenses of the dinner, $630, were paid by private subscription.

Self-adjusting Stethoscope of Dr. Cammann.-We have the pleasure of presenting our readers with a description and an engraving of the double selfadjusting stethescope recently invented by George P. Cammann, M. D., of this city. Dr. C. has been long known as having devoted himself, with much success, to the study of affections of the chest. The mode of investigation of disease under the name of "auscultatory percussion," first made known by him and Dr. A. Clark, and published in the New York Journal of Medicine and Surgery, vol. iii. (July, 1840), established his reputation in this respect.

The stethoscope of Dr. Cammann presents, as will be seen by the engrav. ing, an objective end, made of ebony, the extremity of which is about two inches in diameter, two tubes composed of gum elastic and metallic wire, two metallic tubes of German silver, two ivory knobs at the aural extremity, and a

movable elastic spring, so arranged as to adjust it, and keep it in its proper position.

M. Landouzy, of Paris, previous to 1850, formed a stethoscope having a number of gum-elastic tubes, by means of which several persons could listen at the same time. Dr. N. B. Marsh, of Cincinnati, in 1851, patented a stethoscope with two gum-elastic tubes, and a membrane over its objective end. Dr. Cammann does not, therefore, claim any originality on account of the two branches of his instrument, but on account of other advantages which it possesses. The instrument of M. Landouzy was not found of any practical use. The objections to that of Dr. Marsh are:

1. That the aural extremity is composed of roughly-cut India-rubber, without any thing to adapt it to the ear, which both causes irritation and does not exclude sounds from without.

2. That it requires both hands to keep it in position.

3. That it gives a loud, muffled, and confused sound, caused by reverberation within the instrument, in consequence of the drum at the objective end and the inequality of the diameter of the bore. These circumstances render it of but little practical value.

The only resemblance between the instrument of Dr. Cammann and that of both Drs. Landouzy and Marsh is, that each is composed of more than one tube.

On reference to the engraving of the stethoscope of Dr. Cammann, which represents the instrument of one-third its size, it will be observed that the belllike expansion of the objective extremity will be two and a half inches in diameter, with a convolvulus excavation, gently curving outwards, to present a rounded edge to the chest, in order to prevent causing pain to the patient. The bore of the instrument is two and a half lines in diameter, care being taken to have it made smooth and even.

The tubes are made of German silver, with a double curve towards the aural extremities, which curves require to be constructed with great care, so that the ivory knobs may rest closely upon the external openings of the ears.* When applied, it is necessary that the orifices of the knobs should point upwards. Some of the instruments are constructed with a spiral, and others with an elastic spring, as shown by the plate. Some of them are so arranged that they can be disjointed, to render them more portable.

One point, heretofore sub judice, is settled by this instrument, viz, that the sound is conducted entirely through the air, and not at all through the media, as these were, for experiment's sake, changed nine or more times, with

*If any peculiarity of formation of the head of the observer prevents their thus resting, so as to exclude all external sounds, they should be carefully bent to give the required curve.