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it involves the pylorus." Far from this statement being of uniform truth, in some of the most terrible cases (symptomatically considered) of cancerous disease of the stomach on record, the cardiac orifice was the part of the organ implicated. What Dr. Gross meant to say was (we descry reason for imagining) probably correct, but he has expressed himself ill.

Dr. Gross treats fully the subject of internal strangulation of the bowels, and we regret that we cannot afford space for an analysis of his chapter on the subject. However, as the merit of his observations consists rather in his excellent arrangement and clear description of the causes of strangulation, than on any actual novelty in his facts or inferences, this is less to be regretted. We like the observation "of the hundred and one symptoms, which have been enumerated by authors as indicative of the presence of worms in the alimentary tube; there is only a single one that is of any value, and that is the appearance of these bodies in the evacuations." (p. 633). Perfectly and absolutely true,-and would that, of many of the diseases of the alimentary canal, for which a hundred and one symptoms are set down by systematic writers, we had one as sure clinical indication.

The perusal of Dr. Gross's book leaves, on the whole, a favorable impression on our minds. He may not be a man of first-rate abilities, but he is zealous and honest. On the one hand, he gives no evidence of originality in research or in thought; and on the other, he is unquestionaby deficient in that critical faculty which is essential for the successful sifting of collected materials. But we, nevertheless, willingly admit that he deserves great credit for having executed his labours so well; we receive his book with thanks, and, looking on it as a transition work, we recommend it as the most complete and, on the whole, the least defective compilation on the subject in the English language.

ART. IV.

Recueil de Mémoires de Médecine, de Chirurgie, et de Pharmacie Militaires; redigé sous la Surveillance du Conseil de Santé des Armeés. Publié par Ordre de S. Ex. le Ministre Secrétaire de l'Etat au Département de la Guerre.-Paris, 1815-1846.

Collection of Memoirs on Military Medicine, Surgery and Pharmacy. Published officially.—Paris, 1815-1846. Fifty-eight volumes, 8vo.

IN taking a review of the periodical literature of the present day, a class of publications which exists in France cannot fail to attract our attention, as being of a description to which we possess nothing analogous in this country. It consists of journals published under the control and at the expense of government, and consequently possessing in a great measure the character of official documents. Their importance as affording the means of disseminating information among particular classes of individuals, and of thereby leading opinion in some measure, by an appeal to reason, is deserving of deep consideration. This would involve a greater amount of space and leisure than we can spare, and would moreover lead us into a discussion of too general a character to be suited to the

pages of a medical journal. Among the periodicals of the kind referred to, however, is one which is recognized by the French government as the official organ of the army medical department, and which was instituted with a view to promote sound instruction among its officers. We propose in the following pages to give a brief sketch of the origin of this journal, and to notice one or two of the most striking papers which have appeared in its pages.

I. In 1763 Dr. Richard de Hautesierck, inspector of military hospitals, pointed out to the Duc de Choiseul, then minister of war, the advantages which would accrue to the medical department of the army, from calling upon the surgeons attached to hospitals to give a regular account of their practice, and to correspond on the subject with the inspector-general, who should be empowered to publish the results of that correspondence. The minister authorised Dr. Richard to carry out his plan, and to collect and publish at the expense of government any interesting observations and rare cases which might thus be communicated to him. In 1766 he accordingly brought out a quarto volume, entitled, Recueil d'Observations de Médecine des Hôpitaux Militaires,' wherein, after laying down the plan on which the journal was to be in future conducted, he pointed out the necessity of studying the medical and physical topography of the countries commonly occupied by the troops, and especially the salubrity or insalubrity of the various garrison towns, barracks, prisons, and hospitals. He also gave several reports of cases, descriptions of epidemics, some topographical memoirs, particularly of the towns of Montpellier, Châlons-surSaône, Toulon, Lille, Bitche, and Strasburg, and a formulary of prescriptions for the use of the military hospitals. The gratuitous distribution of this work excited the zeal of the medical officers of the army, and increased the amount of correspondence on these subjects. In 1772 a second volume was published, which contained four memoirs on topography, five on epidemic diseases observed in France between 1764 and 1770, with many medical and surgical cases. Dr. Richard, for his services, received the riband of St. Michel, and was created Baron de Hautesierck.

In 1781 an ordonnance was published on the subject of the medical department of the army, by which, among other things, the Journal de Médecine, de Chirurgie, et de Pharmacie Militaires' was established; it was to appear every three months, and to be compiled by a retired consulting physician of the army. The object of this journal was to promulgate facts and opinions relative to the preservation of the health of soldiers, or to the successful treatment of their diseases, and nothing foreign to the medical department of the army, or of the military hospitals, was to be inserted. The first volume was published in 1782, and it continued to appear regularly till 1789, forming seven octavo volumes.

The changes in the administration of the army by the council established by the minister of war in 1788, caused the publication of the journal to be suspended. It was not intended to suppress it altogether, but the new directory of the hospitals announced, in 1789, that it would no longer be brought out at stated times as a periodical work. From this date till 1801, the instability of affairs in France, and the numerous calls of duty

on the council of health of the army, prevented the preparation of another volume. In that year several officers were appointed to prepare a summary of the most important papers which had been collecting during the preceding twelve years, but before this was completed their services were required with the grand army. Nothing further appears to have been done till 1815, when the journal was re-established, MM. Biron and Fournier Pescay being appointed the editors. It was at first brought out in bimonthly numbers; but this having been attended with many disadvantages, the editors resolved in 1817 to publish it for the future in half-yearly volumes, and the title was at the same time changed to that which it at present bears.

The minister of war, in his letter to the inspectors of hospitals in 1815, states the object of the journal to be, "to diffuse sound instruction among the medical officers of every rank, and to communicate to them without delay the discoveries which shall be made in the theory and practice of the healing art. All the medical officers are called upon to contribute materials to the journal. The publication of their labours will have the double advantage of being useful to the service, and of maintaining among all a noble emulation. In short, this journal will become a depot where each one may treasure up the result of his researches and the discoveries he may have made."

To obtain the materials necessary for carrying on this work, the principal medical officers of hospitals and the surgeon-majors of regiments were directed to forward monthly reports embracing all subjects relating to the health of the troops, either in the prevention or treatment of disease; they were also to give a detailed history of rare cases of disease among the soldiers; an account of any epidemics, with their probable causes and most successful treatment; meteorological observations, &c. The principal medical officers of hospitals were likewise to transmit quarterly, numerical returns of the admissions and deaths, and of the diseases by which these were caused. If these were furnished regularly, but little use appears to have been made of them, which we the more regret, as army medical officers possess opportunities of compiling satisfactory reports which rarely fall to the lot of the medical profession in civil life.

The editors being fully impressed with the importance of the study of military hygiene, called the attention of the medical officers to the advantages to be derived from a careful examination of the "rules and precepts relating to the preservation of the health of soldiers, and to the most suitable means for removing or diminishing the fatal influence of the numerous causes of disease to which they are exposed both in peace and war.” M. Biron, in the second volume of the journal, published a valuable memoir on this subject, in which he directed attention to the principal objects of study. These he arranged under seven general heads:-1. Of the choice of the soldier-his physical and moral qualities-the influence of military discipline on the recruit. 2. Of the diet of soldiers. 3. Of the clothing of the troops. 4. Of their quarters :-a, barracks; b, military prisons; c, hospitals; d, camps and bivouacs. 5. Of marches, exercises, and military works; the influence of, a, victories; b, retreats; c, captivity. 6. Duties of officers-discipline and habits of soldiers-inculcating the

maxim "qu'il faut le défendre contre lui-même, et lui faire du bien malgré lui." 7. Of the duties of surgeon-majors of regiments.

Fifty-eight volumes of this journal have now been published, a monument of the industry of the medical officers of the French army, and of the zeal and good sense of the council of health. The subjects chiefly treated, besides numerous interesting cases in medicine and surgery, are hygiene, medical topography, histories of epidemics among the troops, clinical reports from various military hospitals, surgical histories of campaigns, reviews of works on military medicine and surgery, biographical notices of deceased medical officers of the army, extracts from the addresses to the pupils of the military hospitals at the annual concours, and the names of the successful candidates at these concours.

It is much to be regretted that a work of a similar nature has never been established in the British service. The Army and Navy Statistical Reports already published, furnish much interesting and valuable information regarding the topography of the military stations, and the prevalence of disease and mortality among the soldiers and sailors employed in several of our colonies and dependencies; but the observations on the other subjects above mentioned pass unrecorded, or, if recorded, are at least very rarely made available to the use of the profession. That there is no lack of zeal in the collection of materials, let the accumulated documents at the Army and Navy Boards bear witness. But for what purpose such accumulation, if the papers are to lie untouched, their contents uncommunicated to those likely to benefit by them? These reports and observations, contributed during upwards of a quarter of a century, by officers employed in all parts of the world, many of whom have been men of considerable literary and scientific acquirements, doubtless contain much that would interest the statesman, the ethnologist, and the natural philosopher, that would conduce to the advancement of medical science, and that would prove useful and instructive to the junior officers of the department. It is a source of much regret that no synopsis of the best papers thus immured in the record rooms of the Boards has ever been published, or that the materials of so large a collection have not been methodically digested, arranged, and made easily accessible to the profession. We understood, some years ago, that it was in contemplation to condense and publish the more important documents at the Army Medical Board; and although this plan seems for the present in abeyance, we trust it has not been finally abandoned.

It has been remarked of this country that we possess no military literature; we are, certainly, by no means rich in military medical literature. The field of observation and exertion is wide and inviting; and the opportunities enjoyed by officers of acquiring information, in regard to climate, and the diseases of troops in the stations where they are employed, are in many respects excellent. The medical department of the army, however, have much cause to lament that so few of their body raise a memorial of their talents, zeal, and industry, by publishing the result of their extended and varied experience. From the communications of those who have enjoyed superior opportunities of observation and of acquiring knowledge, we may naturally expect to gain much useful information upon the in

fluence of climate, and the means of preserving the health of soldiers; and we think it will be generally admitted that those officers who have attained high rank, and filled desirable appointments, owe it as a duty to their country, and to the service in which they have gained their honours, to place upon record, and thus render available, the results of their long experience. Sir John Pringle and Dr. Jackson, by their highly valuable works, established a claim to the perpetual gratitude of the army, and left behind them imperishable monuments of their great talents and indefatigable industry, and an example worthy of being followed by their

successors.

But in thus asserting the claims of the army and navy upon individual officers, we by no means wish to underrate their claims upon Government. M. Begin, in an address delivered at the annual concours of the Military Hospital of the Val de Grâce, remarks

"If the surgeon in civil life commits any mistakes, they are isolated, injure only the individuals, and are reproduced but at long intervals; while the errors of the military medical officer, acting upon masses, may assume the nature of a public calamity. The first, when his practice is irrational, or very unfortunate, loses the confidence of his patients, and the evil checks itself; the other, armed with military rank, pursues his course steadily, while the men who are intrusted to his care cannot escape from his treatment. An extreme caution, therefore, is imposed upon the army medical officer. While adopting the progressive improvements of science, he ought never to forget that our soldiers cannot, guiltlessly, be made the subjects of rash experiments."

Such being the case, it surely becomes the duty of Government to afford to medical officers the means of acquiring early and authentic information on all subjects connected with the preservation of the health, or the treatment of the diseases of soldiers; since, from being scattered over the face of the globe, they have not the same opportunities as their brethren in civil life of becoming acquainted with the recent discoveries in medicine.

The Journal de Médecine Militaire' does not appear to us to have accomplished all the objects for which it was instituted, or to have realized the anticipations which might reasonably be formed of its usefulness. But this has resulted rather from the manner in which it has been conducted than from any fault in its original constitution. Indeed, we are inclined to think it is mainly owing to the original plan having been neglected, and a faulty system substituted. For instance, the reviews of new works on medicine and surgery have been almost altogether omitted, and the biographical sketches are so few as to justify the inference that this branch is considered of very secondary importance. The compilation of numerical returns from the hospitals, one of the most striking and important features in the original plan, has never been carried out, while an undue proportion of the volumes has been devoted to the history of cases. Besides, the distribution of the journal is confined, we understand, to the principal medical officer of each hospital and to the surgeon-majors of regiments. This appears rather to savour of sending coals to Newcastle; for if the object of the journal be the diffusion of sound instruction among the medical officers of the army, it would seem most natural to place it in the

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