ation. Curettage was done at the time the patients were treated. Many of them had been curetted previously but unsuccessfully, or they would not have come into our hands for treatment for the hemorrhage. It is an entire innovation in our methods and in the matter of the benefit of the patient. The operative cures of sarcomas of the uterus are practically nil. In about 400 cases treated with radium and Roentgen rays in Freiburg there is no case on record with history of subsequent development of

more »

... malignancy. In illustration as to the effect in sarcomas : A tall overgrown lad with a big tumor in the left abdomen comes for treatment. After treat¬ ment for several months, on examination nothing could be felt through the abdomen but a small mass through the rec¬ tum. Dr. Burnam took that out and it was found to be a testicle which had become sarcomatous. On the other side there were two fallopian tubes and a little uterus in between. In other words, it was a case of mixed sex elements. Some¬ thing new has come into our midst and something big. We must take hold of it and see what comes of it. We are using radium every day for uterine hemorrhage, for fibroid uteri. We have radiated many carcinomas of the cervix uteri. In some cases we have later removed the uterus. In not one have we discovered any cancerous elements remaining. In one of them we found some of the pelvic lymphatic glands infected. In one case we found the glands enlarged at the operation. We have a very definite hope that we can follow these cases in a considerable series. A number of cases come to us with other ailments, such as Bright's disease, diabetes and carcinoma of the uterus, which cannot be oper¬ ated on. Some have profound anemia; others tuberculosis. To all these cases radium comes as a great boon, which is going to be extended and which we hope to develop in this class of cases. It does not take such a large amount of radium that the slender pocketbook cannot afford it. Dr. George E. Pfahler, Philadelphia: I want only to answer one or two points, one with reference to the disap¬ pearance of the tumor. I said that 75 per cent, of the tumors I had treated had disappeared, and so they have, and you must not forget that these quotations made by Dr. McGlinn are mostly based on the work of men of few years of experience. They have treated more cases than I have. The roentgenolo¬ gists have been working for from eight to ten years, and that is the reason we can. speak with a little greater emphasis than these men can, because the tumor continues to disappear long after the treatment has stopped. With reference to degeneration of the tumor, I inquired of the physician who treated the patient referred to by Dr. Shoemaker. The patient came weekly for treatment through the years when the treat¬ ment was much less developed than at present. He referred the patient for operation. Regarding degeneration of these tumors, it has been stated by men who know that 5 per cent. undergo malignant degeneration. If this is true, why have not 5 per cent, of those treated undergone degeneration ? And if they have, do you believe that the physicians of this country have so neglected their duty that they will not call the attention of the profession to the fact that these tumors undergo degeneration later? Until we have definite data we have no right to assume that these tumors will undergo sub¬ sequent degeneration. Insects and Disease.-When the history of medicine during the past quarter of a century comes to be written, the one outstanding feature of the period will be shown to be "the part played by insects in the spread of disease," and the application of this knowledge as a practical hygienic factor. Vermin have been "detested, shunned by saint and sinner," since the creation of man, but the reason for the abhorrence · has only been proved of late years. That the mosquito can carry malaria, yellow fever and filaria ; and that the bedbug, the louse, the flea, the fly, the blackbeetle, the tick, the itch insect and other vermin are agents in the transmission of a given disease is now common knowledge. This information has placed the subject of domestic and public hygiene and sanitary endeavor on a sure foundation, and given a stability to preventive measures hitherto unattainable.-Jour. Trop.