PROFESSOR v. GUDDEN.

News has been received of the tragic death of Professor v. Gudden, in connection with the mysterious suicide of the late King Ludwig of Bavaria.

Professor Gudden was for many years director of the large insane asylum in Munich, and professor of pschychiatry in the University. For a long time he has had in preparation a work on the anatomy of the nervous system. His views on the functions of the brain were widely known and quoted, though he had written but little. A fine laboratory in connection with the asylum contains thousands of microscopic slides and many hundreds of original drawings. The death of Professor Gudden is a loss to the medical profession, and occurring just as he was about to present some of the results of his patient and laborious work, may deprive the science of neurology of valuable contributions.

SOCIETY REPORTS.

CHICAGO MEDICAL SOCIETY.

Stated Meeting, May 3, 1886.-THE PRESIDENT, E. J. DOERING, M. D., in the chair.

DR. M. P. KOSSAKOWSKI exhibited a case of

DOUBLE HARE-LIP AND CLEFT PALATE IN AN INFANT.

He promised a subsequent report of the case.

DR. H. GRADLE read a paper on

PURE DRINKING WATER.

He said the only way of deciding the question whether the Chicago drinking water is ever deleterious to health is

to search for the number and kinds of micro-organisms it contains. The sewage is poured into Lake Michigan, the source of water supply, whenever the current in the river drifts toward the lake. It is well known that the discharges of typhoid fever of which there are over 5,000 cases annually in the city-contain the typhoid bacilli. Any spores existing in them, and thus carried into the lake, are likely to remain alive in the water long enough for some few of them to enter the water mains. A similar danger is not unlikely in the case of other intestinal diseases, although the parasites causing them have not yet been identified. Such considerations lead one to suspect the water as the possible cause of infection, however rare.

The speaker has made some culture analyses according to the methods of Koch, and found from 1,000 to 1,500 living germs per cubic centimeter of water. Four to six varieties of bacilli are commonly met with in the water, mostly in the form of spores.

For purification the speaker recommended twenty minutes' boiling, or thorough filtration. Most filters in the market are inefficient. The Mallie aerifilter, however, was found to be practically bacteria-tight, when recently cleansed, though on continued use a few germs passed through it. It consists of a cylinder of porous clay screwed to the faucet, and surrounded by a glass cup, through which the water

passes.

PROFESSOR LONG asked if it is demonstrated whether the bacteria in our drinking water comes from the sewerage or from the air.

DR. L. CURTIS said there is no doubt that water absorbs

a great number of bacteria from the air, and that these may gain entrance into the circulation through the digestive tract as well as through the respiratory tract. He said there is no doubt of the possibility of malarial germs being introduced into the system by means of drinking water.

DR. R. TILLEY wished to know if it has been actually demonstrated that the bacillus tuberculosis finds its way through our sewers into the lake and drinking water. We are not justified in saying that our water contains this element of danger until it has been demonstrated.

DR. J. ZEISLER asked if Dr. Gradle had examined the Waukesha waters and found bacteria in them.

DR. GRADLE closed the discussion by saying he took pains not to state in his paper whether he thought the disease germs found in the water were introduced by means of the sewerage or air. It is not a vital point so far as the use of the water is concerned, although if it is decided that these bacteria are introduced by means of the sewerage and not the atmosphere, it would have a bearing on the question of where to dispose of our sewerage. However, there is no doubt but bacteria are introduced into large bodies of water by means of dust, vegetation, and decayed leaves, and there is no reason to believe that the bacteria found in our water are derived from the sewerage alone. A Russian chemist had examined the water found at St. Petersburg, and found that at a distance from the city the number of bacteria per cubic centimetre was considerably less than near the city. Dr. Gradle had examined water obtained from Lake Michigan about thirty-five miles from Chicago and had found about the same number of bacteria per cubic centimetre, but a less

number of varieties than in city water. He believed the spores of typhoid fever and tuberculosis may find entrance into our lake water and become causes of disease in individuals who are not prepared to resist their attack. Dr. Gradle had never examined the Waukesha waters, but he had examined water from a spring on his own farm, which he believed to be as pure as Waukesha water, and had found only fifteen to twenty bacteria per drop, and only three varieties. He believed that spring waters are the purest, as the bacteria they contain cannot be due to sewage.

DR. W. H. LYFORD read a report of a case of

SCLERODERMA.

A girl, æt. 10 years, apparently healthy and of good family history. Five years ago she received a shock from a lightning stroke. Shortly afterward her parents noticed, under the surface of the skin over the outer region of the left forearm, a delicately traced symmetrical figure, branching and ramifying in purplish colored lines with singular regularity. Dr. Lyford believed the lightning had paralyzed the cutaneous branches of the musculo-spiral nerve, and caused congestion of these filaments, with the marking as a result. In due course of time the skin has undergone the changes that take place in scleroderma. There is hyperesthesia accompanied by pain, especially at night. The patch is also now slightly elevated above the surrounding healthy integument, and is only slightly movable, while at the elbow it is attached to the fascia and sheaths on the tendons, thus interfering somewhat with the movements of the forearm.

DR. J. ZEISLER said he had seen four cases of scleroderma, two of general scleroderma and two of partial scleroderma.

The first two cases he saw in one of Kaposi's clinics. Their appearance was striking. In scleroderma the features of the face are immobile, and therefore the patient cannot express the emotions. The s':in and underlying tissues seem to grow together. The cases of partial scleroderma he had seen in this city. In one patient the patch of scleroderma was a ribbonlike band behind one ear, pinkish in color, immovable upon the underlying tissues. The other case was a lady æt. 50 years, who noticed her right mammary gland was becoming hard, large, and the nipple contracted. There was no pain in the breast nor were the axillary glands involved. The skin was hard and adherent to underlying tissue. A similar condition was observed in a patch of skin on the right arm. Kaposi states the majority of cases of scleroderma occur in females. The best treatment for scleroderma is massage and galvanic electricity.

DR. H. GRADLE presented some stereoscopic views of sections of hypertrophied tonsils taken from Troutman's book on "Hypertrophied Tonsils," after which the Society adjourned.

CHICAGO MEDICAL SOCIETY.

Stated Meeting, May 17th, 1886.-THE PRESIDENT, E. J. DOERING, M. D., IN THE CHAIR.

PROFESSOR EDMUND ANDREWS exhibited a

NEW EVACUATOR FOR LITHOLOPAXY,

and said that one serious defect of Bigelow's and Thompson's evacuators is that the rubber bulb makes suction only for an instant instead of continuously, thus allowing fragments of stone which lie along the tube to be thrown back into the bladder when the bulb is compressed, thus irritating the bladder as