and perfection of medicine led them to pro-
pose the formation of this Association,

Proceedings of the Sixth Meeting of the which, representing the whole fraternity

American Medical Association. throughout our wide-spread country, assemTHE Association held its sixth annual bled annually, for scientific discussion, and to meeting on Tuesday, May 3, in the city consult upon matters pertaining to the geneof New York, the President, Dr. Beverleyral welfare of the entire faculty. The five Wellford, of Virginia, in the Chair. published volumes of their Transactions af

has been anxiously looked for, and your col-
leagues here have been desirous to manifest
their appreciation of the cause in which you
are engaged, and their estimation of the
favour conferred by the Association in select-
ing this metropolis, as the place for holding
the present session," and in the name of the
united Profession of New York, we tender
you a sincere, hearty, and cordial welcome
to our city.

Dr. F. Campbell Stewart, Chairman of forded abundant and conclusive evidence of the Committee of Arrangements and Re-the zeal by which they were actuated, and ception, before reading the list of delegates, the ability which characterized the sciencongratulated the Association upon the re-tific labours of members. currence of its anniversary. Seven years He concluded by saying: "Your advent had elapsed, he said, since the preliminary meeting of the Convention, which recommended the organization of this National Congress assembled here; and, as New Yorkers, the Committee indulged in a feeling of proud satisfaction at the triumphant success which has attended so important a movement, originating in their State. The labours of the learned body had been most arduous, but the result had not disappointed the expectations of the friends of reform and of progress in their profession. Mighty objects were aimed at ; important achievements had already been accomplished; and a guarantee was afforded [Five hundred and seventy three memof the eventual fulfilment of the desires of bers were present, representing one hundred those whose aspirations for the advancement and seventy institutions; thirty States and

Dr. S. then read a list of the accredited delegates, those present answering to their names, and announced that a majority were present.

Published monthly by BLANCHARD & LEA, Philadelphia, for One Dollar a year; also, furnished GRATUITOUSLY to all subscribers of the "American Journal of the Medical Sciences," who remit the Annual Subscription, Five Dollars, in advance, in which case both periodicals are sent by mail free of postage to the subscriber.

In no case will this work be sent unless the money is paid in advance. VOL. XI.-6

Territories, the District of Columbia, the Army and Navy of the United States, and the American Medical Society in Paris, were represented. There was one member by invitation from Syria, and one from Canada West.]

The President then declared the meeting organized, and welcomed the delegates to the city.

The Vice Presidents and Ex-Presidents of the Association were requested to take their seats on the platform with the President.

On motion, a recess of fifteen minutes was taken to allow the delegates from each State to select one of their number as a committee to nominate officers for the ensuing year.

vitation to the Association to hold their next annual meeting, for 1854, at St. Louis.

Dr. Condie, of Pennsylvania, said he was instructed to invite the Association to hold their next annual meeting in Philadelphia.

Dr. Hays, of Pennsylvania, expressed his regret that he must appear to act in opposi tion to the expressed wishes of his delegation, but he conceived that the Association were pledged, so far as a body like this could be pledged, by the acts of a former meeting, to assemble next year in St. Louis, and he therefore moved that the Committee on Nominations be instructed to report St. Louis as the place for the next annual meeting.

In making this motion, Dr. Hays stated that he wished to be understood as yielding After the expiration of this period the to a postponement merely for a year of the Association was called to order, when it invitation to meet in Philadelphia, and trustwas announced that the following gentle-ed that his disinterestedness now would be men were selected as the Nominating remembered next year by his western friends Committee:

Missouri,

Michigan,

Iowa,

Illinois,

Tennessee,

"H. F. Campbell.
"J. A. English.
"J. B. Flint.
"R. L. Howard.

66

Joseph Somes.
"C. A. Pope.
"H. Taylor.
"J. C. Hughes.
"N. S. Davis.

"J. B. Linsley.

as constituting an additional claim to a favourable consideration of the invitation to meet in Philadelphia in 1855.

Dr. Hays's motion was carried by acclamation.

Dr. Condie, of Pennsylvania, read the report of the Committee on Publication, and of the Treasurer, the reports were accepted and ordered to be printed, and the following resolutions appended to the report of the Committee on Publication, were taken up :

1. Resolved, That the assessment for the present year shall be five dollars.

2. Resolved, That the Committee on Publication be authorized to decide upon the terms at which the volume of Transactions for the present year shall be furnished to the members of the Association and others, and that it shall be their duty to inform the members of the terms agreed upon by a circular.

3. Resolved, That the committee be farther authorized to take such measures in relation to the disposal of copies of the Transactions remaining after all such members are supplied as shall comply with the Dr. Atlee, of Pennsylvania, moved that terms set forth in the circular of the comimmediately after the report of the Nomi-mittee, as they may deem expedient. nating Committee, the President be called upon to read his address, but, at the request of Dr. Condie, withdrew his motion to allow the reports of the Committee on Publication and of the Treasurer to be read.

Dr. Pope, of Missouri, extended an in

Dr. Condie urged the adoption of the resolutions; they were then separately put and adopted.

Dr. Condie offered the following, which was adopted:

Resolved, That the Committee on Publi

cation have power to furnish the Chairman { On motion of Dr. Atlee, the Committee of Committees on Epidemics with extra on Publication were authorized to send a copies of their reports, respectively, at the full set of the Transactions of the Associaexpense of the Association-the said extration to the Am. Med. Society in Paris. copies not to exceed one hundred. The Secretary stated that he had reThe Secretary read communications in-ceived a communication from Dr. Ramsey, viting the Association to visit University of Georgia, inclosing documents. On inMedical College, the collection of Anatomi- quiry, it was stated that these referred to a cal and Pathological models of Messrs. J. personal matter, when, on motion of Dr. C. & D. Hyatt, the surgical instrument Lebby, of South Carolina, they were laid on establishment of Mr. Tiemann, and the the table without being read. Bloomingdale Lunatic Asylum.

Dr. F. C. Stewart presented a report, on behalf of the Committee of Arrangements, recommending the admission of Dr. Marshall Hall, of London, Surgeons Mower and Simpson, U. 3. A., Surgeons Bache, Pinckney, and Brownell, U. S. N., Drs. Leonard, and Betton, Florida, Hon. Dr. Bartlett, N.Y. Senate, Dr. Harris, California, Dr. Hodder, Canada West, Drs. McIllvaine and Pittman, American Medical Society, Paris, to participate in the proceedings as members by invitation, which report was adopted; and, on motion of Dr. Cox, of Maryland, a committee was appointed to wait on Dr. Marshall Hall, and conduct him to a seat on the platform.

The President then read a long and very able address, reviewing the origin, progress, and benefits achieved by the Association.

On motion of Dr. Hays, of Pennsylvania, it was Resolved that the thanks of the meeting be presented to the President, for his elegant, appropriate, and eloquent address, and that a copy be requested for publication in the Transactions of the Association.

Dr. Joseph M. Smith, Chairman of the Committee on Nominations, reported the following officers for the ensuing year :

For President.-Dr. Jonathan Knight, of

Conn.

Vice-Presidents.-Drs. Usher Parsons, of R. I.; Lewis Condict, of N. J.; Henry R. Frost, of S. C.; R. L. Howard, of Ohio.

Secretaries.-Drs. Edward L. Beadle, of N. Y., and Edwin S. Lemoine, of Missouri. Treasurer.-Dr. D. Francis Condie, of Pennsylvania.

The committee reported St. Louis, Mo., as the place to hold the next annual meeting. The report was unanimously adopted, and the gentlemen nominated declared the officers for the present year.

On motion, Drs. Gooch, Watson, and Atlee were appointed a Committee to conduct the President elect and other officers to their seats.

Dr. Knight, on taking the Chair, returned thanks for the honour conferred on him. Dr. Atlee, of Pennsylvania, offered the following resolution, which was unanimously

The Secretary read the following resolu- { adopted by a rising vote:tion passed by the Medical Society of Vir- Resolved, That the thanks of the Assoginia, at its meeting on the 7th of April,ciation be presented to our late President, 1853:

Dr. Wellford, for the dignified, courteous, and efficient manner in which he has per formed the duties of his office,

On motion a vote of thanks was also presented to the retiring Secretary, Dr. Gooch.

Resolved, That this Society recommend to the American Medical Association, at its ensuing meeting, to consider the propriety of appointing some distinguished and well qualified chemist (not a practitioner of medi. cine), whose duty it shall be to analyze the prominent nostrums of the day, as far as may be practicable, and to publish the re-ject at one time, nor more than twice on the sults of such analysis monthly in the most same subject.

On motion of Dr. Hopkins, of Maryland, it was resolved that no member be allowed to speak more than ten minutes on any sub

extensively circulated newspapers of each Dr. Stewart, on the part of the ComState in the Union represented in the Asso-mittee on Arrangements, suggested that ciation. the Association meet each day from 9 to 12 A. M., and from 1 to 4 P. M., which was approved.

Also a communication from the President of the American Medical Society in Paris, appointing Drs. Pittman, Walton, and McIlvaine to attend this meeting.

Doctor Stewart also read the following Programme :

:

Tuesday, May 3.-The Association will N., to take seats as members by invimeet in the Presbyterian Church, Bleecker tation. These gentlemen had a right to sit Street, East of Broadway, and fronting as delegates from the Army and Navy. Dr. Crosby Street, at 9 o'clock, A. M. Dele- Pinckney has twice represented the naval gates will be received in the evening, at the body in the Convention as delegate, and houses of the following gentlemen :- without any question. As the gentleman Governor Hamilton Fish, Stuyvesant was so admitted at Richmond, he would Square, Corner of Second Avenue and move to have the record altered. Seventeenth Street; Dr. Isaac Wood, 68 Dr. Stewart explained and read the article East Seventeenth Street; Dr. Willard Par- of the Constitution which refers to the apker, 195 Twelfth Street; Dr. G. P. Cam-pointment of delegates. The President mann, 109 Fourteenth Street; Dr. James stated that in his opinion the Committee of R. Wood, No. 2 Irving Place, near Four- Arrangements had complied with the intent of the article. teenth Street.

Wednesday, May 4.-Evening receptions by the following gentlemen :Ex-Mayor A. C. Kingsland, No. 114 Fifth Avenue; Dr. Edward Delafield, No. 2 East Seventeenth Street; Dr. James Anderson, 20 University Place; Dr. William Detmold, 103 Ninth Street; Dr. Isaac E. Taylor, 828 Broadway.

Thursday, May 8.-Delegates are invited to a public dinner, to be given to the Association by the medical profession of the City of N. Y., at Metropolitan Hall, at 7 P. M.

Friday, May 6.-Visit to the State and City Hospitals, and other public Institutions at Staten Island, Randall's Island, Ward's Island, and Blackwell's Island, per Steamboat Hero, from Pier No. 3, North River, near the Battery. The boat will leave punctually at 9 o'clock, A. M. The Association will be entertained by the Governors of the Almhouse, at Blackwell's Island. Evening receptions by the following gentle.

men:

Dr. John C. Cheeseman, 473 Broadway; Dr. John Watson, 117 Tenth Street; Dr. Horace Green, 12 Clinton Place; Dr. Lewis A. Sayre, 705 Broadway.

On motion of Dr. Gooch, the meeting adjourned to 9 A. M., Wednesday..

Wednesday, May 4.-Morning Session.

The Association met at 9 A. M., J.
Knight, M. D., President in the
There was a large attendance of Delegates.
The Secretary read the minutes, which
were adopted.

Dr. Watson, of New York, stated that delegates from the army and navy had always been received.

The motion to reconsider was put and

lost.

Dr. Cox hoped the Association would not take any action that would give offence to the Army and Navy Medical Institutions. He moved that Drs. Pinckney and Bache be received as regular delegates.

Dr. Pinckney, U. S. N., asked to be heard, and claimed his right to a place as a delegate and as a permanent member, having been formerly received as such, and having signed the Constitution.

Dr. F. C. Stewart offered the following as an amendment to Dr. Cox's motion.

Resolved, As the sense of this Association, that under its present Constitution, delegates can be received from the U. S. Army and Navy Medical Staffs, when appointed by the Chiefs of the Army and Navy Medical Bureaus."

The amendment was adopted.

Dr. Stewart, from the Committee of Arrangements, reported the names of several members who had registered themselves since the report of yesterday.

On motion of Dr. Cox, of Maryland, Dr. Borland, of Arkansas, was received as a member by invitation.

On motion, the Secretary proceeded to call up the reports of Special Committees.

Dr. C. D. Meigs, of Philadelphia, prechair.sented a report on "Acute and Chronic Diseases of the Neck of the Uterus," with a request that it should be referred to the Committee on Publication, without reading. The report was accepted and referred.

Dr. Cox, of Maryland, moved for a reconsideration of the vote approving the minutes, to allow of a correction in the Report of Committee of Arrangements, inviting Drs. Pinckney and Bache, U. S., duties as Treasurer and Chairman of Com

Dr. Condie, of Pennsylvania, Chairman of Committee on Causes of Tubercular Diseases, stated that in consequence of his

mittee on Publication, he had not been able where I am located. I have therefore given to complete his report. a condensed history of the existing patho

The Committee had considered the sublogy regarding it, set forth by other writers, ject very attentively, and the more they did accompanied with my own opinion that the so the more a new light broke upon them, disease lies and has its origin in the gangliuntil they began to doubt the orthodoxy of{onic system of nerves. If you divide some many of the received opinions regarding of the superior branches of these nerves, tuberculosis, its causes, and the proper there is an immediate ecchymosis of the eye course of medical treatment to be pursued. differing from the ganglionic congestion obAn abundance of material was furnished-servable during typhus fever. I have called in fact, the report was almost ready; but he had such onerous duties to perform during the year, that it was utterly impossible for him to put it in proper shape.

On motion of Dr. Atlee (Pa), the explanation was accepted, and the Committee continued to the next session of the Association.

attention to the existence and causes of the maculated spots which appear upon the surface in the one variety of fever, and extend through the alimentary canal in the other; and reason that the latter morbid appearances are the result of the diseased ganglionic plexus extending from the superior cervical vertebræ through the vertebral column to On the part of Dr. Porcher, of South the ganglions of the sacrum. In referring Carolina, Dr. Condie stated that the report typhoid fever to this cause, I have recorded of the Committee on "Toxicological and the apparances presented in the pharyngea! Medicinal Properties of our Cryptogamic plexus, the larynx, œsophagus, stomach, and Plants," had been handed in, but with the duodenum (which is separated in a great request that it should be left, for farther degree from the influence of the cerebroadditions, to the Committee. The Com-spinal system), and I have then pointed out mittee was continued. the existence of ulcerations in the lower

as a reason for my belief. I have traced the different appearances observed in typhus fever, I have examined the theory of Wood upon the deficiency of fibrine in the blood, and endeavoured to show that typhus and typhoid fevers are quite distinct diseases.

The report, on motion, was referred to the Committee on Publication.

Dr. G. Emerson, of Pennsylvania, Chair-portion of the ilium, and to a great extent, man of Committee on Agency of the Refrigeration produced through upward radiation of heat, as an exciting cause of Disease," presented his report, which was referred to Committee on Publication, and read an abstract. The sanitary lesson de signed to be inculcated in this paper is the importance of guarding against exposure to the refrigerating effects of nocturnal radiation, especially in sickly places, and during epidemic periods. The means of effecting this are shown to be extremely simple, and always at hand, as anything will answer the purpose which may be interposed to cut off exposure to the open sky, and thus prevent "upward radiation."

Dr. Atlee, of Pennsylvania, Chairman of Committee on Epidemics in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland, said that the Committee were unable to report, in consequence of not receiving any communications from gentlemen in these States. The Committee had only received two communications, one from Philadelphia, and one from Franklin County, Penn

Dr. H. F. Campbell, of Georgia, presented a report on Typhoid Fever, which was re-sylvania. He called upon gentlemen pracferred to Committee on Publication.

Dr. Campbell said he was not aware, until too late an hour to comply, of the fact that a written synopsis of each report was required by the rules of the Association. If permission were granted, he would make a verbal one, and explain to the Association the views he had taken regarding this class of fever. The permission was granted.

Dr. Campbell said: "I have, sir, little experience in the actual treatment of typhoid fever, as it rarely prevails in the district

tising in those States to furnish the Committee with the results of their experience.

Prof. Palmer, of Illinois, suggested that Dr. Atlee draw up a resolution requesting medical gentlemen to transmit information. On motion of Dr. Atlee, it was

Resolved, That the delegates from the different States be requested to designate some gentlemen from the States to which they belong, to co-operate with the Scientific Committees.

Dr. Wellford announced that Dr. Haxall,