toward despondency," in the midst of which "the scene partook not of the house of mourning, but was rather an epitome of the abode of bliss." Being pressed for a prognosis, our author stated: "that in reference to the laws of the obstetric art, the patient must die; but as Dr. Sims and himself had now turned over the case to God, it was possible she might recover." It does not appear that the DEITY took charge of this case, for the lady died. "Fraught with instruction in its progressive stages, this case was singularly honored in its termination for the children of the deceased came forth with one consent to join themselves in a perpetual covenant to the Lord and his church, where they now shine as polished pillars in the temple of grace."

Dr. Geo. B. Wood's Valedictory.

[We find the following very appropriate and interesting address in the Phil. Med. and Surg. Reporter.-ED.]

You have now heard, probably, the last lecture of the last course of lectures I shall ever deliver upon medical subjects. You are aware that I propose resigning my position in this school. I announced my intention to do so at a somewhat early period, in order that the authorities might have time to satisfy themselves in the choice of my successor.

Perhaps you may think it due from me to give some reasons for this course. In the first place, I will mention that I have now been lecturing for at least forty years, without a single intermission during that time, and frequently for many years, both in the winter and the summer seasons.

Beginning as a private lecturer, I afterwards entered as a Professor the College of Pharmacy, where I continued for nearly fifteen years, and the remaining twenty-five years have occupied a position in this school.

This length of service, perhaps, entitles me to rest. But there are other considerations. I am advancing in age. Though I have not yet reached the period of life at which mental imbecility and infancy occurs, yet the time will before long come. It is true that there are some favored individuals, who go on to extreme old age and maintain their faculties to the last, as is fully

exemplified in the present Prime Minister of England. But this is not the general rule. Much more commonly the faculties begin to fail anterior to the 70th year, and I have no right to suppose that I shall be an exception to that rule. You know very well that when the mind begins to fail, the individual is scarcely conscious of it himself. He does not appreciate the full deficiency of his own powers, and there is danger that he may be overtaken by it while in the discharge of his public duties, without being himself aware of his insufficiency. There is thus danger that he may become a burthen on the institution to which he is attached. I do not indeed know that I have not myself begun to enter upon this period. I can not be, however, far advanced in it, and I wish to secure myself against the chance of getting into this false position. Besides, I desire to enjoy a period of leisure before the time comes when I shall cease to have pleasure in life, while I can still appreciate and enjoy the results of observations in foreign countries. In the course of a few years, I feel that it would be no longer possible for me to have this sort of enjoyment. It is, therefore, I think, advisable for me to withdraw from my present duties, a little while before I might feel myself absolutely bound to do so from consideration for the interests of the institution. But I do not wish to be considered as intending to abandon the profession of medicine. When abroad, it is my intention to pay special attention to medical subjects; and on my return I hope to be able to occupy myself with the general interests of medicine, and as far as capacity may remain to supply it, for the good of a profession to which I have been so long attached.

Having said so much about myself, I will for a few minutes ask the attention of my class.

I have said on several former occasions, when addressing the pupils of this school, that I have noticed a gradual improvement in the character of the several classes which have come under my notice. This may be considered as a natural result of the position of our school. I think we may claim that our classes have been somewhat select; and that they have a tendency to become more and more so with the extension of medical education in various parts of the country. I assure you, gentlemen, I do not think the present class forms an exception to the general rule of progress. I have had the opportunity of examining a large

number of you every week, and, certainly, I have never before been so well satisfied with the answers that have been made me. Your deportment generally, through the winter, has been all that we could wish. In my own relations with you, there has been nothing upon which I can look back with an unpleasant reflection; not a shadow rests on my remembrance of our intercourse. Your respectful attention and personal courtesy have been very grateful to me, I assure you; and I thank you most heartily for all your kindness.

May I, as a man old enough certainly to be the father of any of you, give you some little advice as to your future course of life? Do not suppose that your education is completed. You have laid only the foundation, and erected the skeleton and frame-work, which you are to fill up. Go home, therefore, with the intention of prosecuting your studies vigorously, and do not give out even when business may hereafter press upon you. Do not get into the habit of acting solely and not learning; for we are receiving constant accessions to our medical information and knowledge; and it requires the constant attention of the practitioner to keep himself up with the level of the times. It is not only in reference to your medical knowledge I wish to impress upon you the value of certain courses of action. I wish you always to entertain a due opinion and feeling as to the dignity and importance of your profession. Consider that the reputation of the profession is more or less involved with your own; that you may by your own conduct increase or diminish the estimation in which it will be held; and let this be a strong inducement to regulate your whole course in accordance with the rules of honor and morality. Cultivate carefully all the exteriors which characterize the gentleman; but especially cultivate your moral sense, looking not only to future prosperity in this world, but also to your state in that which is to come. I am sure there is no one of you who, at his last hour, will regret that he has paid some attention to the advice which I now give you. Long experience in life authorizes me, perhaps, to offer some lessons for your use, guidance and assistance in the future. This consideration has been one of my inducements for publishing in a single volume the introductory lectures I have at various times delivered, and for placing a copy of the book in possession of each member of the class. I do not wish you to read these

lectures regularly through. Put the book on your shelves. Once in a while, when you feel occasion for counsel, take it down; you will find lessons applicable to most of the circumstances in which you may be placed, and when you consult its pages, may I not ask of you to give one thought to your old preceptor?

I have little more to say. I shall probably have the opportunity, before we part finally, to take each one of you by the hand, perhaps more than once; but at the close of the session now ending, I must bid you farewell. May heaven, gentlemen, shower its choicest blessings upon you.

Beviews and Notices.

LECTURES ON THE DISEASES OF INFANCY AND CHILDHOOD. BY CHARLES WEST, M.D., author of Lectures on the Diseases of Women; Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, etc., etc., etc. Third American, from the fourth revised and enlarged London edition. Philadelphia: Blanchard & Lea. 1860. The author states in his preface that "the substance of the following lectures was addressed to the pupils of the Middlesex Hospital, in the summer of 1847." He further tells us that the observations upon which these lectures were based, were made in the Children's Infirmary, in which, during the nine years from 1839 to 1847, nearly 14,000 children were brought under his notice, in a very large number of which cases he kept a careful record of their history, as well as the results of the dissections in those terminating fatally. The accumulated result of these observations, as presented in these systematic lectures, is exceedingly rich and valuable as a scientific compend, embracing the author's views and experience in almost the entire range of disease incident to childhood.

The original series embraces xliii. regular lectures, to which is also appended two valuable lectures on Sudden Death in Infancy and Childhood; and on Cerebral Symptoms Independent of Cerebral Disease.

There are two features in the book that will strike the reader as especially prominent: the first and chief is the maturity of reflection and observation every where manifest throughout the

progress of the work; and then the graceful and attractive manner in which these reflections are presented, render the book easy and pleasant of study-no slight matter in these days of many books. Indeed, in reference to the style of Dr. West, a critic in the North American Medico-Chirurgical Review, in noticing another work, compared his style to the elegant manner of Watson, and says, "He possesses that happy faculty of clothing instruction in easy garments; combining pleasure with profit, he leads his pupils, in spite of the ancient proverb, along a royal road to learning." In a word, we may say that this is a new edition of a work that has already long since received the sincere approbation of the profession; and such of our readers as desire to purchase a new work on Diseases of Children, will thank us for calling their special attention to this book of Dr. West's.

For sale by Rickey, Mallory & Co. Price $3.00.

Publications Received.

Dental Anomalies, and their Influence upon the Production of Diseases of the Maxillary Bones. By AM. FORGET, M.D, C.L.D., etc. Paris: Victor MasTranslated from the French. Philadelphia: Jones & White.

son.

This is a brief monograph, receiving the prize of the Academy of Sciences, March, 1859, and is full of interest as a pathologicophysiological essay upon the points embraced in the title. It is made especially practical by the detail of numerous cases of dental anomaly, which are fully illustrated by a number of lithographic plates, containing between twenty and thirty distinct figures. Any one desiring to possess this interesting brochure, can procure a copy, sent free of postage, by forwarding forty cents in stamps to Messrs. Jones & White, of Philadelphia.

Urethro-Vaginal, Vesico-Vaginal, and Recto-Vaginal Fistulas. General Remarks. Report of cases treated with the button suture in this country, and in London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Parisian Hospitals. By NATHAN BOZEMAN, M.D., of New Orleans (late of Montgomery, Ala.).

This pamphlet is a reprint from the New Orleans Medical and Surgical Journal, and is the first of a series of papers on this specialty by Dr. Bozeman. In the pamphlet before us we have an interesting report of the author's European experience, with details of cases, and reflections. We may find time to give more