W K '^. I IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // 4^ II I.I 11.25 Uilii 125 2.2 S? lift u 140 U •* .. •mil. 2.0 U il.6 — A" Pijotpgraphic ..Sciences Corporation 4 v ^>J^ o^ 23 WIST MAIN STRliT WIRSTH.N.Y. UStO (716)S73-4S03 ^tA >^ ^ I o s A .^t^ ^A 4^ < ^ CIHM Microfiche Series (l\/!onographs) ICMH Collection de microfiches (monographles) Canadian Institute for Historical Microraproductiont / inatitut Canadian da microraproductions hiatoriquas I TechnictI and Bibliographic Notes / NoMi techniques et bibliographiques The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Features of this copy which may be bibliographically unique, which may alter any of the images in the reproduction, or which may significantly change the usual method of filming, are checked below. Coloured covers/ Couverture de couleur I I Covers damaged/ Couverture endommagto Covers restored and/or laminated/ Couverture restaur^ et/ou pellicul6e Cover title missing/ Le titre de couverture manque Coloured maps/ Caites giographiques en couleur n n Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/ Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire) Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur Bound with other material/ Relie avec d'autres documents Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin/ La reliure serree peut causer de I'ombre ou de la distorsion le long de la marge interieure Blank leaves added during restoration may appear within the text. Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming/ II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajouties lors dune restauration apparaissent dans le texte, mais, lorsque cela etait possible, ces pages r'ont pas ete filmees. Additional comments:/ Commentaires supplementaires: This Item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ Ce document est filme au taux de rMuction indique ci-dessous. 10X 14X 18X 12X 16X L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire qu'il lui a ixi possible de se procurer. Les details de cet exemplaire qui sont peut-4tre uniques du point de vue bibliographique, qui peuvent modifier une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une modification dans la milhode normale de f ilmage sont indiqu^ ci-dessous. □ Coloured pages/ Pages de couleur □ Pages damaged/ Pages endommag^s □ Pages restored and/or laminated/ Pages restaurtes et/ou pellicultes Q Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ Pages dteolorees. tachetees ou piquees □ Pages detached/ Pages ditachtes QShowth rough/ Transparence □ Quality of print vi Qualite inegale de varies/ inegale de I'impression □ Continuous pagination/ Pagination continue □ Includes index(es)/ Comprend un (des) index Title on header taken from:/ Le titre de t'en-tCte provient: □ Title page of issue/ Page de titre de la I □ Caption of issue/ Titre de depart de la j I Masthead/ ivraison livraison Generique (periodiques) de la livraison 22X 26X J 30X XX 24 X 28X n 32 X The copy filmtid here has been reproduced thanks to the generosity of: Bibliothdque nationale du Quebec L'exemplaire film* fut reproduit grAce A la gAnercsitA de: Bibliothdque nationale du Quebec The images appearing here are the best quality possible considering the condition and legibility of the original copy and In keeping with the filming contract specifications. Original copies In printed paper covers are filmed beginning with the front cover end ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All other original copies are filmed beginning on the first page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impression. The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall contain the symbol — ^ (meaning "CON- TINUED"), or the symbol V (meaning "END"), whichever applies. lyiaps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les images suivantes ont 6t6 reprodultes avec le plus grand soin. compte tenu de la condition et de la nettet« de l'exemplaire film*, et en conformity avec les conditions du contrat de fiimage. Les exemplalres orlglnaux dont la couverture en papier est lmprim«e sont film«s en ccmmenpant par le premier plat et en terminant soit par la dernlAre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impresslon ou d'lllustratlon. soit par le second plat, selon le cas. Tous les autres exemplalres originaux sont film6s en commenpant par \^ premiere page qui comporte une empreinte d'impresslon ou d'illustration et en terminant par la derniAre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un des symboles suivants apparaltra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le CBs: le symbols — ^ signifle "A SUIVRE", le symbole V signifle "FIN". Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc.. peuvent Atre fiimAs A des taux de rAduction diffArents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un seul cllchA, il est filmA A partir de I'angle supArieur gauche, de gauche A droite. et de haut en bas. en prenant le nombre d'images nAcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mAthode. 1 2 3 32 X 1 2 3 4 S 6 CANADA MKOICAL ASSOCIATION. MONTREAL SEPTEMBER WT7. Annual Address, l;Y \A'.M. li. IIINCSTON. M.l>.. L.ll.r.S.K.. D.C.L.. M.l-.A., .v. PRESIDENT. (Fl'./ll III' Tl((ll- nv i.(>vi;i.l. 1'1;i.\tin(; aM' rfi;i,isniNr, CdNU' \nv ISTT. T?n ■ J-':- ■.. .-.' •; \ > ,'. CANADA MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, MONTREAL. SEPTEMBER, 1877. Annual Address, BT WM. H. HINGSTON, M.D., L.R.C.S.E., D.C.L., M.L.A., &c.. PRESIDENT. (.From the Transactions of the Canada Medical Aasociatim ion.) I- •, «, • V • » t**> • • • • • • . • « ■ , , '■:""■/ ;jr pontveAt : FEINTED Br LOVELL PRINTING AND PUBLISHING COMPANY 1877. U i' , . . . I . . .,,.,. * 1 • • • •• • • ' ' •:;; ■ • • • ^' ri'-*'^ ANNUAL ADDRESS. m.t^^'^^T'Z:^? **^'°^ possession of this chair, the first duty (as well as the highest pleasure) is to express to you my profound gratitude for the honour you have conftrred u,^n me^S^iu Ig me to occupy it. Permit mo to assure you that I am fully sensibl! of hat honour, and that I realize, at the same time, the important duties your partiahty has imposed ; and, believe me, if I ftil to dis- charge them to your, or to my own satisfaction, it will not be for want of goocl will on my part. My predecessors in this chair^ chosen for their fitness, at different times, from various partsTf the Dom,n,on,-have consigned to me the continuation of a labour begun ten years ago in the ancient city of Quebec, for the ad vancement of that benevolent profession with which we aret closely united or related. Although much has already been acco,^ pl.Hhed, we must admit that all the advantages hoped for from its founders have not yet been realized. Suflicient has been effected however, to satisfy them and us, that a greater degree of energy' on the part of the members of this Association, pervadinjf adiust mg sustaining, and agitating the whole, would have been attended with a greater measure of success. But in a profession such as in ours, ever varying, ever undergoing mutation of some kind endea vouring to eliminate what can no longer be productive of cood and to appropriate what it wishes to retain ; and with difficulties arising from geographical and social conditions, the Association has, indeed, effected some good since its formation It has been the custom, for sometime past, at the opening addresses before societies of this nature in Europe, and ehfefly in Great Britain, to take up some department of the healing art or some master or explorer who has passed away. Thus Paget advo cates, at length, before the Surgical Society, the claims of Hunter as a physiologist ; Sieveking vindicates anew the claims of flarvev to be considered the discoverer of the circulation of the blood ^'^Jl^ T"*^ ""''^^"^^ ""^^^'^ Association, where time is no^ afforded for abstract questions of historic interest, we are confined to those of practical mnmAnt fK«s<' v-Hf-- r-^^- ! chiefly, which concern us most. ' 57901 ( . CANADA MEDICAL A880CUTI0N. 1 *f OBJ10T8. disproportionate to the labiur o^nVA'f .^ '''!P'*' '« '*'^««^''«'- But those aretheineinuSn on^^^^^^ cah that, apart aJtoirothTr .u '"-'"formed, who fail to per- .atherin,;. tL st^ d;^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ "T^^""^ '' ^^^ sympathy and fellowship wHheLhT """^ '°""'"^' «^«'«1 ably, the inconvenience? the Z !'' °"*^''«''' immeasur- can cousins ha« h^ i^" h^trflr '''"'"" ^'^"'^"'-'- raembei-s that it seriollv?/^/ "°'' '' °°"^'^'-« «<> «any wherebythatn«:nb^r:;!i:rcTi;r"'';r^. ^^"^^ ^'^'^"^^ and unwieldy for nractiLl ., Although almost too large after only 3J yeL^Tf 1 r^^'''' """'' '* *° ?««« ^^-y «ow, effected an alS^f^'oo^^ht^^^^^^^^^^ T '^ "^"^"^^ ^ ^-^ other way. It Z hfT y, !u "°' ^^""^ ^^«" o»>t«''nec or Montreal raayeontro IT-^I . O-oactivo country di»tric(«, may, without iL.ir T , , °""' ^ '" Tlioro, oucl, modical ..hll h. ■ A ""'"°' " '« <'i«««>nt. ofPhy^iWan-r Sur," '„" „„Tr;" ° """T'i "' """ ""»'«" divi.ions for which thev ,r„ „l!,? , . °'""'°''''"<"'"'»"al from ««l, of the JrSvotbvI?"".''''',' '""»«'■'"»<' "a. o».«Wi»hodp™vi„„« lothoCo*od«™"i„„„ni;rB°v H "■°"° can Province for oleclion of membor!^f th. r ^' * '""""- of the late Province of Oanar" With , '^""^"o Council College of Phj..ieia„, „„d s„ "eon, he 1 ""'*' J^T'^" »' 'he .,»foH»ionh..40 votes for decS pur^^ Tl l:"'''" "" in favour of the representative of hie disTriet ol h • ^^ " °"° have 89 votes remaining for thcle Lwde ont ™r' """* '"" vote, or transfer them to the raor,.l«^„ V ** """^ ''"""• understood how such a d'l^ a rXH, LTf "* "^"^ cabals, if notto eonfusion and injustir Itt ,„ 1 .""T^u^ anomaly that exists in our election preeda^lthi^"'^ "" an anomaly for which I mn fi„H P™"™"™ "> this Province,— be removed "'"' "" P"™""' ol»ewhore,_will havo obtained a lial, or Foreign 3ur«o of study, lall bo exempt ch caao be con- mny join the 6 to the Hegis ining the duty ^gihtor of for- ftfl woll UH the cb changes aa cur which, it (V now stands, ties, not over to proxies as . One active r time for the town, or in consent, be is different, the College > outside the al territorial >o 80 elected 'ractitioners IS are those tish Anieri- ivo Council iber of the enters the ay UNO one n, and still Tiay either be readily unseemly Joped the ravince, — ere,— will ANNUAL ADDRESS. f QUALIFICATIONS FOR PA88EN01H H«RVIO«. Through the medical presa of this country, attention haa been drawn to the reftisul to recognise Canadian qualifications for emigrant and paHHonger .orvico on lx,ard British ships; and the matter has been «iken up by the Trarmatlantic Medical Press and the Medical Council of Great Britain. The Board of Trade has re- scinded the order, and Canadian Surgeons continue to exorcise the privileges they have enjoyed, since emigrants first came to our shores. But the law still exists, and it is competent for the British authorities to return, at any time, to their former action. The qualifications of holders of Canadian diplomas havo not yet been ro- cognired, but their continued employment is acquiesced in. Many have asked that the subject be settled definitely. How can .e ask for ,t 111 we obtain for the holders of Canadian diplom,u, rocognL !2!i r' T """^ l^^^'"'"'^"? Can we ask Great Britain to concede to us what we do not concede to each other? I say this th na^to^r^'v k'' r^^*""" ""^ "^°^* generous actfoi on the par^ of the British authorities, but to stimulate you to renewed hi? fT^" '"'i' Batisfactory arrangements as will enable holders of diplomas from one part of the Dominion to praCico in all. The profession of medicine is a liberal one ; not mean narrow I cannot but allude to the uncourteousness of a member of the profession in Ontario towards a surgeon of distinction in Detroit who visited Ontono to perform an operation at the request of a highly respectable physician of the place. I am sure'you will Dr Jenks and through him, the members of the profession if the adjoining Union, of our honest offered courtesy and of o^ continued desire for reciprocation in matters which ;vengover^ ments cannot, and should not, attempt to control. Sdenclrl quires, and humanity demands, in matters of this kind, the most unfettered complaisance and civility. BDCOATION. wuJI "''""•"'y:'™™ from » oon»idM»tion of the qaestion- What should co„«Utato the ,».liflo.ti„,„ „f . „«,ij ,t„a,"„ ^ hh „tr7*V"'^° "'° """"" ""'" P""'"'""-. «» ">••* "V'W b« hw qaahflcations on entering onp n.«ii„ai -i.-"!. » ou- " . - have secured knowledge which-promwTo.hi'ng' beyondT,;" 8 i: ! 1 li CANADA MEDICAL A8S00UTI0N. ledge itself; or, should he, as would havedonea Cato, have acquired knowlodge with reference only to what it could produce? Should he possess a liberal education; or that sort of knowledge which we now term useful ? Should he possess refinement and enlargement of mmd; or only sufficient knowledge of Latin to translate Gre- gory or the Pharmacopaia ? Should he possess Rberal knowledge 01-^ as It has been happily termed, a gentleman's knowledge- wh.ch, to possess it, is something, though it produce nothing- or that utilitarian knowlodge which is of use only when acted upon ? Should it be the education which is philosophical, which rises to, and is enriched with, ideas ; or servile and mechanical and which expends itself upon what is external and visible? Should it be the education which gir ,b a high tone of thought a high standai-d of judgment ; or that education which merely makes of the memory a passive receptacle of scraps and fragments of knowledge, to be served out confusedly and without method. The education I vindicate should give cultivation to the intellect- it should give a delicate taste, a candid, equitable, dispassionate mmd, a noble and courteous bearing in the conduct of life It should open the mind, correct ii and refine it, and enable it to "know and to digest, master, rule, and use its knowledge and give it power over its own faculties, application, flexibility, method, critical exactness, sagacity, resource, address." With the intellect' thus tutored and instructed, the student might enter upon the study of that most difficult profession of which we are members; engage in a calling the due discharge of which requires all the attributes of the mind, and the highest culture of the intellect; and pursue with advantage a particular course of study which might issue in some definite, and, perhaps, remunerative work It may be gathered from this that I share not with those arch levellers who advocate a low Utilitarianism ; but rather with those who think the student should be formed » not by a parsimonious admeasurement of studies to some definite future object; but by taking a wide and liberal compass, and thinking a great deal on many subjects, with no better end in view, perhaps, than because the exercise is one which makes him a more rational and intelli- gent being." But this is not what has been obtained for us recently in a hurriedly prepared law relating to our profession in an im- portant province of this Dominion, where our colleges and semi- naries of learning have been degraded fi-om their position. The graduate in arts, the student who has completed his eight or nine years curriculum at any of our colleges, should, by that fact ANNUAL ADuRESS. 9 , have acquired )duce? Should edge which we d enlargement trauHlato Gre- ral knowledge, 3 knowledge— ce nothing; — ly when acted jphical, which d mechanical, and visible? of thought, a merely makes fragments of method. The e intellect; it dispassionate ct of life. It i enable it to lowledge, and •ility, method, the intellect, ter upon the ire members ; quires all the the intellect; study which erative work, :h those arch Br with those parsimonious )ject; but by ;reatdeal on than because tl and intelli- : us recently on in an im< 3S and semi- sition. The light or nine >y that fact alone, be qualified to enter upon the study of medicine. But no I our universities may grant degrees in arts, but the colleges and affiliate medical schools over-rido them ! ! and subject the can- didate to a new ordeal, from which ho should be exempt I I Yet the possessor of a liberal education, compared with one crammed for an examination— the nature and extent of which he may have learned from those who had gone in before him — is to use a fiiiniliar comijarison, as one standing on the timl)or to be divided, seeing the line to be followed, and guiding the instru- ment intelligently, compared with the one beneath, who mecha- nically aids the work, but, blinded by the dust and particles he has detached above his head, is uninformed as he progress or nature of the work being done. And so it is with labour of an intellectual kind. We must be above our knowledge, not under it. If above it, we may generalize, reduce to method, " have a grasp of principles and shape our acquisitions by them." If below our knowledge, we are confused and oppressed; and the greater the number of facts the more those facts confuse and oppress.* This is markedly the case in medicine. An ill-informed physician is easily startled at every change in the condition of a patient; and rushes in to check, control and interfere, when, with a better trained mind, he would be led to observe, and to note, that, if need be, he might, with greater advantage, guide and direct. The uneducated man, unaccustomed to group and to combine, gives prominence to what may be unimportant; and fails to recognize what is of value. It is with medicine as with politics. We have two classes of politicians in this country; the one, versed in the science and art of government, and in the ethics which concern human actions, and capable of an abstract view of the contentions of parties ; the other, a mere transcript or copy of the last edito- rial in the journal of his party, — unequal to methodically arrang- ing or digesting facts, or to comprehending the laws and principles which govern party and party issues. To which class of mind — • In an able editorial in the Philadelphia Medical Times for May, 1877, it is asserted that the standard of graduation in the United States, south of New England, has been steadily lowered, and although " new matter has been added to the curricula," and " the bait of clinical instruction has been alluringly spread, the effect has been evil, because the attempt has been simply to pour into vessels already ovcrfuil." Would it not have been nearer iLe truth to say the vessels had not been prepared of a capacity to contain what they received, but could not retain ? B 10 ! !l CANADA MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. •: ! 1 apart altogether from party-would you mo8t willingly entrust T " f K r'" ?M ' '""'"'■"' ^^ '''''' ^ ^ ""*'«>P^t« y""r answer. To which, in hke manner, should be entrusted, not party issues "Tk .' 'uf ?,.f *" P"'*^' ^"' ^^"^ '« °f f«'' P^-««ter moment; -the health and life of the people,-but to intellects formed and disciplined for the perception of those phenomena, the causes of rndubi'taT;; '^ ''^ '"' '^^'"^' "^^"'^^ ^-^ '^^ ^-- °»^^^-« - I have ventured to say this much, even at the risk of fatiijuinff you, in favour of a liberal education, for the time is come when physicians can no longer hope to retain their position in society without that perfection of the intellect which is the result of education ; which, as Newman says, - is the clear, calm, accurate vision and comprehension of all things, as far ae the finite mind can embrace them, each in its place, and with its own character- istics upon it." In the days of Samuel Johnson the physician was admitted to bo the most cultivated and learned in anv so- ciety. In how many countries in the world could that be 'said with truth to-day? Could it in Canada? There are some coun- tries where the physician is still among the best educated gentle- men, and his social status is regulated accordingly. Notably is this the case in Ireland. Dr. Stokes, with whom I conversed on this subject in 1867, and to whom I remarked the high tone- the gentlemanly bearing; the friendly relation one to another:' the easj., well-bred familiarity which characterized the members of the profession in Dublin, said : "It is easily explained; nearly all our graduates in medicine are graduates in Arts. Of the last 98 a^l had degrees in Arts." There are some other countries where the same condition obtains. If the cultivation of the intellect was necessary when men were content to observe, and to base practice on observation, how much more necessary is it now, when the most ac-te logical minds are sorely puzzled between what are claimed to be scientific truths, and what are bold reckless assumptions. SCIENTIFIC ASSUMPTION. This is unquestionably the age of bold, reckless, I had almost said impudent, assumption in matters of science. While it is generally conceded that our " ideas of the intrinsic elements that eongtitute fwmgs m the physical h« well as in the moral order are very limited and imperfect," we now boldly assume the mutual illingly entrust ;e your answer, t party ihsuos, reater moment, cts formed and ii the cauNes of om obvious or sk of fatiguing is come when tion in society the result of calm, accurate be tinite mind )wn character- the phj'sician tied in any so- that be said 'e some coun- Licated gentlo- '. Notably is conversed on igh tone ; the another; the } members of 3d ; nearly all 31' the last 98 mtries where y when men Jrvation, how logical minds be scientific I had almost While it is lements that pal order are the mutual ANNUAL ADDRESS. 11 dependence of things upon each other when we could logically establish nothing more than co-existence or succession ; as if eo^e'c- istence or succession necessarily implies connection or relation • Look at the writings of a Spencer and a Huxley for illustrations of what I state. They, with Tyndall, have occupied a larger share of our thoughts than have many hundred more scientitlc writers who preceded and accompanied them. Yet what but bold assumption and word painting have we gleaned from the first of these i and a plausible but illogical mode of drawing conclusions. SYNTHESIS IN MEDICINE. While medical writers during the past and early part of the present centuries analysed, divided and separated diseases, and gave prominence to qualities and features by which one disease difl^'ers from, and is distinguished from another, (thereby clogging and oppressing the memory with varieties of dissimilitudo,)'tl.ere is a tendency now to synthetize, arrange and group in 'a more general way, diseases which may present some features of variance but many of similarity and resemblance. Markedly is this the case in Cutaneous Medicine. Just one century ago, Shenck of Vienna, completed his arrangement of cutaneous disorders. Wil'lan wrote some twenty years later; and Hebra, also of Vienna, a half century still later. Compare the earlier with the later Vienna school, and we shall see that disea.ses are now classified on a sounder pathological and anatomical basis ; that the skin is iden- tified with " the rest of the organism ; " and that the study of its diseases is clothed with a more scientific and philosophical • We have had those assumptions on a large scale in Tjndall'a assertion recently, that the blue of the sky, as seen from the highest elevations, and above' possibility of contamination with earth, is caused by vast numbers of foreign bodies floating in the atmosphere, so small as to be undistinguisbable by a micro- scope magnifying 1500 diameters. Dollinger produced a magnifying power ten times that asked for, and assumed to be sufficient, but the minute germs still declined to exhibit themselves even to this powerful observer. We have had the same thing on a small scale in our midst. We had in Canada predictions about the weather many months in advance, which were received bv the thinking public with a smile of incredulity ; but by the curious with avidity- —dulce est errorari. Had these been confined to foretelling the occurrence of the seasons, promising us much cold in winter, much heat in summer, many showers in spring time.and frost and falling leaves in autumn, we should have applauded so vTige 5 rcticeaee. But more doiinito prognosticailont. v.-m- required by the public and were given; still the heat came and went— ar.'i the "/rojrf vidail son sac'' with a wantonness and nonchalance regardless of the feelings and interest of Mr Vennor. ' ' 12 CANADA MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. character. And what are the advantages resulting therefrom? Cutaneous affections are regarded less as local afTections, than as local manifestations of a general disturbance. Our own Erasmus Wilson simplifies cutaneous disorders still more by placing them in four groups— an assimilative group; a nutritive group; a neurotic group ; and a specific, of which syphilis is the only example. "Nearly every new disease of the skin," says he, "might be comprised, therapeutically, under these four heads." What a stride is here made in a most interesting branch of medicine ! and yet only in conformity with the experience of every thoughtful and observant practitioner. The tyro in medicine has, or thinks he has, a half dozen remedies for every disease; but as experience is gained, he learns, and with advantage to his patients, to make a fewer number of remedies to suit a much greater number of disorders. And thus it is in surgery; and thus it will be in Gynecology, when the process of resolving the more hidden oper- ations of nature shall have bad its limits somewhat defined. I have always thought, and the belief has strengthened with observation, that the work of grouping diseases for therapeutic purposes is yet to be done. Sir Henry Holland, many years ago, partially guided the current of medical thought in that direction! But the tendency to analysis, which the study of minute ana- tomy, and the use of the microscope, so greatly favoured, diverted that current, till the observations of a Neumann, of an Auspitz, or of an Erasmus Wilson, showed, in one dejjartment of medicine,' at least, what might, with great advantage, be accomplished in all. Perhaps some member of this Association may yet achieve in other departments of the healing art what has been so well effected in this. STATE MEDICINE. Without taking from the important useful advances in medi- cine ; the splendid triumphs of the surgeon ; the wonderful pre- cision of diagnosis of the modern gynaecologist;— there is adepar^ ment as important as any of these; yet one so recent, that it is only within the past few years it has found a distinct place in any of the medical schools of the Dominion. I allude to State Medicine. Its object is, as tersely stated by J. Marion Sims, «'todo every- thing necessary to protect the health of communities and states. It investigates the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the fuel we burn, the houses we live ANNUAL ADDRESS. 13 ng therefrom ? ctions, than as p own EraBmuB y placing them •oup ; a neurotic only example, le, "might be ads." What a medicine ! and ery thoughtful • has, or thinks t as experience iients, to make ter number of it will be in e hidden bper- iefined. igthened with 'r therapeutic ny years ago, hat direction. ' minute ana- iredj diverted m Auspitz, or r medicine, at plished in all. t achieve in ) well effected ces in medi- jnderful pre- •e is a depart- 3nt, that it is place in any ite Medicine, to do every- 1 and stat^g^ nk, the food luses we live I in, the soil we cultivate, the habits and industries of life, the origin and nature of endemics and epidemics, the methods of their transmission, and the means of their prevention, and of thoir suppression wherever found * * * it endeavours to discover the causes, and to prevent the originating of disease; to prevent its egress, to circumvent it, to extinguish it, whether it be zymotic, contagious or specific. In short, it is the function of State Medi- cine to protect the public health, which is the life of the nation." Gentlemen, — Is there, can there be, a more important work than •' to protect the public health, which is the life of the nation ? " And to whom does this work of right belong but to those who, already familiar with Physiological and Pathological Sciences can best teach and instruct their application " to the maintenance of the health and life of communities, by the means of agencies which are in common and constant use." Speaking, as I do to-day, to, and in behalf of the Medical Pro- fession, in this our beautiful and beloved Canada, I should say there is no work more important ; no work more philanthropic; no work more benevolent than that of awakening in our population, and through it in Governments and Municipal bodies, a knowledge of, and an interest in, all matters relating to public health. A knowledge of the laws of health should not be confined to the profession. They were openly taught to the people by a Moses, and were not strained through time, but came down to our own day monuments of wisdom. What is the duty and office of the physician ? To deal with abnormal functions, and to change, if possible, or to remove un- healthy structures in the human body; to restore to that thinking faculty in man its pristine powers, that it may receive impres- sions, understand them, and be affected by, or be mindful of them; to restore health to the sick and wounded in spirit? Such, in a word, is the office of one who professes, or practises, the healing art; or who adopts manual operations for the cure of diseases that are external. But something more is required. Is it not true that the profession as a body, deals chiefly, if not solely, with that entity when its being or existence is threatened ; or when the harmony of its complex movements is disturbed ? What a huge share of attention is directed to, and how closely ■we watch the progress in, that science which seems to deal chiefly with the symptoms of diseases, that we may recognize them truly ; and with the effects of diseases, that we may limit or modify, if not 14 i '■> W'v / ; i ■' - 1 1 ^! 1 CANADA MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. hinder those effects. The medical press comes to „« f part of the civilized globe, and almost dai!/'.! tour^T T'' 'ng w,th new methods of curing, disease. NoZZZt ' """ ways of employing old remedies, follow ea'h 0^^' .'' '"^" magoria like, in such rapid succes ion al to baffl.T' ^^"'"" tho most diligent experimentalist to exam L and to T'^'' future use, without seeming arbitrariness." nd ye hoVo ? ''^^ the best efforts of the physician, even with h;! ^" "''^ powerful armamentaria, powerless to Iheck hi T'. "'^ ""^ through the carelessneL or irnc^^nce of 1.-'' .''''""^«"' the sick bed I If for instance dt!^ ** '^^'^ surround Tynda.l,of definit;pi;Cslt^^^^:^^^^^^^^^ ^'«-«^ ^^ «n-, or in the liquid we drink • and thaTin.? ^ ^^"' ^^ '" *^« «oil the particle multiply th:;sl?i:ltt:^^^^^^ */.>« —the great probability boin.r that thn.v ..'^'"'^"''al'Je media ties are livinl. thingsZ.ot Xutr L^^ ««• '» P'»'eeting nothing, while we do so i,„ r , "f- '■'''"™'°'' ""'" «"■ ""'"I mation^nd ineZtl: ' 'iTh'^' disseminating correct infor^ doonrkareouSrfw'Zilth" rr°"«/""''''™' ^* "» qualified as we to do-and sal „» 7^ fo&sional-for none s„ P«,ple Will observeter b'SZ !! .tl^"""^' ""l ""^ the gueeo of the West, and the CapTta. ;f 'ZSrhrm:", r. to us from evoiy 1 around us, teen,, romodios, or new ' other, phantas- nffle the efforts of and to select for ^•ot how often are lis ever new and preadofdiseasoH, se who surround i, as claimed by '^ gas, or in the anic seeds in the in suitable media producing qnnli. t soh'd, the treat- er into a J of our whore ignorance tho mnaf ,. L ■ ^ "l-performed .igM.f„epr':LT;e::2:'isr "^ -"" ■" INSANITY. Papers will be read before you to-morrow nn .i,- portant subject showing T >.« ^^^'non'ow, on this most im- or ai„„.,uii i'X:ct„' .'rre°i:^"rLir::5 ^j^ti mg.o,- attempting ,« deal, with those ,»e"tCcf in!j„ , supposed insanity, upon the elueidation^of whLV tbT h„:/'.°.' 18 pigmentation of the retina Ld r^ ^ .. ' ^^^ *^®'"® or of the cortical nerve e"s o" ^n'ZT "" "' *'^ ^^'^^'^ tion ofthe whole brain- or whl' 1" Z '""'" V^Sr^enta. informed methinks these Inll' ^""^^'"S <« « ^urth, better with in sarlnd t;lne aZ^^^^^^ "'' °^"' coincidences, met voured to be set uZtlei^n' I f ''T'"^ ^'^^ ^"""«^'«" «"d««- or.whetherrnomalt rtr""^^ a,.dVh« a r. ;4?;tk:s;Ttf registrations of thoughts or frnZ"!': °°"'°'' '^'"'" """ jeej«. «„ the oortieaf convoiZ seZv' a Z^rsX " T It, because it acts lik»n„. ,•„,„„•_,_ . ' »«="«"•. "sSpitzka calls it only in that itaimr^-'"* '"J"'**"""'' ""'*''''»■«" fi^m «H, with ape,.fect crstic tv 1, 1''.'"^' ''" ^"'•«"^«- f>''- «'<«'ohcd .o,„eof Ihoso d,CtiotT> ; '"r"°"'^ '"^-">"-. t'ns question now, when so mud J " '^ ' "^""'^ "«t "''"'lo to ^ J-i;.e out the inconve, ,en"e if noT""" '^ '' ^"'^' ^^^ '^ -t do»o l>V experts in courts of "us ^1 '"'"^^^^ ^'« l.n.ctitione,.s who have giC 1 mr^'""'"''^'-"^ ^^^^ '"^di- ject of insanity, and to whom the obi T'''''''' '^ '^' «»»>- ^"OH-n. If the mostdili^enTand , "T ^""'"^ *''« ^"'to un- '•f;;ti.ne too short to famiCle hi-Hlf • k"^ P''^^'^''"" ^^^^ « and derangements of all th nte,na ^""^ ''' "^^'«' f""«''on« fe"adly.ees medicine ha.iu^ "s ^^^^^^^ H;n structu,.es; how neces^a.^y is U r '" ''u'"'" P'^'"^^ ^^ «°'-- .totally dethroned, that the duu of '. "'^''' '■^^««" "« "'>t ^« to sway a jury, and beam? "^^''^ncng an opinion which «hou,d be confii^;oiorx"::r:r"/'^ ^^'^ -—t early and less marked varieti 1 ZllT'^'T^ *° '^^^^^ '^ose of less experienced observe iamt:\"'^ ^'^^"P^ ^^e notice a consciousness that justice hasTom«r " *^°'^' ''^'"'^^^^ by ' by the manner in whJch numbers have'T. "'•T""' '" ^^^^^^ In French, and other contiln it^trt'^'^' ^"'^''^^"^"- t-ourts, tor many years past, :3. ON. t I'ororrod to by L„„j \ '>oon fully truccHl ; 'od and brow l>ea ton '' ovon. In yot " in- "K economy, and n parts of cor- > reason is not >pinion which >8t important, ' detect those pe the notice reflections by ied in Canada qualification. / years past, ANNUAL ADDUESS. 19 qucMions of insanity have been roforrod to oxports named by Kovornment, who forma neutral council, and neither one side nor tho other can furnish ex parte evidence of a technical cburactor in rebuttal. At the iiUH.tinK i'> Kebniary last of tho Misdico-Lo^ral Society, a stop in tho direction indicated was made by James Appleton Morgan, who moved, " That the Society appoint a committee to iiKiuire into and ascertain concerning the system of medical and surgical experts appointed by law and attached to courts of justice, understood to be j)rovidod by the laws of Kiance." In this Dominion we do not look, n r do wo hope at once, for that complete system which obtains in K-irope; but we may, by a tacit acquiescence, favour a plan or arrangement which would bo productive of much good. I should say much more on this sub- joct, but as two papers will be read before you on matters ger- mane to this question, I shall leave to Dr. Workman and Dr. Ilornibrook the completion of the task they have assumed. UNION WITH THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. You may recollect that at the Niagara meeting of this Asso- ciation, in 1875, it was decided that, " in consideration of the true interests of Medical Science, it is desirable that a medical con- feronco should take place between the American and Canada Medical Associations at some central point to be determined upon ; and that the American Association bo advised as to the dosira' bility of thus becoming more intimately acquainted, and atlbrd- ing an opportunity for tho discussion of medical and surgical questions on a common basis." At the Louisville meeting of the American Medical Associa- tion, later in the same year, the subject was taken up, and it was resolved " that a committee of thirteen be appointed, whose duty It shall be to confer with a like committee of the Canada Medical Association at such time and place as may bo agreed upon by tho joint committee of tho Associations." That joint committee met in Philadelphia in September, 1876, when it was unanimously resolved " that a union of the two Associations into one is desira- ble, and that the president of each be requested to bring the sub- ject before his own Association, and present his own views upon the matter, in order that the question may be fully discussed, and action taken tlioreon by the members at their next annual meeting." The " next annual meeting " of the American Medical Association was held in Chicago, in June of this year, and the mr m OAN.inA MEDICAL ASSOClATrON. cnlty already oxporlo^uVo 1 ni'l :•'•"'"■;; ^^■'^••^•- '^^ '"'«■ Amorican Medical Ansociat oT a 1 ?• T'''^' " '^'^'>' "" "'« difficulty of arrnn,M-n/thX^^^ "''" ^"""^''^'i ^^o diHtant places of „U,TTor. ""''"' '"'^' ^''-^'''^'j^ The argument, in ^av'ot" o tZ "'"""' '^' P"-"!^"^^"' ""'-^ Bowditch, and I give tllmir h " ''''' *''"'' '^^«'«'' '>y Dr. Of the kind -coii,^ o :;, ;:;r; '"^Tr ^'^ '•'^^ «^'^-- urbanity of its Pre' idon ot;rl Ca";? 1 '•'" •^""^"■"«^« "^^ tion : '°'''"'^^'* C**""^'" nnd its young AHHocir. ciunlS^.Trht'^beTeSat^T^^^'r^^^'^^ « bcly of phy«i. '"any of whom lu^o pZuod t^^ f' ""< orEngli„h inflioncosS received diplomas f.vL^thr„chiorn? ''''?" '" ^^^"^''""''- ""^ Co tho high Htindard of q^aimminn! v« • "* f l'""^''^'- ^^^ "" lSVo.n^.-Why m,?> ve ".^o 7'n"''-^'*' »>>' '»'« Briti.h'Hchc^l qu. e.Himilar to that w^id^'a V eoionrfn'r'' ",^'<^""««tion a« wd. occur again hereafto, wh^'nTr!? rtrin^'^^r-uLS-'t -;!;;&^*[«f ^^£i-. So^iety he o^ani.ed. it has to two cases, would be that S r«-» "^ ..^rence m w« ^"°^^*'' and pass up and depth and ire -- o 'its w«?; ""^"^''^pnt as it is in the leLth its early a8«u.r.tio. s with Enl""^ ^tWl move fascinating fS that wo should all stand on .TP^*"" civilization. I would iZ f nd I think perhaps we of Ef ''^""'f^ battlements of Quebec lesson of magLimftrafUf^^^^^^ obol^kerectod by the graceful ^tion;iS::B^^^^;^ TON. iston, Ailfillo,!, in un 'fn* by Hiimmarizin^', ■ tlio propose: onion. topM, wore: Iho diffl- ''o'''y n My nH <|,o body, would ho in- it thiH counfj-y; tho tcd from such co- ) mankind I hail and I doubt not 1 professions to and pass up and 8 in tho length, wcinating from' • I would like 5nt8 of Quebec, learn a divine I iiior look at the government to ANNUAL A[)1)UES8. 21 the joint momorioH of Wolfe and Montcalm, two bravo Hohliorn antn^onistrt in battle, but in death, joint holrs in the memorios of mankind." Dr. Jk)w(:il«'li, in concluHion, Hii^rgoHfe>o referred; nnd tho council B(K)n aflor rejiortod wL i^y.i'ly to the projxwod uinulgumation. Tliut decision, ^ontlonion, relieves mo from tho duly imposed npnn mo of presonting my own views upon tho matter at this, tho first " next annual meeting " of the Canada Medical Associa- tion. Yet I may bo pormitte ""Portcial ofe;,,™" of ll.e near and oerlain f„,„ ' ° '■°'^"'S""'"'i<'n,nb«ornti„„ ,,! "■;;'."- »l-"-Kly .mall b ThJ "if"' "■ '""■ ""«« W« 1.0 "■Ijonnng Union, e„nti„„„ ,„ * ;t J.^"" »f 'ha «,a,e. „f li: FETICIDE. .butSi„i:::'r:',s::rr* '-^"•^- "<'<'™.. ..o„„ „„, ™p» ' "»">re to tleb a»»e,.,ed by an American wrtlrBf'];' °'' "''»' "'"»™° l" s the marnago relation wonid Z"ZF "' '^'' " '""S '™e „■,!, "«ft".ion ordaine,! ly God forThe "«"'■'''"'• "»' "^ » WW,^ I'M as a matter of comw Pres'i'vation of tbe acts take place, which need not h! ^ '"''^^ ^^ 'nameless grave, wehrhH- ^. '' "^ doHcribed " t .1 ^^^^ t on become ,.erm„n: t "t ,e M "' "' '"""'^ orgt X the .ubjcct without r„„„i„„'i^'^-^ ,V T ""' *"»' '» o-'or uTot mode,t sensibilities, Thel-r me r ,1 r °*"'""« '■«-ed C U;e loi'ical otitcome oftho™ !?„„ """"""^ ""-ded to i„ b , ;; discussion of „,edical ;vithout either A,m. ^ the near future, and « f*"porficiaI observer f on from the north' Y«;«ft>'-«o„,e parts' InthecV-of^lont- JOO and the p.-eneh «te"'*^^an parent- larly correct : and I have tflWn tifo 1 ■ ? ^^.^ ^^/^T™ '^^ Registration is singu- ) 24 CANADA MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. .1.4 Once born, the New England child has a better chance of living than has the child of any other country or state; ""12 f towhith^rTr'"^ have pointed out the an'te-natal dan^ ' to which the foetus is exposed. And we are left no room to con jecture one at least of the causes. ^ to 18?3; s^Iys -M K°?i 'r^Sif ilLtSiXr?'^*^'"-'^ '1 Massachusetts 1859 to be expected from ihAl7^nvom\^on\^lT- '° ^''^ °"'n^'" °f births diminished birth rate may b^ sa^Eorilv .llf- T ft. >'^«'" ^^ ^^^^ «nd the 4,097 in excess of death rate Kven L?t Zf ~ ^' .^''u^'^ r,™** ^«^ ""'J that the births had diminished in all bat thrpl T*^ noticed by Dr. Geo. Derby diminished in every countrexcept two t£ n.°7V?'' ^''"^ the deaths haJ 1,207,059, there was^one l?vfng birS to ever v 4? R^qTrf '°° "i ^^""^ ^''^^ ^eing observed '< that the births are^most numerous in th^cln^'fp^'* ^J^n}h.rx it wa! towns and a large foreign population " i5r D^rhv «» v ®^ containing crowded should not be inferred that the ra of excess ofT'r.hl L"" ^^i^P/"""' "^ds: It IS likely to lead finally to an extinction nff La- *™*i°^ ^^^ foreigners . . . strilcing statement is^that of Hve Wa^^^^^^^^ ^""^''« """s The native population of MaLacKette in g'efc^g^^^ Commonwealth : tion in the same year was 260,114. In that vear tl,« „of-' ' *4 ^"""^'fif" Popula- foreign 16,138. -Dr. Derby in commenting ^savs Thp^'-P'"!"^^'* ^^''^'i "^^ Celtic race . . . over the inglo-iTer&acris we thi^l^K^"".""'^,'^^ "^ ^^e ^ In 18U5 the native population was 1 000 7fii Jj.^ <• ^''P^, abundantly proved, duced in the following yartrfner?6'55LSf,H°T«;"."f'2'''- "^'''^^ P™' showing a productiveniss of he latter over t£™el^!,°' '^^ '''"«'• 17,530-tlmg In 18G7 the birth rate was 27.6 per thousand Pn/no ^™®-'u^ F^*'" year, the American births had ^^^J^^X'^.l^^rS^T^ASt^ and ^i? S ttn'Sr^S tra? ?he%arrrC^;i^L'SrhTr'^"?f ^--' in 18b9 tlie birth rate was 25.5 per thouaanrt if l^o^j .? the marriages had increased by 970. '^It has now arrived ttt'T^^"'^ ^^ ^^ while rate over death rate is but twcithirds of one percent! ' ^^^ ^''*'®'' ""^ ^''^^ It IS again observed that the American hiVthaho^ J- ••,:,, ingyear, while the foreign had increased Kfi-""'°'^^- *^ *^^ native by 2,129, notwithstanding the relative smallnes,^?,hi'"" T'^ ^^"'^^ ^^^ In 1870, Dr. George Dettv Secreterv nf fl^ «! ?^^^^^''|P°P'''«•^'on• fessor of Hy'^iene in ^arSuniversS7r?nift« tt'l-^^^'^.^^^^'''^ *"d P^^ as 26.2 per tLusaad, and adds: "S^^r^rtiL nff'""'^ rate for Massachusetts quite constant since 1864; the purely AScanhirth^?'^'' bjrths has remained their ratio, and the births from mixecf parentage liave L «T / '""^i'^ diminished continues: "Surely, and not verv slolX a ,^?J«2 .^.^*^.^1''^ «'^^**nced.» He Canadians is taking the place of Thrpuriiv Si^'^ ^ ^'^ I'^J'' G^^<^^^ and Massachusetts for lore th^an two cen.u^rie ^ iefe aJe Tot f^^ ?.'' ^*' ^""''^'"'^ educator, and the moralist." In 1871 the same h?o-ht ^t^ ^- °'" '^^ statesman, the nor fecundity of the foreign element iH' ^ fact' f^n^ '^^'"^ •= "7^^ «We. which IS confirmed in a most suggestive way from vear ml ^ recognized, and one returns. This year there was an'icreaVoYirrirn^S^;; V^a^of^f^el^J'^" f^'^^^^^lJStl^'lL^^^^^ by 7,076, and the foreign^element. In one year th^e native ^S^l^^Z:iZV{:i^^\^;S..^l Secre';a..''?fhe'^oSirn'wS: t^a^p'orte tWf' "/'^-.'^-^tion of the tmticmfteport from which I gleA'atCK rJiV/^'K^.^A^-"?".^.' ^-''^'^r Ox in. popuiaHon. Btiii a raiiing ofif-2».3 having been TheavwIS'L' the p^ ATION. i better chance of living r state ; but Storer and the ante-natal dangers are left no room to^con- stered in Massachusetts 1859 nc7 ID the number of birlhs "fs a year of war, and the a— the birth rate was only noticed by Dr. Geo. Derby nties, while the deaths had lation at that time being rsons, and even then it was ounties containing crowded if m anticipation, adds: It I among the foreigners . !an element. But the most ry of the Commonwealth: )70,752, the foreign ponuia- atives produced 16,G72, the superior fecundity of the think, abundantly proved areign 266,270. TJiey pro- ren, the latter 17,530— thus 'our times as great, pared with tEe prcc.;ding roreign had increased by icrease over former years, Jirths had diminished 2.21 er cent. ad decreased by 52, while Jd that the excess of birth linished during the preced- :n births now exceed the if the population, loard of Health, and Pro- th rate for Massacliusetts «iga births has remained have steadily diminished steadily advanced." He k of Iristi, Germans and ck which has possessed :ts lor the statesman, the lority states: "Thesupe- uUy recognized, and one year by the registration ths by 234 j of foreign by ieaths by 7,076, and the rcent. Again is noticed I corresponding increase 3 now entirely with the tsed by 1,125, theforeiga for 1875, just published, !, under direction of the y-fourth Annual Reeis- ■ho average for the pre- ANNUAL ADDHRBS. 25 fS^i".^ Vi'^ y®*"'- "■^^^^t ^^^ fivernec annual rate during the twenty-five years, 1851 to 1875, a period which comprised the Southern war, when the birth rate was birth rate among the native born was )6.4(3 per 1,000 in the same year It may be consoling to say that the question of survival is of great moment And here the advantage, as I have said, is entirely with the native American element. In looking at these figures, is there not reason to fear the ful- filment of Dr. Knox's prediction, that were the Nortli American continent not fed by a constant influx of European blood, it would again revert to the Red man as its solo possessor. ]?ut no ! other causes than cliraatal are at work, for the sun shines on the wil- lingly prolific, and the wilfully barren, alike ; both are heated by the same summers and chilled by the same winters. What I may have to say on this subject must not bo considered as applied to any class of persons, but to individuals, here and there, in a class. A very small percentage of officious meddlesome females would disturb the birth rate of a large community. (At the moment of writing I can recall to mind the recent case of a well-dressed person, with somewhat of cultivation and refinement, who came from the adjoining Union, with shattered health and with heart bowed down, who admitted to me, unreservedly, having procured abortion, in her own person, fourteen times ! She had so well learned the art from the fiend who had aided her at her first gestation that she required no assistance in the disposal of the subsequent thirteen.) When persons have learned to regard man, in embryo, as a mere aggregation or union of fortuitous atoms, a plastic germ, a kind of colloid or protoplasm, which the chemical and mechani- cal laws of attraction and repulsion, selection and rejection, change and wave-like motion, may ultimately develop into a thinking being, but little heed will be given to the integrity of that imma- tare creature suspended in the female womb. Broadcast over this land are sold pamphlets, the titles of which are alone attractive, instructing the female in measures for preventing conception, or for favouring abortion at an early period ; and all in accordance with the views of certain classes of materialists and pseudo-philo- sophers. That the lesson is too well learned is evident from the experience of every physician who has written deprecatingly on the subject. If the organization that now belongs to us had been progres- sively developed, the crime of foeticide would not be of that heinous 26 CANADA MEDfCAL ASSOCIATION. ' > 1 dmracter wh.cli it would be, were that organization transmitted to us without mutation of any kind, from our first pareZ If man derives his existence by a process of evolutio^ romTlpU any pari of ^LtT "" V^""' u' ^''^ '" ^"^^^^^^^ «^^«« '^om any part of that long hving chain ? The Bathybius or beetle ' the cod fish or chicken ; the mollusk or monkey is but a link and raan is no more; and it is of small moment which portion of that hnk receives the attention of the prudentialist * Such are the views adduced by those who consider that there no rifht ' ' '"°: *\"'"'^ "^" '' ' "^-^ P^^toplasm, having Idea wh rT" '" '^''' ^'"''''''^ ^y ''■ ^^^ thi« revolting Idea, which, when entertained, disturbs every system of moral and re hgious belief, is clutched at by those who might hSto t^ mterfere with that highest, noblest work in embryo were man created perfect by his Creator, but who, in the theory of IvolutTon have an excuse for what is claimed to be, not a wrong or anVvil perse but at most, an unintentional detriment to the It^L of hJJel frl ^f '"''" '^^' ^' *""^' *^«t «f «" antagonisms of bel ef, the oldest, the widest, the most profound and the most tZTZ^'I '^^^^^-r "S'-- - Bathybius or beetle f •nkey is but a link, and t which portion of that list* ho consider that there re protoplasm, having t. And this revolting •y system of moral and ho might hesitate to in embryo, were man he theory of evolution, not a wrong or an evil ent to the State, lat of all antagonisms •rofound and the most ce, he is at fault here, between physiological in the subject I am sthical aspect of the 'hat are its bearings icular system of faith, IT obedience to Him seemed to accord a Bsponding indulgence m was like the queen ntending the work of ivic light, as a means sautyofform of the The intense assthetio e to pray, before all lascent human orev. xrhn *ii, as it is not jet'^jund ose. ANNUAL ADDRESS. 27 other prayers, as Locky says, for the number and beauty of hor children. While in the ancient Eoman family the authority of its head whs absolute, marriage, and all that resulted therefrom, were protected by law and severe public opinion. For upwards of five hundred years, according to Valerius Maximus, the mar- riage tie was regarded as indissoluble, and according to Corne- lius Nepos, the mother of the family was placed at the head of the table, and was even more honoured in her maternal character than in that of wife. The Roman matron was a name of honour, and Modestus interprets truly the feelings of the Roman people in defining the union of the sexes in marriage as a life-long fel- lowshipof all divine and human rights; rights of the husband to generate and transmit ; rights of the wife to conceive and bring forth ; and rights of the fruit to be sheltered from ante-natal danger or injury. At a later period when, after the Punic wars. Eastern luxury and Eastern voluptuousness overspread the Eoman territory, there was a rebound into vice again; but while slaves took the place of wives, and undisguised, unblushing obscenity so flaunted at mid- day as to call for a law to prevent nameless crimes, even then the pregnant woman, whether wife or slave, was treated tenderly, and with the greatest consideration, for having consulted the perpetual endurance of the race, while contributing to a brief enjoyment. When, later, female virtue suffered from the great wave of corruption that overflowed the land of the Caesars, leaving but here and there examples of simplicity, gracefulness and chaste heroism, yet never, even in its worst times, was a nameless crime, now so common, even known to the people of that period. At no time either during that profligate epoch, could be found anything so unblushingly wicked as the literature which finds it« way so near to, and into, our Canadian homes, and which causes some alarm lest curiosity might p.-ompt, and virtue might suffer from, a perusal. I have been speaking of Pagan times: what shall I say of the early Christian, when a life of asceticism was considered the most perfect, and when marriage was tolerated "because it produced offspring," and was ordained by God for that purpose. I had the curiosity to consult the Senchus Mor, comprising tiiC ancient ajaws of L'oland, to eeo what rules, if any, reguiated the relation of the sexes, among the people of that prolific land. M 28 CAXADA MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. i :! if But wh.Io every conceivable form of crime, - many of them now unknown,-received attention j while all the relations of men to one nnother and to animala, are copiously treated ; vhilof6r every conccvable forbidden act are provided compensation, exemption fines, forfeitoire, honour price, restitution ; for man in every iank lor woman in every stato; from the King on his throne to the cai mouH.ng ,n the garret, no mention is made, no punishment is pro- vided for that crime spoken of in Genesis xxxviii, 9th and 10th U s.on,s to have been unknown, and / may add, is still mknown th waited through prudential reasons, such as now obtain in cer- tain states of society, neglecting marital duty is dealt with as a mme, and classed for the purpose of punishment with mutilating the person, stripping the slave, &c. ^ The woman with child was treated then as now with the --reat- est tenderness. xVo neighbouring woman, with bodkin; no vHlage blacksmith was there to rid her of her burden ; no demon defilin. the nameof Doctor to step in, and, with shielded stiletto to unhing? h work of nature The word of a woman in childbirth was ta en before all other evidence; and it u.-intentional violence had been tar ) which brought on premature labour, and not in natural ZZ'.7T^-^7. ^''''"' '' '^''""'"^ ^'' ^hild, her oath or atement when in labour, or the oalh of a witness, before whom ment followed, for the Senchus JUor, as dispensed by the B -ehons tTelruth " ''"' " "'""" " '^'""- ^'"'^ ^r-^-ny thing bu; The 5«cmZ consequences of this evil are beyond measurement or conjecture. Adopting the views of Malthus when the converse is vTlatetTh ''^ 'r " ^^^''"?^^ '' ''''^' P°P"'^^-" ---- Li w .'"''''' "^' ^' ""'"''''^ ^' progressing arithme- ticany but geometrically. In Canada the FrenSi population h^s doubled Itself since its foundation every twenty years. WhTt ut tors were the three thousand who landed here 210 years atm in f ^.» .50 o„o c„Mdi.„s Of r..e.,ch oH.iu who „„„ pr;:rkiiit: o the St. Lawrence and its many tributaries, the Ottawa, St fZTV"^ f.'""' ""' """ "'"'•"' '"'» ">e korth West, 'and tastorn Township., besides, sending half a n.illion to the adjoining .'lATION. rime, — many of them e all the relations of men y' treated; while f6r every Jmpensation, exemption. ; for man in every rank ; on his throne to the cat e, no punishment is pro- is xxxviii, 9th and 10th. nay add, is still unbwwn )f Providence should be h as now obtain in cer- duty is dealt with as a shraent with mutilating I as now with the great- with bodkin; no village den ; no demon defiling Bided stiletto to unhinge in childbirth was taken onal violence had been i-med (" in tiirthach is r, and not in natural ler child, her oiith or witness, before whom was taken, and punish- •ensed by the Brehons, nld speak anything but beyond nieasureniont, me when the converse h population increases progressing arithme- ^rench population has enty years. What iac- e 210 years ago, in the tiow people both sides ries, the Ottawa, St. he North West, and illion to the adjoining ANNUAL ADDRESS. 20 Union ! What numerous existences were compressed and included in those few lives of our early settlers.* The question in its reliijiona aspect is easily understood. The most welcome promise made by God was that mentioned in Deut. viii. 14: " There shall not be male or female barren among you." Property, titles, honours could not bring so much delight to a people who thought barrenness, in wedlock, a reproach. All Christian nations are instructed to believe, that matrimony has for its prin- cipal end the propagation of mankind ; although it has other accessory ends, such as the comfort aftbrded by the society of man and woman, «&c. In the exercise of the rights of marriage nothing can be done against its final end. Hence thj condemnation of the ci'ime (Genesis xxxviii. 9) in a mere natural point of view God alone being the giver of life, the married parties arc but His instruments in the bestowing of life. They have no more control over the beginning and continuation of life in the mother's womb than they have over the life of the child born. The foetus in utero has the same right to the enjoyment of life, as the child after it is born. At the very moment of conception, there is, at least, material or physical life, and more probably animated life also, as many are of opinion that the anima, or soul, is united to the body at the very moment of conception. Even were that union to take place later, the foetus enjoys already physical life of its own, and is intended by the law of nature to enjoy animated life : nay it has a right to it, of which right none, save the Master of life Himself, can deprive it. Hence, whether the union of the soul and body be consummated in the act of conception, or later, there is a violent and unlawful snatching of human life, if the foetus be destroyed. An objection may .-o raised : when the foetus constitutes danger of death for the mother— a plea put forth by the strong and the *It was always the aim and effort of French Canada to encourage early marriages, and to develop native population. In the middle of the 17th century young girls were selected in France for their piety and virtue, and sent to Canada, where they were soon sought in marriage. A dower of twenty livres wa? given to each one, and families of ten children, resulting from the union, were presented with 1,200 francs, and l,eOO francs to families of twelve. In 1660 there were 2,500 persons in the Colony; yet in eleven years, 700 children were born. Even now, taking the whole Province of Quebec, we find an average of a fraction over tieven peraons under each roof, or more than 6'23 persons in every famUv AmouK the births the preponderance of those of the male sex is remarkable, a'percentage of 51-13 to 48-87 female. As the deaths occur among male and female children alike, the preponderance of the former is steadily increasing, and indicates in a marked manner a difference with what obtains in Europe where the male popula- tion 18 as 49 61 males to 50-39 females. The hirth=ratc in the city of Montreal among the French Canadian population is now 64 per 1000, the largest birth rate in any country in the world. .! 30 CANADA MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. weak alike-can it not be considered as an invasor vitas, an offen- «ive enemy, and cannot the mother's life be protected against that enemy, at the risk of destroying it ? That danger arises from na- hire Itself; and the mother, by assuming all the risks of her state huH submitted to it, and must abide by it. Besides, if the footus be an invader, it is an innocent one, and can no more bo punished tlian an insane man vho would kill a fellow man; no more than an innocent man could be put to death to rescue another from cer- tain death. If it is alleged that the mother has a right to preserve her life, the same may bo said of the fijetus; and if the mother had a right to deprive the foetus of life, the foetus would have the same right to deprive the mother of hers. From this we derive the principle; 1. It is never lawful to procure abortion directly, even though the foetus be supposed to be inanimate, under whatever plea of averting death. It were homicide ; at least anticipated homicide. The great ]ninci])le underlying this question is, in a word • "Thou Shalt not kill." God alone is the Master of life, and He alone can take it away. This is the universal Christian code. Christian did I say? Nothing can be added to the Hebrew teaching in this regard. The sin of preventing conception denounced in the Hebrew Scriptures, e. g., as in the case of Onan, as " evil in the eight of the Lord," and the kindred crime of foeticide is held up by the teachers of Judaism, the Talmudical and all Rabbinical writers- as a sin which God can never pardon,— omnia peccata condona, Deus excepta— n^toa^ v^\ nna© «>vin " hotsi shichbat zerang kba tela," 1. e., who brings forth semen improperly or causelessly " He who is guilty of the unnatural and detestable vice inherits Gehinnam," teaches the Talmud, in various places,— "he is worse than a murderer." In the Gemara or completion of the Talmud we are told that the disciples of a celebrated Eabbi asked him : how is it possible that one committing this sin should be worse morally, than one who takes the life of a developed man who may be wise and good and useful to the State ? The reply was : " in the latter instance he takes the life of a stranger, but in the former he unnaturally murders his own children." Again in " Sepher Hammaaloth" it is taught, that he who does not duly perform the marital act is " a spiUer of blood." To destroy the semen, or tn nvQo-ni'n ahf>i-«ir»r> Jo /i«ni«..«-i a_ -u- - _ , -. ._ ^.v,_iii_ ^5,s;s^,,,j,^ .o vivCiaxcu w uu Tuuning couHtcr to the will and intentions of the Supreme Creator who has already ■Ai:2 QCIATIOX. M invnsor vitae, an offen- I be protected against that hat clanger arises from na- ,' all the risks of her state, . Besides, if the footus ho :an no more bo punished 3II0W man: no more than > rescue another from cer- her has a right to preserve as; and if the mother had itus would have the same From this we derive the ion directly, even though under whatever plea of ast anticijiated homicide, question is, in a word ; 9ter of life, and Ho alone hristian code. Christian, the Hebrew teaching in tiounced in the Hebrew 18 " evil in the sight of ticide is held up by the I all Eabbinical writers- 3mnia peccata condona, \otsi shichbat zerang leba iroperly or causelessly, detestable vice inherits 18 places,—" he is worse npletion of the Talmud •ated Eabbi asked him : bis sin should be worse, eveloped man who may ? The reply was : " in a stranger, but in the children." Again, in he who does not duly lood." To destroy the to bo running counter feator who has already ANNUAL ADDRESS. :u formed elsewhere the "zevug" or marriage malch for the foetUH. TheTalmudic code is crowded with the most minute instructions for the development of modesty and chastity. Thus, in the Mishuu Treatise, Aboth, we read : " he who has had an accidenial omiHsion of semen is not to perform his ordinary devotions, much less the minister, or one who is to pray for the many." The constitutions concerning marriage, which fill a volume, give the most minute directions with regard to the " rohoh keri," (qui vidit semen) in other words, precautions to -irevent the use of the same for any other purpose except that of raising virtuous children in Israel. The act is to be performed with absence of all levity, and rather with prayerful aspiration, that the issue may be for a " kiddush hashem," i. e., to promote the sanctification of God's name, in darkness and with all modesty. Early marriages are most strictly enjoined as a consequence of all this. " Ho who does not marry and raise children causes the divine presence (Shechinah) to depart from Israel," see Yoreh Deah, p. 1. Again: " he who has no wife is not to be called a man ; but when he marries and has children, his sins will be forgiven him." A man who knowingly marries a barren woman is denounced as a fornicator— Yoreh Deah. The result of such teaching is evident among the Jewish people. They are singularly free from the detestable crime to which I am alluding, and from that other, anterior to it, for which I can find no name, but which is so repugnant to the designs of the Creator. WHAT ARE ITS LEGAL ASPECTS. According to law, causing or procuring abortion is a felony — a "crimen animo felleo perpetratum "— with a bitter or gallish inclination— a crime which at common law occasioned the for- feiture of lands and goods, and is classed with suicide and man- slaughter. It is not, indeed, murder in the eyes of the law, for in order to make the killing, murder, says Stephens, it is requisite that the person killed be a reasonable creature, in being, and under the King's peace at the time of the killing. To kill a child in its mother's womb, therefore, falls under a different description of crime. But it approaches more nearly to murder, and murder most cowardly, than any other crime; for it cannot be pleaded that it is done without malice aforethought. The malice prepense, militia prcecogitata, does not require to be towards the unknown, 32 I'ANAKA MKltlCAi, ASSOCIATIDN. I i I :i! I 1 unseen f.etus, and is, therefore. nr,( so mnd, nmlevolonco to the doceaHod infant in |.nrtieMlnr, as any evil .lesion in «;enornl-tho diotatoH of a wioli'ave.l, and malii-tiant liem-t, as Foster expressed it,— nne disposition n faire une male clioso— wliieh may Im' oitl..>r exprosse.1 or implied in law. It may Lo taken for a A-enoral rule tl.at an aet of this nature is nuilicions, and shoul^l amount to murder, unies.s where ./i/,?//>Vv/ by the command or per- mission of Mornl — Uio laliiiHaiit liciu't, as Foster male clioso — vvliich may . It may be taken lor n (1 is malicioiiH, and »hoiilil f hy the command or por- 11 nt of accident or of sell- t'ouclienr risks the lilb of iiit without those circam- iation, the earnest and oi'i 3 hotliorod with any rr.ovi^. 7 court of justice, still lods 9 a faculty may still exist o some standard of riglit aw by which the slayer of severer manner than any scourged, tho delinquent a live dog, t. cock, a viper >lon the wise, iu his laws, lending it impossible, as ity of so unnatural a bar- i out the law on this ques- jed that the death of the y of the fiend who accom- irantonly permits, or pro. 8, a violent interference t as society advanced (f) c. 58, and 9 Geo. IV., c. [lister a destructive thing uick with child should be be proved to have been ith transportation. But . and 1 Vict., c. 85, s. 6, tent to procure the mie- ly administer to her, or other noxious thing, or ither means whatsoever, loiiy and liable to tran- ri years, or to bo impri- sars." ANNUAL ADDIJKSS. 33 What says science? Apart altogether from those numerous ailments and diseases which follow in the train of such violations of the laws of God and of nature, and which a volume would bo insufficient to delineate and' pourtray, I shall merely observe that there is a peculiar condition of the o.s uteri brought about which is often the cause of subsequent miscarriages. The neck of the uterus, as Depaid observes, is a sort of sphincter muscle; and in many women this is in a lax condition, predisposing readily to abortion. With it there is indeed " a special irritability of the uterus, exciting it to relieve itself of its contents." How frequent- ly do we not notice this condition in meddlesome females who, in the early months of married life, abhorring maternity, prevent it! yet who, at a later period, would sacrifice every thing short of life itself to regain the health they had wantonly sacrificed, and some at least of the lives they had so mercilessly brought to nought. The indurated or hyperplastic condition induced by this wicked practice, indisposes the uterus to expand and yield before the gi'owth of the foetus at a bubsequent gestation. The uterus, on account of that induced congestion or hyperplasia, is, moreover, prone to assume an abnormal position, and to add thereby another element of discomfort to the mother, and of danger to the safe progress of future gestation. When, as it often happens, future gestations are denied, the sufferings are not less severe. Who, amongst us, cannot recall the haggard, anxious expi'cssion, the hollow cheek, the sunken eye. I'le pallid, sickly countenance, the uncertain gait, the pain in forehead, side, back and limbs, and that indescribable sensation of fullness, yet of emptiness, that feeling of dragging, or of gnawing in the hypogastriura, which attends the wakeful moments, and disturbs and hinders rest, and which is as The pang where more than madness lies, The worm that will not sleep, and never dies. Thought of the gloomy day and ghastly night That dreads the darkness, and yet loathes the light ; That winds around, and tears the quivering heart ! Ah, wherefore not consume it, and depart ! But to come back again from Byronianism to plain prose, can I exaggerate the misery and distress which follow in the wake of the unhappy misguided deflowerer of her own womanhood, who so cotupleteiy divorces herself from all freedom from sickness or suffering for the future. D ill 34 CANADA MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. lean bnl ...ntly allude to that other Hinful evil; that partial and .^eompio^e act, equally, if not more minchievo b I ifh he Ind wh r'Tr^'^^'' ' ^^'^^ '''' '»°'-«' ^-^^ «'one ;«? ouch ' to h.v, „„v<,r boon, «>vo in tho {.mndnuL principlo I'hteh found no „„,rix to fo,.or »„d mnintain its fife °SeH Oh Sh.„o whoro i» thy blush I If there be «ueh nZZZ cl' :^r^'j:i i^juri ^--p^^-^Z: the designs of raarnage; to engender a whole train of evils in and affluent who .ishld M k T .^'' best patients, healthy tation onh;Te^;i:rf:it^hr::rb;:*:r"Sr;rti^^ «o«od, and at length, threatened. She left his offl.fr.^' .earhll'lLt^r: /h"™"-'^'"" T' ''"•™««' -' ANSl'AL \nDRE88. 35 full of life, und houlth, nnd beauty, mi^'ht bo scon pansing my window, little drunming, and I would not huvo her know, how much she was indebted to the humblo old man in hiH office near by for the continuance of tlio fifo she now 8o much enjoyed." Oentlomon of iho Canada Medical AHSOciation; Why do 1 enter into this mutter at all while the beautiful and intcrcHtin^' fields of scientific discovery are so inviting ? Believe me, 1 have no relish for it, and more than once have 1 turned with loathing from the task. But, lot me ask, is there no necessity? Do you not perceive in spots here and there in our Canada, and chiefly along the border, a knowledge of the physiology of conception, and alas ! a knowledge of the means of its prevention, which would be hotter unlearned ? It could not be that crimes which a Storer denounced in Massachusetts ; a Doforrest or a Thomas in New York ; or an Allen in Rhode Island, could have continued to be confined to the adjoining Union. Like the Colorado bug it would cross the border, and produce its work of mischief here. And it has been suggested to me that a few plain words proceeding from this chair— having a weight, a character and a quality which might be attached to the utterances of the occupant, honoured, for the moment, as the mouthpiece of this important Associa- tion — would not be misplaced or ill-timed. • ••>;« • *, , • ' ■ t • • > \ L