The Portland daily press., 1869-06-17

ceptlble. The patient is now Waihins
in his business ,.;va ~
Dr. Greene alluded to the, presersa'i'o.n
Arenca of carbolic acid, exhIDltine lnoipiu
a.oa;,aon ,.b;cb had been subjected to its ac-
~. a,,d consequently dried. The same speci-
80, ar;sd Is hard as sole leather, was yester-
a.n soaked in dilute solution of the acid and
made very pliable. II E1fgaLgl
DR.. Greene spoke of case of ovariotomy,
which will be fully detailed in the annual re-
port
Upon motion of DIR. Brickett, it was voted
that certain section of the Constitution be so
amended as to read that the Recording Secre-
tsry be elected for ten years, and DIR. Hunt
was declared elected to this office with the sal
airy previously determined upon
DIR. Gilman presented the report Of the com
mi.tee upon the Maine General Hospital. He
detailed the results already reached and ex-
pressed the greatest confidence that the sue
cess of the enterprise is assured His appeal
to the members of the Association, for their
cooperation, was very eloquent,
Drs. Nourse, Buxton, Swasey and Greene
made remarks .npon this subject, alter which
it was voted to empower the Hospital Com
mittee to cooperate with the corporators of
the projected hospital s1sfs tSa sasAS@2
7. II. Gerrish, and O. e. Webster, Portland;
Sumner A. Patten, Monson; Chas. T.. Holt,
Mechanic Falls; Harris Pushor, Hartland; r.
Il. Paine, Camden; Geo. H. Wilson, Albion;
VIM. A. Banks, Rockland; John /. Sturgis,
Windham; 0. r. Hall, Buckfeld; G. III. Rey-
nolds, Gorham; j. L. Bennett, Bridgton; VIM.
IL. n Mt
John j. Linscott, Alonzo b. Adams and
Eli s. Hannaford, Pennington, and Fredk. w.
brigham, Sullivan, were elected members of
the Association. sssaas .sstun2 .st0D.t
The subject of the Maine General Hospital
elected much discussion of a very pleasant
character. Dr. Gilman report will hereafter
be published in full. XII. ,;,a ..,. i,
DR.. S. I'll. Tewksbury, of Portland, read
paper upon tho subject of smelicoilegal evil
dence. He treated the subject in an able
manner. a brief report will fail to convey
clear idea of the essay. ME began by abiding
to the contiguityof the fields of study of the
lawyer and physician. Some of these fields
touch each other, and the legal or medical pro-
fessional man may be led into field not
strictly his own, Thus the physician, is called
( J
upon to express opinions in courts of law and
the lawyer is called upon to express opinions
relative to- alleged malpraetice.s DIE Tewks-
bury alluded to the delpsiye nature Of many Of
the questions asked physicians as experts. He
expressly deprecated loose employment of
words, concerning which any discrepancies
may be observed, Many Of the apparent diff
ferences between experts may be referred di-
rectly to this earelessness. He illustrated this
by the loose use of theword sparalysis" In
many cases the acute attorney takes advantage
of the tendency to employ words carelessly,
and thus makes the medico-legal expert con-
tradict himself and appear to express views
which he has never held. He advocated the
of experts before their appearance
in given case. Suppose they differ. They
can then compare their differences; suppose
they agree; they can then remove any; diffl-a
culties in the settlement of the ease. BY such
a course the opprobium of the profession can
be removed. ee q itit ao3 sAtfbs II
DIR. Tewksbury next treated at length the
subject ofawarding damages in cases of acct
dental injuries, as from railroads. He ex-
pressed the opinion that professional etiquette
demanded that the award should be made
with great delicacy and caution Moreover,
although physicians and lawyers meet in social
life upon the most pleasant terms, their rela-
tions in court are unsatisfactory He referred
to the use Of technical terms and the amuse-
ment created in court by the proper use of
such terms by . physician. For instance, it
was necessary mot long since to explain to
court that the exhibition Of medicine was
something more than merely shopiag it, The
only remedy appears to be to insist upon. the
adoption of higher degree of proficiency in
medico legal requirements He next spoke of
medical responsibility, an intricate subject,
which he presented in q clear manner, illus
trating it by examples He was particularly
severe when referring to the traps sometimes
pet for medical witnesses by shrewd, lawyers,
insisted strenuously upon refusing to
answer hypothetical questions until,i it Is evil
dent that the examiner and expert understand
each other. Medical witnesses should be brief
and clear in their evidence, and modest in Civ
ing it,.
DR.. Tewksbury, after referring to the miser-
able pitta1icc allowed ss~;asss when
as witnesses, closed by speaking of the rela-
crets committed to- tlsfs oaEs during profess
sionaf It is held by many of the best
legal authorities that no protection can be af-
forded to physicians VINO refuse to disclose Sc
crets coming to thsF knowledge during pro-
fessional atrendance. The peroration of the
ad2<css consisted of an impressive appeal to
physicians. Referred to- the Committee on
Publication.
DR.. Goodale's report upon Medical Chenis-
try was referred, without reading, to the Com
mittee on Publication, .s.sr 4nKs
DR.. Bates of Yarmouth presented a carefully
prepared report upon the progress of medicine.
He smoke nartieulaFlV of the snacessitv Of pa
itient ORIGINAL ;nvestioation. and at the same
time the Importance of strict adherence to the
Landmarks of sthe SCIENCE BE spoke Of the
present condition. of medicine. Medicine is
now freed from the superstition which once
attached to it, II. is no longer hampered by Q
belief in superstitions, although much creduli-
ty still exists. DR.. Bates closed by urging up
on physicians more CAREFUL study. Referred
to the Committee on Publication, Adjourned
EVENING.
Called to order at O'Clock, DIR. Dana In the
chair. - ssaa.isr z rex .IoaaTJel Il q
On motion of DIR. Fuller, it was voted to ap-
point committee to visit the Insane Hospital
and report upon the condition OF the same. !
Drs. Fuller, Buxton and Snow were appoint
ed on this committee. sss.F,nKr .asrrs.sss ~
DR.. Gordon read an interesting obituary mo-
tice of the late DIR. Collins of Bethel, who died
in 1867 The reuort NV a. rpfar rad tn tha Conn.,