Wichita eagle., 1888-01-19
MEDICAL SCIENCE.
PROGRESS IN SURGERY DURING THE
LAST DECADE.
Contagious and Infectious Diseases.
Cases Lost from Blood Poison-Tumors
and Gunshot Wounds-The Need of
Higher Medical Education.

Cases Lost from Blood Poison-Tumors
Higher Medical Education.
Anropos of the interest manifested by the
general public in the proceedings Of the in
ternational medical congress recently held in
Washington, the following comprehensive
remarks by a prominent New York ply
sician, concerning the progress made in
medical science during the last ten years, are
not untimeIy: Progress in the science OF
medicine during the past ten years has been
perhaps as great as during any previous half
century of its history. Formerly medicine
was system of almost pure emprlclsnl. Its
knowledge consisted OF large collection OF
undigested observations. But in recent years
much he's been done toward laying scien-
tifc foundation for the study of medicine.
Most of this progress is due to advances In
our knowledge of the nature and causes OF
disease. This is especially true OF contagious
and infectious diseases. Here the study OF
micro-organisms and bacteria in their reia-
tions to disease has done much to advance
medicine. This has placed in our hands the
power to absolutely restrict the spread OF
epidemic diseases. 1t has become now only
question of the application of well known
principles And / may add, that it is espe-
cially in the prevention, rather than the cure
of diseases that in the future medicine is to
find its highest usefulness.
ADVANCES IN SURGERY
at is the knowledge of the relation ot
heterogeneous to disease that has rendered
possible the great advances made in surgery.
There is scarcely anything to-day impossible
in surgical science. Some idea of this may
be gained from comparison of the results in
surgery a few years ago with those of today.
Ten years ago threefourths of all the cases OF
major amputation were lost from blood poi
son. Today death from this cause after a
surgical operation is almost unknown. and
when it occurs can only be attributed to
almost criminal carelessness or ignorance. In
abdominal surgery greater advances have
been made than in perhaps in any other
branch. As regards the removal Of tumors
writer of a few years ago said: Il regard
a recovery after such an operation as almost
miracle, and to be considered in the light Of
an escape rather than q recovery to he ex-
pected.' Today some prominent English
surgeons in series of cases numbering from
1000 to 1900 have had SO and 81 per cent Of
recoveries.
Recently wonderful success has attended
operations for gunshot wounds perforating
the abdomen where many openings have been
made in the intestines In number of in
stances portions of the intestines have been
removed, or from eight to twelve openings
have been closed after opening the abdominal
cavity and complete recovery has ensued.
SIN brain surgery, also, much has been done
recently. Assesses of the brain have been
opened and drained. The situation of tumors
of the brain have been diagnosticated, por-
tons of the skull removed and the tumor cut
out"
OUR MEDICAL SCHOOLS.
Speaking of medical education the physi-
clan said: SIN the condition of our medical
schools, and in the general standard of medi-
cal education, great advances are still to be
made. In the past our medical schools have
been almost without exception practically
private institutions, without endowment, and
supported entirely by the fees received from
their students. In this country all kinds of
educational institutions excepting medical
Schools and perhaps law schools, have been
abundantly endowed; but medical colleges
have been left to work out their own future
as best they might. This seems strange,
since IleTS are no 1Den VINO COInb SO near 10
all classes of the people as the physicians. I
suspect that the cause of it lies with the ply
sicians themselves. There is no philanthropic
question that, if properly presented, would
appeal SO strongly to the reason of an intelh-
gent man as this of the endowment of medi-
cal schools. The difficulty is that many med
ical men are not loyal to their schools or to
their profession After graduation their en-
ergies are devoted, not TO the advancement of
the science of medicine or the elevation of
medical education, but to acquiring a compe-
tency. For medicine in the abstract they
care not at all. They would be very chary
about giving any information that would ad-
vance scientific medicine, if at the same time
itwould advance any other medical man TO
more profitable practice.
"A few generous gifts to medical schools
have been made. More will be soon. Twenty
five years hence our medical colleges, be-
leve, will be as finely endowed as the literary
colleges are to-day. The result will bA to ell
evate the standard of medical education, and
we shall have profession all of whose prac-
titioners are broad, freely educated, intelli-
gent .n-J. L. II. in New York CONNER
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