Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1913-10-16
MEDICAL MEETING CLOSES
Brilliant Papers Mark Last Da,
of Convention.
universal Sentiment That the Meeting
Was Most Successful in History
of Orgnnizntion-EIcct of
Officers Friday.

Inc sentiment of all who attended the
convention Of the Vermont State Medical
society, which was brought to a close
FRIDAY afternoon, was that they had
never attended more interesting or
enthusiastic meeting and this includes
the noted specialists who came from a
distance. The management of the affair
was remarkable. The program was pulled
on on schedule time and there was not
an unlnteresting paper read. The benefit
10 the members of the society Is great
ana the remarkable registration of near
i ~ two-thirds of the members of the
society shows that the convention was
such as to awaken favorable comment.
Another thing which spoke we'll for the
convention was that everyone who came
to Burlington stayed until the close Fri
day afternoon.
OFFICERS ELECTED
The house of delegates did not report
until afternoon and then the secretary
announced the following officers: Presi-
dent, A. l.. Miner of Bellows Falls; vice
president, Grace Sherwood of St Adams:
secretary, J. NJ. Hamilton of Rutand
| treasurer G. +. Dalton OF this city;
/ auditor G. +. Ball of Rutland. and ami
| Versary Chairman, c. A. Cramton of st
Johnsbury. c. II. Beecher, vino had been
the secretary Of the society for six years,
announced before the meeting that under
no circumstances would he accept the
| office again. He was elected to the i'm
portant office of delegate to the national
convention of the American Medical as
ISOLATION. unanimous vote of thanks
was rendered Drs Stone and Beecher of
| this city for their efforts in making the
affair a success and all of the Burlng-
| ton physicians were thanked for their
| hospitality 1t was voted that the fiscal
year be changed to correspond with the
calendar year and henceforth all dues
must be paid on or before March 81
After considerable discussion, 1t was
voted to maintain the medico-legal de-
! Tense of the society, and when it came
! to vote the question was decided
unanimously in it's favor, All of the out
of-the-State speakers were made honor
airy members. 1t was also voted that all
members over 65 years of age. who had
been members of good standing in the
state and county organizations for the
past five years, should be members with
out the payment Of dues henceforth
INFANT MORTALITY.
The first address Friday morning
was that Of DR.. Henry l.. *. Shaw
professor of pediatrics in the Albany
medical college. His subject was In
FAINT Mortality, Causes and Prevention"
| DIR. Shaw said in part: The people are
fast coming to the belief that it is not
our ancestry that should worship
hut our posterity. \ good family history
is much more to be preferred than a
family purse, when it comes to matri-
mony. The baby Is the citizen of the
future and has rights, which we cannot
afford to disregard Along this line &c
/ thought eugenics are now being freely
discussed. In Burlington last year the
number of infant deaths was 25o to l,oco
a very high figure. There surely must
he something wrong in the care of In
fants in this city with that hi@h rate
of mortality. Thee j. no uniformity IN
the methods of computing infant
mortality in the different cities Of the
! United States and Europe so that t Is
difficult to make a lust comparison. In
the United States 80 out nt every leo
die before they are one yea. old, The
! infant mortality of Vermont Is 145 to
every 1000. In Great Britain he infant
mortality is but 1870 and in NV Zealand
there are but ~ deaths to every 200 living
births. In the discussion which foH
| lowed, the high rate of mortality in
Burlington was attributed to the preseace
of two orphanages where infants We're
received in all kinds of health and condi-
, ton.
The birth rate is steadily declining in
all civilized countries and this makes
the saving Of the life of the infant all
the more important. study of the
/ causes of death reveals some interesting
things. During the first month one-third
| of the deaths which occur during the
year, take place. The rate then steadily
declines with each succeeding month,
Neglect, ignorance, and poverty are the
three contributing causes to death. In
many cities an intelligent effort is made
to educate the mother by means of illus
! trated lectures The milk supply is one
of the most important elements. \ great
| infant mortality is national calamity
because first numerous economic
values are created without purpose
and are destroyed prematurely, and sec
ondly, because the high rate of infant
mortality affects the resistance of other
infants and therefore affects future gem
erations.
FOUR TECHNICAL PAPERS
The addresses of Dr. John +. Erdmann
on Acute Pancreatitis' and of DR.. Law
arson Brown on "Artlticial pneumo-
thorax" were OF much scientific value
and showed great knowledge of the sub
jects DR., IIrdmann is professor of sur
gery in the New York Postgraduate
school and DR. Brown is really the head
| OF the colony for tuberculosis patients at
/ Saranac Lake He dealt with the sub
| iect of rest in the lungs of a consumptive
and demonstrated method of injecting
nitrogen so that the air was forced out.
In this manner the lungs were assisted to
heal much as a splint on broken leg
helps the fracture to heal by preventing
II from being In motion. In this class of
highly valuable scientific papers were
those of DR., f. w Archibald, lecturer
IN surgery in McGill University and DIR.
John McCrae, assistant professor of
pathology in McGill University The sub
ject of the first was Treatment of Neph-
ritis" and of the second "Gastro-anteros-
| tony"
PREVENTIVE MEDICINE.
A brief abstract of the addrt ss of
DR.. NJ. j. Hosemann, professor of pre-
Ventive medicine in the Hazard Med 90
zeal school, follows DIR. Rosemann was
for many years in the government
service and has done service in Cuba,