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but being sorely disappointed, have given up all hope of reforms, socially, morally or politically.

While I am a moral man in every respect, and hate and detest crime and intemperance. I have given up all idea of raising my fellow man from a beast to a demigod. Selfishness and cruelty, immorality and vice, shame and deception are the terrible coincidents of civilization such as now exists. I was once called a "dangerous man" because I advocated socialism and reform-but that was in the past; while I was a university student.

That I have been a martyr to the cause goes without saying. Even this would have been bearable, even glorious, if I had seen any results; but the wicked became more so and left me a misanthrope!

The correct way to pronounce "although" is to give it the "ough" sound you object to. To my mind the "altho" is not the same word. By all means do as you please for I have no decided views; and as I said, have stopped reforming long, long ago.

I wish you success, but do not like the idea very much.

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What a frank, and what a touching letter. I know a man who has had a distinguished career. If I were to mention his name it would be recognized by many of our readers, as the gentleman was for many years a distinguished writer on economics. He is old now, but the sad part is that his heart is broken. He has seen wrong triumph so often that he has lost hope. I have frequently tried to cheer him up, and induce him to give the younger men a few inspiring words, or even the presence of his face at meetings of "the faithful." But he says: "No, I have been defeated. A conquered man cannot inspire." He says that he has taken to French novels as a diversion, as he wants to forget the miseries of mankind as much as possible during his few remaining years. He firmly believes the stupidity of men will lead them again to an awful convulsion, something like the French revolution. And this will be repeated again and again until men learn.

Here we have two noble men. They have contributed their part. Let us cover them with the mantle of love, and go forth as bravely as did they in their vigor, and do our part. The service is needed, and our numbers are comparatively few. Hence the

need for courage, resolution, and every attribute needed by one who would leave the world better than he found it, not forgetting that we can frequently do more by persuasion and instruction than by fighting.

But we who are in the vigor of middle age can see the world in a different light from the two noble old soldiers above referred to. I firmly believe that the world is becoming constantly better. As a rule, the views of men are becoming broader and more liberal; this is true in religion, politics and concerning social relations. Of course there are local and temporary exceptions, but they are only ebbs and eddies in the stream. As I look around me every day I see improvement. The streets are better than a few years ago. Old and inferior buildings are giving way to grand and elegant modern structures. Wealth is increasing with rapid strides, and those who have a firm and secure place in our social machine are better off than ever before. But the trouble is that an alarmingly increasing number are left out altogether; and here is our danger. We must study the social machine and adapt it to universal human needs.

But as to the spelling reform. Here is a voice from Texas.

Editor MEDICAL WORLD:-By all means let the spelling reform go on. Life is too short and problems demanding solution are too numerous to handicap ourselves or our children with burdens which well might be thrown off. The child could spell as well as the adult if our language were conformed to a system of phonetics (fonetics). Time labor and expense would be saved thereby.

When doing away with diphthongs, why not write the word fonetically, difthong? This not only saves the writing or printing of another letter, but corrects a faulty pronunciation as well, which is heard quite often, namely, "dipthong."

To say "systematize" for the terser and simpler word 'systemize," reminds me of walking on stilts, tho we are already provided with legs for locomotion.

In Funk & Wagnalls' publisht list I notice that option is allowed in the spelling of certain words. This is to take but half a step, and mars the uniformity of the system. Now that the reform is begun, let thoro work be done. If the language is to be systemized, take away the option and write "fotograft," thus avoiding the use of one letter and conducing to simplicity.

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There would be gain to speakers also if our pronunciation could be unified. To allow two pronuciations of one word serves to arouse the opposition of a critical hearer who prefers to call it differently. This question definitely settled, a vast ueal of lexicografical search would be obviated, resulting in a distinct gain of time for more valuable research. Continuity of thought would be favored also, since the listener would not have his attention abruptly arrested by a grotesk pronunciation.

To illustrate: If "A Standard Dictionary of the English Language" had adopted either one of the two pronunciations of the word "wound," practice would soon have crystalized in that direction, and confusion avoided.

If some one who has sufficient leisure would consult the standard orthoepists who are already on record, making a faithful count of preferences, the result ought to be satisfactory to the public. Take the word "lever," for instance. If a majority of orthoepists prefer to pronounce it "lev-er," then let it be so to the end of time. And so of "revolt," "leisure," "humble," and all the others.

Georgetown, Texas.

JOHN F. NEAL,M. D.

One of our readers in Washington, D. C., writes as follows:

"My Dear Doctor:-I am glad to see that you contemplate a more radical and extended spelling reform. Allow me to offer a suggestion. It is this: That every effort be made looking to a general spelling reform to be fully adopted and put into effect with the beginning of the twentieth century. Aside from special reforms in government and social conditions, I do not believe that any other would surpass the much needed reform in spelling as a genuine blessing to humanity. The general adoption of this reform at the beginning of a new century would have many features to commend it. It would readily be known whether a certain book or document was before' or 'after'. We have an interval between the present time and the beginning of the next century (a period of less than three years) during which the printers, pupils and the public may gradually become accustomed to the new order. There is yet time enough to accomplish the object. The quickest way to do it is to begin at once, as the Funk & Wagnalls' Co. has done. If the newspapers and maga

zines would adopt the reformed spelling, the makers of books would soon follow; and the courts and the general government would be compelled to do the same. The dictionaries would need revision; they could and would sufficiently preserve the etymological derivations. A word like an individual stands for itself. It is used to express or qualify an idea. It is not necessary to know who your grocer's great-grandfather was or what country he came from. It might be advantageous under certain conditions for you or for somebody else to know something of his antecedents, but as long as he serves your needs as a grocer you will be satisfied. And so it is with a word; if it expresses the idea you have in mind, that is sufficient; if it is necessary to know its etymology or antecedents, the dictionary is the place to find it. I would like to see taught, thought, laugh, and all of that class of words with so many unnecessary letters and such conflicting and confusing pronunciations sensibly shortened. I don't know what the philologists or orthographists suggest with regard to such words, but a reformed spelling of those words would not be much, if any, more radical than some of the changes which have already been approved. Thot, laf, etc., would look odd, but they would soon be familiar and 'then embraced,' if commonly used."

No, I can hardly favor the setting of an exact time for the "before" or "after." There will always be laggards, and it would be impossible to get them up to the line. For example, in the fashionable "bon ton" set the old spellings would be clung to. And there would be others, natural pioneers, who would go right along adding to what had already been done, regardless of the beginning of another century. Language is a growth, and it moves right along as regardless of set times as a growing vine of a line drawn across it course. It can't be forced up to the line, nor stopped when the line is reached.

Sometimes great ideas are briefly expressed in plain and simple language, and appear in a comparatively obscure place. Along the above lines of thought, the following debate appeared in The Republican, a local paper published in Lebanon, O.:

Resolved, That an International Congress should be called at public expense, to make or select a language for universal use.

THE NEGATIVE.

That a universal language would be of inestimable value to the world no one will dis

pute. That an international congress should be called "to make or to select a language for universal use" but few will admit. The English language is already the language of the world out of Europe and is destined by nature to become the world's language the day it is written as it should be spoken. To make it universal the English alphabet must be enlarged so that each sound of the language that needs alphabetical representation can have a sign of its own.

Script letters of an enlarged alphabet should be put in the hands of the school children for the purpose of teaching them the elementary sounds, and thus create a demand for books printed in truthful spellings. With this alphabet in use each letter in any word would be to the reader a symbol of a sound to be voiced in its place. Each letter, and every group of letters, would be certain in writing, printing, and in reading, and thus helpful to learners, especially those of foreign birth. In fact, the orthoepy of the written or printed word would be indicated at sight of the word, for that would be the united sounds of all its letters in their proper order, whether many or few, and the spoken word would then be dictation for its spelling as no silent, nor misleading letter would be used.

The English would then be the universal language.

Chicago, Ill.

JOHN M. MOTT,

THE AFFIRMATIVE.

Mr. Mott is the author of an interesting work, "Spelling Reform, Its Purpose and Progress." We both agree that phonetic spelling and a universal language would be of inestimable importance; but we do not agree as to the method of bringing them about.

According to his article, we could now travel anywhere out of Europe, and talk with the people in English; but we well know that such is not the case. The masses of mankind in Asia, Africa and South America know neither English, French, nor German; and, consequently, the bulk of the best literature of the world is as inaccessible to them as it is to the inhabitants of Mars.

I wonder by what miraculous process a billion and a half of people who do not now know English would learn it in the twinkling of an eye, or, at the most, in twenty-four hours, on the day it is made phonetic.

The English tongue cannot become universal if left to take its own course. It is

so faulty that Mr. Molee, of Forest City, Iowa, urges its simplification for the sake of making it easy for children and foreigners to learn, remember and use. Among many other changes, he advocates the substitution of many self-explaining compounds for difficult foreign derivations; as, "star-lore" for astronomy, "plant-lore" for botany, "birdlore" for ornithology, "fish-lore" for ichthyology, "leaf-stalk" for petiole, "bloomstalk" for peduncle, "bloom-cup" for calyx, "bloom-crown" for coruolla, "half-island" for peninsula, "neck-land" for isthmus, and "word-list" for vocabulary. He truthfully says: "It is easier to remember 5,000 selfdefining compounds than 1,000 arbitrary

ones."

It is highly probable that an International Congress would bring forward a far better language. It could make one so regular in its spelling, accent, pronunciation, plurals of nouns, and principal parts of verbs, that orthography and grammar could be easily mastered. It could build up the vocabulary from a few suggestive roots, so that it would not be necessary for the learner to memorize a ton of definitions, or study some two or three complicated tongues in order to understand its words. Such a language could be made universal in far less time than the English.

But, if the latter be made universal, the people of many nations must take "a long pull, a strong pull, and a pull altogether;" and the sooner they do this, the sooner they will get the benefit of the blessing.

If English, however, be destined to become universal, as Mr. Mott thinks it is, why not hasten the time; for, after the International Congress be called and before it meets, those favoring English would doubtless hold a convention and decide upon some one plan of spelling reform, so as to influence the decision of the greatest assembly that can meet upon earth. It would be easy then to arouse the English-writing people concerning a labor-saving system of orthography, and the spelling reformers would have nothing to lose, unless they lose the English tongue and gain a language that would free the world from ignorance and mental slavery.

The world is moving faster and faster towards a universal language. Knowledge is becoming so voluminous, and the world's intercourse so great, that the people must soon seek relief from the many tongues and dialects. As yet they are too timid to demand an International Congress at public expense;

but the time will soon come when they will see the necessity of a universal language, and the necessity of investigating all phases of the great problem, of welcoming to the ranks all workers whatever may be their views, and of leaving the decision to the International Congress itself, as the best means of bringing about a world-wide speech.

They will soon realize that the servants of this noble cause are as worthy of public pay as any military hero that ever lived, and then their grand work will move forward with astonishing rapidity.

G. W. WISHARD.

Report of a Case of Injury to the Eye. Editor MEDICAL WORLD:-Mr. J., aged 20, presented himself at my office, and gave the following history: About two weeks before he had been struck in the eye by a piece of wire, and tho the pain was very intense at the time and for the subsequent two days, yet he had not consulted any physician, but had applied lotions of warm water, etc., to the eye with soothing results. After several days it had not pained him to any great extent, but his vision in that eye from the time of the injury was almost entirely gone. The reason for not consulting me sooner was that he thought his vision would soon return, as the pain had subsided considerably, and thought his sight was slightly improving. Fearing that now after two weeks, his vision not returning, blindness might become permanent, he thought best to have advice and treatment. He kept the eye closed constantly while reciting the history of his case, and when I opened his eye for inspection there was some pain, photophobia, and a great deal of general irritation of the eye was apparent. On the lower and outer quadrant of the cornea there was a small whitish line, where the wire had struck. The cornea was surrounded by a zone of injected blood vessels, which was worse in the neighborhood of the injury. The conjunctiva was much inflamed, but presented nothing of unusual significance. The iris was slightly muddy, and after instillation of a mydriatic it dilated irregularly. His vision in this eye was such that it was impossible for him to read the largest letter of Sullen's test type. The vision of the sound eye was

Upon ophthalmoscopic examination, which I could not thoroly make at the first visit, on account of the severe irritation it caused, but which I was able to make subsequently, I found the disc hazy and the

vessels blurred so that they were entirely invisible in places. The vitreous humor was dotted with opacities and the anterior capsule of the lens had several very slight points of deposit which were caused by the exudative action of the inflamed iris before the action of the mydriatic had drawn the iris away from the lenticular capsule. From the time of my first examination I kept the pupil well dilated with a 1% atropine solution. Boracic acid collyria were used three or four times daily for the purpose of keeping the eye in as nearly as possible aseptic condition, and for the amelioration of the conjunctivitis. His general health was carefully looked after, and tonics as well as anti-malarial remedies were prescribed, for the region in which he lived was infected with paludal miasms. For the absorption of opacities of the vitreous he was given iodide of potash, thrice daily, with careful adjustment and regulation of the dose so as to get the best possible results of the drug.

After ten days' treatment his vision had improved to such an extent that it was now 2. There was no further iritis. The treatm t was continued with slight variation from the general plan mentioned above, and at the end of five weeks his vision was

with the use of a cylindrical lens of low strength. In other words, after a correction of a low degree of astigmatism his vision was normal. When I last saw the patient, some months ago, he said he had never had any trouble since the treatment, which was about two years ago.

W. E. SHASTID, A. M., M. D.
Pittsfield, Ill.

[While we usually decline contributions in the fields occupied by the recognized specialties, yet many such cases come to the general practitioner, and the above case illustrates the kind that he should be able to handle successfully.-Ed.]

Intense Dry Heat as a Curative Agent in Pseudo-Rheumatic Affections.

Editor MEDICAL WORLD:-The favorable report published in recent literature on the successful treatment of sub-acute rheumatism by means of the topical application to affected parts of intense dry heat (so-called dry hot air treatment) led me to try it in a number of cases of pseudo-rheumatism. When I say pseudo-rheumatism, I mean cases in which the rheumatic diathesis may be present or suspected, but not necessarily causative.

For instance, sciatica. It is very doubtful whether sciatica is really a rheumatic disease. It is more than probable that we have to deal here with a true neuritis. Sciatica has always been one of the terrors of the medical profession. We have used electricity, have blistered along the course of the great sciatica nerve, have injected deep into the tissues morphine, ether, chloroform, and as dernier resort have "carved" the nerve, and either produced paralysis with a following suit of damages for malpractice, or have relieved the poor sufferer for a few days or weeks only; the trouble returning like Mephisto, with a diabolical laughter, defying our weak batteries. But at last I am confident one can kill this devil of a disease with the proverbial remedy Satan uses to torture his captives-intense heat.

With a Betz dry hot air apparatus we can direct dry heat up to 400° F. for an hour daily, or twice daily, against the region of hip and upper thigh, and in from ten to fifteen days all my patients, of which I had four, got well. Relief is almost instantaneous, and I have not been able to observe any return now after three months. The cases I treated offered nothing unusual, so I will abstain from citing them.

A case of lumbago, however, may serve to illustrate the superiority of the dry hot air treatment over the ones heretofore in vogue. Patient, a middle-aged business man, was frequently attacked with "spells" of lumbago, which with massage, electricity and counterirritation incapacitated him for three weeks. The last attack was treated with dry hot air, patient receiving forty-five minutes' treatment daily for five days, after which he went to attend to his business.

In another case, one of intercostal neuralgia, this treatment relieved so promptly that the usual hypodermic injection of morphia could be dispensed with.

St. Charles, Ill.

W. J. CALHOUN,M. D.

The Cigarette Disease or "Habit." Editor MEDICAL WORLD:-I have thought for some time I would write an article on the use of cigarettes, and the danger to those who use them.

It is a well-known fact that this habit (so-called) commences in most cases with boys in their first year in school, say from five to ten years old. The disease, for so it is, is set up at this early age, and the first thing the use of cigarettes does for the little fel

low is to make a thief and liar out of him. But you say, how is that? Why does it do that? In this way. He becomes diseasedpoisoned with nicotine; so much so that the use of cigarettes becomes a necessity. The parent or guardian does not know this, and when it becomes known to them that the child is in the "habit," they at once promptly forbid their use, and stop it at once, or that is what they think. But the child does not stop-he can't do it. He is a victim to a disease that is far worse and more damaging to his health, morals and happiness than whiskey or opium.

Now right here is where many who have not studied this disease or "habit" will differ with me, but let us see. I said this "habit" makes a thief and a liar of the boy. It does it in this way: The parent or guardian forbids the further use of cigarettes, but the boy now must have them, and have them he will. You will not give him the money to buy them, so in his distress he must either steal them or steal the money to buy them. You ask him if he has quit, and he tells you yes. But he has not, but continues to lie and steal. After a short while his little conscience has been so seared and abused that he can lie or steal and think nothing of it.

The result is, he loses self-respect as well as respect for others. Then he loses interest in his studies, and before he is more than half-grown you have a young vagabond on your hands, and a candidate for the lunatic asylum, or the penitentiary, or a tramp. And why a tramp? For the reason that he can't work. His constitution is gone, his honor is gone. Nobody wants him around, and so he goes out among his kind like the leper of old. He is ruined.

Greenville, Tex.

J. S. HILL.

The Successful Use of Iodine by Hypodermic
Injection, in the Treatment and Cure
of Pulmonary and Laryngeal
Tuberculosis.

Editor MEDICAL WORLD:-As per your request (you having received from your readers a large number of requests for further details), I contribute the following practical details concerning the treatment of tuberculosi by the systematic hypodermic administration of a solution of iodine compound in conjunction with an appropriate mode of nutritive and general treatment.

This mode of treating tuberculosis was

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