Am'jJu°i^904frro'}     The  American  Medical  Association.  347 
The  remaining  papers  were,  with  some  notable  exceptions,  largely 
devoted  to  questions  of  therapeutics.  One  of  the  more  interesting 
of  the  exceptional  papers  was  on  Apocynum  Cannabinum.  This  was 
an  analytical  study  of  the  physiological  action  of  preparations  of 
this  drug,  by  Horatio  C.  Wood,  Jr. 
Dr.  Wood  finds  apocynum  to  have  a  stimulating  influence  on  the 
circulation,  acting  very  much  as  does  digitalis.  It  causes  a  slowing 
of  the  pulse,  a  rise  of  blood  pressure  and,  like  digitalis,  arrests  the 
frog  heart  in  systole. 
To  give  a  full  account  of  the  scientific  meetings  would  be  practi- 
cally impossible,  as  the  programme  alone  consisted  of  a  very 
respectable  volume  of  more  than  140  pages.  The  twelve  sections 
into  which  the  Association  is  divided,  together  with  the  general 
meetings,  had  offered  to  them  upwards  of  400  scientific  communica- 
tions. The  papers  presented  at  the  several  section  meetings  were 
not  alone  numerous  but  were  also  much  above  the  average  in  qual- 
ity of  contents.  The  most  encouraging  feature,  however,  of  the 
scientific  meetings  was  the  marked  interest  that  was  displayed  by 
the  members  attending  them.  This  interest  evidenced  the  earnest- 
ness and  sincerity  of  the  members  to  improve  themselves  by  absorb, 
ing  such  information  as  was  offered  them,  and  also  to  contribute  in 
return  any  experiences  and  ideas  that  in  their  opinion  might,  or 
would,  be  of  interest  and  value  to  their  fellow  practitioners. 
The  total  attendance  was  the  largest  in  the  history  of  the  Asso- 
ciation, the  (2,890)  registration  exceeding  the  highest  previous 
attendance  by  fully  40  per  cent. 
No  little  of  the  credit  for  the  success  of  this  meeting  is  due  to 
the  local  Committee  of  Arrangements,  who  were  responsible  not 
alone  for  the  selection  of  the  various  meeting-places,  but  who  also 
arranged  and  successfully  carried  out  a  most  elaborate  programme 
of  social  events,  and  in  this  way  occupied  every  moment  of  time 
from  the  arrival  of  the  members  on  Tuesday  to  their  leaving,  on  the 
special  train,  on  Friday  afternoon  to  attend  the  dedication  of  the 
new  Medical  Laboratories  at  the  University  ot  Pennsylvania  in  Phil- 
adelphia. 
The  newly  elected  president  of  the  American  Medical  Association 
is  Dr.  Lewis  S.  McMurtry,  of  Louisville,  Ky.,  and  the  next  meeting 
will  be  held  in  Portland,  Ore.,  in  connection  with  the  Lewis  & 
Clark  Exhibition  to  be  held  there  next  year. 
