AmAururstPi898^-}    Gleanings  from  the  Medical  Journals.  403 
GLEANINGS  FROM  THE  MEDICAL  JOURNALS. 
By  CXement  b.  Lowe,  M.D. 
At  the  Twenty-seventh  Congress  of  the  German  Surgical  Society, 
held  at  Berlin,  April  13  to  16,  1898,  Professor  Krbwlein  (Zurich)  gave 
THE  RESULTS  OF  SERUM  THERAPY  IN  DIPHTHERIA. 
He  demonstrated  by  his  statistics  that  serum  treatment  is  no 
longer  in  the  stage  of  empiricism,  but  rests  on  a  tangible  founda- 
tion. He  said  that  since  the  serum  was  introduced  in  1894,  he  had 
used  it  on  every  case  of  diphtheria  that  came  into  the  hospital. 
The  statistics  of  his  clinic  from  1880  to  1890  are: 
Total  number  of  diphtheria  cases  before  introduction  of  serum  .  1,336 
Total  number  of  deaths   594 
Percentage  of  deaths    .  .   39  p.c. 
Total  number  of  cases  after  introduction  of  serum   437 
Total  number  of  deaths  .  55 
Percentage  of  deaths      12  p.c. 
Number  of  cases  operated  on  (tracheotomy,  etc.)  before  serum    .  662 
Number  of  deaths   432 
Percentage  of  deaths   66  p.c 
Number  of  cases  operated  on  after  introduction  of  serum  ....  101 
Number  of  deaths   36 
Percentage  of  deaths   35  p.c. 
Number  of  cases  without  operation  before  serum   674 
Number  of  deaths   96 
Percentage  of  deaths   14  p.c. 
Number  of  cases  without  operation  after  introduction  of  serum  .  336 
Number  of  deaths   19 
Percentage  of  deaths   5  p.c. 
The  speaker  called  attention  to  several  points:  (1)  The  general 
decrease  in  mortality ;  (2)  the  decrease  in  the  number  of  cases  in 
which  operation  was  necessary  ;  (3)  the  decrease  in  mortality  of  the 
cases  operated  on.  He  thought  he  was  able  to  notice  improvement 
at  once  after  treatment  was  begun^  by  a  fall  of  the  temperature,  the 
loosening  of  the  membrane,  a  decrease  in  the  size  of  the  involved 
glands,  and  the  fact  that  the  process  extended  no  further.  Cases  of 
the  extensive  involvement  of  the  mucous  membrane  of  nose,  mouth 
and  larynx  were  never  seen  since  1894. — Phila.  Med.  Jour.,  May  7, 
1898. 
THE  MEDICAL  SERVICE  OF  THE  ARMY. 
To  each  regiment  there  is  allotted  one  surgeon  and  three  assist- 
ant surgeons,  one  hospital  steward  and  two  assistants,  and  twelve 
