-AmseigAit as^ical m-no. a 
MEDICAL MONTHLY. 
N 0 X PROGREDI EST R E G R E D I . 
Vol. V. MARCH, 1856, No. 3. 
EDITED BY 
EDWARD H. PARKER, A.M>, M.D., 
PROF. OF ANATOMY IN THE NEj YORK MEDICAL COLLEGE, ^0. 
EDWARD P. ALLEN, PUBLISHER, 
NO. 9 SPRUCE STREET, NEW YORK. 
Single Copies, Twenty-fire Cents. 238 
EDITORIAL AND MISCELLANEOUS. 
[Mar., 
EDITORIAL AND MISCELLANEOUS. 
American Medical Society in Paris. 
We have before now had occasion to speak of this Society, and of 
one of its measures, with reference to the National Association, in 
terms not entirely commendatory. We have never doubted that its 
objects and aims were good ; but to lay these more fully before the 
Profession in this country, we give the subjoined extract from a cir 
cular received from the Society, setting these forth. At the same 
time, it may be a useful suggestion to the Society, that they take a 
little pains to acknowledge the receipt of books sent them from this 
country ; for we have heard authors complain of neglect, and they 
are not encouraged to send a second time. But the following is the 
extract:- 
Hall of " The American Medical Society in Paris f 
Rue des Quatro Vents, No. 6, Paris, July 4th, 1855. 
This Society occupies an exceptional position, and one which might 
enable it to be the medium of doing- great service to the Profession 
in the United States, by means of an international exchange of pro- 
fessional labors. 
The American physician still encounters in the wards of the 
Parisian Hospitals the sneering tiuestion-" What have you ever 
done in America to advance the science of Medicine ?" 
The almost complete forgetfulness with which the Profession of the 
United States is passed over on the one hand, and the ridicule with 
which it is treated on the other, have taught such of us as know most 
of the opinions and the tone of the medical men of this country, that 
a remedy for this state of things is demanded, and that some means 
ought to be adopted to put the remedy into execution. 
There are honorable exceptions to these appreciations of the labors 
of the Profession in the United States, but they do not extend to 
any considerable portion of the Profession of this country ; and 
when we hear so distinguished a man as the learned Professor of 
Surgery of the Faculty of Medicine of Paris declare, in his official 
lecture, at the School of Medicine, while ridiculing American pre- 
tensions to originality in Surgery, "that because the Americans had 
discovered anoesthesia, they had become so puffed up as not to be 
able longer to realize their true position in the world of Surgery," 
we think that some efforts ought to be made by the Profession in the 
United States to correct this erroneous estimate of their labors, and 
to show to the Profession of France that their brethren of the 
United States have rendered valuable services even to French 
Surgery. 
"The American Medical Society in Paris" has, by the facts which 1856.] 
EDITORIAL AND MISCELLANEOUS. 
239 
it has furnished from time to time to French medical authors, con- 
tributed in a measure to dissipate these mal-appreciations, and has 
thus succeeded in introducing into French works flattering notices of 
the successes of American Surgery, successes of which the eminent 
French authors had no previous knowledge, and which would never 
have found a place in their works but for the existence of the Ameri- 
can Library at Paris. 
The Committee, therefore, appeals to the Profession in the United 
States, to authors, and publishers especially, to send contributions to 
the Library of " The American Medical Society in Paris." 
The Society places its claims for the sympathy of the Profession 
at large upon national grounds ; for from its geographical position 
and frequent change of members, it is supported more by patriotic 
than by personal motives, and it is upon these grounds that this 
appeal is made. 
Through the politeness of Mr. Bossange, bookseller, No. 138 
Pearl street, New York, to whom all books should be addressed, 
and the obliging forwarding-house of Messrs. Livingston, Wells & 
Co., No. 8 Place de la Bourse, Paris, all contributions addressed to 
the Society will arrive safely. 
W. E. JOHNSTON, M.D, President, 
DAVID P. i. OLTON, M.D, Librarian 
SAML. GOURDIN, M.D., Cor. Sec., 
Committee. 
By an unexpected detention, we are enabled to give a brief account 
of the Commencement exercises of the New York Medical College. 
They were held on the evening of the 4th of March, in the middle 
lecture-room of the College. Notwithstanding the very inclement 
weather, the hall was filled at an early hour. Peter Cooper, Esq.,* 
presided. 
The following was the order of exercises :-Prayers were read by 
the Rev. Mr. Geer. The Van Arcken prizes were awarded by Dr. 
Cornelius Walke, one of the censors of the College. Dr. Walke 
stated that the selections had been made by medical gentlemen not 
of the Faculty, and were-the first, of twenty-five dollars to Edward 
M. Deey, of New York, for a thesis on Epilepsy, and the second, of 
fifteen dollars, to Benjamin Lee, of Delaware, for a thesis on the 
Mechanics of Medicine. 
The Dean of the Faculty, Professor Doremus, then read the list of 
candidates for the degree, who, after taking the Hippocratic oath, 
received the honor of Doctor of Medicine from the President of the 
Commencement. 240 
EDITORIAL AND MISCELLANEOUS. 
[Mar., 
College, Professor Green. After conferring the degree, the President 
addressed the graduates in a short and pertinent speech. 
The valedictory address was delivered by Dr. D. Meredith Reese. 
The speaker kept the closest attention of the audience throughout, 
and was warmly cheered at the close. We shall hope to be able to 
give at least an abstract of it next month. 
The following is the list of graduates 
James P. Cooper, Alabama. 
Levi Warner, New York. 
F. C. Olavarieta, Cuba. 
Augustin Orihuela, Cuba. 
T. B. Do Castro, Cuba. 
Gerard Van Arcken, Central America. 
William N. Hardin, M.D., Virginia. 
Edward M. Deey, New York. 
George T. Dougherty, Mississippi. 
H. Gilbert Leigh, Virginia. 
John Grammer, Jr., Virginia. 
John J. Linson, New York. 
Warburton Hill, North Carolina. 
John Carey Selden, Virginia. 
Manuel Romagosa, Cuba. 
Ralph W. Cummings, Maine. 
William S. Howell, New York. 
A. B. Foster, Maine. 
James W. Greene, M.D., Virginia. 
Geo. H. Perry, Rhode Island. 
Chas. J. O'Hagan, North Carolina. 
J. Henry Johnson, Rhode Island. 
E. II. Harris, Iowa. 
J. C. Kenny, New York. 
Samuel R. Elliott, New York. 
Adam Rossman, New York. 
Benj. Lee, Delaware. 
C. K. S. Millard, M.D., Kentucky. 
B. L. Budd, New York. 
Wm. E. Casseday, M.D., Kentucky. 
Geo. B. Bouton, M.D., Connecticut. 
Wm. C. Williams, M.D. Missouri. 
HONORARY DEGREES. 
Abraham Robertson. M.D., New 
Hampshire. 
Daniel Tilden, M.D., Ohio. 
Arthur Du Berceau, New York. 
Death from Fright. A singular case, in which a youth named 
.Harrison died from the effects of fright, has just been brought under 
the notice of the profession at York. The hapless deceased had 
slightly scratched himself with a knife, and he became so alarmed at 
the appearance of the few drops of blood which oozed from the nearly 
imperceptible wound, that his nervous system received a fearful shock, 
from which it never recovered, and he gradually sunk. It seems that 
a short time previously the deceased's brother died from the effects of 
excessive haemorrhage, and this no doubt acted most violently on the 
nervous system, and led to the fatal result.-Dublin Press.