SECTION VIII--Editorial The editorial contribulions pablished in lhis Journal represent only lhe opinions of their wrilers. Such being the case, this

Journal or lhe Americetn Association is in no way responsible for edilorial expressions,

( T h i s secl ion is open to con t r ibu t ions f r o m a n y med ica l reader, whelher a m e m b e r o f the E d i l o r i a l C o u n c i l or nol.)

ABSTRACTS OF MEDICAL L I T E R A T U R E

One of the worth-while and distinctive fea tures of the Journal lies in the number and quality of abst racts of articles which have appeared in periodicals other than this publication.

Par t icular ly has appreciation been recorded in respect to the Journal 's pr int ing abstracts at the ends of its several sections instead of having them appear in an unrelated mass "somewhere towards the back cover", as is cus tomary with many magazines. One cannot question the added value and significance when abstracts are avail- able immediately following clinical and investi- gative studies in medicine, physiology, therapeu- tics, surgery, etc.

Evidently, to many of our contributors, ab- s tract ing proves to be a task more formidable than tha t of wri t ing original articles. While, at present, there is such an accumulation of manu- scripts that the selection for publication of those which are most likely to prove of value and inter- est to our readers, has become a perplexing edi- torial problem, yet, often enough, the supply of suitable abstracts is meagre : not tha t one has available no abstracts , but, it is not to be denied that on occasions, such as have been submitted do not represent material up to the s tandard required.

Many months past, to individual members of the Editorial Council, lists of leading medical pub- lications were assigned for abstracting. Some Council members have been most fa i thful in per- forming their tasks : others have done little or nothing. This ought not to be: the labor should be shared equally by all those who form the Coun- cil. It is of interest to observe that f rom a sur- geon recognized as one of this country 's very busiest major operators, regular ly have come large collections of abstracts .

All worth-while medical men are busy. Even in these days of economic puzzlement and strin- gency, the r ightly-consti tuted physician keeps oc- cupied. To some, opportunit ies for cater ing to hobbies are afforded; a number find pleasure and profit in rear ranging the routines of their offices, of catching up on filing, of reviewing groups of cases which hold greater than ordinary interest, of manuscr ip t or book writ ing, of test ing new methods of procedure or of working with recently marketed and unique apparatus . Certain doc- tors steep themselves in what one might term "extracurr icular" reading--genera l , science, the drama, music, philosophy, a r t (one whom we

know well has experienced a happy year in col- lecting, reading and classifying books dealing with the "His to ry of Dancing" and the various ramifications which become manifest when such a fascinat ing subject is explored), astronomy, polar exploration, medical history. To those physicians possessed of equan imi ty - -and sufficient shillings stored safely away to detour the wolf f rom their doors - - the pas t three years of business depres- sion and thinly populated consulting rooms, have proved a boon: whereas previously these men had been so held to the treadmill of practice tha t what was going on in the world about them was an intellectual Sahara, the "depression years" have given opportuni ty for "playing hookey" into fields long forbidden. To physicians in mid-life this mental and psychic vacation f rom their life's work gladly has been welcomed. When the "new deal" again s t raps t ightly about them their pro- fessional harness, the delights and knowledge ac- quired during the enforced "Sabbat ical years" will result in their being more able as doctors be- cause they have become more human as men.

It is to be hoped that in the hours available for flight f rom the demands of their craft , a larger proport ion of the Editorial Council than now is computable, will a rm itself with pencil and pad and, as they browse amongst the more than one hundred periodicals devoted to recording medical progress, they will abst ract for this Journal those articles which mark advances in our ar t and our practices. A half hour a week jus t before turn- ing in of a night not alone will bring p a b u l u m - - probably otherwise inaccessible-- to our readers, but the sat isfaction coming f rom a task well performed may prove a potent anti- insomnia remedy. But, even though the hour be late, take a moment to sign the abstracts! Not infrequent ly that is not done: in those circumstances, we are quite as great ly puzzled as is disappointed he who worked and yet later failed to find the results of his efforts printed.

Abst rac t ing must be done when the "mood is on" and then as Goethe has it:

"Gebraucht der zeit: Sie geht so schnell yon h innen!"

F. S.

817

I N T R O D U C I N G F R E D J E N N E R H O D G E S

To the Roentgenological Section of the Edito- rial Council, the Journal and its readers, we feel sure, welcome Dr. Hedges, Director of the Divi-

818 ,'~k~IERICAN JOURNAL OF DIGESTIVE DISEASES AND NUTRITION

sion of Actinology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

After securing the degree of Bachelor of Science at the University of Wisconsin (1917), Dr. Hodges earned his Doctorate in Medicine at Washington University, St. Louis (1919). From 1919 to 1920, he was Resident Pathologist at Barnes Hospital in the same city. A year over- seas with the American Red Cross broadened Dr. Hodges' outlook and experience and he returned to take up the duties of Instructor in the Depart- ment of Physiology at the University of Wiscon- sin. This position was held until 1924 when Dr. Hodges became Roentgenologist to St. Mary's Hospital at Madison, Wisconsin, and Instructor and Lecturer in Roentgenology at Wisconsin Uni- versity. Upon the demise of Dr. Preston Hickey in 1931, eminent pioneer in Actinology, Dr. Hodges was called to the University of Michigan to serve as Professor of Roentgenology and Chief of the Department at the University Hospital.

Under Dr. Hodges' direction, extensive altera- tions and additions were made to the Roentgeno- logical Department at the University so that at present it is regarded as one of the outstanding institutions of its kind throughout the world-- not alone in equipment and in its unique arrange- ments for the clinical study of an enormous group of patients, but in respect facilities for under- graduate teaching and research. It has been claimed that no Roentgenologist can consider his training as being completed unless he has visited the Roentgenological Department at the Univer- sity of Michigan Hospital.

Our readers can look forward to timely and

valuable contributions to the Journal from Dr. Hodges and his Associates.

F . S .

PROFESSOR BOLDYREFF AND THE MAY, 1933, SESSION OF THE AMERICAN

GASTRO-ENTEROLOGICAL ASSOCIATION

December 5, 1934. To the Editor:

I should appreciate if you found possible to publish this letter in the Journal in order to clear up a few misunderstandings among the readers.

My report relating to diabetes and its manage- ment, given at the 37th Annual Meeting of the American Gastro-Enterological Association was read by another person. I was absent because of sickness and could not participate in the discus- sion. The slides which amplified my statements were not shown. Therefore, some people have in- correctly understood my data. For instance, Dr. B. B. Crohn believes that I find increased pancre- atic secretion in diabetes mellitus whereas I in- sist on quite the opposite (as seen in my report, viz., this Journal, September, 1934, p. 453) in complete accordance with the observations of Dr. Crohn and other people whom he mentions. There is a misprint in his words, probably this should read '~hyponormal".

Appreciating your courtesy and trusting that those of your readers to whom my contribution may be not clear will address their enquiries di- rectly to me, I am

Sincerely yours, W. N. Boldyreff, Battle Creek, Michigan.

A B S T R A C T S I

WILKm, D. P. D. Section VII . Surgery of Lower Colon and Rectum. Cancer of the Colon. I t s Surgical Treatment. Lan- cet, 226:65, 1934.

Wilkie makes the positive statement that radiotherapy has no curative value in cancer of the hollow viscera of the abdomen; operation offers the only hope. Cecostomy, followed by extirpation of the growth after a delay of several weeks, is advocated when the patient has devel- oped acute obstruction.

Resection is preceded by injections of vaccines of bacil- lus colt and by streptococcus eight, three days pre-opera- tively; the evening before operation nucleinate of soda intramuscularly is given to induce leucocytosis. A 15 per cent mortali ty is reported in 101 cases.

Curtice Rosser (Dallas, Tex.). DEVINE, H. B.

Rectosigmoid and Sigmoid Surgery. Austral ian and N e w Zealand J. Surg., 3:211, 1934.

Because of mortali ty from leakage and soiling when pr imary resection and anastomosis is performed on the left colon, Devine advocates routine temporary transverse eolostomy as a first step, believing that this procedure permits an aseptic second stage operation.

Curtice Rosser (Dallas, Tex.).

ROWNTRE~, L. G.; CLARK, . J . H . ; HANSON, A. M., AND STEINRERG~ ARTHUR.

The Biologic E~ects of Thymus Ex trac t (Hanson). Volume 103, No. 19, Page 1425; November 10, 1934. J. A. M. A., Volume 103, No. 19, Page 1425; Novem- ber 10, 1934.

Although this article has no immediate gastroentero- logical application the results are so extraordinary that probably every system in the body will be affected when we understand more about the mechanism of the results obtained by the injections of Thymus Gland Extract. The authors point out that the most striking biologic effects of thymus extract (Hanson) are obtained and are most evident in the offspring following continuous t reatment by intraperitoneal injection of successive generations of rats.

The authors conclude that thymus extract (Hanson) has accelerated the rate of growth and development, has hastened the onset of adolescence in the offspring of treated rats, and has seemed to increase the ferti l i ty of parent rats, and that the injection of succeeding genera- tions of parent rats has resulted in the amplification of the effects of thymus extract.

Samuel Morrison, Baltimore, Maryland.