OF THE UNIVERSAL MEDICAL SCIENCES A YEARLY REPORT OF THE PROGRESS OF THE GENERAL Illustrated with Chromo-Lithographs, Engravings and Maps. VOLUME I. 1890. F. A. DAVIS, PUBLISHER, PHILADELPHIA, NEW YORK, CHICAGO, ATLANTA, AND LONDON. AGENCIES: SYDNEY, N. S. W.; CAPE TOWN, SO. AFRICA. PREFACE. THE preparation of this year's ANNUAL was, indeed, an arduous task, over one-half of the editorial staff having been prostrated by the epidemic of influenza which prevailed at the time the several sections were to be written. This, combined with illness among the assistants of the central department, rendered it impossible to finish the work as promptly as usual. While craving the indulgence of the readers of the work, the Chief Editor wishes to impress them with the fact that everything possible was done to avoid the twenty days' delay, and that words can hardly express his gratitude to the members of the associate staff, several of whom undertook their laborious tasks when hardly able to leave their beds. The improvements in this year's issue mainly consist in the creation of departments on subjects heretofore considered under general heads. Syphilis, for instance, under the editorship of Prof. J. William White, of Philadelphia, appears as a special section, replete with information that could hardly otherwise be presented satisfactorily. Surgical Mycoses, edited by Prof. Ernest Laplace, of Philadelphia, is another subject so treated, while that of Thoracic Surgery, by Prof. J. McFadden Gaston, of Atlanta, forms a special department, the value of which will become apparent. Several sections will be found to have undergone modifications of value to the general practitioner. That of Oral Surgery, under Dr. R. Matas, of New Orleans, will be found to contain a review of the minor surgery of the teeth, limited in extent to the necessities of the physician. The department of |