Scientific American Supplement, No. 1157, March 5, 1898, page 89 by Various Authors
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en to many and grave objections, more especially when these professors are themselves teachers in that school. As has been pointed out in The Medical Record on more than one occasion, the most obviously fair regulation is that of independent examination by an unbiased State board. If this plan were carried into execution, medical education in America generally would rest on a firmer basis than in Great Britain, in which country the standard, although nowhere so low as in parts of the United States, still varies very considerably in the different schools. The General Medical Council of England has arrived at the conclusion that competition must be checked, and has lately brought into force two drastic measures calculated to attain this object; one is the lengthening of the course to five years, and, more recently, the abolishing of the unqualified assistant. The medical profession of America is quite as conscious of the disastrous results of competition as are its fellow practitioners on the other side, and should use every legitimate means to sweep away the evils of the present system.--Medical Record.
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DEATHS UNDER ANÆSTHETICS.
On December 17, 1897, a fatality occurred during the administration of ether. The patient, a woman aged forty-four years, who suffered from "internal cancer," was admitted for operation into the new hospital for women, Euston Road. It was considered that an operation would afford a chance of the prolongation of her life. At the time of admission the patient was in a very exhausted condition. Mrs. Keith, the anæsthetist to the hospital, administered nitrous oxide gas, followed by ether, which combination of anæsthetics the patient took well. After the expiration of thirty minutes and while the operation was in progress the patient became so collapsed that the surgeon was requested by the anæsthetist to desist from further surgical procedure and she at once complied. Resuscitative measures were at once applied, but the patient died