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dividing prism or prisms. The reason of this will appear from a simple experiment, which any one can easily make; and in judging of the performance of a binocular, allowance for this must be made. It will be at once perceived that the images presented to either eye come from separate halves of the objective. If we take a finely-corrected objective, and carefully adjust it on some test, and then, by means of a strip of paper, cover half the opening, at the back, thus cutting off half the pencil, and presenting exactly the condition of the objective as used to form the binocular images, it will be found to have lost considerably in fine definition, but to have gained in penetration, using this latter term to signify the power of perceiving as in focus, or nearly so, at the same time, different depths of the object. Now, when the binocular vision is effected, by whatever means, there will be this slight loss of definition almost inappreciable in powers below the th inch, but in some degree compensated by a great gain in penetration, which is of greatest value in assisting in the stereoscopic perception of the objects; and nothing can be more truly wonderful and pleasing than the effect of Mr. Tolles' eye-piece, especially with the lower powers, and upon opaque objects. Anatomical objectives, both transparent and opaque, are exhibited with a beauty entirely lost when viewing them in the ordinary manner. The th inch objective works remarkably well with the binocular eyepiece, as also the th inch, the fields illuminating readily with the achromatic condenser; there is, however, as already stated, some loss in definition, though at times hardly appreciable-with opaque objects this loss of definition is much less perceptible, and the stereoscopic effect is very fine. The principle upon which this eye-piece is constructed is simple; the optician will readily understand it, when told that the division of the pencil is effected at the crossing point of an achromatic erecting eye-piece. The erecting eye-piece of Mr. Tolles consists essentially of two Huyghenian eye-pieces, and is much superior to the old form; the anterior combination, or that nearest the objective, is almost half the power of the ordinary A., and about double its length. The field lens is a double achromatic, and the eye lens a triple achromatic-they are placed much farther apart than in the ordinary negative eye-piece. Immediately above the triple achromatic is placed the dividing prism; the arrangement is that of Nachet, thus giving orthoscopic vision, inasmuch as the image may be considered as a real object. It will be at once perceived, that the bad effect sometimes . produced in Mr. Wenham's arrangement, arising from the necessity of placing the dividing prism so far from the posterior lens of the objective, is here entirely obviated, the division being effected exactly at the point requiredthere is a sliding motion allowed to the lenses anterior to the dividing prism which permits a

perfect compensation when different objectives are employed; it is however, hardly necessary. The eye-piece projects beyond the ordinary tube by the length of the prisms and eyepieces; the latter are of the usual form of negative eye-pieces, and may be varied to increase the power; they are applied almost in contact with the prisms. The two tubes are parallel, and adjusted by a screw to open or close symmetrically, to suit the width of eyes of different observers. As yet, Mr. Tolles has sent out but the one eye-piece, now before the writer, but will soon be ready to supply the demand which will certainly be made for them.

The next improvement we shall notice is an entirely new method of illuminating opaque objects, to be viewed by the higher powers th inch to th inch, an invention of the writer, and here first described. The difficulty in illuminating opaque objects, to be viewed with the higher powers, is so great, that it is rarely attempted; an ingenious arrangement of lieberkuhns has been made by Ross, as suggested by Mr. Brooke, but it is of difficult and limited use. Of course, if it be attempted to illuminate by means of condensers applied at the side, as suggested by Mr. Richard Beck, the light thus thrown in must cast immensely long shadows, and could hardly be sent in at all, under ath inch or ath inch. Mr. Wenham has proposed to effect the illumination of balsam mounted objects, by means of reflection from the glass cover, the light being caused to impinge from below, at such angle as to be totally reflected. This method is only applicable to mounted objects, and has not proved as advantageous as was expected, especially in viewing the diatomaceous frustule, which becomes too transparent when mounted in balsam, to throw back much light, when thus illuminated. It was to meet this latter want that the writer devised the simple plan now to be described. The employment of a collimating eye-piece, with a transit instrument, suggested it. The idea is briefly this: to make the objective itself the illuminator. To effect this, a small bit of tube open at one side, carrying a movable perforated silver reflector, is screwed directly behind the objective, and can be turned in any direction toward the light. An ordinary small illuminating lamp gives most intense illumination, with the

th inch, without any condensing lens outside. There are some special contrivances necessary, to prevent reflection of light up to the eye-piece, from the surface of the posterior lens of the objective, thus obscuring the vision. This is easily effected, and clear brilliant illumination with a dark field readily obtained. We need not here describe it more particularly, as it will soon be put into the hands of Messrs. Wales & Co., with special care to its proper construction, and it will be described more fully, and the necessary manipulations, in another place. The revelations had by means of this illuminator are wonder

ful; it can only be employed upon uncovered objects the diatoms, especially the larger ones, such as Pinnularia, Stauroneis, Surirella, and some of the disc forms, particularly Heliopelta, are exhibited with a beauty scarcely conceivable by those who have seen them only as transparent objects. Even the simplest objects, the stellate hairs of Deutzia for example, are presented under new and hitherto unsuspected phases; while many of the smaller diatoms, such as Cocconeis pediculus, show markings and configurations utterly invisible when viewed as transparent objects. The illuminator works finely in conjunction with Mr. Tolles' binocular; it could not be used with Mr. Wenham's binocular, as the objective would be removed too far from the dividing prism. We close with a few words upon microscope stands. Without any disparagement to other makers, we can name as unsurpassed, both as to the quality of finish and completeness of adjustments, the stands made by Mr. Joseph Zentmayer of Philadelphia. It is, we believe, generally conceded by the American microscopists, that the microscope stands made by this gentleman are, in many respects, superior to the best English work. Since writing the previous article on the microscope, we have had in use one of his stands, after a previous long trial of Smith, Beck & Beck's best work. We see no reason to regret the change; the stage is very thin, allowing the use of extreme oblique light, remarkably smooth and steady in its movements; and the mounting of the illuminating mirror, a decided improvement, as also the graduated circle on the revolving base, for measuring angular apertures. Messrs. Wales & Co. do not yet supply the stands, but Mr. Tolles furnishes several patterns of most beautiful finish, quite equal to the best English work. We believe Messrs. Wales & Co. intend to supply with their higher objectives an extra front for immersion in water; thus, by the introduction of a drop of water between the objective and the thin covering glass of a balsam mounted object, a much larger pencil of light will be transmitted than can be the case when the rays emerge into the air before entering the objective. The objectives of M. Hartnach of Paris, constructed on this principle, first suggested and employed by Amici, are highly commended. Although the use of these objectives would be troublesome, deubtless there are occasions when their performance will surpass that of any objective constructed in the ordinary man

ner.

MILITARY SURGERY AND MEDICINE. At the commencement of the present war there was a great scarcity of surgeons who had any special training in military surgery; a few of the medical officers of the regular army had had some experience in the Mexican war, and occasional practice in the Indian conflicts on the border, and a few others, civilians, had served as volunteers, or visitors, in the European camps during the battles of the Crimea and Italian

campaigns. The great surgeons of our large cities had become familiar with gunshot wounds in their practice, but the rapidity of diagnosis, the promptness of operation, the fertility of resource, the necessity of using often indifferent or ill-adapted instruments or apparatus, and the adaptation of the dressings to the protracted delay which must often occur before their renewal-these were matters concerning which the number of experts was very small. Fortunately those who were familiar with military surgery were mostly in positions where they could impart instruction to hundreds of those who were to become surgeons in the volunteer army, and brief as the time was for study it was zealously improved; the works of the great European military surgeons, Guthrie, Larry, Hennen, Armand, and others, were accessible, and several American treatises on military surgery, by Dr. Mann (written after the war of 1812), Dr. Frank H. Hamilton, an eminent army surgeon, Dr. Gross, and Dr. Stephen D. Smith, were also within reach of the volunteer surgeons, and were studied with avidity. The most valuable assistance in the way of manuals of instruction, however, was derived from a series of pocket monographs prepared by the eminent surgeons connected with the Sanitary Commission, Drs. Van Buren, Hammond, Mott, Agnew, and others on the more important operations, and camp and field diseases. These, furnished gratuitously to the three or four thousand surgeons and assistant surgeons of the army, have proved of great service in guiding the minds of the surgeons to a correct diagnosis, and indicating the best methods of operating, or the most successful plan of treatment.

For the first few months, with the exception of the wounded at the battle of Bull Run, and the minor actions of West Virginia, the duties of the military surgeons were mostly confined to the examination of recruits, the enforcement (very imperfectly accomplished) of hygienic measures in the camps and hospitals, and the care of the epidemic diseases, measles, smallpox, and pneumonia, and the other usual camp disorders, which prevailed to a greater or less extent in the camps of the Union army. The history of the hygienic measures adopted in the army is given at considerable length in the ANNUAL CYCLOPEDIA for 1863, and requires no further notice here. The object of the present article is rather to indicate the peculiarities which distinguish military from civil surgery, and the improvements in instruments, apparatus, and modes of treatment which have been evolved and have borne the test of the vast experience of the four years past. This is not the place, even if there were room for it, for an exhaustive treatise on military surgery and medicine, but it is a part of the sphere of the ANNUAL CYCLOPÆDIA to note progress in medical and surgical science as well as on other topics.

Wounds received in battle are almost always attended with considerable, and often with dangerous or fatal, hemorrhage. The checking or

arrest of this hemorrhage before it has produced serious prostration is a matter of the first importance. For this purpose the use of some form of the tourniquet has been most generally advised. In the absence of the forms usually employed by the surgeon, an extempore tourniquet is often improvised from a handkerchief, cravat, or pair of suspenders, a knot being placed over the wounded blood-vessel and the whole twisted tightly with a stick. If the wounded vessel bleeds in jets and the color is a bright red the tourniquet is placed above the wound; if the blood is dark colored, below. The disadvantage of these extempore tourniquets, and indeed of most of those provided by the surgical instrument-makers, is that in unskilful hands there is danger of ligating the limbs too tightly and cutting off the circulation of blood in the limb through the anastomosing vessels, so as to produce serious ulceration and pain, or even sometimes paralysis of the limb. A field tourniquet (fig. 1) recently invented by Dr. Alex. B. Mott, ingeniously avoids this difficulty. His in

FIG. 1.

TIEMANN & CO

Mott's Tourniquet.

strument consists of two ribbons of metal, to one of which a small pad is attached, and which are connected together by straps of webbing at each end riveted upon one and attached to the other by means of a buckle. By this apparatus no pressure is made upon the limb except at two points, over the vessel and at a point directly opposite, the lateral blood vessels being free to maintain the circulation and life of the limb. Tiemann's tourniquet (fig. 2) ac

FIG. 2.

Tiemann's Tourniquet.

complishes the same purpose very well, though, perhaps, with some liability to injurious pressure, if carelessly applied.

The use of powerful styptics, such as the persulphate or perchloride of iron, or the compound alum styptic, to arrest hemorrhage by producing instant coagulation of blood in the wounded artery or vein, has been recommended by some surgeons, and soldiers were advised to carry a small bottle of some of these styptics with them; but the most eminent military surgeons disapprove of their use in wounds of the limbs wherever the tourniquet can be substituted for them, as their use is almost invariably followed by extensive sloughing and ulceration, and they are often unsuccessful in checking the hemorrhage, forming only a huge clot, which, falling away after a short time, leaves the orifice larger and the hemorrhage more profuse than at first. In wounds of portions of the head, face, or neck, or superficial wounds of the trunk involving large blood-vessels, or such as might occasion too severe loss of blood, the styptics are used with advantage, a piece of lint being saturated with the solution, and laid over the bleeding orifice, and a larger pledget of dry lint or a piece of cloth folded, placed over this and moderate pressure being applied for a few minutes to retain it in place. Uniform and moderate pressure with a roller bandage properly applied will generally close sufficiently all the smaller vessels, and materially diminish the danger of further bleeding from the larger ones. In the field-hospitals, however, there is so much difficulty in the proper application of the roller bandages, that they are seldom used, a piece of cloth or lint wetted in cool water being the usual application.

If

The transportation of the wounded soldier from the battle ground to the field-hospital, as well as to the more remote camp, post, or general hospital, is a matter of importance. roughly and unskilfully performed the wounded man not only suffers severely but his injuries may be rendered mortal. At first it was the practice in the army for the line officers to detach two men who were uninjured from the ranks to bear off each wounded man, but this weakened the force so much in a severe battle (the bearers seldom returning to their place), that it was finally prohibited, and only the ambulance men of the regiment, or the members of the band, aided sometimes by the chaplain, or by civilians, assisted in that duty. An ambulance corps was organized in connection with the Army of the Potomac in the autumn of 1862, but did not attain much efficiency till the spring of 1863. Congress, at its session of 1863-24 extended its provisions to the other armies of the republic. By its provisions each regiment in going into battle is entitled to three ambulances, with their drivers, and six stretcherbearers, who are commanded by a sergeant, the stretcher-bearers marching with the regiment into battle, and the ambulances being drawn up in rear between the army and the field-hospital; the ambulance force of the regiments forming a brigade, being under the command of a second lieutenant, that of a division being commanded

by a first lieutenant, and the force attached to a corps by a captain who is responsible to the medical director of the army. The ambulances to be provided with stretcher-hooks and seats, and with water, cordials, bandages, etc. The wounded are brought off by these arrangements promptly and with comparatively little suffering. As a matter of fact, however, there have been usually but two ambulances to a regiment, and sometimes but one.

The different means of transportation adopted deserve notice. In most of the armies the U. S. army hand-litter or stretcher is now in use for carrying men off from the field, but some of the smaller outlying bodies of troops, and occasionally detachments of cavalry, are not provided with them. For these, as well as for the larger bodies of troops early in the war, the hand-litter made with guns and blankets, has been extemporized; for this purpose the edges of the blanket are rolled over the guns, and tied firmly with twine, and two stout sticks are also tied transversely across at the head and foot serving as handles for the bearers. This being laid on the ground, the wounded man is placed gently upon it with his knapsack under his head, and the bearers, standing between the guns, carry him with comparative comfort. The Indian litter is made by taking two stout saplings, and attaching to them three crosspieces about two and a half or three feet apart by cords and notches; the sick or wounded man being placed on his blanket, this framework is placed over him and the blanket knotted to it. By three bent twigs and an additional blanket a kind of wagon top can be made to this in case of storm. Dr. James R. Wood has invented an admirable hand-litter of canvas, with the sides bound with very strong rope with loops at suitable distances and the cross-pieces of steel. This can be rolled up in small compass for transportation, and needs only a couple of poles, easily obtainable for use at any time. Panniers to be fitted on the backs of mules or horses (the former are preferable) are of service in mountainous districts where wheel carriages are inadmissible. The French use them to some extent in their ambulance corps. One of the panniers receives a man sitting, the other, one in a recumbent or partially recumbent position. It is necessary that the animals, whether horses or mules, should have been trained specially for this service. A horse or mule litter for transporting a wounded man in a recumbent position, by means of two horses, one before, the other behind the litter, was ordered by the U. S. Army Medical Board in 1860, but has not been very generally introduced. It is convenient for a mountainous country, but requires too many horses and men for a single soldier. The two-wheeled ambulance, known as Cherry's Cart, which may be used either as an ambulance or transport, found at first considerable favor in the army, though Dr. (now Medical Inspector, U. S. A.) Coolidge's two-wheeled ambulance soon superseded it, and

proved an admirable conveyance for wounded men on smooth and good roads, though too light for the rough and horrible routes over which most of our campaigning has been conducted. Surgeon General Hammond ordered, in 1863, four-wheeled ambulances to be drawn by two horses, which proved preferable to any others in the service. They were intended to convey ten or twelve persons sitting, or two sitting and two or three lying down. A still better four-wheeled ambulance, also drawn by two horses, has, within a few months past, been perfected by Dr. B. Howard, late a surgeon in the U. S. Army, and has been adopted in the service, and received the approval of the Sanitary Commission (fig. 3). It is beyond question the most admirably contrived conveyance for sick or wounded men over roads of any description which has ever been constructed, and seems to leave no room for further improvement. It admits of the transportation of six persons sitting, or two recumbent, or one recumbent and three sitting, and gives to the sitter all the advantages of a corner seat with cushion, for support, while the josting and shaking of an ordinary ambulance is entirely prevented by the use of semi-elliptic springs with counterpoise springs inside, and rubber buffers to receive any sudden shock (figs. 4, 5, 6). The badly wounded are brought on the litters of the ambulance, which are well cushioned and slid into place in the ambulance on steel rollers, and steadied in their position by loops and guys. A tank of fresh water is placed underneath the seats and beds, and the water can be drawn from the rear end of the ambulances (figs. 7, 8). There are also contrivances for the suspension of fractures of the lower extremities without motion, and for suspending, if necessary, additional stretchers in the ambulance. There are also hooks on the sides of the ambulance for carrying folded stretchers, and compartments for the necessary simple cordials, lint, bandages, &c. It is in short a complete flying hospital (fig. 9).

It has sometimes been necessary to transport the sick and wounded to hospitals remote from the battle-fields, either for the sake of a more healthful climate, or to afford them better hospital accommodation and greater facilities for recovery. In the earlier years of the war, this was done, when it was possible, on steamboats or steamships chartered as transports. They were often fearfully crowded and exposed to great suffering in their voyages, and where, as was the case after the battles of the Peninsula and Antietam in 1862, the voyage was made by sea, the rolling of the vessels in the gales they often encountered, increased the agony and caused the death of many of the helpless sufferers. Subsequently, where transportation by railroad was necessary, they were carried in passenger cars, or oftener in box or freight cars, with straw laid upon the floors. In this way many thousands were brought from Chattanooga to Nashville and Louisville, in the autumn of 1863, and a large number in the spring

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