mittee's work to an assistant. It punctuation mark in the third line would be inconsistent of me to of the third paragraph. Hoist with his own petard? take this stance and then turn around and make the sort of statements that Jansen ascribes to me. Barry Shandling, MB, ChB, FRCSC Eike-Henner Kluge, PhD Director of ethics and legal affairs Canadian Medical Association
Less laughter, please!
555 University Ave. Toronto, Ont.
[Dr. Squires responds:] In using the expression "an eagle's eye" I was being less devious than Dr. McKnight gives me credit for. Obviously, it is a derivative of "eagle-eyed," but the expression - for better or for worse - is my own. But Dr. Shandling's letter, on first reading, aroused that nauseating fear that all editors have when they write about writing. He would have preferred "save authors' time." I agree that I could have added the apostrophe, but I used the term in the sense of helping (authors) to avoid the loss of time - in the same way that we might say "it saves me time." In this case I do not think that I was hoisted with my own petard, but I will be, I will be.
D r. Bruce P. Squires' Editor's Page on spelling programs (Can Med Assoc J 1991; 144: 839) was entertaining and appealed to me as one to whom manuscripts are occasionally passed for checking. As such I wish to comment on his expression "an eagle's eye" just in case he slipped it in as a challenge for word-by-word readers. I do not recall ever seeing this expression in the possessive. None of the dictionaries at hand show this form; all refer to "eagleeyed." The Oxford English Dictionary' traces this version from 1601 and even offers a quote from James Hart in 1625 that Bruce P. Squires, MD, PhD refers to "the most eagle-eyed Editor-in-chief, CMAJ Physitian." I am sure Squires did not intend to be restricted to this old MEDIXx - electronic phrase, but at least he can be reassured that we are reading bulletin board
carefully. David J. McKnight, MD, FRCPC Program director Department of Anaesthesia University of Toronto Toronto, Ont.
Reference 1. The Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford U Pr, Oxford, 1971: 823
I read Dr. Squires' Editor's Page with interest always and amusement often. I would have thought that this one should have been proofread with more than the usual diligence: I noted a missing 1384
CAN MED ASSOC J 1991; 144 (II)
that make use of the bulletin board include those working in pharmacology, palliative care, oncology, gastroenterology, nutrition and infectious disease. Computer programs and articles can be transferred from the main computer to the caller's computer. Bulletins from hospitals and health care organizations are posted. MEDIXx is sponsored by the Continuing Medical Education Committee of the Greater Victoria Hospital Society. Although it is intended for physicians many of our callers are from other health care disciplines. To gain access to MEDIXx you need a personal computer, a modem and communications software; the procedure is similar to the one used to call MEDLINE. The telephone number is (604) 592-8524, and calls from outside the Victoria area are long distance. There are no charges to use MEDIXx. Modem settings are N 8 1 2400 baud. When logging onto the bulletin board the usual screen width is 80 characters and the length 24 lines. Our objectives are to promote continuing education and improve communication in the health care sciences. We encourage you to dial the number and check us out. If you have any enquiries or information you would like to post please contact me.
his letter is to announce that MEDIXx, one of the f.irst medical electronic Reginald Smith, BSc (Pharm) bulletin boards in Canada, is now MEDIXx systems operator on line in British Columbia. An Department of Pharmacy electronic board is set up on a Royal Jubilee Hospital 1900 Fort St. personal computer that is con- Victoria, BC V8R 1J8 nected to telephone lines by means of a modem. Passwords are used to restrict access to physComputer multitasking icians. Some of the services and in- with Desqview 386 formation available to callers in- in a family practice clude electronic mail, shareware C omputer multitasking with software, articles and newsletters. A general message section can be Desqview, as described by used to announce forthcoming _sDr. Alan E. Davis (Can events. The special interest groups Med Assoc J 1990; 143: 281-285), LE
Ier JUIN 1991
Less laughter, please!
555 University Ave. Toronto, Ont.
[Dr. Squires responds:] In using the expression "an eagle's eye" I was being less devious than Dr. McKnight gives me credit for. Obviously, it is a derivative of "eagle-eyed," but the expression - for better or for worse - is my own. But Dr. Shandling's letter, on first reading, aroused that nauseating fear that all editors have when they write about writing. He would have preferred "save authors' time." I agree that I could have added the apostrophe, but I used the term in the sense of helping (authors) to avoid the loss of time - in the same way that we might say "it saves me time." In this case I do not think that I was hoisted with my own petard, but I will be, I will be.
D r. Bruce P. Squires' Editor's Page on spelling programs (Can Med Assoc J 1991; 144: 839) was entertaining and appealed to me as one to whom manuscripts are occasionally passed for checking. As such I wish to comment on his expression "an eagle's eye" just in case he slipped it in as a challenge for word-by-word readers. I do not recall ever seeing this expression in the possessive. None of the dictionaries at hand show this form; all refer to "eagleeyed." The Oxford English Dictionary' traces this version from 1601 and even offers a quote from James Hart in 1625 that Bruce P. Squires, MD, PhD refers to "the most eagle-eyed Editor-in-chief, CMAJ Physitian." I am sure Squires did not intend to be restricted to this old MEDIXx - electronic phrase, but at least he can be reassured that we are reading bulletin board
carefully. David J. McKnight, MD, FRCPC Program director Department of Anaesthesia University of Toronto Toronto, Ont.
Reference 1. The Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford U Pr, Oxford, 1971: 823
I read Dr. Squires' Editor's Page with interest always and amusement often. I would have thought that this one should have been proofread with more than the usual diligence: I noted a missing 1384
CAN MED ASSOC J 1991; 144 (II)
that make use of the bulletin board include those working in pharmacology, palliative care, oncology, gastroenterology, nutrition and infectious disease. Computer programs and articles can be transferred from the main computer to the caller's computer. Bulletins from hospitals and health care organizations are posted. MEDIXx is sponsored by the Continuing Medical Education Committee of the Greater Victoria Hospital Society. Although it is intended for physicians many of our callers are from other health care disciplines. To gain access to MEDIXx you need a personal computer, a modem and communications software; the procedure is similar to the one used to call MEDLINE. The telephone number is (604) 592-8524, and calls from outside the Victoria area are long distance. There are no charges to use MEDIXx. Modem settings are N 8 1 2400 baud. When logging onto the bulletin board the usual screen width is 80 characters and the length 24 lines. Our objectives are to promote continuing education and improve communication in the health care sciences. We encourage you to dial the number and check us out. If you have any enquiries or information you would like to post please contact me.
his letter is to announce that MEDIXx, one of the f.irst medical electronic Reginald Smith, BSc (Pharm) bulletin boards in Canada, is now MEDIXx systems operator on line in British Columbia. An Department of Pharmacy electronic board is set up on a Royal Jubilee Hospital 1900 Fort St. personal computer that is con- Victoria, BC V8R 1J8 nected to telephone lines by means of a modem. Passwords are used to restrict access to physComputer multitasking icians. Some of the services and in- with Desqview 386 formation available to callers in- in a family practice clude electronic mail, shareware C omputer multitasking with software, articles and newsletters. A general message section can be Desqview, as described by used to announce forthcoming _sDr. Alan E. Davis (Can events. The special interest groups Med Assoc J 1990; 143: 281-285), LE
Ier JUIN 1991
