792

RELATIVE VALUE OF QUININEIN LARGE DOSES,

AS A REMEDY IN TYPHUS.

THE successful results of the practice ofSig. Broqua have been already noticed inTHE LANCET (page 289). But a commissionappointed to examine into the correct-ness of a memoir addressed by Broqua to theFrench Academy of Medicine, reports thatsome of the cases cited in the memoir arenot proved to have been of a veritably ty-phoid character, and in others no proof isadduced of the quinine administered havingbeen the means of cure. The report of thecommission (if not belied by the journalwhich informs us of its presentation) sarcas-

tically enough remarks, that " one interest-ing fact confirmed by Sig. Broqua’s memoiris the harmlessitess (l’innocuité presque con-stante) of the sulphate of quinine in largedoses ;" and it recommends that the memoirshould be honourably shelved ! In the dis-cussion that followed its reading, M. Piorrystated, that in typhus fever, with engorge-ment of the spleen, he had seen quinine proveserviceable, which not been the case whenthe fever was unaccompanied with spleniclesion. M. Martin Solon, who had em-

ployed the remedy under the personal in-

spection of Sig. Broqua at the I3opital Beau-jon, admitted that in cases in which thefever assumed a remittent type quinine wasuseful, but that remittent typhus was rare,-at least at Paris. 11 Of five severe cases oftyphus fever, in which quinine had beengiven, death had resulted in three instances ;and in the two others, recovery had onlytaken place after a considerable lapse oftime, and without any evidence to show thatthe sulphate of quinine had been the meansof hastening it. In the post-mortem exami-nations of the subjects who had died (saysM. Martin Solon), I failed to detect anypeculiar alteration that I could fairly attri-bute to the large doses of the sulphate ; it hadpassed in a manner imperceptibly through thestomach and intestines. A symptom I orb- Iserved in those who recovered from the dis- Iease was a remarkable depression of the cir- Iculation. In short, I consider the advan-tage attributed to the sulphate to be morethan doubtful." Much doubt was afterwardsexpressed by several members of the aca-

demy as to the innocuity of large doses ofquinia or its sulphate; but finally the termsof the report were adopted, and the memoirwas shelved by a majority of voices.-Gaz.des Hop.

ABSENCE OF THE STERNUM ANDPECTORAL CARTILAGES.

THfs unusual abnormal accident is reo

ported to have occurred in an infant other-wise well-formed, and born of a healthy mo-

ther. By an arrest of development analogousto those causing cleft palate, spinabifida, &c.,the sternum was wholly absent, nor could avestige of cartilage representing it be disco-vered. The costal cartilages seemed to beabsent also, though the ribs apparentlycoalesced in front, presenting a convex

border on either side towards the abdomen;at their nearest point of approximation, in themiddle of the chest, they were about twoinches apart. Clavicles were present, andthe os hyoides and larynx presented no de"parture from the normal state. In the me-dian line and the upper region of the thoraxwas a roundish cicatrix nearly as large as acrown piece. During the respiratory move.ments the dilatation and subsidence of thelungs and trachea could be distinctly ob.served ; and the palm of the hand placedover the region of the heart was made clearlysensible of its systole and diastole, and waseven raised by its beating. The mother couldattribute the monstrous formation to nocause except a fall she received on her ab-domen during an early period of gestation.The child took the breast well, and continuedto thrive for about seven weeks, duringwhich the practitioner was in the habit of

seeing it, but the case was afterwards lostsight of. —.HM/cKd’ Journal.[A similar case is reported in the French

Memoires de ]’Academic for 1760; but inthat case the clavicles as well as the ster-num were wantinT.1

AMOUNT OF RESPIRATION RELA-TIVELY TO SEX AND AGE.

M. BouRGERY, in a memoir read beforethe French Academy of Sciences, asserts

that, caeteris paribus, respiration is vigorousin proportion as the individual is youngerand thinner. No condition is so productiveof energetic respiration as youth. The re-

spiration in a man of a given age is doublethe amount of that of a woman of the sameage. At thirty years of age, the period ofplenitude of the respiratory powers in bothsexes, a man usually respires (fMj.)!7’a<MK

fOl’c&eacute;e) from half a gallon to a gallon (2.5 to4.3 litres) of air (per minute); and a

woman, from a quart to less than half agallon in the same time. A boy of fifteenrespires nearly half a gallon ; and an oldman of eighty, about three pints of air (1.35litre). A strong man of thirty respires as

much as two men of feeble constitution,boys of fifteen, or strong women ; and fourwomen of feeble constitution, boys of seven,or old men of eighty-five years of age. The

respiration of a strong woman is accordinglyequal to half the above amount, as estimatedby M. Bourgery. According to the sameauthority, the faculty of respiration becomesimpaired throughout life by successive rup-tures of the air-cells, which inevitably attend