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cal practitioner’s rights and privileges-thestrenuous and able advocate of medical re-form-the. pupil’s friend-the staunch andindependent opposer of all professionalabuses.

AMICUS J USTITVE.London, February, 1830.

The following is the letter of Wintonien-sis, referred to in the foregoing letter :-" To the Editor of the Medical Examiner." SIR,-I read with evident satisfaction, the

leading article contained in the third numberof your excellent and impartial journal, re-garding that most important subject, " theearlv education of medical men." All that

you have there stated is, alas! too true.

Would, however, that the abuse stoppedthere ! Were it necessary for my purpose,I could a tale unfold which would more thanverify all that you have there asserted. Icould, at once, cite numerous and undeniableinstances of the grossest professional neglect,to say nothing of domestic abuses, which areequally flagrant, unjust, and unwarrantable- abuses which, to say the least of them, re-ilect the highest discredit upon him fromwhom far different conduct might justly beexpected. I could adduce facts whichwould, at least, have the effect of openingthe eyes of parents, and teach them not tobe so deceived by the respectability of the

parties with whom they intend to place theirsons, as to imagine that these will neces-

sarily be treated in that honourable and

equitable manner which, the station and_

talents of the individual and large premiumrequired, would naturally lead them to anti-cipate. I could, I say, at least, teach parentsnot to be deceived by the mere name andrespectability of the individual; but to in-

quire if the domestic comforts and profes-sional advancement of the pupil would beattended to. However great the local ad-vantages may be ; however skilful the sur-geon ; what does it avail the pupil, if hereceive no instruction? Too many (and,unfortunately for myself, I have not far togo for an instance) receive young men infotheir houses merely for filthy lucre’ sake ;expecting with them large premiums. Andfor what? Not, I hope, to treat them as Ihave been, in a manner the most degrading ;nay, in some respects even worse than thevery menials of the establishment. Thepremium once received, and a month or twoelapsed, professional instruction, domesticcomforts, and necessaries, nay, even com-tnon-piace civility are alike denied; and ifan attempt is made to obtain an explanationof conduct so unreasonable and unprofes-sional, the only answer received, the onlyredress obtained, is the charge of insolence

and discontent. I am unwilling to occupytoo much of the pages of your useful journal,or I could willingly have detained the atten-tion of your readers for a few moments

longer, whilst I dilated upon the general na-ture of the treatment here complained of;treatment which I have too long and, alas,too tamely permitted. But, for the present,I forbear.

_

" WINTONIENSIS." Winchester, ilTovember 17.

[" We shall advert to the subject of thisletter next week."-ED. M. E."] ]

ALLEGED NEGLECT IN THE ANATOMY DE-

PARTMENT OF THE LONDON UNIVERSITY.

To the Editor of THE LANCET.SIR,-More than five months of the me-

dical session at the University have elapsed,and you will scarcely credit it that Mr. Pat-tisson, the professor of anatomy, has not yetdemonstrated the parts of hernia, lithotomy,the thoracic or abdominal viscera, the nerves,or even the whole of the muscles ; agam,Mr. Bennett, who, by-the-by, states in theadvertisement, that " the anatomy of the hu-man body will be completely demonstrated,at least twice, during the session ;" has not,I assure you, demonstrated a ligament, theparts of lithotomy, the larynx, the ear,the eye,_ the muscles of the face, the originof the cerebral nerves, or the brain ; and -ofthose parts he has demonstrated, the sub-jects have been so bad, and so miserablydissected, that 1 believe no other man itLLondon would have thought of demonstrat-ing from them. The medical class hereconsists of nearly three hundred students,,of which number you would naturally ex-pect, at least, a sixth part would be con-

stantly dissecting ; but look to our dissect-ing-room for the fact ; I have visited it dayaiter day, and the average number dissect-ing, I can confidently assert, is not morethan eight or ten ; but the reason is obvious;have we, as at other schools, two demonstra-tors in their dissecting dresses, and who arenever absent from the room from ten tillthree, and who are neither above workingwith the pupils, nor explaining the parts asthey proceed ? No! It may be urged,perhaps, that Mr. Bennett’s health will notallow him to attend to the dissecting-room,

and that Mr. Phillips’s pupil attends forhim; but are we, Mr. Editor, to be deprivedof that instruction, which we have a right toexpect, and for which we have paid a largefee, because Mr. Bennett has ill health!With respect to Mr. Phillips’s attendance,I leave it to the class to determine, whetherhe is in the dissecting-room one hour a day,

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or, on some days, whether he attends at all.It is true, Mr. Phillips may be a better ana-tomist than his feilow-students, and I amwilling to admit that he is ; yet, at the sametime, I contend he is not a fit man to be inthe diasectina-rcotn. Let-it be remembered,that the fee paid to other schools for twogood systematic courses of lectures, is notmore than we pay at the University forwhat our professors .denominate one lung’course, which, in reality, (if the present onemay be taken as an example,) is one longcourse of puff and nonsene, and not of

anatomy. In conclusion, I be- to say, thatno person has the interests of this institu-tion more at heart than myself: and it iswith a wish to stimu1ate the Council to lookinto the truth ot what I have mentioned,that I trouble you to insrrt this in the pag’esof your highly respectable Journal. Theymay rest assured, that unless something isdone, and speedily, the medicul department,a department to which the University nowowes its principal support, must inevitablyfall into decay and filial disrepute.

In the hope that some reformation willtake place in the, at present, vile system ofgiving the lectures on anatomy, and in themanagement of the dissecting-room, andwith many apologies for tresi assing so longupon your time, ,

I remain, Sir,Your obedient servant,

A FRIEND TO, AND PUPIL OF, THELONDON UNlVERSITY.

London Universty,March 15, 1830.

HOPITAL ST. ANTOINE.

EMPLOYMENT OF THE ESSENTIAL OIL OF

TURPENTINE IN NEURALGIA.

CASE 1.—C., ætat. 66, of an irascible

temperament, was admitted in May, 1829,with violent face-ach on the right side.The affection was of twelve years’ standing,and originated from the suppression ofchronic rheumatism; he hnd been trfatedin several hospitals, where leehes, blisters,acupuncture, valerian, belladonna, etc.. hadbeen tried in rotation, but without any effecthe had also had four teeth extracted; and,at last, by oi;e of the physicians of St. Louis,the facial nerve divided, neither of whichoperations produced any relief. On his en.trance at St. Antoine, he had attacks of cio-lent shooting pain in the right orbit, temple,infra-orbital region, and clmek ; sometimesthe pain appeared to be confined to a parti-cular branch of the nerve only, at others, it

Ioccupied the whole right sicle of the face;it came on suddenly, especially during mas-

I. tication and speaking, and lasted from a few.- seconds to about ten minutes. When the

n fit was very violent, the skin of the cheeke became wrinkled, the muscles of the tacen were convulsed, there was a great discharge, of tears, and the jaws were firmly pressed together. During hot and rainy weather thet attacks were most frequent and severe; andr sometimes the patient had no less than fif-

teen fits in twenty-four hours. There was no redness or swelling of the face. The ap-; plication of the emplastrum opii having pro.1’ duced no relief, M. Itayer ordered thet, essential oil of turpentine, to half a drachm- daily, which dose was gradually augmented to two drachms. This was followed by: great improvement, and the attacks dimi-, nished, both in frequency and violence;, when, on the l4th of June, symptoms ofgastro-intestinal irritation came on, which

prevented the further use of the remedy,instead of which the tartar emetic ointmentwas rubbed in. Up to the 25th the improve-

! ment continued ; on this day, however, thefits returned with as much violence as be-

; fore. The turpentine was accordingly oncemore resorted to, and given to a drachm and

a half a day. This was again followed by aconsiderable remission of the symptoms,but by the first of Ju!y, the irritabihty ofthe stomach had again increased to such adegree, as to render it necessary to discon-tinue the remedy. In its stead, half a grainof tartari6ed antimony was given, whichproduced vomiting and diarrhoea, apparentlywith a continual remission of the neuralgia.On the 15th of July, the patient felt somuch relieved, as to induce him to leavethe hospital; during forty-eight hours hehad had only three or four slight fits. Onthe 17th of August he was re-admitted, theatfection being at that time as violent as athis first admission. From the 18th of An-gust, up to the 12th September, arsenicalpreparations, the extract of belladonna, andstramonium, leeches, and blisters, were

snecessively employed, but without anyeffect; the use of turpentine was according-ly resorted to for a third time, and speedilyfoilowecl by a decided relief, which, how-ever, was again of a short duration, as thestate of the stomach contra-indicated itsfurther employment. From the 13th of

September to the 25tb of October, besidesa blister and acupuncture, no less than 6HOgrains of camphor wele given, but with

scarcely any benefit. On the 27th, the pa-tient left the hospital to try the effects of thecountry air, and has not been beard of since.’CASE 2.-A fema’e, 47 years of age, was

admitted on the 16th of January ; shestated, that within the last four months, shehad been subject to pain in the limbs, espe-cially in the left IFihs and thighs ; at the timeother entrance, the pain was very violent,