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height of the packed bag, so as to allow of its being raised undercover, and drained above the surface of the tincture. During theprocess, the bag should be raised, and drained under cover, andagain lowered as soon as the tincture has entirely ceased to drain.The process is perfected in from two to four days, when smallquantities are operated upon, but is protracted two or three dayswhen large quantities are prepared.-Medical Gazette, July 4 and11, 1845.

TO ASCERTAIN THE PURITY OF MYRRH.

Let it be finely pulverized and saturated for a quarter of anhour, with an equal weight of sal ammoniac in powder, then addgradually fifteen times its weight of water. If the mixed powderdissolve quickly and entirely, the myrrh is pure.—M. llighini,Journal de Chem. Med. ’

MANNA.

Manna has been examined by Fourcroy and Vauquelin, I!,Thenard, and Buchholz. The latter found in the best manna-

THENART) describes manna as containing mannite, 10 per cent.of fermentable sugar, and a nauseous uncrystallizable substance ;the latter may be separated by means of ether. To obtain puremannite, the sugar must be separated by fermentation, the filteredsolution evaporated, the residue dissolved in boiling alcohol, of0.833 specific gravity, when the mannite separates on cooling. Bywashing with cold spirit, it is obtained beautifully pure and white.Manna yields in this way from 32 to 42 per cent. of mannite.The analysis of three specimens gave-

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The ashes of manna consist of potash, lime, magnesia, peroxideof iron ; phosphoric, muriatic, sulphuric acids, in minute quan-tities ; and alumina and silica, probably from impurities.The mucilage in manna is the same as ordinary mucilage. The

sugar is crystallizable grape sugar. The resin and acid is solublein ether. A. Leuchtweiss. Liebig’s Annalen.ON THE SUPPOSED OCCURRENCE OF PHOSPHORIC ACID IN

IGNEOUS ROCKS. By Professor KERSTEN.In the twenty-fourth volume of the Philosophical Magazine,

there is a paper, by Mr. Fownes, on the occurrence of phosphoricacid in igneous rocks. Mr. Fownes asserts that he found smallquantities of phosphoric acid, in combination with alumina, &c.,in all these rocks, and he suggests that it is probably to thepresence of phosphates that many soils which have originatedfrom the decomposition of these rocks owe their fertility. Hefound phosphoric acid in a porcelain clay from Dartmoor ; in thegrey vesicular lava from the Rhine ; and in the white trachyteof the Drachenfels,-in the two latter in some quantity ; and inconsiderable quantities in several basalts; in porphyritic lava, in-closing crystals of hornblende, from Vesuvius; and in volcanictufa from the same locality.As no phosphoric acid had hitherto been found in these rocks,

and as these observations of Mr. Fownes appeared to be impor-tant in a geognostical and agricultural point of view, I wasinduced to repeat his experiments.

I examined the following rocks for phosphoric acid:—1st.Porcelain earth from Saxony. 2nd. Porcelain earth from

Bayonne. 3rd. Grey vesicular lava, from the Rhine. 4th. Thewhite trachyte of the Drachenfels. 5th. Basalt, from theMeissner, in Hessia. 6th. Tufa, from Vesuvius.The following was the mode of examination:—The finely-

pulverized rocks were fused with four times their quantity ofchemically-pure soda, the fused masses digested in water, and theliquids filtered from the insoluble residues, neutralized with nitricacid. The neutralized liquids were evaporated to dryness, andafter being heated with water, and the silicic acid separated,tested with nitrate of silver, and all the other known re-agentsfor phosphoric acid.

-In not one of the above-named rocks could the least trace ofphos-phoric acid be detected, consequently Mr. Fownes’s observationsare founded on some error. In the grey vesicular lava from

Niederminning, on the Rhine, there was found a quantity ofchlorine, and on boiling the powder with water, and evaporatingthe liquid, small quantities of chloride of sodium were obtained,together with a brown organic substance, which coloured thewater, and yielded carbon on being burnt.-Jour. fier Prakt.Chem., March, 1845.

** Mr. Graham states that he has found phosphoric acid inthe deep well-water of the London basin; of course, in very smallquantities. Its presence in this water, however, may arise fromanimal exuviae. The problem respecting the mineral sources ofphosphate of lime is still to be solved —ED.

BRITISH AND AMERICAN MEDICALJOURNALS.

THE EMPLOYMENT OF SULPHATE OF QUININE IN LARGE DOSES.

The British American Journal contains an extract from a

report on this subject, furnished by a committee of the NationalInstitute. The results of American experience are thus ex-

pressed :-"In the first place, it has been shown by more than two

thousand observations in this country, that large doses of fromten to sixty grains, or an ounce, [a drachm ?] of quinine, can begiven without producing injury.

° 2. That it has. been proved, beyond doubt, that these largedoses do exert a curative effect on periodical and malarial dis-eases, and more certainly than small doses.

, "3. That the cases of permanent injury resulting from largedoses of quinine, are not more, indeed not so numerous, as from.repeated small doses.’, ° 4. That the temporary inconvenience or disturbance of thenervous system is not so liable to ensue from large as small doses.This is stated, though our experience is to the contrary, in-mostcases.

°_5. That so far from smaller doses being more certain, they arenot; the paroxysm being far more likely to occur after their use,than after a single large dose.

° 6. That the impression made on the system is more per-manent from large than small doses.

" 7. That in diseases that run their course rapidly to a fatal ter-mination, as in the southern country, a reliance on small doseswas found to prove hazardous to the safety of the patient; there-fore, when it is desirable to cut short or prevent the occurrenceof a violent chill, the large doses should be resorted to.

° 8. That viscera] diseases are not more liable to follow, if as..much so, from large as from small doses of quinine." .

THE TREATMENT OF EPILEPSY BY SULPHATE OF ZINC.

Dr. ALDRIDGE records several cases of this intractable maladysuccessfully treated by the above remedy. The narrative of the

cases does not afford any precise indications of the circumstancesunder which it may be expected to produce this favourable

result.-Dublin Hospital Gazette.DEATH FROM MENTAL EMOTION A RESULT OF WORKHOUSE

DISCIPLINE.

Before his lamented death, Dr. HOUSTON related the followingcase to the Dublin Pathological Society: it is recorded in the

same journal." It was that of a woman of peculiarly sensitive mind, of forty

years of age, a widow, and the mother of an interesting littlegirl. She had been the daughter of a respectable medicalman, but through a succession of adverse fortunes, was atlength forced to seek admission to a poorhouse. She now, forthe first time, learned, that according to the strict discipline ofthe house, she must become separated from her child. At theinstant of receiving this intelligence, she was seized with a violentpalpitation, that ceased only with her life. The power to sleepseemed also to forsake her at the same moment. An universalfever seized her: she was removed to Cork-street Hospital. The

physicians examined her, and could find no evidence of disease,except a beating in the upper part of her neck, which theyimagined to be an aneurism. At the summit of the sternum,immediately between and separating the sterno-hyoid muscles,was a manifest pulsating tumour, diastolic, visible to the eye.What the nature of this tumour was, they hesitated to decide,but as to its existence there could be no doubt.

" She was placed under some anti-hysteric treatment, andseemed to improve, when she heard that, through the kindness ofsome friends, admission was obtained for her daughter into a

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charity-school: she was not in a condition to reason on the pro-priety of submission under such circumstances; her weakenedmind could only dwell on the fact of being again separated; thissecond shock was fatal, and she died in a few days.own examination, no lesion of any organ could be detected.

The arch of the aorta, that had been supposed to be the seat ofan aneurism or some other tumour, was perfectly healthy, norcould anything be found to account for death.

"Dr. Houston closed by observing that this was a singlecase, where death, seemed undoubtedly due to the operation ofpoorhouse discipline. How many instances of death or madnessmay have passed unrecorded, inflicted by a stern interferencewith the instincts of humanity!"PROPOSAL TO LIMIT THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE FfETUS WHEN

THE PELVIS OF THB PARENT IS CONTRACTED.

The Northern Journal quotes the following remarks, and justlyobserves that the treatment has nothing in its results to justify itsadoption. Indeed, previous experience in the cases of over-

worked, half-starved individuals, showed that such were not ne-cessarily the parents of b4dly-developecl or feeble children.

" In consequence of Dr. RITTER having, in the course of hispractice, met with a patient who had already, on three occasions,been with much difficulty delivered of dead children, the re-sult of narrowness of the pelvis in the conjugate direction, heendeavoured, by means of starvation, purging, and venesection,to arrest the development of the fcetus. The paper from whichwe quote contains the result of his experiment. He first makesa few historical remarks on the subject. Lehndardt’s draught ofhealth, (Gesundheitstranke,) which atone time acquired consider-able celebrity for this purpose, consisted of a mixture of solutionof Glauber and Epsom salts, with a little red wine. Wigand andBenninghausen successfully employed starving. Ackermannfound venesection useful. Dewees -and Holcombe have observed,that women who took frequent purgatives during pregnancy pro-duced small children. Kluge has noticed the same to result fromthe use of calomel. Hueter and Schlesinger have made the sameobservation in women who have suffered from long-continued orhabitual diarrhcea. Osiander recommends that the femalesshould confine themselves to light vegetable and animal diet, ob-serve fasting regularly, and take from time to time a saline pur- Igative. Richard recommends the induction of the lacteal secre-tion, as he has observed that women who lose milk duringpregnancy produce small children. In the present case, Dr.Ritter forbade the use of flesh and eggs, and confined the patientto milk, farinaceous food, thin watery soups, and roasted fruit,and even these were to be used sparingly. She was ordered totake saline purgatives daily, to labour hard in the fields, and wasbled three times during the latter half of pregnancy, to the extentof not more than six ounces at each time. Ten days before herdelivery she was so much exhausted and emaciated that morenourishment was allowed, and the saline draught omitted. Shewas suddenly seized with labour-pains in the field, and havinghurried to the house, a dead child was born by the feet, withoutany artificial aid, before a medical practitioner could be procured.This woman became again pregnant; the same treatment wasagain pursued: when labour came on, the arm presented, themembranes being unruptured, the child was turned, and the headextracted with forceps ; animation was for a time suspended, butultimately both mother and child did well. The child was eighteeninches in length, and fully developed."

ON THE SECRETION OF URINE IN CASES OF POISONING

BY ARSENIC.

f’ " The experiments of M. Orfila, leading to the conclusion thatthe urinary secretion is continued during acute poisoning byarsenic, and those of MM. Flaudin and Danger, that it is sus-pended, M. LAFOND, the " Professor of Legal Medicine in theVeterinary School of Alfort," undertook farther experimentsupon horses and dogs. in order to endeavour to decide the ques-tion ; which is not only an important one, as regards the afford-ing legal proof of poisoning having been effected, but also in re-ference to the administration of diuretics as a remedial measure,as recommended by Orfila. The particulars of twelve of theseexperiments are given in full detail, as is the account of the vari-ous preliminary precautions which were taken. Some of theconclusions arrived at were, that-

" 1. The duration of the poisoning in horses was one hour,one hour and a half, eight hours, twenty-one, twenty-nine hours,and never more than fifty-one. In dogs, it was five hours, eighthours, but not beyond twelve hours.

" 2. The symptoms observed during life, and the lesions afterdeath, completely demonstrated acute or subacute poisoning. Insome of the animals the inflammation of the mucous membrane

was so violent, that in an hour it produced the formation of seve-ral metres of cylindrical false membranes.

" 3. In none of the animals was the secretion suppressed duringthe poisoning.

" 4. The mean proportion of urine secreted in an hour by ani-mals in good health, compared to that secreted during the sametime by animals of the same species which were poisoned, is forthe horse : : 347 : 100, and for the dog : : 24 : 4 ; a proportionwhich shows that the secretion is not suppressed, but verynotably diminished.

I " 5. The urine does not begin to yield the poison until veryevident symptoms of poisoning show that the arsenic has beenabsorbed, and is accumulating in the blood. Nevertheless, thetime which elapsed between the administration of the poison andits detection in the urine never was less than one, and never morethan seven hours."-Medico-Chir. Review.

CASE OF A BLOODVESSEL COMMUNICATING WITH THE

CAVITY OF AN ABSCESS.

Attention has been deservedly attracted to the class of casesto which this belongs, since the occurrence of that recorded byMr. Liston, with the particulars of which our readers are familiar.Since that time, several cases, which show the frequency withwhich bloodvessels are made to communicate with suppuratingcavities, have been noticed. The following case, from the Edin-burgh Monthly Journal, related by Dr. ADAms, is of sufficient.importance to require it to be given at length:-

" In a case which came under my own observation in the monthof May last, a vessel undoubtedly communicated with the cavityof an abscess, previously to the latter giving way; and althoughthe value of my account may in some measure be lessened, owingto an opportunity not having been afforded me of ascertaining theexact vessel which gave rise to the fatal haemorrhage, yet the.caseis sufficiently interesting, in other respects, to justify me in making.it public. It will serve at least to add to the number of thesimilar cases already recorded in Mr. Liston’s memoir, and ia.Dr. King’s, and subsequently in Mr. Bloxam’s communications;and will afford additional proof of the danger of allowing ab-scesses to remain for a long time, (particularly in delicate chil-dren,) pressing upon important vessels.The case was that of Eliza Cameron, aged fifteen months, who

on the 1st of May was-attacked with scarlatina anginosa, whichpursued a favourable course under the treatment. On the 17thshe was brought to me, in consequence of a diffused, tense, andsuperficially inflamed swelling, situated behind and below theangle of the right jaw. At this period, the throat, internally,showed no appearance of disease. As no fluctuation could bedetected in the tumour, poultices were ordered, and directionsgiven for the child to be brought back to me in a couple of days.The poultices were applied, but the mother neglected showing methe child at the time appointed, wishing, as she said, "that thelealig should be quite ripe before it was lanced." The conse-quence was, that the tumour burst into the throat, and the heemor-rhage which ensued was so great, as speedily to prove fatal. Theaccount given to me was, that the tumour had become muchsofter, and appeared to the friends sufficiently ready for opening,when, on the evening of the 23rd, the child suddenly gave issueto a large mouthful of scarlet-coloured blood. It continued to.flow from the mouth, of the same colour, for the space of six orseven minutes. A considerable quantity of a darker-coloured andcoagulated blood was next vomited, making the quantity lost.amount altogether, as nearly as the bystanders could guess, toabout sixteen ounces. Shortly after this the child died. The

swelling on the side of the neck was found to have decreased con-siderably in size."From the preceding description it is tolerably clear, why the

blood vomited first and last should have differed so much in ap-pearance ; for in the former instance it must have proceededdirectly out of the mouth, from the suppurating cyst, and in thelatter it must have trickled first into the stomach, and been againdischarged from thence, altered both in colour and consistence.

" Notwithstanding the statement made to me, that the bloodwas at first of a scarlet colour, I am by no means decided as towhether it issued from an artery or a vein; but of one thing therecan be little doubt, that the vessel, whatever it was, must havebeen of some consideration.

" The practical lesson to be deduced from the preceding andsimilar cases, I have already hinted at-viz., that no unnecessarydelay should be allowed to occur before opening abscesses situatedunder the resisting fascia of the neck, particularly when they takeplace in children of wealily constitution, or debilitated by disease.I have a strong conviction, that if the abscess had been openedearlier in my own case, if not in some of the others recorded, thetermination of them would have been very different indeed."

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