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coming on during the disease of the mother,the infants often failed at a period varyingfrom one to eight days after its birth.

4th. That it may pass through the diseaseduring the period of its uterine life, andexhibit marks of the disease at birth. This,however, was a rare occurrence ; for its ex-treme fatality to infants after birth alsoholds good in the foetal state, so that a dis-ease capable of pitting usually destroys thechild. Cases in which the child was notdestroyed are recorded by Watson andDimsdale.

5th. That the disease in the foetus wasnot concurrent and contemporaneous withthat of the mother, but occurred many dayslater, a week or ten days after that ofthe mother; that it mostly kills the foetus,and the labour comes on from fourteento thirty days after the first appearanceof the eruption on the mother, or even

later. As the natural small-pox was so

fatal to the mothers, this accounted forthe comparative small number of instancesof children born with eruptions. llr. 1’ear-son had, however, collected more thantwenty instances; Drs. Laird and Rayereach gave a case; Dr. Davis quoted a curi-ous instance from the " Journal de Med.Chir." vul. x. p. 463, of a twin labour,after the recovery of the mother from the

small-pox, where one child was still-bornand marked with small-pox, while the otherwas born alive without any present or pasttraces of the disease. The effects on thechild in cases of small-pox after vaccination,remain to be seen. In a case, for the parti-culars of which the author was indebted toDr. Merriman, jun., and which occurred atthe Queen’s Lying-in Hospital, the motherwas delivered the Hl’st day of the eruption ;her own disease proved mitigated, but theinfant took small-pox twelve days afterbirth, and died nine davs after. Dr. Davishad recorded two cases, in which mitigatedsmall-pox occurred in the mothers a fewdays after delivery, and where the childrenwere immediately vaccinated and preserved.He (Mr. Streeter) should conclude the

subject by stating his intention of vacci-nating the child of his patient, if born alive,as soon as possible.The last subject he intended to make any

remarks on, was the failure of vaccination inthis case. He would rather have avoidedtouching on a subject on which the publicmind was at that moment so peculiarlysensitive; but it was one which called forthe most serious consideration of our pro.fession. It was a circumstance which inte-rested every one of the community. Anelder sister of his patient, who was alsovaccinated at the Small-pox Hospital, visitedher sister on the 14th of December. Onthe 30th she had an eruption of small-pox,the next day violent haemorrhage from theuterus and the bowels took place, the worst

, petechial symptoms set in, and she died the3rd of January. She was a patient of Mr.

Fortescue, of Smithfield-bars, and he had; the authority of that gentleman for saying,I that he never saw a more malignant case.

During the past year, ninety-five out ofthe two hundred and fifty-one admissions to

the Sm(Ûl-pox Hospitul, have been cases aftervaccination ; it is, however, consolatory toremark, that only one of these has provedfatal, but many have been severe. Threeseasons ago he (Mr. Streeter) had endea-voured to enforce on that Society, audthrough them on the profession at large, thenecessity of re-vaccinating after the periodof puberty ; the large number of instancesof small-pox after cow-pock, that he hadseen in young women, after puberty, hadled him to that belief. He had also seenan instance of modified variola after small-pox inoculation, after puberty. Since thenhe had met with other instances confirma-tory of the view he had taken, and he mightstate, that out of the ninety-five cases in theSmall-pox Hospital, there were of the age offifteen and upwards, the enormous propor-tion of more than twelve to one; the numberof those past puberty being eighty-eight,—those only fourteen years, or under, beingabout seven.Dr. ADDISON had attended one of the pa-

tients alluded to by Mr. Streeter. This ladycontracted small-pox at a period when sheexpected daily to be confined. She hadbeen vaccinated. The small-pox was of amost confltient character, but she eventuallyrecovered. Three weeks after recovery shewas delivered of a child, healthy, well-formed, and without any kind of blemish.He believed the child had never sufferedfrom any affection since.Mr. CHINNOCK recollected two cases of

measles occurring during pregnancy ; in onecase premature labour was brought on, butthe patients both did well.Mr. STREETER stated, that he should not

feel justified in vaccinating any patient fromlymph when an areola was present.

MEDICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON.

Monday, January 15, 1838.

Mr. BRYANT, President.MORBUS PEDICULARIS.

THE Pi’HsiDENT stated that there was, at-present, a remarkable case of morbus pedi-cularis in Guy’s Hospital. The subject ofthis terril- ic disease was a woman aboutthirty yea s of age, whose occupation hadbeen that of a governess. The body wasconstautly covered with pediculi over itsentire surface, the irritation produced bywhich had induced the patient to scratchherself to. such an extent, that many parts

615

of the surface presented the appearancewhich is commonly observed in porrigo. Onher admission she was placed in a warmbath, her clothes removed, and every precau-tion used to get rid of every one of the in-sects ; but, in two hours after, being put tobed, the surface was again covered, and allattempts at removing the vermin were un-successful, the regeneration of them beingso remarkably rapid as to set remedies attotal defiance. Nothing like cysts, contain-ing the ova of these insects, were observable.Dr. WHITING had never heard of a case

in which the insects could breed, and cometo perfection in two hours, as stated in thiscase. He thought there must be somethingobscure in it. He never met with an instancein which the insects were not removed bythoroughly cleansing the body, and bathingit with a mixture of turpentine and infusionof tobacco, of a properly regulated strength.Regarding the generation of insects, muchdepended on the state of the constitution;at least this was the fact in regard to cattle ;poor and lean animals being generally in-fested, while the fatter and more healthywere free.Mr. CRtsp had seen fat oxen covered with

insects; perhaps resulting from their con-tact with poor and lean animals. A mix-ture of tobacco-water and urine was gene-rally used by farmers as a successful remedyin this disease.Mr. DENDY said the disease under consi-deration was a formidable one. He believed

that one of the kings of England fell a vic-tim to it, as did also, according to report, oneof the late royal duchesses. No doubt every-thing, in the last case, was tried, but with-out success. He considered that there wasa peculiar state of the system of personsaffected with this disease. The state of I

their skin might be particularly favourable I,to the generation of these insects, in thesame way as one soil is often found morecongenial to the production of certain vege-tables than another.Some conversation took place regarding

the means of destroying insects, which aregenerally found about the pubis. The Pre-sident related a case in which a young gen-tleman used a strong infusion of tobacco forthis purpose, and nearly fell a victim to theexperiment. Mr. Linacre had found thebest substitute for greasy substances, to be astrong solution of soda.

PHRENOLOGIGAL SOCIETY OF

LONDON.

BLIND TRAVELLER.—ORGAN OF LOCALITY.

AT the second meeting of this Society forthe present session, lield at the Society’sRoom*, 75, Newman-itreet, Dr. ELLIOTSON,

the President, in the chair, a cast of thehead of Philip Davis, a blind traveller, waspresented to the Society, and a paper, con-taining an account of Davis, was read byDr. JOSEPH MOORE.

Philip Davis, aged 41, a native of Ply-mouth, when six years of age had severeophthalmia, which terminated in completestaphyloma. At twelve years of age hewas admitted into the Asylum for IndigentBlind Persons, at Bristol, where he re-

mained during five years, receiving the in-struction which is usually supplied to itsinmates ; and, finally, he learnt the art ofbasket-making. He then returned to Ply-mouth. An attempt was made soon afterthis to form an artificial pupil, which so farsucceeded as to enable Davis to distinguishlarge objects when moving before him.Thus he could distinguish between a manand a horse, &c.; but an accidental blowfrom a stone destroyed this power about twomonths after. He was shortly afterwardsengaged by the contractor who suppliedPlymouth Dockyard with baskets. It wasthe custom of his fellow workmen for one ofthem occasionally to read aloud one of thejournals, or magazines. This, with theirconversations, gave him an ardent desire tovisit objects and places, with which he hadthus been made acquainted; and at the ageof 28, he travelled on foot, and alone, toExeter, a distance of 42 miles, and this notby the usual highway, but across Dartmoor,because it is more sequestered ; and he hadonce before been about 20 miles on the highroad. He remained at Exeter about tendays, to obtain a knowledge of the localities,and the geographical relations of the streets,which he still retains, as well as of the vari-ous roads between that city and Plymouth.Returning to Plymouth he resumed his

occupation, and, during the several yearsof his residence there, he made frequent ex-cursions in and around the town, to placesdistant five, seven, or nine miles. Wheneverany discovery was made in the neighbour-ing quarries, or any singular occurrence tookplace, he rarely failed to become acquainted,by personal observation, with the variouslocalities connected with the ciicumstances.The alterations in the streets, &c., he usedto visit and examine at night, when all wasstill ; and thus he has acquired a better

knowledge of his native town than manywho have not lost their sight. He was inthe constant habit of walking across theHoe, an extensive natural esplanade betweenthe town and the sea, to bathe ; yet no acci-dent ever befel him ; nor, though obliged toscramble among the rocks, did he miss hisway, or fail to return to the spot where liehad left his clothes. By this constant -ex-ercise of his powers lie augmented at oncethe energy of his faculty of locality, andacquired experience of the influence whichair, and the various objects around him, or