FOREIGN DEPARTMENT.

ON THE CIRCULATION AND RESPIRATION

OF THE AKELIDES ABRANCHI.

IN the sitting of the Academie des Sciences,on the 29th of September, MM. Cuvier,I)um6ril, and Latreille, made a very favour-able report on M. Dugés’s memoir 0:1 thissubject. From his researches, it appears,that in the naides and lumbrici, the blood iscarried in a circle round the longitudinalaxis of the body ; in the dorsal vessels itmoves towards the head ; in the abdominalvessels, from the head towards tle posteriorpart of the body. Between them there is anintermediate system formed of vesicles,which are covered on their external and in-ternal surfaces by a very fine net-work ofvessels, by whioh respiration seems to beperformed. In the hirudines, the circula-tory motion is round the vertical axis ; eachpulmonary vesicle also receives a branchfrom, and sends a branch to, the lateralvessel.

REMARKABLE CASE OF RABIES IN A WOLF.

A she-wolf was lately killed in the De-partement de la Meurthe, apparently withall the symptoms of rabies, after havingbitten about thirty sheep, a dog, and twomea; its viscera, on examination, werefound in a healthy state, except the intesti-nal canal, the mucous membrane of whichwas violently inflamed. As the two woundedpersons, one of whom was most shocking.-ly lacerated, got perfectly well, it wouldseem that the animal was not labouringunder true rabies, and that its fury was pro-duced merely from the irritation of the in-testines. A very remarkable circumstancein the examination of the animal was, that amusket-ball was found imbedded in thesubstance of the heart, and covered by awiutish and very firrn cicatrix.-La Clinique.

ON SEVERAL CASFS OF DISLOCATION, WHERETHE ATTEMPTS AT REDUCTION WERE

PRODUCTIVE OF VERY SERIOUS INJURY.

In the Repertoire d’Anatomie et Physiologie,M. Faubert, surgeon to the 11 6tel Dieu atRouen, gives some very interesting cases ojdislocation; in one of them the attempts tcreduce the dislocated joint produced a rup-ture of the axillary artery, gangrene, and,subsequently, the death of the patient; III

another hemiplegia ensued, most likely inconsequence of extravasation in the brainfr3lil the efforts used in reduction ; the paral)sis gradually diminished, but the loweextremity never recovered its natural hea

and sensibility, and the use of the arm wasalmost completely lost. In a third case thedislocated shoulder was reduced thirty-eight days after the accident ; immediatelyafeer the operation, emphysema supervenedover the arm, and a great part of the back ;very soon afterwards violent headach andhemiplegia ensued, and proved fatal on thetwelfth day. On examination, the brachialplexus was found extensively lacerated ; atthe sixth, seventh, and eighth cervical andfirst dorsal vertebrae, the spinal cord wasswelled, softened, and of a reddish browncolour. In the fourth case, the reductionwas followed by an enormous painful swell-ing of the extremity, the arm could neverbe used, and the fingers only retained a verysmall degree of sensibility and motion. Ina case of dislocated hip, the reduction wasmade very soon after the accident, and thehead of the femur was very distinctly heardto slip into the cotyloid cavity; the patientdied, however, five days after the operation.The anterior and exterior part of the hipwas found ecchymosed ; the pyramidalis,gemelli, andquadratus femoris, the capsuleand ligamentum teres were ruptured; andthe cavity of the joint filled with pus. Inthis case, the fatal termination was appa-rently rather the result of the dislocation,than of the reduction ; the observations,however, of M. Fanbert, show how cauti-ously the attempts at reduction ought to bemade, and how necessary it is to considerwhether a sufficient extending force can beused, without inflicting serious injury onthe patient.

SKETCHES

OF THE

SURGICAL PROFESSION IN IRELAND.

No. XXIV.

THE PRIVATE SCHOOLS OF DUBLIN.

- - - - - - ridentem dicere verumQuid vetat? Hon.

" WE were now," says Dr. Johnson, in hisJourney to the Hebrides, " treading thatillustrious island which was once the semi-

nary of the Caledonian regions, whence

roving clans, and savage barbarians, de-rived the benefits of knowledge, and theblessings of religion. This island, whichwas once the metropolis of learning andpiety, has now no school for education, ortemple for worship. That man," he conti-nues, in a tone of suhlime sentiment worthy

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ot its author, (I is little to be envied, whosepatriotism would not gain force on the

plains of Marathon, or whose piety wouldnot grow warm among the ruins of Iona.

Perhaps, in the revolution of ages, Iona

may be some time again the irstructress ofthe western regions !" Who, in this de-scriptive prediction of the fate of Iona, doesnot see the three stages of bloom, decay,and regeneration, which the literary repu-tation of Ireland has undergone 1 - thatcountry to which Iona itself is indebted forits founder and its fame. The first to dif-fuse the light of learning through the isles,it became the Iona of scientific recollec-

tions, amidst whose ruins the philosopherwept, and is now again, in the fulness oftime, restored to the honourable ascendancyof being that School of the West," whichit was called by Dr. Johnson, in one of hisletters to O’Connor, the historian of Belle- iinegane.

Persons superficially read, and still less I

observant, have been strangely puzzled toaccount for the sudden supremacy whichthe schools of Ireland have lately attainedover their competitors. They cannot con-ceive, poor blind mortals, how pupils fromcivilized countries can, in the face of bar-barism and insurrection, venture to livein Ireland. Now, if they only recollectedthe hint implied in Dr. Johnson’s prophecyof Iona, they might at once perceive thatwhat happened once may happen again.William of Malmesbury, too, could haveinformed them, that, about 1000 years ago," Students resorted from England to Ire-land in such crowds as to require wholefleets to carry them over ; Ireland being

then a blooming country of scholars, whosestudents you might as well enumerate asreckon the stars of the sky." Put °’ cor-

raghs," constructed of wicker-work andhorse-skin, for our steam-boats,-and stu-dents in arts for medical pupils,-and whatchange has taken place in the studious in-tercourse of Ireland and its neighbours’! sotrue is the exclamation of Solomon, that11 there is nothing new under the sun!"So far were the students of those times,more than those of the present day, frombeing deterred from visiting Ireland, thatBede, the father of British history, repre-sents its inhabitants to have been then,what, we can assure our calumniators, theyare still-,, Gens innoxia, et nationi An-glorum semper amicissima !" Alas! thatthe innocence and the love should havebeen all upon one side,-the hatred and the i

guilt on the other! But we must not wall- Ider from proofs to politics. So fashionablewas it for pupils to come to Ireland in thosedays, just as they do now, that the usualanswer to inquiries after one being missedfrom home, was-,, Amandatus est ad Hi-

berniam ;" or, as it is more elegahtlyex.pressed by the poetical biographer of Sut-genus-

" Exemplo patrum commotus, amore le-gendi,

" Ivit ad Hibernos, sophia mirabile claros."One essential difference, indeed, there was

in the circumstances of this studious immi.

gration,-that the pupils were fed, clothed,and educated, gratuitously, by the Irish; afact which it may be necessary to pointout, as the national hospitality has cer-

tainly degenerated so far, that it may notbe prudent to venture over without a trifleof money now. For this important infor.mation we are indebted to George LordLyttleton, who says: —" We learn fromBede, that, about the seventh century,numbers, both of the noble and second mkof English, left their country for Ireland, tostudy there ; and all these, he affirms, the *

Irish most willingly received and maintainedat their own charge ; supplying them with ’books, and being their teachers, withoutfee or reward ! " Yet is it a matter of sur.prise, with the ignorant calumniators of Ire-land, that pupils should resort there ; andthat the descendants of men who were sus-ceptible of the most enlightened generosityrecorded in the history of any nation, shouldnot only establish schools at home, but still .

send missionary professors, by dozens, toEngland at the present time. Let us but

just touch these delusions with the magiowand of history, and mark how they vanishlike the mists before the morning sun.

Wonderful wonder, indeed, that Irishmenshould still be the founders of schools athome and abroad ! Why, the three greatestBritish universities have been founded byIrishmen, and several on the Continent.Johannes Caius, in his " CantabrigiensisAcademies Antiquitates," positively asserts,that our illustrious ancestor, " JohannesScotus Erigena, was one of the founders ofthe academy of Cambridge ; " Fabius Ethe!-wardus, and the Saxon annals quoted byUsher, state, that °’ three Irishmen cameover, in the year 891, to Alfred—Duflanusfirst, Macbacthus second, and lVIagiJmnmi.nus third,—to superintend the three first

colleges in Oxford ;" and it is quite a mis.taken notion, to suppose that Trinity Col.lege, Dublin, was established by QueenElizabeth, for it had been founded, long be.fore her reign, by Alexander Bignor, Arch-bishop of Dublin, and confirmed by PopeInnocent XXII. The French, indeed,have

the candour to admit, that their Univer-

sity of Paris was instituted by Irishmen,as well as several of the continental semi-naries of education. Thus we find the com.

piler Moreri, so highly complimented byBoyle, asserting, that " Ireland has given

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the most distinguished professors to the Imost famous universities of Europe-asClaudius Clements to Paris, Albuinus toPavia, and Erigena, our namesake, to Ox-foid." To this honourable testimony weare happy to add the authority of Mosheim,who says :-" The learned men of Ireland

discharged, with the highest reputation,the functions of DOCTORS, (mark that), inFrance, Italy, and Germany;" and also ofScaliger the younger, who writes :-" For200 years after Charlemagne, all the trulylearned men were from Ireland." In thesame spirit, we find Henricus Aristisiodo-rensis writing to Charles the Bald :—" Why should I mention all Ireland, withits crowd of philosophers, despising the dan-gers of the sea, and flocking to our hores?"In one particular, indeed, we fall short

of our ancestors in the number of ourauthors, for we are informed by Sir JamesWare, that there were, from the 5th to the16th century, 156 Irish writers ; and the10th age was called the " spæculum obscu-rum et infelix," on account of the few emi-ment men it produced. Where, then, is thewonder that our Abernethys, our Lardners,Bennets, Quains, and Dermots, cum multisaliis, should still be the instructors of Eng-land? and that Ireland, whose very soil ismade up of the ditoitus of Parnassus, and themould of philosophers, and whose veryatmosphere has been inspiration to its in-habitants, should now, resurgent from itsashes, realize the phenomenon of that birdof Asiatic fiction, from whose remains anoffspring is reproduced, with all the beautyand attributes of its parent ? But what, itmay be inquired, has all this vain parade ofantiquarian lore to do with tlie subject in-dicated in the title of this paper 1 We mayanswer this impertinent interrogatory inthe Irish way, by asking, in our turn, whatwas it that gave the preceding superiorityto Ireland, and what has done so again ?We answer, PRIVATE ScuooLS made Ire-land the 11 island of Saints :" they have nowmade it the " Island of Doctors;" and forthis inestimable blessing, we are most cer-tainly indebted to JoHN TIMOTHY KiRBY,on the dome of whose theatre, in PeterStreet, we shall, with the reader’s permis-sion, pitch our telescope, while making acritical survey of the private schools ofDublin.

Peter-Street School, the first, we believe,established in Dublin, as late as 1810, stillcontinues to maintain a numerical superio-rity of pupils over its junior cotemporaries,and a higher place in public estimation.The impulse of talent and vitality commu.mcated in the " nisus formativus" of itsbirth, still invigorates its maturer years,and promises a perpetuity of its originalstrength and soundness of constitution.

Like a new-made planet, hurled into spaceby the hand of Omnipotence, - " parviscompone magna,"-it has shone on throughtime with unclouded splendour among itsassociates of the scholastic zodiac of Dublin.It has certainly the merit of great simplicityof construction ; and singleness of’purpose,without being obstructed in its movementsby a complexity of objects, and a multitudeof teachers. Anatomy, physiology, surgery,and pathology, are the only sciences taught ;and are not these quite enough to be taughtin one private school? We confess, wethink that Mr. Kirby’s imitators have notacted wisely, in attempting to unite thetuition of every branch of medical sciencein their schools ; for they have but encum-bered themselves with numbers, without

increasing, in many instances, their strength.Mr. Kirby, it is true, must be considered" a host in himself," and needed not theadventitious aid of a long train of scientificsutlers to his establishment, in order tomake a show; while the peculiarity of hismanner, and the felicitousness of his elocu-tion, render the task of learning, from him,less a toil than a pleasure. In our early

days, when our young blood made us, per-haps, more chivalrous than prudent, we

, tilted off some of the more gaudy trappingsof Mr. Kirby ; but we always conceded tohim the possession of sterling abilities andmuch useful information. And, after all,

though these eccentricities are fair food forcharacteristic delineation, it is possible that,

without such qualities, his talents mightnever have become so extensively useful.

Genius, without artifice to buoy it into po-pularity, often perishes in the husk; while,possessed of this extensive quality, it dif-fuses its beneficial influence to all around it ;like those seeds furnished by Nature with

; wings of down, which, wafting them intothe air, beautify the surrounding fields, and

’ furnish food, both to bird and bee, by theirfruit and flowers. It is more than probable,that, in our profession at least, some such

’ buoy is indispensably necessary to float me-rit into notoriety ; the distorted vision ofour artificial society being no longer able,or indeed mclined, to discover ability in itsnaturally unpresuming retreat,-like the

pearl in its humble shell. We are, at allevents, pretty certain that, had not Mr.Kirby’s gold been combined with a little ofthe volatility of mercury, it could never

’, have enriched so many; and that the latter,alone, could never have been circulated so

extensively without the weight and worthof the former metal. Such as Mr. Kirbywas, he is still, in person and accomplish-

: ments; for we can by no means agree withthose who conceive that his beauty has beeninjured by a late attack of strabismus ; onthe contrary, the obliquity of vision pro-

170

duced by it has improved his appearance,by throwing into his countenance a certaindegree of humorous archness, which admi-rably consorts with certain passages of hislectures. We have some suspicion, indeed,that Mr. Kirby has discovered the elixir ofParacelsus, and that he will never die. Justas all Dublin was lately looking out for hisprofessional demise, on the death of his latepartner, Allr. Daniel, out he comes in a

pamphlet advertisement, which does honourto that fashionable species of literature,announcing, instead of his resignation, hisintention of conducting the whole establish-ment by himself. There can be no doubtbut, from the versatility of his talents, hewould have been fully able to perform his

promise ; but his subsequent selection of apartner to share his toils, happily relievedhim from this obligation. In Mr. Ellis hehas found all the advantages which exten-sive experience in private teaching, unre-mitting industry in the study and practiceof his profession, and most respectable ta-lents, can bestow. We congratulate Mr.Kirby on the selection he has made; but,indeed, he is peculiarly fortunate in findingpartners, whether professional or matrimo-nial. The demonstrators, Mr. Breiian, andMr. Young, are yet untried men ; should

they deserve that meed of approbation whichthe public voice has already conceded tothem, and which their appointment, insome measure, justifies, we shall be happyto record the realization of these hopes ; for,of all the duties which fall to our criticallot, that of twining the laurel around thebrow of youthful desert is the most grate-ful. The establishment is furnished with aconsiderable museum, an useful library,and,with Mr. Kirby at its head—

" Nil desperandum, auspice Teucro."

Turn we then our glass across the water, onMoore Street. The object is certainly small,but extremely brilliant. Albeit our eyes areweak, and, being dazzled by its splendour,we shall not venture on a simile of a dia-mond, minute, and highly polished ; but

proceed to consider it as a medical school,without the illustration of a parallel. It is

essentially different in character from any ofthe other private schools of Dublin ; beingsmaller, and conducted principally by oneindividual, Mr. Wallace, though amply com-pensating for want of size, by the talentsof its proprietor, and the objects to whichIre directs the attention of his pupils. Weknow, indeed, no professor in Dublin, whohas struck out a more original course ofcultivating medicine, or one more calcu-lated to extend its boundaries, than that

adopted by Mr. Wallace, instead of di-

recting the energies of his mind on the

great mass of science and disease, he has

separated fragments from this mighty pile,and committed them to the crucible of ex.periment, with the judicious hope of be.ing able to analyze their nature in this moremanageable form. Disease of the skin, forthe treatment of which his establishmenthas acquired a deserved celebrity, is one ofthose subjects which he has thus consideredexperimentally ; and his lectures promiseto throw much light on the obscure natureof this topic. Besides these points of pa.thology, which, by an exclusive attention tothem, he has made his own, in some mea.sure, in Dublin, his laudable zeal promptshim to test the doctrines and practice ofothers, as they come before the public, andto add to their utility by some improvementsof his own. He is consequently less of theroutine practitioner, and keeps up withthe rapidly-increasing intelligence of the

day, better, perhaps, than any of his con.

temporaries in our city. Mr. Wallace’svarious and numerous contributions to

medical literature will bear us out in thisestimate of his character. To all studentswho aspire beyond the application of theirart, who, in short, would extend its limitsby pathological experiments, and leari theproper manner of conducting them,—wewould, by all means, recommend an ac,

quaintance with Mr. Wallace and his ex.cellent institution.How we should have been so long looking

out for the Richmond School, and not havefound it, appears to us a little odd ; unless,

indeed, the filth and smoke among which i:is placed should have obscured our teles.cope. We have now, however, a very dis-tinct view of this bulky object, thanks to arich gleam of sunshine that has just dissi.pated the darkness around it ! This vast

repository of science and disease, which inthe extent of its wards, and the number ofits teachers, may remind the English stu.

dent of the great London hospital schools,has a mean, if not a dreary aspect. It con-

tains, however, within itself, vast resourcesfor the support of a medical school, greater,undoubtedly, than any other place of thekind in Dublin. One way or other, we be-

lieve, there are connected with it aboutthree hundred patients ; from among which,that pupil must certainly be an epicure innosology, who could not select appropriateobjects for observation, while its relation to

, the House of Industry facilitates a constantsupply of the materials for anatomical pur-saits. Its list of professors seems to be

! ably tined up, at the head of whom is Mr.’ C;a.rmichael, whose name conveys a higherpanegyric than even now, in a paroxysm of: admiration of all the private schools of Dub.

lin, we are able to indite. With Mr. Red,to whom a part of the surgical course, we

perceive, has been consigned, the readers

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of this Journal must lie acquainted, througha short notice of him in our sketch of Mer-cer’s Hospital, of which he is one of thesurgeons; so that it is unnecessary to renewhere the favourable impression conveyed ofhis transcendallt merits on that occasion.Attached to this school, as professor ofchemistry and materia medica, there is anindividual of very rare attainments and sin-gular manners, of the name of Donovan. i

He is the only exception that we have ever Iknown to the universal ignorance andworthlessness of that body to which he be-longs-the apothecaries of Dublin-a bodyfrom the nature of whose pursuits so muchmight be expected, and from whom so manysplendid discoveries in science have e ema-nated in other countries. In person, Mr.Donovan is a short, square built, dark-look.ing man, without, apparently, a single rayof talent illuminating the gloomy disc of hiscountenance. His physiognomy, indeed, isthe very antithesis of intellectual expres-sion ; and but for a certain morose ab-straction of look, as if wholly absorbed inthe intensity of his speculations, and thathis countenance is rendered still more

sombre by a dark cosmetic seemingly com-posed of the dust of the laboratory, with theoily dews of laborious cogitation, he mightpass without being remarked by the mostexpert disciple of Spurzheim and Lavater.His demeanour corresponds pretty muchwith his personal appearance. His stern

features are seldom or never seen to relaxeven into a smile, or to assume, for a mo-ment, any one shade or modification of the

expression of painful or pleasurable emo-tion. Go where he will, his face, like cer-tain points of our-earth, however it may re-volve, is shrouded in perpetual darkness.His conversation, from the philosophicorbit in which his mind travels, is stiff andformal as his appearance. His words flowfrom him with the regulated punctualityof a pendulum, and his descriptions con-ducted a la Euclid. We have frequentlyheard him describe, geometrically, his pas-sage from Apothecaries’ Hall to his resi-dence in Townsend Street, and reduce theeircurnsLai)c(,s of a visit to one of his pa-tients into a sorites of syllogisms. He

st,eaks on all subjects, and on all occasions,as if he thought Newton should supersedeBlair ; and that prosody, or the doctrine ofverbal quantities, is the only part of BellesLettres which should he consulted in coii-versation. Mr. Donovan, however, is a

gentleman of undoubted ability, and hiseccentric manner has been remarked onlybecause it is allied with superior qualifica-tions. The same devotion to descriptiveaccuracy which distinguishes his phrase-ology, is conspicuous in his compositions,of which he has given many, on very oppo-

site subjects, to the public. His first and

largest work on the history of galvanism,with a new theory of his own, was honouredwith the prize of the Royal Irish Academy,and is less known than it deserves. Sincehis communion with the lightning of heaven,most of his productions have been of moreterrestrial cast; and like Benjamin Frank-lin, who could grasp the bolt of Jove, and

philosophize with a boy’s kite, Mr. Dono-van has descended from the clouds to thekitchen, and adorned the humble labours ofthe cook with the splendour of science.We. recollect reading, not long since, (andwe regret we cannnot now refer to the pagefor the sake of all lovers of the bran ofMocha,) in the Dublin Philosophical Jour-nal, an Essay on the Roasting and Infusionof Coffee, by him, which is, perhaps, thebest written on that thought-inspiring beve-rage, not excepting the culinary lucubra-tions of Count Rumford. In the samejournal may be also found the descriptionof a rain-guage manufactured by him, whichmay give some notion of the patience of hisdemonstrations, and an idea of his great me-chanical invention. The instrument itselfis an extraordinary curiosity ; one of thoseautomatons of art, which, in the multiplicityof its operations, and the regularity of theirperformance, mimics the animated contri-vances of nature. They are generally toys,and Mr. Donovan’s is scarcely an exception.Having admired the wonderful accuracywith which it executes its various functions,our next feeling will be surprise, how mancould have taken such immense trouble forthe trivial object of measuring the height ofwater which descends on the earth in a

year. There is also, in the same journal, areview of the last Dublin Pharmacopoeiaattributed to him, in which a multitude oferrors are corrected, which have escaoedthe notice of other critics ; thus showingthe superiority of the working man Qf thelaboratory, over those sciolists who coucoctreviews in their closets for the medical

journals. But we must have done withthis interesting personage, by pointing outhis high qualifications for discharging theduties assigned to him in the RichmondSchool, while we turn our instrument backupon the I’ark Street School. ’

This school, which we described at some‘ length, along with its principal founder,Mr. Jacob, comprises teachers of many ofthe branches of medical science, some ofwhom are men of considerable merit. Fromthis number we must exclude illr. Cusack ;for in every quality, except a practicalknowledge of surgery, he appears to us de.fective as a teacher. Whatever success

may attend his exertions as a stage manager,he should never venture the audience sideof the curtain. Having himself the com-

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rnand of--a respectable school of his ownapprentices, and a consummate knowledgeof fees and the funds, we would, by allmeans, recommend him to remain satisfiedwith exerting his ability in this way, and,for the rest, indulge in the luxurious privi-leges and immunities of a " sleeping part-ner " in the concern. Mr. Porter, his newcollaborator, might, we fear, be stretched onthe same couch. He succeeded Mr. Jacobor by purchase," as the Government Gazettehas it, and, at least, promised a vast deal onhis appointment. The rumour of the surgicallectures which he was to have delivered atthe time is still painfully tingling in our ears,like the booing of a bull-frog. But bluster-

ing of this kind generally subsides into amonotonous calm. We cannot, at our plea-sure, command information, for it can be

acquired by long and gradual applicationalone ; nor instantaneously transmute ourdulness into talent, which is the gift ofnature only. It is easy to excite expecta-tion-how difficult to realize ! By a little

artifice we may readily awaken the curiosityof men ; talent alone can keep this capri-cious passion alive. Mr. Porter’s repre-sentations of himself to his private friends,have, we believe, disappointed the public.His success convinces that there must be

something more than pounds and pupils to

ensure the success of a school; indeed, wesuspect this joint-stock system of organisingdidactic establishments is liable to greatabuse. The natural origin of such institu-tions is, that where they commence withperhaps a single individual, whose confi-dence in his own resources prompts him to,and, in some measure, justifies so arduousan undertaking. To such training in the

open field of competition, where meritshould rise without extraneous assistance,we would rather look for excellence, than tothose hot-houses of mushroom professors,forced into a sickly pre-eminence by the ’,sheer influence of interest and affluence.With respect to the other arrangements ofthis school, we see nothing which calls forour censure or our praise, except that by asingular valuation of talent, the two clever-est men in the establishment, Mr.Hort andMr. Alcock, have been placed at the bottomof the list. With anything like a fair por-tion of those advantages which assist theascent of talent up " the steep of fame,"and without which the task is always diffi-cult, and sometimes fatal, we have no doubtbut these two men, who are now at the

bottom, would soon rise above their pre-sumed snperiors. With their useful exer-tions, and many other advantages which thisschool possesses, we have no doubt of its

success, which we have no intention of

marring by our preceding remarks.So much have we gazed at the private

schools, that we fear our sight will notstand us for the examination of a class ofteachers of a different character, but whomwe could not find in our heart to omit, inthis panegyric on private instruction. Thereis, of course, in Dublin, as in all other greatmedical schools, species of tutors vulgarlycalled " grinders," who, like gypsies, prac.tise their legerdemain art without any fixedhabitation. Without theatres, museums,libraries, dissecting-rooms, or any of theother ostensive chattels of medical schools,these wonderful men undertake, from theirown exclusive resources, to perfect pupilsin all the arts and sciences, or what answersprecisely as well, to get them diplomas.There is something really so bold in the

enterprise-so heroically romantic in thelives of these men, that they disarm criti.cism of its terrors, and reconcile us, bytheir extravagance, to their imposture.Yet, though this practice savours so stronglyof charlatanry, still we are not hostile to it .

in the abstract, however grossly it is abused.It is, after all, but the application of themost useful form of education-private in.struction; and if, in some instances, it ismade subservient to bad ends, it mightpuzzle more expert casuists than we pre.tend to be, to apportion the just quotaof crime which belongs to the pupil andthe preceptor. We fear the balance of guilt’

’

would be oftener found on the side of theformer than on that of the latter. Besides, itshould be recollected, that it affords are.

spectable subsistence to many young men,and an useful employment of their time;for, to be under the necessity of explaininga subject to others, is one of the most pow-erful stimuli to make us understand it our.

-

selves. Among this interesting class ofmen, -there is, in Dublin, one of the name of Dr.Davis, who is a very perfect representationof the singular genius to which he belongs.He has certainly attracted great attention bythe indefatigable industry and amazing in-genuity of the devices displayed by him inthe prosecution of his multifarious avoca.tions. He seems to have taken up the idea,probably from that compounder of para-doxes, Mr. Hazlitt, that a man is estimatedby the world at his own price, on the sup-position advanced by this writer, that allmen of genius have been invariably men ofconfidence and assurance. Of this veryquestionable doctrine, Dr. Davis affords themost amusing illustrations. Though reallyyoung, he has contrived, by a well-designedcostume, and a simulated manner, to buryall indications of youth beneath a broad.brimmed hat, a cravat seemingly tied bythe very fingers of decrepitude, a suit of

black of a designedly obsolete cut, and alook of mysteiious profundity. Meet himat any hour in the street, and you are sure

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to find him in- what we call in Ireland, a" jog trot," such is the heavy tax whichthe support of a foolish and feigned cliarac-ter imposes on his unfortunate loco-motiveapparatus. Instantly lie stops in the street ;reads, perhaps, a slip of paper, and on’withhim again at his toilsome career. Should

you be so kind to him as to stop him for amoment, and to break the current of his

public meditations, he is sure to assail youwith complaints of his restless existenceand his incalculable profits ; he cannot, infact, comply with one half the demandsmade by the public on his professional skill,nor is the bank able to receive as fast as hecan pour in the emoluments of his practice.Private society, however, is the sphere inwhich these demonstration" of laborious

prosperity are manifested with the mostelaborate assiduity for the production ofeffect. We recollect being at a party onenight in Dublin, where Dr. Davis was oneof the invited: he arrived, of course,

fashionably late ; he had not been longseated, when the noise of a carriage rollingiip to the door seemed to threaten the housewith instant destruction ; the rumbling ofthe wheels had scarcely ceased, when a

breathless lacquey appeared at the door, vo-ciferating, with the utmost appearance ofanxiety, "Surgeon Davis-Surgeon Davis-Surgeon Davis ;" in a tone of trepidationstill more awful, " Alderman Apoplexy, ofTurtlesoup Square, has just fallen out of hisstanding! Christ save us!" The bow ofold Timotheus, " placed amid the tunefulchoir," instantly sunk from his hand ; theladies, appalled by this unexpected intru-sion of the voice of death amidst their mer-riment, stood motionless in the quadrille,like the fair dames of Egypt, warned of theirmortality amidst their mirth, by the intro-duction of a garlanded corse, while SurgeonDavis, pressing his side pocket to ascertainthe presence of his instruments, rushedthrough the astonished multitude, apolo-gizing to his fair hostess and her spousefor the interruption, in the well-known lineof Horace :-

" Serius aut ocius, metam properamus iad unam." i

Rogtaeries (2f the Doctor.

Anatomy .............. Dr. Davis.Physiology ............ Dr. Davis.Pathology .............. Dr. Davis.Theory of Surgery........ Dr. Davis.Institutes of Medicine.... Dr. Davis.Practice of Physic........ Dr. Davis.Chemistry .............. Dr. Davis.Botany ................ Dr. Davis.Materia Mediea.......... Dr. Davis.Medical Jurisprudence.... Dr. Davis.

One, perhaps, of his best schemes to de-ceive the world into a belief of his imaginarybusiness, may be witnessed at the examina-tions at the College of Surgeons. Generallywithin about ten or fifteen minutes beforethe business of the meeting is over, thedoor opens abruptly, and in struts the Doc.tor at his accustomed pace, and, wiping thebig drops from his fevered brow, instantlyall eyes are turned on the Doctor, and allwatches are out to ascertain whether he hasdeviated by a minute from his usual time ofexecuting his farce. He seems to enjoyas tribute of admiration, what is reallyintended for a sarcasm; and, after felici-tating himself for a few moments, witha look of melancholy satisfaction, he sud.denly starts up, looks profoundly on a billetor his tablets, mutters over the wordsof some address with a look of distraction,and, as if the genius, of restlessness hadtaken possession of him, is oil again on hisnever-ending excursions to his ideal pa-tients. It may well be supposed, after thisslight insight into the Doctor’s innocuousand pleasant habits, that his pretensions as ateacher equal, at least, his success in perso-nating a practitioner. They far, indeed,exceed his other exertions ; for, like OratorHenley, there is no science of which he isnot master, and which he does not professto teach. We know of no means by whichwe could describe his pretensions to uni-versal knowledge, as by the publication ofone of his advertisements, which, we sus-pect, may be even mutilated by some acci-dent or other. In order to give a strongerrelief to this extraordinary document, weshall contrast it with the play-bill of thecelebrated mimic and ventriloquist, Mons.Alexandre, wiiose wonderful versatility ena-bled him to represent in rapid succession,a vast number of characters. We shall,therefore, place the announcements of theperformances of these celebrated rivalsto reflect light on one another, and leaveour readers to judge whether the Doc-tor does not beat the ventriloquist h01.low

The Rogueries of Nicholas.

Lord Mayor........ Mr. Alexandre.Alderman Orlington .. Mr. Alexandre.Tom Lovemore ...... Mr. Alexandre.Sir F. Durable...... Mr. Alexandre.Nicholas............ Mr.’ Alexandre.Moses Israel ........ Mr. Alexandre.Archer ............ Mr. Alexandre.

Crip .............. Mr. Alexandre.6 rogan ............ Mr. Alexandre.Mrs. Orlington ...... Mr. Alexandre.Miss Tirilda ........ Mr. Alexandre.

174

Here we must separate these illustriouscompetitors, the Doctor having beaten theventriloquist, by the support of the followingadditional characters :-

Midwifery .............. Dr. Davis.Diseases of Women and Dr. Davis.Children ............Toxicology ............ Dr. Davis.Practice of Humbug .... Dr. Davis.

But we must take our leave in peace ofthis medical Mokanna, sincerely hopingthat our innocuous attempt to raise his’* silver veil," may not lessen the number,or diminish the faith of his followers, in hismiraculous attainments; for the point ofour pen admonishes us that we have writ-ten more than the lawful extent of a sketch.We slall merelv remark, that the anatomi-cal market of Dublin promises to be abun-dantly supplied this season at the usual lowprices. We ourselves, indeed, in order toinsure attendance, have taken the trouble toorganise a cordon sanitaire of resurrectionmen around the churchyards of the capital,in order to protect them against foreign in-vasion. To any Scotch or English bone-grubber found trespassing on these pro-hibited grounds, the penalty will be burialalive in the very first grave he violates.Having made this proclamation, we shallconclude by wishing success to all privateschools, private teachers, grinders, &c., and

may they increase like the Israelites andthe Irish in bondage, until they burst thechains in which corporations have boundthem, by their merit and multiplication.

ERINENSIS.’ Dublin, Oct. 25th, 1828.

WESTMINSTER MEDICAL SOCIETY,

October 25, 1828.

Dr. SOMERVILLE in the Chair.

ANEURISM OF THE AORTA. - PROTECTIVEPOWER OF VACCINATION.

THE minutes of the last meeting havingbeen read,

Dr. GREGORY, agreeable to an intimationhe had given, related a case of aneurism ofthe aorta, which, he considered, presentedappearances as curious and interesting’ afterdeath, as the symptoms were extraordinarywhile the patient lived. T. C., ætat. 42,No. 2, Castle Street, Gsosvenor Square,originally a baker, but, for many yearspast, out of employment, applied for ad-vice at St. George’s and St. James’s Dis-

pensary on the 1st of,Septeniber last. For .the first fortnight he was under the care of’Mr. Reynolds ; and complained of a very se-

vere cough, which he had had for about twomonths, with very copious expectoration.His chest altogether was uneasy ; pulse 88;countenance very anxious ; the veins of thearm were full. He was bled, and took rhn-barb and saline mixture. He came underthe care of Dr. Gregory, on the 13th of Sep.tember, labouring under a cough, with ex-treme hoarseness. The cough came on inparoxysms, with extraordinary violence; hecould not lie on the right side. He statedthat he had been ailing for five months, butthat, at the beginning of the present vear,he was perfectly well. The Doctor tried avariety of means, and found his patient most

benefited by medicines of a stimulant kind.On October the 6th, he was confined to hisbed, and had fits of dyspnoea. The inspira-tions were long, and very like croup. The

night before, he had a violent fit, in whichhe bit his tongue. The fit lasted for threehours. He referred all his sufferings to thebifurcation of the trachea. -Ether affordedbut very little relief; wine, of which hetook a very considerable quantity, affordedmore. His sufferings continued, and, on the20th October, they were extremely great;his countenance excessively anxious, but hespoke quite coherently. On the followingnight lie felt worse, and his wife left thehouse, in order to get assistance ; in themean time the daughter, who was left mattendance, fell into a dose, at which mo-ment the patient got out of bed, in one of hisparoxysms, opened a window, threw him-self out, fell upon his head, and was takenup dead. The following day an inquestwas held ; and, on examining the body, theDoctor, when detaching the clavicles fromthe sternum, met with a round substance,the nature of which he could not readilyunderstand, but which lie afterwards foundto be an aneurismal sac. The part of thetrachea to which the patient had referred hissufferings, was excessively red, and showedgreat marks of inflammation. The larynxwas not in the least degree affected. Ulce-ration, to a considerable extent, had pro-

ceeded in the bronchia. The parts he hadmade a preparation of, and brought for the

inspection of the society. He had not beenable to trace the commencement of the dis-ease further.back than six or seven months.

’’ During the whole time he had attended ’hepatient, nothing arose to induce him to sup-pose the existence of aneurism of any of the

great vessels. The growth of the aneurismappears to have been entirely inward. Thefewere times at which the patient could fill

the chest, and breathe with perfect free-dom ; at other times the dyspnoea was mostdistressing. Though he had thrown him-self out of the window in a fit of insanity,yet the Doctor had never observed him

labouring under any attack of delirium.