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uded, to answer so well, a solution of tinc-ture of iodine, in the proportion of twodrachms to six of water, of the ordinarytemperature, I have never altered them ;nor need there, perhaps, be any change,even when Europeans are the subjects ofoperation. In the case of a few robust Maho-medans, who use animal food, but one com-mon urethra-syringe full was injected, andthat quantity may be found sufficient in thecases of most Europeans." The effects of the iodine solution seem

to be immediate, the inflammation arrivingat its height in about twenty-four hours,and after that subsiding rapidly. In onlytwo instances has bleeding by leeches beenfound necessary. Poultices, cold lotions,and purgatives, have generally constitutedthe treatment ; and even these have notbeen had recourse to in a large proportionof cases.

11 Twelve cases of double hydrocele,treated oit both sides at once, recovered withquite as much ease and expedition, as thesingle cases. In one of these cases a much

larger quantity than had before been triedwas injected with safety; but if there be

any superiority iu the iodine injection, asused by me, it consists in the srnullness oftlte quantity used, certd its being retained ; forin the hands of the best surgeons, infiltra-tion may and does very frequently happenwith the port wine solution, owing, as Iconceive, to the cremaster muscle, excitedby pain, drawing the cavity of the sac offthe end of the canula.

’’The only caution that appears to me to benecessary in the performance of the injec- tion with iodine, is to see that the syriuge ;is in good order, that the piston fits well ;otherwise air will be injected, and the ope- irator deceiBed as to the quantity of fluid iusecl." i

. I

THE CLIMATE OF

VAN DIEMEN’S LAND

AS A RESORT FOR

INVALIDS FROM INDIA.

" To what vicissitudes is a British onicerin India exposed ! Suddenly subjected toexcessive heat, undergoing often extraordi-nary fatigue and privation, the whole framebecomes the victim of disease. Liable tobe called in a moment from a healthy can-tonment in Bengal to the foot of the Himal-ayah, or the swamps of Arracan, many areobliged to quit the lield of professional dotyand seek relief in a more congenial climate,- naturally that in which they were born.The length of the sea voyage, and the pros-pect of returning to relations, would cheerthe spirits of the valetudinarian, and im.

prove the condition of his frame. But thisboon can} be enjoyed but by few. Debts,and deprivation of allowances on going be-yond the. Cape, too frequently obstruct hisway, and he must, therefore, look to somespot by which he may escape sacrifices ofsuch magnitude."

This subject has, accordingly, been takenup by Mr. Dempster, in a paper publishedin the seventh volume of the " Transactionsof the Medical Society of Calcutta," inhe which professes to give an account of theclimate of Van Diemen’s Land as a resortfor invalids from India, and to indicate theclass of individuals who may expect to be-nefit by a temporary residence in that colony.He introduces the subject by a short accountof the country in the vicinity of HobartTown, of which alone he can speak. It isone vast forest. Steep hills, covered to thesummit with trees, rise in succession as far

as the eye can reach, leaving little levelground between.A stranger, who has heard of the rapid

progress of the colony, may expect to see

extensive tracts of cultivated ground. No-

thing can be more opposite to the actualscene he views on sailing up the Derwent.

The quantity of land that has already beensubjected to the plough, appears utterly in-significant when contrasted with the vast

surrounding forest, which will probablynever be entirely subject to the dominion ofman. Perhaps in no country of equal ex-tent, within the temperate zone, does theculturable land bear so small a proportionto that which is barren and uufit for theplough, and the new colonist finds the great-est di1Iiculty in selecting an eligible spot tosettle on.

In the autumn the mean temperature isabout 65 degrees, and the air is, in general,clear and bracing, and the whole seasonwould be esteemed temperate and agreeablein any part of the world. The wintermonths are our June, July, and August ;this is the rainy season, but there are con-siderable intervals of dry weather. The

average temperature is about 44 degrees.During the winter months a dense fog oftencollects towards evening, over the course ofrivers, and the narrow valleys between thehills. They continue until in the early partof the morning they are dispersed by a

breeze. " This formed," says Mr. Demp-ster, " my only objection to the beautifulvillage of New Norfolk,t where I resided,its situation rendering it peculiarly liable tothose fogs in winter." Hobart Town doesnot sufl’erfroii this annoyance. The .winteris generally considered the most pleasantseason of the year; and, indeed, nothingcan be conceived more delightful than a.

fine winter’s day in Van Diemen’s Land.

t Twenty-two miles from Hobart Town, on theDerwent, at the extremity of its navigable par.tion.

310

September, October, and November, form i fatigue. Such a person may suddenlythe spring. The mean temperature of this ! plunge into cold water, not only with safety,season is from 50 to 60 denrees. Much of but with advantage :—he will rise from histhe weather is delightful, but there are fre- bath invigorated and refreshed. But shouldquent vicissitudes; not so frequent as in the Be continue his exercise so long as to inducespring of England, but their range is exhaustion and profuse perspiration, andgreater. The summer months are Decem- then use the cold bath, he will expose him-ber, January, and February. It is difficult self to imminent danger. In Van Diemen’sto give a correct idea of the summer of Van Land the healthy inhabitant is occasionallyDicmen’s Land, the mean temperature of subjected to a high temperature for a fewwhich is below 70 degrees, and yet the ther- i hours ; true, he is incommoded, but neithermometer occasionally ranges as high as 100 exhausted nor debilitated. He is then sud-to 110 degrees. denly plunged into cold air; the effect is

In the forenoon the sun is generally pow- tonic and invigorating."erful, but every shade forms a cool retreat. The conclusions to which Mr. DempsterBefore noon the sea breeze sets in, and with arrives are,-" That the climate of Vanit comes an extensive fall of temperature. Diemen’s Land is, on the whole, agreeableAll may now go abroad without inconveni- to the feelings, and conducive to the health,ence, for the remainder of the day. The of Europeans. Their appearance is emi-

evening is generally so cool as to make a nently liale and robust, and th,e beauty offire pleasant, and blankets at night can sel- the children, and rosy complexions of thedom be dispensed with ; such is the ordi- women, are most striking to the eye of thenary summer weather. The change which Indian visitor."

‘

succeeds the heats is often most remarkable. J Mr. Dempster coincides with others inAll are oppressed with the sultry atmo-. believing that the climate of Australia hassphere; suddenly the wind shifts, a smart the effect of "Distinctly modifying theshower falls, and the inhabitants are in- human race, even in the first generation.stantly transported, as it were, to another Almost without exception, the children ofclimate. Fires are lit, great coats huddled visitors have fair hair and blue eyes; theyun, and all are moving about to keep them- grow up tall, and thin, and soon arrive atselves warm. " I used," says Mr. Der- puberty; in character they are energetic,went, " to be much puzzled how to clothe intelligent, and courageous, and believe

myself at this season : warm clothing was themselves to be a great improvement on theoppressive during the forenoon ; but if I ! parent stock."ventured any distance from home thinly I During Mr. Dempster’s residence at Newclad, I was sure to return pinched and be- Norfolk he had an opportunity of seeing allnumbed with cold. Some of the oldest the interesting cases of disease which oc-residents never put off their warm clothing, curred in that district; he visited daily theat any period of the year." Colonial Invalid Hospital, containing oil an

Mr. Dempster then notices the question, average one hundred and twenty patients.Whether vicissitudes which are sudden and Among other statements is the followinggreat in these latitudes are deleterious or curious one:—" Acute inflammation of the

" not ?-" Small and frequent diurnal vicissi- lungs is of frequent occurrence, and if nottudes, such as take place in England," he treated in the most active manner, proceedsobserves, " seem to produce little injurious rapidly to a fatal termination. I witnessedeffect; but a sudden accession of cold, several cases of consumption. I believe

occurring after a long period of hot weather, I that the climate is extremely injurious tois universally admitted to be highly danger-! persons predisposed to hagmoptysis; andous. In Van Diemen’s Land the alterna- that it excites to fatal activity incipienttions of temperature correspond with neither ! tubercles in the lungs. I was informed byof the above cases. In summer there is a medical gentleman long resident in thegenerally a single diurnal change. Some- island, that no person born and brought uptimes the heat is excessive, but it seldom in the colony had died of consumption ; butcontinues above a .few hours, and is inva- that a few children, who were sent to Eng-riably followed by a great and sudden fall land for education, had been carried oft’ byof temperature. It is a common opinion in this disease on their return." During theVan Diemen’s Land, that these vicissitudes winter of 1833, Mr. Dempster saw a privateare positively salutary. That a sudden fall of the 63rd regiment, who was labouringof the thermometer must be injurious to under a severe attack of scarlatina, the firstmany morbid conditions of body, cannot be instance of the disease ever known in thedoubted ; but universal experience seems to island. Syphilis in all its forms is nowprove, that to the great mass of the inhabi- common enough. Intermittents and remit-tants these changes are at least iunoxious. tents are almost unknown.The cause of this may be thus illustrated :- In conclusion, he gives the opinion whichSuppose a healthy individual to have the he formed on the change- that the Indiantemperature of his body raised to its highest may anticipate on going to Van Diemen’sstandard, but without having produced Land:--« Our experience of the effects of

311

the climate," he says, "its effects on in- Ivalids from this country, is yet limited.That experience, however, so far as it goes,is eminently favourable ; and I think we Imay safely conclude that, with a very fewexceptions, all invalids for whom a changeof climate is deemed necessary, may hopeto derive the fullest benefit of such changeby a temporary residence in Van Diemen’s’Land. Every one of whose case I couldobtain an account, had experienced greatbenefit, with the exception of a few persons,who arrived in the colony, either labouringunder, or having a strong predisposition to,thoracic disease. But several, who in theend afforded the most triumphant proofs ofthe unaided effects of the climate, did notimprove until tiey had resided many months i

on the island.." Van Diemen’s Land has also this advan-

tage over all the- other places in the Indianseas, usually resorted to by invalids. Thetowns, inhabitants! manners and customs-all are English : everything tropical is for-

gotten ; old recollections are renewed ; andmorbid habits are broken. The advantageof such moral remedies every physicianwill appreciate. I cannot doubt, that if allthe sick of the European regiments weresent to one sanatarium at Hobart Town, avast number of men would be yearly saved,who are now lost either by death, or bbeing sent home as unfit for longer servicein India.

11 I am unable to add any satisfactoryaccount of the climate of New South Wales."

OBLITERATION OF MARKING-INK.—To theEditor of THE LANCET.—SIR :—It havingbeen suggested to me, by Mr. Francis, ofBrighton, that marking-ink may be removedfrom linen by a preparation of ammonia, Ihave made some experiments on the subject,and the result warrants my asserting that itmay be entirely obliterated by means of theliq. ammonia,fortissime. Should you thinkthat this fact is worthy of publication, youare perfectly at liberty to insert it in yourvaluable Journal. I am, Sir, your obedientservant, EDWARD BENTLEY, Cross-street,Islington, May 9.

PRESERVATION OF ANIMAL SUBSTANCES.-M. Gannal, of Paris, has discovered thatthe substance most efficacious for preservingdead bodies is the acetate of alumina, withwhich a dead body may be preserved for along time as effectually as if embalmed, andat a very trifling expense. The aluminousfluid may be introduced by the carotid

artery, and any dessication produced maybe counteracted by a layer ofivariiisli. Thepreservation of specimens of natural historyfor museums may be henceforth effectedwith a great saving of labour and cost, andthe study of anatomy may be pursued withcomfort at all seasons of the year.

THE LANCET.

London, Saturday, May 20th, 1837.

MARKING INK.—PREPARATIONS.—MEDICAL REFORM.

WITHIN the last few months rumours

have been extensively and industriouslycirculated, to the effect that no legislativeenactment was to arise out of the evidence

which had’been elicited before the Parlia-

mentary Medical Committee. The corrup-tionists have so often repeated this state-ment, that they appear to believe that theirown falsehoods carry with them the weightand substance of truth. In self-cajolementthese unfortunate and exposed personageshave laboured with singular assiduity andsuccess; but we question if they have de-ceived any persons but themselves. Anxi-

ous to avert the fatal calamities which

threaten the whole system of medical mono-

poly and misrule, the corruptionists natu-rally directed their hopes to events, the pos-sible occurrence of which afforded them

some chance of escaping from the punish-ment which their mal-practices had so longrendered due. On observing the volumin-ous reports of evidence which had been

printed, and knowing that others were toissue from the same press,—guessing, with-out any remarkable degree of shrewdness,that the labours of the chairman of that

committee were of no ordinary difficulty,and that his position had become somewhatembarrassed by the destruction of mapy ofthe papers when the Houses of Parliament

were consumed by fire, the corruptionists,in their stupidly misplaced confidence, wereled to believe that the work of medical re-

form would only proceed bit by bit, in slipsof unseemly patch-work, and that all the

colleges and medical corporations would

escape from that general crash which theestablishment of a sound and enlightenedsystem of policy would inevitably produce-The long intervals which had elapsed be.