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He has administered it in the form of mixture, simple or aro- matised, and in gradually augmented doses.There can be but little doubt of the efficacy of ammonia in

the eruptive and also in typhoid fevers, acting as it does as ageneral stimulus to the system, and as a special one to thecutaneous and mucous surfaces; and indeed, it has been con-

siderably employed in this country in scarlatina, but not somuch in the character of a specific as it appears to be viewedby 11. Baudelocque, as on account of its general and specialaction above indicated-an action particularly required wherea debilitating poison, like scarlatina, is preying upon thesystem. The value of ammonia in the dropsy followingscarlatina has been less appreciated, but it is certainly de-serving of trial; for, a priori,, we may anticipate benefit fromthis medicine by reason of its stimulant action upon the capil-lary system at large, whereby it influences nutrition at large,and particularly that of the mucous membranes. Thus it mayrestore the capillary system of the kidneys to its normal con-dition, removing the congestion present, and unloading theuriniferous tubes of their impacted epithelial particles, and sorendering the renal secretion natural and more active, relievethe svstemic droDsv.

Foreign Bodies in the Knee-Joint.M. VELPEAU has lately delivered an extremely interesting

clinical lecture on the above distressing and dangerous affec-tion. So impressed is this distinguished surgeon with thehazardous nature of the curative means employed in suchcases that he quotes Benjamin Bell, " better amputate at oncethan attempt extraction, which is so often followed by death."The case brought forward in this instance forms, however,an exception to the rule, for complete success crowned M].Velpeau’s efforts. The subject is a journeyman smith,24 years of age, of strong make and good constitution: he hadfor some time experienced a little pain in the right knee,when one day, in rising from the kneeling posture, which hehad assumed for the shoeing of a horse, he felt a sudden dart-ing pain in the knee, and, in applying his hand to it, was forthe first time made aware of the existence in that part of aforeign body of the size of a walnut. He had experiencedno pain whatsoever immediately before, had by no meansrisen abruptly, never suffered from articular rheumatism, andhad at the moment nothing the matter with him but blenor-rhagia. Divers means were used before he was admitted atLa Charite, when the part presented the following appear-ances : swelling, redness, and pain, with effusion in the joint;on the internal side of the inner condyle a movable foreignbody is felt, of the figure and size of a horse chesnut; it couldbe easily pushed under the ligamentum patellae and broughtout again; in the extension of the limb the foreign body layby the inner and superior side of the internal condyle in-flexion, it was hidden by the ligament of the patella. Whenthe inflexion was brought down by appropriate means, thefloating cartilage might be pressed and pushed without givingany pain. From this it is evident that the primary affectionwas the production of the foreign body, which had caused thesubsequent inflexion by its irritating presence. As to thenature of the floating body, M. Velpeau mentions that he hasseen two cases in which it consisted of fragments of detachedcartilage, and thinks that, in general, they are mostly theresult of resorption and induration after effusion within thesynovial capsule, and not watlaoact, as Sir Astley Cooper andBeclard have thought; although there may be a plastic effusionon the external surf’ace of the synovial membrane, which thengives rise to a foreign body, which remains attached to it bya longer or shorter peduncle. It is not easy to determine theorigin of the cartilage in this case, neither has the operationthrown any light upon this. None but direct surgical meanscould be thought of, and extraction was the only one whichoffered any chance, although a full third of the patients thustreated have perished. So great is the danger, that surgeonshave tried divers means in order to avoid the inflexion of thesynovial membrane: thus has M. Dufresne, a Paris surgeon,proposed to reach the capsule by a sub-cutaneous incision,make a small opening in the synovial sac, gradually press outthe cartilage, and leave it in the cellular tissue. This pro-ceeding ofters, however, no security against arthritis. M.

Goyran, of Aix, operates in the same manner, but leaving aninterval of a week between the capsular incision and the finalelimination of the foreign body through the skin: M. Velpeauhas succeeded twice in this manner. Boyer used to avoidmaking the cutaneous incision parallel to the capsular: this,however, was but a slight modification. It is very probablethat, in this case, the cartilage was pediculated and intra-

capsular, so that the operation must be extremely hazardous,as the knife must penetrate within the synovial sac. No in-flexion whatever remaining in the knee, the extraction waspractised in the following manner. Through a puncture inthe skin, the capsule was entered with a lancet-blade, fixed ona long and narrow stem, the leg being extended on the thigh;an assistant then pressed the foreign body, to allow the sur-geon to cut through the peduncle and push out the freecartilage, but all efforts failed. A hook was then introducedalong the stem of the instrument first used, and the foreignbody being then drawn outwards by the hook, renewed en-deavours were made to cut the peduncle; but this manoeuvresucceeded as little as the first. The surgeon then decided oncrushing the cartilage, and he effected this with the stronglance which had been first introduced, the foreign body beingsecured by the hook. After much tearing in every direction,the two instruments were withdrawn, and the triturationseemed complete; many of the fragments followed the hook,and lodged in the surrounding cellular tissue, but the pedunclehad remained within the articulation along with some frag-ments : it might, however, be confidently hoped that both thelatter and the former would, after so minute a division, beeventually absorbed. The cutaneous orifice was carefullyclosed with court plaster, and a firm compression between thecapsule and the cellular tissue containing the fragments waseffected, in order to isolate the former from a part of thearticulation which might become the focus of suppuration.A few rounds of bandage being applied, the patient was car-ried to his bed, and the leg slightly flexed by means of apillow placed under the knee. We have given such a lengthto this analysis, that we can merely add that one month andfive days sufficed for the complete absorption of the foreignbody and the perfect recovery of all the motions of the limb.Not the most minute examination could detect the least traceof the once so annoying cartilage; and M. Velpeau adds thatthis is the first time that he has thus modified M. Goyran’smethod by bruising the foreign body both within and withoutthe capsule. ____

Wholesale Poisoning in Paris.M. HIREAN, a military surgeon on half-pay, has written a

letter to the Mayor of Paris, wherein he points out that thesupposed wilful and guilty poisoning of the brandy, offeredfor sale during the insurrection of June, was imaginary, butthat the deleterious effects of the liquors sold by itinerantvendors were not so. The fact is, that many of the revoltingacts then perpetrated, and the maniacal excitement noticedon both sides, were partly owing to the noxious substancesmixed with the awfiil beverage sold in the street under thename of brandy. This shockingly adulterated liquor hasbeen analyzed, and found to consist of a very small amount oflargely diluted alcohol, mixed with an acrid and inodorousliquid, and coloured with a decoction of oak-bark or tobacco.This destructive drink, ingested on an empty stomach, pro-duced a wild state of excitement, followed by profound pros-tration.To this statement we add the following, extracted from

the Jo2craaal de Chimie Médicale for June:-" Shocking frauds are committed in Paris by street vendors

of different articles of consumption. Crowds of women, forinstance, will offer for sale, particularly to the poorer classes,chocolate, which, they say, comes from a bankrupt stock-which stock, judging from the ever-repeated sale by thesewomen, must be inexhaustible. The truth is, that this vilestuff’is manufactured by a set of unprincipled men, who palmupon the poor people, under the name of chocolate, substancesquite incompatible with our digestive organs. Sawdust orthe cortical part of the cocoa has been found in it in largequantities; in other samples, half their weight of fecula, ofstarch, of roasted rice, and of suet ! The same heartlessroguery prevails with other substances: pepper is mixed withhalf its weight of the fragurus of the colewort; jujube con-tains, instead of gum arabic, animal gelatine; currant jelly isfound not to contain an atom of the fruit, and is but a compoundof a little pectine, coloured with the juice of the red beetroot,aromatized with a little strawberry syrup, and thickenedwith gelatine. Pastry, adorned with a mixture of white ofegg and arsenite of’ copper, seriously injured three persons.But what is worst, chemists themselves use their skill foradulteration: thus may one chemist unsuspectingly take fromanother extract of lactuca, fabricated with essence of’ juniperand fecula ; spirit of mon2esia, made with liquorice andrathany; extract of sarsaparilla, which contains extract ofsaponaria, &c.