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that the complaint was dependent on derangement of thefunctions of the kidney, analogous to what occurred in

Bright’s disease. No urea could be detected in healthyblood, and the dropsy must depend either on this or someother abnormal substance present with it in the blood. The

complaint appeared about three weeks after the disappear-ance of the rash. He had treated these cases by depletionor counter-irritation over the region of the kidneys, and by dia-phoretics, and the patients had all recovered. He considered that a tonic plan of treatment was injurious, if resorted to asa general rule of practice.

Dr. SNOw said that his experience entirely accorded withthat of Dr. Garrod, respecting the nature of this disease. Herelated a number of cases to the Society about seven yearsago, and the cases he had subsequently met with confirmedthe views he then expressed. The dropsy was not the onlyconsequence of the renal disorder; for inflammation of theserous membranes, pericardium, pleuræ, or peritonaeum, oftenoccurred, and were the chief sources of danger in this affec-tion ; and in a few rare instances the renal disease causedinflammation of this kind, without occasioning any generaldropsy.

Dr. WEBSTER was gratified to hear that Dr. Garrod hadfound the dropsy following scarlet fever to be not a fataldisease. He had arrived at this conclusion after much expe-rience.

Dr. OGIER WARD had seen dropsy succeeding to scarletfever in a great number of cases, during the late epidemic, atKensington. He had only seen it fatal in one instance.

Dr. SNOw read a paper on

NARCOTISM BY THE INHALATION OF VAPOURS.

He related the result of a great number of experiments thathe had performed on animals, for the purpose of determiningthe proportion of various vapours in the blood in the differentstages of insensibility. He had ascertained that the quantityof vapour in the blood, necessary for causing any particulardegree of narcotism, bore a constant relation to the quantitythat the blood would dissolve, and that this relation was the

Bsame with respect to the different substances that he hadexamined, including chloroform, ether, bisulphuret of carbon, Iand others. For producing the second degree of narcotism,in which there were loss of consciousness, and impairment ofvoluntary motion, one fifty-sixth part of what the bloodwould dissolve was sufficient; and for producing the fourthdegree, or that state in which all motion of the voluntarymuscles was completely abolished, one twenty-eighth part twas required. The experiments for determining these pointsconsisted in ascertaining the smallest quantity of vapour, inproportion to the air, which would suffice to induce a giveneffect, and were performed in the following manner :-A smallquantity of the liquid to be examined was weighed, and putinto a very large glass jar, carefully closed, and when thevapour was equally diffused, a small animal-generally a birdor a mouse-was introduced, which was allowed to remainfor some time after the effects of the vapour had ceased toincrease. At the point at which the effects became stationary,the tension of the vapour in the blood balanced the tensionof that in the air in the lungs, at the temperature of the body,which being already known, the quantity in the blood couldbe calculated. The results obtained agreed with experienceas to those vapours which had been administered to patients.Chloroform required about 288 parts of serum of the blood todissolve it; and taking M. Valentin’s calculation, that thehuman body contains, on an average, about twenty-six poundsof serum, it was found that twenty-four minims was thetwenty-eighth part of the quantity the blood would take up-the quantity, consequently, for producing complete insensi-bility. When allowance was made for the vapour, whichreached no further than the trachea, and was therefore notabsorbed, this agreed with experience. The quantity ofether required was found by calculation to be considerablylarger, on account of its much Greater solubility; and theseexperiments showed the cause of the rule he had stated onanother occasion, that the more soluble a volatile substancewas, the greater was the quantity required to produce a giveneffect; and that, consequently, when the volatility was takeninto the account, the strength of this class of substances wasin the inverse ratio of their solubilitv. He considered thatthe vapour of these substances did not become decomposed,or enter into any chemical combinations in the body, butproduced its effect by its mere presence, impeding those com-binations between the oxygen in the arterial blood and thenervous tissues, on which the functions of the nervous systemdepend.

This was the last meeting of the session, and the president,Mr. HIRD, on leaving the chair, said,Gentlemen,-The period has arrived at which the meetings

of our Society terminate, and it now devolves upon me to ad-journ our discussions until the commencement of anothersession. A review of the proceedings of the past year affordus abundant reason for gratulation. The zeal, the energy,the important results which have characterized the meetingsof the past session, have never been surpassed since thefoundation of the Society-not excelled even in the days whenJohn Hunter, its illustrious founder,-the greatest genius thathas ever adorned our profession, in this or any other country,-was the president. I will not draw an invidious comparisonbetween the merits of this and the other medical societies ofthe metropolis. The grand objects of association are alike ineach-viz., the diffusion of knowledge, and the inculcation ofsocial and friendly relations amongst the members of our pro-fession. But we will vie with them in utility, in zeal for thepromulgation of practical knowledge-for the characteristicfeature which at all times stamps the discussions of thisSociety is experience. Although the greatest amount ofbenefit derivable from our meetings is conferred on those whoare present, the advantages are diffused, by means of theadmirable reports of the proceedings through the medium ofthe medical press, over the whole United Kingdom and othercountries. The exertions of the council have been crownedwith an amount of success almost unknown to the societies ofthe metropolis. The most convincing proof that can be ad-duced in favour of the advantages derivable from our associa-tion, and of the estimation in which our Society is held by theprofession, is the fact, that during the past session forty newfellows have been admitted. The council and fellows havefaithfully discharged their respective duties; the Society hasnever been disappointed of the subject announced for dis-cussion ; and, in addition to the pre-arranged matter, theexhibition of valuable morbid specimens, and the relation ofcases of great interest that have occurred during the week,have occupied the portion of time allotted to such purposes.I look forward with interest to the publication of an abstract

of our transactions, which the council hope to be enabled toaccomplish at the conclusion of the next session, and this an-nouncement of their intention I trust will stimulate thefellows of the Society to continued exertion. An abstract ofthe important facts in relation to disease and its treatment,which are weekly brought before this Society-those clinicalappliances which constitute the lex non scripta, if I may sospeak, in the management of disease, a knowledge of whichthe junior members of our profession can only become ac-quainted with through the medium of societies like ours-will constitute the most valuable description of publicationthat can bo presented to the profession. The medical

, societies of the metropolis may be considered the finishing-. schools to the members of our profession, whose education is. imperfect until they have taken an active part in all that. relates to the practical details of our art. Gentlemen, in) conclusion, allow me to express the deep sense of gratitude I, feel for the support with which you have thus far honouredLme as your president. I sincerely hope that when the period, arrives for my resigning into your hands the important trustL committed to my charge, the lustre of this highly-prized office, will not be found tarnished, and that I shall not have been. found altogether unworthy the distinguished honour your) confidence and kindness has conferred upon me.

Foreign Department.Deterioration of the Popzclatiort in Fa ance.

We extract from a letter in L’ Union Médicale the followingpassage :-

" All the writers on political economy and agriculture whohave published statistics agree in thinking that the popu-lation of France is daily losing bodily vigour. If you inquirein the manufacturing districts, you will be told by the ownersof factories and works of all kinds, that the French workmencannot do near so much work as the English or Americans.People connected with the recruiting of the army will alsodistinctly state that at no period were there so many menunfit for service as at the present time. Does the cause ofall this lie in the bad or insufficient food which these peopleuse ? Double and treble the number of hospitals and chari-ties will not be efficient for improving such a state of things;they are mere palliatives. In the country they feed prin-cipally upon rye bread, buck-wheat cakes, dry or fresh vege

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tables, dressed with a little grease, or cheese,-rarely meat,and this always in very small quantity. It has been calculatedthat, in the metropolis itself, every individual spends, on anaverage, only about £2 2 1Os. sterling a year for animal food,and, deducting the bones, the actual weight of the meat willbe four ounces per diem. It need hardly be added that,according to this calculation, there must be, for every indi-vidual who eats half a pound of meat daily, another who getsnone at all. By applying this average to the population ofParis, it will be found that there are, daily, 500,000 personswho consume their half pound of animal food, whilst half amillion do not taste any."

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Urea in the Paspiration.Dr. LANDERER, professor of chemistry at Athens, has just

discovered a considerable quantity of urea in the perspiration.After having soaked in water a piece of flannel whichhad long been in contact with the skin, he obtained ayellowish liquid, slightly acid, and of a saltish taste; this wasevaporated, and deposited, after a few days, a granular massof phosphates. The supernatant liquor was then treated byalcohol, and gave, after evaporation, a residue emitting astrong smell, and having a sweet taste. This being dissolvedin water, and decomposed by oxalic acid, gave, in about thirty-six hours, a precipitate composed of small crystals of oxalateof urea. To make doubly sure, Dr. Landerer dissolved thesecrystals, and treated the solution by carbonate of lime, andthen by alcohol; after evaporation, a few drops of nitric acidwere added, and silky crystals, of a slightly acid taste, anddecrepitating over the fire, were obtained.

MedicinaL Employment of Gutta Percha.Gutta perclia being very soluble in sulphuret of carbon, and

the latter not losing any of its great volatility by the com-bination, M. UYTTERHOEVEN, head surgeon of St. John’sHospital, in Brussels, is in the habit of spreading the mixturein its liquid state over parts which he is anxious to preservefrom the action of air and water. Recently, an abscess re-sulting from caries of the ribs, after being emptied, wascovered by a coat of this fluid, a small patch of court-plasterhaving previously been placed on the puncture. In thismanner, the inflammation of the parietes of the cyst wasprevented, and the latter was emptied as often as accumula-tion of matter required. The same surgeon Iras employed thematerial, prepared in the manner mentioned above, to preventthe entrance of air into an articulation laid open by a wound.There is no doubt that chloroform might advantageously re-place the sulphuret of carbon.

Regeneration of the Crystalline Lens.M. STROMETER has shown to the Medical Society of the

department of the Upper Rhine, a lens regenerated after theoperation of cataract. The patient died four years afterhaving been operated upon. The organ reproduced was notexactly a lens, but a ring, perfectly transparent before itsimmersion in alcohol. The annular form is attributed by M.Stromeyer to adhesions between the anterior and posteriorparietes of the lens, and he puts the question whether theseabnormal adhesions, in the hope of renewed occurrence ofsuch a regeneration, could not be prevented.

Sale of Horse-flesh .Since the siege of Copenhagen, in 1807, horse-flesh has

regularly been sold by the butchers in that capital for generalconsumption. The only formality required is, that a horse,before it is killed, should be examined by a veterinary sur-geon, and marked on each hoof. There are even shamblesespecially licensed, where nothing but horse-flesh is sold.The establishment is placed under the immediate superintend-ence of the Veterinary College. In Belgium, the horse-fleshobtained from Meulenbeck-Saint-Jean, where a large numberof horses are killed, is publicly sold, and when it gets stale itis used for sausages. We are afraid that the British poorconsume unconsciously a good deal of the same article.

Medico-Legal Question:There is now pending, in the (ci-devant) Cour Royale of

Poitiers, a case of appeal which is interesting in a medico-legal point of view. Dr. V IVIELLE has been fined in costs, bya lower court, for refusing to give evidence as a witness, lieconsidering the confidence placed in him by his patient to beof a sacred nature. He had attended a Mr. B- for avenereal affection, and the wife, having been injured in her’health by this circumstance, was also obliged to put herself

, under his care. She now sought a separation, and demanded. from her medical attendant that he should disclose to the. court every circumstance connected with herself and husband,, which, as above stated, Dr. Vivielle refused to do.

The Medical Society of La Rochelle, where the parties are, residing, has taken up the matter, and its members have

testified to their associate their approval of his conduct. Wemust not omit to add, that this same Cour Royale of Poitiers

gave, in 1828, a verdict in favour of the secrecy of medicalmen in certain circumstances. Several letters have appearedin the French medical journals, advocating different views onthe question, and the celebrated Lammenais has been madeto give his opinion. He very justly remarks, "that a medicalman lias two distinct duties to perform-one towards hispatient, the other towards society; and if it be incumbentupon him, in the latter capacity, to apprise the authorities ofthe existence of a contagious disease, it is equally right andjust that he should disclose any circumstance which mightlead to the detection of wrong." In our own country, amedical witness who refused to give evidence when called onin a court of law, would be liable to imprisonment for eon-tempt of court. ____

Vracity of Homœopathists.Our readers probably remember how pompously the

wonderful statistical reports of the homoeopathic hospital ofGumpendorf, at Vienna, were announced. It now turns out,from the examination of the books of the establishment byM. Balfour, that these statements were mere forgeries. Dr.Fleischmann had stated that, during the year 1846, sixty-fourpatients suffering from pneumonia were admitted, of whomtwo only died, or three per cent.; whereas, it has been foundin the books that, in the space of three months, three pneu-monic patients died out of nineteen-viz., fifteen per cent.It was also stated, that all the patients with ague were curedexcepting two, who died, whilst the books gave within theabove-mentioned quarter the name of a patient who left thehospital in a worse state of health than when he entered it:finally, two cases of pleuritic effusion and general anasarcawere reported as cured, whereas the individuals left thehouse in exactly the same state as when they were admitted.

The Foundling Hospital of Paris has not escaped the, general change of names which so many other public institu-

tions have undergone; it is henceforth to be called, Asylumfor Children Adopted by their Country, (Enfants de la Patrie.)

Treatnzent of Nœvus.Dr. CORDIER, in a paper addressed to the Academy of

Sciences, states, that in order to destroy or modify naevimaterni, he introduces white lead under the skin by means ofneedles. This operation is soon followed by a little inflam-mation, phlyctenæ, and slight eschars. When the latter fall,the colouring matter employed, (the white lead,) which isvery analogous to the colour of the parts around, takes theplace of the nscvus, and remains indelibly. (We suspectthat this is rather far-fetched, and would hardly bear thetest of practice.) ____

Spontaneous Cure of an Ovarian Tumour.In one of the late sittings of the Socicte Medico-pratique of

Paris, a case of encysted ovarian tumour, of several years"standing, was brought forward, which disappeared in a fewdays, after very considerable micturition. M. DOBIGVy, whoattended the lady, (of middle age,) asked the Society for thesolution of the problem, whether the cyst opened into thebladder, or was merely effused into the peritonæum, absorbed,and carried off’by the kidneys. He gives no other symptombut a feeling, expressed by the patient, as if some liquid werefalling drop by drop into the cavity of the abdomen. Anothermember mentioned a similar case which had occurred in hispractice. We do not find that any of the members presentgave an explanation of the phenomena, nor was it very easyto do so, considering the imperfect account of symptoms given.

Excretion of Iron.Dr. STAHL (Medicinische Zeitung) mentions that he has

detected a very large proportion of iron in the secretion ofspurious gonorrhoea or balano-posthitis, (Ricord.) He isabout to make some experiments on the normal secretion ofthe prepuce and glans, (the smegma,) in order to ascertainwhether this, as well as the abnormal oozing from the sameorgans, contains the above-named metal. The smegma hasbeen for some time known to contain a good deal of sulphur.

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Alleged Burial of the Living.The National, of the 19th instant, has a story of a woman

who was being carried to the grave, twenty-four hours afteran apparently sudden death. One of the bearers thought heheard movements within the coffin, and mentioned it to thepeople next him. They all gave an attentive ear; but asnothing further was noticed, they went on. When the coffinwas lowered, the sexton distinctly heard groans whilst he wasthrowing the earth upon the bier. The officiating priest wasmade aware of the fact; the coffin was taken to the rectory,opened, and the persons present really thought they couldperceive motions within the shroud. A medical man wassent for; but as some time elapsed before he came, liedeclared, after having viewed the corpse, that the womanwas really dead, but had only been so for one 7totcr. Weshould like to know by what external sign this sage medico-legist made out that exactly sixty minutes had elapsed sincethe poor woman expired. Although the National is notaddicted to such bantering, we much doubt the accuracy ofthe whole affair.

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Tests to distinguish Sugar from Glucose.M. GuiBOURT proposes the following test for ascertaining the

purity of the sugar :-Take one drachm of the suspectedsugar, (or syrup, after having decolorized it by animalcharcoal;) water, fifteen drachms; potash, mixed with alcohol,six grains; crystallized sulphate of copper, three grains. In-troduce these substances successively into a flask, dissolve byagitation, and allow to settle. If the sugar is pure, there isno precipitate; if, however, it be mixed with glucose, there is,a few hours afterwards, a red precipitate of protoxide ofcopper. Chevallier has another very simple process. Takeof the suspected sugar or syrup two drachms and a half ;water, five drachms; potass, mixed with lime, seven grainsand a half. Introduce the whole into a china capsule, andboil over the spirit-lamp. After ten minutes’ ebullition, thesugar mixed up with glucose becomes brown, and the puresugar retains the colour of whey. These tests cannot, how-ever, be used for acid syrups; for acids change almost all thesugar into glucose. ____

Effects of Fear.The Journal de la Soci6t6 (le Médecine de Montpellier details

two very curious instances in which the effects of fear hadbeen strange and widely different, in one case tending tocure, and in the other fatal. A man, thirty-five years old,was just going to be operated upon for strangulated inguinalhernia, when all the usual means for reduction had failed.Just as M. CABARRET was about making the cutaneous inci-sion, he perceived the patient turning pale ; respirationbecame very slow, and he was soon covered with a profusecold perspiration; eyes staring, and the whole countenancehaggard. But how great was the surgeon’s astonishmentwhen he perceived the sudden diminution of the tumour.Reduction had taken place during the shock produced byfear. A few drops of ether revived the patient, and two daysafterwards he was perfectly well. The second case refers toa young man, twenty-three years of age, of a lymphatic tem-perament, and whose cervical glands were tumefied. Havingreceived a challenge to fight a duel, which he had accepted,immediately on returning home he complained of headach,and went to bed, where he remained in a state of great pros-tration for four days, without answering any questions. Onthe fourth day, inflammatory fever came on, and on theeighth, he died in a low typhoid state. Intelligence remainedclear to the last, and no complaint of any pain whatever wasmade.

British Medical Journals.DIRTY CROYDON AND ITS DIRTY DOINGS.

lTHE following statement of the sanitary condition of this Itown, which has gained so unenviable a notoriety by its cele-brated inquest, is a suitable appendage to that history of thecapabilities and deeds of the Croydon officials :-

" CROYDON.—In our last, we stated that the town com-missioners of Croydon had appointed committees to inquire !into its sanitary condition; and we have now before us theffiost report of the committees, from which we extract thefollowing:

’ Sezvei-age and drainage.—That the town of Croydon is, onthe whole, utterly devoid of any system of sewerage, and thatthe drainage is altogether inefficient, being nearly confined tothe surface.

, Wate1’ supply for ordinary purposes.—The water supply ofCroydon, which, by proper management, and a moderateoutlay, might be rendered good both in quality and quantity,is inadequate to the wants of the inhabitants, especially thepoorer classes.

’State of courts, lanes, by-ways, &c.—The streets, lanes, andcourts, not immediately under the Board of Highways, are ina very deplorable condition, and unfit for ordinary traffic.Your committee regret that the powers of the Boards ofCommissioners of the Town and of Highways are altogetherinadequate to the perfect cleaning and maintaining of manyof the by-ways of the town.

’Contamination of wells, and water nuisances.—There arevery few wells in the town free from contamination from therefuse of the houses, dunghills, or drains, in consequence ofthe superficial drainage, and your committee were obliged tohear complaints from every class of the inhabitants of theinjury sustained by that cause, more especially in the denselypopulated districts of the upper and lower towns; and theyhad ocular demonstration of the existence of such nuisancesas dunghills placed in front, or within a few feet from thewindows of cottages, from want of room, or for the sake ofprofit.

‘Privy accommodadation.—The average of privies among thepoorer classes is not above one to three houses, many of thesehouses containing several families; and in many places theexcrement of children might be seen spread over the extentof the court or yard.’

" There is an open ditch running through the town, overwhich a number of privies are placed; and it is stated in thereport, that a child, visiting one of those places, ‘fell through,and was drowned, some time since: ’’—journal of PublicHealth.

THE SUFFOCATION OF CHILDREN BY NURSES.

"It is a practice with some nurses to thrust into the mouthof an infant a bag made of wash-leather, linen, or cotton, con-taining sugar; and they allow the end to hang out betweenthe lips. This effectually stops crying, and enables the nurseto sleep, with the certainty of not being disturbed. Thehelpless infant, under these circumstances, breathes chieflythrough the nostrils, and is in momentary danger of suffoca-tion, if the substance which thus blocks up the mouth shouldhappen to fall back into the fauces. A woman has just beentried at the Warwick assizes, on a charge of having thusattempted to suffocate a child only eleven days old. Thechild was discovered lying in bed with some rag hangingfrom its mouth. It was black around the mouth when firstseen, and made a violent gasp when the rag was removed, bywhich it recovered its breath. There was no malicious inten-tion on the part of the woman. The common practice ofquieting infants by this ingenious method of stopping respira-tion was actually appealed to as a justification of her conduct!The jury acquitted her."—Medical Gazette.

A POINT IN THE TREATMENT OF MAMMARY ABSCESSES.

" The following is a case of no very unusual occurrence :-A mother loses her infant, and neglects to pay that attentionto herself which her case requires. No attempts being madeto relieve the distended breast of its secretion, the glandbecomes hard and painful, and at length abscesses form indifferent situations. If the treatment is confined to the

evacuation of matter by puncture, and to the application offomentations and poultices, but little good is done. Theformer abscesses continue to discharge, fresh ones are con-stantly forming, and the woman at length sinks into a stateof hectic. Means should be used to stop the secretion ofmilk, which has been going on all this time, and perpetuatingthe mischief. Ve have no better means of effecting thisthan by the administration of a hydragogue purgative. I amusually in the habit of prescribing the sulphate of magnesiain the compound infusion of roses, to which, when there ismuch hectic and debility, I add some quinine and dilute sul-phuric acid. The effect of this treatment is sometimes almostmagical. I have known a woman, who for months had beensuffering from a succession of mammary abscesses, begin toget well from the moment that the salts produced its liquidevacuations from the bowels; the secretion of milk ceased,and the purulent discharge diminished, a more adhesive in-flammation being established in the place of these twoactions."-Provincial Journal.