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MEDICAL DIARY OF THE WEEK.

MONDAY, FEB. 4..........ROYAL FREE HOSPITAL.—Operations, 2 P.M.CHEMICAL SOCIETY.-8 P.M.EPIDEMIOLOGICAL SOCIETY.-8 P.M.

TUESDAY, FEB. 5......... f

GUY’S HOSPITAL.-Operations, 1 r.n.ROYAL INSTITUTION.-3 P.M. Professor Huxley,

" On Physiology and Comparative Anatomy."PATHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON.-8 P.M.WEDNESDAY, FEB. 8... C8r.

MARY’S HOSPITAL.—Operations, 1 P.M.UNIVERSITY COLLEGE HOSPITAL. - Operations,2 2:p.m.

THURSDAY, FEB. ? 7 ....

f MIDDLESEX HOSPITAL.—Operations, 12½ P.M.ST. GEORGE’S HOSPITAL.—Operations, 1 P.M.CENTRAL LONDON OPHTHALMIC HOSPITAL.

Operations, 1 P.M.ROYAL INSTITUTION.-3 P.M. Professor Tyndall,On Light."HARVEiAN SOCIETY.—8 P.M. Mr.Winchester, "On

{ a New Method of treating Fractures."KING’S COLLEGE MEDICAL SOCIETY.-8 P.M. Mr.

I M. J. Sturges, "On the Agencies which induceEpidemic Disease."

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE MEDICAL SOCIETY.-8 P.M.Mr. Robert Hunter, " On the Speculum and itsUses."

T_ROYAL SOCIETY.—8½ P.M.

IFRIDAY, Fss. 8 .........

II

OPHTHALMIC HOSPITAL, MOORFIELDS. —Opera-tions, 10 A.M.LONDON HOSPITAL.—Operations, 1 P.M.

, WESMINSTER OPHTHALMIC HOSPITAL. - Opera-! tions, 11 P.M.

ROYAL INSTITUTION.—8½ P.M. Professor H. D.I Rogers (from the United States), " On the Geo-logy and Physical Geography of North America."

SATURDAY, Fas. 9......

CHARING-CROSS HOSPITAL.— Operations, I2i P.M.WESTMINSTER HOSPITAL.—Operations, 1 P.M.

ST. THOMAS’S HOSPITAL.—Operations, 1 P.M.ST. BARTHOLOMEW’S HOSPITAL.—Operations, 1½P.M.

KiNG’S COLLEGE HOSPITAL.—Operations, 2 P.M.

ROYAL INSTITUTION.-3 P.M. Professor Odling," On Organic Chemistry."

ROYAL BOTANIC SOCIETY.—33/4 P.M.LMEDICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON.-8 P.M.

To Correspondents.The Case ofjones v.’Welch.-When William the Third was induced on one

single occasion to lay his hand on a poor wretch wishing to be cured of theKing’s Evil by the royal touch, he said-" God give you better health andmore sense." We must confess that our wishes for the patients of homceo-pathic physicians are not so seemingly merciful, and that we are prone toutter sush imprecations on them as would make the shade of Ernulphuswalk disturbed: " May your vigour of mind and body fail, your bones decay,your limbs be eaten by disease, your joints stiffen, and be everlastingly im-movable !" Such is the commencement. This stern temper, however, is notvindictive, but rather is the consequence of a firm conviction that the bestway of reclaiming fools is to let them taste to the full the bitter effects offolly. A cause was tried on Monday last before Mr. Baron Bramwell, thatsets forth the humbug of homœopathy in a most contemptible, thoughperhaps in no new, light. The plaintiff was one Mr. Jones, a practitionerof homceopathy, residing in Harrington-square, Hampstead-road, whosought to recover £58 from a Mr. Welch, carrying on the business of cow-keeper and milkman at Shepherd’s-bush, for professional services renderedto his (defendant’s) daughter, a young lady, aged seventeen. Miss Welch, itappeared, had suffered under severe neuralgic pains, and sought relief at thehands of one of those ignorant impostors who cherish the traditions ofscience, and are generally known as medical practitioners. (?) Of course hefailed to give the benefit required; so Miss Welch, on the principle thatwhat wine cannot do water can, threw herself on the bosom of homoeo-

pathy, and called in Mr. Jones. Strange to say, this person for oncewas powerless to arrest disease; neuralgia scorned his globules, and hispatient soon entertained no higher opinion of him than she had done of herformer advisers. In short, Mr. Jones was cashiered, but not until he felthimself entitled to .688, his fee being a guinea a visit. The defendantasserted that after his daughter had derived no advantage from the first tenvisits, she requested Mr. Jones to discontinue his calls; but devotion tohomoeopathic science would not allow the plaintiff to comply with so absurda request. At last the connexion between the patient and attendant wasbrought to an end; the latter eventually making the demand we have abovestated, and the father paying C25 into court, and pleading that beyond thatsum he was not indebted. During the trial not a little amusement wascreated by the production of one of Mr. Jones’s prescriptions to the followingeffect :-Aconite, four ounces; belladonna, four ounces; and an ordinarylotion of silica. Mr. Joshua Watkins, a member of the College of Surgeons,who confessed to have none but a very general acquaintance with homœo-pathic jargon, was asked by Mr. Edwin James what lotio ordinaris was.Mr. Watkins could not say; but the plaintiff explained that it was nothingmore or less than flint-water; whereat the court, being an unscientific court,burst into laughter that was hearty and renewed. Mr. Watkins was also

applied to, to state what four ounces of belladonna and four ounces of aconitecould be for; but that gentleman was again at a loss, and well he might be;for taking as correct the revelations of Mr. Jones, that one-millionth partof a grain of aconite and the same quantity of belladonna formed one dosefor his patient, and supposing she took a dose every five minutes night andday, the consumption of four ounces would require considerably more than6000 years. Mr. Watkins looked again at the prescription, and was forcedto confess that he could not make it out. An ordinary medical practitionercannot be expected to comprehend the heights and the depths of homceo-pathy. The evidence most worthy of remark, and most painful to reflectupon, is that given by Mrs. Carter, the nurse of the deceased, who proved theoffer of the plaintiff to visit the patient as afriend after theftrst ten or twelvevi.it., and after some months the latter had so far recovered as to be able todo without a doctor’s regular attendance. The patient, however, sunk underthe disease in September, 1854. Here is a picture of misery on the onehand and rapacity on the other. A poor girl, the daughter of a manin a humble position of life, receiving as a gift those services which she hadtold her medical attendant her father could not afford to pay for, and thatmedical attendant maintaining his position by the dying girl’s bedside by apromise that his care for her should be without charge, and yet demandinga guinea for each of his gratuitous visits! Another distressing portion ofthis drama forces itself upon our observation. Homceopathic treatment washad recourse to from some day in December of 1853 to the middle of theFebruary of 1854. In the September of the latter year the poor girl died ofher malady. Another word of comment on such a case is unnecessary.

G. -F., &c.—We have authority for stating that the person alluded to mostcertainly did not write the article in The Times of Friday last.

A Subscriber.—Information on all the points required may be obtained by anapplication to the secretaries of the several instutions named.

Non-Medicus.—Any surgeon can treat such a case..Dr. May is thanked for drawing attention to the subject ofllis letter. Unfor.

tunately there is no remedy for the practices which he so properly andstrongly reprobates. After THE LANCET leaves the publishing-office, wehave no control over the manner of its distribution, or the uses that may bemade of its pages for the conveyance of such bills as that forwarded, or anyother.

Dr. Henry Bennet’a first paper, " Practical Contributions to the Diseases ofFemales," will be published next week.

An Edinburgh Reader.-It is surely scarcely necessary to notice the proceed.ings of the mesmerists in Brighton-street Chapel. The meeting is not ren-dered important simply because Professor Gregory presided. The trashyZoist has died of inanition and absurdity. It can be of little consequencewhether or no a cheaper mesmeric publication is commenced in Edinburgh.The humbug is dying out.

Mr. Tyte, (Harrow.)-Next week.Pale Ale.—What proof has cur correspondent that the pale ale introduced intoVenezuela is adulterated with nux vomica? P

An Old Admirer and Contributor (Brighton) has forgotten to authenticate hisstatement.

An M.R.C.S. and would-be L.S.A.—Further notice will be taken of the sub-

ject.Blanc-Mange.—If it be true that Jacob Bell sells the gelatine that Mr. Redwoodmakes, we leave it to our correspondent to conjecture how far the opinionexpressed by these gentlemen, that gelatine is as good as isinglass, is

accounted for by the circumstance. Crimean Surgeon.-Thanks. The case shall be inserted.A Friend.—We certainly concur in the observations of our correspondent.The mendacity of the party is undoubted.

An Occasional Reader of THE LANCET is thanked. Our space is completelyoccupied this week.

Mr. S’taplea.-Consult any legally-qualified practitioner.Fair Play.—We could not insert our correspondent’s attack unless he attach

his name to the letter.

Inquirer.—We know nothing of the party in question.WE are unavoidably obliged to postpone the publication of the following im-portant articles, already in type :-The continuation of Mr. Erasmus Wilson’spaper on "Leprosy;" Mr. N. Ward’s "Surgery of Hernia;" Dr. Snow’s"Remarks on the Cause and Prevention of Death from Chloroform;" thesecond Meeting of the Military Medical and Surgical Society, First DivisionBritish Army, Crimea; the Pathological, Harveian, Western Medical andSurgical, and Epidemiological Societies; with several other valuable com-munications.

COMMUNICATIONS, LETTERS, &c., have been received from - Mr. Syme;Mr. Ranald Martin; Dr. Tyler Smith; Dr. Henry Bennet; Dr. Willshire;Dr. Andrew Smith; Dr. Tilt; Dr. Edwards Crisp; Dr. Pidduck; Mr. HenryThompson; Dr. Handfield Jones; Dr. Borham; Dr. Eade, (Norwich;) Dr.Frederick C. Cory; A District Medical Officer; Dr. D. Hooper; M.D. Edin.;An Occasional Reader of Tns LANCET; M.D.; Col. E. B.; Mr. Hawkes;Mr. Amos Beardley; Mr. Walter Sumpter; An Edinburgh Reader; A Lon-don Graduate in Arts and Medicine; Dr. May; A Subscriber; Chirurgicus,(Kertch;) Dr. F. J. Brown; Mr. G. E. Blenkins; Dr. J. T. Banks; Mr.Valentine; A Friend; A Provincial Fellow; Dr. John Sibbald; Mr. S.

Drew; The Royal Institution; Mr. Linsley, (Sheffield ;) Dr. Edw. C. Tyte;A Deaf Lady ; An M.R.C.S. and would-be L.S.A.; Non-Medieus; G. F., &c.;Dr. Schulhof; Mr. Staples; Mr. Laurence; A Visitor to the Museum;Dr. M. J. Turnbull, (Coldstream;) Fair Play; H. W. H.; A Friend; In.quirer; Pale Ale; An Old Admirer and Contributor, (Brighton;) A CrimeanSurgeon; Blanc-Mange ; &c. &c. ’