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?3 C
AN
APOLOGY FOR THE NERYES:
OR,
THEIR HFLUEKCE AND IMPORTANCE
HEALTH AND DISEASE.
BY
SIR GEORGE LEFEVRE, M.D.,
FELLOW OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS,
LATE PHYSICIAN TO THE BRITISH EMBASSY AT THE COURT OF
ST PETERSBURG, ETC. ETC. ETC.
" Without a nervous system there is no animal, — there can be none ;
■without a circulating one there are myriads." — Dr Macculhch on Fevers.
LONDON :
LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS,
PATERNOSTER ROW.
1844.
MURRAY AND GIBB, PRINTERS, GEORGE STREET, EDINBURGH.
3-f-5
2— S^S. o^
BENJAMIN TRAVERS, Esq., F.R.S.,
&c. &c. &c.
TO WHOSE FRIENDSHIP
THE AUTHOR IS INDEBTED FOR THE OPPORTUNITY
OF
VISITING THE GREATER PART OF EUROPE
AS A TRAVELLING PHYSICIAN;
AND OF SUBSEQUENTLY PRACTISING HIS PROFESSION
DURING A PERIOD OF FOURTEEN YEARS
IN THE CAPITAL OF RUSSIA,
THIS VOLUME
IS
GRATEFULLY INSCRIBED.
London, October 1844.
60, Brook Street, Grosvenor Sc|iiaiv.
PREFACE.
If "The Travelling Physician" has been censured by
his professional friends for omitting all medical topics
in the account of his Rambles, he is at least willing to
make the amende honorable^ by the present endeavour
to supply the omission.
In the physiological part of this work he has con-
densed the labours of others into a small compass ; and
in the pathological, he has stated the results of his own
experience in a northern latitude. He is doubtful
whether this will be worthy of his brethren's accept-
ance, seeing that the human race is, with few excep-
tions, every where subject to the same diseases, and
that the treatment of these is pretty generally con-
ducted upon the same plan, at least in those countries
in which he has sojourned. He has introduced some
peculiarities of the German school, both as regards the
modus medendi, and the choice of remedies.
Goethe has said of book-makers —
" Sizt ihr nur immer ! Leimt Zusamnien
Braut ein Ragout von andrer Schinaus."
Nor is it difficult by gluing together, and collecting
VI PREFACE.
the fragments of others' labours, to add another volume
to shelves ah-eady groaning under their heavy loads.
As regards physiology, opinions fluctuate as much
in this branch of science as they do in chemistry, —
nothing seems stable for any length of time. To
reduce a matter to the test of experiment is much
more easy than to reduce it to the test of truth.
After the sacrifice of hundreds of animals to establish
the validity of some favourite theory, it is objected to
the experimentalist, that his deductions are fallacious,
and then more life is sacrificed to prove that he was
wronff.
There is at present a leaning towards the re-esta-
blishment of old doctrines. In the blood we are again
to recognize all those vital phenomena which HoflPman
and his disciples could not find upon making a diligent
search for them, and when the more delicate and
beautiful system, founded on the influence of the
nerves, triumphed over the gi'oss and peccant himiours
of Boerhaave. The importance of the blood in the
animal economy is one of those self-evident ti'uths
which require no farther confirmation. If it be not
the " life thereof," it is the food of life ; but be it
remembered, that without the influence of the nervous
system, it loses all its powers and its vitality, which lat-
ter is rather borrowed from the nerves than inherent in
the blood ; and although this fluid is essential to the
well-being of the nervous system, yet it is formed
through the instrumentality of the latter ; for blood is
PREFACE. yil
not blood Indifferently to the animal in which it cir-
culates ; it must be of the same kind, and elaborated
by one of the same species. It is formed from chyle,
by the conjoint aid of chemical and nervous agency,
which must be in due force to prepare it properly, and
without which its nutritive powers are insufficient for
the purposes assigned them.
It is usual to speak of the blood as of a viscus,
which has existed in the same state from the com-
mencement ; the one waxing merely in growth, the
other in quantity. Now the blood is ever changing,
never the same ; at no one hour of the day is it the
same in the body, either as regards its quantity or its
quality.
Even in a healthy state, the fibrine, the albumen,
the red particles, the serum, are never for any length
of time in the same proportion to each other ; but
when disease manifests itself, the changes become
very apparent. The fibrine is in excess in inflamma-
tion, and in acute rheumatism it is found in triple pro-
portion to what it is in health.
The red particles abound in plethoric habits, and
are deficient in the leucophlegmatic.
The serum increases in the same ratio that the solid
parts diminish, and its saline particles are not constant
in their proportions.
It must be a stumbling-block to the humoral i)utho-
logists, who attribute all disease to the state of the
blood, that the latter is never in its normal state in
Vni PREFACE.
the pregnant woman, although she may enjoy the best
of health dming the whole period of gestation.
It is asserted by those even who strenuously main-
tain the vitality of the blood, that the red particles
and fibrine alone enjoy this advantage, which is denied
to the serum ; yet the latter is as essential to the con-
stitution of the blood as either of the former; for when
the serum is expressed from them, what becomes of
their vitality?
Extraneous, adventitious matters may be mixed with
the blood, but they do not stand in the same relation
to it as the serum, which is part and parcel of it.
If the blood be vital, it is so throughout ; but we
lean to the opinion that it borrows its vitality from
juxtaposition with the vital solids, as iron becomes
magnetic within a certain distance of the magnet.
It may be wasted to almost any amount, and be
reproduced by the nervous power working upon fresh
materials. The dehcately framed partm-ient woman,
whose requiem was all but sung (life having seemed
to ebb away), shall rise triumphant from her couch,
when the prick of a thorn or splinter, injuring a nerve,
shall prostrate the atldete not to rise again.
The blood holds a most important place amongst
the vital organs, if it can usurp this title, but it does
not hold the first place. To it the muscle owes its
power, the nerve its tone ; from it all the secretions are
prepared ; but it does nothing of itself; all depends
upon its vitality, which it derives from the nerves.
PREFACE, IX
In the further consideration of the subject, we shall
endeavour to establish its full claims physiologically
and pathologically, not endowing it with properties,
nor attributing to it inteUigence, but giving it its due
rank in its triple alliance with muscle and nerve.
" The Travelling Physician" sought protection under
the authority of a sliding scale for changes in opinions
during twenty years of his life; and as he is well aware
that a similar scale is applicable to every branch of
science, he cannot but feel that a long exile may not
have permitted him to keep pace with others in noting
the all but daily discoveries that have been made in
physiology. But if he has not learnt all that has been
done at home, he may comfort himself with the idea
that he will have less to unlearn. How much has
proved ej)hemeral in this short space of time I
Sir Charles Bell's respiratory nerves had a local
habitation, and a name, in anatomical text-books and
manuals. They have been erased from subsequent
editions of the same works.
Poisons were proved, as far as experiment can prove
anything, to be introduced into the system by means
of the blood.
This doctrine was set at nought by other experi-
ments still more conclusive than the experimentum
crucis of Mao;endie. Dr Addison and ]\Ir INIorgan
maintained that the nerves alone were the operating
agents, and that too upon the undeniable test of
experiment.
X PREFACE.
Other physiologists again maintain that there was
fallacy in these proceedings, — the old story, — and the
general opinion seems to be in favom* of absorption
into the blood to account for the effects of poisons on
the system.
What are we to tliink, then, of the nerves, — to hear
once more of a nervous fluid, visible, ponderable, palp-
able, expressible from tubes, when the idea of this
structure has been rejected, reviled, and proved fal-
lacious, for nearly a century. If those who think they
have arrived at the top of the tree find that they have
again to descend to the bottom, the Author will have
less cause for reproaching the frost and snows of
Ilussia, which, if they prevented him from climbing
so rapidly as he might have wished, may, at least,
have had the merit of lessening the height from which
he might have had to fall.
London, October 25, Hi44.
CONTENTS. ^ti
f f-
PART I,
Introductory— Brain and Nerves— Respiration— Animal Heat, 1
PART II.
The Blood, ••...... 23
PART III.
Muscular Motion— Circulation— Nutrition— Secretion, . . 33
PART IV.
Sympathy— Phrenology— Mesmerism— Sleep— Dreams, . . 48
PART V.
Vision— Hearing— Smell and Taste— Feeling— Voice and Speech, 85
PART VI.
Influence of Blood upon Nerves— Nervous Complaints— Headaches, 117
PART VII.
Epilepsy— Hysteria— Palsy— Catalepsy— Hydrophobia— Trismus
Traumaticus— Delirium Tremens— Hooping Cough— Chorea, 155
xn CONTENTS.
PART VIII.
Cholera Morbus — Scorbutus — Diabetes, . . . .181
PART IX.
Fevers, ........ 199
PART X.
Ill health — Nervous Coughs — Blood to Head — Ague — Moldavian
Fever — Local Diseases of Nerves — Sciatica — Iritis — Knee —
Earache — Affection of Jaw, ..... 226
PART XI.
Homoeopathy — Instinct and Reason — Memory, . . . 251
PART XII.
German Therapeutics, ...... 271
Appendix, ....... SOS
ERRATA.
Page 16, line 14, for plusquam, &c. read Ilominem, non ui a matre sed
a novercu natum.
Me Hercle . . Mehercle.
their . . its.
rebel . . able,
effort . . effect,
proves . . prove,
qu'il, &c. . . qu'il dit a la cigale.
La, &c. . . La maniere anglaise a trioniphd.
into . . in.
conglometion . . conglomeration.
76, .
. 15, ..
132, .
. 23, ..
156, .
. 26, ..
157, .
. 14, ..
161, .
. 6, ..
200, .
. 24, ..
277, .
. 23, ..
295, .
. 9, ..
353, .
. 14, ..
^^
AN
APOLOGY FOK THE XERYOl'S SYSTEM.
PART I.
Introductory — Braiu and Nerves — Respiration — Animal Heat.
INTRODUCTION.
There has been for some time a leaning of medical
opinion to doctrines which Avere exploded, because
they were considered as untenable. The coup de grace
was supposed to have been given to the humoral
pathology, and the views of Hoffman were adopted,
and flourished on the spoils of Boerhaave.
There is in all sublunary things a principle of pro-
pulsion, and one of retrograde movement. It is
seldom that the machine makes a dead halt for any
space of time ; if it do not go a-head it falls back.
Some allow themselves to be carried down the stream,
finding that they can make no head against it, — a sort
of voluntary compulsion. Thus, even at the present
time, and in the light of day, some anti-vaccinators
are to be met with, here and there, who glory in every
case of small-pox, if it succeed to vaccination, and
B
Z INTRODUCTIOX.
look forvrarcl to tlic re-establishmcnt of Variola as to
a medical mlllennmm.
When it was observetl by tlie political adversary
of a certain premier, tliat he Avas a drag-chain to the
coach, it was retorted that, but for this check on its
speed, the vehicle would topple over. It is justifi-
able from time to time, to look at the foundation of
systems upon which so much reposes.
When the late Dr Armstrong published his work
on fevers, it was hailed by the pupils, and by the jvmior
members of the profession, as a Newtonian system of
medicine. The treatment of fevers became a matter
of certainty. It was a plausible and specious com-
position, which caused the most bitter disappointment
to those who put his plan of treatment into practice.
The author himself, previous to the termination of his
career, much modified it. This popular production
savoured of the humoral pathology, and has imparted
this odour to many subsequent effusions. The snake
was only scotched, not killed by Hoffman, if we may
judge of the attempts to twist itself into life again,
which it is at present makmg. There is nothing
extraordinary in this. It is the fate of all systems
which have less than mathematical demonstration for
their basis, and such evidence has never been claimed
by the professors of the healing art. The greater the
excitement, the greater will be the reaction; — the
collapse follows. It has been too prevalent in found-
ing a new system to sink the old to the bottom,
whereas much valuable matter is to be picked from a
stranded wreck. There is always something good in
what is old, and it savours both of ingratitude and
INTRODUCTION. 3
of prodigality not to retain what may be serviceable.
It is plausible to talk of laying the axe to the root,
but Ave should be sure that we have planted a better
tree before we fell the old one. Lopping and pruning
would often stand us in better service. How much
do we lament the ill considered zeal of our ancestors
in defacing our ancient places of worship I When
John Knox said that the only way to prevent the
rooks coming again was to pull down their nests, he
was thought, no doubt, to have said a very witty
tiling, and told a very plain truth; but both have
proved equivocal, and the rooks are again congregating
and trying to repair their old nests, and the chisel and
the trowel are busy in restoring those works which
Cromwell's soldiers and horses so cruelly mutilated.
If we could see into futurity, we should often spare
ourselves much trouble. If we could be convinced that
time changes all things, we should not be so precipi-
tate in our actions, but trust more to its influence ; and
what is more important, we should avoid reaction.
Sweeping reforms introduce consei'vative principles,
which merge into restorative, and these again threaten
the return to the original sin. In the medical, as in
the religious, world, these changes are ringing, and
teachers are at work to re-establish the doctrines which
once were law in the school of Leyden. If these had
been more carefully examined and sifted, they might
have been reformed without being wholly rejected as
untenable.
" The conjecture of the old humoral pathologists was
not altogether wrong as to the existence of acrimonies
in the blood ; but they committed an error in sup-
4 NERVOUS, MUSCULAE, AND SANGUIFEROUS.
posino: tliem to be tlie cause instead of the effects of
the disorder."
In the present observations Avhich I have to oft'er
upon these important matters, it is not intended to
trace through the Avhole system of physiology the
importance due to the nervous system, but to rei)ro-
duce some of the most striking features which present
themselves to notice in considering the relative value
of the three great vital powers.
THE NERVOUS, THE MUSCULAR, AND THE SAN-
GUIFEROUS.
If the offices consigned to the first be dispassionately
considered, — if the weight of duty allotted to it be
borne in mind, — if the importance of its functions,
upon whose due performance the physical is connected
with the moral man, be duly appreciated, there can
be no hesitation in assigning it the first claim to con-
sideration. In a state of health and tone we recog-
nize its powers in the perfection of the five senses ;
the smallest derangement of its minutest organization
is accompanied by imperfect communion with the
external world in any of these five modes of relation-
ship. The division of a little chord, finer than the
most delicate lute-sti'ing, shall prevent the eye from
seeing, the ear from hearing, the tongue from giving
utterance ; nor shall there be aroma in the rose, nor
smoothness to the finger's touch ; — all shall be dead
without, — and then the inmost soul shall wither, pine
away, and die. Its importance over the vital and
NERVOUS, MUSCULAR, AND SANGUIFEROUS. 5
animal functions equally preponderates. The division
of two small chords shall suspend respiration ; and
circulation is so dependent upon the duties of this
function, that it soon ceases afterwards. In the pro-
cesses of digestion, assimilation, and secretion, there is
equal evidence of its prior claim to consideration. It
is not so easy to test it in these latter operations by
mechanical lesion as in the former ; but pathology
affords us the same conclusive evidence ; and another
power, of which at present we have but imperfect
notions, but which offers us much that resembles the
nervous, makes that evidence still stronger. Thus
the nerves, which preside over digestion, may be
subjected to test ; and when, by division of these,
this function is suspended, it may be renewed by the
substitution of the electric fluid.
Moral causes come to our aid in affording us proofs
of what secretion owes to the nerves. The eye, lubri-
cated by the effusion of the lachrymal gland, shall be
deluged with tears, or roll burning in its socket, as the
mournful tale or worked-up frenzy shall operate in
augmenting or suspending this secretion.
The kidney's functions are increased by nervous
irritation ; paralysis of the nerves, which are destined
to them, as we witness in Ischuria Renalis, suspends
then* action, and speedy death ensues.* Thus, tlie
vessels to honour and dishonour testify to the truth
of the assertion that the nerves are paramount, and it
would be waste of time to multiply instances in cor-
roboration of the fact.
As the lord of the vineyard would gather no grapes
* The ancients preserved their tears in little vessels, — Luchrymalki.
6 NERVOUS, MUSCULAR, AND SANGUIFEROUS.
nor press any Avine without labourers at his disposal ;
but as, under his command, one prepares the ground,
another plants the vine, while a third primes and
a fourth waters, and all is perfected in due season, so
we should find the nerves to hold a broken sceptre,
but for the agents which are in readiness to conduct
the operations which they control. These are sup-
plied by the muscles. What variety do they as-
sume in their forms and disposal, not less so in their
functions. The brawny deltoid of an athlete, the
smallest fibre, stretching and relaxing the tympanum,
are of one and the same structure. The sloth mounts
his ladder step by step, as he lays hold of the branches
with his claws, — the sky-lark soars to the clouds by
one and the same means. There is a directing power ;
but this would avail nou2;ht if the instrument of obe-
dience W'Cre not perfect in its kind. There are the
bones and ligaments, which seem to have been rather
too mucli neglected by the exclusives. The little
round shot of the fo wlers gun brings down the tenant
of the air a humble suppliant to the ground ; the
muscle no longer obeys the nerve, because it can no
longer rely upon the integrity of the bone. How the
web is woven, — break but a few of its meshes, and the
captive fly defies the spider still.
The scratch of the lancet, which shall distort the
eye and render expression hideous, shall also make
that seemly which was before a blemish in the fea-
tures. The twig of a twig is only imj)licated in this
performance, but it is muscle or its terminating ex-
tremity which is the subject of experiment. " The
nerves of expression" is a term somewhat in the
NERVOUS, MUSCULAR, AND S.iXGUIFEROUS. 7
usurper's style. Those v;hicli direct it would be less
equivocal, for they surely can of themselves express
nothing by themselves. The satirist Rabener relates
the history of a lawyer, the skin of whose face was so
thick that he was never seen to blush.
In the performance of all the different functions
alluded to, we recognize as fully the co-relative aid of
the muscular power to the performance of function,
as of the seeming primo-motor. Where fibre is not
demonstrable, function proves its existence ; and this,
in some instances, in an inverse ratio with its pal-
pable operative ; but, as Fontenelle observes, we have
very bad eyes.
Let us return to the vineyard, whose lord has
hired labourers. He visits his garden, and no man
is at his work, — all are prostrate, exhausted, unable
to labour. He is angry ; and yet, by the appearance
of things, the men have not been all the day idle. He
calls his steward to explain, for none to whom he ad-
dresses himself hath power to speak; and the steward
replies, that since they have been in his service, they
have tasted neither of food nor drink ; and that they
have gradually grown weaker and weaker, till they
have fainted away. Then the lord recognizes his
fault and his impotency, and he orders to each a small
portion of wine ; and as each begins to revive, the
portion is increased ; and, after a certain time, the
men are again labouring in the vineyard.
Now, he who would forbid the " banns between
flesh and blood," as the author of Spasm and Palsy,
&c., &c., intimates that some are inclined to do, must
take but a very nsvrrow view of things, and place
8 NERVOUS, MUSCULAR, AND SANGUIFEROUS.
himself In the situation of the improvident lord of the
vineyard.
This is precisely the case with the blood, which
(whatever importance may be assigned it in the ani-
mal economy) is more a product of other organs than
an organ itself.
The horror which nature is said to have of a
vacuum is not greater than that which many physio-
logists had of attributing vitality to a moving fluid.
Yet, as many horrors have been overcome, this also is
one which has died away without producing any
great convulsion in nature. It has amalgamated
itself with those Avonders of which Lucretius speaks
in such energetic language :
" Nil adeo magnum, nee tam mirabile quidquam
Principio, quod non minuant mirarier omnes
Paullatim."
It is said that the clot of blood becomes organized.
The fibrin poured out in inflammation, in a semi-fluid
form produces false membranes, which subsequently
become organized. Miiller has placed the matter in
its fairest and most intelligible light. A few extracts
from the division 6, p. 152, will suffice : — " To regard
merely the solids as living is incorrect, for there are
strictly no organic solids ; in nearly all water consti-
tutes four-fifths of their weight Although,
then, organic matter generally be considered as merely
susceptible of life, and the organized parts as living,
yet the blood also must be endowed with life, for its
actions cannot be comprehended from chemical and
physical laws.
The blood is not the only living fluid, as Spalan-
NERVOUS, MUSCULAR, AND SANGUIFEROUS. 9
zani's experiments long ago proved beyond all con-
troversy. " The blood manifests organic properties ;
. . . there subsists between the blood and the organized
parts a reciprocal vital action, in which the blood has
as large a share as the organs in which it circulates."*
In the important share ■which the blood has in all
the phenomena of life, we have no evidence of its
being influenced by voluntary power after it has been
effused. It is then the rudis indigesiaque moles, nor
is design traceable in its actions unless it come in
contact or relation with more formative powers ; it is
false membrane only which it produces ; it is no
longer the organ of thought or will. The blood is
the food of the system ; and, as fimctions are anni-
hilated or suspended by an excess or deficiency of
nutriment, as they are deranged by adventitious noxi-
ous ingredients mixed with the wholesome provender,
so are the nerves and muscles annihilated functionally
by precisely the same circumstances, as regards the
quantity and quality of their food, Avhich is the blood.
This, too, not only as concerns its constitution in
the same species, but in its influence upon animals of
diff'erent kinds, for it is found, by transfusion, that the
blood of an herbivorous animal Avill not support the lite
of a carnivorous one, whereas the blood of two animals
of the same species may be exchanged with impunity.
The nerves and muscles must form the blood Avhicli
can alone invigorate them. Here, then, we come at
once to the dependencies of the nerves, muscles, and
blood, upon each other ; and it is in vain to attempt to
isolate them in their mutual influences. They are
* MuUer's Physiology.
10 BRAIN AND NERVES.
collaborators in all the functions of life, but they are
not co-equals.
As futile would it be to attempt to separate mind
from matter in our present state of limited knowledge;
yet matter is not mind, nor is muscle will, nor blood
life, nor brain thought, yet these are to life what
matter is to mind.
We can substitute excitement, which shall rouse
irritability in muscle and nerve, but was mind ever
supplied by galvanism? The human species may
possess a higher power than the rational ; for this is
not to be denied in many of its functions to the brute.*
Instinct is common to both, nor sufficient for either.
The Vicar of Harrow, in his " World without Souls,"
has put to nought the satire of Monboddo, " that men
are monkeys with their tails rubb'd off."
BRAIN AND NERVES.
In contemplating, the organ of the brain, the care
which nature has taken, and the provision which the
God of nature has made for the preservation of this
most beautiful structure, we have ample evidence of
its importance. We are reminded of the parallel which
Paley draws between human and Divine works ;
whereas, in the former, there is ever an aim to ap-
proach what they never reach, viz. perfection; so,
whatever proceeds from the hand of the Creator is
so perfect in all its parts, whether in great things or
* Les animaux deviennent fous et enrages. S'ils n'avaient point de
raison pourraient-ils la perdre ? — Dc Wsiss.
BRAIN AND NERVES. 1 i
small, that all the combined efforts of human skill could
not make the slightest improvement. The organiza-
tion of the gnat is as complete as that of the camel,
nothing is forgotten, nothing omitted in all the infinity
of creation.
In examining the bony receptacle in which the
brain is placed, "sve find the wall built up the strongest
^Yhere it is most hable to injury from accidental causes.
Its spherical shape is also a great safeguard. Triple
membranes cover the convolutions, the external and
strongest of which dips down and separates the
hemispheres from each otlier, and, expanding below,
places a shield between the great and little bram.
These membranes prevent the pressure of the tAvo
parts of the organ upon each other.
In the arrangement of the vessels, every care is
taken that the circulation should meet with the least
possible impediment, so that congestions of blood, so
detrimental to its functions, should be avoided ; and
as the vessels themselves are of more delicate struc-
ture than in other parts, and are bent at their entrance
into the cranium, the impetus of the blood is thus
diminished. The same care is taken of that part of
the brain which is lodged in the spinal canal. This
is surrounded by thick layers of muscles, and on its
dorsal side the spinous processes of the vertebra form
a chevaux de /rise for its defence. In mass the brain
is the largest organ, with the exception of the liver,
hi the whole body; and in the human subject, as
regards its surface, is more extensive in proportion
than that of any other animal.
It is not intended to enter into its minute anatomy.
12 BRAIX AND NERVE&.
In oiu" dissections of this organ, we must feel dis-
appointed at our ignorance of the functions of its
different parts ; but we cannot but admire its beauti-
ful and delicate structure, and an instinctive feeling
would lead us almost to exclaim, If mind can emanate
from matter, here must be its seat. Minute dissection
has done much of late years towards the better know-
ledge of the functions of its different parts. Its
fibrous texture, insisted upon by Dr Gall, and now
generally recognized as correct, clears up many of
the difficulties which before presented themselves in
some of its diseases, and a more wonderful effort still
remained to unfold its double structm^e. In this
the wisdom of the Creator is not more apparent
than his goodness, which is here lavished with
unbounded hand. To the moralist, as to the physi-
ologist, this proves of the greatest importance in
clearing up so much mystery in the history of its
functions.
The weight of the brain is estimated by Dr Sims
at 46 ounces in the adult. Dr Elliotson estimates
the .spinal chord at 1^ oz., and the nerves a few ounces
more ; so we may state the nervous system of the
adult to weigh 50 ounces. Dr Macartney declares he
has ascertained the real nervous substance to be so
inconsiderable, that he thinks " it is perhaps not
assuming too much to suj^pose that the whole nervoue
system, if sufficiently expanded, would be found too
tender to give any resistance to the touch, too trans-
parent to be seen, and probably would entirely escape
the cognizance of all our senses."
Besides the brain and nerves, there is a third system
BRAIN AND NERVES. 13
named the o'ano-lionic. It has been a matter of con-
troversy, whether the spinal chord issue from the brain,
or the latter be a termination of the former. Some
anatomists have asserted that rudiments of the chord
are found in the embryo before any trace of brain can
be discovered. It is now generally admitted that
neither the chord arises from the brain, nor the nerves
from the cliord ; for in acephalous foetuses the chord
exists. " We must not forget," says Dr Elliotson,
" that every part of the nervous system throughout
the body is directly connected with others, and in-
directly with all the rest, just as every blood-vessel
with regard to its system." It is maintained that the
nervous system is equally diffused, equally sentient,
equally perceptive, tliroughout the whole body.
Now these powers are not the same in the nerves
and in the brain. The brain is not in the little finger,
but the latter is in the brain. A circumstance of
common occurrence warrants the truth of this assertion.
A man feels his digitals for months after his limb has
been amputated ; the impression is so strong that
nothing but the assistance of his other senses can
convince him that he does not feel the fingers or toes,
which, perhaps, he has left in another hemisphere.
Perceptive sensation is in the brain, and to whatever
region pain may be referred, it has its real seat in the
brain. If the nerves be divided, the functions of the
parts to which they are distributed cease. If the
optic nerve lose its power, the eye no longer sees ;
deafness is caused by injury to the auditory nerves ;
the division of the phrenic nerve suspends respiration ;
the tongue is speechless when the recurrent nerves
14 BIIAIX AND NERVES.
are cut. Of the blood's vitality there is no doubt,
but we believe this is imparted to it by the nervous
system. This is as fully developed in the foetus in
utero as in the adult, so that its presence is as neces-
sary to the vitality of the child as of the mother. If
brain and spinal marrow are wanting, ganglia and
nerves supply their place. If muscles are made to
contract after the nerves are removed, it is only as
long as the nervous influence is inherent in them ;
even after all the blood is washed out of them the
same will take place for a given time.
" The vitality of the blood, its formation and trans-
formation into the solids and fluids of the body, the
capability seemingly inherent in solids and fluids of
certain interchanges which they undergo by means of
their reciprocal aflSnities and agencies, still preserving
their respective homogeneity; and the resistance which
collectively they are enabled to maintain against
injury and disease, as well as the power of repair, are
referable to their nervous endowment." — Travers on
Inflammation, &c., p. 17.
" The involuntary functions are closely connected
with the encephalon and spinal chord, for the sudden
destruction of these parts, or of a certain extent of
them, puts a stop to the circulation;"* and is this not a
full stop ?
It Is not the question of one part of the nei"vous
system or one system of nerves, but of nervous struc-
ture ; and there is no instance on record of any
abortion, where physical structure in the shape of
* Dr Elliotsoii.
BRAIN AND NERVES. 15
brain, nerve, or ganglion, is wholly absent. The most
monstrous formation claims this privilege ; and where
brain and spinal chord are wanting, the ganglionic
system has been found in excess of development.
" The heart never exists without its ganglion, so
that the cardiac ganglion, as the heart is the first
organ that comes into action, is the commencement
of the nervous system."*
Is not its first action dependent upon this little
ganglion? and can more be requisite to prove the
supremacy of the nervous system over the vital func-
tions ? In reply to the assertion that " vegetables
absorb, assimilate, circulate, secrete, and, in many
instances, contract on the application of stimuli, and
yet are not supposed to possess nerves," it has been
found that strong electric shocks passed through the
pith of the trunk destroy the tree.
Although it may not be proved that vitality and
nervous influence are the same, yet we find them so
intimately blended together in all the functions, that
it is difficult to separate them. We find, moreover,
that injury to the nervous system is followed by more
disastrous effects than to any or all the other parts
collectively.
The division of a nerve is the annihilation of mus-
cular power.
If a sedative be applied to it, the muscle becomes
inert.
The point of the stiletto dividing the spinal marrow
above the phrenic nerves, fells the ox to the ground.
* Dr Elliotson.
16 RESPIRATIOX. — ANIMAL HEAT.
If the nervous power be abstracted from the blood it
loses its vitality. " By the instrumentality of the
nerves, the brain makes the voluntary muscles con-
tract, influences the functions of every other part when
under the operation of the different passions, and re-
ceives impressions made upon every other part."
So much in a general sense. We shall now treat
of its influence more specially, but only as far as great
leadinof and strikins facts are concerned.
RESPIRATIOX.— ANIMAL HEAT.
The human offspring, launched into the world
wholly unprovided by nature against the physical ills
which surround it, seeming, as has been said of old,
plusqnam novercd qiiam matre nata, is made sensible of
the change in its existence by a feeling of distress,
which is convertible into a voluntary instinctive effort
to breathe. It struggles itself into life.
This primary effort by which oi'gans hitherto passive
are called upon to play an active part, and one the
most essential to its future existence, is allowed by
modem physiologists to be the exercise of the volun-
tary muscles ; and, as the will is conveyed to these
through the agency of the nerves, it must be allowed
that this power is the principal instrument in the
orchestra of the drama of life.
The blood, which nourished it in its dependent state,
is no longer meet for the same purpose when the off-
spring assumes a substantive existence, nay, it is
prejudicial to it, and were it not changed in its chemi-
RESPIRATION. — ANIMAL HEAT. 17
cal characters and properties by passing through the
lungs, which is effected by the first inspiration, the
very strua-^les it makes to breathe would render it at
once a caput mortuum.
The uses of respiration are the purifaction of this
fluid, and the generation of animal heat. The first is
efiected by submitting it to the influence of atmo-
spheric air, which it receives throughout the immense
surface of the expanded lungs, and this process is
assumed to be wholly chemical. "We recognize the
nervous power in this voluntary action of throwing
the blood into the chemical laboratory. In the gene-
ration of animal heat we shall find the same power
possessing a still greater influence. As regards animal
temperature, it must be considered in a double sense,
viz. in the chemical acceptation of the term, or caloric,
whether free or latent, and in the nervous sense, or the
sensation of heat.
The standard human temperatm-e is 94° Fahrenheit.
It is susceptible of an elevation of 14° under diseased
action. Dr Elliotson states that he has found it as
high as 107° under the tongue in inflammatory fevers,
and in tetanus 110''. In some affections, on the con-
trary, there is a great reduction of temperature from
the natm'al standard. In the Asiatic cholera the ther-
mometer placed in the mouth did not indicate more
than from 77° to 79° Fahrenheit, and the same is the
averao^e in children affected with the blue disease.
In many other affections, the sensation of cold is much
greater than would be waiTanted by the thermome-
tric indication of the abstraction of the natural tem-
perature. Under natural circumstances, some parts
18 RESPiRATiox. — axi:mal heat.
of the body are always warmer than others. AVhat
are the principal agents employed in the generation
of animal heat, and Vvhat the superintendent power ?
In a chemical point of view, the whole phenomenon is
resolvable into the different capacities with which
certain forms of matter are endowed for holding calo-
ric ; or it is attributed to a process of combustion
continually going on in the extreme vessels by which
the carbon of the blood is, by its union with oxygen,
converted into carbonic acid gas, and, in this process,
heat is evolved, as it is in the ordinary process of the
combustion of charcoal, out of the body.
A host of evidence proves, that however this process
may be eftected, yet, as far as regards animal tempe-
rature being maintained in the system, it is the bi'ain
which has the supremacy in the direction of the func-
tion ; for, were it merely chemical, the same conjunc-
tion of matters should produce the same effects, which
does not prove to be the case. Sir B. Brodie's
experiments afford us evidence, that although the
chemical part of the process may be performed under
artificial respiration, yet that the animal heat declined
rapidly in all cases where the brain had been removed,
and this is in perfect harmony with the powers of resist-
ing heat and cold, which the nervous system possesses
in an extraordinary degree. Dr Elliotson says, that
these experiments prove nothing, and insists upon the
process being purely chemical. Still, the same author
adds, " This does not prevent animal temperature
from deserving the epithet vital, because it is re-
gulated by the vital laws of the system, although
through the instrumentality of chemical changes." It
RESPIRATION. — ANIMAL HEAT. 10
depends upon respiration, — true, but upon that respira-
tion only which is performed under the direction of the
nervous power. It is lost under the artificial method.
Between heat as the result of chemical action, and
the sensation of heat as a nervous impression, there is
a striking difference. It is allowed by those who
support the mechanical chemical doctrines, that it is
very difficult to account for the difference of tempe-
rature in parts of the same animal. The dog's nose
puzzles them, as does the circumstance of the sensa-
tion of heat in certain diseases, bearing no relation to
the real measurable difference of temperature. A
range of from 10° to 14' is about the maximum of
increase. Now, if we dip one finger in a basin of
water at 96°, and the other at the same moment in
one of 110°, the difference will be perceptible, but in
a triflino- dea'ree. Under other circumstances, this ele-
vation, nay, half of it, will be as red-hot ii'on to the part
affected. This can only be accounted for by nervous
derangement. "What comparison can be made be-
tween the sensation of heat in the gouty limb and the
sound one, placed, as far as temperature is concerned,
in the same cii'cumstances. The latter would hardly
be conscious of the addition which causes the excru-
ciating pain of this disease, and is a direct proof of
offence in the nerves of the part affected, of which
this increased temperature is a consequence not a
cause. There is a wide difference between heat in
its free state and the sensation of heat. In fiirther
considering the subject of elevation of temperature in
the surrounding medium, and the constancy of that
in the animal, we nmst recognize the influence of tliat
20 RESPIRATION. ANIMAL HEAT.
vital power which watches and presides over the ma-
chine which it animates.
Thus we find the body capable of resisting a tempe-
rature sufficient to decompose dead matter. Animals,
as well as man, have been exposed to a degree of heat
exceeding that of boiling water, and without injury ;
Avhen, at the same time, a thermometer placed under
the tongue, has indicated an elevation of a few degrees
only above the natural standard. This power of
resistance is but of short duration, for the nervous
influence is exhausted by so extraordinary a demand.
Chemical agents come into play, and matter is resolved
into lifeless form.
As regards cold, the same law prevails, the limits
are the same. However great the power may be of
resisting it, as soon as the nervous energy is exhausted,
the system is subject to injury.
I have witnessed the effects of cold too long en-
dured upon the little postillions, Avho are barbarously
exposed to it in the winter season at St Petersburg.
The lads bear it for a time, as they sit on their horses,
clapping their hands, and singing to keep up their
courage ; but this fiiils them by degrees, and, finally
benumbed, they fall from their saddles in a state of
torpor which nothing but rolling them in the snow
will overcome. There is seldom a fete given at St
Petersburg, in the extreme cold weather, that occur-
rences of this sort are not recorded. In very cold
nights the sentries are frequently frozen to death, if
not relieved at short intervals.
As long as nervous excitement can be kept up, the
resistance of cold is very great. General Piroffsky
EESPIRATIOX. — ANIMAL HEAT, 21
informed me, that in tlie expedition to Kliiva, not-
withstanding the intenseness of the cold, the soklicrs
marched along, singing, with the breasts of their
coats open, but only as long as they were flushed
with the hopes of success. Where there is nothing to
excite, and where exposure to cold takes place under
tlie common routine of parade, its depressing effects
are lamentably felt by those long exposed to it. In
the time of the Grand Duke Constantine, a regiment
of horse was marched from Strelna to St Petersburg,
a distance of twelve miles and upwards. He marched
at their head at a foot pace all the way. Pie had
well wadded himself, and smeared his face over with
oil. It was the gratification of a whim to expose the
soldiers to a great degree of cold. They arrived at the
square before the palace, and were dismissed to their
barracks. The following day one-third of the resfi-
ment was in the hospital, attacked by nervous fever,
of which many died. There was no stimulus of neces-
sity in this case, but the moral feeling aggravated the
physical suffering. The soldier is much better taken
care of now-a-days in Russia, Cerebral affections are
a consequence of reaction Avhen the nervous system
has been too much exhausted. I have mentioned else-
where the case of the bishop of Nicolai, who died in a
few hours of brain fever from exposing himself to
severe cold during the performance of a religious rite.
AVe find that, when the nerves whicli supply a limb
have been di\ided, the temperature falls, and that it
is again raised by galvanic power. Mr Earle found
a paralyzed limb to indicate only 70°, the sound one
9^". By electricity the former ^vas raised to 77",
22 EESPIRATIOX. — ANIMAL HEAT.
Berzelius adopts the opinion, that the nervous influ-
ence not merely in connexion with respiration, but in
other orf^anic processes, contributes to the production
of animal heat ; and IMiiller coincides in this idea,
founded upon the spontaneous generation of heat
under the influence of passion, — the sudden rush of
heat to the face, which is not a mere sensation, — the
increase of Avarmth to the body amounting to perspi-
ration. On the contrary, the equally rapid diminution
of temperature. Tlie coming all over in a cold siceat
is an expression of the effects of sudden fear; and
sudden sensations of cold are not uncommon conse-
quences of depressing moral emotions.
The power of maintaining an equable temperature
is in a direct ratio with the health of the individual.
It is greatest in youth, and decreases wuth age. Ner-
vous people are peculiarly subject to chilly feelings,
and we know how much more the body is liable to
catch cold when exposed to drafts or currents after
some degree of fatigue. It lias been a very great
mistake in the treatment of the insane to suppose
them less susceptible of diminished temperature than
those in a sound mind. It is just the reverse, those
who are in this lamentable situation requiring more
warmth than under ordinary circumstances. The
whole of the evidence which can be brought to bear
on this subject will tend to place this vital function
under the most especial direction of the nervous in-
fluence ; and this is not a little corroborated by the
circumstance of that which approaches nearest to it in
power, viz. Galvanism, being capable of exciting heat
in a paralyzed limb.
THE BLOOD. 23
PART 11.
THE BLOOD.
The name of John Hunter is as intimately associ-
ated with the properties and functions of the blood,
as that of Harvey with the discovery of its circidation.
The great lawgiver of IMount Sinai did not estimate
it so highly, when, denominating it the " life thereof,"
he poured it out in sacrifice, as do some modern
physiologists, who sacrifice all to it.
In following the footsteps of an idolized predecessor,
we sometimes make a stride too far, and inadvertently
place ourselves in the foreground ; we take the lead
ourselves, and pursue the shadows of objects which
have been of our own creation.
It was precisely this which led the late Mr Aber-
nethy astray, in the tribute he w^ished to pay to the
talents and merits of this great physiologist. So
anxious was he to do all justice to his doctrines, and
render to him all that was his due, that he finally gave
to him more than his leg-atees were willino- to claim.
When Mr Abernethy broached the opinion that life
and electricity were synonymous, he did not take the
merit of the discovery to himself, but sanctioned it by
the name of John Hunter ; whilst those who did not
adopt these opinions, protested that, in all the works
of that physiologist, nothing could be found to sub-
24 THE BLOOD.
stantiate the idea that John Hunter had ever dreamt
of the like in all his reveries : — not a word of shoulder
knots was there in the testament.
Now, surely it is not doing justice to anv author to
treat him in this wise; and, attached as we are to the
memory of that great physiologist, we do not consider
that it is honoured by the modem school of medical
Puseyites, who, under the sanction of his name,
preach the doctrinal exclusiveness of" flesh and blood,"
and sink the more refined influence of the nervous
poAver.
John Hunter insisted upon the vitality of the blood,
and his opinions upon this subject may be considered
as established and recognized facts ; and, since his
day, the blood and vital fluid have become synonymous
terms ; but he nowhere asserted that it possessed more
vitality than the other component parts of the system,
nay, he only laboured to prove that it possessed as
much. He based his theory upon the following
rational o-rounds : — If all living structures are alloAved
to be formed from the blood, at what precise period
in their transition from the fluid to the solid state is
this vitality transmitted to them ? Is it not rational
to suppose that this principle shoidd be as inherent in
the forming as in the formed stiaicture ? This is all
that John Hunter maintained, and there are few who
do not subscribe to the truth of his opinions upon this
matter. But admitting the fact, recognizing the
vitality of the blood, as far as the term can be under-
stood, still the question is to be mooted as to the
source of its vitality.
The processes of digestion and assimilation supply
THE BLOOD. 25
this fluid to the system, and it may be abstracted
almost to its last drop, and again be renewed by these
fmictions ; and as we find that these are under the con-
trol of the nervous power, and, if it be not in full
vigour, they are performed imperfectly, so we may ask
at what period the chyle becomes vital in its admixture
with the blood, from which, if it receive, to it also
doth it impart, vitality.
All the arguments brought forward by the most
zealous partizansofthelTunterian doctrines in favour ot
the blood's vitality, do not attempt to prove more than
that it enjoys this with other structures, neither more
nor less in degi'ee, nor of a more subtile or intellectual
kind.
If John Hunter succeeded in establishing the vi-
tality of the blood, as a moveable fluid, the changes
which take place when at rest, whether confined in
its vessels or removed from them, add strength to this
opinion — we allude to its coagulation. This is attri-
buted to the stimulus of death by Hunter. Mr
Travers has styled it the last act of its life, in his neat
and classical Essay on Inflammation and the healing
process. The mechanical and chemical arguments
wholly fail in attempting to account for this singular
process. It must be referred to the influence of that
great efl:brt which the fluid still makes to move in its
usual current ; but, baflBed in its attempt, it is thrown
into an eddy, and losing by degrees its nervous power,
not without leaving marks of the death-like struggle,
stiffening as it cools, it yields to the superior influence
of its chemical antagonist.
It has often reminded us of that passage in Mon»'
C
2Q THE BLOOD.
taigne, wiiere he describes a combat between two
warriors, and the struggles -svliich the vanquished
raade to the last : — " Jamais homme n'a vecu si
long-temps dans la mort, jamais homme n'a tombe si
debout."
Now, as regards this phenomenon of coagulation, it
is as much proved to be vital bj negative as by posi-
tive evidence, and vitality cannot be implied inde-
pendently of nervous influence ; for when this death-
struonfle — this last Ions; fiickerinor flame is not sus-
tained by nervous influence, which still clings to it
for a time, although removed from its channels, as the
heart pulsates for a while when removed from the
body ; when this influence is too suddenly withdrawn,
as when the nervous power is crushed by the thunder-
bolt, or exhausted and spent, as in the hunted hare,
then the testamentary evidence of the last living act
is not apparent ; for, in such instances, coagulation
does not take place ; — the blood is found in a fluid
state.
It will be in harmony with the subject before us to
inquire how" much of this fluid may be abstracted
without causing death. We shall first speak of
hemorrhagy from rupture of blood-vessels, and shall
find, at the tlu'cshold of our inquiry, that nature often
intervenes in arresting it, and this she does through
the agency of the nervous system. The heart, de-
prived of its stimulus ceases to pulsate with suflScient
force to propel the blood as before, and the ruptured
vessel is closed by the coagulated plug. This is
efl^ected by the loss of nervous power, not total but
partial, causing coagulation, which is the termination
THE BLOOD. 27
of a vital process, where exhaustion of nervous power
has not been too rapid. The swoon and the fainting
fit are the agents by which the life apparently lost is
in reality preserved. Now, this singular phenomenon,
which preserves the life of the ex-sanguine, is accom-
plished through the nerves negatively. It is by
robbing them of theu' power that this effect is pro-
duced. Deprived of their food, they fall into a
state of exhaustion, which very state does, by its
consequences, prevent any farther waste of nutriment.
This swooning may be accomplished by means of a
more subtile kind. Joy, grief, fear, the passions and
affections of the mind, may so overcome the nervous
power as to jiroduce it. In these cases, the blood is
not the controlling but the controlled power. The
same may be effected by direct injury to a nerve; any
sudden pain may, nay, the treading on a corn shall be
sufficient to, prostrate the strongest, and rob the body
for the time of all semblance of life.
In the state of swoon the blood acts but a passive
part ; if it coagulate in the divided trunk, it does so
from its being in a state of rest, and perhaps some
atmospheric influence may assist ; its propelling power
is withdrawn ; and, when this is restored by the re-
newal of muscular action, it flows again at a rate
commensurate with the force it feels. It is by direct
application to the nerves that we endeavour to rouse
the fainting man into life ; we dash cold water in his
face, on the sentient extremities of a large expansion
of nerves, and these outposts transmit the impression
to the brain ; reaction takes place, the respiratory
muscles arc called into play, the chest expands, the
28 THE BLOOD.
blood passes through, the pendulum moves agam, and
the life of the swooner is restored in much the same
way as it is called into action in the new born child.
Let us give to the blood its due in restoring the
heart's action. In its retreat from the brain it is
choked up in the citadel, congested in the extremities.
It cannot overcome the laws of gravity, having lost
its vis a tergo ; and, as the difficulty is increased by
the erect, we seek relief mechanically by placing the
patient in the recumbent posture, that the blood may
flow more freely in a horizontal line. This disposition
to swooning in an erect position, from robbing the
brain of its usual quantity of blood, is illustrated satis-
factorily in the following case : — " A lady, past the
middle age, was so subject to faint when in the erect
posture, that slie was, although otherwise in good
health, confined to her bed and sofa; as soon as she
attempted to rise she felt faint or even swooned. The
cause of this phenomenon for a long time baffled the
skill of her medical attendant, till, by some accident,
he discovered that she had immensely varicose veins
in both legs ; and in the erect posture these became
reservoirs for the blood, which accumulated too much
in them to be propelled forward ; hence the balance
of the circulation was deranged, and the brain, robbed
of its usual quantity, manifested symptoms of its
Aveakness. By the application of proper bandages,
which supported the vessels in an erect posture, this
distressing aifection was overcome." *
When we consider the importance of this fluid, so
n^cessai'y to life that it has been identified with life
* Dr Wilson,
THE BLOOD. 29
itself, wc arc surprised at the enoraioiis loss which
the system is enabled to support.
We look ^vith horror on the bleeding soldier and
parturient woman drained to the last drop, pale,
ex-sanguine, pulseless, motionless, cold to the feel,
bedewed with the insensible perspiration converted
into sweat, and yet a spark remains. Plow is this
ember to be kept alive ? How gently fan the flame
or replenish the fuel without extinguishing the spark.
Drained of its vital stimulus, where are we to look
for a substitute ? Is it our object to replenish it by
direct transfusion, about which so much has been
said and so little done ? We resort to the nervous
system, that it may assist the heart to continue irs
action in its debilitated condition, until time be
aftbrded to convert other materials into new blood,
^^"e act upon the nerves by applying stimulants to
the stomach., which become thus diffused throughout
the system, and M'hat remains of the vital fluid is
])ropelled, and its quantity restored at each pulsation.
Here we see the mutual dependency of the systems
on each other's efforts. The brain and nerves, de-
]>rived of their natural stimulus, become exhausted,
and unable to carry on their functions ; but it is only
by rousing them that the fluid can be supplied wdiich
is necessary to this purpose. This is the peculiarity
of the nervous system, — it cannot act without the
food which it must itself supply.
In speaking of the quantity of blood in the system,
great discrepancies exist in the opinions of physiolo-
gists upon this subject, — a difference allowing of a
range from eight to thirty pounds. Sir Astley
30 THE BLOOD.
Cooper estimated it at an ounce per pound of solid.
Now, seventy ounces of blood have been taken from
the arm, one-fourth of the whole of the vital fluid,
Avithout causing complete exhaustion, and the system
has rallied again under such a loss, Avhich, if the
nervous energy be not too much impaired, will be
in time replenished.*
It is impossible to calculate how much blood has
been lost by parturient women, or how much in cases
of menorrhagia, where it streams away daily for weeks
together, it is our object merely to insist upon the
difference with which the system supports the abstrac-
tion of these two powers. We cannot measure or
weigh imponderable matter, so that we can have no
idea of quantity as regards the nervous or electric
fluids ; but we can judge of injury done to that form
of matter with Avhich their power is identified ; and
we know that if the chord through which it passes or
vibrates be offended, the whole system may be thrown
into convulsions. The blood may be abstracted to
more than a fourth its quantity without making any
very marked difference in the system for the time
being. The man of Herculean strength shall bare
his arm, and lose \\h\i impunity a fourth of the vital
fluid. To some it is a pleasurable sensation ; but if,
in the operation, some nervous twig be mutilated,
such shall be the shock to the sensorium, that it shall
fail in its functions, and the colossus shall fall pros-
trate on the earth.
* Dr Parry estimated it at 20 lb. JVofe. — A woman died of hemorr-
hagy, losing "26 lb. From a full blooded young woman, who was beheaded,
25 lb. were collected. — U^risieni.
THE BLOOD. 31
If we pass ill review the eiFects of injuries upon tlie
nerves from the prick of a thorn, to those resuhing
fi'om concussion and compression, — if we regard the
moral and physical consequences from the slightest to
the greatest injury, we must acknowledge how much
more importance has been assigned to the nervous
system by nature than to any other components of
the living mass ; over the blood it has a decided supe-
riority. ^^'e can abstract a very large portion of the
latter from the system, — we can exchange it by trans-
fusion, and still life goes on ; but all attempts to supply
nervous power beyond a momentary galvanic shock,
which gives motion to the muscles, but cannot propel
tiie dead clot or restore its vitality, have hitherto
proved fruitless.
Here we see, however, the mutual dependencies of
the systems on each other ; the fibre may be made to
contract without the assistance of the blood ; for,
when wholly deprived of this fluid, contraction will
take place from irritation of nerve. The butchers'
shambles furnish us with proofs. The muscles of the
ox may be thrown Into contraction hours after the
eviscerated animal is stretched upon the hooks. The
blood plays no part here ; it has flowed into another
channel, but the nervous survives the sanguiferous
power. In all the experiments made upon dead
bodies, where muscular contraction has been pro-
duced, no change producing anything like the sem-
blance of life has occurred in the blood when coagu-
lation has already taken place. It is the first to part
with its vitality, which never can be restored ; for
chemical action asserts its prerogative, — as soon as
32 THE BLOOD.
the vital power yields, the chemical predominates.
This death of the blood soon involves that of the
muscle and of the nerve. Neither can maintain its
privileges in a divided state, either physiologically or
even anatomically. We cannot drain away blood from
muscle, or tear filament from fibre, without compro-
mising the existence of all three ; for that which can-
not perform its wonted functions is, de facto, no longer
the same.
In losing its adjective, constituting shape, it is not
cognizable in a substantive form. The mummy can-
not be said to possess muscle or nerve. These are
not represented by chords and strings, nor does the
putrid clot in the barber's shop afford any distinct
idea of that once scarlet fluid which, propelled into
the muscle by nervous influence, gave beauty to the
features. How is the contrast drawn between life
and death in the three systems by Ovid in his Mori-
bund : —
" In vultu color est sine sanguine, himina nioestis
Stant immota genis, nihil est in imagine vivi.
Ipsa quoque interius cum duro lingua palato
Congelat, et vence desistunt posse moveri,
Nee flecti cervix, nee brachia reddere gostus,
Nee pes ire potest."
OvkVs Metamorphoses,
MUSCULAR 3IOTIOX. — CIKCULATION,
PART III.
Muscular ^Motion — Circulation — Nutrition — Secretion.
MUSCULAR MOTIOX.— CIRCULATION.
Le Gallois confesses, that in his experiments to
ascertain the influence of the brain upon the circulat-
ing system, he made a horrible sacrifice of animal life.
Dr Wilson Phillip, not satisfied -with Le Gallois's
views, performed more experiments of the same nature,
and perhaps a score of experimental physiologists
have pursued the same system of torture to prove,
after all their trouble, that the heart has an action
independent of the nerves, which, however, influence
its movements under oi'dinary circumstances. It is,
as has been justly observed, the business and work of
a life to know what is true upon any physiological
subject. Doubts, contradictions, and discrepancies,
no where exist to a greater extent than on the subject
of circulation. When Harvc}* laid down the rails, he
little dreamt of the squabbles which would exist
concerninti; the nature and mode of starting the loco-
motive. It will be sufficient to quote one paragraph
from Dr KUiotson to satisfy us on the point of nervous
co-operation in influencing the action of the heart : —
" The great influence of the nerves over the heart is
demonstrated by the size of the cardiac nerves, ami
by tlic great sympathy between the heart and most
di MUSCULAR MOTION. — CIKCULATION.
functions, however dlfFerent. A convincing proof of
this is the momentary sympathy of the heart during
most perfect health with all the passions." He further
adds, " Since a supply of nerves and blood is requisite
to the action of the voluntary muscles, it has been
inquired whether these, both or either, are requisite
to the heart also."
In alluding to the influence of respiration on the
heart's action, we get immediately into a field of con-
troversy. Thus, when I was in Paris, I had an
opportunity of witnessing the late Sir David Barry's
experiments, by Avhich he seemed to prove that the
venous circulation is performed by means of pressure,
and that during inspiration a vacuum is formed in the
thorax by expansion, and during this time the vejious
blood is propelled towards tlie heart, whereas during
expiration it remains stationary or retrograde.
Dr Bostock, avIio published his system of physio-
logy a little posterior to these experiments, observes :
— " In natural respiration there is no effect produced
upon the circulation, and consequently no alteration
is felt in the pulse. With respect to all experiments,
this great objection exists, that respiration must always
be in a forced state from the pain produced, which
invalidates the proofs." MuUer adopts the same line
of argument, as it is difficult to separate the simple
act from the effects of the changes which it produces
in the nature of the blood, and the chemical and ner-
vous influence accompanying it.
" Another phenomenon," says Muller, " which dis-
tinguishes the heart from other muscles, is the persis-
tence of its rhythmic contractions in their regular
MUSCULAR MOTION. — CIRCULATION. 35
order in the difTerent cavities, even when removed
from the body and emptied of its blood. This cannot
be explained otherwise than by supposing the heart,
under these circumstances, to retain, with its nerves,
some specific nervous influence." — P. 203.
This is proved to be the case by galvanism exciting
the heart to contraction after its removal from the
body, a statement which has been confirmed by recent
experiments.
Le Gallois learnt, during his prosecution of this
subject, that the brain and spinal marrow had great
influence over the heart's action, and that although
this might be continued for a certain time after their
removal, it was much feebler, nor was circulation per-
fectly performed, for Nasse measured the height of a
stream of blood flowing from a divided artery, and
then by injuring the spinal chord, found it decrease
in altitude in direct ratio with the injury.
Harvey declared the heart's action sufficient for the
circulation ; and notwithstanding the many assertions
to the contrary, the German physiologists still adhere
to this o[)inion, and maintain that the circulation in
the capillaries is wholly dependent on the heart's
action, as the most feeble contractions of the heart in
a frog, nuich exhausted, are perceptible in the capil-
laries. Dr Bostock considers the arteries to possess
nniscularity, but asserts that contractility can be
eft'ected without the intervention of nerves. This
applies only to the involuntary muscles, which are
not excited by galvanizing the nerves which go to
them. iJr li. couaitlers the cause of contraction as a
pro})erty aai fjeneris, and not accounted fur by any
3G MUSCULAR MOTION. — CIRCULATION.
liypothesis hitherto known. Others refer contraction
entirely to the nerves of both kinds of muscle.
As far as is necessary for our purpose, it is suffi-
ciently evident tliat the influence of the nervous
system is very considerable in promoting and main-
taining the circulation of the blood. Its self-propelling
power is satisfactorily disproved by Midler. All the
apparent motions and flickerings observed in the ca-
pillaries are due to mechanical causes acting upon the
sides of the vessels, or by the attraction exerted on
the blood by the solid walls of the vessels.
Dr Elliotson substitutes the term myotility for the
irritability of Haller. It is necessary to consider here
the influence of the nerves in producing muscular
contraction.
" Every part of the muscles is amply supplied \^'ith
blood and nervous threads. The latter appear to
deliquesce into an invisible pulp, and unite intimately
with the muscukr fibres." * This is most important to
those who can trace the effects of the blood, under
jiecidiar circumstances, to this cause, without ascribing
them to ofl'ence in the blood itself.
Any stimulus applied to a muscle, or to its nerves,
excites contraction ; but if this deliquescence of nerve
through the muscidar fibre maintains, it must, in ail
cases, be an application of stimulus to the nerves.
Blood and nerve, then, are inseparable from muscle in
its normal state ; and sensibility and contractility are
due to their influence.
The two phenomena of sensation and contraction
are not seated in the same nervous fibrils, as stated
* Elliotson.
]MUSCULAK MOTIOX. — CIRCULATION. 37
in the consideration of sympathy. The property of
contracting is retained by a muscle for some time after
death by the apphcation of stimulus, chemical or
mechanical. The muscles of the flank of an ox are
seen to play in this way after it has been eviscerated
and stretched out upon the hooks ; and if the part be
touched with the point of a knife, strong contractions
are produced in the muscle. I have often witnessed
this in my younger days, and amused myself with the
experiment.
It is proved that this contractile power is diminished
where animals have been destroyed by immersion in
carbonic acid gas, or by poisons injected into the
blood. This involves the Cj[uestion, Whether it is the
blood, as Dr Stevens maintains, which is killed by the
poison, or the nervous delicjuescence with which the
blood comes in contact in the muscle.
" The poison itself is the remote, but the vitiated
state of the blood produced by the poison, is the
immediate, cause of fever, as certain as that narcotic
poisons, when injected into the veins, can instantly
destroy the vitality of the blood, and cause death,
without producing or leaving the slightest trace in any
of the solids."*
With respect to the first position, that the vitality
of the blood is destroyed, there can be no objection,
l)ecause the nervous influence of the blood may be
destroyed in the fluid simultaneously with the nervous
deliquescence in the muscle, into which the blood
penetrates.
Although our means of ascertaining the injury done
* Stevens on the Blood.
38 MUSCULAR MOTION. — CIRCULATIOX.
to the solids be not so complete as to demonstrate any
lesion, still we judge by function that such must be
the case, for we find that narcotics applied directly to
the muscles destroy their irritability, and, if applied
to the nerves, deprive them at the point acted upon
of the property of exciting muscles to conti'action ;
and this is caused to a greater degree by local applica-
tion of poison in a concentrated state than when
introduced into the veins. The experiment of intro-
ducing strychnine into the veins, and dividing the
nerve of an isolated muscle, when this muscle alone
shall be quiescent, is conclusive that the solids are
affected by poisons, that the injury to the nerves
is the cause of contraction, and that where sudden
death is produced, it is not the vitality of the blood
alone which is destroyed, but of the flesh, simultane-
ously.
The poison of the rattlesnake introduced into the
veins is instantaneous death, whereas poisons taken
Into the stomach are inert, according to Dr Stevens'
ideas. This but proves what nobody disputes, that
there is no medium of diffusion equal to the circidating
fluid ; but whether it be this primarily that is so
aflected, is more than doubtful. A drop of highly
concentrated prussic acid placed upon the tongue is as
instantaneous in its effects as the bite of the rattlesnake,
and much more so ; but this is not caused through the
medium of the circulation, but by immediately getting
to the brain by volatilization ; and there is no death so
instantaneous from the injection of poisons into the
veins, as that the brain shall not, by medium of the
circulation, be affected by the injury.
MUSCULAR MOTION. — CIRCULATION. 39
The presence of blood, and of decarbonized arterial
blood, is necessary to the healthy contraction of muscles,
as the little muscular power of those affected with the
blue disease proves ; but muscular contractility does
take place where all the blood has been washed out,
and the heart removed. — P. 896, Mailers Physiology.
Dr EUiotson combats the opinion that muscular
contractility is due to the nervous system ; and still
he allows that so much is dependent upon it, that
but a fraction is wanting to make it a whole, lie
does not ascribe it to the blood, however, but says
that " the power of contraction is their own," Avhich
coincides with Dr Bostock's ideas.
That detached muscles contract under the applica-
tion of all stimuli would only argue that nervous
]!Ower is still inherent in them. Where the trunk of
the nerve has been divided which supplies them, this
contraction is found not to take place. An experiment
of Sir Benjamin Brodie's tends to prove that the trunk
of a nerve when separated from the brain and spinal
chord, retained for a considerable time its faculty of
excitin": the muscles to contraction when irritated.
]Muller, who places Sir Charles Bell's experiments on
a par with Harvey's, adopts a kind of middle course,
but still comes to the nerves for assistance. " Irritation
of the gustatory branch of the fifth excites no contrac-
tion of the lingual muscles, nor does irritation of the
infra-orbital nerve any motion of the nostrils and lips
of animals. The fact proves that mere nervous influ-
ence, as a general property, does not act as a stimulus for
muscular contractions in the manner of other stimuli,
but that for the excitement of muscles to contraction,
40 MUSCULAR AMOTION.— CIRCULATION".
a specific action of a special class of nerves is neces-
sary.
The extinction of the mnsculur irritabiUty, after a
time, when the nerves have been paralyzed by division,
and their accidental union prevented, is the most con-
clusive argument in favour of the opinion, that for
excitement of muscular contractions, the integrity of
the nerves ramifying in the muscles is necessary, and
that the muscles themselves are not susceptible of the
direct action of stimuli Yet it is
evident that the contractility must be a property of
muscles themselves, and that the nerves cannot, even
during life, impart to them a power which they do not
possess themselves. But the manifestation of the
contractile property of muscles pre-.supposes a concur-
rent action of the nerves." — P. 900.
Of the influence of the mind upon the voluntary
muscles, sufficient will be found under the head of
Mesmerism. As to the iuAoluntary, it is difficult to
say where one usurps the functions of the other. Dr
Elliotson relates many interesting cases of the mind
controlling the supposed involuntary movements. —
P. 484.
As reffards the share the nervous system has in
their functions, it is, from whatever sense it may be
derived, as great as in the voluntary.* Colonel
Townsend's case is Avell known. The possibility of
self-destruction by holding in the breath, was, I re-
* The application of a stimulus to the nerve before it has reached
the muscle, has the same effect as irritating it in the muscle itself. This
i^; a fact well known with regard to the cerebro spinal nerves, but that it
is true of the organic or sympathetic nerves also, has been more recently
discovered.— iVii7tr, p. t'UO.
NUTRITIOX.— SECKETIOX. 41
collect, positively denied by Sir Astley Cooper. The
following proves the contrary if it can be depended
upon : — A robber, named Coma, when taken before
the consul Pupilius, is said, by Valerius Maximus, to
have so destroyed himself. Let others, says the his-
torian, sharpen the sword, mix the poison, &c., " nihil
liorinn Coma, sed, intra pectus inclusa anima, finem
sui reperit." — Lib. ix. cap. xii., extern. 1. — Elliotson's
Phi/siologi/) p. 492.
NUTRITION.— SECRETION.
The influence of the nervous system upon the pro-
cesses of digestion and assimilation, presents us with
many striking facts of a moral and physical kind. It
has its usual share of labour in this department of
organic life.
Dr AVilson Philip's experiments bring us directly
to the point. When the eighth pair of nerves is
divided digestion ceases, and by the application of
galvanism to the divided extremities of the nerves, it
is completely restored. Thus a rabbit is enabled to
digest [)arsley by this substitute for nervous power.
These experiments have been confirmed by others, so
that the triumph of the nerves over this function is
complete in its physical demonstration.* This applies
equally, whatever may be considered to be the means
(jf performing the function. Dr Bostock argues the
assistance of chemical fermentation, and does not
* Dr Carpenter cavils at this conclusion of Dr Wilson, but 1 do n<jt
think upon good grounds.
42 NUTRITION. — SECRETION.
consider the gastric juice sufficient of itself; and Dr
Prout reduces it into two operations : reduction of the
food into a homogeneous pulp, and secondly, conver-
sion of the staminal principles into substances similar
to those which enter the blood ;* still the controlling
power is the nervous. Since the process of digestion
has been studied in the living man, it will be unne-
cessary to make more experiments on animals, we
must refer to those of Dr Beaumont on the Canadian.
These experiments, so interesting in themselves, and so
rich in their application to practical pathology, prove
that febrile commotion, as well as sudden emotions of
mind, occasion an almost immediate change in the
vascular appearance and condition of the inner surface
of the stomach, and also in the secretion and sensible
qualities of the gastric liquor. AVhatever disturbed
the nervous system of Martin also disturbed the
villous coat of the stomach and its secretions.
When St ]Martin suffered from any febrile attack,
with a quick pulse and dry tongue, the secretion of
the gastric liquor was suspended, and any food which
was swallowed in such a condition of stomach, re-
mained undigested for upwards of twenty-four hours,
and consequently, naturally aggravated the general
symptoms of disease.!
Digestion is always imperfect in weak and nervous
people ; but the process, in its most healthy state, will
be suspended by moral emotion, which will also cause
vomiting.
* Both these processes are chemical, and are styled primary and
secondary assimilation,
f Sir A. Crichton, p. 121.
NUTRITION. — SECRETION. 43
The subject of secretion embraces a large portion
of the science of physiology, and ofters much room for
speculation. We have no fear of finding that the
nervous system will lose any ground, as regards its
superintendent powers over this function, as over all
the others. It is here, however, that the blood assumes
all its dignity. A combination of the elements of
fluids producing a new arrangement of their parts, and
the formation of a compound differing in its nature
and properties from the mass out of which it is com-
posed, may be said to form the process of secretion.
This mass is the blood, which supplies all the material
for all the difterent fluids AN'hich are eliminated from
it. The product of sugar, Avhich is very abundant
in disease, proves that, as healthy blood contains no
particle itself of this matter, it can only be by resolution
into its elements that this substance is produced.
In tlie process of digestion the principal agent is a
secreted fluid, the gastric juice. This formation is
suspended by lesion of nerve, and restored by the
nerve's substitute, galvanism ; so that, upon the outset
of inquiry, Ave recognize the ruling power. In the
processes to wliich it is subjected in its resolution into
elements, the blood must necessarily part with its
vitality ; but as we find some of its products endowed
with this principle to the same extent as itself in its
normal state, Ave must look for this ncAV endo\A'ment
somewhere, and we can only find it regenerated by
the nervous system.
The secretions bear no proportion to their organs
as regards mass, and Haller maintained that no [)ar-
ticular structure Avas necessary for any specific secre-
44 NUTRITIOX. — SECriETIOX.
tion, but that any structure might, under certain
circumstances, usurp the functions of another. This,
however, is not strictly correct ; the suspension of a
natural secretion is not remedied by another organ
usurping the function of its associate, but by absorption
into the blood Avhere the natural exit is impeded, and
the absorbed fluid is discharged by exudation. The
vicarious secretions are never complete. Dr Wilson
has called the attention of the profession to this sub-
ject, as regards renal affections, but we shall speak of
this hereafter.
If the ureters be tied, or the nerves supplying the
kidneys be paralysed, the effects are manifested on the
brain. The blood is no doubt the ofl'ending agent ;
for, although the experiments of Darwin, instituted
to discover a high road between the stomach and the
bladder, which led him to tie the ureters, were produc-
tive of effusion into the ventricles, yet in the cases of
renal affection mentioned by Dr Wilson, apoplexy
was produced without any physical lesion, or any
effusion. The offence was sufficient, of blood not fit
for the purposes of life, when not deprived of what
the urine takes away from it.
One secretion may, however, be supplied by an-
other, so as to prevent detriment of life ; if the urine
is very scanty, the perspiration has a strong urinous
smell. Of the suspension of urine in cholera, I have
ventured the opinion that the serous evacuations
compensate for it, and that there is no disorganization
of the kidney. — Observations on Cholera Morbus. St
Petersburg, 1832. Between the skiu and the kidney
there seems to be a mutual understanding; where tlie
XUTRITIOX. — SECRETION. 45
function of one is suspended, the other is constantly
increased in healthy circumstances. The disease
Ischuria Reralis presupposed a paralysis of the nerves
of the kidneys; direct experiments of destroying the
renal nerves, as performed by MuUer and Peipers,
prove the fact. — P. 516, Miiller''s Physiology.
If we apply to the influence of mental emotions on
the secretions, we shall find that there is not a secre-
tion or excretion that is not changed in quantity and
quality by moral causes.
The Saliva.
The Gastric Juice.
The Bile.
The Milk.
The Fat.
The Tears.
The Perspiration.
The Urine.
Menstrual Fluid.
These all, and severally, are influenced by nervous
impressions.
Saliva. — Whose mouth has not watered " at the
savoury teal either before his eyes or from recollection?
"Whose mouth has not suddenly been parched by
unwelcome news? Is not the rabid state due to
nervous influence on this secretion, of which we have
furnished an example in the case of hydrophobia?"*
The Gastric Juice loses its solvent power, and is
suspended by moral emotions.
77ie Bile. — " Difficile bile tumet jecur," says
* It is said tliat inoculation of the blood of a rabid animal produces
this disease in others. — Ilerhrig.
46 NUTRITION. — SECRETION.
Horace. It is well known that this secretion is much
influenced by the passions. A fit of bile is a common
expression for anger, producing diarrhoea and bilious
evacuations. Jaundice is sometimes produced sud-
denly by a fit of passion. " Segur relates that when
Murat, in his retreat from Eussia, was informed of
the conspiracy which had taken place at Naples, he
became jaundiced suddenly from head to foot."
llie Milk. — The rush of milk to the human mother's
breast, and the sight of the foal distending that of the
mare, are suflficient proofs of moral emotion upon this
secretion. A fit of passion so deranges it that it is
not fit for the child.
The Fat. — This secretion is decidedly influenced
by moral causes as well as physical. It is generally
the inheritance of indolence, and Swift affords us a
very singular instance of the accumulation of this
secretion upon losing his mental powers. He was, as
FalstafF would have said, as thin as a shotten herring,
till he became insane, when he grew as fat as the
knight himself.
Parts, wdiicli lose their powers, and which, in a
normal state, possess no vestige of adeps, accumulate
it, as it has been found in the scrotum of those who
have lost all virile power.
That cheerful people are, for the most part, more
disposed to obesity than the morose and fretful, is
generally admitted. Washington Irving draws the
parallel between the two governors of Ncav York.
Walter the doubter sat for sixteen hours in his chair
smoking and sleeping, till he grew too big for it;
whereas William the Testy, from his turbulent and
NUTRITIOX. — SECIlETIOlSr. 47
fidgetty disposition, could not be found after his
decease ; he had fretted himself all a\A'ay, so that
there was nothing left to bury.
Some will grow fat in spite of all. Beaumarchais
says, " On s'engraisse par la misere," which is perhaps
a plagiarism upon FalstafFs Pshaw upon sighing and
grief, they blow a man up like a bladder.
Tlie Tears. — It is unnecessary to do more than
mention them as instances of moral emotions affectino-
the secretions.
Perspiratlun. — To come all over in a cold sweat is
an expression indicating the effects of fear upon this
excretion, as before mentioned.
Uiine. — There is, as before mentioned, a great
consent between the skin and kidney, and both are
influenced by fear and moral emotions.
It is not our intention, in the present work, to
adduce more than has hitherto been done, or swell the
volume with the labours of others. A few of the
most important physiological facts have been brought
forward to prove the influence which the nervous
system has over aU vital functions ; more than this is
not contended for. There are, no doul)t, as Dr Elliot-
son has observed, fancied functions of the nervous
system, and the latter does not make up the whole
of life ; but we do believe it to be the most important
fink in the vital chain.
48 SYIVIPATHY
PART IV.
Sympathy — Phrenology — Mesmerism — Sleep — Dreams,
SYMPATHY.
When Falstaif said he knew the Prince by instinct,
he solved a very difficult problem. We are often in
the same predicament, without being able to extri-
cate ourselves so satisfactorily as the worthy knight.
Where ideas fail we can sometimes, as Mephistopheles
said to the student, substitute a sonorous word ; at
other times ideas are more redundant than our means
of expression.
John Hunter has been criticised for his " stimulus
of necessity," as an unmeaning term, yet there is
something very instinctively intelligible in the idea it
conveys.
Some physiologists have denied sympathy, but
have furnished us with no better A\'ord for a multitude
of effects, which cannot be otherwise explained than
by the use of some conventional term.
We cannot better explain the effects produced by
moral causes, or the influence of one part upon an-
other, between which there is no apparent connexion,
than by some expression, which implies a general
consent of parts, and sympathy supplies this term.
SYMrATHY. 49
We have to deal with it in U\o ways, as physically
and morally affecting the system. A pinch of snuff
acts upon the muscles of respiration to effect a sneeze,
as does the sunbeam coming suddenly upon the eye ;
an affection of the liver is indicated by pain in the
shoulder ; these are sympathies not exactly definable,
at first sight, by communication of nerve.
In the moral sense we see the effects still more
strongly manifested. The cry of the distant child
will cause a ru-sh of milk to the breast, and an erection
of the nipple. It requires great muscular exertion to
produce a yawn, and yet a whole company may be
set yawning by one open mouth.
Although many sympathies cannot be traced to
direct ner\'ous communication of parts, still, as motion
is always implied, the brain and spinal marrow, as
the seat of these, must eventually come to our assist-
ance in the explanation of the phenomena.
In relation to the share which the nerves have,
and their mode of action, INIuller's views seem lucid
and explanatory. He states, that the impressions
made on the sensitive fibres of nerves, which put in
action the motor fibres, are not by reflex action of
the two sets of fibres on each other, but by direct
communication Avitli the brain and spinal chord,
and by them communicated to the motor fibres. —
P. 731.
This helps us out of -considerable difficidty, for we
find the brain or spinal chord alone concerned in
sympathetic motions of the nerves. '' If a mixed
nerve (motor and sensitive) be divided, and the por-
tion in connexion with the brain be irritated, the
D
50 SYMPATHY.
animal will prove, by its movements and cries, that
pain is so caused ; but the motor fibres coming oft'
from the irritated branch, -will not be excited to
action, as no contractions will take place in the
muscles to which they are distiibuted." — P. 75G.
The spinal chord is the bond of union in all cases of
reflected motions, general or local, and no muscular
action takes place in which this centrifugal propaga-
tion of the brain to them by the motor nerves is not
implied. These views, if correct, appear to simplify
the subject very considerably. In all these reflected
motions the sympathetic nerve can play no part, if
j)rimltlve nervous fibres are incapable of communicat-
ing any influence to other fibres, which merely lie in
contact with them. " The old term of sensorium
commune is not misapplied to the contents of tlie
skull. The action of light or snutF, then, as before
mentioned, is accounted for by direct communication
with the brain, as any irritation of the mucous mem-
brane throughout its Avhole length is capable of excit-
ing all the respiratory nerves to action, and producing
convulsive movements in the muscles." This part of
sympathy, therefore, is disposed of and reduced to
nervous communication, however eccentric the mo-
tions may appear to be. This reflex action from a
common centre accounts for all the spasms, contor-
tions, and convulsions which are caused by irritation
of a nerve, and they will be in direct ratio with the
degree of Irritation.
The sympathies which arc traceable to physical
causes so explained ; we may see if the moral sym-
pathies may not be reducible to the same causes ; and
SYMPATHY. 51
whether, in fact, the whole of these phenomena, by
whatever name they may be called, are not all the
offsprings of nervous influence —
" Si vis me Acre, dolendum est
Pi'imum ipsi tibi."
Plere, then, is a moral sympathy; the feeling of
another's woes, who does not feel them himself, and
whose male helief is convertible into reality in an-
other mind. This is a strange state of things, and
proves there is more in heaven and earth than we
have dreamt of in our philosophy. The hireling on
the stage shall cause the eye to weep, the breast to
sob, shall produce loss of sense and motion, cause the
image of death in the spectator of his assumed grief.
This is not only applicable to the nervous and highly
sensitive being, but it is the privilege of the boor as
much as of the boarding-school miss. A boor in the
pit of a theatre, not forgetting that he is there — for,
as Dr Johnson has observed : " The spectators are
always in their senses, and know from the first act to
tlie last that the stage is only a stage, and the players
are only players," — may be thrown into hysterics by
sympathy. Dr Blair has given us a beautiful analysis
of these sympathetic feelings in his essay on the effects
of tragedy. Johnson comes to this conclusion : " If
there be any fallacy, it is not that we fancy the
players, but that we fancy ourselves unhappy for
a moment ; that we rather lament the possibility than
suppose the presence of misery, as a mother weeps
over her babe, when she remembers that death may
take it from her. The delight of tragedy proceeds
52 SYMrATIIY.
from our consciousness of fiction. If we thought it
real it would please no more." — Johnson's Preface to
Shahespeare. Thus the boor is made to do what he
never did before, because he never was made to feel
that such a thing could happen to him. It is with
him the creation of a new^ feeling. He sympathizes
with himself. Now what may not be, strictly speak-
ing, morally real, is so, physiologically.
Whether the passion be real or not, the tears are
substantially so. Weeping may be voluntarily or
involuntarily ; the secretion takes place ; and as we
cannot deny the influence of the nerves in the first,
why should we in the second instance ? In this
action we witness the transition from the one state
to the other, so that we cannot separate them. A
person may shed tears by the influence of his will,
but may not be able to refrain from doing so when
they have begun to flow. All the eftbrts he can make
shall not force out a drop sufficient to lubricate the
globe ; all his efforts to command them shall not pre-
vent their flowing down his cheek. How are the
mental emotions producing increased secretion of the
lachrymal gland, — how is this weeping sympathy to
be accounted for physiologically? Truth may here
be said to spring out of fiction.
It must be remembered that perceptive sensation is
in the brain, as proved by the existence of local pain
and sensations in parts long removed ; and as Mr
Trnvers has observed, that the operation of dividing
the fibrils of nerves for neuralgic aftections is of no
use ; and this must ah\ ays be the case if the trunk of
the nerve which communicates with the brain be
SYMrATHY. 53
affected ; for, as Miiller states, the trunk contains
in itself all the primitive fibres distributed in the
branches of the nerve to the skin. The division of
a nerve will only give relief when the disease is
seated in the branches, not in the trunk of the
nerves. — P. 744.
The knowledge of this circumstance has come ra- ^
ther too late in the day for those, and they are not ^
few, who have allowed their faces to be mutilated *;
again and again by the surgeon's knife. It affords us "^
the greatest encouragement to prosecute our inquiries
into the actions of the nerves in health and disease ;
and is a justification, to a certain extent, of ex[)eri-
menting upon living animals, but none for repeating
them from mere curiosity.*
In the functions ascribed by different physiologists
to the uses of the sympathetic nerve, there is great
discrepancy of opinion. The subject, as Mliller ob-
serves, is involved in great obscuHty. He, however,
applies the same laws to it which govern the action
of the cerebro-spinal nerves, and advances the hypo-
thesis : — " When, in consequence of impressions on
sensitive nerves, secretions take place in distant parts,
the brain and spinal chord are probably the mediiun
of communication."
As regards sympathy it is evident that, in a phy-
sical sense, it is not the sympathetic nerve which is
alone concerned. The circumstance of the wide-
extended connexions of this nerve, by means of its
ganglia, &c., forming, as it Avere, a nervous web, the
meshes of which communicate with all the other
* Soe Appendix.
54 STMPATHT.
nerves, has given countenance to the idea, that all
nervous affections, morally and physically, might be
thus explained. Now, as regards the secretions, we
may observe, that this sympathy may be accounted
for in three different Avays ; and all reducible to one
action on the sensorium. Thus, the palpable impres-
sion made upon the sensitive nerves of the tongue,
shall produce an instantaneous flow of saliva into the
mouth ; and this can only be caused by an increased
secretion from tlie glands, wliich must imply an in-
creased mass of blood in their structure, to be so
A\ orked upon and eliminated ; and this again must be
produced by the reflex action of the sensitive on
the motor nerves of tlic brain.
It is not necessary for this secretion that the sen-
sitive nei'ves should be mechanically made subject to
impression, because the same effect is produced by
the impression of sight, for the mouth Avill water
when the eye beholds a dainty morsel. The assist-
ance of this even is not necessary, — recollection is
quite suflficicnt to produce the same effect.
It has before been stated that the cry of the child
causes a flow of blood to the mother's breast, for the
blood must be there before the milk can be elaborated.
'• Every part of the body has its proper seat of repre-
sentation in, and chain of connexion with, the brain :
thus, to a certain extent, we can call up sensation by
imafjininof it."'
Muller observes, " The female mammary gland
receives its nerves, not directly from the sympathetic,
but, as it appears to me, only from the third and
fourth intercostal nerve.*' And he states, that the
SYMPATHY. 55
cerebro-spinal, as well as the sympathetic, appear to
liave the function of regulating secretion. — P. 517.
" The organic system of the great sympathetic
nerve on the one hand, and on the other, the cere-
bral and cerebra-spinal structure, with its nerve,
tlieir boundaries and blendings, their direct and re-
flex functions, forming the system of animal life,
of perception, sensation, and motion, — involve the
harmonies and sympathies which are, more or less,
auxiliary to life in every possible variety of circum-
stances ; and if not indispensable to existence, the
intellectual faculties of which they are also the seat
and instruments, are among the most powerful
agents, as they are the most characteristic interpre-
ters, of human maladies." — Travers^ Injicnnniatlon^ &.c.
p. 18.
In the innumerable varieties of moral and physical
effects which present themselves in our present state
of existence, and in its relations with the things which
surround us, and which, for want of a better term, we
impute to sympathetic influence, we can but recog-
nize the direct influence of the nervous power, and
refer the phenomenon to its control.
It is under precisely the same direction, that if the
sensitive nerves of the eye are oflfended by the pre-
sence of a grain of sand, the lachrymal gland pours
out tears for its relief, as in a moral sense : —
'• When I did name her brothers, then fresh tears
Stood on her cheeks."
That definition of sympathy, " the aftection of one
part of tlie body directly by the aflTection of another,
56 SYMPATHY.
through vital agency alone, independently of physical,"
cannot be correct.
Sir Pertinax Macsycophant said that he could never
stand straight in the presence of a great man, — he
bowed, as it were, by instinct ; still the bowing was
a voluntary act of the brain by some unknown or in-
definable impression made upon it. The brain may
have the privilege of directing its powers in any way
it pleases. If a pinch of snuff offend the nose, or the
glare of the sun the eye, the impression is stiU made
upon the brain through the medium of the nerves.
It is an offending agent, and it is at the discretion of
the brain, in which perceptive sensation resides, to put
such powers into action as shall best get rid of the
offendino; a^ent. In the effort of sneezinj^, the eve
and nose are both relieved. Now, the force of habit
conquers this very sensation. The habitual snuff-
taker no longer sneezes, the snuff is no longer an
offence, and the brain takes no cognizance of it,
beyond the agreeable impression of its odour, and the
stimulus it affords.
In the remote sympathies which pathology affords,
there seems to be no real contradiction to the law,
that all true sympathy is effected by nerves, as
Dr Elhotson maintains : " If we cannot explain the
occurrence or absence of sympathy by nervous distri-
bution, we must remember we are imperfectly ac-
quainted with this."
In the affections of the parotid gland we find the
testes of one sex, and the breasts of the other, sympa-
thize. This merely proves that the parts of the
brain, receiving impression from the sensitive nerves
SYMPATHY. 57
of the gland, transfei' tlicat influence to other glands,
for the tumefixction of neither can occur without the
direction of this organ in distributing more fluid to
the part ; so that, directly or indirectly, the nervous
system must be implicated, and Miiller ascribes this
to the principle of reflection in this instance.
There is positive evidence of sympathy being seated
in the nerves. " In sympathetic muscular movements
the sympathy is not between the excited part and the
muscles, but between it and the nerves of the muscles ;
wherefore, if the nerves of the muscles be divided, the
sympathy still exists, but ceases to be manifest, be-
cause the muscles are no longer influenced by the
sympathizing nerves."
" The iris ceases to contract when the third pair is
divided, though light glares on the retina ;" nor Avill
it contract if the latter be insensible by disease.
So many proofs are afforded us of sympathies
traceable to physical causes, and to direct or in-
direct nervous communication, and the laws of re-
flection, that our imperfect knowledge of this com-
plex system at present may be fairly argued to be
the only barrier to reducing all to one and the same
cause.
Dr Marshall Hall's view of the sympathies merits
due attention, and must be read with great interest ;
but it is impossible to make works of this kind duly
appreciated by a few extracts.
The whole bears upon every part ; but each single
part conveys no accurate idea of the whole.
58 PHRENOLOGY
PHRENOLOGY.
" The brain is the mansion of the mind, and the
index of its powers." The shape of the head has been
looked upon in all ages as indicative of mental facul-
ties. It must be boi'ne in mind that the skull is
modelled by the brain, and not the brain by the skull.
Every protuberance, every indentation, con-esponds
with the shape of the cerebral mass within, and this is
not always confined to the adult period. The same
power of exercise which developes the muscular fibre
will act upon this nervous mass, and extraordinary
occupation of the mind will change the form and in-
crease the size of the skull long after what is termed
the full period of growth. Napoleon offered a strik-
ing example of this phenomenon. " On peut en citer
un exemple, le plus connu qu'on a observe, dans la
personne de Napoleon, dont la tete peu volumineuse,
dans sa jcunesse, avait acquis depuis, quelques annees
un developement presque enorme.'' — Diet, des Sciences
Mediccdes. The shape and size of the head are not
infallible guides, but they have the experience of ages
in their favour ; and Mr Abernethy has observed, that
a Greek sculptor never placed the head of a philoso-
pher on the shoulders of an athlete. It avIII be long
before phrenology can be ranked amongst the sciences,
for there must be a crusade in all parts of the globe,
and the examination of thousands of skulls, and a
knowledge of the moral characters of their owners,
before the basis of this theory can be solidly esta-
blished.
PHRENOLOGY. 59
Lavater is too much forgotten in the present day.
His facial angle cannot but persuade those who study-
it carefully, that they can read the man in his phy-
siognomy. There is nothing repulsive to religion or
morality in these doctrines. The same Almighty
power which created the whole may liave assigned
different functions to its parts. AVe are not all created
with tlie same moral or physical powers : St Paul has
said that some enjoy gifts which others do not. But
all phrenologists are not agreed as to the seat of the
organs of specific moral qualities ; and so long as
there can be any doubt upon such a point, the whole
science must dissolve as the baseless fabric of a vision.
No doubt exists as to the seat of sound in the audi-
tory, or of sight in the optic, nerve ; and the demon-
stration m.ust be as complete as regards the endow-
ment of certain portions of the brain with respect
to tlie moral functions, as to the physical. Mr Travers
has well observed, " Cerebral regions and cerebral
agencies, are as indispensable to the production of
local physical sensations as to the operations of the
mind. The phrenological system, I may here remark,
owes its existence to the countenance which it derives
from a twilight of truth, though only sufficient to
serve as a beacon to the absurdities with which it is
enveloped." — Physiokxjt/ of Inflammation, <fec. It is
sometimes objected to phrenology, that it is an apo-
logy for immorality and crime, and that the vicious
may screen themselves under its cloak. This objec-
tion, however, cuts both ways, for if our actions
or propensities depend upon organization, then to do
good or ill is not voluntary on our parts. We should
60 PHREXOLOGT.
not have more power to do ill in one case than of re-
fraining from it in the other. That certain states and
conditions of the brain do influence moral actions, is
beyond all doubt. Not only do the various forms of
insanity prove it, but also the unconquerable propen-
sities manifested by some who are still reputed of sound
mind. The disposition to steal is not unfrequently
innate, where no plea of want can justify it. I knew
the son of a Polish nobleman who had this propensity,
— nothing could cure him. All means had been tried,
the mildest and the severest, but to no purpose. There
are few shopkeepers in London who cannot point out
persons of rank who will readily lay out £100, yet,
if they have an opportunity, will steal a yard of lace.
It is useless to multiply similar instances. Accidental
circumstances coincide in ffivinjT great weight to the
opinion of physical cerebral derangement influencing
the moral man. The most pious have been made re-
probates by a fall from a horse. I, myself, knew an
instance of a highly gifted youth becoming a dull,
foolish man from this very cause. He laboured under
convulsions for some time, and recovered all but his
senses.
Dissection does not always aflTord us sufficient phy-
sical evidence. Our senses are too obtuse to identify
these subtile conditions, but we have sufficient moral
proofs that something does occur, — that some charge
in the balance is eflTected, some disorganization of the
nervous mass ; for Ave find friends and relations, with
whose well regulated conduct we have been all our lives
conversant, launch out at once into the most extrava-
gant course of life, sometimes without apparent provo-
PHRENOLOGY. 61
cation, while at others we attribute it to some verj
iinsatisfactoiy cause. I do not alhide to temporary
delirium or febrile excitement, but to genuine mania ;
not evanescent as the former, but permanent for the
rest of life. These effects must have their cause some-
where, however inscrutable they may be. It is not in
the blood that we are to look for them. Aii inflamed
condition of this fluid may produce temporary mental
derangement, which will subside when the exciting cause
has been removed ; but it is not in the circulation that
we can trace any clue to the state in question ; yet
how common and mischievous has been the practice
of bleeding under these circumstances. It is not,
perhaps, too much to say, that this state has been per-
petuated by such practice, when a diffusible stimulus,
a dose of o])ium, might have cut it short. We must
refer such states to a change in the condition of those
parts by which the passions are expressed. Dr Gall
has related the following case in point : — " A young
man who was trepanned for an injury of the head, lost
a portion of the upper surface of the brain in the ope-
ration, the wound healed, and he recovered. From
this period he evinced the most unconquerable pro-
pensity to steal. In spite of the severest chastisements,
he carried this practice to such a pitch, that he was
at length condemned to the gallows. He expressed
himself pleased at the circumstance, for he was con-
vinced of the impunity of his proceedings, and said
that he had no hopes of ever being able to correct
himself."
The subject of phrenology is one of too much im-
portance to be discussed in a cursory manner, or by
62 PHRENOLOGY.
the non idonei. It was impossible, however, not to
touch upon it in discussing our present subject. Al-
though, I believe, I have mentioned It elsewhere, still
I must relate the following instance of Dr Spurzhelm's
skill in ascertaining the moral and physical characters
of a patient, who was long under my care, from a
simple examination of the head.
I bad the charge of a child five years of age, whose
brother and sister had died about the same age of
hydrocephalus. I requested Dr Spurzheim to see
her. She was in good health at the time, but was
considered to be threatened by the family disease.
I had made some changes in the plan of treatment,
both moral and physical. The child was subject to
headaches and debility, and her mind was so lively
to any impression, that if a fairy tale were told her by
her nurse at night, she would dream of it, and act it in
her dreams. She would sit up in her bed, and perhaps
get out of bed, and walk and talk in her sleep. These
symptoms being considered as indications of approach-
ing hydrocephalus, she was kept very low, and calo-
mel purgatives continually administered, by which the
debility was naturally increased. Taking a different
view of the case to that which had been taken by my
predecessors, I ventured to change the whole plan of
treatment. If a day had passed without the bowels
being moved, a dose of calomel was always given, and
then, after its effects, constipation would recur, and
again the same remedy. Her diet Avas confined to
soup and vegetables, and exercise in the open air was
proscribed as too much for her strength. I had many
prejudices to overcome before I could persuade to a
PHRENOLOGY. 63
diiterent plan of treatment, and my responsibility was
very great, for the child was motherless and in the
hands of menials, her father not being able to reside
with his daughter for a long time together. Consi-
dering air and exercise essential to the well-being of
childhood, I put a donkey and very large Chinese
parasol in requisition, by -which means an hour's exer-
cise round the town could be obtained at any time of
the day without fatigue or annoyance from the sun.
The diet was changed. Soup and potatoes were dis-
missed from the board, and mutton and poultry, in
moderate quantities, were allowed daily. This, with
baked fruits, constituted the dinner meal. Very weak
tea and milk, with bread and butter, were the break-
fast and supper repast. Some ripe fruit was permitted
in the afternoon. As regarded the torpid state of the
bowels, I avoided medicine, and my great difficulty
Vvas to break through this habit. Common enemas,
however, answered the purpose ; but so rapidly did an
improvement take place under the change of diet and
exercise, that the bowels acquired a proper tone, and
performed their functions Avithout interference. The
moral education required as much attention as the
physical. Ardent, irritable, and impetuous, impatient
of control, and highly susceptil)le, all this was to be
overcome, or rather she was not to be placed in the
way of excitement. I requested that education, or
such as consists of reading and writing, should be
dispensed with, for at least some months ; and as
an improvement had taken place physically, I had
gained confidence enough to be allowed to recfulate
the moral system. No books but picture-books, no
64 PHRENOLOGY.
cards, no draft-boards, were allowed ; nor did I per-
mit, after a certain time of day, any histories or
stories to be recited or read to the patient : an im-
provement ^Yas as soon visible in the night as in the
day. The sleep became more tranquil, and the talk-
ing and agitation less, not suddenly, but by degrees ;
as the body waxed in strength, so did the mind.
It was after a six months' trial of this plan that Dr
Spurzheim saw her by chance. I told him merely
what the fears were as regarded the tendency to
hydrocephalus, which was hereditary in the family.
He could have known nothing of her history. Upon
examining her head, he said you have nothing to fear,
she will do very well, but avoid all moral excitement ;
her brain is weak, and she must not be pushed beyond
her powers at present. When the physical substance
is stronger, the external impressions will do less harm :
but let her run wild, leave her education alone ; let
her amuse herself as she likes ; dont contradict her.
She is irascible, impatient of control ; this will improve
by degrees, but do nothing to call it forth ; humour
her. He drew her character to the greatest nicety in
every particular. I then explained to him the treat-
ment I had adopted, and what had been adopted
previously. It is her only chance, he replied, and
you have hit the mark ; continue all you are doing,
and you will carry her through in triumph.
As far as I can recollect, these were his very words.
The impi'ovement was gradual, but solid ; and as she
got stronger, her education was commenced paula-
tim, but she was not permitted to stiidi/ till she had
attained her tenth year, when all predisposition to
PHRENOLOGY. 05
disease vanislied. I had, by request, kept a journal
of the medicines Avhich she took during the five years
she was under my care ; this had Ijeen done by my
predecessor, and, on comparing the two, it was found
that more calomel had been administered in any
three months previously, than during the whole of the
five years. She had been treated for a disease which
did not exist, but which was anticipated; and the
means employed to ward it off, would most probably
have brought it on.
She had but one severe illness during the whole of
this period. She was suddenly attacked, when riding
on her donkey, with a pain in her head, followed by
severe headache-delirium, great constitutional fever,
which, however, yielded to common antiphlogistic
treatment. In the commencement, she Avas very
subject to slight but sudden attacks of pain in the
head, which would occur without any assignable cause,
and were, for the most part, of very short duration,
but always left her very languid. These seemed to
warrant the employment of calomel.
In detailing this case so minutely, and perhaps un-
necessarily for those who have met with many such, it
must be remembered that it Avas one of great respon-
sibility, and upon Avhich all my future career hinged.
To those Avho have practised twenty years it ofiers
nothing new, but young practitioners may be placed in
the same situation as I Avas at that period, Avhen all
their knoAvledge is derived from books, and to such it
may not be uninteresting, as proving how much may
be accom})lishcd by measures Avhich apply to the
general health only, and hoAV much is to be feared
(j\j rHRENOLOGY.
from precipitate medical interference, where disease
is rather threatened than existing.
When in Edinbui'gh, I was cHnical clerk to the late
Dr Entherford, with whose memory are associated
most grateful recollections, and from whom I received
most marked kindnesses. His practice was considered
by the students, who know so much, or think they
know so much, as puerile and inert, and his visits
drew but few followers into the wards. Cases, which
seemed to iis to demand the most active treatment
and a free use of the lancet, were treated by a saline
diaphoretic mixture and a foot bath, and got well under
such treatment. He once said to me, with a smile,
iny practice differs from that of my colleagues ; but
it is my object to let the students see how much
nature ^v'iIl do in many instances, and how patients
recover under the most simple treatment, and by the
removal only of all exciting causes. It is too com-
mon with you all to ascribe every thing to the medi-
cines you administer. The veiy active treatment you
employ relieves the symptoms, and you take great
ci-edit to yourselves for your decided practice ; but
you forget that long convalescences follow, and tlie
constitution is shattered and impaired by such abstrac-
tion of its powers. You will find that patients who
have been apparently cured by large bleedings which
have conquered pain in the first instance, remain
eventually longer in the wards than those who have
not been so speedily relieved ; moreover, you will find
them return again, after their dismissal, with dropsy
and chronic aflPections. As regarded bleeding, the
Doctor never took away more than from eight to
MESMERISM. 67
twelve ounces at a time ; and now, after a period oi
twenty-five years, his vie>vs of things, and those of
his colleague, Dr Gregory, seem to have been correct;
for, as the latter has beautifully expressed it, " Nam
ut sanguis semel missus nunquam in venas redit, sic
neque vires cum illo amissaj in variis morbis unquam
refici possunt."
The change in this part of the treatment of disease
has undergone great modifications, and practitioners
no longer boast of their bleedings, ad deliquium, which
thev did formerly. This decided practice, as it was
styled, and which usurped the claims of confidence, is
now proved to have been decidedly bad.
I am indebted, perhaps, to the admonitions and
example of the discoverer of Nitrogen for tlie success
with which my treatment of this case was happily
crowned.
MESMERISM.
This subject must be considered physiologically
and morally. In the latter sense it surpasses any-
thing which can come within the cognizance of our
senses, and, at all events, is out of the pale of medical
inquiry. The exhibitions Avhich we have daily made
before us, if true, can only be referred to the class of
miracles. It may not be amiss to warn tlie public
how far, and by ^A'hat complication of machinery,
systematic imposture may be carried on. We refer
to the Appendix for an extract from M'Crie's Life of
John Knox.
68 MESMERISM.
Considered physiologically, it may be asked what
is true, and what is new in these histories ? and
whether, in this view, the whole be not reducible to
excited nervous influence, which has at all times pre-
vailed under particular circumstances, without usurp-
ing any specific name or term ?
There is nothing new in the discovery, that pain
may be suspended by moral impression ; the number
is, perhaps, comparatively few of those who have not
proved this in their own persons. The pain of tooth-
ache is recognized to be as severe as any to which
flesh is heir, — the stoutest are knocked down by it.
The celebrated Tom Crib was deprived of all his
muscular force during a fit of it ; and yet this agoniz-
ing pain, this torture Avhich often makes a man run
his head against the wall, is entirely dissipated, not
mei'cly for the moment, but for weeks ; — not by oils
and opiates, not by the extracting iron, but by the
simple rap at the' door of him who is supposed to have
the irons in his pocket. The fear of incurring a
momentary pain still more severe than the one in
operation, is suflficient to expel the latter. "\Ve require
no name for this phenomenon ; Ave speak of its eflfects ;
and we see, in this instance, that moral causes can
operate upon the nervous system, and suspend physical
action ; the pain in question being referable to irrita-
tion of the nerves. If the passions of the mind, of
which fear is one, be still more Avrought upon, the
sentient condition of the nerves may be so paralysed
as to allow the tooth to be extracted, or the limb to
be amputated, Avithout causing pain to the patient. I
see no reason to doubt of the veracitA^ of these Avit-
MESMERISM. 69
nesses ; I can find no object in deception, no reason
to suspect collusion, because there is nothing more
extraordinary in the effects of the will directing all
its powers to the consummation of one object, than
that this should be effected by the operation of one
passion. It is the faith which removes mountains.
This is a word Avhich seldom finds entree to medical
levees ; it sits at the gate like Mordecai, and it is sure
to triumph. It will finish by hanging its foes, Scepti-
cism and Credulity. It is the same that cured the woman
of hemorrhagy, and the man at the pool of Bethesda.
AVhy should we suppose that its reign is over ? It is
as paramount in the present day as in times gone by.
It has existed from the beginning of time, and will
endure to the end. It is a part and parcel of our
moral existence. It represents a great power equal
to a host or army, exercising its influence over our
moral and physical being. It is not at our own dis-
posal ; it is not in the power of all to believe ; but
those who do, and do in right earnest, often reap the
fruits of what some Avould style their weakness. — How
strong in their weakness. None are so well acquainted
with it as those who found systems upon it, which
last as long as they can fan the flame ; for it will some-
times go out, and may not be rekindled. We appeal
to the Ilomoeopathists to tell us what they have
accomplished by knowing how to avail themselves of
this power. We return to the influence of the will
over tlic physical man — over the muscular system,
and we shall find that, by continued cftbrt of this
will directed to one object, the distorted arm — the
contracted leg, have been restored to their normal
70 MESMERISM.
state ; as has been proved in our own experience.
We see the muscles only through the nerves ; the
older physiologists believed them to be expansions of
the latter. Mr Hone, in his Every Day Book, relates
the following instance of extraordinary muscular ex-
ertion: — A man with a wooden leg was leaning against
a high gate, when he was suddenly alarmed by the
sight of an enraged bull coming full speed at him
down the lane. There were no means of escape,
and death or horrid mutilation seemed to await him.
Under this excitement of fear he made a violent effort,
leaped over the gate, and escaped from his foe.
Some soldiers in the late wars, under the full
excitement of victory, stormed and took a fort. The
following day, upon seeing what they had done, they
could hardly believe it possible ; they doubted their
own achievements. Their commanding officer ordered
them to renew the attack in a sham fight ; not a man
could mount to the point where he had placed his foot
the preceding day. It was a sham fight ; the stimulus
of reality w^as wanting to assist the will.
A man has been confined to his bed by a fit of the
gout, and so perfectly helpless as to require the aid of
several men to move him from one side of the couch
to the other. In the middle of the night he has been
suddenly alarmed by the house taking fire, when he
has, without any assistance, jumped out of bed, run
down stairs, and gained the street.
It is useless to multiply cases of this nature. It
may be allowed to draw a parallel between them and
some of those effects attributed to mesmerism, and
see in what they differ physiologically.
MESMERISM. 7 1
The most striking instance on record of the power
of the Avill over muscular motion, is presented to us
in the case of Colonel Townsend, Avho could, by
voluntary effort, suspend the action of the heart for a
considerable time, during which he lost all appearance
of life.
Is there anything in all the distortions and monkey
tricks, which we see those exhibit who are said to be
under this mesmeritic po\A'cr, so wonderful as this ?
tlie suspension of the heart's pulsation by voluntary
effort ?
I A\itnessed, when in St Petersburg, some children
exhibit a great many pranks when mesmerized by a
female magnetizer of the name of Tutchanienoff.
These children had all some physical defect ; one had
a hump on his back, a second, a distorted spine, a
tliird, a contracted limb, &c. She promised to put
all things straight by the power of her eyes. She Avas
of middle stature, very dark complexion, with piercing
])lack eyes. She exhibited in public. She Avas seated
in a corner of the room, wore a dark blue riding habit,
and had a black velvet cap, with gold tassel, on her
head. The children were admitted. They had sallow
complexions, were meagre, and in bad condition.
They were told to approach her. She avoided looking
at them for a time, during which they remained quiet.
She suddenly turned her head towards them, and gave
a piercing look ; and at the same instant they com-
menced their antics. The boy with the hump back
took up a folio book, liolding a lid in each hand, and
throwing it over his head, thumped the hunch with
the body of the leaves. Some muscular power was
72 MESMERISM.
employed, but the thumps were not hard enough to
hurt him. The contracted arm was pulled by two
attendants, one holding the body, whilst another pulled
at the arm, and the child vociferated krepka, krepka —
pull harder, pull harder. The shortened leg was
served much in the same way. This continued for
about two minutes, Avhen the exhibition ceased. As
soon as the magnetizer turned her eyes from them,
the children were powerless. Several of my colleagues
were present, and we all agreed that a greater piece
of imposture was never attempted. No good was
done to the children. This woman continued to per-
form her miracles for a long time in St Petersburg,
patronized by the nobility. Amongst other feats, she
was said, by her look, to have caused long thread-like
bodies to issue from the digital extremities of a child,
which, from some vibratory motion which they mani-
fested, were said to be living Avorms.
Still all is not imposture. It is but fair that I should
relate the following case as coming under my own
cognizance, and that of most of my colleagues. A
lady, the wife of a physician, met with the following
accident : — Her foot having slipped in mounting the
steps to her door, she fell down the area, and concussion
of the spine was the consequence. She lost all power
of motion in the lower extremities. Various means
were resorted to : blisters, setons, frictions, with tar-
tarized antimony, galvanism, and, finally, she suffered
the excruciating tortures of seven moxas burnt upon
the sacrum, at different periods, — all without eftect.
She remained a cripple, without any power of moving
her limbs, and this for the space of twelve months.
JIE.SMERISM. 73
She was carried in a litter to the steam-boat, which
took her to Paris by Havre. Upon her arrival there
slie was treated bv Recamier. He introduced a series
of setons from the nape of the neck to the sacrum,
but with no better effect. She was a woman of e-reat
moral courage. Kit desperandam. She resolved on
trying magnetism. A female treated her, and in six
weeks she was going the rounds of a gay Parisian
life, with her limbs perfectly restored. This was called
mesmerism. Let us instance a case Avhere no sucji
power was employed : —
In the town of Southam[)ton lived a shoemaker who
had a short leg ; he walked upon the point of the toe
wdth the help of a stick, and was nicknamed " Hoppy."
He had been in that state for years, and was knoAMi
to the whole community. The days of acupuncture
arrived. AVhat has become of it ?
One of these operators visited the town and blew
his trumpet. He performed many cures. " Hoppy"
presented himself. He undertook to make him walk
straight. He pushed pins and needles into the foot,
and in a short time the man left off his high shoe,
the sole of the foot rested flat upon the ground, he
walked without limping, and without the help of a
stick. His cure, however, Avas not of long duration.
This was acui^uncture. It may be difficult to account
for such things, but to deny the evidence of our senses
in such instances, is tacitly to give ourselves the lie.
In neither of these two instances could there be a
question of collusion ; the acts were performed, no
matter by what means. In neither of them do Ave
see more than has been recognized in the cure of
74 SLEEP.
toothache by fear, in the wooden-legged man jumping
over the gate, or the gouty man quitting his bed. In
all we must admit a moral influence Avhich, for a time,
sometimes longer, sometimes shorter, predominates
over and controls the physical powers. This influence
is, perhaps, always voluntary ; for, as regards muscular
motion, it must be borne in mind that the voluntary
muscles act independently of the manifestation of the
Avill. Sleep-walking cannot be instanced in proof of
this, for it is by no means clear that the will is not
active in this state. Dr Whytt observes that many
of the bodily motions are performed when Ave are
insensible of the power of the will excited in their
production. We are not aware that the eye-lids are
kejtt open by the will ; but when drowsiness and sleep
steal upon us, we find it requires a considerable effort
to prevent the falling down of the upper curtain.
In a physiological sense, all these apparently won-
derful phenomena are true, but they are by no means
new. Of the rest of mesmerism, as far as the opera-
tions of the mind are concerned and its knowledge of
things, these are new ; it will require undeniable
evidence to prove them true. If they be, they rank
with miracles, and are without the pale of physiology.
See Appendix.
SLEEP.
In the few observations to be made upon a subject
■svhich has given rise to so much speculation, it Avill
be evident, Avhether sleep be considered as a function
SLEEP. 75
of the brain, or as resulting from an exhaustion of
nervous power, it is this organ which is principally con-
cerned in the process. In no function of the system
does the blood play a more important part than in
influencing this phenomenon. If it flow too freely,
or its momentum be too great, (from Avhatever cause,
moral or physical, this may arise,) it is fatal to sleep,
and this effect is mechanical and independent of any
change in its constitution. Some maniacs will resist
sleep for days and nights together, if the nervous
system be in a great state of excitement. Where the
circulation is weak, as when the body is exhausted by
fatigue, so irresistible is the power of sleep, that the
culprit at the stake, and the mast-head midshipman,
cannot resist its influence.
Of the direct eflects of the circulation on this func-
tion, proofs are afibrded us by compressing the brain,
and large vessels which furnish it with blood. If the
carotids be forcibly compressed, a state of sopor is
induced. Sir Astley Cooper used to relate the case
of a sailor who had been trepanned, the pulsations of
Avhose brain were visible through the bony ring, which
Avas covered only by integument ; and if the thumb
were pressed upon this spot, sleep immediately fol-
lowed. The state and condition of the blood must
not be lost sight of in these matters ; for, as an increase
of momentum in the arterial blood will cause insom-
Jiolency, so will a diminished circulation, retarding
tlie return of the venous blood, produce sopor and
coma, and often apoplectic symptoms. Asphyxia is so
produced. If a marchande de modes be crossed in
love, she shuts herself in a small room, places a pan
T(> SLEEP.
of liglited charcoal on the floor, and Hes down to sleep
the long sleep. — This is asphyxia.
If the mind be excited at the usual time of repose,
it is often preventive of sleep ; there is an increased
vascular action ; and the Germans have a very forcible
term for that tossina; and cjeneral restlessness of bodv
accompanying this wakeful state, " Das Blut ist in
Wallung." As long as this irritability is kept up by
physical or moral causes, sleep will not be induced.
John Browne, whose essay upon this function is the
chef d'cenvre of his writings, insists upon a due balance
between the exciting powers and the excitability as
necessary to sound sleej). It is upon the principle of
subduing the latter that opium acts as a diffusible
stimulus. Me Uerde, he exclaims, opium non sedaf.
Feeble doses of this drug, far from producing the de-
sired effect, only increase the irritability of the system,
and prevent sleep. I have often been surprised at the
very small quantity of opium wdiich German practi-
tioners employ with a Aiew of inducing sleep, not at
the disappointment they experience. Physical and
moral causes, as they are in due proportion or in
excess, will induce or counteract the process. We
understand the expression of an agreeable degree of
fatigue, which invites to this state, as an excess of the
same prevents it. Moral influences act precisely in the
same way ; grief and anxiety repel, as tlie thoughts of
anything pleasurable court, sleep. But these have also
their limits, and sleep w'ill at last conquer in spite of
the aggravated torments of mind and body. When
witchcraft was punished as a crime, it was the great
object of tlie torturers to keep the poor sufterers awake.
SLEEP. (7
which they did by ninning needles into tlieir eyes.
Sleeplessness is a characteristic symptom of insanity ;
it often precedes it, and is one of the first of the
many harbingers of this approaching malady.
" If I do not get sleep I shall go out of my senses."
is not an uncommon expression from those exhausted
by long Avatchfulness. I have known some persons
subject to confusion of intellect and waking dreams,
who recover their mental energies by a five minutes
nap. The force of habit, together with all the innumer-
able causes which operate through the inliuence of ex-
ternal impressions on the sensorium, the rustling of the
leaves, the bubbling brook, the warbler's notes, the
fairy tale, the more mechanical influence of the friction
of the skin, will not allow us to doubt of the nervous
power as one of great importance in the performance
of this function.
I have a patient at present Avith an affection of the
heart, who is lulled to sleep by the nurse taking his
hand in hers and tickling it. The child Avill not often
go to sleep without the thumb in its mouth. In the
language of Shakspeai'e —
'' Our little life is rounded by a sleep."
l»ut, nevertheless, it is not the image of death, nor is
there any analogy between the two. Every function
of life is performed during sleep. Respiration, which
of all others is the most characteristic of life, so that
to cease to breathe is to die, is never so well per-
formed as in this state. As to the mental functions,
they are, I believe, always awake. ]\Iemory may not
assist us to recall what has passed, but it fails us in
78 SLEEP.
many other circumstances. Some do not recollect
that they have slept at all, and maintain the point
in spite of credible Avitncsses to the contrary. I
knew a lady avIio insisted that she never slept, and
drank Burton ale when she ■went to bed to produce
sleep. Being in the habit of waking up very often,
she Avould not be convinced, even by the testimony
of her husband, that she slept great part of the
night. A gentleman, who was hurried to Paris by
the distressing news that his son was dying, took a
courier with him for expedition. They left town in
the evening. 1 he man informed him that he never
slept in all his journies by night. In less than ten
minutes he was fast asleep, and only awoke at the
different stages. On arriving at Dover in the morn-
ing, he maintained that he had never closed his eyes.
It is not logical to say that the mind is unemployed,
because we cannot recollect what occupied it ; for we
find memory very treacherous. The state of the
somnambulist does not argue that the mind is asleep.
The nervous system is awake ; for the muscles are
controlled by the will, and there is a determination
in the exercise of it. There is a decided object in
view, for the movements are directed to some one
point. There must be some degree of vision. The
man on the roof top does not walk over the parapet,
and seldom comes to harm, unless some foolish attempt
be made to awaken him. Then there may be fear of
his losing his senses and his life at the same time.
Lady Macbeth was morally awake when she exhibited
this phenomenon.
There is nothing more capricious in its visits than
SLEEP. 79
sleep. It treats rich and poor, the happy and un-
happy, alike, as regards its favours. Some, in the
enjoyment of good health, are most indifterent sleepers.
" Mr Good gives us a singular instance of a man
who never slept, and yet enjoyed a very good state of
health till his death, which happened in the seventy-
third year of his age. lie had a kind of dozing for
about a Cjuartor of an hour once a-day, but even that
was not sound, though it was all the slumber lie
was ever known to take." — Medico- Clilnoyical Obser-
vations.
The people of northern latitudes sleep more than
those of the south. The Russians boast that they
can sleep at all times of the day or night ; and this,
Avith the common people, is the case. Most part of
their unemployed time is spent in sleep.
The influence of sleep upon the faculties of the
mind is different in different individuals, as is the
refreshment which it affords physically and morally.
The autlior of the Waverley novels has stated, that
liis powers of authorship required seven hours of total
oblivion for their full energy ; he was good for no-
thing if he had not so much sound sleep in the twenty-
four hours.
I knew a gentleman of very nervous character, who
was never so nervous, nor seemed so much exhausted,
as after a night's sound sleep. The theory of Brown
respecting the diffusible stimulus of opium, is not
applicable to morphia, which indeed invalidates the
theory. " That opium contains two principles, the
stinnilant and narcotic, is not now matter of specula-
tion ; as they have been separated chemically, and
80 ON Drj:A:.is.
tlio narcotic part, morphia, can be used to produce
sleep Avitliout the stimulant. The stupor from opium
Avas said to be the sedative effect subsequent to, or
produced by, the exhau^stion of the stimulus ; but this
is not the case ; for, the stimidant part being taken
away, the morphia produces sleep as certainly ; thus
realizino; the lono;-sou2:ht desideratum of an unstimu-
lating opiate." — Billing's Principles of Medicine, p. 87.
ON DREAMS.
Lord Brougham has hazarded the opinion, thiit
dreaming is confined to that period which exists
between the sleeping and -waking state ; and that,
during sound sleep, people do not dream at all.
Although, upon rising in the morning, we may imagine
that Ave have been dreaming all night, yet if this state
has prevailed, it has been by continual successions of
transits from sleep to wake ; and as all standard as to
time is lost under such circumstances, so the Avhole
of the dreaming period, Avhich may appear to us to
have occupied hours, is in reality accomplished in a
fcAv seconds.
It appears to us that the author has not made
out a clear case, and that facts are opposed to this
theory.
The late Dr Cullen observes, in his Physiology of
Sleep, that the body, as Avell as the mind, may be in
any state of Avaking ; and as the latter does not go to
sleep all at once, but by degrees, so it may aAvake in
the same manner.
ON DREAMS. 81
As regai'tls the amount of dreaming comprised in
the shortest period of time, the idea is not new, how-
ever true it may be, for Dr Darwin has advanced the
same supposition in his Zoonomia.
" The rapidity of the succession of transactions in
our dreams is ahiiost inconceivable ; insomuch, that
when we are accidentally awakened by the jarring of
a door, M'hich is opened into our bed-chamber, we
sometimes dream a whole history of thieves or fire in
the very instant of waking." — Vol. i. p. 295 ; sect.
xviii. 11.
In the process of sleep the senses take their depar-
ture seriatim. The eyes, covered by the relaxation
of the muscles, which hold up the curtain, are no
longer conscious of the real fonns of objects presented
to them, although lioht be not alto^-ether excluded.
They enjov as mucli visual power as some animals do
at all times, and it is some time before the halo is
quite extinguished.
The ear is Ion"' sensible to sound after the functions
of the eye have ceased ; and the tongue can still
babble out some inarticulate words. The muscular
system does not become torpid all at once, sometimes
a leg or arm will take precedence of its feUow, fall
asleep, or wake up without consent of its partner;
hence the sensation in a limb as if it were dropping
through, when we first fall asleep, or when anything
suddenly rouses us.
In the process of waking, the ear is the first of the
senses which regains its functions, as it was the last
to lose them in that of sleeping. It is susceptible of
the impression of sound long before the eye is able to
82 ON DREAMS.
distinguish objects, or the muscular power so much
awake as to be able to lift up the curtain.
This explains the phenomena to which Darwia
alludes, of the dreams which take place in this inter-
mediate state between the awakening and the broad
awake conditions of the sensorium ; and as Cullen has
advanced the proposition, both body and mind may
be in any state of waking.
As the senses, physically, are not able to perform
their functions correctly if entirely isolated, but each
requires, for the perfect performance of its own special
duties, the co-operation of its associates, and runs into
error when their correcting influence is suspended, so
is the sensorium all abroad and dreaming, when de-
prived of the combined influence of the external senses.
The thieves and fires vanish, therefore, as soon as the
eye has the power to correct the error caused by the
insulated impression of sound made upon the ear.
It is not to this period alone that dreaming is con-
fined. It occurs during the soundest sleep, of which
there are suflicient demonstrative proofs.
If it were confined to this period, the slightest
power exercised by a second person would be suffi-
cient to awaken the dreamer, but this is not the case.
]Many who give sufficient evidence of their state of
dreaming by the agitation of their features, and by
vocal expression, require a good deal of external force
to be exerted upon their bodies before they can be
made to awake ; and we have known some of the
hardest sleepers to be great dreamers, although upon
awakening, they are not conscious of having dreamt
at all. With many the dreaming state may be thua
ON DREAMS. S3
recognizable to a bystander, and yet the dreamer
shall have no recollection of Avhat he dreamt, nor can
be persuaded that he did dream. Instances are not
uncommon of persons waking in a dream by the effects
of some external cause, and continuing the same dream
when relapsed again into sleep, which proves that
dreaming is something more than a succession of ideas
crowding upon the imagination, during the period of
moral and physical struggle between sleep and wake.
Has not many a sportsman had opportunities ot
proving, by ocular demonstration, that dogs enjoy
the pleasures of the chace in their dreams. Has he
not observed his spaniel, after a day's shooting,
stretched out upon the rug before the fire, exhausted
by fatigue, and enjoying sound repose, — and has he
not heard him -uhine and groan, and, finally, give
tongue in full cry, and yet so far from the transition
state, as to requu-e a hard kick before his dream
could be dispelled. This faculty of animals has been
beautifully described by Lucretius, in the following
lines : —
" Venan tumque canes in moUi saepe quiete,
Lactant crura tamen subito, vocesque repente,
Mittunt, et crebro reducuiit naribus auras,
Ut vestigia si teneaut invcnta ferarum ;
Expt'rgefactciquc scquuntur inania soepe
Cervorum simulacra, fugaj quasi dcdita cernaiit ;
Donee discussis redeant erroribus ad se/'
Liierd. lib. iv. O.'KI.
" Spurzheim has observed, that some do things in
their sleep of which they are incapable Avhen awake.
J)r Good relates the case of a clergyman, who iiad
84 ON DREAMS.
deeply cultivated music, to M'hich he was passionately
attached, who composed during his sleep a very beau-
tiful ode of about six stanzas, and set the same to
very agreeable music ; the impression of which was
so firmly fixed in his memory, that on rising in the
morning he sat down and copied fi-om his recollection
both the music and the poetry."
It has been asserted that men have solved problems
in their sleep which puzzled them in their waking
hours, and, shouting out, Eureka ! they have awaked.
THE FIVE SENSES. 85
PART V.
Vision — Hearing — Smell and Taste — Feeling — Voice and
Speech.
THE FIVE SENSES.
That tlicse faculties depend upon the perfect inte-
grity of the nervous .structure, is a fact too well un-
derstood to require any comment. In tracing some
of those curious histories which result from various
degrees of derangement and disease, the importance of
its sound state will be best illustrated. This, however,
opens a very wide field of inquiry, over which our limits
will allow us to skim but lightly ; a very curious pheno-
menon here fii'st presents itself, in the circumstance,
that a certain relation and dependency exist througli-
out the whole of the systems of created beings, and
that even here the perfection of one sense is some-
times due to the co-operation of another. Thus, the eye
corrects the sense of touch, which again is sometimes
requisite to correct vision. " The senses are not," as
Spurzheim observes, " of themselves sufficient, inde-
pendent of the internal operations of the mind. It is
said that the senses correct each other, and they do
so in a certain degree, but they do not correct the
functions of the senses. Thus we see objects reversed,
but the touch assures us they are not so, yet, having
been convinced of this by the touch, we do not see
86 THE FIVE SENSES.
them otherwise than as before. Some other power vi'
the mhid is necessary for this."
The organs of the five senses which connect us w ith
the external world are subject to lesions of different
kinds, by which they are no longer susceptible of
impressions, or by which the impressions which they
receive do not convey just ideas of things to the sen-
soriiun. Tliese erroneous impressions allow of every
variety of perversion, and are often productive of most
unpleasant consequences. They may be often traced
to mechanical injury ; and where this is not evident,
still we must judge by derangement of function, that
such must exist, although not cognizable by our senses.
In the convalescence of fevers, we find that the senses
^vhich had been annulled during the disease return to
their perceptive state by slow degrees, while some are
more acute than in a natural state.
It is long before the eye regains all its vigour.
Taste and smell are obliterated or changed from what
they should be. Deafness is of long duration, and
the sense of touch does not recognize olijects pre-
sented to it with the same degree of accuracy as in a
liealthy state of the system.
The mental powers long feel the injury done to the
sensorium ; until it becomes fixed and steady the mind
will continue wavering. Memory is sometimes lost
for weeks. These effects will be found, iu general,
to be in a ratio with the severity of the disease, and
its mode of treatment ; in both cases it is the loss of
nervous power, which is to be deplored.
In those cases of general ill-health which are, ac-
cording to Macculloch, ascribable to obscure inter-
THE FHTE SENSES. 87
mittents, this morbid state is found to prevail very
greatly. He traces it to direct influence on the nerves
themselves.
" Nor is that consequence a secondary one, origi-
nating in false or perverted moral views, or in an
alierration of the reasoning faculties ; since it appears
on the contrary, where that does or does not exist, and
to be absolutely an insensibility or a primary disorder
in the nerves of those organs of sense which are the
mediums of pleasure."
Thus, some have complained, " that beautiful ob-
jects, such as pictures, natural scenery, and so forth,
Avhich, when in health, had been most pleasurable or
engaging, seemed to make no impression at all upon
the sense. So those who, as musicians, were accus-
tomed to delight in music, not less from science than
feeling, complained that they seemed to sufl:er under
a positive insensibility as to what used to be a source
of the most refined delight, although labouring under
no affection of the temper, nor any of those sensa-
tions commonly called hypochondriacal; and thus have
others complained that the most gratefvd things had
ceased to give pleasure, — that the scent of a rose was
not only powerless, but produced absolute pain, by
reminding them of what it once Avas, while every
attempt to revive the former association connected
with this and other similar objects of delight was un-
availing." — ^facculloch, vol. i. p. 324.
The effects of derangement of the nerves are illus-
trated by the fact, that " external agencies can give
rise to no kind of sensation which cannot also be pro-
(Uiccd Ijy internal causes exciting changes in the con-
88 THE FIVE SENSES.
dltion of our nerves/' A constant action may tlius
be going on internally, and keeping np impressions
which distress the hypochondriacal ; and although aris-
ino- from within, are as real sources of uneasiness, as
if visibly exerted from without. The senses of seemg,
hearing, smelling, tasting, and feeling, may be all
excited by internal causes without any exciting ex-
ternal agent. An increased determination of blood to
any of these parts will increase their susceptibility,
and excite sensations. Moreover, all these things are
accomplished in our dreams ; and the direction of the
mind to any one physical ailment will increase it as
much as the influence of external impression.
If it be established that each organ of sense is
capable of but one kind of sensation only, and not of
those proper to the other organs of sense, and that
one nerve of sense cannot take the place and perform
the function of the nerve of another sense, " Still a
strong impression made upon a nerve of sense will, by
reflex action through the sensorium, excite other
senses. There is, however, no power of transposition
of one nerve's function to another. The eye cannot
hear, nor the ear see, nor did Miss JNIacaulay ever see
with her fingers ; but the power of any one sense may
be so increased by exercise, as in some measure to com-
pensate for the loss of another by increase of its own
function, v.'ithout in any way performing that of the
lost one. This is very important as regards the sup-
posed power of those who see through the skin in the
mesmeretic state."
VISION. 89
VISION.
The integrity of the optic nerve is necessary to
vision ; but many circumstances may prevent light
getting access to it ; or light may reach it and make
no impression upon it if it be too much disorganized.
It wastes away for Avant of use, as other parts of the
svstem are found to do. It is of some disordered
functional states, and not of organic lesion, that any
mention is to be made at present. These states may
arise from physical causes, which may be either suf-
liciently evident, or so obscure, that we cannot recog-
nize them. A certain definite time is necessary for
tlie impression of objects to be transmitted through
the nerve to the brain, and there be painted in their
real form. Hence the explanation of all jugglers'
tricks, that motion is quicker than vision. This is
the explanation of all the rotatory toys : however
distant the objects may be in the disk, the rapidity
of motion so blends them together, that they form but
a single impression on the brain.
Seeing double implies some physical derangement.
It may be transitory, as when produced by too free
potations, and wearing off as the fumes of the liquor
evaporate. The story is well known of two able states-
men of former days going to the House of Commons
after a banquet. On taking their seats, one said to
the other, why, I can't see the speaker ; not see hiin !
said his friend, I see two. But this state may be
more permanent. I attended an old gentleman in
St Pctersburtr Avho laboured for three weeks under
90 visiox.
determination of blood to the head, during the whole
of which time he saw everything double when both
eyes were open.
It is when the brain and nervous system have been
shattered by moral causes, or by the sequela of phy-
sical ones, that the most curious phenomena occur, as
regards the visual powers. The author of the Diary
of a late Physician has published a ludicrous paper of
the spectre dog which followed the man wherever he
might be ; he could not shake him off, either in his
walks, or in his bed-room, or in the stage coach ; the
dog was always there. I know not whether this story
be founded on fact or not, but a case very similar
occurred in a gentleman, who related it to me : — In
great distress of mind, he had taken a quantity of
laudanum with the intent to poison himself. It did
not accomplish what he intended, but was productive
of most distressing nervous affections. Among others,
as soon as he was in bed at night, he saw a dog lying
at the foot of his bed upon the floor. He got out of
bed to verify it, the dog vanished ; when he returned
to his couch tliere was the dog again. The most
singular item in the history was, that his mind could
not rectify the error ; the visual impressions overcame
the rational powers. He would leave his bed two or
three times in the same night to be shamed by a
phantom, and this lasted for full six weeks. At a
subsequent period, and previously to his death, which
was a melancholy one, he was haunted night after
night by a chess-board with men upon it.
That ghosts and apparitions have appeared to people
cannot be doubted. Carlyle has alluded to the history
VISION. 91
of Luther and the blue-bottle fly, and referred it
naturally to that imperfect state of the sensorial powers
when debilitated by physical exhaustion or moral
causes. It is not true that there are ghosts in sub-
stantial forms, paradoxically expressing it, but they
are visible to the mind's eye. It is nowhere recorded
that two people ever saw a ghost at the same time
and in company. It might so happen, that of two
men walking down a lane at night, one should fancy
he saw a ghost and point it out to the other, whose
fear might persuade him that he saw something ; but
no two men at the same time, and in each other's com-
pany, ever saw the same spectral form before their eyes.
It is true that Shakspeare makes the ghost of
Hamlet's father appear to Marcellus and Bernardo,
and afterwards to Hamlet in their company ; but
this may be accounted for under circumstances as
Avhen —
" Time is out of joint."
The best ghost story of modern times is to be found
in Southey's Life of Wesley, to which I can only refer,
as it is a very long one ; but it is evident that the
author placed implicit confidence in the truth of the
whole history.
Dr Ferriar Avas one of the first to give some rational
explanation of these seeming wonders.
It is reducible to physical certainty, that the im-
pression of some bodies on the sensorium lasts long-
after the object which caused them is removed from
sicfht. After lookinji; at the sun for some time till we
are blinded, for, as Lucretius observed,
" Sol etlani coucat, contra si tendere pergas,"
92 VISION.
Ave see the globe of fire a long time. In cases, there-
fore, where the mind has long dwelt or has been for-
cibly impressed by any circumstance, it forms the
subject for a night's dream ; and, as this dreaming
state is performed sometimes in a semi-waking state,
and when vision may be in some measure in function,
so almost any object may substantially represent the
mind's picture ; and this illusion may be more com-
plete and permanent, as a certain degree of fear with
the timid may prevent them from verifying the object
by actual examination. The following will go far to
prove how such things have oecm'red and found their
explanation by close examination, and will also sug-
gest the idea, that, for want of this alone, many
semblances have been recorded as realities.
" A traveller, benighted in the remote Highlands of
Scotland, was compelled to ask shelter for the evening
at a small lonely hut. When he was to be conducted
to his bed-room, the landlady observed, with mysteri-
ous reluctance, that he would find the window very
insecure. On examination, part of the wall appeared
to have been broken down to enlarge the opening.
After some inquiry, he was told that a pedlar, who
had lodged in the room a short time before, had com-
mitted suicide, and was found hanging behind the
door of the house, and to convey it through the
window was impossible without removing part of the
wall ; some hints were dropped that the room had
been subsequently haunted by the poor man's spirit.
The traveller laid his fire-arms, properly prepared
against intrusion of any kind, by the bedside, and
retired to rest, not without some degree of apprehen-
VISIOX. i)o
tiion. He was visited, in a dream, by a friglitful
apparition, and, awakening in agony, fomul himself
sitting up in bed witli a pistol grasped in his right
hand. On casting a fearful glance round the room,
he discovered, by the moonlight, a corpse dressed in
a shroud reared erect against the wall, close by the
window. With much difficidty he summoned up
resolution to approach the dismal object, the features
of which, and the minutest parts of its funeral apparel,
he perceived distinctly. He passed one hand over it,
felt nothing, and staggered back to the bed. After
a long interval, and much reasoning with himself,
lie renewed his investigation, and at length dis-
covered that the object of his terror was produced
bv the moonbeams forminoj a lono- bright imaae
tiu'ough the broken window, on which his fancy,
impressed by his dream, had pictured with mischie-
vous accuracy, the lineaments of a bc»dy prepared for
interment."'
Now, many would have put their head under the
clothes from fear, and the following day related, with
every semblance of truth, that they had seen the
corpse of the pedlar.
The power of the clouds in reflecting images, and
the beautiful and wonderful phenomena of the mirage,
oidy remained to be made intelligible to explain many
apparitions which were supposed to be supernatu-
ral. The Ilartz mountain has been robbed of its
mystic wonders. It is })robal)le that the cross which
Constantino saw in the air was also some imajjfe
reflected from the clouds. Tliese belono; to substantial
physical delusions ; for clouds, in the scale of matter.
94 VISION.
are very dense bodies compared with gases. Matter
is not always gross enough to be visible.
It is more in harmony Avith our present subject, to
trace the causes of illusions in disturbed states of the
nervous powers, to which these physical realities serve
as introductory prefaces. " That forms of objects,
which have no external prototypes, are exhibited to
the mind in certain states of the brain," is advanced
by Dr Ferriar ; and we need not quote the instances
which he brings forward, having mentioned the case
of our friend who was haunted by the spectre dog.
" Vriien the brain is partially irritated, the patient
fancies he sees animals crowd into his room. These
inijiressions take place even while he is convinced of
their fallacy." This was precisely the case in that
instance. The person knew that no dog was in the
room, and yet he got out of bed to verify it.
There is something very expressive in the state-
ment of Cullen, that the body may be in any state of
waking. It may be equally said of the mind, which
may be in every state of soundness, from the slightest
aberration to complete insanity; or in any state of
sleep, from restless dreaming to perfect unconscious-
ness.
There is a leaking dream ; and there is no better
definition for a state of mind which occurs when the
])hysical man is wide awake, and Avhen the system is
performing all its functions.. This state implies every
degree of disturbed sensorium. The recollection of
images in this state converts them into real forms,
and gives them a local habitation and a name, — sup-
poses them the faculty of speech. It is no imposture.
VISION. 95
but self-deception, arising from physical causes ; all
the faculties of the sensorium not being fully awake,
and still sufficient rational power existing to perforin
the common offices of life. In the following, where
we acknowledge physical causes, we trace nervous
derangement very clearly :
" Sauvage mentions, that a woman subject to epi-
lepsy saw, during the paroxysm, dreadful spectres,
and that real objects appeared magnified to an extra-
ordinaiy degree ; a fly seemed as large as a fowl, and
a fowl appeared equal in size to an ox. In coloured
objects green predominated with her, a curious fact,
which I have seen verified in other convulsive diseases.
A very intelligent boy, who Avas under my care for
convulsions of the voluntary muscles, when he looked
at some large caricatures glaringly coloured with red
and yellow, insisted that they were covered with
green, till his paroxysm abated, during which his in-
tellects had not been at all affiscted."
The impression was too strong for him to discredit
Avhat is styled the evidence of his senses, and yet
such evidence often proves very equivocal, as we find
that we cannot always trust to one sense exclusively ;
that one corrects the other; and it may happen
that all the five senses may mislead, if the sensorium
coinmnnc, or common sense, be impaired. We find
tliat all and each of the five senses do, under certain
circumstances, communicate wrong impressions to the
brain ; and this may arise in various ways from
l)hysical obstruction in the part or in the whole.
A\'hcn a man, having taken poison with the intent to
kill himself has failed, and is tormented afterwards by
96 -s'lsiON.
ociilar spectres, apparitions, &c., we think there is
notliing so astonishing in it ; we refer it to a morbid
condition of the brain ; words stand for ideas, with-
out knowing at all what that condition is. But when
in apparent health, and no known cause has inter-
vened, then we are lost in Avonder and astonishment,
and cannot account for it. Now, we know that pas-
sions and affections of the mind are just as capable of
producing diseased states of the brain as physical
causes ; and by Avhatever means they operate, either
by too much pressure upon one part, or by exhaus-
tion of another, the nervous equilibrium is lost. We
cannot, by thinking it is true, add a cubit to our
stature, but we can very easily raise up a giant before
us ; and that which is invisible to others, is as real to us
as if present in body corporal. " From recalling images
by art of memory, the transition is direct to behold-
ing spectral objects." If we can so readily account
for this whei'e we recognize physical causes, why seek
for other interpretations, where, if we do not directly
see the cause, we judge, from function, that some
must exist ? Once let the imagination be wrought
upon, and all the rest will follow. Those who see
figures and apparitions will easily be convinced that
they hear them speak, and will put Avords into their
mouths, Avhich Avill be reflected back to themselves ;
and thus divination is, in many cases, to be accounted
for ; — so much also for proijhecy. It is wrong to
treat all such as impostors ; they really are not so ; if
they deceive others, it is because they are too often
deceived themselves. But it is still more strange,
that others ascribe powers to them wliich they do
VISION. 97
not claim themselves ; and it is by adulation and wor-
ship that they are made to believe themselves to be
what others tell them they are. It is not difficult
for a man to repeat a story till he believes him-
self to be the hero of the very tale which he has
borrowed from another ; and so may the reveries of
a disordered sensorium be received with such atten-
tion and veneration as to be recognized as prophecy,*
and the body physical, from which they spring, be
canonized on earth. It is not difficult to prove the
truths of such inspiration. We mark when we hit,
as Lord Bacon has observed, but not when we miss.
This is the history of all second sight and presenti-
ments, Avhich latter I have myself often watched and
recorded. The fidfilment of one shall produce more
faith in their reality than the failui'e of a thovisand.
The same holds good in regard to the singular coin-
cidences which are perpetually occurring in common
life, of people being admonished of the death of their
friends by noises in the night, by dreams, and even by
seeingthem at noon-day, of Avhich I remember a remark-
able case when I was at Dieppe in 1826. A young
woman said she saw her brother in the room where
others were present, and spoke to him, to the astonish-
ment of all. She could not be convinced but that
he was there for some time ; — by the next post she
heard of his death. If these cases be scrutinized, it
will be found that the same people have had the
same presentiments many times in their lives, and have
never seen them fulfilled. As to the ocular demon-
* Here only is the <iuestion of deluded people who have believed
themselves so gifted.
F
98 VISION.
stration, it proves nothing in the last-mentioned case ;
because, upon cpaestioning the lady about her brother's
appearance, she described his dress, which differed in
nothing from that of other men. Noav, though the
time at which the form appeared, and that of his death,
tallied, there is still this inconsistency, — he died un-
dressed in his bed.
Dr Ferriar's is now an old book, but it is a very
good one, — the work of a gentleman, a scholar, — a
physician of the olden time. His analysis of characters,
as those of Hamlet and Don Quixote, is quite original.*
" There are beauties in the character of Don
Quixote which can only be understood by persons
accustomed to lunatics. The dexterity and readiness
with which he reconciles all events with the way-
ward system which he has adopted, — his obstinacy
in retaining and defending false impressions, and the
lights of natural sagacity and cultivated eloquence
which break frequently through the cloud that dims
his understanding, are managed with consummate
knowledge of partial insanity, though it is sometimes
hardly perceptible to the general reader."
The physical condition of the optic nerve must not
be lost sight of in these observations, which are of
more general application. The subject of muscce voli-
tantes has been lately much elucidated by the experi-
ments of a gentleman upon himself. It was intro-
duced by Dr Budd of Bristol, in his Ketrospective
View of Physiology, delivered at Northampton on the
twelftli anniversary of the Provincial Medical and
Surgical Association.
* Theory of Apparitions, p. 112.
HEAEING. 99
HEARING.
The auditory nerve is liable to very disordered
states, arising from mental affections. Nervous deaf-
ness is a complaint to which many are liable. It
is, however, probable, that the labom^s of Mr Toynbee
will throw much new light upon this subject, as
his examination of the tympanum tends to establish
the fact, that many of these cases are due to disease
of its structure, and to modifications of inflammation
of this membrane.
The influence of the mind upon the sense of hear-
ing is very considerable ; hence the term listening,
which implies a voluntary act, and direction of the
mind to the sound, which is not specially recognized
but by this act. Thus, when we are asked if we
heard what was said, we often reply, — No, we were
not listening ; yet half the force of the voice would
have been heard by us if the mind had been directed
to it.
Falstaff would not allow that he was deaf, but said
" it was the disorder of not listening, — of not mark-
ing, that he was troubled withall." So that many
sounds perfectly audible, when the mind is awake to
them, are not so when it is absent. On the other
hand, a sound may remain in the ear long after all
impression, as far as pliysical means are concerned,
has ceased ; but it is kept up by the nerves. An
expression exemplifying which is, " That same noise
is still buzzing in my ears."* It may be the clacking
* It is proljablc that this was very instrumental in causing Martin to
100 HEARING.
of the wheels of a mill, or the uoisc of a falling ham-
mer, or the screaming of a ballad-singer, the impres-
sion lasts long after the impressing cause is removed.
Of double vision I have afforded illustrations, —
of double hearing I know of none, though Muller
asserts that it is possible. The circumstance of deaf
people hearing common tones of voice when a stun-
ins: noise is created near them, is of ordinarv occur-
rence. The deafest hear what is said in a low voice,
when rattling over the pavement in a carriage; whereas
those who hear well on common occasions do not do
so under these circumstances.
Neither the physiology nor pathology of the ear is
so thoroughly understood, but that much still remains
unsatisfactory both in regard to the knowledge of the
relative powers of the different parts of this minute
and very complicated structure, and the remedial
means of deafness or of morbid susceptibilities of the
impression of sound.
I kncAv an instance of most painfully acute hearing
towards the fatal termination of a very protracted
illness. A young woman of twenty-five died from
chronic stricture of the intestines, and for the last
three or four weeks suffered most acutely from this
affection. It was almost incredible fi'om what long-
distances she could hear the least rustling of her nurse's
clothes. The slightest sound, not to say noise, was
like an electric shock passing through her ears. This
w'as more painful to her than all her other suffei'ings.
set fire to York Minster. He was evidently in a morbid nervous con-
dition, and influenced by fanatical zeal to do some great work worthy of
canonization, he 'was kept in continual remembrance of his vow by this
buzzing of the organ of which he so much complained.
SMELL AND TASTE. 101
Dr Good mentions the case of a young lady in whom
this moi'bid state sympathized with vision.
" A noise affects my eyes so much, that I am obliged
to dai'ken my room when at any time I am under the
necessity of hearing any thing like a voice. A loud
sound aftects my eyes, and a strong light my ears.
They seem to act recii)rocally." — Good's Stiuhj of
Medicine.
SMELL AND TASTE.
There is a certain relation between these two func-
tions. Taste may exist without smell, but flavour
does not. If the nerves which supply the mucous
membrane of the nose have been destroyed, the latter
faculty is lost. In states of catarrh, we commonly
say that we can neither taste nor smell, and in this
instance the olfactory nerves may be supposed to
be much more influenced by the morbid condition
of the membrane than the gustatory. These two
senses offer a wide field of inquiiy for such as diligently
prosecute inquiries into the powers of the nervous
functions ; all rests here upon impressions made upon
nervous papillie, and the communication of these to
the sensorium by larger trunks. Idiosyncrasies play
a distinguished part in this comedy. The aversion
of some persons to the taste and smell of different
objects is not imaginary but real. It is not to be dis-
guised. The late Lord Selkirk told me that one of
the most robust and indefatigable of the North-west
Con)pany's agents could not sit in the room if salmon
102 SMELL Al^B TASTE.
Avere upon tlie table. He had been known to faint
under such circumstances. " Die of a rose in aro-
matic pain," expresses sufficiently the effi^cts of such
aroma upon the nervous system. A near relative of
my own, a medical man, evinced in his own person the
truth of morbid susceptibility of the olfactories to
the scent of flowers. He was a pious man, and I
have known him almost faint in church, and often
complain of severe headache for the rest of the day
after sitting out the service in summer-time, when
the neighbouring pews have been garnished Avith
bouquets. A lady arriving in the evening at a
country-house, was immediately seized with unplea-
sant and uncomfortable feelings, as she sat with the
family upon the lawn. She said that it would be
considered ludicrous, but she felt persuaded that a
hare must be nigh, and that the smell of that animal
always made her ill. The shrubberies and lawn were
scoured, but none could be found. She still persisted
in the assertion, and remained faint and languid.
Upon further search, a basket of game containing a
hare was found in the larder. In disordered states
of the system, the sense of smell is impaired, and,
in severer conditions of disease, lost. Its return is
not a proof of approaching convalescence, but of the
progress to complete recovery. I recollect attending
a gentleman who had been convalescent for some
time ; but who could not shake oiF, as he styled
it, all his uncomfortable feelings. He ate, drank,
and slept, but still was not well, a state of things
which I have observed to prevail in northern lati-
tudes. One day he said to me, I shall do now.
SMELL AND TASTE. 103
doctor, for I can come to my snufF again. It was
the crisis to the remains of his disease.
The hay asthma affords a very good instance of
the peculiar susceptibilty of the nerves of the Schnei-
derian membrane to the impression of the pollen of
flowers floating in the air. A botanist told me it was
caused by one species of grass, and by that only, when
cut and dried; but the following case proves the
contrary : — A gentleman residing in the south of
England was annually troubled with this affection to
a tiresome degree, and finding that nothing relieved
him but avoiding the causes, he migrated to the sea-
side at this period of the year. lie avoided going
into the fields, and confined his walks to the sea-
shore. Upon one occasion, when he had congratu-
lated himself upon defying the enemy, he began to
sneeze very violently, and was unable to ascertain the
cause, till he discovered a solitary black thorn in full
blossom. He discontinued his walks till the flower-
ing was over, or at least kept to windward of the
shrub.
I have noticed the case of a relative who Avas mor-
bidly aftected by the smell of flowers. It is singular
that his mother was occasionally annoyed by a salt
taste. She was a healthy old lady, who lived to
eighty, and was subject to slight attacks of gout in
her hand. These attacks were generally preceded by
a saline taste in her mouth. So strong was this, that
she could eat eggs Avithout salt. When the gout
was fully formed in her hand, her natural taste
returned.
Some complain that every thing tastes sweet to
104 SMELL AND TASTE.
them ; but all unnatural tastes, and the mouth being
out of taste, which is a very forcible expression, imply a
morbid condition of the sensitive papilloe of the nerves.
I knew a gentleman engaged in commercial concerns,
whose mouth was out of taste for many months. He
consulted several medical men, with no rehef; and
as he was otherwise in good health, his friends
laughed at him, but that made him no better. His
nervous system was, during this time, much influ-
enced by the state of his affairs ; for the sudden
death of his predecessor had left him a deal to wind
up, and he was very anxious to establish himself in
the business. In this state he was obliged to go to
England, where, having found every thing to his
satisfaction, his taste came round again.
There is a certain relation between taste and smell,
and the simultaneous mixture of the two adds to the
pleasure or disgust of certain liquids. The aroma of
the fine wines is twice tasted by the gourmet, who
applies the glass to his nose before he drinks the
contents. The child is told to hold his nose tight
before he swallows his senna tea.
The sense of taste is improved by cultivation, yet is
lost by long use. Hence it is said of French artists,
after a certain time, II ne vaut plus rien ; son gout est
trop use, il a perdu son gout. It is the cook's taste
which regulates the culinary laboratory.
Some maintain that substances excite a different
taste as they are applied to different parts of the
papillae of the tongue.
The term arrier gout of the French, certainly seems
to express this forcibly, and to justify the idea of a
TOUCH. 105
physical cause, for some things which taste very plea-
santly in the first moment leave an unpleasant taste
behind.
The sense of taste leaves its impression long after
the substance which excited it has ceased to act upon
the nerve, and this interferes with other substances
afterwards applied to the tongue. If different kinds
of food or wines are presented to a person whose eyes
are covered, it is difficult for him to distinguish one
from another.
TOUCH.
We have to say a few words only upon the sense
of Touch, to prove (what cannot be disputed) that,
as regards the five senses, and their nerves, there is
not much real difi^erence in the meaning of the terms.
That the senses depend upon the integrity of the
nerves for their perfection, is demonstrated by evi-
dence so conclusive, that more time need not be
occupied in repetition.
The effects of a cold, which sheathes their sentient
extremities from the impression of matters impinging
upon them, or even arrests undulations, rob us of three
out of the five senses at once, and leave nothing but
siirht and touch to connect us with the external
world.
The nervous papilla of the tongue, which are con-
cerned in the sense of taste, may be rendered more
sensitive of impression by use and education ; and
those distributed to the ends of the fingers may, by
106 TOUCH.
the same means, render touch infinitely more exquisite.
There is a certain degree of idiosyncrasy in this sense,
as tickling implies, which to some is a most painful
operation. Why the nerves of the soles of the feet
should be more alive to it is not easily explained.
It is a privilege Avhich Shylock claims for the Jew as
for the Gentile. There is, I believe, a great deal to
be done, in a medical sense, by mere rubbing, if
well performed. In many instances, it is the best
means of soothing, and induces sleep as sure as an
opiate. In many female obstructions, constant rubbing
with the flesh-brush will do more than steel and myrrh
pills ; but this must not be trusted to the patient, for
then it is never done effectually, either from forgetful-
ness, fatigue, or the intervention of a hundred other
causes. A steady old nurse should perform this opera-
tion. In the mesenteric affections of children, the
same system is most efficacious. In chronic dlarrha?a I
have found it most beneficial ; and in that half and
half kind of gout which sometimes makes its appear-
ance, and threatens worse attacks for the future, this
will often effect Avonders.
When I was at Dieppe in 1826, a case of tliis kind
occuiTed to me. A captain in the navy was laid up
with a swelled ancle, and was unable to walk. Not
being in good health, he was in the constant habit of
taking medicine. There was not much pain or redness
in the limb. After taking some cooling medicine, the
local inflammation soon subsided, but the ancle re-
mained stiff and swollen He had been subject to the
same thing before.
I recommended him to rub it nl^ht and morninor
TOUCH. 107
for half an hour. Not satisfied with his manipulations,
I begged him to employ a fish woman to rub it for
him ; and this was done regularly for a fortnight, after
which period it was discontinued, the ancle being
reduced to its usual dimensions. He had no return
of his complaint for years, — I believe, never since ;
and, moreover, he left off all medicine, by which his
general health was much improved.
Rubbing is a soothing, pleasurable, sensation, in
many cases, and the whole system sympathizes with
it ; tlierefore, time is gained in more general aiFection« ;
and, if long continued, it may afford time for the secre-
tions to become more natural by degrees. It is un-
fortunately of too simple a character to gain much
faith, and yet it is a stronger dose than anything ever
exhibited from a homoeopathic laboratory.
A gentleman complained to me, that he had had
an attack of the common cholera some months pre-
viously, and that his bowels had since been in so
disordered a state as to interfere with his pursuits,
tlms being a source of great annoyance to him, and
rendering him irritable. I told him to buy a flesh
brush, or a pair of hair gloves, and rub himself night
and moniing. He told me, some weeks afterwai'ds,
that he had found the greatest benefit from the rubbing
system.
It is questionable if the hair shirt of catholic penance
mio-ht not l)c useful in some of these chronic cases of
diarrhoea.
In some states of disordered nervous functions the
nerves of touch get out of order also. Bodies do not
make the same impressions u})on them as heretofore.
108 TOUCH.
and that which, under most circumstances, is most
delightful, becomes unpleasant in morbid conditions
of the system : — " A gentleman deeply in love, but
labouring inider a neuralgic fever, received no plea-
sure from the gTasp of his betrothed's hand, but
even a sense of disgust." This is instanced by Dr
Macculloch as one of the consequences of that morbid
state when every sense is found to be affected.
As applied to the skin, the sensations of heat and
cold, to which hypochondriacs are subject, even when
the thermometer indicates no change in external tem-
perature, can be referred only, as Midler has observed,
to change in the condition of the nerves. In some
cases, heat and cold render precisely the same sen-
sation. To a blindfolded man, a red-hot ball, or one
of frozen mercury, would produce the same degree
of pain.
It has been before observed, that perceptive sensa-
tion is in the brain. The direction of the sensorium
is necessary to the perception of an impression, as
before instanced with respect to hearing, and an im-
pression is either gi*eatly increased, or may be wholly
obliterated, as the mind is directed to or from it.
Dr Holland has made some interesting observations
on the effects of mental attention on bodily organs, or
the direction of the mind to any one point. I shall
only extract the following note : —
" It may be reasonable to refer to the same prin-
ciple some of the alleged facts in homoeopathy, espe-
cially the long train of symptoms catalogued as
proceeding from infinite small quantity of matters,
which are inert or insignificant in other manner of use.
TOUCH, 109
The attention, urged to seek for sensations, has no
difficulty in finding them. They generate one another,
and are often actually excited by expectation of their
occurrence." — P. 68, Medical Notes and Reflections.
A circumstance in illustration of this came to my
knowledge soon after I had read Dr Holland's in-
teresting publication. I was mentioning it to a
medical friend, who was much struck with the fact.
" This," says he, " is in precise confirmation of what
has occurred with . He has been attended by
Dr , a Homocopathist, who gave him some powders
to take, and told him that he would probably spit blood
in so many days after he commenced their use. He
begged that this might not alarm him, for it would
prove critical to his disorder. It did annoy him, how-
ever, and his mind was pre-occupied with the idea
during the whole of the interval, and on the day spe-
cified he did spit blood in the morning. This raised
the system of Homoeopathy to the standard of evan-
gelical truth — in his mind." Of the truth of this
position, Dr Holland has instanced many examples.
It is questionable if some of those neuralgic affec-
tions, which have their diurnal paroxysms, are not long
kept up by the mind being habitually directed to them,
and to the hour of their arrival. jNIany must have
heard some such observations as the following from
patients so affected ? — " The palpitation — the spasm,
did not occur yesterday at its usual time ; for, to tell
you the truth, I was so very much occupied with a
pressing affair that I had not time to think of it."
An increased current of the blood, or increased
momentum, as Dr Parry observes, as noticed in
110 TOUCH.
Tinnitus Aurium, will excite periodical sensations in
the organs of sense ; but these will occur without any
mechanical causes, and from nervous irritation only.
Persons complain of a periodical ticking in the ears ;
and the influence of the mind alone will excite all the
pleasurable and disagreeable sensations to which the
senses are liable. Thus a whole company may be made
squeamish on board a vessel, by the example of one
individual who is sea-sick, and the thoughts alone of
tickling will cause laughter.
I question if some nervous affections are not made
periodical by the influence of the mind alone. It
occurs to some to have what they style a good and a
bad day ; and impressed fully with the idea of having
an intermittent disorder, they create it afterwards by
looking for the bad day. I have known some so very
well on the good day as to guarantee them against the
bad one, if the mind had not been so prepossessed ;
and it has happened that something of extraordinary
interest has occasionally caused the bad day to be
overlooked, and, by thus breaking the periodic cha-
racter of the complaint, has restored the patient at
once to health.
In the treatment of such cases it would be well,
where change of air, &c., are recommended, to make
the patient occupy himself with the preparations for
his journey on the bad day. This would perhaps
convert the bad into a good one, and the following
day being the good one, two good days would come
together, and this would at once relieve the mind from
the spell of periodical disease, which, with the idea of
the change of air, might at once effect a cure.
THE VOCAL ORGANS. Ill
THE VOCAL ORGANS.
If it be allowed that the inner man is made manifest
in the outer, through the medium of nerves, we must
also contend for the exercise of their influence on the
organs of utterance. To be struck dumb by fear, by
joy, or by any mental emotion, is a phrase of common
acceptation, founded on daily experience ; but be-
tween this annihilation of the voice and the various
modifications of its tones, as influenced by nervous
energy, there is every degree of variety. The " vox
faucibus haesif^ implies the eflfects of fear in a greater
or less degree, which prevent distinct utterance, as
long as the moral cause remains unconquered. " The
virginity of oratory" is often embarrassed, and even
old and hackneyed debaters, under particular circum-
stances, experience a difficulty of enunciation at the
outset, which wears away by degrees as they warm
with their subject, till finally the powers of rhetoric
assume their sway, and the will triumphs over all
impediments. In his satirical criticism of oratory,
Goethe has observed —
" Und wenn's eueh ernst ist was zu sager
Ist's nosthig Worten naclizujagen
Still this embarrassment exists as long as a certain
power controls the will; and when we observe speakers
in this situation, we say that they are nervous ; and,
moreover, we are often made very nervous ourselves
by their hesitation.
Some sing well in private who cannot face an
112 THE VOCAL ORGANS.
orchestra. The fear of the many robs them of that
confidence which the few inspire. Others require all
the stimulus which crowded benches afford them ;
they gain confidence where othei's lose it ; such can-
not sing in private.
The act of inviting renders some mute, who will
sing of their own accord till we wish them dumb.
" Injussi nunquam desistunt."
The larynx is recognized as the seat of the voice
in man, and the inferior larynx in birds. Sounds are
also formed in the mouth.
If an aperture be made in the trachea below the
glottis, which contains the vocal chords, the voice
becomes extinct, as long as the aperture remains
open. Operations performed upon the human subject
for the extraction of swallowed coins, or to prevent
suffocation from the closing of the air passages in
disease, have established this fiict beyond all con-
troversy.
If the nerves supplying the apparatus that regulates
the conditions of the vocal chords be injured, the voice
becomes indistinct ; if the recun-ent nerves be divided,
it is altogether extinct.
Thus, physically and mentally, we have proofs of
the operation of nervous influence over this function.
Speech is considered as man's prerogative. There is
a line to be drawn between speech and language ; for
all animals possess the latter. The peculiar shriek of
the hen tells her chickens that the hawk is hovering
over them, but this does not imply all the rationality
of speech. It is when speech is swamped in lan-
guage that we say, He talks like a parrot, or chatters
THE VOCAL ORGANS. 113
like a monkey, iclio does not talk, as Dodart observes,
solely because he has nothing to say. Dr Elliotson,
upon the authority of Locke, who had it from Prince
Maurice, instances a parrot, who not only pronounced
words, but held a rational conversation. Of this sin-
gular exception it may be said, as of some few things
of the same nature, that we can only account for it
by doubting the fact. If it were true, and speech
were proved not to be man's sole prerogative, it
would add a sting to Beaumarchais' satire on our
species : — " Boire sans soif et faire Tamour en tout
temps, il n'y a que cela, monsieur, qui nous distingue
des autres betes."
Speech is under the immediate control of the volun-
tary muscles, which may be so influenced by nervous
power, as to correct the impediments to which some
are liable. Under the influence of mental excitement
stammerers will speak most fluently, but it requires
a strong dose for this purpose. If we attempt to
help them with Avords, Ave only embarrass them, and
render them more nervous by making them conscious
of their impediment. If Arnott's opinion be correct,
that this depends upon spasm of the glottis, then
Diefenbach's barbarous operation was wrong on prin-
ciple, when he divided the nerves of the tongue. In
exercising this piece of cruelty, he actually excised
the organ in one poor boy, who died of hemorrhagy.
The defect has been overcome by long perseverance
in the exercise of the voluntary muscles. I knew a
young lady who Avas cured by reading aloud eight
hours dally; but upon relaxing in her practice she
relapsed into her former state. The circumstance that
114 THE VOCAL ORGANS.
stammerers can sing more readily than speak,* either
invalidates Arnott's opinion, or proves the triumph of
the nervous power in the greater effort which is re-
quisite to perform this function.
The decay of the voice is in direct ratio Avith that
of the nervous energy. The vocal chords get un-
strung, as we find in some nervous affections, and the
tone of the voice changes with time, as exemplified in
the seven ages : —
" And his big manly voice
Turning again toward cliildish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound."
The impression of cold air has considerable influ-
ence upon the voice. The Italian female singers
complain of the cold of St Petersburg injuring their
vocal powers in the winter season ; and we send
aspirants to the south in early life to ripen the voice.
Nightingales do not inhabit cold regions, and per-
haps they would not sing as they do in the south if
they did. Whether birds confabulate or no, Rousseau
must determine; but that their song is given them as
a compensation for language cannot be doubted, and
with some for a specific purpose. It is during the
time of incubation that the male nightingale sits on
the bough and charms his partner with his song.
When the eggs are hatched, the mother regains her
liberty, and requires nothing more to amuse her than
* I know a singular instance (which in fact came under my own ob-
servation) of a gentleman who could not speak two words consecutively
without the greatest pain, apparently to himself, and assuredly to those
present, giving a most beautiful imitation of John Kemble's delivery of
Hamlet's Soliloquy.
THE VOCAL ORGANS. 115
tlie care of her brood. The male not only ceases to
sing, but he loses his sweet notes and croaks like a
frog. Here then the nervous system is in full force.
This is a beautiful insight into the bounty of the All-
wise in providing enjoyments for the minutest of his
creatures. It is not only existence which he has given,
but the means of enjoying it to the fullest extent.
Those who maintain the ascetic doctrines, that life
is a bill of pains and penalties, must in vain look for
justification of such ideas in the manifest intentions
of Providence. Those who construe good into evil
are more morally cruel than the durus orator : —
Qualis populea moerens Philomela sub umbra
Amissos queritur fcEtus, quos durus arator,
Observans nido implumes detraxit ; at ilia
Flet noetem ramoque sedens miserabile carmen.
Integral et moestis late loca questibus implet.
Virij. Geo. iv.
I met with a complete case of ajihonia in a Russian
general, who returned invalided from the siege of
Varna. His voice was perfectly extinct. He remained
some time at Odessa, and received no benefit from
anything that was tried to restore it. I gave him
Ijark, ammonia, and valerian. He w^as a very nerv-
ous man. The Emperor desired him to return to
St Petersburg. Upon his route to Moscow he sud-
denly recovered his voice in an instant, and did not
lose it again for years afterwards, as I had an oppor-
tunity of knowing; but he was a martyr to other
nervous aflfections. A circumstance in his case is
worthy of note ; soon after his return to St Peters-
burg, and not long after he regained his vocal powers,
lie was affected with a painful induration of the sper-
116 THE VOCAL OEGANS.
niatie chord, which troubled him for some time. As
I did not treat him for it, I do not know what mea-
sm-es were employed. It made the more impression
upon me at the time, as Dr Macculloch mentions a
neuralgic affection of the testicle ; and the sympathy
which exists between these parts in early life made it
still more impressive.
INFLUENCE OF BLOOD UPON NEEVES. 117
PART vr.
Influence of Blood upon Nerves — Nervous Complaints —
Headaches.
INFLUENCE OF BLOOD UPON NERVES.
"When Gil Bias told tlie bishop that his sermon smelt
of the apoplexy, he proved himself more conversant
with the animal economy than his master, Sangrado.
The practice of the latter is most justifiable in this
affection, but the removal of the offending agent does
not remove the injury •which it has perpetrated ; nor
is it from post mortein examinations that we can always
judge of the nature of these injuries. In the Appendix
v,\\\ be found a case of what the Germans style
Xevven Schlag, where the appearances w^ere not suf-
ficient to warrant the sudden death of the patient.
The brain may receive a shock, or be injured by
noxious matter, so that the nervous system shall be
completely paralyzed Avithout any organic lesion being
demonstrable, as before observed, e. g. in such morbid
states of the kidney as prevent them from performing
their purifying offices. Here the blood becomes the
direct cause of offence, as certainly as when it conveys
adventitious matter introduced into it by way of
experiment. In saying that no lesions exist, it can
only be understood that none arc found, rccogniz-
118 INFLUENCE OF BLOOD UPON NERVES.
able by our senses. The blood may be the cause of
injury to the brain, either from morbid constitution,
or abnormal circulation, for Avhich the brain may in
some cases have to thank itself; for physical effects
arise from moral causes.
That the blood has great influence in the production
of a numerous class of diseases which are generally
denominated nervous, cannot be denied ; but the
question remains to be solved, what the nature of its
influence really is ? Are we to look for it in a change
of the condition of the fluid itself, or to change in its
impetus and momentum, or, in many cases, to a com-
bination of the two causes ? It is perhaps going too
far to adopt all the views of the late Dr Parry upon
this subject, but that there is a mass of evidence in
his favour, in very many instances, is highly probable.
In the mechanical views, which he takes of the causes
of many diseases, there is much more probability of
truth, than in attributing these to chemical changes
in the blood itself. If inquiry be made as to the
causes productive of the disturbed balance in the
circulation, they must often, in the first instance, be
referred immediately to derangement of the nervous
system.
Epilepsy offers a good illustration, for it is fre-
quently produced by some irritation of a local nature,
w^hich throws the nervous system into convulsions by
indirect action through the sanguiferous system ; and
it is more probable that the epileptic fit, Avhich ushers
in some of tlie exanthemata, is rather due to deranged
balance of circulation than to morbific matter in the
blood. Dr Parry observes — " Epilepsy is also most apt
INFLrENCE OF BLOOD UFOX NERVES. 119
to affect young persons, who are well known to be most
liable to diseases accompanying the nervous tempera-
ment, and of these, more especially females, who have
not yet reached the period of fully established men-
struation.
" At a more advanced age, it chiefly attacks those
who have long been constitutionally nervous, or who
have lost the accustomed excessive sanguineous de-
terminations of gout, hemorrhages from the nose,
hemon-hoids, ulcers, eruptions, &c., and in all these
cases the pulse in the carotids is habitually stronger
than natural. It is often one modification of that
increased determination to the head which attends
dentition, and not rarely comes on in that stage of the
cold fit of agues, and before the eruption in certain
other fevers, when the blood is accumulated about the
heart and large vessels. I have seen it form one link
in the chain of excessive determinations following
scarlatina, of which articular inflammation, hemorr-
hasre from the kidnevs, and anasarca, constituted the
preceding links.
" It frequently follows hysteria or mania, or alter-
nates with them. In several instances I have known,
in the same patient, paroxysms occur at different times
in all the intermediate degrees between common
hysteria and the severest epilepsy. Lastly, it often
terminates in or is exchanged for sanguineous or serous
extravasation in the brain, and consequent liemiplegia
or apoplexy, whether hemiplegic or otherwise."
These observations only tend to prove that existing
causes, which increase tlie determination of blood to
the brain, or the force witli which the blood is [)ro.T
120 INFLUENCE OF BLOOD UPON NERVES.
jielled, produce such an impi-ession upon the cerebrum,
ah'eady predisposed, and in a previously irritable
condition, as to excite the convulsions of epilepsy.
A sudden passion or emotion of the mind, and, indeed,
all those causes which influence the heart's action,
beinsf able to effect this, it is evident that it is not the
quality but the quantity of the blood, which is in fault.
And the same applies to many cases of simple fever,
which are kept up by irritation of the brain, from
increased determination, rather than from any dele-
terious quality of the fluid itself; because we often
see an attack of fever cut off at once by a judicious
bleeding.
It is well known that the quantity of blood, which
is no more than requisite to health, may be super-
abundant in disease ; and the same argument may be
applied to its momentum, just as the weak eye cannot
bear the light, neither can the irritable brain support
the influence of the same quantity of blood as in its
normal state. The symptoms arising from this state
of the circulation, as headache, throbbing noise in the
ears, sleeplessness, have all been suspended by mecha-
nical causes interrupting the floAv of blood to the head,
as by pressure of the carotid arteries ; and a sudden
hemorrhagy or loss of blood will, as Dr Parry observes,
sometimes cure a long existing and intractable disease.
I had an opportunity of witnessing this in a patient
of my own, a young man of delicate constitution, w^ho
had l3een long troubled with severe headaches, which
interrupted his course of studies. His horse having run
away with him, and fallen at full speed, threw him with
o-reat violence against a gate post. He was taken up
INFLUENCE OF BLOOD UPON NERVES. 121
insensible, and I was sent for; as some hours had
elapsed before I arrived, a practitioner in the neigh-
bourhood had been called in, who bled him from the
arm and applied leeches, one of which biting a branch
of the temporal artery, caused a considerable loss of
blood. He remained from the Friday to the Sunday
evening speechless, when, opening his eyes, he said,
" Put the horse in the stable." This was the point
to which the mind returned after forty-eight hours
oblivion. He recovered eventually ; and, since this
accident, has had no return of his headaches.
The idea is too prevalent, that nervous diseases
must be all attributed to a weak condition of the
nerves, and that bark, and wine, and valerian, are
the agents which are alone applicable to the cure of
such. This is as absurd as to suppose that all fevers
spring from a vitiated state of blood. If many of
these complaints are relievable by abstracting the
causes which excite them, are they the less nervous
on that account ? The nerves are as liable to im-
jiression from the circulation, as the bones or muscles,
and they are subject to every degree of irritation.
The only difference is this, that they often generate
their own diseases. It is, therefore, a matter of
great importance and nicety to determine, not what
is the nature of the disease, but what causes it ; and
he who resorts to stimulants for all nervous affec-
tions, must find himself often thwarted in his plans
of relief.
The terms nervous, and nervousness, are too sweep-
ing, inasmuch as by such is generally implied a certain
modm medendl, which is often most inapplicable. Dr
G
122 INFLUENCE OF BLOOD UPON NERVES.
Wilson has made some very valuable observations on
this head.
The referring of deafness to this cause has proved a
a:reat stumblino-block hitherto in the treatment of
that malady. It is often the deafness which makes
people nervous, and not nervousness which causes
deafness ; and hence the opportunity is often let slip
of alleviating this complaint. It is nervous in the
strictest sense, for when inflammation is set up in the
membrane of the tympanum, the nerves are immedi-
ately acted upon, and the impression is communicated
to the sensorium. The irritation of a nervous twig
wull produce a host of distressing symptoms, which,
though of secondary occurrence, become so predomi-
nant, that the primary cause is lost sight of. In this
way the delicate membrane becomes disorganized,
and, as it occurs generally in one ear only at a time,
it is neglected or unheeded, till the same series of
symptoms commencing in the sound one, some medical
relief is sought for. Mr Toynbee informs me that he
frequently does not see patients till they have lost
their hearing on one side.
" There is a common species of deafness, of which
Dr James Sims has spoken, if not first, at least best,
in an excellent memoir read before the Medical Society
of London. Like many other disorders of circulation,
it is usually called nervous. It seems evidently to
arise from obstruction in the Eustachian tube; ac-
cordingly, when it is simply of this kind, the patient
can hear well Avhen the tube is distended by strongly
blowing with the nose, — mouth and cheeks closely
shut. He can usually, also, at all times hear acute
INFLUENCE OF BLOOD UPON NEEVES. 123
sounds, but not the more grave ones. In this case
there is so far from being any real paralysis of the
nerves, that acute or very loud sounds are even painful;
and what demonstrates that this is a disease of in-
creased vascular fulness or impetus, and not of nervous
insensibility, is, that I have known it, first, removed
on the occurrence, in the respective examples of
hepatitis and hemiplegia, andreturn as those complaints
were diminished ; secondly, entirely cease in two in-
stances, forty-eight hours before death ; and thirdly,
completely cured for more than a year of the remainder
of life, by an accidental hemorrhage from the humoral
artery. This species of deafness is very commonly
produced by colds in the head, in which it is evidently
owing to a communication of disorder from the mouth
and nose along the membrane, which is continued
into the Eustachian tube. It is probable, however,
that, on many occasions of deafness, the malady is not
confined to this part ; but it is worthy of inquiry,
whether, in such cases, the effect does not originate
in a similar excessive impulse of blood acting on some
other essential part of the organ of hearing." — Parry's
Elements of Pathology, p. 176.
The numerous dissections which Mr Toynbee has
made of the car, have convinced him that the seat of
deafness is almost always confined to the tympanum,
and is the result of slow, long-continued congestion
in the vessels of the membrane, finally destroying the
nerves, and becoming itself opaque.
It is generally observed that deaf people are irritable
and nervous, and it is not to be wondered at, when,
by this malady, they are cut off from the mental
124 INFLUENCE OF BLOOD UPON NERVF^S.
world. Did not they too long mistake cause for
eft'ect ; and, instead of considering that their deafness
arose from nervousness, attribute the latter to the
former, they might often prevent the loss of this sense.
Here again, we see cause and effect reacting on each
other : the irritation, from the local cause, creates
general irritability of the nervous system, which again
increases the very cause which has produced this
state.
It is not in this affection alone that we trace the
operation of nervous influence, for headache, noise in
the ears, dimness of sight, and vertigo, may all be in-
duced by mental emotion, or the too strong direction
of tlie mental powers to any particular study. The
blood may be propelled with too much or too little
force to the brain, and equally produce disorders of
the nei'vous system.
In all these disorders, so styled nervous, consequent
upon deranged circulation, it is a question merely
cf mechanical influence, and not of vitiated quality ;
for so necessary is the healthy state of blood to the
well-being of the system, that when it is really altered
in quality, we find it productive of the most fiital
consequences. It matters not whether the prime cause
of offence be in the blood itself, or whether this be
brought about by deterioration of nervous influence,
the effects are the same.
It may become corrupted by degrees, as in cases of
fever, and no longer afford the stimulus to tlie nerves
which is necessary to life. If the blood be materially
altered in its constitution, — if it be charged even with
those matters which should have been separated fron^
INFLUENCE OF BLOOD UPON NERVES. 125
it by the secreting organs, or if any cause or impedi-
ment prevent their due operation, so that it be not
purged of matters which are incompatible with its
healthy state, then we see the disastrous consequences,
and nowhere better than in those cases of sudden
death, proceeding from the suspension of the ui'inary
secretion, either in Ischuria Renalis, or in certain
morbid conditions of the kidney. In such cases no
organic lesion, no effusion, are visible, but the mat-
ters contained in the blood are applied to the brain,
which thus becomes poisoned. This is efiected not by
injury to the blood itself, for of this there is no proof,
but by injury to the brain from contact with noxious
matter. It is upon this knowledge, therefore, that we
may presume that many of the diseases caused by the
circulating fluid are rather to be attributed to the
mechanical influence of impetus and momentum, in
excess or in deficiency, than to any change of quality
in the fluid itself. I can only refer to Dr Parry's
work for a numerous list of those diseases which he
attributes to increased determination of blood. — P.
320.
Among these will be found headache, vertigo,
sleeplessness, common nervous aflPections, mania, deli-
rium, convulsions, hysteria, epilepsy, catalepsy, &c.,
all of which are not the less nervous, because an ex-
citing cause is made evident.
It is a very great mistake, too often made, to ne-
glect seeking for the real cause of nervous complaints.
The term nervousness is sufficient to occuj)y our
attention without further examination. It implies
generally every thing with which we are really not
126 INFLUENCE OF BLOOD UPON NERVES.
acquainted. To believe tliat a patient is only ner-
vous is sufficient to stop farther inquiry. lie is then
without the pale of rational medicine. Now, there is
often as palpable a cause for this state as for any other
morbid condition of the system ; and these sweeping
clauses bring the profession into disrepute, whilst they
allow quacks to triumph. The author of the Bath
Guide was hardly too severe upon the profession,
when, after the consultation of physicians, the patient
is made to say in his letter to his mother —
" I'm bilious, I find, and the women are nervous."
So it is even in the present day ; and the two com-
plaints are associated with valerian and bark, or blue
pill and black dose, by which treatment, in many cases,
the evils are aggravated tenfold. I have now an op-
portunity of knowing, that a gentleman affected to a
most uncomfortable degree by nervous deafness, under
which he laboured for years, has been perfectly re-
stored to hearing by such treatment as was scientifi-
cally adapted to chronic inflammation and increased
determination of blood to the tympanum.
In St Petersburg hemorrhoids prevail to a very
great extent. Of this there is often sufficient ocular
demonstration ; but they are supposed to exist inter-
nally much more frequently than they are found
externally, so that if there be the least obscurity
attending the state of a patient's disorder, it is attri-
buted to hemorrhoids. In my own practice I have
known a discharge of pus from the bowels in mesen-
teric affection, denominated a hemorrhoidal abscess.
The patient died of marasmus. A calculus passing
INFLUENCE OF BLOOD UPON NEFtVES. 127
from the kidney to the bladder, and sliding down the
ureter by degrees, so as to create the most painful
neplu-itic symptoms, at several periods during a jour-
ney of ten months, was denominated a hemorrhoidal
colic ; but the calculus made its appearance in the
urethra and was extracted. This case I published in
the Medical Gazette.
A valet of the Count , with whom I lived, was
long affected with hemorrhoids, till examined by a
skilful surgeon, when he was found to have an abscess
in the perineum.
Spitting of blood is a common hemorrhoidal affec-
tion, as are most affections of the eyes not attended
by inflammation.
The late Mr Tyrrel was consulted by a Russian
nobleman for an affection of the eyes, which he was told
was hemorrhoidal. He laughed heartily at the idea.
This generalization of complaints must give way to
the more scientific views of the present day ; but it is
not all eradicated ; and if a large class of ailments do
come under the definition nervous, which is tanta-
mount to confessing our ignorance of their causes and
seats, still a great many, upon careful investigation,
will be found to depend upon positive affections of the
nerves.
The great difficulty lies in administering to these
affections. We cannot get at an individual nerve but
tiirou^h the medium of the circulation, so that the
dose we apply to it must be very small, and, at the
same time, we are subjecting healthy parts to discipline
which they do not require. Even in such cases, as
where we can subject an individual nerve to experi-
128 INFLUENCE OF BLOOD UPON NERVES.
ment, we often gain nothing by it, for if this nerve
have its roots in the brain, it is useless to operate on
its twigs.
There are cases where the whole nervous system is
affected by irritation of a part, as where lancing the
gums has arrested the convulsions which often arise
from teething. I have known a whitloe attended
with pain in the chest and dyspnoea. The pain of
toothache drives a person mad, in common phraseo-
logy. These are come-at-able nervous affections; but
how are we to get at those situated internally, produc-
ing distressing effects, and so operating by sympathy
upon other parts of the system, as to be lost them-
selves in the crowd of other affections to which they
give rise.
Many of these depend entirely upon abnormal cir-
culation, and are attended with jDcriodical paroxysms
of pulsation when the system is under the influence of
exciting causes. An affection of this kind is some-
times met with in the pylorus. A gentleman laboured
under a complaint of this kind for many months. It
was treated as a nervous affection, to v/hich its perio-
dical return lent a degree of probability. It regularly
occurred just two hours after his dinner, and continued
for several hours. All the anti-nervous medicines
Avhich he took tended only to increase it. He sub-
mitted to the hunger cure, by which he was per-
manently relieved, though he w^as reduced to great
debility by the experiment. Here, then, was a case
of diseased nerve, and not of nervousness, and a
proof that the nerves when affected are not to be
treated upon one and the same plan. It was evident
INFLUENCE OF BLOOD UPON NERVES. 129
here that the distension of tlie vessels from determi-
nation of blood during the digestive process, was tlie
cause of the evil ; and, by cutting off this process, or
reducing it to no more than was necessary for the
mere purposes of life, the nerves were allowed to regain
their healthy state.
We have pathological proofs of the conversion of
insensible into sensitive parts by the influence of dis-
ease, as in affections of the serous membranes, which,
in health, arc hardly susceptible of pain from injury ;
but when once inflammation is set up, they become,
by reflex action, most highly sensitive, nor is it till
this condition is effected, that inflammation can he
said to be fully formed.
In the treatment of membranous inflammation, local
bleeding is perhaps, in this country, too much ne-
glected. On the Continent it is seldom dispensed
with. Full bleeding from the arm is accompanied by
free applications of leeches to the part affected, and
many a repetition of the general bleeding is in this
way prevented. In cases of peritoneal inflammation,
it is not uncommon for the patient to complain of
severe pain after the first bleeding, which is relieved
by a second, or still more by the adjunct influence of
topical abstraction. A dull heavy pain is converted
into an acute lancinating one from partial depiction.
The cause is evident ; the larger vessels being re-
lieved without the same relief being afforded to the
capillaries, the action of the heart has greater power
in forcing the blood into them, as the vessels most
contiguous to them admit, by being unloaded, of
greater distension; so that tlie relative momentum, as
130 INFLUENCE OF BLOOD UPON NERVES-
i-egards the capillaries, is greater than before, and
hence the nervous expansions are more tortured than
previously ; but when the general momentum is di-
minished, and the capillaries are allowed to unload
themselves by topical abstraction, then the nervous
irritation subsides gradually. I may say that I have
never seen inflammation otherwise treated on the Con-
tinent, but by conjoint use of general and topical
blood letting.
In many instances free application of leeches su-
persedes venesection ; nor can we well account for the
relief experienced, which is sometimes immediate.
This may be understood where w^e act upon anasta-
mosing vessels ; but this is not always the case, for, as
John Hunter has observed, there is no connexion
between the vessels of the scrotum and testicle, and
yet there is no more certain way of relieving that
painful affection. Hernia humoralis, than by topical
bleeding. This same argument applies probably to
some affections of the synovial membranes and cartil-
ages of the joints, viz. that all the good is not done
which might be done by a continuance of the deplet-
ing system. It is not persevered in long enough, nor
is the depression suflficiently long maintained to allow
the minute vessels to recover. It is a hunger cure
which they require ; and the stimulants and rubefa-
cients which are employed, sometimes by the external
pain which they create, disguise the real state of mis-
chief going on beneath. Hence long continued chro-
nic inflammation may proceed to disorganization of
these parts. A moderate but long continued abstrac-
tion of blood would restore them more certainly to
HEADACHE. 131
their normal state than one copious abstraction fol-
lowed lip by counter irritation.
It is here the question, as must be evident, of
decided inflammation acting upon the nerves, and not
that neuralgic state which often occurs in the knee,
and which would be aggravated by such treatment.
HEADACHE.
It would be one of the most important discoveries
in our art, if we could arrive at such a knowledge of
the causes of this cruel torment as would enable us to
pursue some rational mode of treatment.
It is here that we have the most cause to complain
that we have very bad eyes ; could we look into the
skull, and see what is going on there, we might per-
haps arrive at something like rational practice.
We have advanced but little in our knowledge of
the matter when we are told, that the headache is
nervous ; the value of that phrase has been already dis-
cussed ; but even when we know, as in these cases, that
the organ of the brain is affected, Ave do not know in
what precise manner ; hence, nothing is more empi-
rical, nothing more unsatisfiictory, than the means
adopted for its relief, and, for the most part, unsuc-
cessfully.
Patients who have suffered long under these affec-
tions, and have gone what they style the round of
physicians, with little or no benefit, give up all
hopes; and to use a phrase of a Russian whom I
132 HEADACHE.
treated for this tormenting complaint, — " I must live
with it."
Lord Byron, who was a martyr to it, used to
exclaim, as he placed his hand upon his brow, —
" This head of mine was made to ache."
It is the nerves which suffer in this, as in the
many disorders already instanced, whatever may be
the exciting cause. Increased determination of blood
to the vessels of the brain is one of the most common,
and this may arise from a variety of circumstances.
Moral influence plays an important part in these
affections, and they are the inheritance of the philo-
sopher, the poet, and the statesman. The conse-
quence of abnormal circulation in the first instance,
they subsequently are the permanent effects of dis-
eased organization. The vessels, from continual dis-
tension, lose their tone, and chronic inflammation is
the result of such injury. Hence these affections get
v.'orse and worse, lead to derangement of intellect, or
fever is set up in the system, and is of fatal issue.
It may be idiopathic from nervous lesion, or the sus-
ceptibility of impression being increased by pernicious
eflfluvia, find the ground prepared for their reception.
This was probably the history of our great bard's
fate.
These affections are difficult to treat in all their
stages ; but they would be remediable, if those who
suffered from them would make the same effort to get
rid of them that they do to render them permanent.
It is the continued dropping of the water that wears
away the stone ; the impression is long before it is
perceptible, but the basin is hollowed out at last.
HEADACHE. 166
Mental excitement, however rapturous, must be fol-
lowed by exhaustion ; the materials of which we are
composed are evidently not intended for eternal dura-
tion. There is a limit to our mortal existence. There
is a natural period of decay ; the house may be propi)ed
up for a long time, but it will fall at last. In a ratio
with the demand made upon it, the energy of the mind
will be found to decrease, provided that this demand
lead to excitement, and influence organic structure.
It is the " restless and unquiet thing" to which we par-
ticularly allude, the man of passion and of strong ima-
gination, who is exhausted by excitement, morally and
physically. Byron and Southey have offered two illus-
trations. The men who cannot, or will not, control
their passions, — who sacrifice all to mental intoxica-
tion. It was so of old times, and it will be ever so.
The abstract studies may be pursued with safety, and
the mathematician numbers a long series of years.
The statesman and bard, — how many reach three-
score ?
If physical power is exhausted, there is no longer
manifestation of moral powers ; they die away, or go
out of the right road. I must lean to the opinion,
that mental aberration in excitable beings is a con-
sequence of a disease which the mind has itself created.
It has been lately stated by Mr Bai'low, that the mind
may control matter even after disorganization has
taken place. Of this there can be no positive proof;
and the circumstance of injury to the brain from acci-
dents permanently disturbing the mental powers, woidd
argue against it ; but it is often Avithin our ])ower to
prevent this physical state by controlling mind. It is
134 HEADACHE.
not when the man is restless, tossing about on his
couch, his hand burning, liis head throbbing under
the paroxysm of fever, that we can say to him, " Lie
still, — be calm, — go to sleep, and the fever will leave
you." It is not till the latter has left hira that he will
compose himself; and so it is with the fmictions of
the brain ; if these be disturbed by local injury, from
whatever cause, and from none more readily than from
moral causes acting upon the physical organization,
the healthy moral state will not be manifest till the
exciting cause be removed. It is in the early stages,
therefore, where function only is concerned, and
organic deterioration has not taken place, that hopes
of alleviation can be justly entertained. It will de-
pend, however, even in this extremity, upon the
amount of injury done, whether it may not be remedi-
able. The membranes of the brain are under the
control of medical agents, as are other membranes of
the body ; and if all exciting causes can be removed,
and they are not sufficiently deranged in structure as
to become themselves a permanently exciting cause,
so that cause and effect are continually operating to
effect injury, the evil is not irremediable.
The source of many headaches is to be attributed
to that state of excitement, which determines a greater
quantity of blood to the brain than it can bear with
impunity. Of this there is sufficient evidence on
record ; for a sudden loss of blood from accidental
causes has liberated those who have suffered for years
under such affections. It is not often, however, that
medical aid is demanded, till a certain degree of mis-
chief is done. People give themselves credit for great
HEADACHE. 135
discrimination in these matters ; they distinguish be-
tween a sick headache, which is caused bj repletion,
and that kind of nervous headache, for which they
think there can be no cure if Hoffman's drops are not
equal to effect it. The literary man understands the
cause of his ailment, but is content to put up with it
as long as it is not intolerable ; when it is so, it is too
frequently irremediable ; and the expression of such
must be familiar to many medical men : — " If you
wish to do me any good you must give me a ncAV
head, for this one is worn out." The nervous female
endures it for years, and is persuaded that there is
nothing which can relieve a nervous headache ; and
she is confirmed in this opinion by not finding any
relief, when she has applied too late for it.
I M-ish I could assert that my success in the treat-
ment had been in any ratio with my opportunities of
beino- conversant with these affections, which are so
very prevalent in the north, for reasons already stated.
If increased momentum, or determination of blood,
be the primary offending cause in many of these cases,
it must be remembered also, that the effects which
they produce will, after a certain time, generate a
condition wliich will be aggravated by means that
might, in the first instance, have conquered the enemy.
General and local depletion are as unadvised, when
a chronic state of inflammation is set up, as stimulants
would be at the commencement of the malady.
I have, in these so called nervous disorders, which
occur periodically in many, and are attended with
threatenings of mental aberration, prescribed the
shower-bath with the most happy results. A gentle-
136 HEADACHE.
man of very irritable temper, and about the middle
age of life, liable to be put out by any untoward
domestic circumstance, was subject to periodical at-
tacks of headache, accompanied by great nervous
irritability, and such loss of temper, as to make his
state rather alarming to his friends. His health was
in other respects very good, his circumstances were
easy, and there was no moral cause in apparent ope-
ration. I recommended him to try the shower-bath
as soon as he quitted his bed ; he felt immediate
relief from its use, and afterwards, (for he disconti-
nued it when the affection had quite subsided,) when-
ever he had the least threatening of an attack, resorted
to it, and always with the same success. It is some
years since it was prescribed for him, and he has never
had a paroxysm, such as he before experienced, since
he commenced its employment.
A clergyman, subject to periodical attacks of head-
ache, accompanied by hypochondriacisra to a great
degree, had found the only relief to his paroxysms in
this remedy. In a village w'here he was staying, he
was attacked by one of his usual paroxysms, and not
being able to procure a shower-bath in the house,
rode daily to a gentleman's seat in the neighbourhood
to benefit by this application.
A lady who was subject to constant headache, was
greatly relieved by the use of the shower-bath. She
was very delicate, had borne many children, and was
subject, after each parturition, to uterine hemorrhagy.
She had received a blow upon the breast, which caused
her great inconvenience, and she experienced periodical
attacks of pain and uneasiness at the menstrual period
HEADACHE.
137
more particularly. She was so much annoyed by the
pain which the cold water caused, as it trickled over
the breast, that she was compelled to abandon the
use of her bath. Her headaches returning, however,
she resorted to her old remedy, and used to cover her
chest with an oil-skin cape, which allowed her to
continue it as usual, and with the same good effects.
I have found it equally beneficial in cases of hemi-
crania.
On the medical treatment of nervous headaches I
have but little to state that is satisfactory. Arsenic
is often useful when there is decidedly an intermittent
tendency ; from quinine I have experienced less suc-
cess, and, where it is used, it should be combined with
some purgative, for an open state of the bowels is
always a source of relief, although purgatives do but
little good if given alone. The medicine which I
liave often found useful is Griffith's mixture, combined
with a blue pill once or twice a week.
\'ery much is to be gained by attention to diet ;
and as regards rules upon this matter, it would be
well to direct that patients should resist the tempta-
tion to take what disagrees with them, and all know
that by experience. Upon the point of wine, how-
ever, there may be room for discussion, and patients
may honestly require advice upon this head ; for
many to whom the taste of wine is disagreeable take
it medicinally ; some take it too freely, but upon
medical recommendation ; for the fiiculty is divided
in opinion upon the subject. I have never found it of
service in nervous headaches, although these might
arise from direct debility, if it produce heat and flush-
138 HEADACHE.
ing of the face. The home-brewed bitter malt liquor
is preferable in these cases. Having advocated Father
Mathews' cause when disease really exists, I Avould
reprobate it under other circumstances ; for I hold
that a generous diet and the use of wine will often be
the best preventatives to disease. If, as I have men-
tioned in another place, a change of life from the
redundant to the extreme abstemious be sometimes
attended by disastrous consequences, so symptoms
which were aggravated by a mistaken forbearance
fi'om the good things of this world, are wholly relieved
by adopting a generous mode of life.
This was the case with a relative of my own, who
was very subject to low spirits and hypochondriasis.
His medical attendant felt his liver so often, with the
view of discovering if there were no disease there, that
he at last made the patient believe that something was
wrong, for the side from touching became sore to the
touch. The patient put himself upon a very abstemi-
ous plan, lived chiefly upon fish and boiled meat, and
being much interested in politics, read Cobbett's
Register. He did not improve under such discipline;
he was nervous, irritable, subject to headache, and all
the train of symptoms which accompany this state.
This continued for years, when his attendant per-
suaded him to try the Cheltenham waters. Previous
to doing this, he resolved on consulting the late Dr
Baillie, who, on being asked his opinion as to the
patient's going to Cheltenham, replied in the affir-
mative ; or, he added, anywhere else where he would
best amuse himself. He changed his plan of diet,
took wine in moderation, and in a little time was
HEADACHE. 139
restored to perfect health, which he has now enjoyed
for the last five and twenty years, and for which, I
believe, he is wholly indebted to his change of regi-
men.
Dr Macciilloch has much enlarged upon an ascetic
principle, as he styles it, in our natures, a self-denial
of thinors which are more beneficial than otherwise
when used in moderation.
These nervous headaches are more frequent in the
female than the male sex, and are often consequent
upon exhaustion from rapid child-bearing, periodical
evacuations, and a mode of life which society pre-
scribes, and to which they must submit. The circu-
lation is languid from want of exercise, with which
their domestic callings often interfere.
Tea is a favourite beverage with them, and there is
none more pernicious, particularly if there be any
green tea in the infusion. At all events, it should
never be taken in the evening. Light cocoa is better
for a mornino; beverage than tea. Coffee is less
j)ernicious, and a strong cup of it will sometimes
dissipate a nervous headache. As to all that can be
said as regards social enjoyments, it is as well to be
nnite, or to say of them as of regimen, all know how
far they can trespass ; and it is not the want of the
knowledge of their effects, but the want of courage to
resist the temptation, that is the point in question.
It is here that homoeopathy triumphs. The practi-
tioner of this quackery has every thing in his favour
but his medicine. The sensualist, the votary of
pleasure, think nothing of the sacrifice which they
make when he commands it; but they turn a deaf car
140 HEADACHE.
to the entreaties of a regular practitioner. It is not
that these affections are cured by homoeopathy, for it
is negative for good; but they are avoided by the
circumstance of non-exposure to such causes as pro-
duce them.
Under the term of nervous headaches, may be
included such as are the result of exhaustion, which
are more or less constant in their attacks. Sometimes
enduring for days together, at other times visiting at
irregular periods, they are generally confined to the
fore part of the head. They may occupy a single
point, or one side only. They attack and quit in-
stantaneously. I witnessed an attack of this kind in
a female, past the middle age of life, who Avas sitting
at the tea-table, Avhen she complained of a sudden shot
through her head, and felt hardly able to sit upon her
chair, from the vertigo which it occasioned. She
resorted, as usual, to Hoffman's drops, but without
benefit, and the whole of the head ached violently for
at least three hours. I begged her to apply a large
sinapism to the neck, and this afforded her some relief.
As suddenly as the first attack manifested itself, so
suddenly she exclaimed that the pain had entirely
left one side of the head, but was equally severe on
the other. I recommended her to take a dose of
laudanum. She retired to rest, and hardly had she
got into bed when the headache entirely left her. She
did not take the opiate. She has been subject to
headaches for years, but said she never w^as attacked
so severely or so suddenly before. Upon the pre-
sumption of these being the effect of debility, she
had been in the habit of drinking a deal of porter.
HEADACHE. 141
Wine was hardly at her command. She went into the
country, and from some cause gave up malt liquor,
and with evident benefit to her health. I saw her
afterwards, and prescribed GriflSth's mixture, which
was of the greatest service to her, and she has been
freer from headaches than for a long period previously.
In this case, the digestive system was greatly deranged.
She suffered fi'oni dyspepsia, and could only digest
mutton, fowl, and game. Fish of all kinds, veal,
pork, and every kind of pastry, were as so much
poison to her.
These headaches, and many more of the same kind,
depend upon some state of the nervous system, which
is often too obscure to allow us to say what that con-
dition is. They are hard to bear ; but hundreds do
o'o through life with such inflictions entailed upon
them. They are chiefly the inhei'itance of females,
who bear suffering more patiently than men, and
whose physical lives are sometimes a continued state
of pain and penalty.
In the rheumatic headache we have something more
tangible. If Ave do not succeed in relieving it, we
seem to set about the task with more confidence. It
is the most painful perhaps of all the kinds, but it is
sometimes remediable. It often begins in a point
over the eye, or in the temple, and then gains the
whole head. A full dose of cotchicum, at the com-
mencement, Avill sometimes cut it oftj and with this a
dose of calomel and opium at night. A lady whom I
treated for this aflfection, was relieved by a mixture
of decoction of bark and guaiacum, in e({ual parts, of
which she took a dose three times a day. With her
142 HEADACHE.
it proved a specific, and she wrote to me for the pre-
scription sometime afterwards from Italy, as she had
found nothing else relieve her.
For that species of headache which commences a
day or two before the menstrual period, and continues
throughout the same, there is perhaps no means of
relief. I have known it attended by the most excru-
ciating pain, the patient confined to bed, with the head
under the clothes, and almost distracted for the time.
There is another kind of headache, the treatment
of which our continental brethren understand better
than ourselves. It is the hemorrhoidal. It manifests
itself by dullness, heaviness, and sense of weight in
the head, causing inaptitude to all mental exertion.
It is with some almost periodical ; and, for this
aflPection, leeches to the fundament are a specific. La
tete est degagee, is the expression of all who are thus
treated. I have seen the good eflfects of such practice
many many times.
Of bilious headaches the cause is sufficiently clear
to point out the treatment. Resolution to avoid the
evil is the desideratum.
There is a species of headache to which children
are subject, and which is alarming as a sympton which
threatens hydrocephalus. Spunging the face, fore-
head, and back of the neck with cold vinegar and
wat^r, often relieves it. Ice to the head is too strong
an application, and perhaps may do mischief, by
keeping the whole of the membranes of the brain too
full of blood. In these cases, if they are obstinate,
and in girls, the Germans put an issue in the arm till
the menstrual period is formed.
HEADACHE. 143
There is an epispastic much used abroad, which I
think Avould be advantageously introduced into British
practice. It is the pommade vegetale de Swisse, a
preparation of the bark of the mezereon, which, when
rubbed on the skin, produces immediate vesication,
without causing the same irritation, and never ac-
companied by any of the unpleasant symptoms which
are sometimes produced by the blistering fly. It
is employed generally to produce vesication behind
the ears, and particularly in the affection we are
speaking of. A small portion, rubbed strongly in,
raises a blister in a few hours, and the surface may be
made to discharge for any length of time, by smearing
it over with the same preparation. Where a large
blister of the lytta has been first applied, this prepa-
ration answers much better than the savine ointment
in keeping it open. I have not been able to procure
it in any of the druggist or patent medicine shops in
this metropolis. In cases threatening hydrocephalus,
the Germans apply it behind the ears, and keep one
side in a state of exudation for years consecutively,
where they do not insert an issue.
Counter irritation is the favourite practice of the
German school for a host of disorders. If it do all
that is attributed to it, which is saying too much of
any preventive measures, (for we must always ask the
question, whether such have been really so,) it has a
great disadvantage even in this view of the subject.
It cannot be permanently employed. People in good
health will be disposed to do without it, after a certain
period of endurance. Yet there is no affection, of
whatever nature it may be, nor at how distant a
144 HEADACHE.
period soever it may occur, after the closing of a fon-
tenclle, that is not immediately attributed to that
unhappy circumstance. In investigating the history
of most diseases, it is a leading question, whether some
local discharge has not been dried up.
It remains to speak of that species of headache
which, for the most part, is, I believe, the result of
moral influence, and is caused by an increased deter-
mination of blood to a brain which is constitutionally
irritable. This is the inheritance of the unquiet spirit.
It may terminate in phrenitis, mania, or fatuity.
" It appeal's," says Dr Parry, " that a certain
determination of blood to the brain is absolutely ne-
cessary for the support and continuance of all its
functions."
If the circulation be too weak, there is a correspond-
ing diminution of physical and moral power. Syncope
and death may be its consequences.
" If, on the other hand, there be an increase in the
momentum of the blood, sensation is increased, thought
is more rapid, and sleep is almost always wanting ; or,
if, after some long interval, the patient for a moment
forgets the surrounding objects, horrid images pre-
sent themselves to his sense of seeing, so exactly
mocking realities, that he starts out of his sleep vio-
lently, and for a while hardly believes that he was in
a dream."
These are the extremes of a state of things of which
there are all degrees, and of which headache is the
premonitory affection. We must quote again from
this author : — " This momentum producing excessive
impulse on susceptible parts, seems to be one of the
HEADACHE, 145
chief causes of Avhat may be called idiopathic pain in
the animal frame."
An attentive perusal of the elements of pathology
v,i\\ convince the reader that Dr Parry does not at
all embrace the views of the humoral pathologists.
It is a question not of quality but of quantity, which
is agitated ; but undue quantity may eventually, by
its influence on the nervous system, deteriorate the
quality.
Deep thought occasions headache, as all who have
thought at all, or, perhaps, I should say, all irritable
and susceptible persons, must have experienced. This
momentary sensation may be relieved by a temporary
cessation from thought, for thought is under the power
of the will as much as muscular motion.
In the " Travelling Physician," I have cited a case
of confusion of intellect from directing thought to any
one subject, however insignificant or grave it may be.
It produces a sort of reverie which passes away upon
seeking quiet.
There is much truth in the parody of Childe Harold,
in the Rejected Addresses ; for in such circum-
stances,
" Thinking is but an idle waste of thought."
This state is, I believe, owing to decrease of blood on
the brain. It is consequent upon some cause Avhich
impedes the circulation through the heart, for it is
accompanied by a sense of fulness, which is relieved
by frequent gaping. It may be what is termed purely
nervous, and accounted for in this way : — The loss of
the thread of reasoning, which would be but momentary
u
146 HEADACHE.
in many instances, excites alarm in a very susceptible
constitution, and this as much as pain diminishes the
action of the heart. The moral first acts upon the
physical, which reacts upon the moral, and the very
endeavour to get out of the labyrinth becomes a cause
of failure.
I have known this state occur after great anxiety
of mind. It is momentary, and is dissipated by the
horizontal posture and the free return of blood through
the heart, as the gaping indicates. Nothing so much
resembles the waking dream as this state while it
lasts.
There is a common form of headache, arising from
deficient circulation in the brain when the vessels are
emptied of their blood too rapidly, or when, from
congestion in other organs, the balance is destroyed.
The case of varicose veins, as before quoted, is highly
instructive in acquainting us with the immediate effects
of abstraction of blood from the brain, causing syncope.
This headache is found mostly in females who have
borne many children, or have been liable to large
periodical discharges of blood. It is a constant affec-
tion ; the head is seldom free from pain ; but the
paroxysms are sometimes more severe than at others.
In these cases the hair generally falls off early in life,
the feet are generally cold, and the hands and fingers
benumbed.
The blood is in undue proportion in the viscera;
and this state of things is generally accompanied by
constipation. Now, although the indication here is to
rouse the nervous system, yet I have not found that
wine is of much service. The shower-bath is decidedly
HEADACHE. 147
in many cases useful, and should be follo\A'ed by warm
hand rubbing. The patient should also be cased in
flannel; and the use of the flesh-brush, well applied by
a good assistant, is highly beneficial in such cases. As
far as medicine is concerned, it is diflScult to make
choice of a tonic which has not some drawback, from
the disposition to constipation being increased under
its use.
A combination of blue pill and colocynth twice
a week will generally be necessary, in conjunction
with bark and steel. The vegetable bitters do not
seem to have any decided effect in these cases, and
arsenic is never indicated in such. The hygean me-
thod is more to be relied on than any specific plan of
treatment. Exercise is of great importance in con-
ducing to a regular distribution of the circulating
fluid. It should never be excessive nor carried to
fatigue, but it should be persevered in constantly,
and in all weathers. I think that it Avas a saying of
George the Third, that there was not a day in the
year in which he could not take a walk ; and much as
it has been a fashion to abuse our climate, there are
few which allow of so much exercise in the open air
as does that of England. Warm clothing in winter,
thick-soled shoes in damp w^eather, and change of
apparel, defy all weathers. It is the perseverance in
finding health that is wanting, whereas many will per-
severe too long in losing it, not deceiving themselACs
either, but sinning with their eyes open ; for none
endowed with common sense Avill plead ignorance of
the i)ernicious effects of indulgence in the table, — late
iiours, heated rooms, and the penalties of society.
148 HEADACHE.
The headaches consequent upon want of proper
circulation in the brain depend upon the loss of that
tone in the nerves which is imparted to them by the
blood. It is probable that the capillaries become
debilitated, and that the circulation is not free in
these vessels, from a deficiency of the vis a tergo.
Mere congestion is not inflammation, although it may
eventually lead to it. I have known these headaches
entirely relieved by excitement. I have known ladies
leave their couch when suffering from violent pain in
the head, and lose it in the ball-room. The pleasure
and exercise of the dance have relieved this state for the
time. It has naturally returned with increased force.
The headache, from increased determination of
blood to the head, which commences by slow and
insidious degrees, is of the most dangerous and irre-
mediable kind. It terminates in the different ways
before mentioned.
This is not the species of headache characterized by
being confined to any one point or region, by return-
ing periodically and disappearing instantaneously ;
but it occupies the whole head, and is seated in the
membranes of the brain. It is always present, but
subject to great fluctuations as to the amount of pain.
Paroxysms may occur which border on insanity.
Long endurance of pain, not sufficient to produce
this excitement, leads to loss of memory and fatuity.
Of this an example has occurred to my knowledge
in a most worthy and estimable colleague, whom I
often met in consultation at St Petersburg. He
always complained of headache, became absent by
degrees ; his memory gradually failed him ; and, of
HEADACHE. 149
course, his practice, which was very extensive, began
to decHne. He finally lost his intellect for a time.
I am not aware whether he has recovered it. There
is a rapidity of thought and increase of intellectual
power, caused by increased momentum of blood to
the brain ; and so distinct is the impression left by
this state on the writings of poets and authors of this
class, that we can recognize at a glance, in different
passages of their works, w^hat has been written during
excitement and during exhaustion. They betray, in
the characters of their heroes, their own feelings. I
should say that Byron's death-bed scene of the Caloyer
in the Gaiour is a true picture of what he had himself
suffered in life : —
'• I only watched, and wished to weep :
I could not, for my burning brow
Throbb'd to the very brain as now.
» * * * *
1 would not, if I might, be blest —
I want no Paradise but rest ! "
We recognize in this the tortures of those headaches
to which this noble author was a martyr ; and the last
line contains no profane idea, but simply an expression
that rest would of itself be a sufficient Paradise Avith-
out any positive enjoyment. If the physical condition
of this great genius had been better understood, he
would not have been treated so harshly ; but it has
been his fiite, as it has been of others, to be known and
appreciated more and more as we recede from the
period in which he lived. There is a much milder
spirit manifested towards his Manes than Avas shown
to him in his life. Few can snv what Scott did upon
150 HEADACHE.
his death-bed : — " It is a comfort to me to think that I
have tried to unsettle no man's faith, to corrupt no man's
principle ; and that I have written nothing which, on
my death-bed, I should wish to have blotted."
The same cause operated in different ways to extin-
guish these two lights. Byron and Scott fell sacrifices
to mental excitement, operating, just as we might
suppose it would, in beings of so different tempera-
ments. The spark, too quickly blown upon, kindled
a fire in the one which quickly consumed itself. In
the other the spark became exhausted by slow combus-
tion, without kindling into flame.
It is said that Lucretius wrote his poem, de
Rerum Natura, in the lucid intervals of reason and
sense, during a fit of delirium ; and no one who is
conversant with that production, can doubt of the
state of mind under which it was composed. The
opening of the second and third books, — " it would be
profane to call it inspiration," — but still, " it is not of
this world."
Men like these generate organic disease by pur-
suing their occupations to excess, and the completion
of the mental offspring is fatal to the physical organs
in which it was nurtured. Post mortem examinations
discover thickening of the membranes, ossific deposits,
congestion of the vessels, serous eflfiisions, — in some
instances, abscesses in the brain.
In the treatment of the studious man's headache,
or that which is derived from mental occupation, of
whatever kind it may be, provided it be attended
with excitement, there are few means of relief to be
expected from medicine, as long as the cause is allowed
HEADACHE. 151
to operate. The preventive is the only effectual sys-
tem, and this is difficult to accomplish ; for the man
who writes for his bread cannot, the one who does so
for his gratification will not, sacrifice to what is at
first but a trifling headache, the intoxicating plea-
sure of his mental labours; but it is the jy^incipiiis
obsta which should be borne in mind. The cause acts
by slow degrees in the beginning ; the increased mo-
mentum of the blood produces in the commencement
but an increase of mental function, and this is plea-
surable to the individual ; but in the course of time,
and by continual distension, the vessels lose their
tone, and congestions follow ; these may be in any de-
gree of severity, and removable by fresh impulse ; but
this state leads to disorganization of membrane and
of brain, and the whole nervous system is implicated
in the consequences.
Study and application should never be continued
when they produce decided headache ; and if the
mind cannot be idle, its occupation may be varied by
lighter work. By such precaution the foundation of
many a disease may be prevented. There is always
time enough for the accomplishment of wholesome
labour, and that which exceeds this point is criminal ;
it is voluntary and gradual suicide, unjustifiable under
any circumstances. The midnight oil is too willingly
consumed by the studious, because there is, as tlie
Germans state, a kind of hallucination in the system,
and, moreover, the mind feels more at liberty to
work when it is secure from interruption. The charm
of midnight composition consists in the certainty
that the train of thought shall not be disturbed by
152 HEADACHE.
external causes. Neither the postman's rap nor the
milk-woman's ring is expected at this hour in the
great streets of the metropolis. The conversion of
night into day is most pernicious to health, and those
who spend nights in dissipation or study bear the
stamp of it in then- front. To add evil to evil, green
tea is often the beverage of the midnight book-worm,
of which the trembling morning hand and the morning
headache are but too true vouchers. There is but a
shadow of difference in the state of him who has passed
his night in a tavern, and of him who has passed it in
his study. When the excitement of the night is over,
morning exhaustion is alike in both ; the nerves in
both are still reeling from intoxication.
Collingwood used to complain of his evening cramps
and spasms, and of his morning headaches, states no
doubt induced, in that most meritorious officer, by long
continued mental anxiety. The nervous system at-
tacked at its source, every fibre must respond ; and
patients themselves are sufficiently aware of the causes
and ciFects of such headaches.
If on examination of symptoms Avhich manifest
themselves, we judge there is deranged structure,
still relief may be afforded by medical means. A
gentle but long continued use of mercury, Avith a
moderately nutritious diet, and the most courageous
moral conduct of the patient in resisting all temptation
to over excitement, will produce a cure. The mem-
branes of the brain may be thus disgorged of their
contents, and even their adventitious coating dissolved,
as is the case wuth congestions in other parts, by the
absorbent power , but this can only be expected in
HEADACHE. 153
incipient stages of disorganization. Quiet, abstraction
of all excitement, early hours, moderate exercise, well
regulated diet, avoidance of too much artificial light
and heat, and the courage to accomplish all this, may
■work wonders even in aggravated cases. In this
form of headache, I should not think of recommending
the shower-bath ; the shock and reaction are opposed
to the quiet enjoined ; but sponging the head with
vinegar and water may be beneficial.
The obstinacy of some headaches in another class
of patients, has been attributable to the irritation of
some bony excrescence, and, under such an idea,
patients have been trepanned. I remember a case in
Guy's Hospital, where a woman, under the care of
the late Dr Currie, was subjected to this operation.
The circle of bone removed was perfectly smooth
internally, and Sir A. Cooper strongly reprobated the
operation. Dr Good quotes some cases in which it
proved successfid.
In attributing many affections, commonly styled
nervous, to the direct influence of the blood upon the
nerves themselves, the question of its quantity rather
than its quality has hitherto been agitated ; but the
latter is not to be lost sight of in its operations, when
these are in force, as a first cause. The blood may
be deteriorated in quality by the absorption of oifend-
iner agents from the oflandular structures, from the
cavities of reflected membranes, from the inner coats
of the intestines, &c., and produce many injurious
effects to the system.
Some of these have already been noticed ; among
others, the bile, and, as the Germans maintain, the
154 HEADACHE.
milk, which, when absorbed into the blood, Is a cause
of puei'peral fever, mania, and phlegmatia dolens.
The blood may be vitiated by the absoi'ptlon of the
bile, and require a long time for its purification ;
hence many of these jaundiced affections drag on for
indefinite periods. It is probable, also, that the cholera
of this country is attributable to the absorption of
morbid secretions or unwholesome matters into the
blood. When the latter is affected. It is not long
before it manifests symptoms of the offence, and this
Irritating the nerve in the fibre, produces spasm and
contraction ; nor can it be doubted that many of the
spasmodic affections and cramps of the stomach may
also be due to quality of the fluid, which acts upon
the nervous system and sets up disease, but it can
only do so by Its influence over the other systems ;
its condition as to itself is passive to itself in most
affections of this nature.
The blood is the food of the system, and this will
be maintained in a healthy state only when it Is nou-
rished by provender, proper in quantity and sound
in quality. It Is rather in respect of the former than
the latter that the blood for the most part sins, not
absolutely, but relatively ; when undue quantity and
deteriorated quality are combined, the effects are pro-
portionally severe on the living solids.
In all that has been stated, we trust there wUl not
be found anything so uncanonical, as a desire to
" forbid the banns between flesh and blood."
SPASMODIC DISEASES. 155
PART VII.
Epilepsy — Hysteria — Palsy — Catalepsy — Hydropohobia —
Trismus Traumaticus — Delirium Tremens — Hooping
Cougli — Chorea.
SPASMODIC DISEASES.
Dr "Wilson maintains in his work upon Spasm, Palsy,
and Lano-uor, that " It is from what offends the
blood in the fibre that spasm is produced for the most
part in the voluntary muscles. The blood entire is
sensitive as the individual nerve of external impres-
sion, instantaneously and simultaneously perceived
through all its distributions." These views are chieily
grounded upon the eflPects of pioisons upon the blood.
Although Drs Addison and Morgan deny that poisons
are thus inti'oduced into the system, still let it be
admitted that the poisons thus circulate and pro-
duce their effects through the medium of the blood
upon the brain. If a muscle be laid bare, and the
filament of nerve with which it is supplied be irri-
tated by the sharp pomt of any instrument, the fibre
is thrown into contraction, and spasm is produced.
This is at all times demonstrable ; but if it be asked
whether the injury done to a single nerve by lesion or
by poison, shall be as manifest in the system in the
same space of time, or as universally, as when this is
156 SPASMODIC DISEASES.
effected through the circulation, as is supposed to be
the case where strychnine is injected into the veins, it
must be answered in the negative. It cannot be ex-
pected otherwise ; for how can the part so soon affect
the whole as the whole the part ? In the first instance,
the offence is transmitted through the sensitive nerves,
along one line of route, to the brain and spinal mar-
row, which take cognizance of it, as the motor nerves
bear evidence. In the second, where the blood be-
comes the medium of communication, the whole of
the system is affected at one and the same time
through the muscular fibre to the nervous filament,
and so to the brain and spinal marrow directly and
indirectly. That it is the nerve which alone is of-
fended, and that the blood is passive in the business,
is proved by the following experiment : — If a muscle
be isolated, and the trunk of the principal nerve which
supplies it be divided, then this muscle is not thrown
into contraction by the injection of strychnine into the
blood, although the whole muscular system be, with
this exception, convulsed. It must be considered, in
this respect, that the offence is in the blood which
circulates freely through the isolated flesh ; but the
nerve is wanting to express its sorrows.
It cannot be allowed, I think, with due deference
to the rebel author before quoted, " that the blood is
sensitive as the individual nerve of external impres-
tion, instantaneously and simultaneously perceived
through all its distributions." Its derangement is only
made manifest in the flesh, not in itself by any re-
cognizable evidence ; and we see the flesh takes no
cognizance of it, where no nerve is present. The
SPASMODIC DISEASES. 157
experiments of Muller, moreoyer, prove, that the
nerves are paralyzed by direct application of poison to
them.
" Certain as it is that the general effects of poison-
ing depend on the absorption of the poison into the
blood, nevertheless the action of poisons on the nerves
cannot be denied The most obvious
case of local paralysis of nerves by a narcotic poison,
is the dilatation of the pupil and loss of contractile
power of the iris consequent on the application of
a drop of solution of extraction helhdonha'. In this
instance the poison reaches the iris and the ciliary
nerves, which are distributed to it by imbibition. It
is evidently a local effort, and not in the slightest de-
gree the result of absorption into the blood, for the
pupil of the other eye is unaffected .... I dis-
sected out the ischiadic nerve in a frog for a consider-
able extent, and let it hang in a solution of acetate of
morphia ; after a little time, I found that the end of
the nerve had wholly lost its excitability." — P. 679.
Upon what is the assertion grounded, that the blood
is offended in the fibre ? It seems most probable, that
the latter is offended by coming in contact with the
noxious fluid, of which the nerve takes cognizance :
For what proof have we that the blood is offended ?
AVe ask for evidence in the blood itself. If so, why
not manifest some evidence of the misdemeanour ?
"Why arc we to look for this in the fibre rather than
in the blood itself? The blood should be throAvn
into contraction and spasm, and this, too, at the point
wliere it is most immediately injured, the point of con-
tact with the poison ; but of this we have no evidence;
158 SPASMODIC DISEASES.
nay, we have proofs to the contrary ; for its current
would be thus impeded, and this would prevent the
diffusion of the poison throughout the system. If drawn
from the body in this condition, does it evince proofs of
being under, poisonous influence ? Does it coagulate
more or less rapidly than under ordinary circumstan-
ces ? The blood is not sentient of the noxious effects,
or they would be first manifested in it. No effect is
apparent till it is poured into the fibre, — till the nerve
supplying that is ofi'ended, then contraction and spasm
are induced, as w^e sec when we bare a muscle and
irritate a nerve by the prick of a pointed instrument.
The blood can only be looked upon as a vehicle in the
operation. Could we isolate a part, drain away every
drop of blood from its vessels, and fill them Avith
water impregnated with poison, the same effects would
be manifested as where the blood is the vehicle, upon
granting, merely for argument sake, that this is the
case.
Some few instances are upon record, where the in-
jury to a nerve is followed by immediate effects upon
the spinal marrow, causing tetanus. Dr Gregory
used to relate the case of a waiter who divided the
fleshy part of the thumb in lifting a heavy dish off'
the table ; the piece between the finger and thumb
breaking off", he was immediately seized with spasms
of the muscles, and died in less than an hour.
When I was doing duty in the Edinburgh Infir-
mary, a man was brought in whose thigh had been
gored by a bull ; there was not much injuiy to the
flesh, but several branches of nerves were exposed and
lacerated. He died of tetanus within forty-eight hours.
SPASMODIC DISEASES. 159
I had an interesting case of cholera during its pre-
valence in St Petersburg, which illustrates the influ-
ence of the circulating fluid on the muscular fibre and
nervous filaments. An old lady had long suffered
from numbness in the whole of the left arm and hand,
which, though not amounting to paralysis, rendered
the limb almost useless. She had tried all kind of
stimulants and rubefacients without benefit, and had
desisted from any farther attempts, as she said at her
advanced age it was not of much consequence. She
was attacked Avith spasmodic cholera in its most pain-
ful form, and all the muscles of her body were tortured
by spasms. She weathered the storm, however, and,
to her great surprise, entirely recovered the use of her
arm. There was a very general feeling of dislike in
that city, and among a certain class, to allow that
their friends died of cholera, — a certain odiiun was
attached to the word as to the plague. If a patient
resisted a few days, and died of its sequela, the com-
mon parlance ran, — II n'est pas mort de cholera mais
Ic cholera, a develope une maladie, que I'a tue.
This was perhaps the only individual who could
boast of proving this disease to be a remedial agent
for other evils. In this case, the blood itself was in a
poisonous state, and became the offending agent.
It is immaterial in Avhat way the nerves were affected.
The impression was made upon them generally. It
is true that tlie influence of some poisons upon a
nerve, is as great, and as instantaneous, and as general
through the whole system, as if the entire mass of
nerves had sinuiltaneously been sulyected to the
impression through the medium of the circulation ;
160 SPASMODIC DISEASES.
but this is not always the case. Midler asserts that
the action of poison on a nerve is limited to the point
of contact, and does not extend to the branches of the
nerve. This, he says, accounts for the slow propaga-
tion of the injury to the sound pai'ts, and the time
which elapses before constitutional symptoms are
manifested, which, when the blood is the medium of
communication, are instantaneous, affecting the whole
nervous system at once.
It cannot be doubted that the blood may become
poisoned by impression made upon the nervous system,
without resorting to the supposition that the poison is
first introduced into the system by the blood ; for
nothing can be more instantaneous than the general
effects of the single point of contact of some poisons,
which imply as ready transit to the brain as can be
effected through the circulating system. It would
perhaps tend to clear up the matter, if we were to
dilute the dose of poison with the quantity of fluid
with which it must be mixed previous to getting to
the brain, and inject this into the carotid of a living
animal. This might decide whether the ImjH'ession
were made upon the latter, by primary offence to the
nerve in its concentrated state, or by means of circu-
lation in its diluted form. There is, I think, room for
more experiments upon this matter than have hitherto
been attempted.
There is no reason Avhy both these means should
not be available in the system.
Three powers are concerned In the formation of
spasm — the nerves, the muscle, and the blood. Two
of these are absolutely necessary to its existence,
SPASMODIC DISEASES. 161
muscle and nerve. It is the irritation of the latter
which thus manifests itself in the former. Muscular
contraction cannot exist without the assistance of
nerve. It is essential to it, and any experiments made
upon muscle cut off from the brain, which may seem
to prove the contrary, only proves that nervous fluid
is still inherent in the nerves, supplying sufficient
power to the muscles to make them contract. The
blood contributes much to this effect, but it is not
essential to it. Muscles drained of their blood, and
washed out by warm water injected into their vessels,
still contract when their nerves are stimulated. Blood
may act in two ways in producing spasm, either by
morbid influence on the muscle, through the nerve, or
by mechanical excitement, through increased momen-
tum. A case in the Philosophical Transactions for
1811, p. 89, is related of a " constant twitching of the
fore-arm, which was suspended by compression of the
carotid artery on the opposite side, while it was not
diminished by pressure of the carotid on the same
side."
Although many poisonous substances seem almost
inert Avhen introduced into the system by the stomach,
others affect it almost as rapidly in this way as when
applied to the nerves of a part exposed, or injected
into the blood. I have known an over-dose of strych-
nine produce immediate and fearful consequences.
A patient had been taking small doses of this poison
in a solution by tea-spoonfuls. I forget in what men-
struum it was dissolved, but the nurse in attendance
finding that the patient was purged, concluded he was
taking a cathartic ; and, as she required a strong dose
162 EPILEPSY. — HYSTERIA.
herself, took what there was in the phiaL She was
soon convinced of her mistake. I was sent for to treat
a person supposed to have swallowed poison, for her
cries alarmed the neighbourhood. She rolled upon
the ground, and every fibre in her frame was convulsed
as if by electric shocks. She was vomited and purged
most fm-iously. She ultimately recovered, but she
was in a state of tremor for months afterwards. As
far as I can judge, she might have swallowed about
two grains of the extract.
EPILEPSY.— HYSTERIA.
These two diseases have been sometimes con-
founded with each other; and when the latter has
occurred in the male, it has been considered as epi-
lepsy, although deficient in many of the characteristic
symptoms. By whatever name it may be called,
precisely the same train of symptoms sometimes
show themselves in both sexes. If we adopt the
French term, attaque des nerfs, there will be no room
for cavil.
A young collegian returned to see his friends in
Russia, and was placed under my care. He was
about nineteen years of age, of studious habits, high
moral feeling, and most amiable disposition. He
had been attacked at college with extraordinary
symptoms, and was reported to have had one or
two fits. I observed nothing particular about him
at first, except a degree of wildness about the eye.
He was in good bodily health, but had been recom-
EPILEPSY. — HYSTERIA. 163
mended to pass a long vacation in the country, as
it was considered that lie had been over studious,
and was subject to partial loss of memory. Some
time after his arrival, as he was sitting at table,
he was observed to be rather absent, not to reply
when spoken to, and to have his eyes fixed. As his
friends were upon the qui vive, no notice was taken,
and he slid off' his chair under the table. His eyes
Avere turned up, his fists clenched, with much convul-
sive movement of the mouth, but no foaming nor
bitinn; the tono-ue. He was stiff" and motionless. In
this state he was removed to a sofa, Avhere he slept
for some hours, and when he awoke remembered no-
thing that had passed. Nothing was said to him, for
I was acquainted with what had transpired upon my
arrival, and took no farther notice of it. I recom-
mended air, exercise, and the use of the shoAver-bath.
Some days afterwards a similar paroxysm mani-
fested itself, but accompanied by more ludicrous an-
tics, lie crawled round the room on his hands and
feet, tried to climb up the walls of the room, and
performed all kinds of tricks, — rolling himself into a
ball, &c. He kncAv nothing of what he had per-
formed when he returned to himself. He was now
seen by two English physicians, in company with
myself. AVe agreed completely as to the nature of
the case, — did not look upon it in a serious light,
— recommended sea-bathing, amusements of all kinds,
and travelling. We did not think it Avorth Avhile
to prescribe any medicine, and we all referred it to
that condition which Sydenham speaks of in his
chapter on Rheumatism, — o«r yofv KXcopof. He started
164 EPILEPSY. — HYSTERIA.
for Planover, where he was addressed to some emi-
nent physician, who took a totally different view of
his case, — said it was a confirmed case of epilepsy,
and gave him large quantities of indigo, which natu-
rally did no good. He returned again to college,
where he was subject to the same attacks occasionally;
but the following year he relaxed in his studies, formed
an early matrimonial connexion, and has never since
had the slightest return of his complaint.
We were thus confirmed in the belief that both our
diagnosis and prognosis were right, and had no hesi-
tation in giving the disease the name of Hysteria.
I should have mentioned, that copious secretion of
limpid urine accompanied all these attacks. I have
never met with a similar case, though I have fre-
quently seen hysteric paroxysms in youths, but never
in the same degree.
Dr Wilson has mentioned a feature in the history of
small-pox, viz. that the disease is often ushered in by
an epileptic fit. The same observation has been made
by Cullen iu his Outlines, and w^as much dwelt upon
by Dr Gregory in his Lectures. It can hardly be a
proof of the poison in the blood acting upon the
nerves. It is a curious fact, but the Avhole of this
disease is involved in so much obscurity, that it is diflfi-
cult to draw any certain conclusions from it. Worms
in the intestines will equally give rise to it. A lady,
the wnfe of my late colleague, Dr , was attacked
in three successive pregnancies, about the period of
quickening, with a single fit of epilepsy ; at no other
period had she ever showed the least disposition to a
renewal of these attacks.
EPILEPSY. — HYSTERIA. 165
Laennec, who inclines to favour the humoral patho-
logy, considers the state of the fluids to be the cause
of convulsions and epilepsy from spontaneous conges-
tions. The blood, in such as have died of these
affections, resembles that found in those killed by
electricity. It may be as reasonable to suppose, that
the shock given to the nervous system has been suffi-
cient to kill the blood, decompose it, and, by arrest-
ing the circulation, give rise to these congestions.
This is precisely what takes place in death by
lightning; the nervous system is annihilated, as it
also is by a severe blow on the stomach, causing
instant death, and the same appearance in the blood.
It is deprived, by the absence of coagulation, of the
testamentary evidence that it has ever lived.
Epilepsy is a very common disease in Russia. I
liave seen a great many cases, but never known any
relieved permanently.
I had a lady under my care for some years, who
was seized for the first time in her eleventh pregnancy.
The child was born at the natural time, and lived.
The mother Avas ever after subject to slight attacks.
She bore no more children. She was about forty-five
when this first occurred.
There was nothing worth recording in the case,
except the very singular way in which she experienced
wamhigs of the approach of an attack. She was a
most amiable woman, and felt distressed at the state
of her mind at these times. She never knew that she
had epileptic fits; this was always kept from her know-
ledge. She supposed herself subject to fainting fits.
She one day complained to me that she did not know
166 EPILEPSY. — HYSTERIA.
how it was, she could not explain it, but nothing
seemed right ; the month, the week, the day, the
season, the house in which she lived, her children,
nothing seemed as it ought to be. These were her
very words, and she burst into tears. Some similar
moral condition preceded every attack. In the pa-
roxysm she bit her tongue and foamed at the mouth,
so as to leave no doubt as to the nature of the disease.
I have seen epilepsy, in very aggravated forms, lead
to imbecility of mind. A young lady of twenty years
of age, after suffering from childhood, and that to such
a degree as never to be considered safe when alone,
being subject to paroxysms which lasted two and
three days and nights, requiring the manual aid of
several attendants to control the force of such muscular
power, as was hardly credible, was cured permanently
by removal from the country. She has had no return
of her complaint for years, and is so improved in looks
and in mind as to seem a different being.
There was nothing left untried, and many were
consulted upon her case without any benefit to herself.
Emigration cured her.
Dr Baillie said, in his day, that palsy was upon the
increase. I have been much surprised, since my
return to England, at the number of people whom I
meet in the streets dragging a leg along. I can-
not speak comparatively upon this subject, as I do
not recollect what ])roportion this state bears here
to what it did in former times. It is but too evident
that the nerves, when once injured, are not so easily
restored to their healthy condition, and their import-
ance is made manifest in their derangement. How
EPILEPSY. — HYSTERIA. 167
few of such cases ever completely recover. It Is not
improbable that the universal system of blood letting
upon all such attacks, and even threatenings of them,
has converted remediable into incurable diseases.
Paralysis has sometimes immediately followed the
depletion intended to prevent apoplexy ; and where
this plan has been persevered in for the relief of flow
of blood to the head, it is not an uncommon conse-
quence. Dr Holland has commented very freely upon
this in his Notes and Reflections : — " I have known
cases of this kind where bleeding has immediately
been followed by convulsions of epileptic character,
occasionally by amaurosis, or deafness, more frequently
still by rambling delirium, and where wine or other
cordials have as speedily abated these tendencies."
Sir Charles Bell has stated, I think, in some of his
earlier surgical productions, that when a man is taken
up in the streets apparently lifeless from the con-
cussion of a fall, the nurse gives him a dram, and the
surgeon bleeds him; but the nurse is right. As
Dr Holland observes, " The use of the lancet is easy,
and gives a show of activity in the practitioner at
moments wlien there appears peculiar need of this
promptitude. Current opinions and prejudices are
wholly on the side of bleeding, and the complexity
and danger of cases tend to obscure the results of the
treatment. The physician needs all his firmness to
decline a practice thus called for, Avhere the event is
so doubtful, and where death may be charged upon
his presumed feebleness or neglect."
The whole body medical might be appealed to if
tiioy have not, particularly in their early career, had
168 EPILEPSY. — HYSTERIA.
to contend with such popular feeling. They have felt
their reputation at stake, they have been thoroughly
convinced that every blame would be attributable to
them if they did not immediately bleed their patient ;
by doing so they would place themselves on the safe
side ; and, as Dr IMacculloch has justly observed,
whatever might be the consequence where copious
depletion has been used, the friends will always
express themselves, " that every thing was done that
could have been done."
This we see again and again with the same results ;
we hear daily of paralytic seizures where medical aid
was immediately at hand, so that the patients were
bled, but still to no good purpose.
I w^as strolling along the quay in St Petersburg,
and seeing a crowd at the door of the principal banker,
I walked into the house. I was immediately requested
to bleed a orentleman who had fallen from his desk in
a fit. I knew the patient ; and, from his appearance,
and previous knowledge of his habits, it appeared to
me that his nervous power had failed him. I hesi-
tated, therefore, in spite of the pressing demands of the
friends, to bleed a man in apoplexy. In this dilemma
I was fortunately relieved by the timely visit of the
gentleman's medical attendant. He was authority in
the case, and a cordial was administered, w'hich soon
revived the patient, who had been long in a nervous
state of health.
Upon another occasion, I was sent for, very early
in the morning, to see a patient who had been sud-
denly seized in the night with inflammation of the
lungs. He was in great pain, as I was informed,
EPILEPSY. — HYSTEPJA. 1G9
and could not breathe. Upon my arrival, I found a
basin and tea-cups, with bandages, lying upon a table,
by his bed-side. All was in readiness ; but it was a
case of gout in the stomach, and was immediately
relieved by a full dose of brandy and laudanum.
I think I have seen good effects from strichnine in
cases of paralysis, when steadily continued. I re-
member a case treated by the late Dr Birkbeck, at
the General Dispensary in Aldersgate Street, by the
powder of nux vomica. The woman, whose leg was
palsied, made a better walk of it every time she
attended. I cannot say that a perfect cure was
effected, for I lost sight of her ; but the doctor was
so much satisfied with the progress which she made
under this treatment, that he made mention of it at
a meeting of the INIcdico-Chirurgical Society. The
value of this medicine is fully recognized in palsy from
lead, and mentioned by Dr Marx of Gottingen;
Tetanus and Paralysis afford us the strongest patho-
logical proofs of the importance of the nerves, and of
the extreme difficulty of restoring them to their
normal state, when affected by disease. As I am
now Avriting, I am informed by letter of a former
patient who, by a paralytic stroke, has irretrievably
lost the use of her left side. This is a forcible term,
but one too easily understood. We do not call the
case irretrievable when the blood is in a morbid state.
In the very same family, I have known a parturient
female so exhausted by hcmorrhagy in many of her
confinements, that there have been moments when
life has been almost judged extinct, yet this was not
an irretrievable state.
I
170 EPILEPSY. — HYSTERIA.
In the treatment of Palsy and Tetanus, the field is
still open, as we may hope, for great and useful
discoveries. When I was at Wildbad, in Germany,
I heard of many cases which had been much benefited
by immersion in the hot springs which gush from
the rocks. The supposed advantage of these baths
over others, is the equable temperature which is
maintained during the whole period of immersion.
The hot water continues to flow over the surface of
the same degree of heat, and always renewing itself
from the same source. The body leaves the bath with
the same impression which it received upon entering
it. The water is, in this case, continually renewed ;
w^hereas in others, the temperature lowering, fresh
heat must be applied ; and this can never be so
arrano-ed as that some difference of sensation be not
experienced. This is the sole advantage which the
baths at Wildbad boast ; for no active ingredients are
found in the waters. The question has been agitated,
and upon rational grounds, Avhether these natural re-
servoirs of caloric do not possess some chemical elec-
tric principles, not to be developed in the artificially
heated cauldron, which did not bubble — bubble till the
witches had thrown their charms into it. W^e must
not refuse evidence till we have more knowledge than
we at present possess of nature's chemical combinations.
The arteries which supply a paralyzed Hmb beat
with less force than previously, and animal tempera-
ture falls as a natural consequence, both evidences of
diminution of nervous power.*
* The French term is very expressive, un bras rpfroidi — a paralyzed
arm.
EPILEPSY. — HYSTERIA. 171.
In cases of what the French style apoplexie fou-
droyante, and where blood is effused into the cere-
bellum, there is a symptom sufficiently indicative of
the precise scat of the lesion. The grasping motion
of the hand which I once witnessed in a patient who
lived about twelve hours after the blow, was the only
sio-n of voluntary action which remained till his death.
It was incessant, and distressing to the bystanders in
every sense. The nerves alone must bear the shame
of such excitement.
The following case may deserve the title of slight
catalepsy ; it is the only one I have ever seen : —
A lady, fifty years of age, and of most nervous
temperament, who had been an invalid for years,
subject to constant headaches, never free from cough
with copious expectoration, her hands and fingers
always in a state of tremor, her temper very irritable,
and the alvinc secretions continually out of order,
was suddenly seized with a fit ; such was the account
the messenger brought me.
I was in the immediate neighbourhood, and saw
her in less than ten minutes after the attack. She
had fallen off the bed upon which she had been re-
posing, about six o'clock in the afternoon. She was
replaced upon the couch ; her face was much as usual,
perhaps a little paler, the eyes were semi-closed and
immoveable, the pulse was quite natural, or a little
slower than usual ; one arm was raised towards the
head, bent, and the fingers clenched ; the other was
stiflf' and straight by her side ; the animal heat was
natural. She was perfectly insensible to the im-
pression of noise, nor did she feel, apparently, any
172 EPILEPSY. — IIYSTEPJA.
effort made to straigliten the arm. She remained in
this state for nearly an hour, during which nothing
more was done than bathino; her head and face with
cold vinegar and water, and occasionally a few drops
of a?ther, were poured upon the scalp. She returned
to the normal state by degrees, first opening the eyes,
and relaxing the arm. She could not speak for a
long time, but became thoroughly conscious. At
length she said " I am coming round ; " the pulse
became quicker and smaller, and a moisture appeared
on the surface. She was allowed to remain quiet, and
got some refreshing sleep.
I remained the night with her. When she awoke
she was not in the least conscious of any thing that
had passed. She was feeble and much depressed.
Strong cathartic enemas opened the bowels. Cam-
I)hor and ammonia were given internally at short in-
tei'vals. For some days afterwards she was much
inclined to sleep, but the drowsiness did not amount
to coma. Her usual copious expectoration was much
diminished. She then began to have a good and bad
day alternately ; and upon the bad day there was evi-
dently a chill in the morning for some time. She got
warmer and better as the day wore on. My colleague,
Dr Handyside, who saw her repeatedly, was con-
vinced with myself that there was a decided inter-
mittent tendency. She had never been able to take
bark, as it caused constipation, and we gave her
Fowler's solution, but the prejudice was too strong
against it, and we determined upon employing quinine,
combined with purgatives. She recovered rapidly
under its use.
EPILEPSY. — HYSTERIA. 173
For several years afterwards she had no return of
this affection, whatever name it deserves. She was
always, however, subject to nervous derangement.
I must here observe, that Ave incurred the highest
censure for not bleeding her* The practice was stig-
matised as puerile and inert, and if she had succumbed
■we should have been held responsible for our want
of energy. I am convinced that if we had bled her,
and even paralysis had followed, nothing but appro-
bation would have greeted us for having done all in
our power.
Some physicians, perhaps, have met with the fol-
lowing case : —
A gentleman, past the middle age, who has been
in the habit of living freely, has taken some whim
into his head, either that he Avas getting too fat, or
that he should enjoy better health (having in reality
no fault to find with his actual state) if he entirely
changed his mode of life. He leaves off wine and
malt liquor, takes strong exercise to fatigue, and lives
upon tea and toast, w'ith little animal food. After
some time of such probation, he is attacked with para-
lysis. I knew a country squire, a fox-hunter, avIio
pursued this plan, and with this result ; and I believe
that very lately a celebrated vocalist, under the im-
pression, that by changing his mode of life he might
prolong it indefinitely, has fallen a victim to his ex-
periment.
I shall be surprised if many Avho take Father
Alathew's pledge do not fall into the same snare.
The nervous system will not tolerate these sudden
changes with iniuunitv. An excess of abstemiousness
174 HYDROPHOBIA.
is dangerous to the man who has, perhaps, sinned in
the other way, and particularly at a certain period of
life. If he be Misely determined to reform his habits,
let him do it gradually, and he will do so safely, — Chi
va piano va sano, va sano va lontano.
HYDROPHOBIA.
The following circumstances, which occurred in St
Petersburg before I inhabited that city, were detailed
to me by persons who were eye witnesses of the facts.
The case occurred on the premises of an English
merchant, and the victim was a young Englishman,
one of the counting-house clerks. He had been in
the constant and foolish habit of teazing a large dog,
chained to his kennel in the yard. The animal was
so enraged with him from being pelted with stones,
and flicked with a long whip at a distance, that he
made constant efforts to seize him, which, one day, by
sudden snapping of his chain, or disengaging his head
from his collar, he was able to accomplish. He bit
him in the hand. No particular notice was taken of
this at the time, but a few days afterwards the young
man was attacked by symptoms of the disease, of
which he died, with all its accompanying horrors.
This case offers matter for consideration, and pre-
sents a double proof of the nervous influence in
forming the malady, and in its reproduction by ino-
culation. That hydrophobia can be thus generated
spontaneously by the influence of passion upon chang-
ing a natural secretion, or concocting one sui generis,
HYDROPHOBIA. 175
there can be no longer any doubt. The animal had
not shewn any symptoms of disease previously. He
was made mad literally, not figuratively, by irritation
and torment. Whence the secretion might have
been derived which produced such dire effects on
the human subject by inoculation, its morbid state
was engendered by the influence of nervous ex-
citement. It is as evident that the poison was
generated under this state of phrenzy, as that the
milk of a woman's breast is changed in quality by a
fit of passion.
As regards the disease, when developed in the
human subject, its whole history and course refer it
to the nem-oses. I have never had but one opportunity
of seeing a hydrophobic patient. It was in Guy"s
Hospital, and prussic acid was largely administered,
but with as little effect as all its predecessors. The
patient was a master carpenter, an intelligent man,
who seemed to wish to give information as to his
wretched state. It was not a dread of water, but of
lluids, which agitated him ; and as he lay in a corner
of the Avard, he Avas so convulsed by the trickling of
tlie rain down a spout on the outside, that he was re-
moved to the centre of the ward, Avhere he could not
hear it. His nervous instability was appalling. I can
never forget his countenance. His friends insisted
upon removing him, and it \vas impossible to prevent
them. Two men carried him out on their shoulders ;
as they descended the steps leading down to the outer
quadrangle, he made a sudden spring and fell dead
upon the pavement. Whether it was the last strug-
gle of life, or whether the concussion from falling with
176 TRISMUS TRAUMATICUS.
such effort on the pavement, caused immediate death,
may be doubtful.*
There is a similar case related by Dr Good, vol. iii.
p. 275, of spontaneous lyssa, reported by Mr Zitman.
Is the generation of the poison which is fatal to the
human subject by inoculation positively so to the ani-
mal itself? If there is a suspicion of the dog, he is
immediately killed; but have not people gone mad
who have only been reminded of having been bitten
by the appearance of the disease long afterwards ; and
in such cases are there always proofs of the dog's
having died after biting the person ?
TRISMUS TRAUMATICUS.
I have seen this produced by the application of
a blister in scarlatina. The patient w^as a child of
eight years of age, to whose chest a blister was
applied to relieve dyspna?a. The wound sphacelated,
and gave rise to trismus, which lasted two or three
days, and the child sank. In the same family, a blis-
ter applied to the neck of a young woman of twenty,
attacked by the same disease, ran into gangrene in
twenty hours. She died in fifty hours from the first
symptoms of the eruption.
* Since writing tliis, a letter from St Petersburg informs me of the
death of a respectable Englishman, who died from fright. He was
snapped at by a dog running through the streets, and the dog seized the
tailof his coat, but did not bite him. He was so prepossessed with the
idea that he should die of hydrophobia, that he fell a victim to his fear.
■^2dd Jiiit/ inu.
DELIRIUM TREMENS. 177
DELIRTUM TREMENS.
This is a very common disease in St Petersburg.
It is found only among the lower orders, and hence
being an hospital disease, practitioners in private
have not much opportunity of seeing it. The higher
class of Russians are very moderate livers, and indulge
but little in wines or spirituous liquors. I have met
with this disease several times amongst the counting
house clerks, who carry out the bills, &c., termed
artelcheks. Cold has certainly much to do with it,
for it encourages drinking of spirits ; and when once
this class of people take these to intoxication, they
continue to do so for days and weeks afterwards. I
have, in another pul^lication, described what is techni-
cally styled a Zappoi. There is nothing peculiar in the
delirium tremens, so produced, to require further com-
ment. It always proved fatal in the cases which 1
treated. In the naval hospitals, Avhere it is very
prevalent, opium and musk sometimes succeed in
saving the patient.
In a numerous class of spasmodic disorders we
require nothing more than moral excitement to de-
monstrate their nervous origin. It matters not by
what means indeed they may be produced, and by
none more generally than by changes in the balance
of the circulation ; it is the nerve which speaks, the
nerve which suffers. This system may, from its great
intricacy, its reflex action, sometimes lead us astray :
we may get upon a wrong scent, but when we have
threaded its mazes and labyrinths, we come to earth
178 DELIRIUM TREMENS.
there. Muscle can no more be thrown into contrac-
tion without nerve, than a hare can run with its legs
broken.
Singultus is a troublesome spasmodic affection of
the diaplu-agm and respiratory muscles. It may be
caused by increased determination of blood irritating
t'ae nerves of the stomach, but we know that any
thing which excites the moral feelings immediately
suspends it. We check it in children by fear. Hoop-
ing cough is a disease of a spasmodic character, and
I believe the brain to be more or less affected in this
disorder. Its nervous nature is proved by the habit
Avhich the system acquires under its influence, and
which continues long after the essence of the disease
has been destroyed.
I may here mention the treatment which we find
most useful in northern climates. We have not the
advantage of changing the air for a long period, so
that the complaint is often of formidable duration ;
but as soon as the febrile stage has subsided, which
generally takes place tow^ards the end of the third
week, doses of musk seem to have a specific influence.
I have seen the most happy effects from its use, both
in the general practice of my colleagues, and ray own,
in St Petersburg. A grain of musk three or four times
a-day, will, in general, arrest the most convulsive
species of coughing in a few days.
I have generally, in the early stages, experienced
great advantage from the application of leeches to
the temples ; for I believe that there is very often
congestion in the brain, and that the latter, if not
previously, is often secondarily, affected.
DELIRIUM TREMENS. 179
It has been stated, but it may perhaps Avant more
confii-mation, that it is suspended by vaccination ; but
does it not return again after the local irritation has
subsided? In this respect its nervous character is
only more strongly indicated, for these affections are
especially relieved by setting up new action in the
system, or by metastasis from one mucous membrane
to another, of which, in convulsive cough, simulating
pertussis, I have known instances.
The force of habit is very considerable in influenc-
ing such affections, and reproduces symptoms of the
original disease when its specific character has been
destroyed. Thus, pertussis may be apparently cured
for months, when, upon the accession of a catarrh, the
convulsive cough returns, for which the same treat-
ment would no longer be available. This is not con-
fined to this species of irritation alone, for some are
subject to habitual cough, observing certain periods,
and subject to renewal from the slightest causes.
These spasmodic affections require very different treat-
ment ; they are nervous affections, to be relieved only
by removing the exciting causes to the nerves, which
may be plethora on the one hand, or debility on the
other. Hence we treat some by digitals, — antimony,
— others by stimulants, of which ammonia is the most
powerful. In some cases, the moment of changing
a line of practice becomes very critical. In the ad-
vanced stages of pneumonia the cough and expectora-
tion suddenly cease, and the pain, which had been
subdued, as suddenly returns. Here depletion would
be instantaneously fatal ; and it is only by rousing the
nervous system, to excite the bronchia? to expel accu-
180 CHOREA.
mulated secretion, or to stimulate the vessels to renew
this, if it be suspended by a fresh access of inflamma-
tion, that life is preserved.
In the advanced stages of ptysis we often find the
cough subdued and the expectoration diminished,
affording hopes to the patient, who, by this very cir-
cumstance, is placed in extremis.
CHOREA.
Dr Depp, chief physician to the Foundling Hospi-
tal in St Petersburg, acquired a great and deserved
reputation for his success in the treatment of this
disease.
His plan was almost wholly confined to the use of
the shower-bath at all seasons of the year ; and as soon
as the weather permitted, he removed his patients into
the country, selecting as elevated a position as pos-
sible, that they might enjoy the advantages of a brac-
ing atmosphere. He insisted also upon the hair being
cut close, and the head spunged with cold vinegar and
water at several periods during the day ; the shower-
bath to be employed as soon as the patient left the
bed, or rather hard mattress, which he also insisted
upon. He prescribed few medicines, and nothing
usurping the name of a specific. The bowels were to
be regulated by the mildest purgatives, but the shower-
bath seemed to supersede the necessity of these.
I saw but few cases of this singular affection, but
a very aggravated one was most materially relieved
by this treatment.
CHOLERA MORBUS. 181
PART VIII.
Cholera Morbus — Scorbutus — Diabetes.
CHOLERA MORBUS.
I HAD, during my residence in St Petersburg, some
opportunities of seeing this disease in its most mur-
derous form ; for the deaths in the city averaged more
than a thousand daily at its onset. I published the
results of some of my experience, and now, after a
lapse of fourteen years, I must subscribe to the truth
of Dr Holland's assertion, as expressed, page 568, in
his Notes and Observations : — " That strange pesti-
lence of our time, which, while affrighting every part
of the world by its ravages, has seemed to put at
nought all speculations as to its causes, or the laws
which govern its course; — a disease, nevertheless,
which, by the mystery of its first appearance, its
suddenness, inequality and fatality, and the failure
hitherto of every method of treatment, may well
excite the inquiry of all who are zealous for the
extension of medical science." The idea of its
originating in insect life was adopted by several
German professors very soon after its first appearance.
The eccentric movements of the malady, its zigzag
direction quitting the broad line of route, flying off at
a tangent to appear in a widely distant point, would
all argue certain atmospheric cm-rents wafting their
182 CHOLEEA MORBUS.
poisonous contents in regions, beyond our powers of
arrest.* Dr Prout's observations, proving that there
was a constant increase in the weight of the atmo-
sphere, deserve much attention in our future investi-
gations, for this may not have been a casual coinci-
dence; its constancy during the whole prevalency of
the disease militates against this opinion. Freely con-
fessing that what we pi'ofessed to know about this
plague, when in the heat of the battle, was but mere
presumption, we still pertinaceously adhere to the
belief of its non-contagious character ; and we repeat,
in the words of our former little treatise, " As far as
my practice is concerned, both in the quarter allotted
me, and also in private houses in different parts of the
town, I have no proof whatever that the disease is
contagious. In one case I attended a carpenter in a
large room, where there were at least thirty other
workmen, who all slept upon the floor among the
shavings, and though this was a very severe and
fatal case, no other instance occurred among his
companions. In private practice, and amongst those
in easy circumstances, I have known the wife attend
the husband, the husband the wife, parents their
children, children their parents, and in fatal cases too,
where, from long attendance and anxiety of mind, we
might conceive the influence of predisposition to
operate, yet in no instance have I found the disease
communicated to the attendants ; ... so that, as far
as proof can be drawn from my own limited experience,
I have none to offer in favour of contagion." In the
^ This would equally apply to Malaria, which i.s transportable in this
way, as proved by Dr Macculloch.
CHOLERA MOEBUS. 183
history of its prevalence in St Petersburg, it is
certain that the anti-contagionists did increase with
the increase of the disease ; and its spread over Europe
has considerably increased their ranks, and the number
of those has much diminished who contributed at one
time to excite so much alarm among the people.
This is, perhaps, all the knowledge we have gained
upon the subject, and the evidence has been sufficient
to convince most that the disease has nothing in its
form or features, nor in its mode of propagation, which
can entitle it to rank amongst those of a positively
contagious character. Even negative evidence may
become positive in certain circumstances, and of this
the town of Odessa has furnished convincing proofs
at two separate periods since the retreat of the cholera
from Europe. It was found that the strictest military
cordons did not, in any country whatever, arrest its
progress. It stole its way through them, dodged the
sentries, — defied the point of the sword and bayonet.
It is said to have reached Sunderland by a ship which
left Hamburg before it was recognized to exist in that
city, where its appearance, some days afterwards, was
sufficient, with some logicians, to prove that it was
imported from thence. It must be recollected that
none of the crew were attacked by it on the voyage; and
here we may quote Dr Holland: — " Nor will previous
communication, though certainly concerned in part
in the transmission of the disorder, resolve these sin-
gularities." It was not human contagion that operated
in this instance. Still this distinguished physician
observes, '' ]\Ian becomes an agent in the diffusion,"
p. 577 ; and, again, in his hypothesis of insect life as
184 CHOLERA MORBUS.
a cause of tliis disease, he observes, " But also pos-
sessing the power of reproducing itself, so as to spread
the disorder by fresh creation of the virus which ori-
ginally produced it." — P. 574.
To return to the Hamburg brig which discharged
her cholera cargo at Sunderland, and might then, as
far as her crew was concerned, have got a clean bill
of health, it is still an anomaly, that she should trans-
port a disease from a town w here it did not exist when
she left the port, when so many more ships could not
effect this Avhich left infected ports. This was the
case with Elsinore, where upwards of five hundred
vessels touched, all chartered in the port of Cronstadt,
where the cholera raged furiously. We do not know
that up to the present day this town was visited by a
single case, although its vis a vis across the Sound,
the Swedish town, where no vessels touched, suffered
severely. This is one of the inexplicable frolics of
this disease.
Now, with respect to the negative evidence, which
becomes positive. The plague has twice been imported
into Odessa from Turkey within the last few years,
and several have died of it ; but by means of rigid
quarantines and cordons, and the energy which Count
Woronzoff displayed in arresting its progress, such
as hano-ing a Jew who was about to violate the laws
established, not a single death occurred without the
city ; the plague never got out of the gates.
Why should not the same observances and precau-
tions, for they were the same, have succeeded in both
cases. The cholera has never been arrested by human
means in its progress — the plague often.
CHOLEKA MORBUS. 185
AVhen the former has located itself in a country, it will
be easy enough for those so disposed to find evidence
of its human communication and propagation from
one town to another. A man may take it by railroad
from Liverpool to Manchester, at least be supposed
to do so ; but have we evidence of its first invasion in this
way wherever it has appeared ? Has any landsman,
any sailor, made his appearance in any place with the
disease upon him, and first communicated it to the
inhabitants of town or village ? It was not so pro-
pagated in Sunderland. It was not so in St Peters-
burg. Hundreds came into the latter city from
]\Ioscow, where it raged eight months previously, not a
soul was affected on the whole line of route. When
it did appear, the same anomaly was presented as in
the Hamburg ship. It was said to be brought down
by the tallow barks from the frontiers of Siberia,
though not a single baro;eman had been affected dur-
ing the long transit. The man Avho Avas said to be
first affected was not so till after his arrival in St
Petersburg. In three days every quarter of that wide
spreading city was grievously punished by the disease.
The man died in the suburbs of the town amongst the
lowest class of the inhabitants, none of whom coiild
directly, or indirectly, have communicated with the
higher orders. Many locked themselves up in their
rooms as soon as the disease was announced, and died
isolated from hvmian communication. There was no
more proof that the bargeman brought it than that he
fijund it at St Petersburg. It is the argument ad
ahaurdam to say that it should take a tortuous route
of three thousand miles to arrive there, when it was
186 CHOLERA MORBUS.
raging for seven months at Moscow, a distance of five
hundred only, and with which there were all the time
daily communications,
A fact well worthy of note is the circumstance, that
of the eleven medical men who fell a sacrifice to it in
St Petersburg, they were almost all practitioners who
had the least to do with it — men practising in private,
and not those who were attached to the great hospi-
tals, of v\^hom I do not recollect that more than one
perished ; and precisely the same observation Avas
made by one of our colleagues who practised in
Dantzic.
As regards the nature of the disease, Dr Wilson has
observed : — " Epidemic cholera is the result of an
atmospheric poison, or other vice in the blood." I had
two opportunities of seeing its attack — of recognizing
the first symptoms of its presence.
I observed a. labourer who was walking in the street
stagger, reel, put his hand to his head, and fall down.
I thought he was in liquor, and overcome by the heat
of a bm-ning sun. Upon approaching him, I found him
attacked b}^ cholera. He was removed to the nearest
hospital. I do not know his fate. A director of one
of the cholera hospitals was presiding at a committee
where I was present. In discussing some matter
Avith one of the physicians, he suddenly put his hand
to his forehead, and complained of a shooting pain
through his head, Avhich he attributed to having taken
a pinch of strong snuff.
It increased, however, in the evening. It was the
commencement of the disease, which carried him oflP on
the fifth day. In these two cases it would appear
CHOLERA MORBUS. 187
that the brain was first attacked. In some few in-
stances it hardly deserved the name of spasmodic, to
judo-e from the outward manifestation of spasm. I
have known it kill in six hours without much pain in
the muscular fibre, but here the injury done to the
nerves was more manifest. The derangement of all
those fimctions under their control, — as the loss of
animal heat, suspension of secretions, conversion of
insensible perspiration into clammy sweat, the almost
involuntary pouring out of the contents of the stomach,
all proved how much the great vital power was para-
lysed. Of the offence to the blood, there can be no
doubt, and of the reaction of this diseased fluid again
upon the nerves ; but it is questionable if the poison
first creep in through the blood. Supposing the poison
to be in the blood, the spasm and cramp are in the
muscles, and this in a ratio with the virulence of the
poison.
As regards the use of opium, it was found, as Dr
Wilson has stated, to be followed by very deleterious
effects. Low nervous fever was the result of its em-
ployment in repeated doses ; and if the disease were
tlioroughly formed, it was never arrested by the use
of this drug ; but I must add, that for those uneasy
symptoms, which threatened a commencement, a dose
of laudanum, combined with an antispasmodic, stood
me in much service in my practice. In many, probably
in most cases, there was no other disease to combat
than the effects of fear, where this antidote proved
useful. The patient, attentive to every little pain and
ache, was rendered more susceptible of the malady,
and the immediate relief afforded him by this diffusi-
188 CHOLERA MORBUS.
ble stimulus dispelled liis fears of future consequences.
John Brown, one of the brightest but most eccentric
meteors that ever illumined the medical horizon, has
observed, that no man, however disposed he might be
to commit suicide previously, Avould ever think of
doing so after a dose of laudanimd, at least while under
its intoxicatino; influence He ranked it araono-st the
most powerful stimulants. I therefore put all who
were in the habit of consulting me, in possession of a
" sovereign remedy," in case of need, and I had no
reason to repent of so doing.
In the treatment of decided cholera, there is at
present nothing to fall back upon. The saline prac-
tice was not more successful than any of the other
modes of treatment. Two cases occurred in the town,
and two of the worst that I met with, more than a
twelvemonth after the malady had made its retreat.
The one was a government courier, an Englishman,
who was seized on the road, a day's journey from St
Petersburg. He died with all the severe symptoms
of the malady.
The other occurred six months afterwards. It was
the severest case that I ever knew recover. Here the
vomiting was the most distressing symptom. The
spasms of the diaphragm were terrific, and the efforts
to vomit seemed to tear the patient to pieces. Iced
water to drink, and ice applied all over the region
of the stomach, seemed to afford him the greatest
relief.
I am not aware of any other case occurring in the
city subsequently. I was requested by the police to
certify that these were not cases of cholera, for fear
CHOLERA MORBUS. 189
of creating alarm with the public from the re-appear-
ance of the enemy. None of the numerous attendants
upon these two cases had any cause to repent of their
charitable exertions ; but the fear of contagion had
been pretty well rooted out of the public mind before
this period. JNIy friend and colleague, Dr Markus,
had worked wonders in this respect. Still more con-
ducive to this end was the conduct of the Emperor,
who exposed himself at the very acme of the disease
to quell a riot, caused by the idea that poison was
mixed with the food of the people. His presence on
this occasion was more than the tower of strength in
a king's name. His manly, intrepid conduct, is worthy
of a better chronicle than mine.
Several causes conspired to aggravate the panic,
which the invasion of a mortal and hitherto unknown
disease must, under all circumstances, produce in the
minds of uneducated people. Hecker informs us that
the first appearance of many of the fatal epidemics
which have from time to time invaded Europe, has
been associated with the idea of poison, and hundreds
of innocent people have been put to death in former
times, at the instigation of constituted authorities, and
by l^ynch law, upon presumptive evidence, of exercis-
ing powers which were the prerogative of the diseases
alone in question.
In the present epidemic, it was not peculiar to
Russia that erroneous ideas possessed the people's
minds. When they saw their friends and companions
fall suddenly from a state of health into the jaws of
death, when they found them attacked at the same
time by vomiting, excruciating pains in the bowels.
190 CHOLERA MORBUS.
and watery evacuations ; when this was accompanied
by a sudden and indescribable change of countenance,
their bodies becoming of a blue leaden cast ; and all
this within the space of a few hours, such things
having never been seen before, it is not surprising
that the people were suspicious as to the cause of
these strange sights. It happened at this time, how-
ever, that the disturbances took place in Poland, and
as a mortal hatred exists between the Poles and
Russians, many of the lower orders believed that the
Polish population were wreaking their vengeance in
this way, and this opinion was not confined to the lower
orders. As few who were transported to an hospital,
survived many hours, the dread of being carried there
was extreme ; and as the police had peremptory orders
to convey all who were attacked with the complaint
immediately to these institutions, — an arrangement
which led to great abuses on the score of bribery,
some who were ill with other complaints being forced
away from their houses against their wills; others, by
means of fees, allowed to remain when they ought to
have been removed, and, above all, the injudicious
autopsies in the hospitals, — all these things combined,
worked up the wrath of the people to the highest
pitch. It Avas believed by many that the doctors
were in collusion with the police, and that they shared
the bribes, which were given by those who either were
not cholera patients, or, if so, would have given their
last piece of coin to escape the hospital. This was
proved to be the case in one' wretched instance, where
a Jew doctor did exercise such a trade, and being de-
tected in the fact, laid violent hands upon himself.
CHOLERA MORBUS. 191
A coach driving towards the hospital in the hay-
market, was stopped by the populace, owing to the
cries which proceeded from within. A man jumped
out and exclaimed that he was as well as ever he was
in his life, and that they -were taking him to the hos-
pital by force. Exasperation was now at its height,
and the populace made an attack upon the building.
They laid hold of the principal physician, pitched
him out of the window, and so maltreated him that
he died. Another physician escaped by hiding him-
self under a mattress ; and God knows what might
not have been the consequence, but for the timely
arrival of the Emperor, who, as soon as he heard of
the disturbance, mounted horse, and dashing into the
midst of an infuriate populace, addressed them in
some such terms : — " What is the meaning of this,
do you call yourselves Russians ? You are more like
. On your knees, this moment, rebellious
subjects, implore the pardon of the INIost High, and
propitiate his wrath for your ingratitude." This
operated like magic. A whole multitude of furious
men were prostrate in an instant. The lion became
the lamb.* He then consulted the best authorities
for information, and as those were times when men
dared to speak the truth, he immediately forbade all
future interference of the police, and placed the re-
sponsibility into worthier hands.
This was the termination of all disorders, and no
breath of poisoning was afterwards whispered. It
worked still farther good, for when the sovereign
* I have, since writing this, seen nearly the same statement in Fraser's
Magazine,
192 SCORBUTUS.
himself was seen to issue more purified from the fur-
nace, the fear of contagion was greatly diminished; and
as it was impossible to shrink from that which he had
braved, the higher orders were found at their posts,
visiting the sick, and encouraging the faint-hearted.
The nervous system certainly has much to do with
cholera.
SCORBUTUS.
Dr Stevens has rescued salt provisions from all
blame in the production of this disease. It is the loss
of the succulent matter in the salted provisions which
produces the evil. This view is no doubt correct, and
the experience of the Canadian fur-traders proves that
the absence of vegetable food is not sufficient to pro-
duce scurvy, for Sir George Simpson informs me
that the boatmen live for months together upon fish
and flesh, without tasting bread or vegetables, and
enjoy the best health. They are not always furnished
with salt. Of animal food they consume an enormous
quantity in the cold weather. The late Lord Selkirk,
who took a number of Highland labourers to his set-
tlements on the Red River, informed me that they ate
to the amount of seven pounds of buflfalo flesh per diem
per man. The use of flesh had previously, perhaps,
been unknown to them in the Highlands. The scurvy,
which is considered a disease of the blood, par excel-
lence, seldom manifests itself in the system till the
nervous power be greatly depressed, of which the
Russian expedition to Kiva furnished sufficient proofs,
SCORBUTUS. 193
for not a man was affected by it till he was dispirited
by retreat, when it made great havoc among the
troops. The w^ant of vegetable food is not alone suf-
ficient to produce it ; but as mixed food is evidently
conducive to the health of an omnivorous animal,
this privation may act amongst other predisposing
causes.
In the nature of all fevers, we witness the effects of
the morale both in warding off their attacks or carry-
ing the patient through. In the malignant fevers of
the West Indies, it has been observed by one of our
naval officers, that the crew^s of vessels most kindly
treated by their officers are those among which there
is the least mortality. When the men are vexed,
and harrassed, and punished, for trivial offences, they
invariably fall sick. Nothing is more conducive to
the health of a crew than keeping them in good
humour. Collingwood proved to our navy what
could be done by kindness, even consistently with
the maintenance of the strictest discipline. So ge-
nerally "^^"as this allowed in the fleet, that it was a
saying with the officers of other ships, Avhen they
had a refractory subject, We must send him to Col-
lingwood, he will be able to manage him.
It is the duty of us all, in as far as we can, to study
kindness in the management of our patients. Tiiey
often require it ; and a cheerful countenance, a good
humoured address, and a certain method of encourage-
ment, are not without their beneficial effects in the
treatment of disease. " The very look of him does
me good," has been often said of a late eminent sur-
geon by many of his patients ; and life may be in the
K
194 SCURVY.
balance between hope and fear, as inspired by the
conduct of the attending physician.
SCURVY.
There is no better description of this disease than
that given by Commodore Anson in his voyage round
the world. After mentioning the hopeless state to
which his crew was reduced by storms and tempests,
and the probability of total destruction, he proceeds to
describe the breaking out of the scurvy. Chapter X.
" However, though it frequently puts on
the form of many other diseases, and is therefore not
to be described by any exclusive and infallible crite-
rions, yet there are some symptoms which are more
general than others, and therefore occurring the
oftenest, deserve a more particular enumeration. These
common appearances are lai*ge discoloured spots, dis-
persed over the whole surface of the body, swelled
legs, putrid gums, and, above all, an extraordinary
lassitude of the whole body, es^^ecially after exercise,
however inconsiderable; and this lassitude degenerates
into a proneness to swoon on the least exertion of
strength, or even on the least motion.
" This disease is usually attended with a strange de-
jection of the spirits, and with shiverings, tremblings,
and a disposition to be seized Avith the most dreadful
terrors on the slightest accident.
" Indeed it was most remarkable in all our reite-
rated experience of this malady, that whatever dis-
couraged the people, or any time damped their hopes,
DIABETES. 195
never failed to add new vigour to the distemper, for
it usually killed those who were in the last stages of
it, and confined those to their hammocks who were
before capable of some kind of duty, so that it seemed
as if alacrity of mind and sanguine thoughts were no
contemptible preservatives from its fatal malignity."
DIABETES.
Louisa Subiron, aged fifty, of a naturally good con-
stitution, and inclined to corpulency, was subject to
frequent nervous attacks, which rendered her melan-
cholic. She consulted me respecting a disease, which
she had concealed for some time, and which the great
inconvenience to which it subjected her compelled
her at length to reveal. She complained of excessive
thirst, which she could not quench ; she drank from
ten to twelve pints daily of different kinds of cooling
beverages ; she slept ill, and whenever she awoke, her
tongue felt so dry, that she could not articulate tUl
she had moistened her mouth. The skin was dry
and rough, without the slightest moistm'c, which she
could not excite by any of the ordinary means. The
l)owels were constipated, the digestion weak, appetitq
bad, and the nervous system much shattered. She
^vas subject to vertigo, and her eye-sight failed her.
Tlie preceding winter she had suffered much from
j)ains in her loins
Upon comparing the quantity of fluid which she
drank with that which was voided, I found the latter
to be a sixth part more abundant than the former.
196 DIABETES.
She passed about fifteen pints of water daily, Avhich,
when analysed by M. Chevreul, was found to contain
a quantity of sugar. There were no longer doubts as
to the nature of her complaint. I decided upon bleed-
ing her in spite of her nervous condition, — the pains
in her loins seeming to justify it.
Twelve ounces only were taken from her arm ; but
she felt much relieved from it ; slept better than usual,
and was more gay, and felt lighter; the thirst was
diminished, but the skin was as dry as before. I put
her upon animal diet, allowing only a small portion
of bread and milk, and lime w^ater for drink. Ten
grains of Dover's powder were given at bed-time, and
she took a warm bath every evening. The urine
decreased to twelve pints, and all the symptoms dimi-
nished for several days ; but recurring again, although
with less severity, I decided upon taking away twelve
more ounces of blood. It coagulated more rapidly
than upon the former occasion, the crassamentum was
firmer, and the serum clearer. She felt immediate
relief, and expressed surprise at finding herself stronger
after bleeding. Two days subsequently, the urine Avas
diminished by a third part. It was of dark colour,
had an ammoniacal odour, but still contained much
suo-ar. As the functions of the skin were not restored
by sudorifics, or the warm bath, and as all hopes of
cure were founded upon the restoration of this func-
tion, I decided upon employing the vapour bath, and
keeping up the perspiration, Avhich I trusted to excite
by this means, by violent exercise.
She was subjected to a vapour of 45° Reaumur,
for the space of half an hour. She perspired pro-
DIABETES. 197
fusely, and changed her lineu three times during the
evening. She found herself better the following day,
but weak. She walked the distance of a mile, warmly
clad, and perspired freely. The urine was noyv re-
duced to five pints daily. As bad weather prevented
her from taking exercise m the ojjen air, and the skin
became dry again, the vapour bath was repeated.
She could not remain so long in it as on the former
occasion, owing to the profiiseness of the perspiration.
She was feeble for some days afterw^ards, and per-
spired freely without exercise. From this period all
the symptoms of her disorder gradually subsided, and
the functions returned to a healthy state. She went
into the country, where she completely recovered.
She once complained of pains in her loins, to which
succeeded a diarrhoea, upon the cessation of which
she required no more medical interference. Upon
analyzing the urine three months afterwards, no ves-
tige of sugar was found. — Abridged from Magendie's
Journal of Expenmental Physiology, Paris, Xovember
14, 1824.
In republishing this case I have had two objects in
view, viz. to prove that this affection may be much
influenced by nervous derangements, and that such
are not always to be cured by nervous medicines ;
and to state, that in this case the cure was per-
manent. I was enabled to procure every information
rcs[)ccting the patient for ten years afterwards, and I
saw her again in 1837. She never had the slightest
return of her disease ui) to this period, and died of
hydrothorax, in her sixty-third year, in Poland. It is
198 DIABETES.
true tliat I lost sight of her for the two last years of
her life. Dr Bright observes, that the most severe
instance of pleuritis which he ever witnessed was in
a case of diabetes, where the inflammatory disease
carried off the patient in two days.
FETERS. 199
PART IX.
FEVERS.
It would be a laborious task to bring into any mo-
derate compass all the different views which havQ
been maintained respecting the causes of fever; it will
suflSce at present to touch upon such doctrines as seem
to be at present reviving and threatening to produce
a change in medical opinions. Some works have
appeared during the last ten years which savour
strongly of the humoral pathology, and none more so
than that of Dr Stevens' upon the blood, which, hap-
pening to be produced at a time when the cholera was
marching througliEurope, excited general and deserved
attention ; and we think with the author, that there is
not anything derogatory to the dignity of the profes-
sion in looking back and halting in our march, or
returning again to a belief in doctrines which have
been laid aside, provided we have reason to be dissa-
tisfied with those which have been adopted in their
stead. "To arrive at truth we must lay aside all
previous prepossessions, and look calmly but closely at
the disease itself." If we meet with error and uncer-
tainty in the mazy paths of metaphysical enquiry,
there may be little assuredly to excite our astonish-
ment, but to find palpable errors handed down from
generation to generation, does seem to imply that
even common observation rcrpiires a certain time for
200 FEVEns.'
its maturity. If Ave seek for the greatest number of
such we shall find them among the long recognised
and well established facts which have stood the test
of time and experience. But let us proceed merely
into the physical world, and we shall find that such
as required but the use of two eyes for their explosion,
have been inculcated by divines, philosophers, and
poets, as undoubted truths, and received a sanction
which it would have been deemed irreverent to ques-
tion.
We mount not to the stars for illustration. AVe
trudge along the road side — our foot stumbles upon
an ant hill. It is painful to be undeceived, and yet
all the lessons of our youth, all the moral of the tale,
prove but a fable. We have sung hymns to his
praise, — we have enjoyed the wit of the littlehero, who,
in consciousness of his own thrifty and precautionary
virtues in laying up store for the future, tells the
famished and suppliant grasshopper to dance through
the winter as he sang all the summer. I believe
Ileaumur to have been the first to point out this error,
though it has long survived him. Yes, says that
most acute of all observing naturalists, " Malgre, les
belles choses qu'il ne dit a la cigalle," the ant does not
hoard up grain nor make provision for the future,
about which he is as reckless and careless as the danc-
ing chirping grasshopper.
It required no effort of genius to make a discovery
as available to the clown as the philosopher ; yet from
lack of that legitimate curiosity, which consists in the
ascertainment of facts, this error has prevailed from
time immemorial. The naturalist may have blushed
FEVERS. 201
to have been made wise only at the eleventh hour,
and the comparative anatomist have reproached him-
self for remaining in error when anatomical inspection
should have demonstrated that the mandibulary organs
argued the carnivorous nature of the insect.
The nerves were formerly considered as tubes which
conveyed a subtile fluid too fine to be recognisable by
our senses ; still the doctrine of a nervous fluid was
long prevalent, and was only abandoned as being
untenable upon demonstrative evidence ; for neither
could the naked or assisted eye discover this tubular
structure. The doctrine of vibrations replaced that of
undulations, and the nervous animal was compared to
an ^Eolian harp, the nerves being mere chords like
strings of cat-oTit.
It was not upon demonstrative evidence that the
one theory was maintained, as it has since been proved;
AVas it upon demonstrative evidence that the other was
adopted in its place ? Our demonstrative evidence,
therefore, about which so much is said is but relative
after all, nor do we sit safely or even long together
upon this stool. If demonstration placed us there it
pushes us off" again.
To reject Avhat is not demonstrable to our senses is
but poor philosophy, seeing that we are often led astray
when we trust to their guidance.
We now find that the nerves are really tubular, for
our eyes being better assisted, they can see fartlier
into things than they did before.
It nmst be remembered, however, that it was upon
microscopical evidence that we decided against the doc-
trine of a structure which we now rccoj'nise to be true
202 FEVERS.
In fact we may consider ourselves still upon our
journey ; we have been twice unable to proceed in our
route. In the first instance we were in the right path,
but the way was so obscure that we could not proceed
safely. In the second, an ignis fatuus led us astray —
took us completely out of the narrow way, which was
as usual also the straight one. Some steadier star has
conducted us once more into the old track ; whether
it Avill remain stationary and aflbrd us light enough
to carry us through, or fall meteor like, and leave us
in the dark again, is still to be seen.
We can seldom say more than this in all such in-
quiries. We have seen as far as our present means will
alloio us to see. We cannot say that /mother means shall
not be afforded us. We have a great deal of curiosity,
and still our eyes are very had.
The nerves are again recognised as tubes, and found
to contain a fluid, so that we return again to our old
schoolmaster, nor do we blush to do so ; and if other
antiquated ideas turn out to be correct, none ought to
hesitate to reinstate them in the ranks from which
they have fallen back. " If we gain by going back,
the sooner Ave return, the better it will be both for the
sake of science and the cause of humanity." — Dr
Stevens.
The original and very valuable researches of Dr
William Stevens, on the physiology and pathology of
the blood, supported as they are by experiments and
practical results, will constitute an era in the history
of medicine. The almost forgotten experiments and
observations of Boerhaave, Huxham and Haller, have
thus been incidentallv revived, and clothed with a new
FEVERS.
203
and Important interest, by the aid of modern chemistry.
A spirit of liberalism is the offspring of enlightened
science, and weighs the value of discoveries by their
intrinsic worth, from Avhatever quarter emanating —
allows for the errors of persons unversed in the tech-
nicalities of the schools, and honestly and carefully
separates valuable facts from trivial inaccuracies.
Such a spirit, while it conduces to the progress, regu-
lates the march, of truth, and preserves us from the
danger of relapsing into the solidism or humoralism of
our predecessors. With every appreciation of the
claims of Dr Stevens, it is impossible to overlook the
fact, that his views of the importance of the blood in
the economy, lay him open to the danger, if not the
charge, of exclusivism, which he so much deprecates."
— Travers's Inquiry into Constitutional Irritation,
p. 217.
" As a general rule," says Dr Stevens, " fever or
febrile diseases may be divided into two great classes.
First, into those which do not arise from any of the
aerial poisons, but depend entirely upon other causes ;
such, for example, as cold-checked perspiration, long
continued excessive heat, local inflammation, &c.
Secondly, into those which do not arise from any of
tliese causes, but are produced entirely by the intro-
duction of some deleterious poison into the system.
These two classes are totally separate and distinct
from each other."
Notwithstanding this difference, the fevers of the
first class assume, under peculiar circumstances, all the
malignity of the latter, as the typhus wards of hospitals
too frequently demonstrate.
204 FEVERS.
As regards those which are tlie result of poison to
the system, Dr Stevens observes : — " The most con-
centrated poisons never produce fever in less than
forty-eight hours — there is not one single exception
to this rule — even the poison of cholera, never less
than two days from the time it is taken into the
system." All those cases, therefore, of " deadly fevers
being kindled up in the course of a few hours, proving
that the nervous system is the first to feel the influ-
ence of the cause of fever" — all such histories are
treated by Dr Stevens as mere " romance, and as
untrue as the Fables of .Esop."— P. 232.
If this applied exclusively to the fevers of the West
Indies, our experience would not be of any avail upon
the point ; but in limiting the poison of cholera to
two days, if this be proved correct, it is fotal to the
doctrine of this disease being communicated solely by
animal contagion, for our own experience and obser-
vations can warrant the assertion, that in the city of
St Petersburg it appeared in the most wide spread
quarters of the town, Avithin twenty-four hours from
the first recorded case, by which it could not, there-
fore, either directly or indirectly have been propagated'.
" The cause of all malignant fevers is attributable to
a poison decomposing the sahne matter of the blood,,
and all consequences upon the solids produced by
diseased blood itself. The objection to nervous im-
pression as a cause of fever is this, that all impressions
ujion the nerves produce an inimediate eiFect ; thus,
v,hen light strikes the eye, the impression is imme-
diately conveyed to the brain ; whereas, these poisons
may lie dormant days, weeks, and months, before they
FEVERS. 205
pi'oduce fever, and create the cold stage which is
caused by the loss of power in the heart, poisoned by
the blood."*
This reasoning can only hold good upon the sup-
position that all the authority extant for the belief
of fever being caused by sudden influence upon the
nervous system, is to be treated as romance, and as a
fable of ^5^sop's.
'' A vitiated state of the blood producing functional
disease in all the solids, derangements in all the secre-
tions, and sudden variation of temperature, not merely
of a part, but in the whole system, is, as I believe, in
every instance the very essence of fever."
I'his is applied by Dr Stevens to fevers generally,
and not to those peculiar to the West Indies. Dr
Billing, in his Principles of ^Medicine, maintains opi-
nions diametrically opposed to those of Dr Stevens. In
idiopathic fever, the lesion of the nervous system is,
in fact, the local disease. It is, in my opinion, the
nervous system itself, which, being injured, produces
synocha or inflammatory fever, as it arises in hot
r-limatcs, and in this country in the heat of summer,
in labourers exposed to Avork under the heat of the
sun, or some times from the opposite cause of excessive
cold, combined with deprivations, excesses, depressing
passions, or other causes of injury to the nervous
system, by infection or epidemic influence, as is the
case in the synocha i'>etechiuUii."
There is some thing to us much more intelligible in
this theory, more consonant with tlie whole train of
symptoms, as they usher in the disease; more con--
* Si!e Appendix,
20G FEVERS.
sistent Avitli such as develope themselves dunng its
progress ; more explanatory of those causes which pre-
dispose to it, as of those which maybe said to be morally
prophylactic ; more certain guides to the forming
a prognosis of its issue, and more indicative of a
rational mode of treatment, than in the supposition of
the blood being the primary offending agent.
In the first place, a sudden shock to the nervous
system has produced fever instanter ; and Dr Copland,
wlio is well versed by experience in fevers of other
climates, states —
" When the infecting agent is intense, as when a
concentrated animal effluvium, or an accumulated
emanation from the bodies of the sick, is directed upon
a susceptible person, then the effect may be instiDita-
neous as eleetriciti/, as well as most intense. In some
rare cases of this kind, as in plague and in other pes-
tilential maladies, life may be destroyed in a few
hours by the morbid impression which it has been
quite incapable of opposing, and against which it has
been unable to re-act. I have seen the emanations
from typhus fever, from yellow fever, and from pesti-
lential cholera, immediately produce sickness, vomit-
ing, pain, sinking, and anxiety at the epigastrium ;
faintness, oppression at the chest, remarkably weak
pulse, headache, and general vital depression, with
pale countenance and shrunk surface, and from these
the patient has never rallied, the symptoms increasing
in severity, and others supervening, until death has
occurred in a few hours." — CoplancVs Medical Diet.,
p. 355, Part VI.
In further illustration, regarding the manner in
FEVERS. 207
^^■hich infections invade the economy, and their im-
mediate or direct effects, the same author observes, —
" That certain infectious agents impress the organic
nervous system directly and chiefly, is shown by the
suddenness of the effects, by the sensations experienced
at the time of exposure to those agents, especially to
emanations conveyed in the air, by the sense of con-
striction and oppression produced in the chest, by the
frequent and forcible efforts made to dilate or fill the
lungs, as if the impression of the infectious emanation
had impared the vital resiliency of these organs, by the
offensive odour frequently perceived at the time of
infection, by the sickness, fear, and alarm instantly
afterwards felt," &c.
We must all have had opportunities of hearing
patients say, and particularly students in fever wards,
that they knew when they took the fever, — they felt
it at the time.
It is evident, therefore, that the nervous system is
the first affected ; and in the progress of the disease,
its powers becoming less and less, the blood no longer
receiving the same stimulus from it, is affected sub-
sequently. " It is difficult to ascertain the state of
the blood at the commencement of these fevers, for
most of them preclude its abstraction. In some few
cases, where blood has been submitted to examination
in the early stages, its appearance indicates rather the
vital conditions, derived from the organic nervous
system supplying the vascular system and vital organs,
than any change in its chemical constitution."
The blood's vitality is due to the nervous fluid,
(a term which recent experiments allow us again to
208 FEVERS.
employ) ; but tliis vitality is necessary to stimulate
that very system to clue action which supplies the
means, and hence their mutual dependency. The
blood is no longer nutriment to the nervous system
when deprived of its invigorating principle ; and it
degenerates, pari passu, with the loss of nervous
energy, till it becomes a noxious decomposing mass,
as it is found congested in the organs. " The ex-
haustion in these diseases arises from, 1st, The pre-
vious excitement ; 2d, From the changes induced in
the course of this stage, especially at its acme, mani-
festly depressing the organic nervous influence, the
tenacity of the vascular system, and the action of the
heart itself"
The power of certain salts, particularly the muriate
of soda, the nitrate of potash, the tartrate of potash,
&c., as well as of the alkaline carbonates, to render
the nervous blood florid, and to effect its fluidity and
coagulating powers, was long since demonstrated by
Verhugen. — (VoL ii. p. 29.)
It is upon the decrease of saline matter in the blood
that Dr Stevens founded his practice of administering
the alkalies in the treatment of these fevers. " The
fact, however, upon which it is based, has not received
that confii-mation for which there have been time and
opportunity." " The characteristic phenomena of the
last stage, the hemorrhages and discoloured blotches,
are manifestly owing as much to the exhaustion of
organic nervous influence, and of irritability, as to the
attendant changes in the blood." These changes are
attributed by Dr Stevens to the loss of saline matter,
and " the basis of the pathology and treatment is the
FEVERS. 209"
relation subsisting between the colour of the blood
and the saline matter contained in it." But granting
that the colour of the blood is changed to its healthy
state by these salts, it does not follow that they shall
be absorbed into the circulation during the advanced
stages of this fever, or that they shall have the effect
of rallying the exhausted powers of life. As to both
these circumstances, the sanguine expectations of Dr
Stevens require confirmation."
" The curability of any given case is in a great
degree determined by the amount of their primary
actions on the brain. It matters not in a practical
point of view, whether the brain and other vital
organs are primarily or secondarily affected ; that is,
whether contagion acts immediately on the nervous
system, or mediately through some preliminary con-
tamination of our fluids, the result is the same." — Sir
.1. Chrichton, p. 120.
A convincing proof that the blood is not the first
offended in fevers is the condition of the blood itself;
for if it be di'awn in the onset of many fevers, it is not
so much altered as to manifest any change commen-
surate with the effects already produced. It is always
in precise ratio with the deterioration of the nervous
energy that the blood developes its morbid state.
" The occasions on which the blood seems to be more
inxmediiitely contaminated by infectious agents, are,
first, when a specific virus or morbid secretion is in-
serted into a wound, or beneath the cuticle ; and,
secondly, ^vhcn putrid or septic matters are similarly
applied. The period which elapses between the ino-
culation of a specific virus and the development of
210 FEVEns.
the constitutional affection, however, by no means
shows that the immediate operation is upon the blood,
and that this period is required for the production
of morbid changes in it. That the organic nervous
system is the chief channel by which the first change
induced in the part is communicated to the whole
body, is shown by the circumstance of the constitu-
tional effect being frequently as great Avhilst the local
change is slight, as afterwards when it has become
fully deYe\oi^e(\r— Copland, p. 357, Part V.
From local injury to nerves, as in cases of amputa-
tion, fever is sometimes set up, and assumes a typhoid
form. How it progresses in local inflammation is well
expressed by Mr Travers.
" The setting up of fever is gradual. It is not esta-
blished under many hours more than local inflamma-
tion ; so is the alteration in the properties of the blood
which induces it, so are the changes to which it gives
rise. Whether the first morbid impression and action
be upon the nervous system, transmitted by the nerves
of the part injured, or inflamed to the nervous centre,
and thence to the organs of circulation, is a moot
question. To my mind, the pathognomic signs, as
well as the facts of physiology, are in favour of this
opinion. The premonitory symptoms, viz. headache,
lassitude, disquietude, nausea, chilliness, and rigour,
are indications of the more or less troubled condition
of the nervous centres ; to these the alteration in the
measure and force of the circulation, the permanent
and sensible changes upon the internal and external
surfices and their secretions, succeed, viz. quick pulse,
hot skin, dryness of mouth and fauces-furred tongue.
FEVERS. 211
vitiated and scanty excretions, &c. Of the cliangcs
that ensue in the parts which are the seat of inflam-
mation, we sliall speak in another place ; but that the
action of fluid and sohd is reciprocal in the production
of inflammation and fever, as it is in the functions
of health, and that it is inconsistent with all we see
and know of the animal functions ; to imagine the
possibility of either being exclusively in fault, is a
})roposition which scarcely needs to be exemplified.'' —
Travers on Inflammation and the Healing Process, p. G2.
The poison of malaria may remain sometime in the
system before it manifests its effects. It may be in
the blood, A^hich is doubtful ; but when it passes from
a latent to a free state, its first offence is to the nerves.
These fevers are styled by the Germans masked inter-
mittents ; and as they prevail, wdiich they do very
much, in Vienna, the German practitioners are very
cautious about bleeding in the first stages of synochus,
lest the mistake shoidd prove fatal, and the fever
unmask itself I had a very marked case of this kind
in St Petersburg.
A gentleman whom I had often seen and attended,
arrived as courier from some of the swampy districts
of Turkey. He sent for me in the evening, and, ob-
serving him to be in a very nervous state, and much
agitated, which, however, I attributed to a very forced
march, I ordered him a warm bath, and a sedative.
The following day he was somewhat calmer, but there
was an indescriljable something in his manner, Avhich
I coidd not understand, lie said he thought his liver
was out of order, and felt his side, and walked very
(piickly up and down the room. I prescribed some
212 FEVERS.
colocynth and calomel, and left him for the night. I
was sent for early in the morning by the people of the
house, who informed me that the gentleman was out
of his mind. I found him in the state they described,
and had leeches freely applied to his temples. The
whole of this day and the following he remained mvich
in the same state, more quiet, but talking incessantly
about his family and his affairs. He took a large dose
of morphine in the evening, and the following day he
was more composed. About eleven o'clock a.m. I
was sent for to him, as he was supposed to be dying.
I found him as black in the face, and as cold to the
touch, as in the last stage of cholera. His teeth chat-
tered in his head, and the very bedstead shook under
him. I immediately recognized his malady, gave him
a tumbler of hot brandy and water, and ordered him
ten grains of quinine every four hours. He rallied,
and at night took a grain and a half of morphine. The
next day another fit, about the same time, but less
violent, attacked him. I plied him freely with bark,
wine, and opium, and in a week he was convalescent.
I have had the pleasure of seeing him since I returned
to England, and he tells me he has enjoyed excellent
health since. Now, I have little doubt, but that he
brought this malaria with him from Brailoff.
It must be remtjmbered that Dr Stevens maintains
that poison in the blood is the cause oi all fevers. It
is not to those of the West Indies that he confines
himself. Now, we cannot recognize it in those we
have seen in this country, not in the one which at-
tacked us so severely in the fever hospital of Edin-
burgh, when we dreamed for nights and days that we
FEVERS. 213
were rowing in a boat ; and when, during convales-
cence, neither country air, nor exercise carried to
fatigue, would allow us to close our eyelids for weeks.
We Avere in a state of nervous tremour all this time
not to be described, but of which the recollection will
never pass away. During our Russian medical cam-
paign, in the fevers which we treated, in which, for
the most part, cold and the abuse of spirituous liquors
were the exciting causes, we found no reason to
abandon old ideas upon the subject, and we can
subscribe to the assertion of Dr Billing.
From the very nature of fever, Avhich I have de-
scribed to be a disease essentially affecting the nervous
system, it follows, that the functions of the viscera
must be disturbed ; and though, as just pointed out,
sometimes disease of one organ predominates, some-
times of another, yet every organ suffers more or less
congestion in every fever from the loss of nervous
influence
The phenomena of idiopathic fever show that the
nervous system is first implicated, dcbihtated by a mor-
bid poison from the first ; and Dr Billing asks tlie ques-
tion, "But how is it to be known when the fever was
gone?" which he answers, " By referring to its essence
the loss of function of the nervous system. The fever
is gone where the nervous system begins to regene-
rate nervous influence, — when the intellect becomes
clear and volition free, however weak, .... for
subsultus may still remain, and other marks of great
debility, and there may be debility of brain, amounting
to childishness, but delirium is gone, and the eye
ioUuws objects. Patients themselves can often refer
214 FEVERS.
to the exact time of tlic fever passing off." — Billing's
Frinciples of Medicine, pp. 179-18G.
IMost have had opportunities of sympathizing with
patients under this latter circumstance, — the very look
is sufficient, on approaching the bed-side, to convince
us that the fever is gone. There is often a beautiful
expression of the eye, — a tear steals into it. We
would almost judge from the look that it is one of
gratitude to a supreme power.
I was once much struck with this when attending
some invalids during the siege of Varna, Avho had
come to Odessa, where I was staying. A Russian
general, who had been ill for about a fortnight with
continued fever of no very severe kind, exclaimed, as
I opened his bed-room door in the morning. Doctor,
my fever is gone, it went away in the night, and I
went to sleep. He was convalescent from this time.
We cannot altogether pass over the influence of
moral causes in producing and aggravating fever on the
one hand, and rendering the system insusceptible of it,
and can-ying the patient through, on the other.
Mrs Quickly, in alluding to Falstaff's fever,* for it
was one of which he died, — he was " shaked by a
burning quotidian tertian" traces its origin to this
cause, —
" The king has killed his heart."
Here was the fatal blow, — the sorrow that worketh
unto death, — wearing the system out by slow poison
to the nerves, and degenerating into fever. The gra-
* In this view Falstaff is not an imaginary being. The man living
upon the smiles, anrl pining away upon the frowns, of court, is a sad
but not single reality, and, as such, worthy of pathological inquiry.
FEVERS. 215
dual loss of the nervous power is traced >vith graphic
accuracy. AVe find it failing physically. His friend
Bardolph's nose, studded with carbuncles, misled his
failing visual j^OAvers into the belief, that a flea was
sticking upon it. Then the mental powers failing
him, he (the ruling passion still strong in death) talks
of sack, but " After I saw hira fumble with the sheets,
and play with the flowers, and smile upon his fingers'
ends, I knew there was but one way with him ; for
his nose Avas as sharp as a pen, and he babbled of
green fields."
The occurrence of fever in a sporadic form leaves
room for conjecture, as the term predisposition offers
matter of controversy, for we cannot tell a priori that
predisposition exists ; and not until the disease has
manifested itself do we conclude, at least in many
cases, that it did. In passing a regiment in review
previous to marching it over the Pontine Marshes, we
should not be able to pick out the men who would be
attacked by malaria, presuming all to be in good health
at the time,forone disease invites to another, and Avhat-
ever renders the nerves weak renders them susceptible
of impression ; yet, as soon as the man falls down, we
say he was predisposed, though Ave Avere unable to
say so before hand, and, if Ave had passed judgment in
the case, might have erred as to the individual. It is
a facon dc parler, and is often an instance of the sub-
stitution of Avords for ideas.
In adopting the views of those Avho place the first
stroke of fever in the nerves, it is much more easy to
understand the terra predisposition and its conse-
quences ; for, in this vicAV of things Ave have a chain of
216 FEVERS.
moral causes continually operating, -svhich act upon
these organs. We have seen that moral emotions
change the healthy states of the secretions throughout
the system, for which the integrity of the nervous
influence is requisite. A stronger dose of this moral
poison prostrates the man and engenders fever ; now,
whether it be possible for a man to fret himself into a
fever is a question which many will perhaps dispute,
but there is no cause or impediment against such an
occurrence. Moral causes continually acting upon the
nerves deprive them of their energy, and the blood and
secretions by degrees feel this deterioration, become
more and more unfit for the purposes to which they
are destined, and losing their vital properties cease to
impart them; hence they become offending agents, and
may be themselves the causes of fever. There is phy-
siological as well as moral truth in those lines of Byron,
alludino- to blighted ambition and reverses of fortune.
It has been the lot of many, as of our fat knight, to be
" The sword laid by
That eats into itself and rusts ingloriously.""
''^ This fever at the core" does prey and prey upon the
system till all healthy action ceases, and morbid con-
ditions arise which finally threaten feverish exhaustion.
We may suppose Falstaffareal character, and find no
better illustration of these views than in his whole
history.
Broken hearted, disappointed, removed from the
scenes of all his former joys, hopeless of their return,
finding him upon whom he had rested the broken
FEVERS. 217
reed, deserted by tlie man whose frown was noAv
death, as his smile had been life, to him, banished
even from his atmosphere, rusticated upon a pension
granted him Avith the galling moral that he might
have wherewith to live and not be tempted to do
ill, he was left to himself to brood over his mis-
fortunes, to recognize his impotency, to find no sym-
pathy, to be pointed at and held up to shame, to
he trodden under foot. He was as morally dead
as Yorick was physically. He had no courage left,
no moral energy, and then his physical nervous
powers Avould fail him by degrees. The sack would
no longer rouse his spirits though it might drown
his cares for the moment. His heart was killed.
Here, then, we might presuppose predisposition, and
what more likelj than to find his death in an aguish
fever.*
Of all predisposing causes, in the general acceptation
of this term, Avhatcver depresses the nervous energy
is by aU considered as the most important, whether
from the physical effects of heat and cold, fatigue,
hunger, or the moral effects of anxiety.
Of all the prophylactics none is equal to moral
energy and moral courage. Of this the plague affords
us the most striking examples. Nowhere are the fatal
* Af^ues often arise from cold damp air, and now and then from a
cold east wind alone, and often from great and sudden distress of mind
alone, of wliieli / fiuve seen iico aises, and more are mentioned in the
annals of medicine. — Sir A. Cliricldon, p. 126.
In a patient lahouring under severe symptoms of incipient fever,
showing itni'lf in extreme lieat of the skin, of the head and neck, a very
quick and full pulse, and a violent headache, 1 have seen all the symp-
toms nearly removed in a few seeon<ls by the moral operation of fear. —
Parry' i Elcm/'ida,
L
218 FEVERS.
eflects of fear better or more beautifully recorded than
in the plague of Athens by Lucretius : —
" lUud in his rebus miserandum magnopere un um
^■Erumnabile erat, quod, ubi se quisque videbat
Implicitum morbo, morti damnatus ut esset,
Deficiens animo mocsto cum corde jacebat
Funera respectans, animam inmittebat ibidem."
The plague of Marseilles furnishes us with an in-
stance of individual heroism, Avhich contrasts well
with the above. So dreadful was the mortality, that
the dead were left to bury their dead. No one was
found with courage enough to drag away the corpses,
till an opulent citizen boldly sallied out, laid hold of
the bodies with his own hands, and by his example
inspired courage into the souls of the most timid, who
rallied round his standard, and cleared the ground of
the putrid carcasses ; nor is it recorded, that any one
thus inspired was infected by the disease.
It is difficult to understand, by any other rationale
than a certain degree of courage or confidence in the
individuals, the dogma that exposure to disease renders
the exposed less susceptible of its influence. This ia
decidedly a sophism. If the same susceptibility exist
the frequent intercourse with the diseased can only
increase the danger ; but the fact is, that fear being
conquered by the first escape, the susceptibility of
impression is diminished. Physicians and nurses do
fall victims to infectious diseases, but not in any ratio
with the amovmt of their exposure ; and although the
average of medical life is very low in the scale, still it
is high in consideration of the degree of exposure, if
there were not a controlling power which diminishes
impression ; we find it in the moral acting upon the
FEVERS. 219
nervous. Thus the dread of evil is sometimes greater
than the evil itself. Of this the cholera afforded us
a good illustration. AVhen it was raging at jSIoscow,
we of the faculty greeted each other in the streets of
St Petersburg with very lengthened faces ; but as
soon as it came among us, and we plunged in medias
res, there was no fear apparent. The stimulus of
exei'tion to vie with each other in finding some reme-
dial means, became a buckler to ourselves.
The fever in Edinburgh in 1818, to which I have
alluded, afforded a very striking evidence of the effects
of moral depression upon one individual, who was
superintendent of the Queensberry House Fever
Hospital. He was the most active man in the insti-
tution, and escaped the fever, when all the medical
inmates, myself among others, had ])assed through
the ordeal. Pie seemed proof against its influence.
But he wrote a book upon the subject, — a large volume,
and embarked all his little means in the speculation.
It turned out unfortunately for him, and preyed upon
his mind. He took the fever when the wards were
almost cleared of it, and, though he struggled through
it, he died of its consequences.
I thinkthatsuchinformationas the following has sad-
dened the heart of many, upon inquiry after old acquain-
tances : — " He got wrong in his affairs, was harassed
by domestic misfortunes, got into a low nervous state,
caught cold,which terminated in fever, of which he died."
Sporadic fever generally singles out the nervous
and iri'itablc. The following case, which was one of
great interest throughout its whole course, occurred
to me in St Petersburjj : —
220 FEVERS.
A gentleman of very nervous temperament, and for
some time previous in a state of irritability from a
variety of depressing causes, having but a few months
pi'eviously suffered very severely from spasmodic
cholic, and whose digestive organs were seldom in
good order, awoke in the morning with sense of Aveight
in his head, and a general feeling of languor and debi-
lity. He was determined to make an effort to shake it
off; and after an early dinner, set out to take a long
walk. Upon his return he felt his headache much
increased, he was cold and chilly, and went to bed. I
saw him the same evening, and prescribed an emetic.
It did its duty, but did not relieve him ; he passed a
restless night, and the following morning I found him
feverish ; his tongue foul, and pulse quick, but rather
feeble. I prescribed a brisk dose of calomel and colo-
cynth, and gave him salines, with nitrate of potash and
antimony. The bowels were opened, but there was
no marked relief; and when I saw him in the evening
he complained of intolerable pains in his loins, causing
him to groan. His morale was already much depressed,
and he augured ill of himself. Twenty leeches were
applied to the lumbar regions, and a considerable
quantity of blood was lost. He had some sleep during
the niglit, and in the morning the muscular pain Avas
much reheved. Saline purgatives were continued;
the urine was scanty but limpid ; the skin and pulse
not changed. The body Avas sponged Avith vinegar
and Avater, and some leeches applied to the temples ;
the headache Avas only severe upon moving it from
the pillow. On the fifth day he bcca-ne incohe-
rent, and slightly comatose, with some twitching in
FEVERS. 221
the muscles of the hands, as he was drowsy and
unable to lift up the eyelids. The heat of the skin
was increased, the pulse quick but feeble ; the bowels
had been freely evacuated. I requested farther
assistance ; and Sir AYilliam Chrichton met me on
the sixth day, when small petechias appeared all over
the surface. The delirium was on the increase. We
prescribed a warm bath, with ice on the head during
the immersion of the body. This was accomplished
without producing any decided effect. A mixture of
equal parts of infusion of valerian, and camphor mixture,
Vvith spt. of mirdererus, was given every three hours ;
tlie sponging of the body was continued, and no change
Avas made in the practice, nor did any occur in the
state of the patient for two or three days. He seemed
always dosing, and was quite deaf; still he could be
roused to take his medicine, and he motioned for the
lu-inal and bed-pan. The petechia? increased in size.
Upon the tenth day we commenced by giving him
fhamjjagne every two hours, and he took a bottle In
the twenty-four. Tlie nervous symptoms rapidly
increasing, fine old sherry A\as poured down the throat,
and this alternated with bark and ammonia. Upon
the fourteenth morning, I observed for the first time
a slight cloud In the urine ; towards evening the lower
jaw fell, and his mouth was thrown into continual
contortions ; there was great subsultm tendinum.
Musk was forced down the throat with some difficulty,
'i'lie animal heat still kept up. Sinapisms were applied
to the calves of the legs. I lis friends left him In the
suppfjsition tliat he was In the agony of death. I had
observed in the morning that he had made a rotatory
222 FEVERS.
motion with one hand round his head. The respiration
became more laboured as the night advanced, and all
the symptoms aggravated. Towards four o'clock in
the morning of the fifteenth day, the nurse came to
me as I was lying upon the sofa in an adjoining room,
and told me that, in some effort which she had made
to move him, he had suddenly opened his eyes and
spoken. Upon going to him, I found perspiration on
liis brow, the respiration was more calm, the motion
of the jaw had ceased, but there was much twitching
of the buccinator muscles. He was asleep. I remained
with him for some time, when he again opened his
eyes ; he recognized me, called me by my name, and
asked me where he was. I gave him some more wine,
and he again slept. He woke into convalescence.
He recollected nothing that had passed for the last
ten days. His cure was slow, being protracted by
large sphacelus of the back and nates.
The impression of my colleague and myself was,
that if we had bled him from tlie arm, he would not
have recovered.
There was no fever in the town at the time. Whe-
ther it be considered that the brain or ganglionic
systems were offended, the case must be referred in
its accession and in all its course, to lesion of the ner-
vous system.
"In the symptoms which usher in fever, the languor,
lassitude, decreased muscular power, in the moral effects
Avhich predispose to it or resist its attack, in the train
of symptoms which develope themselves in its pro-
crress, in those Avhich precede its termination, when
this is fatal, or in those cases where we see it sua-
FEVERS. 223
deuly disappear or gradually dissolve away, we seem
to recognize its nervous character."
As soon as the brain is enervated to a certain
degree, by the action of contagion, or of any of the
common causes of typhus fever, the heart, stomach,
liver, and all the organs of secretion and excretion, are
also disordered, though at first in a slight degree in
general, when compared with what takes place in the
course of the disorder.
These affections of the heart and other viscera,
do not follow each other like a series of causes
and consequences, as is the case in the subsequent
stages of fevei*, they are at first simultaneous phe-
nomena, showing their dependence on one common
cause.
Upon this view of the subject, Sir Alexander founds
his plan of treatment : — " Keeping in remembrance
the facts previously enumerated, that the chief action
of the common causes of typhus fevers, is on the brain
and nervous system ; and knowing by experience,
tiiat we do not possess a remedy by which we can
restore its lost energy, except through the medium of
the heart's action and the functions of the digestive
organs, we ought to direct our chief attention to them
in the first instance." *
In the effects of lightning we find the blood killed
by the shock, yet this is through the nerves, and the
same efi'ects may be produced in the same way from
the injection of poisons. Still the death is never so
immediate when tliis means is employed — there is
time for the transmission of the poison through the
* Commentaries, Sir A. Chrichton, pp. 1U5, 123.
224 r'EVERS.
whole nervous system, whereas the immediate death
of the blood must cause instantaneous cessation of the
heart's action. Sir Alexander Chrichton has, in his
late work upon fevers, fully maintained the doctrines
of nervous influence, and his long and successful career
entitle his opinions to full consideration. There is great
truth, that sporadic cases of fever are quite as severe as
those traceable to infection — and these may be pro-
duced by causes which admit of no primary poison.
" To attempt an explanation of the nature of nervous
energy, or to conjecture how it is formed, accumu-
lated, or renewed, by living medullary matter, is
perfectly idle in the present state of our information ;
but so much we know by observation and experience,
that it is a motor force to other livins; organs of the
body, and that the functions of such organs depend on
its regular supply ; that they are active and healthy,
when it is abundantly and freely supplied to them,
that they are weak when it is scantily distributed,
that they are interrupted, when it is interrupted;
and, finally, that they terminate when it ceases to be
formed or distributed."
It is not to be denied that the fluids and the blood
are implicated in the progress of fevers ; and Dr
Stevens has called the attention of the profession to
the morbid state of the blood, to which he directs
his treatment. The solids do not enjoy the preroga-
tives of vitality alone, nor are they alone oflfended in
disease — for as Miiller has observed, these solids
contain a great portion of fluid in their composition,
viz. four-fifths. AVe cannot suppose that vitality is im-
parted to the solid at the moment of its separation, or
FEVERS. 225
in its transition from the one state to the other, as
John Hunter has long since made evident.
From what we know, however, of the nervous
system, seeing as we do, that the slightest local lesion
will be followed by constitutional fever, and as we
find that direct application of poison to a nerve, is
productive of more decided action than w^hen the same
is introduced into the blood, except when this carries
it to all the system at once by means of the circula-
tion ; and finally, when it is proved that a muscle
whose nerve is divided, does not participate in the
spasm of its colleagues, when this mode of operating
is adopted, sufl&cient evidence seems to be afi^brded,
that all the effects produced upon the blood result
from primary injury to the nervous system.
It is not evident that the blood is killed by the in-
jection of poisons, till it has carried these into the
nuiscular and nervous tissues, when the latter may
be so injured that the blood shall participate in the
injury.
22 G ]^IALAKIA.
PART X.
ill Health — Nervous Coughs — Blood to Head — Ague — Molda-
vian Fever — Local Diseases of Nerves — Sciatica — Iritis —
Knee — Earache — Affection of Jaw.
MALARIA.
The late Dr Macculloch has considered this poison to
be a more prolific source of disease than most of his
contemporaries are willing to admit ; but that much
more is attributable to it than meets with general belief^
is, I think, demonstrable. I have seen malarious dis-
ease in its most severe forms, and in its milder ; but,
as far as treatment is concerned, in its more obsti-
nate character, baffling the skill of medical interfe-
rence, and yielding to nothing but migration from it?
locality.
The first steam-boat which leaves the Neva upon
the breaking up of the ice, affords an annual proof to
the faculty of St Petersburg, that a great number of
patients who have defied their skill for months, will
shake off their diseases in the voyage, and most of
them will not require any more medical assistance as
soon as they ha-^e put foot on another soil.
Situated in a bog, surrounded by march and peaty
i^IALARIA. 227
formations on every side, the city of St Petersburg
rises a monument of the triumph of art over nature.
It was as great a feat for Peter the Great to erect his
capital iu such a situation, as for the Roman emperor
to conquer the sea by his bridges. It was determined
by the savants in Paris, when they discussed the
causes of the black death, that if the disease had oc-
curred in Sardinia, not a soul woukl have been left
alive, so much did they attribute to local influence in
the creation of that epidemic ; and were it not for the
hard frosts in winter, malaria would probably destroy
the population of St Petersburg.
Whether the cause of intermittents be attributed
to a specific poison, or may arise from other circum-
stances, it will be referred by most to a baneful
impression upon the nervous system. If there be
any disease, both from its mode of attack, and through
its whole course, especially as regards its treatment,
and the innumerable means which have succeeded
ill curing it, that can be denominated nervous, this
is the one par excellence. Previous to coming to
this point, it will be permitted to make some ge-
neral observ^ations on a state of ill health and local
affections which circumstances of situation allowed me
to witness, and which I refer, with Dr INIacculloch, to
the pernicious influence of malaria. The protean form
which diseases arising from this cause assume, was then
made known to me practically; but it was, unfortu-
nately, a knowledge of the causes upon which they
dei)cnded, rather than of any successful mode of treat-
ing them. Of some of these I shall noAv speak. To
many, i^robably, I have nothing new to oft'or. I detail
228 MALARIA.
merely the experience of fifteen years' practice in
difterent parts of the llussian empire. It will be for
others to determine whether it pi^esents anything so
novel as to be worthy of special record.
" The disorder may be found, and not unfrequentlyy
Avith scarcely any marked symptom, except mere
muscular Aveakness, — a debility on any attempt at
exertion which seems unaccountable, inasmuch as it
occurs in persons even in youth, and apparently strong,
and is not very obviously accompanied by any proper
febrile symptoms. At times not even the appetite
seems affected ; and here, almost necessarily, the result
is to suspect the state of the patient's mind, or his
moral dispositions, rather than his health, to suppose,
for example, that a soldier is shamming, that an opu-
lent female is indolent or aftected, or a studious or
professional man hypochondriacal."
This is the character of the slow fever, the fever on
the nerves, which lasts for years, with certain inter-
missions, but never allows the patient to enjoy good
health. It has occurred to me after having in vain
essayed to relieve this state, to find that the patient
has suddenly been seized with an ague fit, and the
character of the fever has thus become developed.
There is an observation, also, which applies to these
cases, and to others of the same family, and especially
nervous spasmodic coughs, which I remember to have
seen confirmed by Dr Holland, viz. that the disorder
wears away as the day wears on, and in such cases (the
sequela of influenza), where there was even pain in the
chest ; but where the pulse permitted it, Dr II. told
me he prescribed quinine with the best eftect. Dr
MALARIA. 229
Maccullocli observes, tluit midnight is the nervous
patient's holiday.
Although it is generally admitted that no patient
Avith real organic disease feels better at night, the
reverse being almost always the case, yet this general
nervous derangement is an exception to this rule.
The Germans insist, that in a state of health, there is
always at midnight a revolution in the system, pro-
ductive of a degree of nervous excitement.
It is decidedly true, as regards these complaints,
and hence the little compassion which nervous people
meet with, and the construction put upon their com-
plaints, as whims, vagaries, nervousness, being syno-
nymous terms with many, because these people are
found to enjoy society, to be brisk in the soiree, to
I»lay their rubber, or enjoy the opera. How can they
who seemed so well-last night be credited when they
are found groaning under a load of nervous oppression
in the morning ? This state, which permits still of alle-
viation from social means, might otherwise become more
aggravated, and other symptoms arise, which might
lead to the conclusion that caprice was bordering upon
insanity. " Whatever be the causes," says Dr Maccul-
loch, " it is a fact well worth recording or recollecting,
that some of the most remarkable suicides have been
committed on rising in the morning and in a certain
paroxysm of fever, which many persons who ha\e
fc'lt and checked that inclination, have described as
attended with confusion of thought, thirst, tremor
(>[' the hands, and other unequivocal symptoms of
fever."'
If it be asked how far autopsy assists us in the recog-
230 MALABIA.
nition of these diseases of the nerves, Vve must answer
that our means of detecting alterations in structure
are not sufficient in our present state of knowledge to
permit us to recognize any physical alteration. The
severest and long protracted torture of a facial nerve
shall leave no signs of physical affection.
Dr Wilson has brought forward several most in-
teresting cases of fatal apoplexy arising from renal
disease, where there was " no lesion of the brain, and
no effusion on its surfaces or into its ventricular cavities.
The fits and all other symptoms in this case terminat-
ing by death were, in my opinion, consequent on dis-
organization of the kidney, urine was not secreted,
the blood was not elaborated, and so by circulation
not life but principles ftital to it were in the end con-
veyed to the brain as to every structure of the body."
— Wilson on Spasm, &c.
If, therefore, such infliction of injury to the brain
shall be sufficient to annihilate its functions, and leave
no trace of its modus ojyeraudi, what are we to expect
from the examination of the nervous organs under
other circumstances.
In many eases we may ask what do we gain fiom
an examination of the blood. Do the circumstances
of its possessing more or less serum, forming a more
loose or solid coagulura, possessing a buffy coat, fully
explain to us all we look for to account for effects.
IIow often are we not deceived in our expectations ;
and if Ave are not disappointed in appearances, we are
doubly so in the effects we had anticipated ; all the
symptoms of inflammation shall be manifest, and yet
the disease shall not be conquered ; whik-t on the other
MALARIA. 231
hand, a bleeding shall prove of the most infinite ser-
vice, and the blood shall exhibit nothing abnormal.
Dr Itichter relates that a consultation of physicians
decided upon bleeding the Empress, consort of Peter
the Great, who was supposed to have some internal
inflammation, but upon examination of the fluid, to
their astonishment it presented the characters of de-
bility of the system.
It is not upon such tests that we can always hope
to find our views confirmed. Why is the blood of a
pregnant woman always buflfy ? Why is this appear-
ance influenced by the rapidity with which it is made
to flow — the size of the orifice — the direction into the
centre or sides of the vessel.
These disorders are the inheritance chiefly of the
opulent, and of such as have no active employments,
or who have to live or die upon the smiles of court.
These are the circumstances which allow disease to
take root, and throw out branches of the most eccentric
kind. I have stated in an Essay on Thermal Comfort,
that no people are less tormented with cough than the
inhabitants of Petersburg during the winter season;
but spasmodic obstinate coughs in the spring, which
wear the patients out with long paroxysms, and the
l)erspiration which the muscular eftbrts cause, are not
infrequent. These coughs were formerly mistaken
for phthisis, and those wlio went away to die got fiit
upon their journey ; but the economy of these coughs,
if one may be allowed such an expression, and their
resistance to every species of medical treatment, lead
me to refer them to the ranks of malaria. They are
moot capricious in their attacks, sometimes leavinff
232 MALAEIA.
the patient for forty-eight hours, and he congratulates
himself upon their departure, when a sudden convul-
sive fit, simulating pertussis, convinces him of his great
mistake. This will torment him incessantly for a
whole day and night, when another respite will in-
crease his hopes, or sometimes the cough will seem to
subside gradually for some days, and then begin de
novo. I have twice been attacked in this way myself,
and twice has it endured for three months successively,
nor yielded to anything but change of air. In both
attacks, however, there was a sudden departure of the
cough preceded by local pain. In the first instance, after
coughing most violently and being almost exhausted
by paroxysm, I ate a plateful of raspberries, and drove
out into the country. I had not been absent from
home above half an hour when I was seized with
violent spasms of the stomach, and was obliged to
return. I was bent double almost with the pain. I
took, upon going into the house, a basin of hot tea. It
Avas scalding hot, and as soon almost as I had swallowed
it my spasms ceased, and ^vith them the cough entirely
left me. It had lasted three months. On another
occasion, after precisely the same history, I was at-
tacked by a sudden pain in the coccyx, a^ hicli lasted
thirty hours, and consisted of continual shocks, as if
from electricity, and so severe as to make me start
from my seat. When this subsided, my long har-
rassing cough also quitted me. In two other attacks
I got well as soon as I k^ft the country. Now^, there is
something in this so similar to neuralgic affections
proceeding from the influence of malaria, that I must
attribute it to this cause. From the nervous state
MALARIA. 233
which these coughs produce in delicate females, from
the perspiration attending them, from the fever occur-
ring of an evening, construed into hectic, and from the
Avasting of the body, when these symptoms have been
})ut together without being duly analyzed, such cases
have been referred to the class of phthisis. As far as I
have had opportunities of seeing such, I have generally
found that there has been some decided local aifection,
either toothache, pain in the cheek, rheumatism of the
jaw, or eyebrow ague. These cases get well as soon
as the patients leave the Gulf of Finland ; nor are
moral effects to be lost sight of in the cure of these
diseases, and in throwing light upon their nature.
The })romise — the faith in the cure which change of
air and scene is to effect Avhen the time of migration
arri\cs, arc fulfilled at the time.
There are few females in St Petersburg who are not
subject to nervous headaches. These are, I think, attri-
butable in a great measure to the heat of the rooms and
the close air of the apartments, which are useful only
as preventatives of phthisis, but are far from conducive
to strong health; these affections of the head are
accompanied by varieties of uneasy feelings, loss of
appetite, sleeplessness, vertigo, and more or less of
fever. They are not relieved by country air nor the
admission of free air into the houses, nor by the re-
moval of the double windows at this season, because
with the circumstances that permit of these opera-
tions, others arise. The emanations from the decayed
vegetable matter which were kept under by a coat of
snow and hard frost are now let loose, and it is in the
s|)ring season that all these affections are most aggra.-
234 MALARIA.
vated. This is the season of the greatest moi'tality ;
and the breaking up of the ice, and its departure from
the Neva, are most dreaded by those who have long
been ilL II s'en ira avec le debacle, is a phrase in the
mouths of all the Mrs Qaicklys in St Petersburg. It is
the turning of the tide with them. To those, however,
who are able to get away, it is the speedy return to
pristine health. Those who are robust by nature brave
this climate with impunity; those whose lives are active,
and employments sufficient to occupy their time, enjoy
the best of health ; but, to the ailing and nervous, it is
a species of martyrdom. Hypochondriacs abound, and
I have known such quit the country for fear of worse
consequences in a mental sense, and return again in a
fev/ months to laugh at their own folly.
Dr Macculloch ascribes this state of ill health, and
all these symptoms, to which others might also be
added, to that poison of malaria, which generates
obscure and chronic remittent. Whether a long resi-
dence in St Petersburg would lead most to adopt his
theory as to the cause, I know not, but I am sure that
he would have been strengthened in his vicAVS, by what
he would have himself witnessed.
A young lady of very full habit, was suddenly
attacked with violent pain in the head, which threat-
ened of apoplexy. She lived at some distance from
town, and some hours elapsed before I saw her ; when
I did arrive, she begged me to bleed her or her head
would burst. I found the pulse very full and com-
pressed, and I took away sixteen ounces of very dark
coloured blood. I was requested to remain the night,
and during this, as the symptoms Avere not sufficiently
MALARIA. 235
relieved, I took away ten more. In the morning
she was better, and I did not see her again till late in
the evening, when I was induced again to bleed her,
and took away eight ounces.
The head affection was from this time relieved, but
the following day she complained of burning pain at
the epigastrium, which was painful upon pressure,
and thirty leeches were applied. The inflammatory
symptoms were then conquered, and this is the largest
quantity of blood which I ever took from one patient
during the time I practised in Russia. A day or two
after the application of the leeches, I was sent for in
a hurry, and was informed that she was dying. Upon
my arrival, I was told that she had had a fit, and the
attendants supposed her in extremis. She had rallied
before I arrived. I was requested to pass the night
and following day there, and about the same hour
the next day, she Avas attacked in the same manner.
Violent spasms of the limbs, accompanied by a shrill
cry — convulsive twitchings of the mouth — the eyes
turned up in their sockets. There was no rigor. It
was decidedly a form of hysteria. I gave her a very
brisk dose of calomel, which brought away much
offensive matter. The following day the fit returned
much at the same time, but less severe ; the calomel
was repeated. She Avas removed to town, and finally
recovered, after what the Germans style a long mas-
querade des Nerfs. Dr ]Macculloch attributes these
hysteric affections to the influence of malaria. The
attack occurred in the autumn, in the rainy season,
and in a marshy situation ; and though I do not attri-
bute the first blow to it, still, it is probable, that the
236 MALARIA.
depletion made her suscei^tible of some influence of
this natm'e, which remained in hei* system for some
months afterwards.
Rheumatic fevers, and local affections of the inter-
costals, are very prevalent. Where these are treated
upon the supposition of pleurisy, they are very much
prolonged, and sometimes aggravated. I have known
fever of a typhoid type supervene to these depletions.
Under all circumstances, they are very tedious, and,
in general, perfect recovery is not effected till the
season of migration arrives. It must be borne in
mind that convalescences in these countries are very
protracted.
There is a disease of convalescence, if it may be so
styled. This arises from the circumstance of in-door
confinement and heated rooms. It is too great a risk
to expose the patient to the rigours of the atmosphere,
upon recovering from illness, and nothing but fresh
air will complete the recovery ; so that if a person
be subjected to any serious illness in the month of
November, he is sure to be a prisoner till the following
April. This does not prove merely a passive evil, it
becomes active, and generates a nervous state, which
harrasses both patient and practitioner ; hence the
ffreat migration of convalescents wdiich I have men-,
tioned, at the breaking up of the ice in the Gulf of
Finland. These cases occur more frequently, and
are more obstinate, where much depletion has been
used. Large bleedings never answer in these lati-
tudes ; the vital powers are too much exhausted by
them. Even in inflammatory cases, where they can-
not be dispensed with, small, but repeated bleedings,
MALARIA. 237
arc more suitable than one large one. From ten to
twelve ounces, is as much as should be drawn at a time.
From Avhat has already been said upon these nervous
complaints, and their origin, it will be evident that
little is to be expected from any other source than that
wliich shall remove the offending agents, or restore
the nerves to their normal functional condition. That
this state is much aggravated by indiscriminate quack-
ing, and by the constant use of blue pill and black
draught, cannot for a moment be questioned. This has
))een fully exposed by Dr Macculloch ; and Dr Hol-
land, in his Notes and Observations, has added strength
to these opinions. " In many instances," says the
former, " the change of place, which leaves the medi-
cine chest behind, cures the disease."
How far the health of families is preserved, or the
rising generation rendered vigorous, in consequence
of the maternal medicine chest, or the daily visits of
the apothecary, is amply evinced by the fact, that in
such families, and in such individuals, and often through
a long life, sound health is as unknown as a perpetual
state of disease is common I must
iierc notice the effects of this practice in producing
what are called nervous diseases.
" The patient was a single lady of thirty, of a
vigorous and healthy family, and, to all appearance,
of an originally vigorous constitution, without organic
affccti(ms, and who had never known any real disease
])eyond the usual disorders of infancy in their more
blender forms. Every nervous affection enumerated
in AVhytt's formidable catalogue had been, liowevcr,
licr torment almost from childhood and on makinir
238 TREATMENT OF AGUE.
inquiry respecting her own practice, which experience
has taught me to place among the first, the answer
WHS, that she had taken salts or calomel almost every
day since she was eight years of age, and was sur-
prised that she should still be ill, and not in the least
degree better." — Maccidloch, Vol. I. p. 465.
TREATMENT OF AGUE.
If it w^ere to be asked, What will cure a fit of the
ao-ue ? it might be replied to by the question. What
will not do it ? It is cm^able by every moral emotion,
by every drug that acts upon the imagination.
Now, those who have passed through the cold stage
of intermittents will not be persuaded that it is no
reality. The strongest are unnerved by it, — death is
sometimes caused by the shock.
" He had a fever when he was in Spain ;
And when the fit was on him I did mark
How he did shake : 'tis true this god did shake.
His coward lips did from their colour fly ;
And that same eye, whose bend doth a\ve the world,
Did lose its lustre ; — I did hear him groan."
Now, this was not a matter of mere imagination to
Cfcsar, but he might have been cured of all this by a
cobweb, by a live spider taken internally, by an
abracadabra tied round his neck ; what similar means
have not prevented a fit of ague ? " The simplest
remedies," says Dr Macculloch, " are those which
act iipon the mind, or through it In
whatever way these remedies act, the fact itself is
TREATMENT OF AGUE. 239
an important one, as relates to the theory of the dis-
ease, since that action and the mode of it, also the
suddenness, among other things, go far to prove that
it is situated in the nervous system, or in the brain
and nerves ; and that to influence that system directly
and solely is the cure, and probably the end to be
arrived at by every remedy." — Vol. i. p. 434.
" In enumerating the difterent remedies which act
in this way, either from disgust, or the opposite effect,
we must not omit the sight of a beautiful woman as
having, from the testimony of African travellers, pro-
duced a cure. Fear, the sudden necessity of exertion,
hope, joy, unexpected success, or sudden grief and
disappointment, enter into the same cateo-ory."—
P. 437.
" As regards the remedies of a domestic nature,
which are given with this intent, and are considered
stimulants, under whatever form they are given,
alcohol, opium, and spices, represent the whole."
It is not, however, of the treatment that we have
to speak in this essay, except to prove that it is
directed to the nervous system for the cure of a ner-
vous disease. If it be objected to this, that none of
the so called specifics will cure many cases of ague, it
must be remembered that these diseases soon produce
other consequences, which demand other treatment.
Thus, the use of mercurials is directed to the chylo-
poictic viscera, which arc impaired by the shock to
the nervous system. It is only in the commencement
of the disorder, therefore, that we must look for success
in the use of these remedies, when to cure a fit is to
terminate the disorder.
240 TREATMENT OF AGUE.
The blood and secretions maybe secondarily aflPected,
but they are not the prime movers of the disease.*
Moreover, mercury has a peculiar action on the ner-
vous system.
I had some opportunities of becoming acquainted
with the iSIoldavian and Wallachian fevers, when I
was in Odessa, and found Sir A. Chrichton's obser-
vation, that bark alone was seldom sufficient for
their cure, perfectly true ; but I found it equally
apply to the agues in St Petersburg. Dr Baillie
has observed, that where bark fails to cure an inter-
mittent, a grain of calomel at bed-time, for a few
nights successively, will generally accomplish the
object, and with this I generally commenced the treat-
ment. The following case occurs to me : — A lady of
* Dr Stevens observes, " The mind has an influence over the motion of
the blood, and there are many reasons for believing that the nervous, like
the electric fluid, can produce a sudden change in the quality of the vifhole
circulating current. Excessive grief, violent pain, &c., may derange its
physical properties, and this derangement of the blood is probably the
immediate cause of the fever which sometimes follows ; for, often where
such cases are fatal, no appearance can be found in the solids to enable
us to explain the cause of death, while the blood is invariably found to
be dark in colour in a fluid state, with little disposition to coagulate
either while in the vessels or when exposed to the air." — -P. 260.
Now, if all these changes can be immediately effected in the blood by
a fit of passion, thx'ough the agency of the nervous fluid, — efi^ects which
resemble those from the influence of a specific poison, — why should the
latter require so long a time before its operation is manifest? and why
should it not, when applied to the brain, produce the same consequences
as those effected by moral emotions ? Why should not the shock to the
nervous system, which is capable of thus changing the blood, be the
cause of the fever, as it in reality i-;, and of which the deterioration of
the circulating fluid is an efl'ect ?
It is surely quite as romantic to attribute fever to an instantaneous
derangement of the nervous fluid from the effects of passion, as to a dose
of malarious or other poison to the brain.
TREATMENT OF AGUE. 241
middle age, and very full habit, -syitli eruptions on the
skin, had been long in an indifferent state of health.
I can find no better term for it. She was never laid up ;
but she was never well ; headache, toothache, chronic
rheumatism and flying pains, loss of appetite, &c., had
harrassed her for months. She at length was seized
with an ague fit, for which her German attendant
immediately prescribed bark. It did her no good.
She felt its influence, but it did not relieve her from
her painful and nervous condition. An English prac-
titioner was requested to see her ; he recommended a
dose of calomel, to be repeated two or three times
before having again recourse to the bark. His views
met with decided opposition : but he was attended to,
and the patient was radically cured in ten days.
Upon the authority of the late Dr Baillie, I gene-
rally prescribed a grain of calomel for several nights
before I used the bark, and I was seldom disap-
pointed. I have succeeded by this plan when others,
by commencing immediately with the specific, had
failed. In some instances there was not time for
such practice, as in the case of the courier, before
alluded to ; the fit would be so severe as to threaten
danger on its renewal ; and in such cases I must state
what I had an opportunity of doing in the Medico-
Chirurgical Society, that a very large dose of quinine
was the only way of securing success. I mentioned that
I had often failed in the commencement of my prac-
tice by giving undcr-doses, and that attributing my
failure to the bad quality of the drug, I imported some
quinine from England. The failure was the same.
1 then [jrc-cribcd it in ten grain doses at three intcr-
242 TREATMENT OF AGUE.
vals during the intermission, and I was much more
successful. Dr Gregory confirmed my vievrs by re-
lating similar occurrences in this country, and urged
the employment of full doses in the commencement.
When the snake was thus scotched, it Avas necessary
to resort to mercury, in the shape of calomel, in small
doses, to complete the cure. The muriate of ammonia
was most serviceable in this stage of treatment. The
following was the usual fonii : —
li Amnion, muriat. 5 j.
Ext : Taraxac 5 ss.
Aqua? : Petroselin, 5 vji.
Cujus sumat jeger cochlear ampl. duo ter de die.
This, wdth one grain of calomel at night, for four
or five times, and then every other night for as many
more, seldom failed in ordinary cases. I must state
here, that after some, nay, many trials of the blue
pill, I was obliged to abandon its use in that latitude,
both in the treatment of visceral affections and in the
venereal disease. I know not Avhat may be the cause,
and I wish some one more able than myself would
take up this subject ; but medicines do not act in the
same way in all climates. The blue pill constantly
baulked me. I latterly employed calomel, and the
bichloride. In the case of intermittents, I have to
mention a singular anomaly. It is positively fatal to
a medical man's reputation, to prescribe arsenic to
the higher classes — they will not hear of it. There
is no means of disguising it. I did succeed, for some
time, by writing SoliUio Fowleri, to which the eye-
TREATMENT OF AGUE. 243
brow ague yields in general sooner, than to any other
medicine; but it was discovered, and I could not
persevere. It is usual, under all circumstances, for
a patient to send to the druggist's for a copy of the
prescription in the vulgar tongue, and this is sub-
mitted to a council of friends before it is taken.
There is no means of escape.
Now, it is positive that the people take this poison
in very large doses. An old lady, who lived in the
country, and whose kindness to the poor was un-
bounded, spent a deal of money in the purchase of
quinine, by which she cured a great many gardeners,
-who, living among the enormous cabbage plantations
in the neighbourhood of the city, and often lying down
to sleep on decaying vegetable matter, are very subject
to agues in the spring, when they come from their
villages to work in these plantations. She once told
me, that an old Avoman in her neighboiu'liood, cured
the ague much better than she could, and robbed her
of her practice. I was curious to ascertain the modus
medendi, and foimd that she sold bottles of beer for
this purpose. The effects were violent vomiting and
j^iurging, severe cholics, &c., but the disease was cured.
Arsenic was the remedy, and the answer as to the
(piantity put into the quart of beer, was as mucli an
will He upon a sixpence.*
I have no doubt, that some were sacrificed in the
experiment, but hundreds were cured by this means.
In a paper published in the Lancet, on poisons, I have
mentioned the precautions taken by government, to
* Tlie coin Orttvcuz is as near the size of sixpence as possiMe, it is
worth fivepencc-halfpcnny.
244 LOCAL AFFECTIOXS.
prevent abuses, by placing all possible difficulty in
procuring deleterious drugs fi'om the druggists shops.
It is absolutely true, that a person, who cannot buy a
grain in this way, can purchase a hundred weight at
the wholesale venders without difficulty, even in St
Petersburg.
LOCAL AFFECTIONS.
A gentleman, with whom I was in the habit of
associating daily, suffisrcd from attacks of rheumatism,
which invaded him at all seasons of the year and times
of the day, and without any warning. In the midst
of health, at table, in the drawing-room, he would be
seized with sudden twitches in the knee or instep,
sometimes on the inner side of the leg, which would
soon amount to pain, and, in the course of an hour,
render him unable to walk across his room without
assistance. The following day he would suffer from
constitutional fever, and these attacks generally lasted
two or three days ; the pain would gradually leave
him, or sometimes instantaneously, as it had com-
menced. It would occasiona'ly fly from one leg to
the other, but was always confined to the lower
extremities. The parts w-ere hot to the touch, seldom
discoloured, and never sAvollen. Meteorical changes
seemed at times to be the most traceable causes of
these attacks. Nothing was of any service either in
arresting the seizure at once, diminishing its course,
or preventing the usual periods of its return. This
state of things had continued for years. He quitted
St Petersburg during my residence there, and went
LOCAL AFFECTIOXS. 245
to England, whence I learnt that he had no return of
his complaints.
^Sciatica is a common affection in Russia, but not more
obstinate than in other countries. The most effectual
plan of treatment, -svlien taken early, consisted in full
doses of colchicum, calomel, and opium at night, and
blisters to the part affected.
The latter might often be dispensed -with. I have
known the tibial nerve the seat of the disease, and
causing great pain, particularly at night. This, in
one case, was soon cured by calomel and opium. The
following plan was adopted for the cure of a very
obstinate case of a sciatica, in a young man of my
acquaintance, whose complaint had baffled all the ordi-
nary means. Needles were pushed deep into the part
affected, and heated red hot by a spirit lamp. The
cure was permanent after one such species of firing.
I do not remember who proposed the operation, nor
Avhether it came from the faculty. I can testify that
there was no return of the disease for years, and, I
believe, never since that period.
The brow ague, as I have observed, yields more
readily to arsenic than to any other remedy ; but I
have found that one application of leeches always
ex[)edited the cure. It was only possible to employ
the former with English or Germans.
The pes anserinus is subject to become affected, and
always, as far as I could trace it, from exposure to
cold, and to a sudden impression of it. It is not
uncommon to see people rub one cheek. It is not
very severe, and often yields to opiate liniments.
Iritis is a very common disease in St Petersburg,
246 LOCAL AFFECTIONS.
and, from its very obstinate nature, I have reason to
think that malaria has something to do with it. I
have witnessed several cases ; and have observed
that those subject to it were rheumatic and gouty
subjects. It is also not uncommon for it to fly to the
other eye, when one only has been affected for some
time. It is a very common sequel of ill treated
syphilis. The treatment has appeared to me unsatis-
factory ; but in this, as in many other cases, the plan
of continually changing remedies without giving any
thing time to effect that for which it was first pre-
scribed, appears to me the chief error of German
practice. Upon none is the maxim of Hippocrates more
necessary to be inculcated than on the Germans in
this respect, and it is rather an anomaly in their
character, for, in most matters, they are a most patient
and persevering people.
Mercury is not given to affect the system in this
disease. A few mercurial purges may be presciibed
in the commencement. Leeches are employed ; but
in their application the law is to apply them as far as
possible from the part affected. Sinapisms to the feet,
the brow smeared Avith mercurial ointment very gently,
and the hydriodate of potash in ten grain doses, form
the basis of the treatment. A rag dipped in laudanum
is hung as a curtain before the eye, and this alternated
with a bag containing aromatic herbs. The most
rigid abstinence is enjoined, and a dark room. I
have seldom known the affection subdued in less than
six weeks. Relapses are very common ; and, in the
cases which I can now call to mind, vision has never
been completely restored ; a haze sweeps before the
LOCAL AFFECTIONS. 247
eye. The active treatment which is adopted in this
country at the commencement, is often deferred till
late in the disease, and then makes but little impression.
Epidemic opthalmia has frequently made great
ravages among the troops.
The Knee is subject to malarious affection, of which
I have seen several cases. The first which occurred
to me was in the commencement of my career in the
north; and I am certainly indebted to Dr MaccuUoch's
essay for the success of my treatment. A young man
of particularly nervous habits, and who had led a gay
life, sent for me the day after his wedding. I found
him quite lame, unable to walk, suffering considerable
pain, and in a general state of tremor. He could
hardly speak distinctly. He told me that he was
subject to such attacks occasionally, but this was more
severe than usual. He was very nervous. There was
neither redness nor swelling, but the patella was
exquisitely sensitive. I gave him frequent doses of
camphor, valerian, and ammonia, and a grain of opiiun
at night. The following day he was considerably
better, and in the night the attack entirely left him.
He died of nervous fever some years afterwards.
A much more obstinate case was that of a youug
Avoman, who suffered from violent pain in the knee,
and who went through the severest treatment for
months, Avithout any alleviation. She was subjected
to repeated applications of leeches and blisters, and
other stimulating applications. Finally, several raoxas
were burnt upon the knee, but all to no effect. There
was a symptom in her case, which should have led to
a different plan from that which was so futilely prac
248 LOCAL AFFECTIONS.
tised ; an intermission, viz. of pain for hours daily,
the worst paroxysm occurring towards evening. No
change in the size of the joint was at any time visible,
but it was warmer than usual during the time of pain.
I Avas consulted in the case, and recommended quinine,
but it was not persevered in, and I could not counte-
nance the severe methods of local treatment which
were proposed.
An old woman persuaded her to tie a string of
bottle corks upon the thigh, an hour or two before
the wonted paroxysm, promising that it would act
as a charm. Faith was placed in her words, and it did
so. She missed the paroxysm for several evenings ;
as the faith, however, decreased, the pain returned
again. Had any thing more of the same kind been
adopted, I believe it would have succeeded. This
circumstance confirmed me in the idea of the real
nature of the disease, and that it belonged to painful
neuralgia, from constitutional causes. She migrated
in the spring, and since her absence from Russia, has
not suffered the slightest inconvenience.
I shall add but one more case of neuralgia, which
occurred, though not in my own practice. It was
one of a young girl of twelve years of age, who suf-
fered every evening from lancinating shooting pains
in one ear, often so severe as to cause her to cry out
and become almost distracted. It resisted various
remedies, and finally yielded to mercury. The place
of her residence was a i)eaty soil, and the neighbour-
hood never free from fevers of the remittent kind ;
and it was here that I met with all the worst cases of
scarlatina.
LOCAL AFFECTIONS. 249
With respect to the use of quinine in all these loc.il
affections, as far as my own experience is concerned,
I have found it of very little service. Arsenic, where
it could be given, has seemed more beneficial ; from
calomel and opium, there has often been speedy and
positive relief afforded ; but change of air and locality,
are the sovereign specifics for these, as for the more
general manifestation of constitutional symptoms, from
one and the same cause.
Now, -what has been said concerning the treatment
of constitutional fevers, is equally applicable to local
neuralgic affections. The same moral emotions, the
same charms, the same quackery, wdiich cure the ague
fit, will drive away the toothache. It is the triumph
of faith, the influence of belief in both cases.
The following case occurred to me early in life, and I
believe the first after obtaining the warrant "Universis
ct Singulis.*' I had just arrived in London from Edin-
burgh, and met with a friend whom I had knowai some
years before in the country, where he was employed
as an officer of engineers upon the trigonometrical
survey. After exchanging a few w^ords, he said to
me, Do not you perceive what is the matter wdth me ?
I replied in the negative. Wliy, he continued, I can-
not open my jaws, and am half-starved. I then found
that he could not open his mouth wide, w^ithout caus-
ing great pain in the articulation of the jaws. lie
informed me that he had been upon the survey in the
Shetland Islands, where he had been exposed to all
kinds of weather, and had thus got locked jaw. Upon
finding that he had been, as he styled it, par-boiled in
liot baths, and had taken bark and arsenic without any
250 LOCAL AFFECTIONS.
effect ; and, moreover, finding that there was a good
deal of pain upon pressure, I told him that I could
cure him, and that he should be able to eat a biscuit
in a Aveek's time. He shook his head, and doubted
much of such a possibility.
I begged him to let me try, and told him as the
means would be vei*y simple, he need not be afraid. He
consented to allow me to put on leeches the same even-
ing, and while they were still attached and bleeding,
he exclaimed, good God, I can open my jaw^s — before
they were all removed, he said the pain was gone, and
the movement of the jaw was quite easy to him.
He slept better that night than he had done for
months, and the following day Avas surprised to find
that he could masticate his food without difficulty —
there was, however, still some degree of stiftness.
I advised a second application of the leeches, to Avhich
he readily consejited, and from that time he Avas
radically cured. I have stated this case just as it
occurred, for I knoAv I shall be pardoned for that selt-
confidence, which is the portion of a Tyro, and this
was one of a Tyro's lucky hits.
It is interesting, hoAvever, as regards the affection
itself, and a proof that diseases resembling local neu-
ralgia are not to be treated under all circumstances
by nervous medicines. I consider this to have been
a case of inflammation of the cartilages of the jaw,
and not of the nerves. Some years after, the same
patient was affected with iritis, from similar exposure
to cold.
HOMCEOPATHT. 251
PART XL
Homoeopathy — Instinct and Reason — Memory.
HOMCEOPATHY.
Although nervous disorders arise from local circum-
stances, and the removal of these sometimes cures the
complaint, still they demand medical attention, and are
prolific sources of revenue. It is here that the homoeo-
pathists have unfolded their banner opportunely, and
marched triumphant over the field.
It is as easy to prove that hundreds of nervous affec-
tions have been allowed to get well under this treat-
ment, as it would be diflficult to decide that any
diseased organic structure has been thus restored to
its normal state. This system is, in the truest sense,
the " art of amusing the patient whilst nature cures
the disease."
I have elsewhere endeavoured to analyze, in some
measure, the claims of tliis new species of quackery,
and I shall reproduce the arguments here as not out
of place in the consideration of a variety of affections,
Avhich are proved curable by moral influence.
According to the principle laid down by the author
of the system, it implies the doctrine, that deranged
animal functions are remediable by the application of
such agents as would, if administered in the normal
252 IIOMCEOrATHY.
state, produce similar dei'angements. This is asserted
on the authority of Hahneman, "who, in the observa-
tion that fire draws out fire, instances the application
of his theory in the practice of Dv Kentish ; and the
difference between^homoeoj)athy and allopathy is this,
that one goes along Avith the disease, the other wars
against it.
We shall not enlarge upon the various coincidences
which seem, a priori, to justify this statement, but
shall state our belief, that a definite combination of
atoms is as necessary to produce specific action in the
animal as in the chemical laboratory, and that a spe-
cific disease is not the result of indefinite combinations,
as gases are not formed by indefinite mixtiues of
certain ingredients. If we take the combinations of
oxygen with nitrogen, we have an opportunity of
examining several compounds which differ from each
other in colour, in smell, and in external characters,
as they do more essentially in the effects which they
produce in the animal economy. It may be stated,
therefore, that chemical combinations are the result of
elective aflfinities, without which election matters do
not combine chemically.
It is more than probable that such elective principle
is active in the formation of specific diseases, for we
believe in these and in their appropriate remedies.
Organic chemistry seems to confirm these ideas. AVe
choose for illustration, that affection, which is parti-
cularly brought forward by the homoeopathists to prove
that certain agents applied to the body will produce
morbid action in a state of health, and that the normal
state will be restored by the application of the same
HOlICEOrATIIY. ZOO
agents, — Ave instance scarlatina. If belladonna berries
be swallowed inadvertently, nausea, vomiting, fever,
and a scarlet eruption will ensue. Hence belladonna
is employed as the natural remedy for the cure of
scarlatina. It is used, also, as a prophylactic against
its contagious influence. We have known whole nur-
series put upon a course of this drug, where a child
has been labouring under the disease. This is a
comprehensive style of practice, — a kind of medical
trinity, recognizing, in the same agent, the power of
creating, annihilating, and preventing, a particular
malady. But to come to the point. Is a scarlet skin,
accompanied by the aforementioned symptoms, suffi-
cient to constitute the specific disease, scarlatina ?
AVe have seen enough of this disastrous complaint
to prevent us from regarding it as merely an eruptive
fever of a common kind ; but to induce us to believe
that we recognize in its mode of attack, its progress,
its fatality, or in its sequela, some specific morbid
poison not producible by a dose of belladonna, the
effects of wliich are no more comparable to those
caused by the real disease than is the redness of the
flagellated schoolboy to the efflorescence of the same
eruptive malady. Let us trace the progress of the
two affections through all their stages before we admit
their identity.
Docs belladonna produce a scarlet eruption in all
individuals to whom it is administered, or does not
this effect come under the category of idiosyncracy, as
we see it results from eating salmon, shell-fish, mush-
I'ooms, &c., in peculiar constitutions? How many
deaths are upon record of the disease produced by
254 HOMCEOrATHY.
belladonna, Avliere it has not been taken in sufficient
quantity to act as a sudden poison ?
When its influence has been sufficient only to simu-
late scai-latina, Avhat proportion of mortality is there
in the simulated and real disease ? Do patients affected
by the former sink in the course of forty-eight hours
from the outset, often with little suffering, slight
fever, scanty eruption, slight derangement of senso-
rial powers, but with difficult breathing, livid fauces,
difficult deglutition, and with swoUen purple fingers,
as they do but too frequently in the latter.
Is the desquamation which follows in the one case,
M'here the patient survives a slight furfuraceous, peel-
ing off the cuticle ? or does the skin come aAvay from
the arms and hands like a leather glove ? Is such ever
the case in belladonnic disease ? Are ulcerations of the
tympanum, exfoliation of the bones, violent inflam-
mation of the eyes, morbid secretions from the lach-
rymal passages, swelhngs, abscesses of the v.'hole chain
of glands in the neck, dropsical efiusions into the
cavities, hydrocephalus, are these ever the sequela of
irritation from belladonna ? Is the affection produced
by it communicable by contagion ?
If these symptoms have never coincided in the pro-
gress of the two diseases, there are no grounds upon
which to establish their identity. If they are not the
same diseases they are not produced by the same
causes, nor are the remedial agents the same. Genuine
scarlatina can no more be produced by a combination
of belladonna with the animal secretions, than a specific
gas can be formed by the mechanical mixture of un-
combinable elements.
nOMCEOPAXnY. 20D
It is again stated that mercury will produce all the
symptoms of the venereal disease, hence the true
homoeopathic rationale of administering it for the cure
of syphilis. That it does cure tliis complaint is beyond
doubt ; but no justification of its use is to be founded
upon the bare circumstance of its causing an eruption
which simulates those of secondary symptoms ; for as
twenty grey horses will never make a white one, so a
variety of merely similar symptoms does not consti-
tute identity of disease. If, then, the diseases be not
the same, the argument falls to the ground, — the prin-
ciple fails upon which the whole scheme is based, and
there is no medical signification in the term Homa-o-
pathy.
Take another view of the subject. Supposing that
the remedy which we apply for the cure of a malady
should be capable of producing the same, if adminis-
tered in the normal state, what principle warrants the
conclusion, that by adding fuel to fire we can control
a furnace ?
If a disease be characterized by a variety of dis-
tressing symptoms, is there any philosophy in adding
to their number or intensity by the employment of
similarly exciting agents ? Can we subject life to the
laws of inorganic matter, and, upon the principle that
similarly electrified bodies repel each other, generate
a positive morbid electricity, in the hope, that when
the already positively electrified morbi^l pole shall be
brought in contact with the similarly electrified arti-
ficial end, the two will fly off from each other? AYe
might, upon such principles, recognize the unity of
disease, — " the chronothermal principle, the electric
256 HOMGEOrATIIY.
state of the brain, and class love and pregnancy among
the varieties of intermittent fever."
The term Homoeopathy is lost sight of in the prac-
tice of the system, just as the name of Butler is lost
in his hero Hudibras. In its general acceptation, the
public only recognizes the infinitesimal dose system,
■which, with that same public, constitutes the great
charm of homoeopathy.
It is rightly conceived by those who hold their
burnt children's fingers to the fire, and keep them
there as long as the increase of pain can be tolerated
by the sufferers.
The principle is directly opposed to tlie ancient
belief, " chaque mal est gueri par maladie contraire"
the idea upon which the old King Charles acted when
he invoked the aid of Joan of Arc to remedy the dis-
asters accruing to the state from his amours with
Agnes Sorel.
We do not deny that advantages are to be derived
from infinitesimal doses of medicine. Much mischief
has been generated by long and protracted drugging
wuth powerful remedies in chronic disorders, many of
which would have been benefited by rare interfer-
ence, or, which comes to the same thing, by homoeo-
pathic treatment.
" It can do no harm." This is its rock of salva--
tion. This sweUs the ranks of Ilahneman ; but if such
nonentities be negative for harm, can they be positive
for good ? Is the drowning man, Avhom physical
exhaustion incapacitates for saving himself, more in-
indebted to the one bystander who Avill not lend
him a helping hand than to the other who makes
HOMCEOPATHT. 257
o-reat efforts to save him, altliougli he may foil in tlie
attempt.
But in reahty this practice does effect positive good,
inasmuch as by that part of it which inculcates abstin-
ence, regularity of diet, sober hours, the avoiding of
all physical and moral excitement, great assistance is
afforded to the vis medicatrix natura;; — add to which
the faith in the remedy which works such Avonders
over all disorders likely to be influenced by it, viz.
the nervous.
It is only ascribable to the perverseness of our
natures that Ave implicitly conform to particular re-
gulations, when they are associated with something
new, although we should never comply with them if
prescribed under other circumstances. Would patients
but do one half for an ordinary practitioner that they
do for an honifcopathic one, they would soon be able to
dispense with both. In all cases of a nervous and
chronic character, where little is to be gained from
medicine, and much from moral treatment from the
removal of existing causes, from the stimulus of novelty,
and from faith in nonentities, this system is invaluable.
I had one fair opportunity of testing homoeopathy.
General slipped in the winter season and
bruised his shoulder; he thought it was dislocated,
and sent for me to examine it. I found that there
was no luxation, but very severe contusion. I ordered
thirty leeches and fomentations. The following day
the tumefaction had much subsided, but he still com-
j)lained of a good deal of pain. He said to me half in
joke, how long Avill it take to cure this by the ordinary
mode of treatment. It is not so easy to say I replied.
258 HOMCEOrATIIY.
You Avill long feel the effects of such a blow, and pro-
bably you will not use your arm freely for a week or
two. He paused, and then said, my lady is at present
under the care of an homceopathic doctor, and she is
very anxious that I should let him treat me ; have you
any objection to meet him here to-moiTow. I replied
that I should have the greatest pleasure in doing so,
as I was anxious to test the practice, and this was a
good opportunity. (I must observe that he had him-
self great faith in it, but did not think it good for a
bruise.) The following day we met, and my colleague
examined the arm and was fully acquainted with what
had been done, nor at the time did he make any the
slightest objection to my practice. I informed him of
the conversation which I had had with the General, and
of my statement, as to the probable time required for
the cure in the ordinary plan of treatment. I told him
I was willing to put the case entirely into his hand if
he could promise greater expedition. Yes, he assured
me, " Uber-morgen," the day after to-morrow, all wdll
be right. He applied a lotion of arnica, and gave a
powder of arnica at night. I saw the patient the fol-
lowing day ; the ann was no better, but he had passed
a good night. Upon meeting the doctor the day after,
and finding things no better, I reminded him of his
promised cure. He shook his head and said, " Had
you not applied the leeches it would have been the
case." But you did not say so at first, I replied,
although you Avere aware they had been applied. He
continued his treatment for some days, when I was
again applied to, as the plan had failed, — the pain and
weakness yielded to the ordinary means.
HOMCEOPAxnv. 259
Even in this case I think the operation of the
nervous influence is to be traced. The powder pro-
duced the rest at night, because the faith was sufficient
in the commencement to quiet the nerves ; but this
charm vanished as soon as the homoeopathist pro-
nounced that the previous treatment had interfered
with tlie results to be expected from his plan.
In the apology wdiich we offer for the influence of
the nervous system, we find that this homoeopathic
quackery holds an important place.
AVe shall not pursue the subject farther at present,
as enough, we think, has been brought forward to
rescue the nervous system from the submersion which
threatens it by the revival of the humoral pathology.
These doctrines are again reviving, and there is, doubt-
less, much in them worthy of consideration ; but it is
the misfortune under Avhich all systems labour, that
their advocates, carried away by intoxicating potions
of adulterated liquors, find the flavour of the genuine
jui^te milieu too mawkish for their tastes.
In such paragraphs as the following, we cannot
recognize the spu'it of calm research which should
guide us in the pursuit of inquiries where the broad
path leads to a precipice, and the narrow path is so
entangled with intricate vmderwood, as utterly to
impede our progress.
Those beautiful prairies of the far west, whose
carpets are bedecked with the richest flowers, which
ask for the hand to gather them, whose forests dotted
.'iI)out like islands in the sea, arc not encumbered by
tliorn or briar, but allow of ready and iminterrupted
transit throughout, without entangling the traveller's
260 noMCEorAxnY.
foot by a single snare, — these are not the regions of tlie
physiologist. It is a mazy path which he has to tread,
with but little light to guide hira, and that little
often proving an ignis fatuus.
" Self-moving, self-producing, maintaining its own
fluidity, arresting its own current by self-coagulation,
the blood, in its wide range of capacity, is affected
directly and at once by the countless agents of vital
impression
" The blood entire is sensitive as the individual
nerve of external impression, instantaneously and
simultaneously perceived through all its distributions."
We cannot subscribe to such opinions ; and those,
perhaps, who do, may with equal justice object to
such as those with which we terminate these observa-
tions, as too exclusive on the side of the question
which we have embraced.
In the language of the late Dr Macculloch, than
whom few ranked higher among scientific men, " Nor
can physiology and physic well forget their offices, —
forget that it is not the circulating system, that system
which has almost drawn all favour to itself even in
their minds, but the nervous system which is the
prime mover : the cause even of all circulation, of all
motion, of life itself; that it is the life ; that the
nerves are the man — the animal ; and that every
thing else, the whole animal structure, in all its parts,
is a mere machine and a chemical laboratory, as purely
subservient to the nervous system as is a steam-engine
to the intelligence of man. Without a nervous system
there is no animal, — there can be none ; without a
circulating one there are myriads."
IXSTIXCT AND KEASOX. 2G1
INSTINCT AND REASON *
Much has been said, and great are the pains which
have been taken, to draw the line between Instinct
and Eeason, and the whole seems to resolve itself into
the conclusion, that what is denominated instinct in
the brute is dignified by the title of reason in the man,
and vice versa. If the latter were a simple fsiculty,
such misrht hold good, but if it be considered as a
compound one, then the totality of all the component
parts is alone the privilege of the human species.
The one, as much as the other, is dependant upon
organization. Instinct is not the same at all periods
of animal life any more than reason. It is matured
with the development of the organs. Young animals
are said to be foolish, as are young children. What
meaning is attached to the saying, that old birds are
not to be caught with chaff? It can only imply that
tlicy know better, and this includes mental educa-
tion. ]Many of the reasoning faculties are compre-
liended in tliis species of knowledge.
Dr Bostock, in his Elements of Physiology, has
allowed that instinct has the preponderance over
reason in animals, and that the instinctive faculties
are weak in the human subject ; but he does not deny
rational faculties to brutes. It will entirely depend
upon the meaning we attach to the word reason, in
order to prove in what the difference consists between
it and instinct. Many of the wonderful feats related
of animal sagacity are, I think, referable to instinct
* Sec p. 10, Part I.
262 INSTINCT AND REASON.
only. On the other hand, it is not true that this said
faculty, whatever it may be, is the attribute of any
exclusive species. It is the property of the whole
race. All animals are capable of education, — all are
not equally so, — all do not possess the same quantity
of natural talent.
It has been said by some, that education can only
be carried to a certain extent Avith the lower order of
animals, e. y., that after teaching the elephant a certain
number of tricks, his education is finished, — he can go
no farther. I very much^doubt this assertion ; he goes
as far as his keeper wishes for the purposes of his hire.
Animals are said to have no idea of the uses of fire,
nor how to supply it. Thus, a monkey sitting in the
corner of the chimney, with logs of wood around him,
will let the fire go out and shiver with cold, and yet
never put a bit vipon the embers ; still I have known a
dog to open the door of the stove Avith his foot when he
found it shut, and this he did regularly when he came
into the parlour previous to lying downbefore the stove.
Again, it is argued, that in the construction of the
honey cell, it is an instinctive faculty which has led
the bee to economize space : this is certainly true, but
it is not proved that the insect can make no other
arrangement. On the contrary, if the work be pai--
tially destroyed, the bee will restore it as it was before ;
but if, in consequence of continual depredation upon
parts of it, it is easier to complete it upon another
plan, it will abandon the original instinctive model and
change the style of architecture. It is difficult to
suppose that animals can dream upon mere instinctive
powers, and yet, as we have instanced in the chapter
INSTINCT AND REASON. 263
on dreams, there is no doubt of the fact. Memory is
one of their attributes whether sleeping or waking.
The effects of liquors upon the animal senses are
the same as upon the human, though it is only the pig
which seems to take pleasure in tliis species of recrea-
tion. The passions are all in full force among them,
— love, hatred, revenge, jealousy, are of daily obser-
vance. I once saw the effects of the latter upori a
quail, that literally died of chagrin. A young lady
had a pet quail that lived in her room, and which she
fed and caressed. A squirrel was introduced, and on
the young lady paying more attention to this new
guest than to her old favourite, the bird ran about the
room distracted, whining and crying, would not touch
food, and died on the second day.
How far animals are capable of laying down plans
for the execution of their purposes, when revenge is
their object, the anecdote related of the monkey in
the Penny ^Magazine affords an astonishing proof.
" A monkey tied to a stake Avas robbed by the
Johnny Crows (in the West Indies) of his food, and
he conceived the folloAving plan of punishing the
thieves. He feigned death, and laid perfectly motion-
less on the ground, near to his stake. The birds
approached by degrees, and got near enough to steal
his food, which he allowed them to do. This he re-
peated several times, till they became so bold as to
come within the rcacli of liis claws, lie calculated
his distancx', and laid hold of one of them. Death was
not his plan of punishment. He was more refined in
his cruelty. He plucked every feather out of the bird,
and then let him go and show himself to his compa-
264 iNSTEsrcT and reason.
nions. He made a man of him, according to the
ancient definition of a " biped Avithout feathers."
It is difficult to say, therefore, in -what the differ-
ence consists, if we look to the two only in the sense
of powers resulting from organization ; and that these
two powers, or these modifications of the same power,
depend upon it, cannot be doubted ; for they grow
with the growth, and strengthen with the strength of
the latter, and are impaired or annihilated in the
physical injuries which it sustains.
The diflference is only in degree, but this is so great
as almost to constitute two distinct powers. If the
dog be capaljle of availing himself of the comforts of
a stove fire, he will never, by any stretch of his mental
powers, be able to invent a safety lamp.
If, however, the higher powers of reason be denied
to animals they are not, on the other hand, charge-
able with some of its less noble attributes.
It is doubtful w^hether they possess that species of
sophistry which allows man, under certain circum-
stances of self-deception, to make evil appear good, —
and of necessity a virtue.
If a dog Avere caught by the leg in a trap or gin,
would he find such means of consoling himself as
Hudibras did when his feet were fast in the stocks ?
It was then, and not till then, perhaps, that the knight
understood the value of his spiritual half — the uncon-
finable part — the free agent : —
" Quoth he, — Th' one half of man, his mind.
Is sui juris uneonfineil.
And cannot be laid by the heels,
Whatever the other moiety feels."
INSTINCT AND REASON. 265
It was by dwelling upon the advantages of one that he
lost all feeling of the other, as others have done before
him. Plere then, as he himself expresses it, the
rationalia have advantages over the animalia, and pur-
suing his system still farther, sophistry allowed him to
believe that his valour was increased by his defeat.
The rational faculties of Ralplio were of a much less
noble order, and mark the difference between the man
and the philosopher. His mode of reasoning ap-
jiroaches, or rather hardly soars above, that which the
dog woidd have manifested under similar circum-
stances : —
" Quoth Ralph, — How great I do not know,
We may by being beaten [iroic.
But none that see, how here we sit,
AVill judge us overgrown with wit."
The sophistry of Hudibras allowed him to glory in
his captivity, — his mind soared as his body became
debased. Ealpho's inferior soul was downcast and
mortified, — he regretted the want of that Avit or cun-
ning which (had he possessed it) might have preserved
him from his disgraceful imprisonment.
The dog might feel as much in a similar case. We
say of animals that they go mad, — that they lose
their senses. We say the same of our species, but we
say also that they go out of their minds.
This is not said of animals. There seems to be
some difference between the two, if we may judge
from what language implies. We never say that a
man goes out of his soul, — to lose one's soul has a totally
different signification.
Soul implies, therefore, more than mind or senses ;
N
2Q(^ MEMORY.
and is not the union of mind, sense, and soul, the
power which constitutes human reason ?
MEMORY*
It was in the gardens of the Tuileries that I met
with an old college friend. He was promenading a
young lady, who seemed to me to have some difficulty
in making herself understood, and still more in under-
standing her cavalier. They soon parted company,
and my old acquaintance came up to me, and com-
plained of the difficulties he found in speaking the
French language. " I always had a bad memory,
you know, but I can remember facts better than
words." I should have instantly recognised my man
by this expression alone. He went by the name of
" The jMan of Facts" when he was at college ; and it
was to this alone that he ascribed all superiority. To
possess more facts than one's neighbour was to have
the greatest advantage over him. When asked how
he got through his examination, he replied, "well
enough ;" but regretted that he had not so many facts
as the professors who examined him ; and he sighed
for his want of memory.
Now, nothing can be more erroneous than his
ideas upon the subject. A man may possess an im-
mense number of facts, and yet be a very great goose.
There are two kinds of memory, — the one purely
mechanical, which those possess who retain names,
dates, and some facts, — the other is the result of an
'' From Fraser's Magazine.
MEMORY. 267
impression made upon the feelings ; and the complaint
of want of memory is in general nothing more than the
obtuseness of an important portion of the intellectual
faculties. Few clever men complain of want of me-
mory, or find difficulty in retaining those things which
form a part or parcel of their intellectual enjoyments.
The lover of poetry may not be able to recollect when
the battle was precisely fought, but if he have ever
read Campbell's " Hohenlinden," he can never forget
it. He may have read it but once, may not be able
to repeat a line of it, but there it is indelibly impressed
upon his feelings, — he can call it up when he pleases.
It is as much his own as the author's. The man with-
out memory or without susceptibility of impression,
Avhich is almost synonymous, may have read it many
times, and yet know nothing about it ; his eyes have
passed over it, but it has not passed through those
portals to be indeUbly stamped upon the sensorium.
His ear may, perhaps, again recognise the sound of
the words, but still the thing itself has escaped his
memory, and from the best of all reasons — that it was
never there. The want of memory, of which such
complain, may be compared to FalstaflPs deafness,
" Kather out, please you. It is the disease of not
listening, the malady of not marking, that I am
troubled Avithal."
He who has summed up every thing, and placed all
things in their true light, has not been wanting in the
true definition of memory. When the Ghost says to
Hamlet, " Remember me," he replies, " Yes, as long
as memory holds a place in this distracted globe."
Here is precisely what we contend for, viz. that
2G8 MEMORT.
true memory is made up of impression. Such is
implied in the tone of Hamlet's reply, that it would
be impossible to forget it, that nothing less than the
dissolution of the moral and physical world could
prevent him from remembering the scene which he
had just witnessed. It became hereafter no matter
of will with him to do so. To tell him to forget it
or to remember it, would be synonymous. It formed
from that time a portion of his moral existence, in-
separable but by general dissolution. It is precisely
the same in other matters; that which has made a very
strong impression is never forgotten ; it may not
always be at hand, but it is still there : circumstances
may again call it forth, fresh as it was deposited in
the storehouse of the mind. The man without memory
is the man whose mind is not organized to receive
such impressions as excite those sensations which
guarantee durability ; such as read the book and lay
it down, and forget where they left off; a state which
may occur to all at times, when the mind may be
preoccupied, but which is habitual with those who
complain of bad memories. In these arguments a
healthy state of body and mind is presupposed ; for
by nothing is the faculty of memory so impaired as
by physical derangements. It may be annihilated by
organic affections, or it may be suspended, or go to
.sleep. It may happen that the power of speech and
the use of language be annulled, that all moral existence
may seem extinguished, whilst the physical powers
continue their functions ; but when the causes operat-
ino- these effects shall have been removed, then shall
blessed memoiw return with all its force to the point
MEMORl^ . 269
where its functions had been suspended. The fol-
h)wlng case, quoted from the lectures of the late Sir
Astley Cooper, illustrates this position in a most
satisfactory manner : — A sailor falling from the yard-
arm was taken up insensible, and carried into the
hospital in Gibraltar, where he remained in the same
state for many months ; he was conveyed from thence
to England, and admitted into St Thomas's Hospital.
" He lay upon his back with very few signs of life,
breathing, his pulse beating, some motion in his fingers,
but, in all other respects, apparently deprived of all
powers of mind, volition, or sensation. Upon the
examination of his head, a depression was discovered,
and he was ti'epauned at a period of thirteen months
and a few days after the accident. The man sat up
in his bed four hours after the operation, and, upon
being asked if he felt pain, immediately put his hand
to his head. In four days from this time he was able
to get out of bed and converse, and in a few more
days he was able to say where he came from, and
remembered meeting with the accident; but from
that time up to the period when the operation was
performed [i. e. for a period of thirteen months and
and upwards), his mind remained in a perfect state of
oblivion,"
Nothing was remembered which occurred between
the periods of the infliction of tlie wound which caused
the pressure, and the removal of the piece of bone
which produced it, because nothing during that long
time liad made any impression on the sensorium.
There was a distinct separation of animal (rum moral
existence.
270 MEMORY.
Mr Herbert Mayo has published a case of double
consciousness with temporary loss of memory. It is
rather complicated in a metaphysical point of view,
but proves satisfactorily the power of impression.
There was no loss of memory where the former had
had its due influence. Some physical impediment in
the circulation operated to prevent its manifestation
at will ; but it was there, and as soon as the obstruc-
tion was removed, memory again triumphed.
I believe, therefore, that we are not far from wrong
in accvising our friend of that w^ant of perception, and
of impression, w^hich so much limited the number of
his facts, that he retained but very few; and his
complaint against his memory was unjust and ill-
founded, inasmuch as the food w^ith which it is nou-
rished must be duly digested and assimilated, before it
form an integral part of that intellectual state, which
seldom complains of want of memory.
PECULIARITIES OF GERMAN PRACTICE. 271
PART XII.
GERMAN THERAPEUTICS.
SOME PECULIARITIES OF GERMAN PRACTICE.
German Therapeutics hold a middle rank of action
between the French and the English, being more
energetic than the former, and less so than the latter.
The Germans boast of a simplicity of prescription,
and have a horror of contrarieties, carrying this to a
ludicrous nicety, and an unmeaning orthodoxy. Thus,
a solution of sulphate of magnesia in an infusion of
roses, or the combination of a laxative with an astrin-
gent, meets with the severest criticism from those,
who profess as much abhorrence of a contreHens in
prescription, as nature does of a vacuum. There is
much to commend in simplicity of prescription ; and
the nudtifarious ingredients which formerly entered
into the British recipe, have not undeservedly merited
the stigma of farrago, applied to the latter by conti-
nental practitioners. Dr Paris long since pointed out
the error, and has done much to rectify it.
The study of pharmaceutic chemistry, and the supe-
rior education of the genei'al practitioner of modern
days, have almost accomplished this desideratum ; still,
we do meet with combinations of materials, which
would be better for a little sifting. To Dr Pereira we
272 SOME PECULIAEITIES OF
are indebted for the most valuable information upon
these matters ; and the labour he has bestowed upon
this subject, has been fully appreciated by the highest
authorities at home and abroad. The Germans find
the advantage, and it is one of some importance, of
administering many remedies per se, which if diffused
in mixtures rendered palatable by syrups, undergo
decomposition. Thus, chlorine water, which is a very
favourite remedy with them, is decomposed by sugar.
Colchicum, cherry laurel Avater, tincture of digi-
talis, are generally prescribed in form of drops, to be
taken in water. The pure and simple influence of
such remedies upon the system, and their impression
upon disease, are best recognized in this shape.
An exception to this is found in their forms of de-
coctions, which are the essence of a large proportion
of the vegetable kingdom ; and in the influence of
minute doses, they countenance the practice of the
homoeopathists. Their ideas, well or ill founded as
they may be, of infinitesimal doses, are illustrated in
the preparation of a decoction much esteemed for the
cure of eruptions which disfigure female beauty.
It is composed of sarsaparilla, dulcamara, pine tops,
beet root, buds of the bii'ch and broom, &c., but the
most active ingredient is a small piece of the glass of
antimony, tied up in a muslin bag, and boiled for a
limited time in the decoction which is supposed to be
impregnated by it, although it may have lost no weight
in the operation.
A German prescription seldom boasts otherwise of
more than two or three ingredients. Nothing is held
inert, if it be stronger than distilled water ; and if
GERMAN PRACTICE. 273
active remedies be administered in a variety of other
menstrua, the latter are not chosen indifferently, but
with a specific view, and to perform a part in the
operation of the whole. One carminative water can-
not be substituted for another, it being granted that
each has a specific action on- the system.
I have known a practitioner cavil at the use of black
currant jelly, in the sore throat of scarlatina.
In respect to dietetics, their views are peculiar upon
some points. In the treatment of fevers, any thing
from the animal kingdom is strictly prohibited ; not a
drop of milk is allowed, — not even a few drops sufficient
to discolour the tea, and this prejudice I have found to
prevail throughout the Russian empire with all classes
of people. It is considered a matter of the greatest
importance.
Gruel is the universal form of food alone permitted
in febrile complaints, and this in small quantity.
Sago is a stepping-stone to more nutritous diet. Tea,
with lemon juice instead of milk, and toast and water,
made l)v pouring boiling water upon toasted bread,
and nut by plunging a bit of burnt bread into cold
water, as we manufacture it.
They lay great stress upon articles of diet, during
the treatment of diseases of all kinds ; and when it is
a question of undergoing a course of mineral waters,
tables are constructed and suspended in all the eating
rooms of the hotels, specifying what provisions are
permitted to be used. Salad is so strictly prohibited,
that it is not permitted to be served at the tables of the
healthy, during what is styled the season in Carlsbad.
It is sonic fifty years siuce an English ])ra(;titi(»iK'r
274 SOME PECULIARITIES OF
laid the foundation of a reputation, afterwards Avell
sustained, by deciding upon changing the modus me-
dendi, in a case of fever in a patient of high rank. He
insisted upon bleeding, contrary to the opinion of a
host of practitioners, all of Avhom, in those days, were
imbued with the doctrines of John Brown, so that
the Brunonian practice was the law of the land at the
period alluded to. It was the late Sir James Leighton,
who first ventured upon this innovation ; and from
the circumstance of the rank of the patient, of the
times as regarded the estimation in w hich medicine
was held, &c., he gave the coup de grace to the treat-
ment of febrile diseases, as it had been conducted
for many years in the North of Europe.
How long a period was employed in fully working
this change, I am not enabled to say, but certainly
nothing can have been more complete than the over-
throw of the system, if I may judge from what is now
the current practice in public andprivate, of the pre-
sent school of medicine.
The treatment of fevers is antiphlogistic in the
strictest sense of the term ; and, perhaps, convales-
cences are longer than they would otherwise be, if
the depleting system were not carried to such great
lengths as it often is.
There is nothing Avorthy of peculiar note in the
nature of the remedies administered ; the patients are
purged freely with neutral salts, in a mixture of
senna tea, a potion well known under the name of
the Vienna laxative. The common saline mixture
with antimony, is given very freely; and if the
animal temperature is very much increased, the nitrate
GERMAN PRACTICE. 275
of soda is generally preferred to the nitrate of potash,
as possessing more antiphlogistic virtues. It is cus-
toraaiy to keep the head cool, with evaporating lotions,
and if there be much congestion and fulness of the
vessels, leeches are generally applied. In the applica-
tion of these, it is always the object to apply them, as
far as possible, from the part affected, upon the prin-
ciple that, by unloading these vessels, there is a greater
influx of blood into them than before.
Thus, I have seen in cases of severe headache in
febi-ile affections, a large application of leeches made
to the loins. In inflammations of the eyes, they are
applied behind the ears or the back of the neck, but
the favourite treatment is to bleed from the foot. The
same holds ffood with blisters, which are not favourite
remedies, and sinapisms are for the most part pre-
ferred. These are applied in succession upon the
ancles, calves of the legs, inner part of the thighs, and
on the arms, and between the shoulders. They are
not allowed to remain longer than to produce a pun-
gent sensation of heat. Vesication is not desirable.
The lancet is seldom used in simple cases of fever,
where there is not decided determination of blood to
any organ, producing pain and uneasiness. Cupping
is of rare employment, and those who do perform it,
are so little cm fait at it, that I have never seen it
performed in a dexterous manner.
The Germans adhere to critical days, and often use
a bath upon the eve of an expected crisis. In so
doing, cold water is poured over the head, whilst the
body enjoys an elevated temperature. From what
little I have seen of its application, I cannot speak
276 SOME PECULIARITIES OF
very favourably of the bath in fevers, when they are
fully formed. The patient is generally exhausted by
the operation, without any compensating benefit.
When nervous symptoms manifest themselves, then
valerian and small doses of camphor form the basis of
the treatment. Bark is never given as an anti-spas-
modic or a tonic, unless the disease assume an inter-
mittent tendency. If subsultus tendinum and other
indications of nervous debility appear, musk is ad-
ministered, and old Rhine wines in moderate quantity.
I should, upon the whole, say, that the practice under
such circumstances is not so bold, and active treat-
ment is delayed to a longer period than it would be
by English practitioners.
The following case will, perhaps, in some measure
illustrate this. An admiral high in the service, was
attacked with simple fever and pleuritic symptoms,
which in a few days assumed a nervous character, but
not of an alarming nature. The patient had been an
invalid for years, and subject to all kinds of nervous
affections, for Avhich he had taken very strong reme-
dies, and had often, from circumstances of situation,
been obliged to prescribe for himself. He had been
in the habit of taking musk and ammonia in very
large doses — of the former to the amount of tho'ty
grains. He ate food very highly seasoned with
cayenne. pepper, &c., drank strong wines and bottled
porter. Such were his usual habits, and without such
aid he was always in a state of depression. His mind
was actively employed in abstruse studies, and having
been, early in life, subject to fits, abstemious living
was subversive of his moral and physical power.
geema:^ practice. 277
He had been ill about ten days when I first saw him,
and had been treated very judiciously by a German
practitioner, but he was low and nervous, and wished
to see one of his countrymen. His pulse was frequent
but feeble, his skin hot and tongue loaded, he had not
slept for several nights, and as there was some very
slight twitching about the angles of the mouth, it was
proposed to give him an infusion of arnica ; he had
been well purged previously, and had been taking
saline medicines, but without producing any sensible
effect. I saw him towards the evening, and from what
I knew of his former mode of life, resolved upon chang-
ing the plan. I proposed tliat he should take a large
tumbler of bottled porter at bed time. This was
strongly objected to by his attendant, who washed his
hands of all responsibility. I took it upon myself, and
gave him the delicious draught, as he styled it, with
my own hands.
Tlie following day I met my colleague on my Avay
to the patient's house, who addressed me, with that
good nature and good feeling, which during four-
teen years, I ever experienced from the faculty of St
Petersburg. La maniere anglaise a triuempho. The
patient, soon after taking the porter, slept for eight
hours successively, and awoke in a state almost of con-
valescence.
The porter was continued, and bark and wine were
prescribed subsequently, and in a day or two nutri-
tious food completed the cvu'e.
The Germans adhere to their Rhine wines for medi-
cinal use, and seldom use port or sherry. It did not
require, perhaps, so sudden a change in the plan of
278 SOME PECULIARITIES OF
treatment as is here detailed, nor would the case,
under any circumstances, have done badly, but it is
probable that convalescence was thus much expe-
dited under the peculiar circumstances in which
this person had been placed by his former habits of
life.
Of the cold effusion in fevers I have had few oppor-
tunities of seeing it employed in foreign practice. I
have known it used in scarlatina, but not at that point
when the least good could be expected from its em-
ployment, — or rather, when it could only do harm.
Of this disease I can only speak in terms of horror, as
I have witnessed its fatal issue in this country ; and as
I have alluded to it in the chapter on homoeopathy, I
can only say that no one plan of practice has seemed
to me to be preferable to another. Whenever several
members of a family have been attacked, some have
always sunk so rapidly that no means could avail to
make an impression on the complaint.
I should say, that in those cases which are stamped
at first with symptoms of decreased vital energy,
the system of stimulus, — the use of the warm bath,
wine and ammonia, would offer the best chances of a
happy issue ; and that this plan is generally deferred
too long, — that a few hours may decide upon the life
of the patient ; and that in cases where this disease
attacks a family, the visits of the medical man can
hardly be too frequent. I may state here that I have
had the disease three times myself. Once in infancy,
and twice I have gained it fi'om attendance on patients.
The only peculiarity in the German practice is the use
of belladonna, which they invariably prescribe upon
GERMAN PRACTICE. 279
the homoeopathic principle, which I have endeavoured
to prove to be a false one.
Severe and fatal as this disease is in the north of
Russia, equally mild and insignificant in their conse-
quences do the measles show themselves. I cannot
call to mind a single fatal case, not merely in my own
practice, but in that of any of my colleagues, during
my residence in the Eussian capital. It announces
Itself with very severe catarrhal symptoms, but the
appearance of the eruption is generally the termina-
tion of the complaint.
In the treatment of fevers I have merely sketched
the ordinary routine of practice, but I must add, that
after Dr Stevens' visit, and his explanation of his views
upon this subject, the saline practice was adopted by
one of my countrymen, and that upon a very extensive
scale, as he had an hospital at his command. He
employed the oxymuriate of potash, the carbonate of
soda, and the muriate of soda, in the same proportions
as recommended by the author, and he seemed much
-atisfied Avith the effects which followed this new
svstem. He told me that he found the tongue set
cleaner under this treatment, and the disease upon the
whole assumed a milder form than under the more usual
method; but where the nervous system manifested
much depression, it was not by any means more useful
than the old plan, and that more powerful medicines
were substituted. The fact is, that in wliatever manner
<imple fevers arc treated, they will, if not too much
interfered with, go away of themsehcs with but very
little assistance. The saline practice was also adopted
in some of tlic larger hospitals, but was not found to
280 SOME PECULIARITIES OF
possess any advantage over the more established
method ; nor were the cooling treatment, and the use
of acid potations, so grateful to the fever patient, re-
cognised to be so deleterious as Dr Stevens has ima-
gined. Dr Holland, in his chapter entitled, " On
Points where a Patient may Judge for Himself," has
advanced this opinion. In the majority of instances of
actual illness, provided the real feelings of the patient
can be ascertained, his desires, as to food and di'ink,
may safely be complied with There may
seem some exception to be made for those cases where
urgent thirst gives the wish for liquids of a kind hurt-
ful to the stomach ; but it is the fluid alone which is
the object of desire ; and when the choice is before the
patient at the moment, he will usually take that which
most simply satisfies this natural want. — P. 78. Notes
and Reflections. If a thirsty feverish patient be asked
what is the most grateful to him — an alkaline or acid
potation — he will be hardly found to decide for the
latter ; and seeing, as I have done, and as it is in
general a prevalent practice, that cream of tartar water
and lemonade form the usual drinks of patients in
fever wards, there can be nothing so detrimental in
their use, if we may judge from the results as regards
the numbers who make a triumphant exit. In northern
latitudes, the people believe that the cranberry is sup-
plied them by a bountiful Providence, as a corrective
to scurvy and disorders of a putrescent nature ; and the
feverish peasant has often no other means of assistance
than what this berry, soaked in water, affords him.
Apples sliced, and allowed to remain some hours in
water, impregnate it with a subacid flavour, and this
GEEMAN PEACTICE. 281
is a common fever drink for hospital patients. It
would be in such cases probably, as Dr Holland has
maintained, that the patient might fairly be allowed
to judge for himself of the quality, whereas the dis-
cretion as to quantity must be left with the physician.
Grape Cure.
Those who have practised long in Russia will have
been made conversant with the cure du raisin. I had
an opportunity of becoming so when in the south of
the empire, and in a grape country. It is necessary
to state in what this cure consists, and for what class
of diseases it is recommended. The latter may be dis-
missed at once, by stating that all those functional
nervous affections, which resist the routine of treat-
ment generally employed, are the cases which may be
so benefited, seeing that the discipline is more into-
lerable than the disorders for which it is instituted.
A lady of rank leaves her bed of down and cushioned
canopy, and migrates into the country, — turns a poor
family out of their habitation (not without making
them an ample recompense) and becomes the tenant
of a filthy hut. This is part of the cure, viz. to forego
all luxury, to sleep in the peasant's crib, to sit upon
his bench, and to avoid anything in the shape of com-
fort. The grape alone for meat — the grape for drink;
a small quantity of dry bread is perhaps allowed.
This is continued for the space of three weeks, and it
is no wonder, if all circumstances are taken into con-
fjidcration, that a cure is effected. I have known
282 SOME TECULIARITIES OF
people of the highest rank subject themselves to such
discipline, and have full faith in its results. It is
homoeopathy and hydropathy in another shape, and as
the Italians say of all the varieties of form in which
they make their pastes, c'est toujours du macaroni.
As to the physical effects of the grape, which, when
the only food consumed, may be supposed to be taken
in very large quantities, they are laxative to a con-
siderable deofree in the commencement, so that the
treatment is not altog-ether neo-ative. I must here
protest against the statements of itinerant temperance
society lecturers whom I have met v/ith in England,
and who have persuaded their audiences that wine is
not sanctioned upon scripture authority as a potion for
man. They strenuously insist upon it, that the juice of
the grape is the only thing alluded to. It is easy to
defeat them upon this ground, for the word wine is
not one of doubtful or equivocal interpretation. It
means fermented liquor. As such, St Paul recom-
mended it to Timothy '• wherewith to comfort his
bowels,'' and surely he would not have prescribed a
crude juice, or one in a state of fermentation, which
takes place soon after it is expressed, for such a com-
plaint as his patient was labouring under. It was
wine, and nothing but wine, of which the apostle
speaks, the same which, when taken in excess, he
stigmatizes as a mocker.
We are, moreover, told that new wine must not be
put into old bottles, lest they should burst in the
process of fermentation. Leather bags are of course
here implied. We are mistaken also, if there be not
some such phrase as that, Wine is made to gladden
GERMAN PRACTICE. 283
the heart of man. It was not the mere juice of the
grape wliich our Saviour supplied at tlie marriage of
Cana, when, in its conversion,
" The conscious water saw its God and blush 'd'."
Nor can there be a more decided argument in favour
of the use of this liquor in moderation, than this very
circumstance supplies.
That a man of education should bind himself by
oath not to taste of wine or fermented liquors, is to
pass a sentence of libel upon his own understanding,
and to misinterpret the intentions of Providence, by
refusing to accept such blessings as have been so
abundantly provided for him whilst a dweller upon
earth.
It should be made known to teatotallers, that it is
much more doubtfid whether this beverage was in-
tended for such general use as the juice of the grape,
seeing that the growth of the plant is so very limited
on the earth's sm-face, and that this infusion may be
taken to intoxication, and very often does produce
more lasting and deleterious effects on the nervous
system than liberal potations of wine.
Those who have undergone the discipline of the
grape cure for a month, are glad to come back again
tu the more comfortable liquor, which, when used, and
jiot abused, is often one of the greatest blessings.
Erysipelas.
This disease is considered very formidable by Ger-
man physicians, both in its immediate effects, and as
leading to results of great consequence for the future.
284 SOME PECULIAEITIES OF
The treatment of it, iu its primary attack, is conducted
upon purely antiphlogistic principles, as regards in-
ternal remedies, and to the application of dry materials
alone to the local afl'ection. The application of any-
thing in liquid form to the part is most severely
reprobated; and a practitioner who would apply a
cooling lotion to a leg with erythema (in common
language, the rose), would risk the censure of the
medical Board of Control. There is a great and
insuperable fear universally prevalent amongst Ger-
man physicians of repelling anything in the form of
eruption ; and should this have been done, it seems
sufficient to explain the production of any subsequent
malady at any future period, however remote it may be.
The blood, once contaminated by the retrocession
of an eruption, will require quarts of decoction to
purify it.
Fevers are attributed to the use of Gowland's
lotion, as surely as puerperal mania and phlegmatia
dolens are ascribed to the absorption of milk into the
blood. The rose is looked upon with a jealous eye,
both as to immediate and future consequences ; and a
patient who has once suffered from erysipelas, is hardly
considered out of jeopardy for the rest of his life. If
any means have been used to cure the complaint by
local applications, then the danger is quadrupled.
Metastasis from the extremities to the head is held in
terrorem. The treatment is confined to laxatives,
sudorifics, and nauseating doses of antimony ; and the
parts are dusted with starch or finely levigated chalk,
with a small proportion of camphor, and the whole
limb is enclosed in cotton waddinsf.
GERMAN PRACTICE. 285
If the head be attacked, a mask of this material is
made to envelope it, apertures being left for the eyes,
mouth, and nostrils, so that the patient has the look
of a Spanish inquisitor.
In the plan of treatment here, the object is to
divert to the extremities ; and the pediluvium with
mustard flower, sinapisms, and dry cupping, are re-
sorted to ; and this with increased hopes of success,
if there be the slightest probability of gout in the
system. I have never known bark administered in
this affection, nor are opiates allowed in any stage of
the disease, even after the departure of all unpleasant
symptoms, and when sleep is but the one thing w\an ting.
In an abridged sketch of the history of medicine
in Russia, published in the first or second volume
of the Quarterly Medical and Surgical Review, it
will be seen that the failure of Dr Leo's treatment
of the son of a Czar for this disease in his leg, led not
merely to his disgrace, but to his execution.
I once witnessed erysipelas attacking the scrotum,
and running into gangrene in forty-eight hours. One-
half of the bag sloughed away, leaving the testes quite
denuded. Bark and wine in large and repeated doses,
with opium, arrested the progress, and the patient
recovered. He was treated by Saloman and myself.
The patient was a young man of dissolute habits,
who led a hard life, and was much addicted to drink-
ing. He had been exposed to very severe cold, after
getting wet through and standing in the water. A
twelvemonth after this period, he was again under my
care for erysipelas of the head, from which he re-
covered without any severe symptoms. He was
286 SOME POPULAR REMEDIES OF
alarmed about his health after these two attacks of
illness, and left the country.
SOME POPULAR REMEDIES OF THE GERMAN
SCHOOL.
Muriate of Ammonia.
Previous to my sojourn in Russia, 1 had never seen
this remedy employed otherwise than in the form of
lotion. I have, within the last fourteen years, had
much experience of it as a medicine, administered inter-
nally, and have had very convincing proofs of its effi-
cacy, or even preference, over other, salts in a variety
of complaints. I have stated, that although tuber-
cular disease is comparatively rare in high northern
latitudes, yet pleuritic affections, subacute, and con-
gestive inflammation of the lungs and their envelopes,
are of frequent occurrence.
These are the effects of vicissitudes of temperature on
the breaking up of the winter, and go under the name
of refroidissement, a term which implies something
more than our English phrase of catching cold.
In cases of serous and mucous congestion, Avhere
the inflammation does not run liigh, I have seen this
salt employed with the most beneficial effects. In
pleuritic affections it is usual to combine tartarized
antimony with it, and the following is the formula in
general use : —
B Ammonia? Mur. 3j.
Antimon. Tartar, gr. ij.
Decoct. Glycyriz, gvij.
Syrup. Altheai gj. Mft. haust.
THE GERMAN SCHOOL. 287
A table spoonful of this is given every two hours, and
continued in spite of the nausea and occasional vomit-
ing, which the fevr first doses seldom fail to produce.
When prescribed by itself with the same view as
nitrate of potash, I should, as far as my own expe-
rience is concerned, give it a decided preference. It
is hardly Avorthy of the dignified title of a specific,
nor is its deobstruent power so great as its advocates
maintain. It acts slightly upon the kidneys, and ex-
pectoration is often facilitated but not always so,
and cases treated by it progress to cure without decided
critical evacuation.
In cases of congestion of the mucous membranes in
chronic sore throat, with elongated uvula, and flabby
state of the tonsils and parts about the fauces, it is
very beneficial.
In that condition of the mucous membrane of the
stomach, caused by the action of a variety of medi-
cines, and which gives rise to anorexia in convales-
cence, I have seen it employed with happy results.
The tongue loses its pallor, and acquires a healthier
appearance under its influence, and it paves the way
advantageously for more decided tonic remedies in the
convalescence after gastric fever. In some forms of
uterine disease, accompanied by discharges, it is also
useful. Its salt unpleasant taste is best disguised by
liquorice root in form of decoction, or by a solution
of the extract in water. Generally, after the first few
doses, patients take it without disgust.
Nitrate of Soda.
I have already stated that the Germans consider
288 SOME POPULAR REMEDIES OF
this salt of a more antiphlogistic nature than the
nitrate of potash.
Muriate of Soda.
This, in the form of brine in which cucumbers are
preserved, is a most popular aperient. A small watery
seedv cucumber is preserved in salt and water, to
Avhicli a very small proportion of vinegar, and some
leaves of the black currant-tree, are added. Thousands
of barrels are so prepared annually, and serve as salad
for rich and poor during winter. The liquor, impreg-
nated with the rhind of the cucumber and the leaves
of the black currant-tree, is drunk in tumbler doses,
and seldom fails in the desired effect.
Bitter Wasser.
This is more generally used in St Petersburg than
any other purgative. It is imported from Germany
in stone-bottles. Its action is mild and speedy. It
is taken fasting, in half pint or pint doses. Its taste
is mawkish. Previous to a commencement of a course
of mineral Avaters, it is customary to administer a few
doses of this to prepare the way for them. Pregnant
women use it with very great advantage, for it pro-
duces all the desired effects without causing griping.
It is a Carlsbad water, and the active ingredients
are the sulphates of soda and magnesia. The Pulna
water is the best substitute I have found for it in this
country, but it is not by any means so certain in its
effects.
THE GERMAN SCHOOL. 289
Phosphoric Acid.
This is given in all those cases where British practi-
tioners employ sulphuric and nitric acid. It is pre-
scribed in its solid form, in pills, but more frequently
in the liquid state, and is considered to possess more
tonic j)Owers then the two former.
Acidum Mariaticum Oxygenat, (Chlorine Water.)
Is a favourite remedy in putrid fevers, and in cases
of ulcerated sore throat, which assume a putrid form.
It is useful in gargles, and I have used it with much
advantage in St Petersburg, where sore throats are
very prevalent, owing to the alternations of extreme
cold and moisture which prevail in the spring and
autumn. It is best gi^en by itself in drops, from
thirty to fifty in water. Sugar decomposes it. I
have used it with decoction of bark.
Tlnct. Digital, ^ther.
This is a very useful preparation, and a convenient
mode of administering this remedy. The leaves of
the fox glove are macerated in sulphuric aether in lieu
of proof spirit. The nauseating properties of the digi-
talis are counteracted by the stimulant power of the
menstiamm, and, in cases of serous effusion, where it is
desirable to increase the action of the absorbents, and
to determine to the kidneys, this preparation seems
to combine these advantages without producing the
o
290 SOME POPULAR REMEDIES OF
nausea and exhaustion which frequently accompany
the use of the simple tincture.
Aqua Lcmro-cerasi.
This preparation is in much and deserved esteem
in Germany. Dr Malfatti of Vienna has used it more
frequently than any other practitioner, and no con-
tinental physician has been more consulted in ner-
vous complaints. I am surprised to find it so rarely
employed by London medical men. It is highly
serviceable in spasmodic affections, and it is what the
French style a calmant, in the most extensive sense of
the term.
It is prussic acid chawn mild, but it is more available
in practice, and indeed is almost used to the exclusion
of it by continental physicians. It is a safer prepara-
tion — the dose may be increased from ten to sixty
drops, and a patient may be trusted with a phial of
it. The aqua lauro-cerasi deserves a trial. It is most
useful in spasmodic affections of the stomach, in hypo-
chondriac uneasiness, in hysteria, w^here there is un-
easiness about the uterus. The late Dr Sutoff of St
Petersburg gave it in very large doses in puerperal
mania, where there was manifest uterine irritation.
In such cases, he considered it a specific, and gave it
in table spoonful doses. In nervous palpitation of the
heart I have found it most signally efficacious. It
relieves the pain caused by inspissated bile, or small
calculi passing through the ducts, more speedily than
any other remedy with which I am acquainted. A
near relative, continually suffering from this cause,
THE GERMAN SCHOOL. 291
generally found immediate relief from it. Pie has
passed very large calculi at different periods.
There is no medicine with which I am acquainted
varying so much in its virtues from difference in the
mode of its preparation. I have not found it of equal
strength in any two chemists shops. A preparation
of the bitter almond is often substituted for it, but is
far inferior to it. The distillation of the fresh leaves
of the Pruno lauro-cerasus is the medicine to which I
allude, and I have found it no where so good as at
jNIessrs Hudsons' in the Haymarket.
As, upon my return to England, I had not, for some
time, sufficient opportunity of ascertaining whether all
the effects which I had witnessed abroad from the use
of this medicine, Avere not to be procured from the
more concentrated hydrocyanic acid of Scheele, I
could not state my opinion so decidedly as at present;
but from the few cases which I have since treated, I
may aflSirm that the aqua lauro-cerasi is by far the more
effective preparation of the two.
In many nervous affections, as palpitation, hysteria,
&c., I generally prescribe the following draught : —
R Aquae lauro-cerasi, vri xx.
Aqua3 Flor. Aurantii 3j.
Syrup. Tolutan 3j. Mft. liaust p. r. n. s.
The French often prescribe a concentrated prepa-
ration of the orange flower in sugar and water for
spasmodic uneasiness about the stomach, — for indi-
gestion arising from repletion.
292 SOME POPULAR REMEDIES OF
Arnica Montana.
This has been lately introduced into British prac-
tice. Whether it is held in much estimation by the
faculty here I am unable to state. With the Germans
it is classed among sacred remedies. Its virtues are
extolled throughout two pages of the " Pharmacopoeia
Ruthensis."
I have been much disappointed in its effects, as far
as I have been conversant with its use. It is gene-
rally used in cases where strychnine is indicated, but
it is much more uncertain in its operation. I have
known it exhibited in large doses, without producing
any sensible eifects.
Indigo.
This remedy I have seen administered in cases of
epilepsy, hysteria, and also in all the convulsive dis-
orders of children, from such as result from difficult
dentition to those which are caused by effusion on the
brain.
I have ever protested against the idea of the pos-
sibility of its doing any good in such cases, and have
discontinued my attendance where a continuation of
its use has been insisted upon, to the exclusion of
really active remedies. It is, nevertheless, a very
popular one with German physicians.
As, in olden time, the madder root was prescribed
in virtue of its colour for scanty menstruation, 1 believe
the blue indigo appearance of the mouth and face in
THE GERMAN SCHOOL. 293
convulsive attacks has, upon some homoeopathic prin-
ciple, led to the belief that this drug Avould be useful
in such affections. It may be said in this instance,
with much truth, " Nimium ne crede colori."'
lulix Mas. ^
This is a popular remedy for worms. A German
practitioner told me that he found the male fern alone
possess the power of expelling the tape-worm, and
that want of success might generally be attributed to
the employment of the female plant.
Extracts.
Vegetable extracts form a large item in German
prescription. The two favourite ones are the ext.
taraxaci, and the ext. graminis (tritlcum repenx).
The former is employed in hepatic affections, jaundice,
dropsy, &c. The latter is used as a mild tonic and
deobstruent in the convalescence of fever. Perhaps
no two remedies are so frequently employed as the
two in question. Their indigenous growth is one of
their principal merits.
The llussians, as far as drugs are concerned, patro-
nise home produce. They have a prejudice against
taking such as do not grow in the quarter of the globe
in which they reside, and question the influence of
Asiatic products upon European constitutions, unless
the latter happen to be I'csidcnt in Asia.
294 SOME POPULAR REMEDIES OF
The domestic medicines of the people, the roots,
the herbs, the simples, are much in vogue with the
higher classes, from the cu'cumstance of their indige-
nous growth.
Many of these are employed in hospital practice.
As a diaphoretic, the infusion of the dried raspberry,
or the flower of the elder, answers the purpose very
Avell in cases of catarrh. Juniper-berry tea, and
parsely-root tea, are some of the commonest diuretics,
or serve as menstrua for other powerful remedies of
the same class. The flowers of the lime-tree are sup-
posed to possess very soothing powers, Lime-flower
tea is much in vogue. The species jyectoral is com-
posed of a variety of herbs, the violet or pansy, the
borage, the coltsfoot, the horehomid, &c., &c. ; and in
all cases of catarrh, ptisans made with these herbs are
in great esteem.
Ox Gall.
If we look into the histories of past times, and
analyse the views of our ancestors respecting the
operation of medicines, we shall find that there is no-
thing new in homoeopathy.
In the prosecutions by the College of Physicians of
those dealers in medicines who used to adulterate
their drugs, we find that sheeps lungs were often
substituted for foxes' lungs, and the bones of horses'
hearts for the bones of stags' hearts. As the fox
is a long winded animal, and can run for a long
time without being out of breath, so his lungs dried
and powdered were supposed to be efficacious in
the treatment of asthma and dyspnoea ; and as the
THE GERMAN SCHOOL. 295
stag is said to be subject to epilepsy, his heart's bone
was administered against this disease.
Much of this still remains to be weeded out of
German practice. In cases of prolapsus uteri it is the
custom with some to fill a bag with cascarilla, make
it warm, and apply it high up on the abdomen ; and
surely this savours of the old idea of drawing the
womb up by the odour, as when it got into the throat
it was the object to draw it down again into the globus
hystericus ; nor can I see what virtue the fuligo
sjylendeyis, which an accoucheur considered as a specific
for this affection, can have, unless the propensity which
soot possesses to fly up the chimney. Upon the same
principle, then, is the gall of the ox universally adminis-
tered in all affections of the gall bladder, either where
the bile is inspissated, or where calculi are formed.
It is a powerful bitter, and may be of service as a tonic,
but the idea of dissolving gall stones upon such homoeo-
pathic principles, is rather ancient. Dr Baillie main-
tained that there was no solvent for these in the living
body. It may remain for galvanism to do something
with them. Where there is a suspicion of biliary
calculi, this resinous matter is very generally pre
scribed.
Oleum Jecoris Aselli.
This animal substance, one of the most unpalatable
in the whole list of internal medicines, has been much
used of late in scrofulous cases, and is reported to
be efficacious in strumous affections. I have not
sufficient experience to state anything decisive as to
296 SOME POPULAR REMEDIES OF
its merits. I have seen it given to very young
children ; but the dislike and disgust to its taste have
generally produced more disquiet and uneasiness than
any good Avhich might otherwise have been antici-
pated from its use. When the horror of a medicine
will well nigh throw a child into convulsions, and
■when this has to be repeated several times in the
course of the day, little good can be anticipated from
its specific powers. This is a part of German practice
which appears unnecessary, viz. the constant repetition
of the dose. It is common to givo small quantities of
active matter, and repeat the dose every hour in most
cases ; so that the nausea and disgust of one potion
is hardly got rid of before it is renewed by a second ;
and is it to be wondered at if homoeopathy should
triumph over such practice ? I made this objection
once to a German physician, whom I often met in
consultation. He replied to me, True, but when I
order a medicine to be taken five times a day, I may
hope that it wall be taken three times. It is not
necessarv to go abroad to prove that regiments of
phials are never uncorked by the patients ; and it is
often from the fear of being compelled to take so
much, that the good which a little might do is often
refused by the patient. The system certainly is
fundamentally bad, as it is, or rather was, once prac-
tised in this country. "When one thing is substituted
for another, it is never done so with impunity. No
two things are precisely alike, as no two words are
perfectly synonymous. If labour and talent are to be
charged upon drugs, it must follow that both patient
and practitioner will eventually suffer. The former
TfiE GERMAN SCHOOL. 297
"^ill refuse the quantity altogether ; or, in case of a
second illness, will, from fear of the same system being
pursued, defer timely application, when a little medi-
cine might be of great assistance; and the practitioner
will suffer in his reputation, and lower the dignity of
his profession to a trade. There are few who will not
uphold me as to the truth of this statement, and Avho
earnestly desire some other method of remuneration
than that, which they are almost by law compelled to
exact, upon this substitutive system. This should be
the basis of medical reform ; — to place the profession
upon the standard of truth and respectability; — to
allow practitioners pecuniary remuneration for their
time and talents, without being under the necessity
of charging these upon a superfluous supply of
drugs.
To remedy this, the plan naturally suggests itself,
of separating the prescriber from the dispenser of
medicines, and this would do if men were perfect ;
but a system of collusion may here creep in, and the
patient have to pay as much for his drugs, and receive
them in as large quantities from the simple dispenser
as from the compound apothecary, of which I have
seen too many instances abroad, where the physician
does not dispense, but has a per centage allowed him
for his prescriptions. The temptation is often irre-
sistible. Nay, I hare known tiiat, in many cases
where practising among a poor but respectable class
of society, unable to afford a fee, he receives no
other remuneration th:m what he takes from the
druggist, who dispenses only for ready money ; and
thus the patient is as much nauseated by quan-
298 SOME POPULAR REMEDIES OP
tity as by a simple DOSE of the Oleum Jecoris
ASELLI.
There is an art in prescribing. It cannot be donbted
that many remedies would work better upon the system
if they did not excite that nausea and disgust, which
cannot be nugatory as regards their effects. Thenerves
do not bear it with impunity, and remedies are shorn of
their natural powei's by this very cu'cumstance. We
may instance the capivi capsules as forming this de-
sideratum ; for many a stomach has revolted against
this balsam, in whatever other form it may have been
prescribed. The Germans are in the habit of giving
pills and powders in what is styled ouhli. It is a
paste, such as we see on the bottom of macaroons, — a
kind of wafer. Little squares of this are made for
the purpose. They are dipped in water, and the pills
or powders folded up in them ; and they are of so
slippery a nature when thus moistened, that they glide
down the throat without the slightest difficulty, and
are perfectly tasteless. This answers better than
gilding the pill ; for many have the greatest difficulty
in swallowing these, and thus they are half dissolved
in the mouth, and when of bitter ingredients, cause
nausea and vomiting. Foreigners, indeed, will not
take pills unless enveloped in the way above stated.
As powders may be so administered, it is hardly
necessary to resort to this globular method ; for a
large powder may be so slipped down the throat.
When insoluble substances are prescribed, there is
no other way of administering them but in pills or
powders. The latter must be taken in jelly ; for, if
mixed with fluids, not one-half of the active ingredient
THE GERMAN SCHOOL. 299
is swallowed. These inconveniences are to be remedied
eftectualiy by the use of these wafers.
It is better than sugaring the edge of the cup, as
Tasso has instanced.
" Cosi all' egro fanciul porgiamo aspersi
Di soave licor gli orli del vaso,
Succhi amari, ingannato, intanto ei beve,
E dair inganno suo vita riceve.
Gerusalemme Liberata, Canto I.
APPENDIX.
APPENDIX.
Venereal Disease — Cancer — Credat JucIeeus — Sectio Cadaveris
of a Patient dying Suddenly — Disease of Kidney — Poisons
— Rupture of Gall Bladder — Puncture of Intestines —
Mesmerism — Plica Polonica — Experiments on Animals. —
Sound.
VENEREAL DISEASE.
John Hunter long since asked the question, if a
chancre would heal of itself? and Broussais would
have replied to him, yes, as readily as other local in-
flammations, when treated upon the antiphlogistic plan.
A more important question, and a more difficult
problem, remains to be solved. When a chancre heals
of itself, or with the assistance of some very slight local
treatment, is the constitution guaranteed from future
effects ?
Opinions differ much upon this head, and run into
very opposite extremes.
A gentleman applied to me with a local sore. I
told him to wash it with cold water and let me see
him again in a day or two. lie did so. I then pro-
304 APPENDIX.
nounced it venereal, and recommended the usual plan
of treatment. Some time afterwards I met him in
society, and he told me that I had been mistaken in
the case, and he had got well in a few days. Six
months afterwards, he came to me with secondary
symptoms, sore throat and eruptions, and went through
a long course of mercury. He had allowed a German
surgeon to apply caustic to his local wound, which
had healed. Similar cases have occurred to most who
have had any practice in tliis complaint. The healing
of a local sore will not prevent the constitutional
effects of the poison absorbed into the system from
manifesting themselves in various shapes.
This is not the question at issue. The difficulty
lies in being able to decide upon the true character of
the local primary affection. If practitioners can be
found w^ho can at once pronounce safely upon this
matter, they must have very good eyes.
There is what is styled the Hunterian chancre, well
defined, easily recognized ; but how many more forms
of wound are there which are not Hunterian, and from
which all the same unpleasant consequences arise, if
they are not treated constitutionally,
Dr CoUes's opinions are very decided upon this
subject, and very alarming; for he states that no
excoriation, however slight, if healed by astringent
lotions, may not prove to have been of a specific
nature, and reproduce the disease in secondary forms.
There is no proof wdiatever that a slight sore is not
venereal, if anything more than cold water has been
applied to heal it. Here, then, is at once a drawback
to the value of the Hmiterian patent.
VENEREAL DISEASE. 305
If we now turn to the other side of the question,
we shall find that not only the slight excoriations here
alluded to, but that malignant and foul ulcers will
heal under local treatment, and the patient will not
suffer from future consequences ; and we shall, more-
over, find that both primary and secondary symptoms
will be treated successfully by negative practice, — by
the water cure and the hunger cure, and that thousands
ofcases are dismissed from hospitals that have never
undergone any specific treatment.
If an illustration were wanted to prove the fact,
that diseases are changed from what they were when
they first appeared amongst us, the venereal disease
would aiford the most satisfactory one. It is im-
possible not to observe the milder forms under which
it now presents itself; and true, as it may be, that
the treatment is much milder and better understood,
and that many of the dreadful ravages which were
formerly made upon the system were manufactured by
the abuse of mercury, still I do not believe that the
present treatment would have been so successful, if
the disease itself had not undergone some modification
as well as the modus medendi.
It is not to be denied that the most disastrous
consequences have resulted from the indiscriminate
and injudicious employment of mercury, as a medicine
of universal application in this affection; and that such
liave been the direful consequences of its abuses, that,
in the couplet of Sydenham,
" Graviora morbis patimur remedia.
Nee vita tanti est vivere ut possis mori."
Still all these torments were not attributable to
306 APPENDIX.
merciiry alone ; and from all that we have seen and
gathered from our medical brethren abroad, both for
and against its employment, we are far from being
converts to the new system, and still look upon the
mercurial treatment as the safest and most satisfactory
method of combating the venereal disease.
When in Stockholm in 1842, we had an opportunity
of visiting the large military hospital in that city, and
of seeing a great number of patients treated upon the
antiphlogistic system, where no mercury was used ;
and, upon inquiry as to the appearance of secondary
symptoms, we were informed, from the statistical
tables, that the number of patients so infected gra-
dually decreased as the plan was more generally
adopted, and that they did not, during the last year,
average more than seven per cent.
In Berlin we found that the results were very
different, and that the cases of secondary symptoms
w^ere very numerous ; and Dr Diefenbach himself
informed me, that he had abandoned the non-mercurial
plan, as he found that it was both more uncertain
in its final results, and the constitution of the patients
was much more shattered by the abstraction of nourish-
ment almost to starvation, than by a moderate use of
mercury and a moderate diet.
I had, however, an opportunity, to me most desir-
able, of visiting the military hospital at Stockholm on
admission day, so that I could judge of the natm'e of
the local affections, before any plan of treatment had
been adopted ; and this at once convinced me of what
I had ever presumed to be the case, that however ex-
cellent such treatment might be, it was often employed
VENEREAL DISEASE. 307
in cases where no venereal affection really existed, and
thus usurped a reputation which it could not legiti-
mately claim. I was accompanied by Dr Smith, a most
intelligent English physician, residing at Stockholm,
and we saw the patients together, who were just ad-
mitted into the venereal Avards.
Of these — some had phymosis and paraphymosis ;
others, clusters of sores round the edge of the glans
penis, excoriations of the prepuce from uncleanliness,
excrescences of doubtful character about the anus,
and there were not more than two or three at the
most, out of eleven whom we examined, who would
have been subjected to mercurial treatment by any
well-educated British practitioner; yet, these cases,
eight out of the eleven, all perfectly tractable by
baths, purgatives, and cooling treatment, for which
a mercurial course would have been criminal, subse-
quently, no doubt, figured in the numerical lists of
patients treated without mercury for syphilitic affec-
tions. The plan adopted in this hospital is much the
same as in Hambm*g and Berlin, or wherever the
disease is treated upon this idtra antiphlogistic plan.
Great precautions are taken to prevent any fermented
liquors being smuggled into the wards ; for, not only
are the doors barred and bolted, but a lock is put upon
tlic key hole, to prevent even a quill from being in-
troduced, so much addicted are the Swedes to the
abuse ofspirituous liquors. Baths, saline purgatives,
and a diet of weak tea, and a small proportion of
white bread, form the whole of the treatment, and the
most aggravated cases are said to yield in from five
to six weeks. It is doubtful whether these most
308 ArrENDix.
aggravated cases do not get well sooner than those
whose appearance is much more simple, for the very
circumstance of a sore being bad at the commence-
ment in its appearance, is often proof that it is not
decidedly syphilitic.
It cannot be denied, however, that what bears all
the character of a venereal ulcer, will get w^ell by this
plan of treatment ; and the only question that remains
to be agitated, Is it preferable, and in what respect is
it so, to a mild mercurial one ?
The advocates for its adoption, admit that the
former plan is not more certain than the latter ; and
as to the objection to the havoc which mercury
makes upon the constitution, it is admitted that
patients are much more exhausted under the new, than
under the old method. As to the question of secon-
dary symptoms, it is difficult to get at the truth.
Eruptions may arise from a variety of causes ; and
pains in the bones are rheumatic ; but upon a fair
investigation of the matter, it will be found that a
regular mercurial treatment, well directed, is a surer
guarantee against subsequent effects on the system,
than where this specific is dispensed with. In the
Berlin hospital, the cases of secondary symptoms are
very numerous, and many of the Prussian practitioners
have abandoned this mode from this circumstance.
Another and material objection to this system is,
the impossibihty of employing it except in those cases
where the patients are wholly under the control of
the practitioner. In fact, it is confined to the wards
of a Lock Hospital. A debauch is more prejudicial
in the uninterrupted antiphlogistic j)lan, here insisted
VENEREAL DISEASE. 309
upon, than any other ch'cumstancc; and reliance cannot
be placed upon mdividuals ; nor is it to be supposed,
that for the slight inconvenience under which they
may suppose themselves to labour, they will adhere
literally to the plan laid down for them, and not yield
sometimes to temptation, where this, moreover, cannot
in their minds be associated with excess.
In the opportunities I had of seeing this plan
adopted in St Petersburg, I found that it was con-
fined to a very few, and to the hospital practice only,
and this upon no very extensive scale, for the lower
orders are little subject to the disease ; and the class
which does suffer, is not one that readily submits to
the discipline of an hospital. In those cases where it
M'as employed, the same report was made of its success,
as in the Hamburg establishments.
I shall not enter into any details upon this matter,
as a fidl account of the plan of treatment is to be
found in Sir Alexander Chrichton's late publication
upon fevers, from which I have already freely quoted ;
and it Is cheering to find a man, whose career was so
brilliant, and whose moral character stood so high in
the Russian capital, still labouring In his vocation with
all the energy and ability of the maturest of his days.
It is also an objection to this new system, even
under circumstances where the plan is fully maintained,
that the class of patients suffer too much from Its
debilitating effects. Tradesmen and mechanics have
not much stamina, and can ill bear a diminution in
the quantity of food, of which they can hardly procure
cnoTigh by their healthy labour. How arc they to
make up for the loss of nutritious matter when dlcj-
olO APPENDIX.
missed from an hospital, weak and emaciated, witli no
money at command, and no strength to work ? They
are placed in the anomalous situation of having no
means tUl^they gain them ; and being unable to do
this from lack of physical power.
On the other side of the question, we are much in-
debted to this system for the knowledge which we now
possess, that mercury is not absolutely necessary in
the treatment of Lues Venerea ; for we have abundant
proof, that every stage of it, from the simple primary
idcer to all the protean forms which it afterwards
assumes, in the shape of eruptions, nodes, &c., is
curable by simple treatment ; and as we occasionally
meet with those whose constitutions will not bear the
impression of mercury, we may congratulate ourselves
that we have other means at our command.
Upon this subject the profession has long been all
abroad. When secondary symptoms appeared after
a mercurial course, it was, in the olden time, attributed
to an insufficient dose of this mineral, and another
course of it was commenced de novo. Now, the very
same symptoms are attributed to the modes of cure
which were formerly ascribed to the indomitable
character of the disease ; and notwithstanding all that
has been said upon the matter, nothing will prevent
their appearance in some peculiar constitutions. Still,
I am of opinion, that whilst we in conclave have
been discussing the nature of this malady, and the
various modes of treating it, the disease has taken the
opportunity of changing its nature, and of losing its
malignancy ; nor do I attribute this to a change in the
treatment onlv, for, be it remembered, that there are
VENEKEAL DISEASE. 311
still some practitioners of high eminence, who employ-
it as freely as aforetime, and who will not listen to any
other doctrine than that of the mercurial.
Dr Colles of DubUn ranks perhaps foremost in this
list, and prescribes a month's course of mercury for a
})rimary sore, and insists that during three weeks out
of the four, the patient's mouth should be thoroughly
affected.
Nor does a scrofulous constitution, according to
this author, forbid its employment, but it should, on
the contrary, be pushed to ptyalism, by which alone
its healthy action is produced.
We do not meet with anything more decisive than
this in all that has been written in its favour ; and
such doctrines would, with many, be accused, if prac-
tically adopted, of producing all the dire effects which
mercury has been said to do.
That these consequences are frequently unjustly
attributed to the use of the latter, is a matter of occa-
sional occurrence, and I had, myself, an opportunity
of knowing an instance of such defamation.
A young man of dissolute habits had been frequently
annoyed by primary sores, which he had always
ti'eated himself by caustic ; and when bubo succeeded
to them, he used to apply leeches very freely. He
had done so for years, when suddenly he broke out
all over in one mass of sores, from head to foot. He
then, and not till then, applied for medical assistance.
Five grains of blue pill were given him night and
morning for three or four days, when he became
maniacal, and the pills were discontinued, and no more
of the mineral was employed. As soon as circum-
312 ArPENDIX.
stances permitted, he was conveyed to England,
almost a putrid mass. I know not mider whose care
he was placed, but his state was attributed to the
abuse of mercury, of which he had taken, at the most,
twelve or fifteen grains. This circumstance was noti-
fied in the history of his case, which was read to the
person under whose care he was placed in England.
He finally recovered, but remained a wretched object.
Before speaking of the mercurial treatment of this
complaint, as practised in Russia, and it must be
borne in mind that this implies the German Faculty,
I may mention some points which have afforded more
matter for controversy in England than in the north
of Europe.
In my Lehrzeit, or the days of my medical stu-
dentship, the idea of the complaint being propagated
by sexual intercourse, where no external symptoms
were at the time manifest, was altogether ridiculed by
the heads of the profession. Mr Pearson began to
waver upon the matter about the year 1820, and
finally, I believe, changed his opinions in toto upon
this important subject. Now, what is the general
idea ? Not certainly that it is not the case, but a mat-
ter of wonder that there could ever have been doubts
upon the subject.
Dr Colics now mentions, " Infants are infected In
utero by parents, both of whom are, and have been, pre-
vious to marriage, in a sound state of health, but one
or both of whom have had venereal symptoms, which
they supposed to have been eradicated previous to
marriage. These cases have been proved, by repeated
abortions of diseased, and, generally lifeless, children ;
VENEREAL DISEASE. 313
and again, an infant afFected with secondary symptoms
may infect a dry nurse -who handles it, and who, thus
gaining sores, may infect another sound child whom
she may subsequently handle. It is singular that
a syphilitic infant never aifects the breast of its own
mother, although it immediately affects the nipple of
a wet nurse. This infection may easily be propagated
through a whole family, and is not less contagious
than the itch." — Colles on the Venereal Disease.
Now these are opinions which may be supposed to
savour of ultra notions, and would not have passed
current some thirty years ago, but they are those which
have ever been adopted by the German school, and
the question with them is as to the time that a syphi-
litic taint may remain in the constitution without being
wholly eradicated, and so capable of propagating its
effects. I should say that Germans will prescribe no
limit to such cases, and that with them the period is
indefinite. Sir Astley Cooper maintained that if a
patient were free from any outward and visible sign
of the disease for two whole years, any subsequent
suspicious symptoms which might afterwards manifest
themselves, could not be attributed to the consequences
of the primary affection. The Germans would lay
down such a law as the following : — " Although the
probabilities are much against the reappearance of
syphilitic symptoms where there has been no manifes-
tation of such for an interval of some years, still there is
no standard by which m'C can judge of perfect immunity
from such ; and the circumstance of their having lain
dormant for a long period, does not negative their
specific character Avhcn they reappear." The same
r
314 APPENDIX.
reasoning applies to gonorrhea as to lues, and I have
known an erythematous affection of the leg attributed
to a simple clap, from Avhich the individual had never
experienced any inconvenience for five or six years.
The state of health of wet niurses, is a matter
of very great importance, and involves professional
reputation. As regards their choice in St Petersburg,
not a spot must be found uj^on their skins ; a flea bite
is equivocal, and any disease which a child might have
in after life would be ascribable to a pimple, if such had
really existed upon the wet nurse's cheek. Thus they
have to pass through a very critical medical ordeal
before they are furnished with certificates of qualifica-
tion for their important offices. They are chiefly the
young wives of peasants. They are well paid, clad
in sumptuous apparel, treated in the kindest mannei',
for the Russians understand the influence of the nerves
over the secretions, and do nothing that shall excite
angry passions in the nurse. They naturally choose,
as far as they are able, the best tempered women.
The accoucheurs prefer a woman whose child is three
months old to one who has just been confined, and the
mother of a second child is preferable to a novice. It
is, however, an unjustifiable system, for no heed, — no
care is taken of the poorer offspring, who generally
falls a sacrifice in the first few weeks. This is often
concealed from the mother, from no particular anxiety
about her feehngs,but from fear that any shock to them
might give a colic to the parasite.
There is no doubt, as Dr Stevens has remarked, that
these diseases are communicated to cliildren by mothers
and nurses through the medium of the blood. The
VENEREAL DISEASE. 315
lues venerea and variola afford ample proofs ; and
upon the authority of Dr Lind, the same author
observes that agues are so transmitted. This is much
more problematical.
The secondary affections are, according to Dr Colics,
capable of generating primary symptoms, as ulcers on
the tongue and lips create chancres in others. The
following is related by the same author. " An ac~
couchem* got a sore upon his finger in his obstetric
practice. He took mercury, and the sore healed.
Upon bruising liis finger two years afterwards, the
sore broke out again, and proved to be of venereal
character, as it communicated the disease to two
females whom he attended in labour."
The posif hoc, propter hoc, does not seem evi-
dent in this case. The practitioner was in the
habit of attending the lowest orders of females, as is
evident from the statement. He gained the first sore
in this way, — when his finger was bruised : what
reason is there to suppose that he did not gain the
second sore in the same way as the first without having
recom'se to the idea of the disease being again revived
by an accidental bruise. This is, of course, only
matter of conjecture ; the authority is too high to
allow us to suppose that all circumstantial evidence
has not been fully weighed ; but I, and I venture to
say many others, have known of men being Infected
by females in whom no trace of the disease could be
discovered. A very promiscuous intercourse may
account for such an occurrence.
I shall now state the general plan of treatment
pursued by the German faculty iu this complaint,
316 APPENDIX.
wliere mercury is employed, and state my reasons for
adopting their system to a certain extent in the
general, but never in the local, plan of treatment.
Much of what I am now about to reproduce has
already appeared in the Lancet.
It is customary with German practitioners to apply
caustic immediately upon the discovery of a local
sore ; and this is done very effectually, not merely
touching the surface with the nitrate of silver, but
burning it deeply in, so that a considerable slough
afterwards separates, — and with this is eradicated the
local disease. If this be done in time, it may answer
very well, but it is difficult to say what is precisely
the meaning of doing it in time ; for however soon the
local sore may have been discovered, (and this is
a point also of importance, for a local sore may exist
many days before its nature is suspected,) still ab-
sorption may have taken place into the system, so
that the practice can never be considered as safe.
This, however, prevails very generally, and it arises
from the difficulty of persuading those who are so
affected (for the most part militai-y men) to undergo
a regular treatment. They cannot imagine, that for
a local inconvenience so trifling in itself at the com-
mencement, they must abstain from all their usual
habits ; and as the mercurial treatment, where judici-
ously administered, is slow in its operations, and
makes no impression upon the local affection for some
days, they lose patience, apply elsewhere, and it is
seldom that they do not pass through the hands of
several practitioners in the course of the treatment.
If, therefore, the local affection be thus timely taken,
VENEREAL DISEASE. 317
it is eradicated by caustic in the first instance. If a
sore is decidedly venereal, and the patient is aware
of the nature of the disease, and disposed to submit
to a rational plan of cure, the following mode is gene-
rally adopted.
A simple purge and a w^arm bath take the initia-
tive. The black wash is used locally, and the bichlo-
ride is given internally upon the following plan : —
ft. Hydrarg. Bichlorid gr. iij.
Solve in aqua fontan nx ij.
Ext. Glycyrrhiz 5ss.
Opii Puri gr. iij misce et distribue in pilulas
xviii. Kquales.
The patient commences by taking one pill the first
night, and one the following morning. The same the
second night and morning. Two pills the third night ;
one in the morning. The same the fourth and fifth
night. The sixth night two pills, and two in the
morning. Three pills on the seventh night.
Thus the dose is never pushed beyond one grain of
the bichloride in the twenty-four hours, and seldom
more than two-thirds are administered. If thinti-s o-q
on well, and the disease feels the influence of the dose,
this is diminished in the same ratio that it was auf-
mented, and the plan of treatment usurps the title of
the montant and the descendant.
A pint of the simple decoction of sarsaparilla is
taken daily, and, in most cases, it is found that the
cure is eflf'ected towards the end of the third week,
or after from ten to twelve grains of the use of the
318 APPENDIX.
mineral. The treatment is terminated by an aperient
and two or three warm baths.
In the dietetic part the patient is put upon a low
diet, and but a small quantity of animal food is
allowed, and white meats only. Wine and fermented
liquors are prohibited by the generality of practi-
tioners ; but some allow a moderate quantity of the
former upon the principle of its preventing the debi-
litating effects of nausea, and alleviating tormina; but
this is not the general practice. Coffee is considered
too stimulating, and all condiments in the preparation
of the patient's food are prohibited.
As a general position, the more simply the body is
nourished, the more powerfully will specific remedies
act upon the disease under which it labours ; there Avill
be less chance of chemical decomposition, and this
theory, rational in itself, is supported by facts.
There is a difference of opinion among German prac-
titioners as regards the advantages or disadvantages
of cutaneous perspiration during the administration of
mercury. Some advise that the patient should be con-
fined to a room heated to 60° Fahr., and combine sar-
saparilla with the mineral from its sudorific properties ;
whereas a distinguished physician in Vienna, who has
acquired celebrity for the treatment of syphilis, par-
ticularly under its secondary forms, insists upon a cool
surrounding atmosphere, asserting, that if the pores of
the skin are kept open, mercury loses half its power.
In St Petersburg, the former opinion prevails ; and
in no chmate do these diseases more readily yield to
the influence of mercury than in these northern lati-
tudes, and more particularly in the winter season.
VENEREAL DISEASE. 319
The equable temperature of the apartments prevents
the patients from catchhig cold, and the dryness of
the atmosphere allows, under certain restrictions, of
moderate exposure to the open an-.
It is true that the treatment is prolonged by exter-
nal exposure, but it is equally true that the constitu-
tion on the whole suffers less than when subjected to
close confinement.
AVhen it is the object to introduce mercury by slow
degrees into the system, either the bichloride is given
as above stated, or frictions are employed ; the latter
arc, however, gradually going out of use. AMien
employed, a severe discipline as regards confinement to
an equable warm temperature is strenuously enjoined.
I must state that I was much disappointed in the effiscts
of our English preparation, the blue pill, in northern
latitudes ; and the failure must be attributed to some
peculiarity in the climate, and not to the preparation
of the medicine, for I imported it from the best
London chemists ; but not finding it successful, I
invariably employed the bichloride in the treatment
of equivocal complaints during the latter period of my
residence in Russia ; and adopting the plan which I
have above notified, I may say that I have had no
secondary symptoms to deal with Avhere it was con-
scientiously followed by the patient. I have, in some
cases, where I was persuaded that ihe moie gradual
treatment would not be persevered in, affected the
system rapidly and puq)osclyj as the only M-ay of
commanding the future treatment. As soon as once
the mouth is aflfccted, the patient is aware of the
dangers which he incurs by imprudence, and thus
320 APPENDIX.
becomes docile ; but this plan is one of necessity and
not choice. In some constitutions, which rebel against
a continued use of mercury, the hydriodate of potash
is substituted for a time. It is generally given in ten
grain doses three times daily, with the simple decoc-
tion of sarsaparilla.
If the local condition of the part improve, and the
constitutional irritation cease, the mercury is again
resorted to for the final cure.
This constitutes the basis of treatment for secondary
symptoms : Small doses of the bichloride, with the
hydriodate of potash and sarsaparilla, a low diet, and
confinement to warm rooms.
As regards the forms of disease, which with us
usurp the title of pseudo-syphilis, the Germans hardly
recognize them. They divide affections of equivocal
character into sexual and mercurial. If they belong
to the former class, they are supposed modifications
of syphilis, and treated as such; the latter are not
often met with, for mercury is never pushed to any
great extent.
In syphilitic eruptions the nitric acid bath is a
favourite remedy, as is the acid given internally. I
have seen few ravages made by the disease in this
country. Of the surgical treatment it is not within
my province to speak. Buboes are generally allowed
to burst spontaneously; and the general opinion is
favourable to them, as guaranteeing the system against
all future consequences of the primary affection. An
old practitioner told me that he had once to deal with
a very obstinate case of ulcer on the cheek, which
would not yield to any preparation of mercury,
VENEREAL DISEASE. 32 X
and he cured it by the sulphate of copper in small
doses.
In the cases which came under my notice, I had
little difficulty with them ; and when I abandoned the
blue pill and substituted the bichloride, the difficulties
became still less ; which leads me to think that the
disease itself wears a milder aspect, and it is certainly
among the number of those which is not aggravated
by the influence of a cold climate.
In the employment of the bichloride, the advantage
is considerable as regards exposure to the open air
during its administration ; but this is counterbalanced
by a longer process of cure ; and I am still a firm
adherent to the old plan of administering mercury,
where it is the object to affect the system gradually
by inunction. This old fashioned practice claims
many privileges, and has nothing against it but the
disagreeable process of application, and the confine-
ment which is imperative under its use. By this
means the system is surely and certainly affected,
almost in a given time, and to a given amount ; this
may be increased or diminished at pleasure. Nodes,
buboes, all give way under its influence ; nor are the
mucous membranes of the stomach and bowels dis-
ordered in the same way as in the genteeler methods.
322 APPENDIX,
CANCER.
This disease is by no means rare in Russia, and
attacks the female breast very vii'iilently. I have
seen several cases of single Avomen thus affected,
and all sank under the disease. The plan of pres-
sure instituted by Mr Yonge, I found still in opera-
tion in the Russian hospitals, and I ventured to
assert, that it had been long smce abandoned in
this country, for it was found that the seeming advan-
tage arose from the absorption of the sound part of
the breast, whilst the diseased structure was not in-
fluenced. I never heard of a case being cured by it
in St Petersburg ; and after the patient had gone
through all the inconveniences of it for months, the
treatment generally terminated by the knife.
As regards the subject of operation, there is a
difference of opinion, but the leaning of the faculty
towardsnon-interference, certainly prevails. My friend,
Dr Saloman, told me, that he would never operate
again, where the disease was fully formed, for he had
never known a patient finally recover under such cir-
cumstances. In all schirrous affections, iodine is a
favourite remedy, combined with conium and local
applications of the same materials.
The lady of a Polish nobleman consisted me in
Paris in the year 1824, for a tumour in her breast,
which was hard and very painful. 1 requested her to
consult ISI. Depuytrend, and to make up her mind
to abide by his decision. He pronounced it to be
schirrous, and it was removed. Its examination after
CREDAT JUDiEUS. 323
removal, was confirmatory of his decision. The wound
soon healed. The result has been most satisfactory,
the lady being still alive and in good health at the
present period, nor has she suffered any inconvenience
fi'om the breast since the tumour, which was but a
small one, was removed from it.
In Laennec's Clinical Wards, I remember a j^ost
morteyn examination of a woman, who died with a
cancer on the wrist. The liver was studded with
scirrhous tumours. The lungs ^\ere a mass of scirrhus,
and several tumours of the same character were found
in the substance of the heart. — JanuarT/ 14,182 5. Notes.
This disease is trusted to the care of empirics, as
much in Russia as elsewhere; and some of the peasants
are supposed to possess the secret of curing both this
and scrofula. I have known several of the nobility
subject themselves to the discipline of decoctions and
fomentations for many months, with particular systems
of diet, and some religious performances. In one in-
stance I did witness the recovery of a limb condemned
to be amputated, in a scrofulous child, who was sent
into the country and placed under the care of a pea-
sant famous for his knowledge of simples.
This is the case all the world over.
CREDAT JUD^US.
From coUect : academ : Jean Baptiste Ferrarius Hes-
perid. Lib. iii., cap. 10. In the RomanzofF Library,
St Petersburg. A folio work in three volumes.
La femme d'un Meunier du Bourg dc Bezendorf
324 APPENDIX.
accoucha a son terme d'uue petite fiUe qui paralssoit
se bien porter et qui etait tres bien conformee a I'ex-
ception qii' elle avoit le ventre plus gros que dans
I'etat naturel. Cette petite fille huit jours apres sa
naissance fut attaqu de violentes douleurs de ventre
dont on s'apper^ut bientot par ses cries continuels et
ses mouvemens inquiets.
Elle rendit ensuite par la vulve une eau teinte
de sang apres quoi elle accoucha d'une petite fille
vivante ce qui fut suivi de la sortie de I'arriere faix,
et I'ecoulement des vindanges se fit comme dans un
accouchement naturel. Get embrlon que venoit de
mettre au monde cette petite fille nouvellement nee
etoit de la longueur du doigt du milieu et comme il
etait vivant et qu' il avoit la figure humaine il fut
baptise, mais la petite accouchee et sa petite fille
moururent toutes les deux le lendemain.
CESAREAN OPERATION.
When I was in Prague in 1827, I saw two women
who had undergone this operation. The one from
deformity of the pelvis, the other for an extra uterine
conception. The latter was still in the hospital, as
there was a fistulous opening remaining; the other
had been operated upon years before. These cases
I communicated to Mr Travers, and they were
read before the Medico Chirurgical Society. I
am not sure that they were printed in the transac-
tions.
A woman was operated upon successfully in St
NEKVEN SCHLAG. 325
Petersburg, but previously to my sojourn there. She
again became pi-egnant, and was again delivered in
the same way. She underwent the operation twice,
and recovered. I did not see her, but I state this
on the authority of Dr Ai-ndt, the Emperor's body
surgeon.
This same gentleman performed this operation in a
case of extra uterine fa}tus, during my residence in
that capital, in 1839. The woman died forty-eight
hours afterwards.
NERVEN SCHLAG.
The following case of what the German practi-
tioners term Nerven Schlag, occurred to me not long
before I left St Petersburg. A gentleman who had
acted in an official capacity in that city, returned after
an absence of many years to pay his respects to his old
friends. lie had been much disappointed previously to
his arrival, in some government and pecuniary trans-
actions. He was attacked rather suddenly by a fit of
indigestion, after having experienced for some days
previous, a disordered state of bowels. He recovered,
however, apparently, and was about to embark for Eng-
land, when he felt himself so suddenly indisposed with
severe headache, and as he styled it, pressure on the
brain, that he delayed his departure. He had a good
deal of fever and heat of surface, with a throbbing
pain in his head. He was bled from the arm, which
greatly relieved him, and he seemed better afterwards,
still the headache continued, and he got little or no
326 APPENDIX.
sleep. Blisters were applied to the neck, and calomel
was given internally night and morning — the bowels
were acted upon. The symptoms not yielding to this
treatment, another physician M^as called in, and leeches
were applied to the stomach — the calomel was con-
tinued — the head was blistered — as the fever had
greatly diminished, and the pulse was almost natural ;
it was proposed to give him some opium to procure
sleep and calm his irritability, which was very con-
sidei-able.
The following day we found him better. He had
slept during the night, and had a most copious eva-
cuation after the opium. This was followed by bilious
diarrhoea, which lasted two days, and from this time
he gradually improved. His pulse, tongue, skin, and
every function, were in their normal state. His sleep
was not so good as might be desired. He saw his
friends, and again began to make preparations for his
departure. His appetite was keen, and he wanted more
than I would allow him to take. His other medical
attendant took his leave, and pronounced him con-
valescent. Upon the Sunday morning, about the
thirtieth day of his illness, I saw him about one o'clock,
and several of his friends called upon him after church.
He was dressed, and lying upon the sofa. At two
o'clock he ordered his dinner, a roast partridge, and
felt angry that he was thus stinted by his doctor. He
had written some letters in the morning. After
dinner he got upon his bed to get a nap, and rang
his bell ; the servant not answering it he rang again ;
and when the man came he scolded him very violently.
He rose in his bed to do something, and gave a shriek
DISEASE OF KIDNEY. 327
I was immediately sent for ; and must have been there
in ten minutes from the time he was so seized. When
I got to the house he was a corpse.
There were no symptoms w^hich could possibly have
warranted such a termination. A post mortem ex-
amination discovered considerable turgescence in the
membranes of the brain ; there was no lesion, no
effusion. The other viscera presented nothing re-
markable. He was by nature very violent and irritable.
The fit of passion was consequently the only assignable
cause of the catastrophe.
DISEASE OF KIDNEY.
The following case is one of considerable interest,
inasmuch as it proves that these organs may be
diseased in an extraordinary degree, and still perform
their functions apparently so perfectly as not to attract
notice during life :
A colonel in the East India Company's Service
returned to Europe with an immense enlargement of
the right side, which was supposed to be an affection
of the liver, but to such a degree as seemed to me
irremediable. Several eminent men were consulted,
and all were satisfied with the nature of the disease ;
— the fruits of the pagoda tree. I was intimately
acquainted with the patient in my early days ; and he
showed me his tumour when I was a student at the
hospitals, telling me in joke that I might never see a
finer specimen of an Indian liver. He was not much
invalided by it. He took his usual exercise, rode on
328 APPENDIX.
horseback, and went out shooting ; hved very abste-
miously, and eked out a good old age. I believe he
Avas full seventy when he died. A post mortem
examination caused much astonishment to his medical
attendants, for, instead of the liver being thus enlarged,
it was found shrivelled up to a very small size, and a
double bar kidney was found to occupy the right
hypochonder. Upon putting a scalpel into it the
blood gushed out to a considerable height.
Notwithstanding this abnormal state of the organs,
their functions must have been sufficiently well per-
formed as not to have created any suspicion of their
integrity during life.
In my note-book I find the following : — " Kidneys
ossified in woman, said to be jDetrified, and of the
consistence of alabaster." — Lowenheim Memoir Aca-
demique.
They have been removed in animals without causing
immediate death, and where both have been extirpated,
urea has been found in the blood, according to Prevost
of Geneva.
I was once requested to assist a medical practitioner
in a post mortem examination of a woman, who had
suffered many years from an enormous enlargement
of the liver. She appeared as large as at the full
period of pregnancy. Of the treatment of the case I
have no record, but examination discovered the sup-
posed enlargement of the liver to be an enormous
scirrhus of the uterus. The liver was much less in
size than under natural circumstances.
In the first edition of Dr Mason Good's Study of
Medicine, the liver of a patient affected with dropsy
poisoxs. 329
is stated to have weighed 628 lbs. I do not find this
paritgraph in the subsequent editions.
POISONS.
The mode in which these agents are introduced
into the system, and the medium through which they
act, have given rise to much discussion, and do not
hitherto seem to be satisfactorily determined.
It was with a view to prove venous absorption that
Magendie's apparently conclusive experiment was
instituted, when he applied poison to the foot of an
animal, separated from the trunk by all but two
quills attached to the divided extremities of the
femoral artery and vein, which allowed the blood
to flow through them. When the poison of upas
was applied to the severed limb, it produced its
effects as under ordinary circumstances ; and as all
communication of nerve was cut oflP, it could only
be by venous absorption that these effects could be
produced.
Dr Stevens fidly adopts the views of jNIagendie, as
regards the action of poisons by medium of the blood.
When a small quantity of the poison of the rattlesnake
is inserted into a recent wound or injected into a vein,
it causes death in a few minutes ; whereas large
quantities of the same poison, administered to animals
In* the stomach, produced no effect whatever.
What arc we to think of the following instance of
toxicological heroism ?
Mr Wallace of Virginia took the whole of the poison
330 APPENDIX.
from the two fangs of a large and vigorous rattlesnake.
This he made into pills, — hags, venom, and all.
These he swallowed himself, sometimes at the rate
of four a day. " They produced," he says, " most
heavenly sensations, and melancholy was quickly
changed into gay anticipations ; but, imfortunately,
these delightful feelings were followed by a general
dropsy, which continued for a considerable period."
We may surely say of this experiment, that
" The love of science could no farther go."
Mr Wallace, however, was perhaps aware of what
Liebig has since proved, that animal poisons, intro-
duced into the stomach, are decomposed by the gastric
juice. Some of the vegetable poisons act almost as
speedily, when introduced in this way into the system,
as when inserted into wounds.
The physiologist, Miiller, inclines to the opinion
that it is through the circulation that poisons act upon
the system. He nevertheless admits, and that from
experimental inquiry, that poison applied to an indi-
vidual nerve produces more effect than when applied
by means of the blood ; and that it does not always
act by absorption, is proved from the circumstance of
the iris of one eye being alone affected when bella-
donna is applied to the parts externally, as when a
solution of the extract is dropped into the eye. " In
this instance the poison reaches the ms and the ciliary
nerves by imbibition. It is evidently a local effect,
and not in the slightest degree the result of absorption
into the blood, for the pupil of the other eye is un-
affected."
POISONS. 331
" The effects of the poison of lead in producing
paralysis of the hands are also well known."*
The residt of Dr Addison and Mr Morgan's ex-
periments led them to the conclusion —
" That all poisonous agents produce their specific
effects upon the brain and general system through the
sentient extremities of nerves, and through the sen-
tient extremities of nerves only ; and that, when
introduced into the current of the circulation in any
way, their effects result from the impression made
upon the sensible structure of the blood-vessels, and
not from their direct application to the brain itself." —
P. 60.
" Even where the poisons may be absorbed into
the blood, it does not invalidate this conclusion ; for,
under such circumstances, they affect the system at
large, not by then- being carried to the brain by the
blood, but by their du'cct operation upon the internal
membrane of the blood-vessels into which they enter,
and through which they are carried."— P. 68.
A difficulty in the theory of venous absorption, is
the minuteness of the dose which pi'oduccs the effect,
provided that dose l^e mixed with the large quantity
of blood, which it must be, in passing from a vein of
the foot to the heart ; the circumstance of the same
blood ccoino; throu2;h the luno-g sufferino; decarboniza-
tion, and then rcturaing into the heart and being
propelled by the carotids to the brain ; all of which
must take place before the nerves feel it.
The following experiment seems as conclusive in
favour of the assertion of Dr Addison and Mr Morgan,
* MuUer.
332 APPENDIX.
as does that of Magendie in opposition to their views,
viz. " All poisons, and perhaps all agents, influence
the brain and general system through an impression
made upon the sentient extremities of the nerves, and
not by absorption and direct application to the brain."
—P. 90.
" Two dogs, weighing about forty pounds, were
selected for experiment. The carotid of each dog
having been Uiid bare on one side, and separated from
its connexions with surrounding parts to the extent
of three inches, temporary ligatures were applied above
and below, and the arteries were divided between
them. Brass tubes were then attached to the extre-
mities of the vessels, and the necks of the two animals
being held, and closely bound together, the divided
arteries were, without the least difficulty, reconnected,
and the circulation renewed.
One of the dogs was then inoculated on the back
with a concentrated preparation of strychnine, which
had been found upon other occasions to produce
death in these animals, in about three minutes and
a half.
In three minutes and a half the inoculated animal
exhibited the usual tetanic symptoms which result
from the action of this poison, and died in a little less
than four minutes afterwards, viz. about seven minutes
from the time at which the poison was inserted, during
the whole of which time, a free and mutual inter-
change of blood betw^een the two, was clearly indi-
cated by the strong pulsation of the denuded vessels
throughout their whole course.
The arteries were next secured by ligature, and c'le
POISONS. 333
living was separated from the dead animal, but neither
dm'ing the ojDeration, nor at any subsequent period,
did the survivor show the slightest symptom of the
action of the poison upon the system. — P. 90.
In reference to Magendie's experiment, the authors
observe : — " Now, whether or not the poison does
ever circulate with the blood through the brain, is a
question which we do not think it worth while to
dispute. We contend that such is not the cause of
its operation upon the system ; and whether or not
a poison does in all cases enter the circulation, is not
the point at issue ; for we have contended that if they
do find their way into the veins, they aifect the brain
and general system by their direct operation upon the
nerves of the inner coat of the blood vessel, and from
that cause only." — P. 79.
If found to be correct, the principle for which we
contend, will not be limited to the operation of those
noxious agents usually denominated poisons, but it
may probably tend to the better understanding both
of the causes and cure of diseases in general.
This will justify the conclusion, that the cause of ma-
lignant fevers is attributable to the impression which
the noxious effluvia makes upon the sentient extremities
of the nerves, and that by this means the system is
affected. The circumstance of the porters during the
plague in JSIarseilles, dropping down upon merely
touching the infected bales, has not been overlooked
by the authors, nor the circumstance of local injury.
" A slight lacerated wound, a biu'n, a puncture from
a spicula of wood, or a rusty nail, seem to create
little local disturbance at the time, when suddenly
334 APPENDIX.
symptoms of tetanus supervene and proceed, to tbe
destruction of life."
I knew an old gentleman who died of tetanus from
the effects of the thorn of a gooseberry bush run under
the finscer nail.
RUPTURE OF GALL BLADDER.
In the winter of 1825 I was suddenly called in the
night to Count , and found him suffering from
severe pain in the stomach, accompanied by a good
deal of flatulency ; and finding, upon inquiry, that he
had eaten of lobster for supper, I naturally attributed
the attack to indigestion. The usual treatment was
adopted, which relieved the symptoms, but as there
were considerable uneasiness and fever the following
day, he was bled from the arm, which was followed
by perfect convalescence. This was the first indisposi-
tion from which he had suffered during two years that
I had been in his family. He was very corpulent and
a hon vivant. He told me, however, that this was
not the first time that he had been so attacked, and
that he was subject to spasms caused by indigestion.
The following year he had a similar attack Avhen at
Moscow, where he was treated by an English physi-
cian, and again bled. In 1827 he was riding in Hyde
Park, and was suddenly seized with violent pain at the
pit of his stomach, and fell from his horse. The prac-
titioner who treated him upon this occasion, again
ordered him to be bled, and enjoined more abstemious
living for the future.
RUPTURE OF GALL BLADDER. 335
In passing through Dieppe, where I was residing
with his family, he gave me an account of his illness,
and I begged him to follow the advice given him in
London as regarded his diet.
lie had not been a month in Paris before I received
a letter from his secretary informing me that he was
again ill in the same way. He had returned late from a
ball, and as he was getting into bed was suddenly seized
with the same symptoms as on the three former occa-
sions. I immediately went to Paris, and found that he
had been in the first instance treated by laudanum and
a?ther for indigestion, and had been subsequently bled
and freely evacuated. From this time till 1831, a
period of four years, I am not aware that he had any
return of his disorder, certainly not as far as I was
concerned in the treatment.
It was in the summer of 1831, just as the cholera
made its first appearance, that I was summoned to see
him. The Count had joined a party of the Russian
nobility, and retreated to an island in the suburbs
of St Petersburg, in the view of avoiding all con-
nexion Avith those Avho might be exposed to the con-
tagion of cholera. He informed me that he had ex-
perienced a slight sensation of his old complaint, but
that he had taken a dose of physic, and thought it
would pass off. He complained of a sense of warmth
in the region of the stomach, but of no acute pain ; and
ascribed his attack to having transgressed by eating
of cold sterlet soup for breakfast.
As I Avas occupied in making arrangements with
the police regarding the cholera establishments, I left
liim, but returned again in the evening. He com-
336 APPENDIX.
plained of no uneasy sensation, but was feverish, and
his pulse was full, and as he requested me to bleed him,
I complied with his request.
He was immediately relieved and slept well aU night,
and the following day was quite convalescent, and
rode out in his carriage. He took leave of me, and
jestingly saying he had had his cholera, wished me
well through my difficulties, as he knew that I had
been appointed to a large temporary hospital, and said
he should not see me again till the cholera was over.
I heard no more of the Count for nine days, when
I met one of his servants in the street, who told me
that his master was dangerously ill ; and in spite of
the injunctions to the contrary I hastened to him. He
was glad to see me, but shrunk back as I approached
his bed, for he was afraid of contagion. His medical
attendant, an Italian, told me that since I had last
seen him he had been attacked with inflammation of
the liver, that he had been bled three times from the
arm, and taken forty-five grains of calomel. I had
hardly time to gather these particulars, Avhen the
friends who were about him begged me for God's sake
to leave the house, for I had violated the quarantine,
and had probably introduced the cholera among them.
They requested me not to return, and strict orders
were given to admit no one who came from the city.
I heard no more of the Count's state till the 30th,
when I was summoned in the night, with five other
physicians, as he was considered in great danger. A
biliary calculus had been found in the stool of a
pear shape, measuring more than an inch in lengthy
and about six lines in its broadest diameter. Previous
PUNCTURE OF THE INTESTINES. 33-7
to passing this, there had been a good deal of fever and
local irritation, wliich were not relieved by the voiding
of the gall stone. The mercury had produced salivation,
and the parotid on one side was very much enlarged.
The patient could not articulate clearly ; the pulse was
quick, small, and intermitting, and he expired forty-
eight hours after passing the calculus. It was almost
impossible to get a sectio cadaveris, owing to the
general state of alarm produced by the cholera, and
the public disturbances at the time. I insisted upon
it, however, for I had suggested that the gall bladder
had been ruptured, and I succeeded in ascertaining
this to be the case. The gall bladder was hardly to be
traced ; a large abscess was found immediately beneath
it, and the whole of the fundus of the former was
ulcei'ated away.
The case is instructive, as far as the evidence is in
favour of the frequent occurrence of the spasms of the
stomach having been owing to passage of gaU stones,
or from the introduction of this identical one into
the duct, from which it again receded. — From the
Medical Gazette, vol. xiii. p. 711.
PUNCTURE OF THE INTESTINES.
To relieve the agony of distention in two cases of siip-
posed internal strangulation.
The lady of an officer of high rank, had been suifer-
ing for some time Avith disordered digestion, when she
was suddenly seized with violent vomiting and purg-
ing, and f;ecal matter was discharged by the mouth.
Q
338 APPENDIX.
To this succeeded constipation and tympanites — the
latter being so distressing that it was resolved to punc-
ture the bowels. Large quantites of gas escaped —
the patient felt immediately relieved from her extreme
sufferings. She died the same day or the following.
I did not see this case myself; but as it was attended
by the same medical men, who were present in the
second, and no great interval occurring between the
two, it was reported to me as above.
A lady, the mother of six children, was in the family
way with the seventh, and in about the fourth or fifth
month of utero gestation. She had for years been in
the habit of neglecting her bowels, and retaining her
faeces for five and six days, and even longer, with im-
punity.
She complained of sudden pain in the bowels, which
she took to be colicky, and used some domestic
medicine. The pains increasing, and the bowels con-
tinuing locked, blood was taken from the arm, and
leeches applied very freely to the part. No relief was
afforded. The abdomen became very tense, and the
pains returned at repeated intervals. She expressed
herself thus, that she had borne six children, and that
the united pains of all her labours, M^ere not so excru-
ciating as any one of the pains under which she
suffered. All means had failed in procuring her relief.
Six or seven medical men were in constant attendance
upon her. Injections, Avami baths, cold affusions,
bleeding, opium in large doses — nothing relieved her.
It was, therefore, upon the idea only of shortening
her sufferings, that it was proposed to puncture the
intestines. A trocar was thrust into the colon — some
PU^XTUEE OF THE INTESTINES. 339
gas escaped, and she exclaimed I can breathe now —
faeces soon filled up the canula — the spasms retm-ned,
but in rather diminished force. She sank in about
fourteen hours after the operation, suflfering to the
last. In neither of these two cases, was ?i j)ost mortem
examination allowed.*
It becomes a question of moral import, in how far
such an operation can be held justifiable.
It must first be taken into consideration, what would
be the chances of the result of such an operation in a
state of health. Would not a pointed instrument of
the size of a trocar, be, in all probabilities, attended
with fatal consequences. If so, in a state of disease,
the chances of the patient's recovery from the ope-
ration would be diminished by the previous state in
which the parts were, owing to the obstructing cause.
In the second place — is the temporary relief so
aflforded, made justifiable in the operation, seeing that
cases of internal strangulation do sometimes recover,
and that the bowels get unlocked in what is looked
upon as the agony of death, but which proves to be
the jaiina viUf. As there is an eleventh hour in all
matters, is it not more justifiable to await its sound-
ing, than to make its fatal voice doubly sure. I am
not sure whether such an operation has been performed
in England under such circumstances, and for such
express purpose only.
I was present in the latter instance, and did object
to the o})eration, finding that it had been fatal in a
similar case, not long before.
I almost question whether it would not have been
* St Petorsbiirg, 1842.
340 APPENDIX.
suggested to do the like in the folloAving case, wliich
occurred to me since my return home, where nature
relieved herself at the eleventh hour. The case was
read before the JSIedico Chinu'^ical Societv.
Coses of Ohstruction in tlie Intestinal Canal, terminat-
ing favourahly on the ninth day hy Spontaneous
Vomiting.
The subject of the present case was a little girl of
twelve years of age, of a very delicate constitution,
strongly marked scrofulous disposition, and with very
feeble digestive powers, so that she was imable to
digest fruit or vegetables. She had been attacked by
epidemic autumnal cholera, which prevailed amongst
children in the town where she was residing, and
which yielded to the usual mode of treatment. Soon
after the termination of this she was attacked by a
disease of an opposite nature, and became obstinately
constipated, whilst tlie stomach rejected every thing
that was taken. Purgatives had been employed in
every shape, but without effect ; leeches had been
applied to the abdomen, which had been fomented
freely. Such was the history of the case which I
received from the two medical men in attendance,
previous to my seeing her on the 27th of August, in
the afternoon. She was much flushed in the face, had
an anxious countenance, a small, quick, compressible
pulse, a cold, moist surface, the extremities being
colder than natural. She suffered from distention of
the abdomen, without complaining of much pain, and
PUNCTURE OF THE INTESTINES. 341
she vomited continually a green bilious fluid. As no
inflammation was apparent, and as more depletion
was not, under the existing circumstances, indicated,
soothing measures were employed. The vomiting
was the most annoying symptom, from its frequency
rather than from any distress which it occasioned, for
this dark-green fluid Avas thrown up without much
efi^brt. A small blister was applied to the pit of the
stomach, and small doses of prussic acid administered
in almond milk. This treatment seemed to check the
vomiting for many hours successively. She passed a
tranquil night, but no relief to the bowels had been
obtained by stool, and the abdomen Avas much more
swollen. Croton oil was given internally and by
clyster during the day, and as w^arm applications
seemed to have no eflTect, bladders filled with ice were
applied over the belly. The patient was restless and
uneasy, continually changing her place in bed, but this
arose from distention rather than from any acute pain.
About midnight of the 28t]i, she complained of twist-
ing and severe pain in the bowels of a colicky nature,
there was also more pain upon pressure than pre-
viously, and, as opiates were administered without
benefit, I applied a dozen leeches to the abdomen, with
immediate relief to the distressing symptoms, Avhich
subsided soon afterwards. She got some sleep, and
was free from pain wh«n awake. I was obliged to
return to London, and did not see her again till the
afternoon of the following day. I learned from the
physician in attendance, that she had passed the day
on which I left licr, pretty well, but that, at midnight,
the same symptoms recurred as on the night previous,
342 APPENDIX.
and, notwithstanding her great state of exhaustion,
he had again applied leeches with benefit. He in-
formed me that the vomiting had returned, and that
the matter brought up was evidently from the ileum,
and the seat of stricture seemed to be about the caput
CfBci. There was no question, upon minute examina-
tion, that the matter vomited up proceeded from the
small bow^els. The distention was now very great,
respii'ation was much impeded, and the little patient
suffered severely. A long elastic tube was introduced
into the rectum, and cari'ied up into the colon, through
which water was forced by a pumping-syringe. The
operation was productive of great distress to the
patient, and was ineffectual as to relief. The night
was restless, and the following day the little sufferer
was much exhausted. The face was colourless, the
countenance anxious, the body covered with a cold
clammy sweat, and she expressed herself as if about
to die. The bed-room having a southern aspect, and
the weatlier being sultry, I desired that she might be
removed into a cooler room. She was carried in the
arras to her bed, and, as she was much fatigued by
the operation, I gave her a glass of Madeira wine,
which she drank Avith pleasure, but hardly had she
swallowed it when she made signs for the basin, lifted
herself up in bed, and threw up a dark green fluid to
the amount of three pints. She experienced immediate
relief, and breathed more freely, and the upper part
of the body became more loose and compressible. I
gave her some more wine, which remained on her
stomach ; she had no more nausea. Constant friction
was maintained over the abdomen, and injections of
MESMERISM. 343
vinegar and water were repeated every hour. The
first was returned without being accompanied by any
solid matter, but had a foetid smell. The second
Avas accompanied by pieces of flocculent matter, of a
membranous appearance, and the fluid returned was
horribly foetid, like putrid Avater in which flesh had
been macerated. She Avas enabled to compress the
abdominal muscles and make an effort to go to stool,
Avhich the previous great distention, paralysing the
action of the muscles, had prevented her from doing.
Much of this membranous matter came away after
each injection. The smell was most offensive. About
four hours after the spontaneous vomiting she asked
to go to the chair, Avhen the bowels gave Avay, and a
large quantity of solid excrement Avas voided. She
passed more stools in the course of the evening, and
then slept tranquilly. The following morning I gave
her a dose of castor oil, Avhich produced its desired
effect without creating nausea, and I left her conva-
lescent. I learned, subsequently, from my colleagues,
that she had a good deal of constitutional fever for
four or five days. She recovered in a short time, and
her digestive powers are now better than previous to
her illness. The obstruction Avas relieved only on the
ninth day of the disease.
MESMERISM.
" A second critical remark Avhich suggests itself in
connexion with this subject, relates to the opinion that
by virtue of the exaltation or transposition of sensi-^
344 APPENDIX.
bility, it is possible for persons to see Avitli the skin.
It is a known fact that we cannot by means of the
fingers recognise coloiu's as such, although it may be
possible to distinguish the corpus or grain of some
colouring matters when laid thickly upon a surface,
since they are uneven, and adhere to the skin which
touches them.
" The necessity for an optical apparatus for the pro-
duction of an image upon a percipient membrane, suf-
ficiently refutes the notion of persons being able to see
with their epigastrium, or with the fingers, when in the
so named magnetic or mesmeric states. Even though
the skin of the epigastrium or fingers were susceptible of
the sensation of light, which they are not, the perception
of objects would yet be impossible, unless there were
optical apparatus for collecting the light radiated from
certain points of the object upon corresponding points
of the sensitive surfiice, and without such apparatus,
the epigastrium and fingers, though they possessed the
sensibility of light, would merely be able to distinguish
light from darkness. Since, however, these parts are
not susceptible of the sensation of light, and since no
sense can be transferred from one part to another, it
is quite impossible for a person in the magnetic state
to have even an obscure perception of light and dark-
ness by means of any other parts than the eyes.
Moreover, when the eyes are bound it is still possible
to distinguish the light and even objects, by slightly
raising the eyelids, as every one well knows who has
played at the game of blind man's buiF, and persons
lying, like the subjects of the pretended magnetic sleep,
in the horizontal posture, with the eyes bound, can see
MESMEKISM. 345
every part of the room by looking under the bandage.
But what well informed physician can put faith in the
fables told by the upholders of animal magnetism.
It is quite in accordance with the laws of science that
a person sleeping shall have ocular spectra ; we ex-
perience them sometimes when the eyes are closed
even before falling asleep, for the nerves of vision may
be excited to sensation by internal as well as by ex-
ternal causes ; and so long as a magnetic patient
manifests merely the ordinary phenomena of nervous
action that are seen in other disorders of the nervous
system, it is all credible enough. But when such a
person pretends to see through a bandage placed before
the eyes, or by means of the fingers or the epigastrium,
or to see round a corner, and into a neighbouring
house, orto become prophetic, such arrant imposture no
longer deserves forbearance, and an open and sound
exposure of the deception is called for." — Alilllers
Physiology, p. 1125, vol. ii.
In the neighbourhood of Musselburgh was a chapel
dedicated to our Lady of Loretto, the sanctity of
which was increased from its having been the favourite
aljode of the celebrated Thomas the Hermit. To this
sacred place the inhabitants of Scotland from time im-
memorial had repaired in pilgrimage to present their
offerings to the virgin, and to experience the virtue of
licr prayers, and the healing power of the wonder
working " Hermit of Lareit."
In the course of the year 1559, public notice was
given by the friars, that they intended to put the truth
of tlieir religion to the proof, by performing a miracle
at the cliapel of Loretto upon a young man who had
346 APPENDIX.
been bom blind. On the day appointed a vast con-
course of people assembled from the three Lothians,
The young man, accompanied by a solemn procession
of monks, was conducted to a scaffold erected on the
outside of the chapel, and was exhibited to the mul-
titude. Many of them knew him to be the blind man
whom they had often seen begging, and whose neces-
sities they had relieved, — all looked upon him and pro-
nounced him stone blind. The friars then proceeded
to their devotions with great fervency, invoking the
assistance of the Virgin, at whose shrine they stood,
and of all the saints whom they honoured ; and after
some time spent in prayers and religious ceremonies,
the blind man opened Jm eyes to the astonishment of
the spectators. Having returned thanks to the friars
and their saintly patrons for this wonderfid cure, he
was allowed to go down from the scaffold to gratify
the curiosity of the people, and to receive their alms.
It happened that there was among the crowd a
gentleman of Fife, Robert Colville of Cleish, who,
from his romantic bravery, was usually called Squire
Meldrum, in allusion to a person of that name who
had been celebrated by Sir David Lindsay. He was
of protestant principles, but his wife was a Roman
Catholic ; and, being pregnant at this time, had sent
a servant with a present to the chapel of Loretto to
procure the assistance of the Virgin in her approaching
labour. The squire was too gallant to hurt his lady's
feelings by prohibiting the present from being sent off,
but he resolved to prevent the superstitious offering,
and with that view had come to Musselburgh. He
had witnessed the miracle of curing the blind man
MESMERISM. 347
■with the distrust natural to a protestant, and he de-
termined, if possible, to detect the imposition before
he left the place. Wherefore, having sought out the
young man from the crowd, he put a piece of money of
considerable value into his hand, and persuaded him to
accompany him to his lodgings in Edinburgh. Taking
him along -uith him into a private room, and locking
the door, he told him plainly that he Avas convinced
he had engaged in a wicked conspiracy with the friars
to impose upon the credulity of the people, and at last
drew from him the secret of the story. When a boy,
he had been employed to tend the cattle belonging to
the nuns of Scienncs, in the vicinity of Edinburgh,
and had attracted their attention by a peculiar faculty
of turning up the whites of his eyes, and of keeping
them in this position, so as to appear quite blind.
This being reported to some of the fi-iars in the city,
they immediately conceived the design of making him
subservient to their purposes ; and having prevailed
on the sisters of Sciennes to part with the poor boy,
they lodged him in one of their cells. By daily
practising he became an adept in the act of counter-
feiting blindness ; and after he had remained so long
in concealment as not to be recognized by his former
acquaintances, he was sent forth to beg as a blind
pauper, the friars having previously bound him by a
solemn vow not to reveal the secret. To confirm his
narrative, " he played his pavie before Clcish by flyp-
ing up the lid of his eyes, and casting up the white,
so as to appear as blind as he did on the scaffold at
Loretto." — M'-Crie's Life of John Knox, p. 324, vol. i.
348 APPENDIX.
PLICA POLONICA.
It is singular that, in the present advanced state of
medical science, any doubts should exist respecting
the nature of a disease which, from its circumscribed
influence, has received the name of plica polonica ;
still, even at the present moment, the medical opinion
is divided upon the reality of its existence as a specific
complaint. This discordancy of opinion is not con-
fined to strangers, or to those medical men who, not
having sojourned long in the country where the disease
is endemic, have had but little opportunity of investi-
gating the matter, but the medical men resident in
those parts where it is most prevalent, do not seem,
as far as I could ascertain it, to have made up their
minds upon the subject.
There are three opinions, however, which may be
quoted regarding the nature of this affection.
The first, and a very general one, that the said plica
is nothing more or less than an aggregation of filth.
The second, a very limited one, that it is a specific
contagious disease, produced by a peculiar virus.
The third, and the more probable one, that it is a
secondary affection, or a critical excretion from the
scalp and roots of the hair, and the natural curative
process of a variety of complaints.
Several reasons may be assigned for the discrepancy
of opinions which exist upon this subject, and which
place it among real or artificial diseases. It is in
general confined to the lowest orders of society. Such
excite little interest or compassion ; and their modes
PLICA POLONICA. 349
of life, which place them, as regards cleanliness, even
below many of the brute creation, have acted as an
insuperable barrier to the thorough investigation of
this disease upon those spots where it is endemic.
When it attacks, on the contrary, the better classes
of society, it is studiously concealed from the world
in general, and often from the medical attendant ;
unless, having resisted all nostrums, it becomes too
aggravated in its character to be trifled with any
longer.
The same cause has operated in both cases to pre-
vent sufficient attention having been paid to it in all
its stages. The peasant is too filthy to be attended
to; the rich man is too proud to allow himself to be
suspected of labouring under the curse of that which
is the fitter property of his boor. Hence it is that so
little real information is to be gained from the number
of authors who have written upon this subject. Each
has contented himself with re-stating or criticising
some preceding opinion upon the disease ; few have
taken the trouble to investigate the truth by observ-
ing simply with their own eyes what lay in their daily
path. So we are told of the errors into which Her-
cules de Saxon ia fell, from his too great belief in
supernatural agents.
Davidson, on the other hand, is reprobated for his
scepticism ; Schlegel is too diffuse ; Gasc too concise
in his description ; but the authors of these criticisms
do not think of telling us what they saw themselves.
To unfold a plain unvarnished tale, must be left, I
believe, to the Ghost of Hamlet ; for no one Uvino-
eeems disposed t(j do it. Wc find that not only the
350 4.rPENDix.
real existence of the disease is a matter of contention,
but its origin and progress are equally twisted, like
itself, from the path of truth, by those who believe in
its existence. Its name and numerous synonyms
indicate a great difference of opinion as to its origin
and effects.
First, as to the opinion of many, that it is only an
affo;reo;ation of filth.
I have, myself, known it occur in five opulent fami-
lies, where any question of uncleanliness could not for
a moment be agitated ; and this is itself sufficient to
disprove the validity of this sweeping clause.
Having, previously to my visiting Poland, read
several works upon the subject, and found them
abounding in controversy and confusion, I was in hopes
that during my residence in the ancient capital of the
Piasts, I might gain some clearer evidence upon the
matter. Being convinced, from what I have already
stated, that uncleanliness alone could not account for
all that I found to exist, it became, nevertheless, ne-
cessary to ascertain how far this operated as a cause,
knowing that cause and effect are often so blended
together, that it is difficult to separate them.
Here arose a stumbling block at the threshold of
inquiry ; and it was necessary to refer to popular pre-
judices, not as a standard of truth, but as a standard
of error, from which truth may often be elicited. I
found that there was but one opinion held by the
people regarding the effects of the disease, how diverse
soever their opinions might be as regarded its causes.
All agree that the effects of the plica are most salu-
tary to the system ; and there are few earthly blessings
PLICA POLONICA. 351
which are more coveted by the peasant than the for-
mation of a plica in his hair. Two circmnstances
meriting attention are to be considered, as arising
from this opinion — the one, that relief is afforded to
the system under certain morbid states by the for-
mation of a plica ; the other, as a necessary conse-
quence, that means will be devised to promote its
formation. From these two circumstances arise also
a very important subject for consideration, viz., that
the methods frequently resorted to, in order to promote
this effect, have tended to establish the opinion, that
the disease is at all times an artificial production.
It is said to be good for the ague, for the gout, for
sore eyes, for obstinate headaches ; and females find
it good for a variety of complaints ; consequently, as
soon as they are afflicted with any of these grievances,
they immediately commence forming an artificial plica.
Of this I have positive proof in the following in-
stance : —
I was requested to see the daughter of a person in
very easy circumstances, who was affected with sore
eyes, and had a defect in her vision. She was about
fourteen years old, and was, when I first saw her,
lying upon the bed : her hair was twisted and matted
together, and the animals in such quantities that I
could not approach her without feeling disgust. She
had a speck upon one cornea, and seemed to be suf-
fering from rheumatic ophthalmia. Upon inquiring
why she was confined to her bed, and if she had the
plica, her motlicr replied not as yet, but slie was in
hopes that it would not be long in coming ; for which
purpose her daughter was kept as warm as possible.
352 APPENDIX.
" For the same reason, I suppose, you do not allow
her to comb her hau', or keep her head clean ?" " Yes,"
was the reply. " And what do you expect will be the
consequence ?" " A plica will form in her hair, and
cure all her complaints." " AVill her eyes get well as
soon as the plica is formed ?" I inquired. " No, not
immediately ; but as the head gets worse, the eyes
will, by degrees, get better, and when once cured, she
will never be subject to have sore eyes again." " How
long will this plica last ?" I inquired. " About three
rears," was the reply. " And what then ?" '• The
old hair will die away, new hair will shoot out from
the scalp, and then we shall cut away the old by
degrees, and she will have a fresh head of hair."
All this information Avas founded upon the expe-
rience of the mother, whose son had suffered some
years previously, in the same way, and was cured by
the same means.
Some days later, I visited the public hospital. In
passing by one of the beds, I observed an old woman,
whose head appeared enveloped in the remains of a
flannel petticoat. I inquired what ailed her. The
interpreter replied, Koltun, the name given to the
disease by the people. I was anxious to examine it
myself; the attendant replied, that it was not as yet
fully formed, that she was encouraging it all in her
power, and so wrapped up her head in flannel. I
inquired why she was so anxious to produce a plica.
" The old woman is a martyr to rheumatism, and this
is an infallible cure for it — the universal remedy,"
said the young surgeon who interpreted for me. In
the meantime, she had taken the wrappings oft' her
PLICA POLONICA. 353
head, and I found the hair all twisted together, and
very lively, as I had observed it in the other patient.
The plica was much farther advanced in this latter
case. The mass of hair upon the crown of the head
resembled a dirty bird's-nest : but upon examining the
hau's individually, I could perceive no alteration in
their structure. Such a plica might evidently be pro-
duced at any time, and as easily in Cork as in Cracow.
The old woman was much displeased at being obliged
to undo her flannel wrapper, from fear of the exposure
to the air retarding the progress of the disease.
These two cases sufficiently prove that means are
resorted to in order to produce an agglutination and
conglometion of the hair, for the purpose of relieving
the system of some painful affection ; and this forms
the false or artifical plica. This is considered by many
as the only disease ; and when so many cases can be
traced to this, and this alone, it is not singular that
with many, farther investigation is not considered
necessary.
The following case, which occurred to a servant girl
in the family of Dr Typaldoes, an amiable Greek
physician, then residing in Cracow, illustrates the
relief afforded to the system by the spontaneous ap-
pearance of a pHca, when no artificial means had
previously been used to produce it. She had been
afflicted for several months with violent pains in the
licad, which resisted all medical treatment. As the
winter approached, the headaches got Avorse and worse,
and dui-ing the night were quite insupportable. In
the month of January, the thermometer being 22°
Kcaumur, she left her l)ed, and went down stairs to
354 APPENDIX.
get ice to put upon her head. She caught a severe
cold by this imprudence, and a fever, with delirium,
was the result. The usual means were employed to
combat the fever and head affection, but nothing
succeeded, till suddenly a plica formed itself upon the
scalp, and she gradually got better as the plica in-
creased.
In such a case, the old term, vis medicatrix naturo',
seems to estabHsh a claim upon our attention.
It is natural to ask if the pliea formed in this spon-
taneous Avay, differed in appearance from those which
I have described, and which were artificial productions.
I cannot reply to this from my own ocular evidence,
but Dr Typaldoes informed me that it was a true
l)lica, for that the structure of the hairs was altered ;
but the patient immediately resorted to the same
artificial means of promoting its increase as the others
had done to favour its production in their cases ; so
that even in this case it soon became impossible to
distinguish truth from falsehood.
I shall explain what is considered to be the differ-
ence between the real and false plica, as briefly as
possible ; but I shall first mention a few circumstances,
which may puzzle many who uselessly devote their
time to read all the difierent authors who have written
upon this malady.
First, as to the various names given to it by different
writers.
A good deal is to be learnt from this variety of
appellations, most of which express some supposed or
real character in the complaint itself ; and first, of the
popular name of Koltun, which signifies a stake, be-
PLICA POLONICA. 355
cause the hair stands out like a pole or stake. This
implies no matting of the hair, as a Medusa's head ;
no interlacing of the hairs in meshes ; but a thickening
of the hair, either from conjunction of several hairs in
a strait direction, or from a thickening of individual
liairs ; and many have drawn a distinction between
the true and false plica, from the disposition of the
hairs alone.
When it affects other parts of the body than the
head, this is the form which it is said always to
assume ; and we read of cases where it has increased
to such a length as to pass three times round the
thigh. The vulgar name Koltiin is not to be disre-
garded in the investigation of the nature of this dis-
ease.
The following name I shall quote as offering one of
the many difficulties which occur in the study of the
malady.
Plica judaica, Judenzopf, are commonly met with
in writers, and yet I was informed by my colleagues,
in Cracow, that the plica was rarely to be met with
among the tribes of Israel. If such be the case, it
affords negative evidence, at least, to the opinion that
this malady is engendered by filth alone ; for if there
is a mass of living filth in human shape, it is to be
I'ound in a Polish Jew, who stalks up and down the
streets in a long gown, and fur cap upon his head, nor
changes his gabardine till it falls piecemeal off his
body, rotted by age. His long flowing hair falling
in ringlets upon his shoulders, and curling at the ex-
tremity, would seem to offer a fine nursery for plica ;
still, as I was informed, he is seldom attacked by this
35G APPENDIX.
disease, but enjoys, as a substitute, more generally
diffused over his body, the psoriasis. It Avas not
asserted that no cases were to be found among the
Jews, but that there were but few, comparatively with
the peasants. I recollect seeing but one Jew affected
with plica, during the time I remained at Cracow.
Another name, and one indicative of its locality, is
Weichselzopf ; because it is found to prevail especially
on the banks of the Vistula ; and the popular tradition
runs, that when the Tartar hordes came over the Car-
pathian mountains, and invaded Poland, they poisoned
the sources of this river.
In the name of Mahrenflechten is expressed, that the
Moravians, when enemies to Poland, had recourse to
magic to conquer them, and gave them this unseemly
complaint. So witchcraft is likewise expressed in
the term Hexenzopf.
Thus much for nomenclature ; and as to locality, I
can only state what I have myself observed. This is,
again, a much disputed point ; some asserting that it
is confined entirely to Poland, others that it is to
be found sporadically scattered over Hungary and
many parts of the north of Germany. i\Ir Eussell
says " it is found in Livonia and some other parts of
Russia, and, above all, in Tartary."
I found it prevalent in the republic of Cracow, in
the Kingdom of Poland, and in the whole province of
Gallicia, along the banks of the Vistula. In quitting
this river, I lost sight of the disease, nor did I find
any traces of it during some weeks' sojourn in the
Ukraine and in the province of Podolia, as far down
as Odessa.
PLICA POLONICA. 357
I have never seen a single case in Russia Proper,
nor even in Finland ; which all coincides with what
others have Avritten upon the subject.
Such evidence must go far to prove that filth cannot
be the only source of this complaint. Some stray
cases may occur in other countries bordering on Poland,
but in none that I have mentioned is it a disease of
the country.
Another pomt of controversy is with respect to the
disease attacking strangers. Some assert that strangers
are not susceptible of it ; others, that they only become
so when they adopt the costume of the country : both
these opinions are erroneous. An instance of the
contrary occurred in the family in which I was residing.
A lady's maid, who came from Berlin, to attend the
Countess , was very seriously attacked with
this complaint; it commenced by headaches and general
rheumatic pains, and finally terminated in plica. Now
tliis young woman, from the middle class of society,
had not been more than six months in the family, and
had adopted no national costume. I know not what
may have been the dress of a lady's maid in the time
of the Casimirs, but at present, I believe, it is the same
over Europe in general.
Neither, therefore, are strangers free from it, nor is
it produced by dress alone.
Some have stated that the disease is contagious ;
but this opinion is combated by one of the earliest
writers, — viz. Hercules de Saxonia, who published in
1()(J0, and from whose ))Ook much is to be learnt. He
is quite furious at the idea, and instances, in incon-
trovertible evidence to the contrarv, that a learned
358 APPENDIX.
professor, of his acquaintance, was afflicted with it to
grievous extent, but his barber, who shaved him and
dressed his plica, did not catch the disease. This
author does not beheve that the plica is ever epidemic,
although he has great faith in sol-lunar influence and
the aspects of the heavens upon complaints in general.
As to its endemic character, he can point out the spots
where it is to be found at all seasons of the year.
Mr Russell has fallen into error upon this subject.
He says that " it is contagious, and moreover may
become hereditary. In Cracow there is a family, the
father of which had the Weichselzopf, but seemed to be
thoroughly cured of it ; he married shortly afterwards,
and his wife Avas speedily subjected to the same dis-
order, and of the three children she bore to him, every
one inherited the disease."
Had the author stated that the complaints which
engendered plica are hereditary, he would have been
nearer the mark ; but neither cause nor effect, in this
case, can be considered contagious.
With respect to its affecting the brute creation, the
opinion is generally in favour of this idea. Pigs and
horses are particularly subject to it, Schlegel is of
opinion that it is so prevalent among horses, that one
out of six is attacked by it, both in Moscow and Peters-
burg ; a privilege which the cattle enjoy over the
people in these capitals. Six years' residence in the
latter city, and a considerable acquaintance with horse
flesh, have not yet introduced to me the disease in
that animal.
In travelling from Cracow to Leopold, I observed
that the manes of the peasants' horses had a peculiar
EXPERIMENTS ON ANIMALS. 359
appearance, and that the pigs were much in the same
predicament. The postihons informed me that it was
the koltiot. Upon close examination, however, I
could not convince myself but that a comb would
unravel it, if regularly applied. It is too much, how-
ever, to expect that a man should comb his horse who
never as yet combed himself.
I shall not dilate more upon the controversies which
are to be found in the different works upon this sub-
ject ; many of the writers are not only at variance with
their colleagues, but even with themselves. Few
describe what they have themselves seen, or the results
of their own study and observation. From what has
been said, I think it will be evident that the two first
opinions — viz. that the plica is nothing but an aggre-
gation of filth ; and, secondly, that it is a contagious
disease, depending upon a peculiar virus — are neither
of them tenable. The third, or that which allows of
its existence, as a critical termination of other com-
plaints, is alone worthy of attention. We do not say,
liowever, that in no instance the hairs may not be
affected primarily, but that the disease is not capable
of being propagated by contagion, or that the virus
can be communicated by inoculation, as many have
contended.
EXPERIMENTS OX ANIMALS.
"\Vc do most cordially sympathize with Dr EUiotson
in the anathema which he pronounces against the
repetition of cruel experiments to prove what is already
360 APPENDIX.
known and established. It is most true also, as he
observes, that the proofs afforded by such are of a
most doubtful character, from the effects of pain which
they produce, changing the whole economy of the
animal. If the mere prick of a pin shall throw a man
into a swoon, which suspends every function of the
system, so that the eye sees not, nor the ear hears, nor
the blood flows, is this a state in which we are to look
for the performance of a function, or draw conclusions
which shall amount to proof ? Artificial mutilation is
not calculated to afford much information. We know^
not how much farther the Americans may have pro-
gressed in their experiments upon the human subject.
We once saw an advertisement in a Yankee journal,
of incurable negroes for sale to make experiments upon.
The ancients considered it justifiable to open men
alive, but only malefactors. The utility of experiments
is not to be doubted in the prosecution of the science
of medicine. If human life is to be benefited by the
sacrifice of the inferior animals, let it be so, but there
are bounds to be set to the practice. The circulation
of the blood, and the important consequences derived
from this knowledge in surgical operations, — viz. the
cure of aneurism, sufficiently justify the principle; and
as great good has already been so achieved, so more
may be anticipated, but an indiscriminate abuse of
animal suffering, under the hands of Tyros, cannot be
sufficiently reprobated. To make experiments for
experiment sake, and to make them upon some induc-
tive principle, with a view to ascertain an important
point, are two different things. The one is wanton
cruelty, the other a legitimate pursuit of knowledge.
SOUND. 361
and in this case the end may justify the means ; but
few are capable of prosecuting this subject so as to
produce any real benefit to science, and, therefore, it
should be intrusted but to few. A wanton sacrifice of
animal life is highly censurable. It hardens the heart,
blunts the feelings, and has in every respect an im-
moral tendency.
SOUND.-^
" On the fifth day of my journey, the air above lay
dead, and all the whole earth that I could reach with
my utmost sight and keenest listening, was still and
lifeless, as some dispeopled and forgotten world, that
rolls round and round in the heavens, through wasted
floods of light.
" The sun growing fiercer and fiercer, shone down
more mightily on me now than ever he shone before ;
and as I drooped my head under his fire, and closed my
eyes against the glare that surrounded me, I slowly
fell asleep, for how many minutes or moments I can-
not tell ; but after a Avhile, I was gently awakened by
a peal of church bells — my native bells — the innocent
bells of Marlen, that never before set forth their music
beyond the Blagyon hills ! My first idea naturally
was, that I still remained fast under the power of a
(h-eani. I roused myself, and drew aside the silk that
covered my eyes, and plunged my bare face into the
light. Then, at least, I was well enough awakened ;
but still those old Marlen bells rune; on — not ringing:
* Sep pa^e 100.
362 APPENDIX.
for joy, but properly, prosily, steadily, merrily, ring-
ing for ' church.'
" After a while, the sound died away slowly ; it
happened that neither I nor any of my party had a
watch, by which to measure the exact time of its
lasting, but it seemed to me that about ten minutes
had passed before the bells ceased. I attributed the
effect to the great heat of the sun, the perfect dryness
of the clear air through which I moved, and the deep
stillness of all around me ; it seemed to me that these
causes, by occasioning a great tension, and consequent
susceptibility, of the hearing organs, had rendered them
liable to tingle under the passing touch of some mere
memoiy, that must have swept across my brain in a
moment of sleep. Since my return to England, it has
been told me that like sounds have been heard at sea,
and that the sailor becalmed under a vertical sun in
the midst of the wide ocean, has listened in trembling-
wonder to the chime of his own villao'e bells." —
Eotlien, p. 273.
The above extract, from a most interesting and
original Avork, Eothen, is deficient as regards the
circumstance, that the author does not state whether
his attendants heard the ringing of the bells as well
as himself. It is material to know this before the
subject can be discussed upon physical i^rinciples.
His own suggestion seems to be the correct one.
Some humming noise assailed him before he went
wholly to sleep ; and we have stated, that the sense
of hearing is the last w^hich falls into slumbering
oblivion. jMemory, still on the watch, recalled to him
the sounds of his village bells, and then left him under
SOUND. 363
tills impression. Upon waking by degrees, the sounds
still remained, and the physical and moral feelings
were too strong to be overcome by the simple cir-
cumstance of the visual organs being fully awake, for
seeing is not always believing, in this half waking
state. The time is indefinite also. We are no judges
of time under such circumstances — a minute may
appear an age. Still, even hours and days are some-
times not sufficient to wear out the impression of some
sounds on the auditory nerve.
If others heard it as well as himself, the tactics
must be changed.
The wonders of the mirage, and the revived theory
of undulations may, perhaps, be applicable to sound,
as well as to light. Then it may be, that the author
heard his village chimes.*
* See Dr Brewster's Essays on the Mirage.
THE END.
MURRAY AND GIBIi, PRINTKRS, GEORGE STREET, EDINBURGH.
September, 1844.
A CATALOGUE OF
NEW WORKS AND NEW EDITIONS
PRINTED FOR
LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS,
LONDON.
ANALYTICAL INDEX.
AGRICULTURE AND RURAL
AFFAIRS.
Pages
Kayldon on Valuine: Rents, etc. - - 6
,, the Varuiitioii of Property for
Poor's Rate --.--- 8
frocker's Land Surveying - - - 9
Davy's Agricultural Chemistry - - 9
Greenwood's (Col.) Tree-Lifter - - 12
Hannam On Waste Manures - - • 12
Joliiison's Farmer's Encyclopaedia - - 16
Loudon's Kiicyclopicdia of Agriculture - 19
,, (Mrs.) Lady's Country Companion 18
Low's Breeds of the Domesticated Animals
of Great Britain - - - - 20
,, Elements of Agriculture - - 20
,, On Landed Propertv - - - 19
Whitley s Affiicullural Geology - - 32
ARTS, MANUFACTURES, AND
ARCHITECTURE.
Brande's Dictionary of Science, Litera-
ture, and Art 7
Givilt's Encyclopajdiaof Architecture - 12
Loudon's Kucyciop^ediaof Cottage, Farm,
and Villa Architecture and Furniture - 18
Porter's Manufacture of Silk - - - 2!>
„ ,, Porcelain & Glass 25
neid (Dr.) on Warming and Ventilating 25
Savage's Dictionary of Printing - - 27
Steam Engine (The), by the Artisan Club 28
Urc's [Jictiouary of Arts, Manufactures,
and Mines 31
Wathen's Arts, etc. of Ancient Egypt - 31
BIOGRAPHY.
Aikin's Life of Addison .... 5
Bell's Lives of the most Eminent British
Poets 6
Biographical Dictionary of the Society for
the Diffu.ion of Useful Knowledge - 6
Dover's Life of the King of Prussia . . 10
Dunbam'i Lives of the Early Writers of
Great Britain - - - 10
,, Lives of the British Dramatists 10
Foritcr's Statesmen of the Commonwealth
of England 11
Gleig's Lives of the most Eminent British
Military Commanders .... 11
Grant (Mrs.) Memoir and Correspondence 11
Hunter's Life of Oliver Heywood - . Ifi
James's Life of the DUck Prince • - IG
BIOGRAPHY.
Pages
James's Lives of the most Eminent Foreign
Statesmen ... - - - Ifi
Maunder's Biographical Treasury - - 21
Roscoe's Lives of Eminent British Lawyers 20
Russell's Correspondence of the Duke of
Bedford G
Shelley's Lives of the most Eminent Lite-
rary Men of Italy, Spain, and
Portugal 27
,, Lives of the most Eminent
French Writers . - - 27
Smith's Memoirs of the Marquis De Porabal 28
Southev's Lives of the Bridsh .Admirals . 28
Tate's Horatius Restitutus . . - 29
BOOKS OF GENERAL UTILITY.
Black's Treatise on Brewing . - - 6
Donovan's Domestic Economy - - 10
Hand-Book of Taste- - - - - 12
Hints on Etiquette 13
Hudson's Parent's Hand-Book - - 15
,, Executor's Guide • * - 15
„ On Making Wills - . - 15
Lorimer's Letters to a Young Master
Mariner ------ 18
Maunder's Treasury of Knowledge - - 22
,, Scientific and Literary rreasury 22
,, Treasury of History - - 22
,, Biographical Treasury - - 22
,, Universal Class-Book - - 22
Parke's Domestic Duties . - - - 24
Riddle's English-Latin and Latin-English
Dictionaries - - . - - - 25
Short Whist . - - - . - 27
Thomson's Domestic Management of the
Sick Room ... - - - 30
Tomlins' Law Dictionary - - - - 30
Webster's Ency. of Domestic Economy - 32
BOTANY AND GARDENING
Callcotl's Scripture Herbal . . . s
Conversations on Botany . . . g
Drummond's First Steps to Botany . - 10
Glendiuning On the Culture of the Pine
Apple 11
Greenwood's (Col.) Trcc-Liftcr - . 12
llcnslow's Botany 13
Hosre On Cultivation of the Grape Vine
on Open Walls 13
,, On the Management of the Roots
of Vines 13
London: Printed by Ma
, Ivy.lane,St. Paul',
ANALYTICAL INDEX
Hooker's British Flora . • -
,1 Icones Plantarum
,, and Taylor's MuscologiaBrita
Jacks
's Pictorial Flora - - - -
Knapp's Gramiiia Britanaica - - -
Liudley's Theory of Horticulture
„ Outlines of the First Principles
of Horticulture -
,, Guideto theOrchardandKitchen
Garden
t. Introduction to Botany -
„ Flora Medica . - . -
,, Synopsis of British Flora -
Loutlon's Hortus Britannicus - - -
,, ,, Lignosus Londinensis -
,, Encyclop^diaof Trees & Shrubs
,, ,, Gardening
,, ,, Plants
J, „ Agriculture
,, Suburban Garden aud Villa Com-
panion - - - -
,, Cemeteries and Churchyards -
Rcpton's Landscape Gardening aiid Land-
scape Architecture - - - -
nivers's Rose Amateur's Guide
Roberts on the Vine ....
Rogers's Vegetable Cultivator -
Smith's Introduction to Botany
,, English Flora ....
„ Compenilium of English Flora -
CHRONOLOGY.
Blair's Chronological Tables -
Nicolas's Chronology of History
Riddle's Ecclesiastical Chronology -
Tate's Horatius Restitutus ...
Wathen's Chronology of Ancient Egypt ■
COMMERCE AND MERCANTILE
AFFAIRS
Kane's (Dr.) Industrial Resources of
Ireland . - - . - . 1
Lorimer's Letters to a Young Master
31
Ma
M*Culloch's Dictionary of Commerce and
Commercial Navigation
Spackman's Statistical Tables
Steel's Shipmaster's Assistant ...
GEOGRAPHY AND ATLASES.
Butler's Sketch of Ancient and Modern
Geography ....
„ Atlas of Modern Geography
,, ,, Ancient Geography
Hall's New General Atlas ...
M*Culloch*s Geographical Dictionary
Malte.Brun's Geography
Murray's Encyclopaedia of Geography
HISTORY AND CRITICISM.
Adair's (SirR.), Memoir of a Mission to
Vienna
Addison's History of the Knights Templars
Bell's History of Russia ....
Blair's Chron. aud Historical Tables
Bloorafield's Translation ofThucvdides -
,, Edition of Tbucydidis -
Cooley's History of Maritime and Inland
Discovery ......
Crowe's History of France ...
Dunham's History of Spain and Portugal
,, History of Europe during^the
Middle Ages ....
,, History of the German Empire
„ History of Denmark, Sweden,
and Norway ...
Pages
Dunham's History of Poland - - .10
Fergus's History of United States of
America 10
Grant (Mrs.) Memoir and Corespondence 11
Grattan's Historv of Netherlands . .11
Halsted'sLifeof Richard III. - - li
Horslev's (Bp.) Biblical Criticism . - 14
Jeffrey's (Lord) Contributions to the
Edinburgh Review - - - . 16
Keightley's Outlines of History - . 16
King's (Lord) , Speeches and Writings
(with Memoir) ..... 16
Laing's Kings of Norway - - - 16
Macaulay's Essays contributed to the
Edinburgh Review - . - - 20
Mackintosh's History of England . - 20
,, Miscellaneous Works . 20
M'CuUoch's Dictionary, Historical, Geo.
graphical, and Statistical - . . 20
Maunder's Treasury of History - . 22
Moore's History of Ireland . - .23
Muller's Mythology 23
Nicolas's Chronology of History - .24
Rome, History of 26
Russell's Correspondence of the Duke of
Bedford ....-.- 6
Scotfs HlstoiT of Scotland - - - 27
Sismondi's History of the Fall of the
Roman Empire - - - 27
,, Historv of the Italian Re-
publics - - - - 27
Stebbing's History of the Christian Church 28
,, History of the Reformation . 28
Switzerland, History of - - - - 29
Sydney Smith's Works - ... 27
Thirhvall's History of Greece ... 30
Tooke's History of Prices - . - 30
Turner's History of England . . 31
JUVENILE BOOKS,
Iiicludint; Mrs. MurceCs yVorks.
Boy's (the) Country Book, By W. Howitt 15
„ Own Book .... 6
Howitt's (M.) Child's Picture and Verse
Book - - - - 14
„ (W.) Jack of the Mill - - 14
Ladies' (the Young) Book ... 32
Marcet's Conversations —
On the History of England - - 21
On Chemistry 21
On Natural Philosophy • - - 21
On Political Economy - - - 21
On Vegetable Physiology . - - 21
On Land and Water . - - - 21
Marcet's the Game of Grammar - -21
,, Mary's Grammar - - - 21
,, Lessons on Animals, etc. - - 22
„ Conversations on Language - 21
Marryat's Masterman Ready - - - 22
„ Settlers in Canada ... 22
Maunder's Universal Class Book - - 22
Pycroft's fthe Rev^J.), English Reading
Summerly s (Mrs. Felix) Mother's Priu
MEDICINE.
Bull's Hints to Mothers -
„ Management of Children
Copland's Dictionary of Medicine •
EUiotson's Human Physiology
Frankum on Enlarged Abdomen
Holland's Medical Notes - - - -
Maeleod On Rheumatism ...
Marx and Willis (Drs.) On Decrease of
Disease ......
Pereira On Food and Diet
Recce's Medical Guide . . . -
Sandby On Mesmerism ...
2U
1U CATALOGUE OF NEW WOUlvS.
MISCELLANEOUS.
Beale's (Miss) Vale of the Towcy
Black's Treatise on Brewing: -
liray's Philosophy ot Necessity
CKvendish's Debates
(Uavers's Forest Life
Colto
l)e Morgan On Probabilities -
Good's Book of Nature - - -
Graham's English . - - -
,, Helps to English Grammar
Guest's Mabinogion - . - .
Hand-Book of Taste - . . -
Hobbes (Thos.), English Works of
Holland's Progressive Education
Howitt's Uural Life of England
,, Visits to Remarkable Places
,, Student-Life of Germany -
,, Rural and Social Life of Gc
many . . - -
,, Colonization and Christianity
,, German Experiences
Humphreys' Illuminated Books
Jeffrey's (Lord) Contributions to the
Edinburgh Review - - - -
Laing's (S.,jun.) Prize Essay On National
Distress ------
Letters on American Debts - - -
Life of a Travelling Physician -
Loudon's (Mrs.) Lady's Country Companiol
Macaulav's Critical and Historical Essays
Mackintosh's 'SirJames^ Miscellaneous
Works
Marx and Willis (Drs.) On Decrease of
Disease -------
Miiller's Mythology - - - - -
Peter Plymlej's Letters . . . .
Prism of'lmagination (The) - _ -
Pycroft's English Reading
Sandby On Mesmerism - - - -
Seaward's (Sir E.) Narrativeof his Ship-
wreck -
Smith's (Rev. Sydnev) Works
Summerly's (Mrs. Felix) Mother's Primer
Taylor's Statesman . - - - -
Walker's Chess Studies - - . -
WiUoughby's (Lady) Diary - - -
NATURAL HISTORY IN GENERAL.
Callow's Popular Coni-hology - - - 8
Gray's Figures of Molluscous Animals - 12
„ anu Mitchell's Ornithology - - 12
Kirby and Spence's Entomology - - 17
Lee's Taxidei my - - - - 18
„ Elements of Natural History - - 18
M.arcet's Conversations on Animals, etc. 22
Proceedings of the Zoological Society - 25
Stephens's British Coleoptera - - - 28
Swainson on the Study of Natural History 29
,, Animals . - . . 29
„ Quadrupeds - - - - 29
„ Birds - .... 29
Animals in Menageries - 29
sh, Amphibians, & Reptiles 29
Ins
mals
Transactions of the Zoological Society
Turton's Shells of the British Islands
Wulcrton's Essays on Natural History
Wcstwood's Classification of Insects
31
NOVELS AND WORKS OF FICTION.
f:arl.-n'» Uo-scofTistclOn ... 8
Doctor (the; ... . . 10
(Mary) Diary
,, Home -
,, Neighl)Ours
„ The H Fa
Matryat's Masterman Jieady
ughte
nily, .
Pages
21
Settle
1 Canada
Rambles of the Empenir Ching Tih
TroUope's (Mrs.) The Laurringtons - 31
ONE VOLUME ENCYCLOP/EDIAS
AND DICTIONARIES.
Blaine's Encyclopa;dia of Rural Sports - fi
Brande's Dictionary of Science, Litera-
ture, and Art .... - - 7
Copland's Dictionary of Medicine . - 9
Gwilt's Encyclopaedia of Architecture - 12
Johnson's Farmer's Encyclopaedia . Ifi
Loudon's Encyclopaedia of Trees and
Shrubs
18
,, Encyclopaedia ofGardening
,, Encyclopaedia of Agriculture . 19
„ Encyclopaedia of Plants - - 19
,, Rural Architecture 19
M'CuUoch's Dictionary, Geographical,
Statistical, and Historical 20
,, Dictionary, Practical, Theo-
retical, etc. of Commerce 20
Murray's Encyclopaedia of Geography - 23
Savage's Dictionary of Printing . . 27
Ure's Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures,
and Mines 31
Webster's Encyclopaedia of Dom. Economy 32
POETRY AND THE DRAMA.
Aikin's (Dr.) British Poets - . - 27
Baillie's New Dramas .... 5
,, Plays of the Passions - ■ ■ b
Chalenor's Walter Gray - - - - 8
,, Poetical Remains - - - 8
Goldsmith's Poems 30
Horace, by Tate ..... '.'9
L E. L's. Poetical Works ... 18
INIacaulay's Lays of Ancient Rome . - 20
Montgomery's Poetical Works - - 22
Moore's Poetical Works - - - - 23
,, Lalla Rookh . - . - '23
,, Irish Melodies - . - . '23
„ Illustrated by Maclise 23
Moral of Flowers '23
Shakspeare, by Bowdlcr - . - .27
Southey's Poetical Works - . . 28
,, British Poets - . - - 27
Spirit of the Woods . - - .28
Thomson's Seasons . . . .30
POLITICAL ECONOMY AND
STATISTICS.
Kane's (Dr.) Industrial Resources of
Ireland - - 16
M'CuUoch's Geographical, Statistical, and
Historical Dictionary - 20
,, Political Economy - - 21
Smith's Wealth of Nations - . - 28
Spackraan's Statistical Tables . . .28
Strong's Greece as a Kingdom - - 29
Tookc's History of Prices . - - 30
RELIGIOUS AND MORAL
WORKS, ETC.
Amy Herbert, Edited bv Prof. Sewell . 6
Biiilcy's Essays on the Pursuit of Truth - 6
Dloomticld's Greek Testament - - (i
„ (-'ollegc and School ditto - fi
,, Greek and English Lexicon
to New Tcstamcnl - -
Border's Oriental Customs - - - 7
Burns's Christian Pliilosophy -
,, ,, Fragments - - - o
Callcott's Scripture Herbal ' ' ' -l
Dibdin's Sunday Library - . - - -9
Doddridge's Family Kxpositor - - - lU
Kiiglisliman's Hebrew and Chaldee Cou-
cordance _.---- 10
Ford's New Devout Communicaut - - 11
,, Ccutiiry of Prayers - - • H
Horsley's (Bp ) Biblical Criticism - - 14
Kippis's Collection of Hymns, etc. - • 16
Marriage Gift ------ ~2
Parkcs's Domestic Duties . - - 24
Pearson's Prayers for Families - - 24
Kiddle's Letters from a Godfather - - 25
Robinson's Greek and Knglish Lexicon
to the New Testament . - - - 26
Sandford On Female Improvement - 26
„ On Woman - - - - 26
Spalding's Philosophv of Christian Morals 23
Tate's History of St. Paul - - - 29
Tayler's (Rev. C. B.) Margaret; or, the
' Pearl - - - 29
,, Sermons - - 29
I' „ DoraMelder- - 29
Turner's Sacred History - - - - 31
Wardlaw On Socinian Controversy - 31
Willoughby-s (LaJy) Uiary - - - 32
RURAL SPORTS.
Blaine'sDictionary of Sports • " • 5
Hansard's Fishing in Wales - - - 13
Hawker's Instructions to Sportsmen - 13
Loudoii's{Mrs.) Lady's Country Companion 18
llonald's Fly-fisher's F-ntomolog;,- - - 26
Thacker's Coursing Rules - - - 29
,, Courser's Remembrancer - 311
THE SCIENCES IN GENERAL,
AND MATHEMATICS.
Bakewcll's Introduction to Geology - 5
Ualmain's Lessons on Chemistry - - 5
lirnnde's Dictionary of Science, Litera-
ture, and Art - - " " "7
Brewster's Optics - - - - " 7
Conversations on Mineralogy - - ■ 9
De la Bcrhe on theGcology of Cornwall.etc. 10
Donovan's Chemistry - - - - 10
Egerton's Treatise on Photography - - 10
Farev on the Steam Kngine - - - 10
Fosbroke on the Arts, Manners, Manufac-
tures, and Institutions of the Greeks
and Romans 11
Greener's Science of Gunnery - - 12
,, On the Gun - - - - 11
Herschcl's Natural Philosophy - - 13
,, Astronomy - - - - 13
Holland's Manufactures in Metal - - 13
Hunt's Researches on Light - 16
Kane's Elements of Chemistry - - 16
K.ater and Lardner's Mechanics - - 16
l.ardner's Cabinet Cyclop.-cdia - - 1?
,, Hydrostatics and Pneumatics - 17
,, and Walker's Klectricity - 1?
,, Arithmetic - - - - 17
,, Geometry - - - - 17
,, Treatise on Heat - - - 17
Lectures On Polarised Light - - - 17
I.loyil On Light and Vision - - - 18
Mackenzie's Physiology of Vision - - 20
Marcet's (Mrs.) Conversations on the
M.I
eley's Practical Mechanics
Moselev's Engineering and Architecture
Narriei'i's Elements of Geometry - - -"
,, Astronomy and Geodesy - - 26
Owen's Lectures On Comparative Anatomy 24
Parnell On Roads - - - - " "-^^
Pearson's Practical Astronomy - - -4
Phillips's Pal;eozoic Fossils of Cornwall, etc. 24
„ Guide to Geology - - " ^'^
,, Treatise on Geology - - - 24
„ Introduction to Mineralogy - 24
Poisson's Mechanics - - - 24
Portlock's Report on the Geology of
Londonderrv - - - - ■ 'x!
Powell's Natural Philosophy - - - 2o
Roberts's Dictionarv of Geology - - 26
Sandhurst Mathematical Course - - 26
Scoresby's Magnetical Investigations - 27
Scott's Arithmetic and Algebra - - 26
Thomson's Algebra ----- 30
Wilkinson's Engines of War - - - 32
Wood On Railroads - - • - 32
TOPOGRAPHY AND GUIDE
BOOKS.
Addison's History of the Temple Church 5
,, Guide to ditto - - - - 5
Britton's Picture of Loudon - - - (
Hewitt's German Experiences - - - lo
TRANSACTIONS OF SOCIETIES.
Transactions of the Entomological Society 30
,, Zoological Society - 30
J, Linniean Society - 30
,, Institution of Civil
Engineers - - 31
Roy.al Institute of
British Architects - 30
Proceedings of the Zoological Society - 25
TRAVELS.
Allan's Mediterranean . - - - .5
Beale's (Miss) Vale of the Towey - - 6
China, Last Year in . - - - 8
Chorley's Music and Manners in France
and Germany ----- 9
Dc Custine's Russia - - - - 9
Harris's Highlands of Ethiopia - - 13
Howitt's Wanderings of a Journeyman
Tailor 15
,, German Experiences - - - 15
Laing's Notes of a Traveller - - - 17
,, Residence in Norway - - - 17
„ Tour in Sweden - - - - 17
Life of a Travelling Physician - - - IS
Modern Syrians ----- 22
Postans's Sindh ----- 25
Seaward's Narrative of his Shipwreck - 27
Strong's Greece as a Kingdom - - 29
Wilde's Voyage to Madeira, etc. - - 32
VETERINARY MEDICINE
Field's Veterinary Records - - - 11
Morton's Veterinary Toxicological Chart 23
,, ,, Medicine - - 23
Percivall's Hippopathology - - - 24
,, Anatomy of the Horse - - 24
Spooner on the Foot and Leg of the Horse 23
Turner On the Foot of the Horse - - 31
White's Vcterinarv Art - - - - 32
„ Cattle Medicine ... 32
CATALOGUE.
ADAIR (Sill ROBERT)— AN HISTORICAL MEMOIR OF A MISSION
TO THE COURT OF VIKNNA IN 1806. By the Right H.)norabli: Sir Robert Ailnii ,(i.C.l5.
With a Selectiou from his Despatclies, published by permission of the proper Aulltoritics.
8vo. 18». cloih.
"Sir Robert Adair's valuable Memoir needs no commendation. Its ohvioxts utility, the
nature of its contents, and the name of the author, will command the notice and appreciation
of statesm-'n and historians,-' — Athenteum.
" The vindication of Mr. Fox, from the obsirvations of Mr. Gentz and others, iscomplete ;
and the Memoir is altogether a work which must be deferred to by future historians us the
authority on the important affairs of which it treats."— Tail's Magaiilic.
AIKIN.-THE LIFE OF JOSEPH ADDISON.
lllustrrited by many of his Letters aini Privntc Papers never before published. By Lucy
Aikin. 2 vols. postSvo. with Portrait from Sir Godfrey Knellcr's Picture. ISJ- clotli.
"In the execution of her labour. Miss .rlihin has exercised praiseworthy diligence; she
has ransacked among those fine and inexhaustible sources of personal and national interest
—family papers, and has succeeded in rescuing from the obscurity of worm-eaten chests,
and from the bondage of red tape, many documents which thyow light on the most doubtful
parts of Addison's history, and relieve his character from the reproaches attempted to be cast
on it. She has produced, both in style and mutter, a very interesting work, creditable to her
feelings and talents, and honourable to her industry."--liritiimni\.
ALLAN.— A PICTORIAL TOUR IN THE MEDITERRANEAN;
Comprising Malta, Dalmatia, Turlscy, Asia Minor, Grciian Archipelago, Egypt, Nubia,
Greece, Ionian Islanils, Sicily, Italy, and Spain. By J. H. Allan, Member of the Atlicnian
Arclueological Society, and of the Egyptian Society of Cairo. Imp. 4to. containing upwards
of 40 I,itlini;raphed Drawings, and 70 Wood Engravings, 3/. 3s. cloth.
"A most ariist-tike and interesting work, full of beautiful views, and interspersed with
many charming woodcuts of scenery and antiquities.^^ — Literary Gazette.
ADDISON.— THE KNIGHTS TEMPLARS.
By C.i;. Addison, of the Inner Temple. 2d Edition, enlarged, 1 vol. square crown 8vo.
with Illustrations, ISs. cloth.
ADDISON.— THE TEMPLE CHURCH IN LONDON:
Its History and Antiquities. By C. G. Addison, Esq., of the Inner Temple, author of "The
History of the Knights Templars." Square crown 8vo. with 6 Plates, 5s. cloth.
Also,
A FULL AND COMPLETE GUIDE, HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE, TO THK
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AMY HERBERT.
By a Lady. Edited by the Rev. William Scwell, B.D. of Exeter College, Oxford. 2vol3.
foolscap Svo. 9s. cloth.
"' Amy Herbert' paints nature to the life. It is by ' a Lady,' for whose soundness Mr.
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BAILEY. -ESSAYS ON THE PURSUIT OF TRUTH,
And on the Pi ogress of Knowledge. By Samuel Bailey, author of "Essays on the Formation
and Publication of Opinions," "Berkeley's Theory of Vision," etc. 2d Edition, revised
and enlarged, Svo. 9s. 6d. cloth.
" Mr. Bailey is an admirable writer, both as to the general tone of thought and sentiment,
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is acceptable to a larger class of readers. The peculiar quality of his powerful essays Is the
practical and useful conviction they produce oj truths as obvious as they are important, but
which are strangely neglected by the majority of mankind. We do not often meet with a book
which we can more strongly recommend."— imimrcT.
BAILLIES (JOANNA) NEW DRAMAS.
3 vols. Svo. If. Ifis. boards.
BAILLIES fJO.\NNA) PLAYS ON THE PASSIONS.
3 vols. Svo. W. Us. 6rf. boards.
BAKEWELL.— AN INTRODUCTION TO GEOLOGY.
Intended to coiivev Practical Knowledge of the Science, and comprising the most important
recent Discoveries'; with Explanations of the Facts .and Phenomena which serve to confirm or
invalidate v.arious Geological Theories. By Robert Bakewell. Fifth Edition, considerably
enlarged, Svo. with numerous Plates and Woodcuts, 21». cloth.
BALMAIN.- LESSONS ON CHEMISTRY,
For the Use of Pupils in Si.hnols, .Iiiiiiur Students in Universities, and Renders who wish to
learn the fundamental Prinei|des and leading Facts: with Questions for Examination,
Glossaries of Chemical Terms and Chemical Symbols, and an Index. By William H. BalniBin.
With numerous Woodcuts, illustrative of the Decompositions, foolscap Svo. fij. cloth.
CATALOGUE OF NEW WORKS
BAYLDON.-ART OF VALUING RENTS AND TILLAGES,
And the Tenant's Right of Entering and Quitting Farms, explained by several Specimens of
Valuations; and Remarks on the' Cultivation pursued on Soils in different Situations.
Adapted to the Use of Landlords, Land-Agents, Appraisers, Farmers, and Tenants. By
J. S. Bayldon. 6th Edition, corrected and revised by John Donaldson, Land-Steward, author
of a "Treatise on Manures and Grasses." 8vo. lOj. 6ii. cloth.
BAYLDON. — TREATISE ON THE VALUATION OF PROPERTY FOR
THE POOR'S RATE; showing the Method of Rating Lands, Buildings, Tithes, Mines,
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Poor Laws relating to Rates and Appeals. By J. S. Bayldon, author of "Rents and
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BEALE (ANNE)-THE VALE OF THE TOWEY ;
Or, Sketches in South Wales. Bv ,\niic Scale. Post Svo. 10.». 6d. cloth.
" The prrusiil n/this agrernhle volume of Sketches hiis afforicd us cimsiderable nmmement.
Miss Benle is a lively and i?itelligeia chronicler, who tells her stories in a manner to make
them run on smooth and pleasantly " —Vn'iteA Service Gazette.
BEDFORD CORRESPONDENCE. — CORRESPONDENCE OF JOHN,
FOURTH DUKE OF BEDFORD, selected from the Originals at Woburn Abbey: with
Introductions by Lord John Russell. Svo. vol. 1 (ir-C-lSl, 18». cloth; vol. 2 (1/49-6 '), 15s. cl.
** The second volume includes a correspondence having relation to the period from the
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upon an important question, on which there still eaist some differences of opinion, ri-. the
intrigues which led to the junction of the Duke of Newcastle and Pitt, in 1757. The letters
respecting the state of Ireland under the riceroyalty of the Duke of Bedford also, are nut a
little interesting."— t'lotnm^^ Herald.
•,• /"(.;. ///. to complete the work, is in preparation.
BELL.— LIVES OF THE MOST EMINENT ENGLISH POETS.
By Robert Bell, Esq. 2 vols, foolscap Svo. with Vignette Titles, 12s. cloth.
BELL.— THE HISTORY OF RUSSIA,
From the Earliest Period to the Treaty of Tilsit. By Robert Bell, Esq. 3 vols, foolscap Svo.
with Vignette Titles, 18s. cloth.
BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY
Of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. Half-volumes. 1 to 7- (A.\ to
Az-Zubevdi -comprising the letter A) . Svo. 12s. each, cloth.
*,* Published Quarterly .— The work will probably not exceed Thirty Volumes.
" We have carefully examined the articles under letter A, now completed, and have no
reason to complain of any want of tinijormity. There seems to have been, on the whole, a
judicious apportioning of space, according to the importance of the individual. In order to
secure this necessary uniformity, a societii, which had no pecuniary projit as its end, was
more likely to succeed than a private publisher, or body of publishers. In style, execution,
and completeness, the lives are far superior to thtise of any biographical dictionary with which
we are acquainted. The only one, indeed, with which, for completeness, it can be compared,
is the I'rench ' Biographic Universele,' but in this respect it has very greatly the advnu-
ta^e.'' [The reviewer ii.stitates a comparison in favour of the English work, too long to be
quoted, and ends his parairraph as follows :]-" So that the .Society's Dictionary must be
regarded as a labour not only for Great Biitain, ^ut for Europe. In all the articles there
are two points in which they are fuller and more accurate than any previous work of the
kind : and these are, the titles, dates, and places of publication of books, and their editions,
and the sources from whence the materials have been derived for the biography."— AtheniEUia.
BLACK— A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON BREWING.
Based on Chemical and Economical Principles: wilh Formula; for Public Brewers, and
Instructions for Private Families. By William Black. Third Edition, revised and cor-
rected, with considerable Additions. The Additions revised by Professor Graham, of the
London University. Svo'. 10s. 6d. cloth.
"This comprehensive and informing essay will be found invaluable to the practical brewer
and private families: to the former we re'cooimend it as a work ably treating of their art;
to the latter, as one which they will Jind an ej/lcimt and correct guide. This edition fully
bears out the statement on the title-page — that it has been ' much enlarged and improved.'"
Chemist.
BLAINE.— AN ENCYCLOP/EDIA OF RURAL SPORTS;
Or, a complete Account, Historical, Practical, and Descriptive, of Hunting, Shooting, Fishing,
Racing, and other Field Sports and Athletic Amusements of the present day. By Delabere
P. Blaine, Esq., author of " Outlines of the Veterinary Art," " Canine Pathology," etc. etc.
With nearly 600 Engravings on Wood, by R. Branston, from Drawings by Aiken, T. Land-
seer, Dickes, etc. 1 thick vol. Svo. 21. Ws. cloth.
BLAIR'S CHRONOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL TABLES,
From the Creation to the present Time ; with Additions and Corrections from the most authen.
tit Writers ; including the Computation of St. Paul, as connecting the Period from the
Exode to the Temple. Under the revision of Sir Henry Ellis, K.H., Principal Librarian of
the British Museum. Imperial Svo. 31s. 6d. half-bound morocco.
" The arrangement adopted iu this extended edition of Dr. Blair's valuable work is most
adviirable; each table comprisiua the space of half a century, and exhibiting, in parallel
columns, contemporary kings and rulers, the chief events that marked the history of their
tune, and the most celebrated characters who flourished in their age. As an aid to the study
of history, and as a general work of reference, the tables are of great utility ; and we are
satisjird that, as their merit becomes known, no one to whom they arc accessible will ever take
up a history without hnviug this volume open before him. It is to our view an indispensable
companion'to every collection of history, however small."— Mrit^nnUi.
PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, BROWN, AND CO. /
BLOOMFIELD.— HISTORY OF THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR.
By TliutvdMles. Newly Translated into English, and accompanied with very copious
Notes, Philnloijiral and Explanaton-, Historical and Geographical. By the Rev. S. T.
Bloomfield, D.U. F.S.A. 3 vols. 8vo. with Maps and Plates, -21. 5s. boards.
BLOOMFIELD— HISTORY OF THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR.
By Thucydides. A New Recension of the Text, with a carefully amended Punctuation ; and
copious Notes, Critical, Philological, and Explanatory, almost entirely original, but partly
selected and arranged from the best Expositors : accompanied with full Indexes, both of
Greek Words and Phrases explained, and matters discussed in the Notes. The whole illus-
trated by Maps and Plans, mostly taken from actual Surveys. By the Rev. S.T. Bloomfield,
D.D. F.S.A. 2 vols. 8V0.38J. cloth.
BLOOMFIELD.— THE CREEK TESTAMENT :
With copious English Notes, Critical, Philological, and Explanaton-. Bv the Rev. S.T.
Bloomfield, D.D. F.S.A. oth Edit, improved, 2 vols. 8vo. with a Map of Palestine, 4U». cloth.
BLOOMFIELD.-COLLECE AND SCHOOL CREEK TESTAMENT;
With English Notes. By the Rev. S. T. Bloomljeld, D.D. Third Edition, greatly enlarged
and very considerably improved, accompanied with a New Map of Syria and Palestine,
adapted to the New Testament and Josephus, and an Index of Greek Words and Phrases
explained in the Notes. 12mo. 10s. 6rf. cloth.
BLOOMFIELD.— CREEK AND ENGLISH LEXICON TO THE NEW
TESTAMENT: especially adapted to the use of Colleges, and the Higher Classes in Public
Schcjdls : liutalso intended as a convenient Manual for Biblical Students in general. By
Dr. Bloomfield. Foolscap Svo. 9s. cloth.
BOY'S OWN BOOK (THE):
A Complete F^ncyclopsedia of all the Diversions, Athletic, Scientific, and Recreative, of Boy-
hood and Youth.' 2Uth Edition, square 12mo., with many Engravings on Wood, Cs. boards.
BRANDE.— A DICTIONARY OF SCIENCE, LITERATURE, AND ART;
Comprising the Historv, Description, and Scientific Principles of every Branch of Human
Knowledge ; with the D'erivatiou and Definition of all the Terms in general use. Edited by
W. T. Brande, F.R.S.U. and E. ; assisted by Joseph Cauvin, Esq. The various departments
are by Gentlemen of eminence in each. I very thick vol. Svo. pp. 1352. Illustrated by Wood-
engravings, 3/. cloth. London, 1842.
BRAY.-THE PHILOSOPHY OF NECESSITY;
Or, the Law of Consequences as applicable to Mental, Moral, and Social Science. By Charles
Bray. 2 vols. Svo. 155. cloth.
BREWSTER.— TREATISE ON OPTICS.
By Sir David Brewster, LL.D. F.R.S. etc. New Edition. 1 vol. foolscap Svo. ViguetteTitle,
aiid 176 Woodcuts, Gs. cloth.
BRITTON— THE ORIGINAL PICTURE OF LONDON:
With a Description of its Environs. Re-edited and mostly re written, byJ.Britton, F.S.A. etc.
28th Edition, with upwards of lUO Views of Public Buildings, Plan of the Streets, and Two
Maps, 18mo. 95. neatly bouud ; with the Maps only, 6s. bound.
BULL.-HINTS TO MOTHERS,
For the Management of Health during the Period of Pregnancy and in the Lying-in Room ;
with an Exposure of Popular Errors in'connexiou with those subjects. ByThomasBull, M.D.
Physician Accoucheur to the Finsburv Midwifery Institution, etc. etc. -Ith Edition, revised
and considerably enlarged. Foolscap Svo. 7s. cloth.
BULL.-THE MATERNAL MANAGEMENT OF CHILDREN,
In HEALTH and DISEASE. By Thomas Bull, M.D. Fooliscap Svo. /s. cloth.
" lijceltent guides, and deserve to be genemlly known."
Johnson's Medico-Chirurgical Review.
BURDER. -ORIENTAL CUSTOMS,
Applied to the Illustration of the Sacred Scriptures. By Samuel Burder, A.M. 3d Edition,
with additions, foolscap Svo. 8s. 6</. cloth.
CONTENTS.
louses and Tents-Marriage-Children— Ser-
vants— Food and Drink— Dress and Clothing
— Presents and Visiting — Amusements-
Books and Letters -Hospitality-Travelling
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Is, Insects, and Reptiles —
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ntb — Religion — Time and
ne— Funerals, etc.
BURNS.— THE PRINCIPLES OF CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHY;
Containing the Doctrines, Duties, Admonitions, and Consolations of the Christian Religion.
By John Burns, M.D. F.R.S. ath Edition, 12mo. 7s. boards.
CONTENTS.
the Future State of Happiness ; of Personal
Duties; of Relative Duties; of the Duties
toGoil; of the Admonition
Man ii created for a Future State of Happiness;
on the Means by which a Future Slate of
liayylln-aii is pro'cured ; of what is r(M|uired
of Man that he may obtain a Future State of
Happineis ; of the Nature of the Future
State or llappiiitKH ; of the Preparation for
Consolations alfurded by the Christian Re
ligiou.
CATALOGUE OF NEW WORKS
BURNS— CHRISTIAN FRAGMENTS;
Or, Hemarka on the Nature, Precepts, niul Comfort* of Religion. By John Burns, M.D.
F.U.S. Professor of Surgery in the University ol Glasgow, author of " The Principles of
Christian Philosophy." Foolscap 8vo. 5s. cloth.
" Fifty-six. more or less rxtended, ' Fragmentt,' on varioin doctrinal, crprrimcutat, and
practical subjects. The author manifests throughout n sound judgment, a cultivated literary
taste, and, best of alt, a heart deeply impressed with the solemn realities of rcliaion. His
sentiments are evangelical, and his spirit devout. Some of the 'Fragments' referring to
suffering, sickness, and death, and written, as the author iriforois us, under a recent deep
aj/liction, arc pecnliarUj spiritual and proJitahlcJ'—W'-MchmM.
BUTLER.-SKETCH OF ANCIENT AND MODERN GEOGRAPHY.
By Samuel Butler, D.l)., late Lord Bishop of Lichiielil and Coventry; and formerly Head
Master of Shrewsbury School. New Edition, revised by his Son, 8vo. 9». boards.
The present edition has been carefully revised by the author's son, and such alterations
introduced as continually progressive discoveries and the latest information rendered neces-
sary. Recent Travels have been covstantly consulted where any doubt or difficulty seemed to
require it; and some additional matter has been added, both in the ancient and modern part.
BUTLER.-ATLAS OF MODERN GEOGRAPHY.
By the late Dr. Butler. New F.dition ; consisting of Twenty-three coloured Maps, from a
New Set of Plates. 8vo. with Index, 12j. half-boiind.
BUTLER.-ATLAS OF ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY;
Consisting of Twenty-three coloured Maps. With Index. By the late Dr. Butler. New
Edition. 8vo. 12j. half-bound.
«.* The above two Atlases may be had, in One Folame,4to. 24». half-hound.
CALLCOTT.-A SCRIPTURE HERBAL:
With upwards of 120 Wood Engravings. By Lady Callcott. Square orownSvo., pp.568,
libs, cloth.
"' My chief object and aim in writing this little booh,' commences the amiable and noble
authoress, ' has been to induce those who read and love Clod's written Word, to read and love
the great nnwrittev book which he has everywhere spread abroad for our learning.' The 'chief
object and aim' of this pious and gifted woman cannot fail in its object. Indeed, we mail
almost to a certainty pronounce for this labour of her devotional love a success which her most
Christian sanguine wishes could not have anticipated for it. The authoress has termed it a
small book, and may have at first intended it as such ; it is gratifying that it is otherwise, for
a single page could not be spared, so redolent is each with the best of material. It is remarked
in the preface that the work was written while the body was in a state of ill health -what a
contrast must the spirit have presented'. May it long dirtct the head and hand to add thus to our
useful /i/era(!<rir.— Standard.
CARLEN (EMILIE)-THE ROSE OF TI3TELON :
A Tale of the Swedish Coast. By Emilie Carlen. Translated from the original Swedish.
2 vols, post 8vo.2l3. boards.
•* There are a vigour and a rapidity of action, and an artist-like skill displai/ed in working
out the events of this clever story, which make it very attrnctine, and sustain the reader's
interest unbroken from the first to the last page.^' — Magazine of Domestic Economy.
CATLOW.— POPULAR CONCHOLOCY;
Or, the Shell Cabinet Arranged ; being an Introduction to the modern System of Conchology ;
with a sketch of the Natural History of the Animals, an account of the Formation of the
Shells, and a complete Descriptive List of the Families and Genera. By Agnes Catlow.
1 vol.fcap.8vo. with ;il2 Woodcuts, Ws.l'td. cloth.
" This admirable little work is designed to facilitate the study nf natural history, daihi
becoming more attractive, not onlyfiom its intrinsic interest, hut also fmm its mulliplird
relations with geology. It will famish the voung entomologist with an rlrmeutary mnviiul,
which, though scientific in its form, is. by the simplicity of its method, and the familiarit,/ of
its style, calculated rjf'ectaally to assist him iu the early steps oj his progress in this fascinating
;>«rjnl7."— St. James's Chronicle.
CIIALENOR. — POETICAL REMAINS OF MARY CHALENOR.
Kcp.Svo. is. cloth.
CHALENOR. -WALTER GRAY,
A Ballad, and other Poems ; including the Poetical Remains of Mary Chalcnor. 2d Edition ,
with Additions, fcp. 8vo. Rj. cloth.
" As the simple and spontaneous effusions of a mind apparently filled with feelings which
render the fireside happy, and untiticlured with affectation or verbiage, they may with henejit
be received into the ' happy homes of England,' and offered as a gift to the youthful of both
sexes."— Ch&m\ieTs' Edinburgh Journal.
CHINA.— THE LAST YEAR IN CHINA,
To the Peace of Nanking: as sketched in Letters to his Friends, bv a Field Officer activi-lv
employed in that Countrv. With a few conclu.ling Remarks on our Past and Future Policy
in China. 2d Edition, revised. I'uolscap avo. with Map, /s. cloth.
CHINESE NOVEL.— RAMBLES OF THE EMPEROR CHING TIH IN
KEANG NAN: a Cliinese Tale. Translated by Tkin Shen ; with a Preface by James Leggc,
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" These rambles oJ the Unroun A Irasehidof the Celestial Empire ^iue a very curious, and,
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tutions."— Ti'a'a Magaiine.
PRINTED FOli LONGMAN, BROWN, AND CO.
9
CHORLEY— MUSIC AND MANNERS IN FRANCE AND GERMANY:
A Series of Travelling Sketches of Art ami Society. By H. F. Chorley, Esq., author of
" Couti," 3 vols, post Svo. 31s. 6d. boards.
CL.WERS.— FOREST LIFE.
ByMaryClavers, an Aclu.il Settler; autoor of " A New Home, Who'll Follow?" 2 vols,
fcap. Sto. pp. 642, l'2s- cloth.
COLTON.— LACON; OR, MANY THINGS IN FEW WORDS.
Bv the Rev. C. C. Colton. New Edition, Svo. 12j. cloth.
CONVERSATIONS ON BOTANY.
'Jth Edition, improved, pp. 302, foolscap Svo. with 22 Plates, 7J.6d. cloth; with the Plates
coloured, 12». cloth.
The object of thistrork is to enable children and young persons to acquire a knowledge oj
the vegetable productions of their native country, by introducing to them, in a familiar
manner, the principles of the Linncean System of Botany. For thispurpose, the arrangement
of Linnxus is briefly explained; a native plant of each class, tcith a fete exceptions, is
examined, and illustrated by an engraving ; and a short account is added of some of the
prineipal foreign species.
CONVERSATIONS ON MINERALOGY.
With Plates, engraved by Jlr. and Mrs. Lowry, from Original Drawings. 3d Edition, eularijed.
2 vols. 12mo. Us. cloth.'
COOLEY.— THE HISTORY OF MARITIME AND INLAND DISCOVERY.
By W. D. Cooler, Esq. 3 vols, foolscap Svo. with Vitrnette Titles, ISs. cloth.
COPLAND.— A DICTIONARY OF PRACTICAL MEDICINE;
Comprising General Pathology, the N.ature and Treatment of Diseases, Morbid Structures,
and the Disorders especially incidental to Climates, to Sex, and to the different Epochs of
Life, with numerous approved Formula of the Medicines recommended. By James Copland,
M.D., Consulting Phvsician to Queen Charlotte's Lving-in Hospital; Senior Physician to the
Royal Infirmary for Children ; Member of the Roval College of Physicians, London ; of the
Medical and Chirurgical Societies of London and iicrlin, etc. Vols. 1 and 2, ,Svo. 3». cloth ;
and Part 9, -Is. C,d. boards. *.* To be completed in one more Volume.
CROCKER'S ELEMENTS OF LAND SURVEYING.
Fifth Edition, corrected throughout, and considerably improved and modernized, bv
T. G. Bunt, Land Surveyor, Bristol. To which are added, TABLES OF SIXFIGUKK
LO(;.\UITHMS, etc., superintended by Richard Farley, of the Nautical Almanac Establi.sh-
mcnt. 1 vol. post Svo. 1'2». cloth.
♦,♦ The vork throughout is entirely revised, and much new matter has been added; there
are nete chapters, containing very full and minute Directions relntinn to the modern
Practice of Surveying, both with and without the aid of angular instruments. The method
of Plotting Estates, and castingior computing their Areas, are described, etc. etc. The
chapter on Levelling also is new.
CROWE.— THE HISTORY OF FRANCE,
From the Earliest Period to the Abdication of Napoleon. By E. E. Crowe, Esq. 3 voU.
foolscap Svo. with Vignette Titles, ISj. cloth.
DAIILM.VNN.— HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH REVOLUTION.
By F. C. Dahlmann, late Professor of Iliston- .it the Unircr.'iity of Goltingen. Translated
from the German, by H. Evans Lloyd. Svo. lOj. M. cloth.
" Professor Duhlmuvn's hook is, in short, a rapid sketch of the whole nf what uc call the
Modern History of England, Jrom its start at the Coroualion of Henry the Seventh, to its
intermediate tetlfemrnt at the ( oronatiou of llilliam the Third. fVe have no English sum-
maru of the history it relates St brief, eomp, nitious, and impartial. M. Dahlmann is a very
earnest as well as intelliL^rnt writer: and the steady advance of Hie popular principle in
England, through an almost uninterrupted march of to o centuries, is startlivgly refected ,u
hi, clear and transparent relation. Mr. Lloyd's translation is very well executed."— Kxammer.
DAVY (SIR lIUMl'ilRY;. -AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY:
With Notes by Dr. John Davy. Gth ?;dilion, Svo. with 10 Plates, \hs. cloth.
limal Origin ; Manures of Mineral Origin,
or Fossil Manures ; Improvement of Lands
by Burning ; Experiments on the Nutritive
Qualities of different Grasses, etc.
Introduction; The General Powers of Matter
which Influence Vegetation: the Organiza-
tion of Plants ; Soils ; Nature and Constitu-
tion of the Atmosphere, and its Influence
on Vegetables; Manures of Vegetable and
DK CUSTINE.— RUSSIA.
By the Marquis De Cuitine. Translated from the French. 2d Edition, 3 vols, post Svo.
SU.Crf. cloth.
" ire are inclined to think -and it is n painful reflection- that ifons. Pe Custine's remark-
able volumes contain a more accurate account of the slate and condition of Hussia than any
other work of recent date, without exception. The author hasmnnifeslly penetrated through
that superficial glitter andgori(eou, array which have blinded the eyes of loo many travellers
to the imperfections and defects of this great empire, and has shewn it us it really is . To do
Mil in the rate of Russia requires many and favourable opportunities of observation, con-
siderable shrewdness, and a courage and determination not easily to be daunted: ull which
MonM. I)e funline b.:s proved himself to have possessed in an eminent degree; and the result
IS, a work which those who are desirous to know Hunia as it realty is, and not as it would fain
impose itself on the world to be, would do well („ consult, lie firomise our readers equal
surprise and plenlurr from the perusal of his very clever iioo*."-Geiilleman'H Mag.
10 CATALOGUE OF M F.W WORKS
DE LA BECHE.-REPORT ON THE GEOLOGY OF CORNWALL, DEVON,
AND WEST SOiMEUSF.T. By Henry T. Ue la Bcihe, F.R.S. etc., Director of the Ordnarict
Geological Survey. Published bv Order of the Lords Commissioners of H. M. Treasury.
Svo. with Maps, Woodcuts, and 12 larfje Plates, 14s. cloth.
DE MORGAN.— AN ESSAY ON PROBABILITIES,
.And on their Ap|ilicatiou to Life Contingencies and Insurance Offices. By Aug. De Morgan,
of Trinity College, Cambridge. 1 vol. foolscap Svo. with Vignette Title, 6s. cloth.
DOCTOR (THE), ETC.
o vols, post Svo. -21. V2s. M. cloth.
^^ Admirably as the myitery of the ^Doctor' hat been preserved up to the present moment,
there is no longer any reanon for affecting secresy on the subject. The author is Uohert
Southey ; he acknowledged the fact shortly before his last illness to his most conjidential
friend, an M.P. of high character. In n private letter from Mrs. Southey, dated february
l7,1HW, she not only states the fact, but adds that the greater part of a sixth volume had
gone through the press, and that Soutliey looked foricard to the pleasure of drauius; her
into it as a contributor; giving her full authority to ajhrm that her husband is the author."
Robert Bell, Esq., in The Story Teller.
DODDHIDGE.— THE FAMILY EXPOSITOR;
Or, a Paraphrase and Version of the New Testament : with Critical Notes, and a Practical
Improvement of each Section. Bv P. Doddridge, D.D. To which is prefixed, a Life of the
Author, by A. Keppis, D.D. F.R.S.'and S.A. New Edition, 4vols. Svo. It. 16». cloth.
DONOVAN.— TREATISE ON CHEMISTRY.
I?v Michael Donovan, Esq. M.R.I. A. Fourth Edition. 1vol. foolscap Svo. with Vignette
Title, 6s. cloth.
DONOVAN.— A TREATISE ON DOMESTIC ECONOMY.
By M. Donovan, Esq. ftl.R.I.A., Professor of Chemistry to the Company of Apothecaries in
Ireland. 2 vols, foolscap Svo. with Vignette Titles, 12s. cloth.
DOVER. -LIFE OF FREDERICK II. KING OF PRUSSIA.
By Lord Dover. 2d Edition, 2 vols. Svo. with Portrait, 2Ss. boards.
DRU.MMOND.— FIRST STEPS TO BOTANY,
Intended as popular Illustrations of the Science, leading to its study as a branch of general
education. By J. L. Drummond, M.D. 4th Edit. I2mo.with numerous Woodcuts, 9s. boards.
DUNHAM. -THE HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE.
By Dr. Dunham. 3 vols. foolscapSvo. with Vignette Titles, 18s. cloth.
TIIF, HISTORY OF EUROPE DURING THE HI.STORY OF POLAND. By
THE MIDDLE AGES. By Dr. Du
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G.-VL. By Dr. Dunham. 5 vols, foolscap Svo.
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TIIK HISTORY OF SWEDEN, DENM.\RK,
AND NORWAY. By Dr. Dunham. 3 vols.
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il. foolscap Svo. with Vignette
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THF. LIVES OF THE EARLY WRITERS
OF GRE.AT BRITAIN. By Dr. Dunham,
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THE LIVES OF BRITISH DRAM.'VTISTS.
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EGERTON —A TREATISE ON PHOTOGRAPHY;
Containing the latest Discoveries appertainini; to the Daguerreotype. CompUed from Com*
munications by MM. Daguerre and Arago, and other Eminent Men of Science. By
N. P. Lerebours, Optician to the Observatory, Paris, etc. Translated byJ.Egerton. Post
Svo. with Plate of Apparatus, 7«* Gd. cloth.
** A translation of M. Lerebours^ celebrated * Treatise on Photography.* This work will be
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tions^ valuable hints respecting the choice of plates, apparatus ^ etc.; indeed, all the details
and minutiiB necessary to lead to successful results."— ExamineT.
ELLIOTSON.— HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY:
With which is incorporated much of the Elementary Part of the "Institutiones Physiologic^"'
of J. F. Blumeiibach, Professor in the University of Gottingen. By John EUidtsou, M.D.
Cantab. F.R.S. Fifth Edition. Svo., with numerous Wood-cuts, 2/. iJs. cloth.
ENGLISHMAN'S HEBREW AND CHALDEE CONCORDANCE OF
THE OLD TESTAMENT; being an attempt at a Verbal Connexion between the Original
and the English Translations: with Indexes, a List of the Proper Names and their occur-
rences, etc. etc. 2 vols, royal Svo. cloth, 31. 13j- firf ; large paper, 4/. 14.i. Grf.
*' The labour bestowed upon this important work has seldom^ we should suppose, hteu
equalled; and we have the fullest conviction, from the merely cursory es^nmination we are
able to give to such a stjipendous task, that the result justijies all the labour, time, and
money ea-pended upon it. Indeed, the whole book bears the most palpable evidence of honest
carefulness and unwearied diligence — the points of prime worth in a Conrordatice ; and
trherever we have dipped into its pages (about 18(10 , we have, in every case, had our opinion
of its neatness, accuracy, and lucid order, conjinnt d arid increased.^^—lAtCTRry Gazette.
FAREY.-A TREATISE ON THE STEAM-ENGINE,
Historical, Practical, and Descriptive. By John Farcy, Engineer. 4to. Illustrated by
numerous Woodcuts, and 25 Copper-plates. 5/. os. in boards.
FERGUS.— THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
From the Discovery of America to the Election of General Jackson to the Presidency. By the
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PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, BROWN, AND CO. 11 I
KIELD. - POSTHUMOUS EXTRACTS FROM THE VETERINARY
RECORDS OF THK LATE JOHN FIELD. Edited by his Brother, Williiim Field, Vete-
rinary Surgeon, London. 8vo. 8s. boards.
"A colteclion of Temarliable cases of disease in the horse, observed bn the late Mr. Field,
during his extensive prftctice; with a few papers on particular diseases, either read before the
Veterinary Medical Society, or, seemingli/, sketched trith that end in ricir. To pass a decided
judgment on the veterinarv value of the volume is beyond our power ; but the cases appear to
be noted with great clearness in their symptoms, treatment, and post-mortem ciamivatiun.
We should conceive the work likely to be of considerable use to veterinary surgeons,— who,
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out interest to the medical practitioner, who would study comparative surgery as well as
comparative anatomy." — Spectator.
FORD. -THE NEW DEVOUT COMMUNICANT,
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Meditations, before and after the Administration, and a Companion at the Lord's Table. Bv
the Rev. J.imes Ford, B.D. 7th Edit., ISmo. ij. Cd. bound in cloth, gilt edges; tcap. Svo.
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FORSTER. -STATESMEN OF THE COMMONVJ/EALTH OF ENGLAND.
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FRANKUM. — DISCOURSE ON THE ENLARGED AND PENDULOUS
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GLEIG.— LIVES OF THE MOST EMINENT BRITISH MILITARY COM-
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GLENDINNING — PRACTICAL HINTS ON THE CULTURE OF THE
PINEAPPLE. Bv R. Glerulinning, Gardener to the Right Hon. Lord RoUe, Bicton. limo.
with Plan of PincK-, 6j. clotli.
GOOD.— THE BOOK OF NATURE.
A Popular Illustration of the General L.a«s and Phenomena of Creation. By John Mason
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GRAH.VM.- ENGLISH; OR, THE ART OF COMPOSITION
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and improved. Foolscap Svo. 7s. cloth.
GRAHAM.— HELPS TO ENGLISH GRAMMAR;
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of Composition." Foolscap Svo. illustrated with Engravings on Wood, 3s. cloth.
" Well adapted for the instruction of young children, for whose use it is especially designed."
GRANT (MRS., OF LAGGAN). — MEMOIR AND CORRESPONDENCE
of the late Mrs. Grant, of Laggan, author of " Letters from the Mountains," " Minioirs of
an American L.idy," etc. etc. Comprising Sketches of the Society and I.iterarv Characters
of Edinburgh for nearly the last thirty years. Edited by her Sou, J. P. Grant, Esq. 3 vols.
post Svo. with Portrait, 3I». Gd. cloth.
" nith sketches enualli/ graceful," {with that of Campbell, quoted,] " of Scott and JefTery,
of irordsi^orlh and Sonthev, and H ilson and Urown, and Brewster and I halmers, and the
enrli) eonlribulors to Blackwood, we could have filled our limited space, without robbing
these volumes of Ihrir interest, to replete are they with opinions of wen and thiui;s, and jo
abundant in lojiy sentiment and sincere pi-ty." Alias.
GRATTAN — THE HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS,
Fr.ini the Invasion bv the Koinans l.> the Delgiai. Itevulution in IHJU. By T. C. Grattan, Esq.
1 vol. foolscap Svo. with Vignette Titles, Us. clotli.
GRAY.— FIGURES OF MOLLUSCOUS ANIMALS,
Selected from various. Auth..r». Klched for the Use of Stu.lcnls. By Mari.l Emma <iray.
Vol. I. pp. m, with 7S pliitea of Figures, IL's. cloth.
GRAY AND MITCHELL'S ORNITHOLOGY.— THE GENERA OF BIRDS;
Coniprisiiiir Uieir Generic Chnrnetcrs, a Notice of tlie Habits of eriih (ii mis, und .-in cxICMi-
sive List of Species, referred to tlieir several (Jenera. By GcorKi- liohert Crav, Ac.-i.l. Imp.
Georpr. Florcnt. Soe. Corresp. Senior Assistant of tlie Zooloyieiil Ucpartnicnt, nrilish
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imperial 4to. Plates, by David William Mitchell, B.A.
In coursr ofpublicatinn in Monthly Parts, I0«. firf. ench; each Part consisting gpnerntlii of
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Genus as complete as possible. The nncntoured Plates wilt contain the Characters of all the
Genera of the varioui Sub-families, consisting of numerous details of Heads, Wings, and Feet,
as the case mat/ require, for pointing out their distinguishing Characters.
♦,• The Work will not exceed lijtv Monthly Parts. No. 6 will be published on the
1st of October.
GREENER.— THE GUN;
Or, a Treatise on tl;p various Descriptions of Small Fire Arms. By VV. Greener, Inventor of
an Improved Methodof Firintj Cannon by Percussion, etc. 8vo. with Illustrations, 155. boards.
GREENER.— SCIENCE OF GUNNERY,
As applied to the use and Construction of hire Arms. Dy William Greener, author of" The
Gun," etc. With numerous Plates, 15s. cloth.
GREENWOOD (COL.)— THE TREE-LIFTER:
Or a New Method of Transplanting Trees. By Col. Geo. Greenwood. 8vo. with an IUu.s-
trative Plate, 7s. cloth.
GUIST.— THE WIABINOCION,
From the LI-, fr r,,cli o Hcrsjest, or Red Book of Hergest, and other ancient Welsh MSS.
with an English Tr,in.sl;ition and Notes. By Lady Charlotte Guest. Royal 8vo. 8j. each.
Part l.-Thc Lady of the Fountain.
Parts. -Peredur Ab F.vrawc ; a Tale of Chivalry.
Part 3.— The Arthurian Romance of Gcr.aint, the Son of Erbin.
Part 4. -The Romance of Kilhwch and Olwen.
Part 5. -The Dream of Rhonabwy, and the Tale of Pwyll Prince of Dyved.
GWILT.— AN ENCYCLOP/tDIA OF ARCHITECTURE;
Historical, Theoretical, and Practical. Dy Joseph Gwilt, Es'i., F S A. Illustrated with
upwards of lllOO Engravings on Wood, from Designs byJ.S.Gwilt. In 1 thick vol. 8vo.
containing nearly 13UU closely-printed pages. ^2l.V2s.Gd. cloth.
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HALL— NEW GENERAL LARGE LIBRARY ATLAS OF FIFTY-THREE
MAPS, onColumbier Paper; with the Divisions and Boundaries carefully coloured. Con-
structed entirely from New Drawings, and engraved by Sidney Hall. New Kdition, thoroughly
revised and corrected ; including all the Alterations rendered necessary by the recent OHicial
Surveys, the New Roads on the Continent, and a careful Comparison with the authenticated
Discoveries published in the latest Voyages and Travels. Folded in half. Nine Guineas, half-
bound in russia ; full size of the Maps, Ten Pounds, half-bound in russia.
'^ The following Maps have been re-engraved, from entirely new designs— Ireland, South
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and l'ortni:,ih anew niap of China, corrected from the recent government survey of the coast
from Ciutiin to Nnuhin (tn which is appended tlie Province of Canton, on an enlarged scale,
iu a separate compartment) , has since been added.
HALSTED— LIFE AND TIMES OF RICHARD THE THIRD,
as Duke of Gloucester and King of England : in wiiicli all the Charges against him arc care-
fully investigated and compared with the Statements of the Cotcmporary Authorities. By
Caroline A. Halstcd, author of " The Life of Margaret Beaufort." 2 vols. Svo.with Portrait
from an Original Picture in the possession of the Right Honourable Lord Stafford, never
before engraved, and other Illustrations, 1/. 10s. cloth.
^•^ IVe consider Miss Halstead's work as one of the most interesting and able pieces rflmtnry
which has ever been presented to the world. Theresearch which it manif'stn is jnnst ejten.tive,
the arrangement clear and lucid, the style always animated and picturesijue. Maun new lii;hts
are thrown on the career of Hiclmrd, many new facts elicited, and the injustice of four
centuries vindicated by thisintrepid and indefatigable champion of historical truth.'''
Metropolitan Magazine.
HANNAM.— THE ECONOIVIY OF WASTE MANURES:
A Treatise on the Nature and Use of Neglected Fertilizers. By John Har.nam. Written
for the Yorkshire Agricultural Society, and published by permission of the Counsel. Fcap.
,Svo. 3s. 6rf. cloth.
" ll'e consider this an invaluable treatise. It must prove nf incnlculahle benejit to that class
to whum it is chiefly addressed By the i;eneral reader it will likewise be perused with no
common interest. ' It is a Ineid, practical denionstralinu from bri;i„ning to end. The writer
is not only entirely master of his subjecl, but he has unfolded it in the most scientific, and, ue
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the dullest capacity may at once cnmprehendhis meaning and the diift oj his argument ." — Aiin.^
PRINTED lOR LONGMAN, UROWN, AND CO. 13
HAND-BOOK OF TASTE;
Or, How to Observe Works of Art, e^pcclall}- Cartoons, Pictures, and Statues. 2d Edition.
By Kabius Pictor, foolscap 8vo. 33. boards.
" H> have never met vith a compendious treatise on art, and the ptiticiples whie/i should
guide taste in judging of its productions, that contained moie e^cclletit matter than this
small unpretending volume. It is eipressll/ compiled for the instruction of the public, and
itith a view to that era in art ithich the decoration of the new Houses of Parliament, and the
present display of the cartoons in n'estminsler Hall, may be expected tu create. It exhibits
the opinions of the best artists and critics of all ases. It is not intended to instruct the
itudent in art, though he mav profit much by its lessons, but to tell the observer how he
mai) judge nf the productions of the Jine arts. It is not flattering to set out irith sni/iug that
England, in the art of design, is not only immeasurably behind Itnln, hut falls short of what
France aspires to, and Germany has accomplished ; but this is qualified by the admission that
England is, nevertheless, quite capable of efficient progress."— Ta.iVs Magazine.
HANSARD.— TROUT AND SALMON FISHING IN WALES.
By G. A.Hansard, l-Jmo. 6».6rf. ciotli.
HARRIS— THE HIGHLANDS OF /ETHIOPIA;
Being tlie .Account of Eigliteen Jlontlis' Residence of a British Embassy to ttie Cliristian
Court of Slioa. By Major W. C. Harris, author of " Wild Sports in Southern Africa," etc.
2d Edition. 3 vols! Svo. with Map and Illustrations, 21. 25. cloth.
".fir II illiam Harris has produced a work of eitraordinary interest and value ; a narrative
which will take a permanent place in the library, as the best authority ever yet given to the
wurld on all the subjects to which it relates. It has, moreover, for present readers, the charm
of p.rf ret freshness and novelty. The wri(i">'s inquiries extend to the minutest particulars of
the habits, manners, customs, political and social economy of the people, among whom he was
a welcomed t/ijiior. "—Forei^cn and Colonial Review.
HAWKER.-INSTRUCTIONS TO YOUNG SPORTSMEN
In all that relates to Guns and Shooting. Bv Lieut. Col. P. Hawker. 9th edition, corrected,
enlarged, and iuiprovod, with Eighty-five Plates and Woodcuts, by Adlard and Branston,
from Drawings by C. Varley, Dicks, etc. 21». cloth.
" H'e have to often spoken favourablii of preceding editions of this popular work, that we
need only notice the opportune publication of the Ninth, Schick has just made its appearance,
and which brings every branch of sporting, in relation to the Jitld and gun, down to the
present time; giving interesting notes of whatever has been done in the way of change and
improvement." — Literary Gazette.
HENSLOW. — THE PRINCIPLES OF DESCRIPTIVE AND PHYSIOLO-
GICAL BOTANY. Bv J. S. Henslow, M.A. F.L.S. etc. 1 vol. foolscap Svo. with Vignette
Title, and nearly /(I Woodcuts, (Is. cloth.
HEIISCHEL.— A TREATISE ON ASTRONOMY.
By Sir John Herschcl. New Edition. 1 vol. fcap. Svo. Vignette Title, 6». cloth.
HERSCHEL. — A PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE ON THE STUDY OF
NATURAL PHILOSOPIiy. By Sir John Hcrschel. New Edition. 1 vol. foolscap Svo. with
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HINTS ON ETIQUETTE AND THE USAGES OF SOCIETY:
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revised (with additions) by a Lady of Rank. Foolscap Svo. 2». 6d. handsomely bound in fancy
cloth, gilt edges. . o , .
General Observations ; Introductions— Letters of Introduction— Marriage— Dinners— bmoking;
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HOARE.— A DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT OF A NEW METHOD OF
PLANTING AND MANAGING THE ROOTS OF GRAPE VINES. By Clement Hoare,
author of ".\ Treatise on the Cultivation of the Grape Vine on Open Walls." 12mo bs. cl.
•,♦ The facts, proved by experiments carried on by Mr. Hoare for a series oj years, are
so extraordinary, that there is every reason to believe they will effect a complete revolution
in the planting of the Crape fine.
HOARE— A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON THE CULTIVATION OF THE
GRAPE VINE ON Ol'EN WALLS. By Cl.ninit Hoare. :i.l Edition, Svo. 75. Crf. cloth.
HOBllES.— ENGLISH WORKS OF THOMAS HOBBES,
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Nine preceding Volumes have been published of the English and Latin Works. Vols. 8 and t),
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HOLLAND— PROGRESSIVE EDUCATION :
Or, Considerations on the Course of Life. Transl.ited from the French of Madame Necker de
Sausiure. By Mi.ss lloU.inrl. 3 >ol .. foolsca|> Hvo. 1()5. firf. cloth.
•,* The Third Volume, forming an appropriate conclusion to thefirst two, separately ,7s. C,d.
HOLLAND— A TREATISE ON THE MANUFACTURES IN METAL.
By John Holland, E»q. 3 vols. looUcap Svo. with Vignette litles, and about MU Woodeuts,
l»l«. cloth.
14 CATALOGUE OF NEW WOUKS
HOLLAND.— MEDICAL NOTES AND REFLECTIONS.
By Henry Hollaud, M.D. F.R.S. etc. Follow of ihe Royal College of Physicians, Physician
Extraordinary to the Queen, and Physician in Ordinary to His Royal HighnessPrince Albert.
2d Edition, Ivol. 8vo. pp. 654. ISj. cloth.
HOOKER.— THE BRITISH FLORA.
In 2 vols. Vol.1.; coraprisinj the Phajnogamous or Flowering Plants, and the Ferns. BySir
William Jackson Hooker, K.H. LL.U. F.R.A. and L.S. etc. etc. etc. 5th Edition, with
Additions and Corrections; and 1/3 Figures, illustrative of the Umbelliferous Plants, the
Composite Plants, the Grasses, and the Ferns. Vol. I. Svo.pp. 502, with 12 Plates, 14s. plain ;
with the plates coloured, 24.?. cloth.
Vol. II. in Two Parts, comprising the Cryptogamia and the Fungi, completing the British
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HOOKER.— ICONES PLANTARUM;
Or, Figures, with brief Descriptive Characters and Remarks, of New and Rare Plants,
selected fiom the Author's Herbarium. By Sir W.J. Hooker, K.H. LL.D. etc. 4vol8.Svo.
with 4UL1 Plates, 5/. 12s. cloth.
HOOKER AND TAYLOR.-MUSCOLOCIA BRITANNICA.
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and T.Taylor. M.D. F.L.S. etc. 2d Edition, 8vo. enlarged, 3l8. 6rf. plain ; 3/. 3l. coloured.
HORSLEY (BISHOP).- BIBLICAL CRITICISM ON THE FIRST FOUR-
TEEN HISTORICAL BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT; AND ON THE URST
NINE PROPHETICAL BOOKS. Bv Samuel Horslev, LL.D. I'.R.S. K.A.S. Lord Bishop uf
St. Asaph. Second Edition, containing Translations by the Author, never before published,
together with copious Indexes. 2 vols. Svo. tHJs. cloth.
HOWITT (MARY).— THE CHILD'S PICTURE AND VERSE BOOK,
Commonlv called " Otto Speckter's Fable Book." Translated by Mary Howitt. With French
and German on corresponding pages, and illustrated with ICiO Engravings on Wood, by
G. F. Sargent. Square 12mo. 10s. Gfi. boards.
" Otto Speckter's illu$lTations are well ciilculnted to please children ; some hy their truth,
others by their humour. The verses, tun, are in ii kindly spirit—some sly-some chiming in
those cu,al-and bells measures which ouf;ht never to he out of the ear of such as write Jor the
very young- Mrs. Howitt has, in naturalising this book, done a good deed with a good grace.''
AthenaMim.
HOWITT (MARY).— THE H FAMILY: TRALINNAN ; AXEL AND
ANNA ; and other Talcs. By Fredrika Bremer. Translated by Maiy Howitt. 2 vols, post
Svo. with Portrait of the Author, 21s. boards.
" One great charm of Fredrika Bremer is her quiet icay of doing every thing. Whethrr
she soars into the mysticism of German metaphysics, or gives the gossip of the tca-tuble-
,rhether she utters the most biting sarcasm, or gives expression to the kindlieit feeling, it is
nil done without the least appearanc of effort. This elegant repose pervades her story of th-
' U Family,' and makes us like it in some respects better than any other of her writing's."
John Bull.
THE PRESIDENT'S DAUGHTERS, includ-
ing NINA. By Fredrika Bremer. Translated
by Mary Howitt. 3 vols, post Svo. 31s. Iirf.
THE NEIGHBOURS. A Story of Everyday
Life in Sweden. By Fredrika Bremer.
Translated bv Marv Howitt. 3d Edition,
revised and corrected, 2 vols, post Svo. l.Ss.
THE HOME ; or. Family Cares and Family
Joys. By Fredrika Bremer. Translated by
Mary Howitt. 2d Edition. 2 vols, post Svo
A NEW SKETCH OF EVERY-DAY LIFE :
A DIARY. Together with STRIFE ai
PEACE. By Fredrika Bremer. Translate
2^' ' I bv M.ary Howitt. 2 vols, post Svo. 21s.
HOWITT.— THE RURAL LIFE OF ENGLAND.
Bv William Howitt. Third Edition, corrected and revised, medium Svo. with Engravings
Wood by Bewick and Williams, uniform with " Visits to Remarkable Places," 21s. cloth.
Life of the Aristot
Life of the Agricultural Population.
Picturesque and Moral Features of the Country.
Strong Attachment of the English to Country
Life.
The Forests of England.
Habits, Amusements, and Condition of the
People; in which are introduced Two New
Chapters, descriptive of the Rural Watering
Places, and Education of Rural Population.
HOWITT.— VISITS TO REMARKABLE PLACES;
Old Halls, Battle-Fields, and Scenes illustrative of Striking Passages in English History and
Poetry. By William Howitt. New Edition, medium Svo. with 4U Illustrations by S. Willian.s,
SECOND SERIES, chiefly in the Counties of DURHAM and NORTHUMBERLAND, with a
Stroll along the BORDER. 1 vol. medium Svo. with upwards of 40 highly-finished Woodcuts,
from Drawings made on the spot for this Work, by Alessrs. Carmichael, Richardsons, and
WeldTaylor, 21s. cloth.
IIOWITT.-THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF JACK OF THE MILL,
Commonly called " Lord Othmill ;" created, for his eminent services. Baron Waldeck, ao.l
Knight of Kitcottie; a Fireside Story. By William Howitt. 2 vols, foolscap Svo. with 4(1
Illustrations on Wood by G. F. Sargent, 15s. cloth.
*' This agreeable story will be a great favourite uith a large class of juvenile readers, and
will sustain the unwearied interest even of those who hare passed the season of youth. The
stvle is racy, animated, and sparkling; the story never Jiags, and its moral bearing is mi, si
e/ctHfn«."— Eclectic Review.
PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, BROWN, AND CO. 15
HOWITT-THE RURAL AND SOCIAL LIFE OF GERMANY:
With Characteristic Sketches of its chief Cities and Scenery. Collected in a General Tour,
and durine a Residence in that Country in the Years lS40-4i. Bv William Howitt, author
of "The Rural Life of Eugland," "Visits to Remarkable Places," "The Boy's Country
Book," etc. 1 vol. mediuiu Sro., with above 50 Illustrations, 21». cloth.
" IFe cordially record our conviction of the value of Mr. Hatcitfs volume, and strongly
leco'iimeud its early perusal. It is both instructive and entertaining, and will be found to
familiarize the English reader with farms of character and modes oj social life, vattly dijfer-
ent from anything witnessed at home."— EclticUC Review.
HOWITT.— GERMAN EXPERIENCES:
Addressed to the English, both Goers Abroad and Stayers at Home. By ^V^Uiam Howitt.
Foolscap Svo. "/s. 6d. cloth.
" The minute practical information given in this book respecting Germany, and the modes of
living there, will be found of great use to the English resident, who. for the purpose of educa-
tion or economy, sets up his tent in that country. It is a book full of facia-factt of direct
utility to the travelling English "—Court Journal.
HOWITT.— WANDERINGS OF A JOURNEYMAN TAILOR,
through EUROPE and the EAST, during the vears 1824 to 1S40. Bv P. D. Holthaus, from
Werdohl in Westphiilia. Translated from the Third German Edition, by William Howitl,
author of "The Rural and Social Life of Germany," etc. etc. Foolscap Svo. with Portrait
of the Tailor, 6j. cloth.
HOWITT —THE STUDENT-LIFE OF GERMANY.
From the Unpublished MS. of Dr. Cornelius. By William Howitt. Svo. with 24 Wood-
Eugravings, and 7 Steel Plates, tls. cloth.
" German student-life has, of course, its brighter side and pleasanter traits. Its generous
friendships, its buoyant spirits, its noble songs, its intense study, at the list may well com-
pensate for many of its darker features. In this volume there is no want of material to form
a very sufficient notion of German jfurf<?n(-7i/e."— Quarterly Review.
HOWITT.-COLONIZATION AND CHRISTIANITY:
A Popular History of the Treatment of the Natives, in all their Colonics, by the Europeans.
By William Howitt. 1 vol. post Svo. 10». 6d. cloth.
HOWITT.— THE BOY'S COUNTRY BOOK:
Being the real Life of a Country* Bov, written by Himself; exhibiting all the Amusements,
Pleasures, and Pursuits of Children'in the Country. Edited by William Howitt, author of
" The Rural Life of England," etc. 2d Edition, fcap. Svo. with 40 Woodcuts, S». cloth.
"yl capital work, and, we are inclined to think, Howitt'sbest inany /ine."— Quarterly Review.
HUDSON.— THE PARENT'S HAND-BOOK;
Or, Guide to the Choice of Professions, Employments, and Situations , containing useful
and practical information on the subject of placing out Young Men, and of obtaining their
Education with a view to particular occupations. By J. C. Hudson, Esq., author of " Plain
Directions for Making Wills." Fcap. Svo. bs. cloth.
" This volume will be found useful to any parent who is painfully meditating upon that
difficult subject, how and where he can best place his sons in the morW."— Spectator.
HUDSON.-PLAIN DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING WILLS
In Conformity with the Law, and particularly with reference to the Act 7 Win. IV. and 1 Vict,
c. 26. To which is added, a clear Exposition of the Law relating to the Distribution of Per-
sonal Estate in the case of Intestacy ; with two Forms of Wills, and much useful Information,
etc. By J. C. Hudson, of the Legacy Duty Office. 12th Edition, corrected, with Notes of
Cases judicially decided since the above Act came into operation. Fcap. Svo. 2s. 6(/.
HUDSON.-THE EXECUTOR'S GUIDE.
By J. C. Hudson. 3d Edition, foolscap Svo. 5». cloth.
*.* The above two works may be had in 1 volume, priceTt. cloth.
HUMPHREYS.— THE ILLUMINATED BOOKS OF THE MIDDLE ACES.
A History of Illuminated Books, from the IVth to the XVlIth Century. By Henry N"cl
Humphreys. Illustrated by a Series of Specimens, consisting of an entire I'agc, of the
exact size of the Original, from the most celebrated and splendid MSS. in the Imptrial and
Royal Libraries of Vienna, Moscow, Paris, Naples, Copeuhacen, and Madrid ;_from the
Vatican, Escurial, Ambrosian, and other great Libraries of the Continent ;— and from the
rich Public, Collegiate, and Private Libraries of Great Britain; superbly printed in Gold,
Silver, and Colours.
In course of publication, in Parts, issued at intervals of about two months ; each Part to con-
tain Three Plates, of the exact size of the original subjects, and each Plate accompanied by a
description, with some account of the MS. from which it is taken. The last Part to contain an
Historical Sketch of the Progress of the Art of Ulumiuation, with a Table for placing the Plates
in Chronological Order.
Each Part, containing Three Plates, with Descriptions, Imperial Quarto (15 in. by II),
splendidly printed, ill gold, silver, and colours, iu imitation of the originaU, as accurate as
can be produced bv mechanical means, price 12».
Large Paper, on Half Imperial {21* in. by 15), to prevent folding the large Plates, 21».
Six Parts to form a Volume, Four Volumes completing the work
" We have seen some specimens of a proposed work by Mr. Ilumuhreys, on Illuminated M.'<.'>.
which hare surprised «, by the accuracy of tktir est cation, and the effect produced by merely
mechanical means.- (Juarlcrly Ruiew.
16 CATALOGUE OF NEW WORKS
HUNT.-RESEARCHES ON LIGHT:
An Examination iif nil tin- Phenomena connected with the Chemical nnd Molecular Chanpts
produced by the Influence of the Solar Rays ; embracing- all the known Photograjihic I'lu-
ccsses, and new Discoveries in the Art. Bv Robert Hunt, Secretary of the Royal Cornwall
Polytechnic Society. Svo. with Plate and Woodcuts, lUs. 6rf. cloth.
" Mr. Hunt's reputation it so melt established, that we need only mention hit pleasing
volume to secure it a favourable reception from the philosophical public.'^
Jameson's New Edinburgh Philosophical Journal.
HUNTER. -THE RISE OF THE OLD DISSENT,
Kxemplified in the I.ifc of Oliver Ilevwood : Kith a Sketch of the subsequent History of the
English Prssbytcrian Dissenters. By the Rev. Joseph Hunter, F.S.A. Svo. 7». cloth.
JACKSON —PICTORIAL FLORA ;
Or, British Botany Delineated, in 1500 Lithographic Drawings of all the Species of Floweriui;
Plants indigenous' to Great Britain : illustrating the descriptive works on English Botany of
Hooker, Lindley, Smith, etc. By Miss Jackson. Svo. 15s. cloth.
JAMES.— A HISTORY OF THE LIFE OF EDWARD THE BLACK PRINCE,
and of various Events connected therewith, whicii occurred during the Reign of Edward 111.
King of England. By G. P. R. James, Esq. 2d Edition, 2 vols, foolscap Svo. with Map, 1.5s.
cloth.
JAMES.— LIVES OF THE MOST EMINENT FOREIGN STATESMEN.
BvG.P. R. James, Esq., and E.E. Crowe, Esq. 5 vols. foolscaD Svo. with Vignette Titles.
3b». cloth.
LORD JEFFREY.-CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE EDINBURGH REVIEW.
By Franci8 JeCfrey, now one of the Judges in the Court of Session in Scotland. 4 vols. Svo.
48s. cloth.
JOHNSON.- THE FARMER'S ENCYCLOP/EDIA,
And DICTIONARY of RURAL AFFAIRS: embracing all the recent Discoveries in Agri-
cultural Chemistry; adapted to the comprehension of unscientific Readers. By Cuthbert
W. Johnson, Esq., F.R.S. Barrister-at-Law, Corresponding Member of the Agricultural
Society of Konigsberg, and of the Maryland Horticultural Society , Author of several of the
Prize Essays of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, and other Agricultural Works ;
Editor of the ** Farmer's Almanack," etc. 1 thick vol. Svo. illustrated by Wood Engravings
of the best and most improved Agricultural Implements. 2/. 10s. cloth.
** Cuthbert Johnson's * Farmer's Encyclopadia' is one of the best books of its class'*
Dr. Lindley, in The Gardener's Chronicle.
KANE. -THE INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES OF IRELAND.
Bv Robert Kane, M.D. Secretary to the Council of the Roval Irish Academy, Professor of
Natural Philosophy to the Royal Dublin Society, and of Chemistry to the'Apothecarics'
Hall of Ireland. Post Svo. "s cloth.
*' We have been much struck by a work recently published, by Professor Kane, on the
* Industrial Resources of Ireland.' The volume contains a masterly view of the physical
materials upon which Irish industry might work. The fuel, the water-power, the minerals,
the composition and capabilities of the soil, the nature and locality of manures, and the
means of internal covimunication ejristing in the country, are successively taken up, analysed,
and laid before the reader, iu their scientijic as well as their practical bearings. Nothing can
leave a stronger impression of the mismanagement from which Ireland has suffered than
Dr. Kane's clear and business-like statement of the demerits of wealth and power which have
so long lain almost idle in her possession." — Morning Chronicle.
KANE.— ELEMENTS OF CHEMISTRY;
Including the most Recent Discoveries and Applications of the Science to Medicine and
Pharmacy, and to the Arts. By Robert Kane, M.D. M.R.I. A. Professor of Natural Philosophy
to the Royal Dublin Society. Svo. with 236 Woodcuts, 24«. cloth.
KATER AND LARDNER.— A TREATISE ON MECHANICS.
By Captaiu Kater and Dr. Lardner. New Edition. 1 vol. foolscap Svo. Vignette Title, and
lii Plates, comprising 224 distinct figures, 6s. cloth.
KEIGHTLEY. -OUTLINES OF HISTORY,
From the Earliest Period, By Thomas Keightley, Ksq. New Edition, corrected and con-
siderably improved, foolscap Svo. pp. 468, 6*. cloth ; or 65. f>d. bound.
KING —A SELECTION FROIVI THE SPEECHES AND WRITINGS OF THE
LATE LORD KING. With a short Introductory Memoir, by Earl Fortcsque. Demy Svo,
Portrait, 12s. cloth.
*' Earl Fortescue has rendered good service to both economic and moral science by this
seasonable publication. His selections are most judiciously made, and will raise his relative's
high character as an able and iipright politician^ whose vievs were singularly in advance 0/
his a^e, white evert/ parliametttary session adds proof of their soundness. In ?iis Memoir,
his Lordship has shcvn that he can not only appreciate Lord Kintr, but that he is well able to
inaintai?! the principles and enforce the doctrines to which his illustrious relative devoted his
/i/r."— Athenaeum.
KIPPIS.— A COLLECTION OF HYMNS AND PSALMS,
For Public and Private Worship. Selected and prepared by A. Keppis, D.D., Abraham Rees,
I>.D., the Rev. Thomas Jervis, and the Rev, T. Morgan. To which is added, a Supplement.
New Edition, corrected and improved, 18nio. bs. bound.
PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, BROWN, AND CO. 17
KIRBY AND SPENCE.— AN INTRODUCTION TO ENTOMOLOGY;
Or, Elenicats of the Natural History of Insects: com|)risinf an account of noxious and
useful Insects, of their Mctamor|)hoses, Food, Stratagems, Habitations, Societies, Motions,
Noises, Hybernation, Instinct, etc. Bv VV. Kirby, M.A. F.R.S. & L.S. Rector of Barham ;
and \V. Spence, Esq., F.R.S. S: L.S. '6th Edition, corrected and considerably enlarged,
2 vols. Svo. 11. n». 6rf. cloth.
The Jirst two volumes of the ^' Introduction to Entomoln^y" arc now puhVtthed n> a
separate tcorh, distinct from the third and fourth volumes, and, though much enlarged,
at a considerable reductitm of price, in order that the numerous class oj readers who confine
their study of insects to thai of their manners and economy, need not lie burthened with the
cost of the technical portion oj the work relating to their anatomy , physiology , etc,
KNAPP.— CRAMINA BRITANNICA;
Or, Representiitions of the British Grasses: with Remarks and occasional Descriptions. By
I. L. Knapp, Esq. F.L.S. & A.S. 2d Edition, 4to. with IIS Plates, beautifully coloured,
3/. ICs. boards.
** ^fost of th-" persons interested in the art of distinguishing grasses are country gentlemen
and farmers, who know nothini; of botiini/, and cannot use the tecninal descriptions or analy-
tical figures of botanists. To that great class such a booh is invaluuhle. It ought, in fact,
to form part of the library of every one interested in rural a/fairs : for Ihrre are few plants
so difficult to distinguish as grasses, not any more lo, and none n-hiih it is more important to
know eorrectli), because of their various uses and qualities. IVith Mr. Kuupp's book before
him, tio one can have the least difficulty in making himself master of the subject.''''
Gardeners' Chronicle.
LAING, (S., JUN.)-NATIONAL DISTRESS:
Its Causes and Remedies. Bv Samuel LainK, J"n., Esq., late Fellow of St. John's College
Cambridge. Svo. 7s. 6<i cloth'.
•,' The Essay to which the First I'rixe of U)0!., offered by The AiUs newspaper, was awarded.
LAING.— THE CHRONICLE OF THE KINGS OF NORWAY,
From the Earliest Period of the History of the Northern Sea Kinijs to the Middle of the
Twelfth Century, commonly called the Heimskringla. Tran.slated from the Icelandic of
Snorro Sturleson, with Notes, and a Preliminary Discourse, by Samuel Laing, author of
"Notesof aTravellcr,"etc. 3 vols. Svo. 3fis. cloth.
•*>Ve have been rather profuse i7i our e:rtracts from this curious and most characteristic
old histori/. But it is long since we have met with a work so spirited, and so ntintsing, and
at the same time afordiug such valuable infiirmatiou respecting a race to whom we are so
largely indebeld, as this venerable Chronicle of Snorro A^Kr/esoH."- Eclectic Review.
LAING.— A TOUR IN SWEDEN
In 1m;jS; comprising Observations on the Moral, Political, and Economical State of the Swedish
Nation. By Samuel Laing, Esq. Svo. I2s. cloth.
LAING.— NOTES OF A TRAVELLER
On the Social and Political State of France, Prussia, Switzerland, Italy, and other parts of
Europe, during the present Century. By Samuel Laing, Esq. 2d Edition, Svo. ICs. cloth.
LAING.— JOURNAL OF A RESIDENCE IN NORWAY
During the years 1S34, 1S35, and 183G; made with a view to ini|uire into the Rural and Political
Economy of that Country, and the Condition of its Inhabitants. By Samuel Lain;;, Esq.
2d Edition, Svo. I4s. cloth.
LARDNER'S CABINET CYCLOP/EDIA;
Comprising' a Series of Original Works on History, Biography, Literature, the Sciences, Arts,
and Manutactures. Conducted and edited by Dr. Lardner.
The Series complete in One Hundred and Thirty-three Volumes, 39/. 18». (One Volume
remains to be published.) The Works separate, fi«. per volume.
" In the completeness of its treatises the Cabinet Cyclopa:dia is unrivalled; and now that
the vhole plan is carried out, it cihibits an CTtensive body of available knowledge, such as
this or po '.ther country has everyil presentedin a popular and convenient form."— Britannia.
LARDNER.— A TREATISE ON ARITHMETIC.
By Dr. Lardner, LL.I>. F.R.S. 1 vol. foolscap .Svo. with Vignette Title, r,s. cloth lettered.
LARDNER AND WALKER.— A MANUAL ON ELECTRICITY, MAG-
NETISM, and METKOUOLO(;y. By Dr. Lardner, LL.l). I'.K.S., and C. V. Walker,
Secretar)' of the Eleclrical Society. 2 vols, foolscap Svo. \2s.
LARDNER.— A TREATISE ON GEOMETRY,
And its Appliciitiorj to the Arts. By Dr. Lardner. 1 vid. foolscap Svo. Vignette Title , and
upwards of 2(KJ figures, il«. cloth.
LARDNER.— A TREATISE ON HEAT.
By Dr. Lar.lner, LL.D. etc. 1 vol. fcap. Mvo. with Woodcuts an<l Vignette Till, , (l.». cloth.
LARDNER— A TREATISE ON HYDROSTATICS AND PNEUMATICS.
By Dr. Lardner. New Edition. 1 vol. foolscap Svo. C«. cloth.
LECTURES ON POLARISED LIGHT,
Delivered by Dr. Pereirn, before thn Pliarnincculical Society, and in the Medical School of
the London Hospital. Svo, illustrated by above 50 Woodcuts, &«.6f/. cluili.
CATALOGUE OF NEW WORKS
L. E. L.— THE POETICAL WORK OF LETITIA ELIZABETH LANDON.
New Edition, 4 vols, foolscap 8vo. with Illustrations by Howard, etc. 28». cloth lettered;
or handsomely bound in morocco, with gilt edges, 21. As.
The following may be had separately: —
THE IMPROVI.SATRICK - -Uls.iid. | THK GOLDKN VIOLET - - - lOs. firf.
THE VENETIAN BRACELET lUs. Grf. 1 THE TROUBADOUR . - - . lUs. Cd.
LEE.— TAXIDERMY;
Or, tlie Art of Collecting. Preparing, and Mounting Objects of Natural History. For the use
of Museums and Travellers. By Mrs. K. Lee (formerly Mrs. T. E. Bowdich) , author of
"Memoirs nf Cuvier," etc. 6th Edition, improved, with an account of a Visit to Walton
Hall, and Mr. VVaterton's method of Preserving Animals. Fcap. 8vo. with Wood Engravings,
7». cloth.
LEE -ELEMENTS OF NATURAL HISTORY,
For the Use of Schools and Young Persons: comprising the Principles of Classification,
iiUerspeiscd with amusim^and instructive original Accountsof the most rcmarkahle Animals.
BvMrs. R Lee (formerly Mrs. T. E. Buwdich), author of "Taxidermr," "Memoirs of
Ciivicr," etc. limo. with ho Woodcuts, 7s. 6d. bound.
LIFE OF A TRAVELLING PHYSICIAN,
From his first Introduction to Practice ; including Twenty Years' V
the greater part of Europe. 3 vols, post Svo. with coloured Frontispie
** There is much nmuseinent and ijifurmntiou to be gained from these pleasant and enter-
tainiiig yo/Kinfs,"— Dublin University .Magazine.
LINDLEY.— INTRODUCTION TO BOTANY.
By Prof.J. Lindlev.Ph.D. F.R S. L.S. etc. 3d Edition (1830), with Corrections and consider-
able Additions, 1 large vol. Svo. pp. CUli, with Six Plates and numerous Woodcuts, 18«. cloth.
LINDLEY— FLORA MEDICA ;
A Botanical Account of all the most important Plants used in Medicine, in ditTerent Parts of
the World. By John Lindlcy, Ph.D. F.R.S. etc. 1 vol. Svo. ISs. cloth.
LINDLEY.— A SYNOPSIS OF THE BRITISH FLORA,
Arranged according to the Natural Orders. By Professor John Lindley, Ph. U,, F.R.S, etc.
The 3d Edilion, with numerous Additions, Corrections, and Improvements, liiuo. pp. 390,
Uls.iid. cloth.
LINDLEY.— THE THEORY OF HORTICULTURE;
Or, an Attempt to Explain the Principal Operations of Gardening upon Physiological Prin-
ciples. By John Lindley, Ph.D. K.R.S. 1 vol. 8vo. with Illustrations on Wood. lis. cloth.
This book is written in the hope of providing the intelligent gardener, and the scientific
amateur, correctly, with the rationalia of the more importnnt operations of Ilortienltnre ;
and the author has endeavoured to present to his readers an intelligible ej.-pl,in,ilion. founded
upon well ascertained farts, which they can judge of by their own menus of ohsermition, of
the general nature of vegetable actions, and of the causes nhich. while they runtrol the
powers of life in plants, are capable of being regulated by themselves. The possession of
such knowledge will necessarily teach them how to improve their methods oj cultivation, and
leadthem to the discovery of new and better modes.
LINDLEY.— AN OUTLINE OF THE FIRST PRINCIPLES OF HORTICULTURE.
By Professor Lindley. ISmo. 'Zs. sewed.
LINDLEY.— GUIDE TO THE ORCHARD AND KITCHEN GARDEN;
Or, an Account of the most valuable Fruits and Vegetables cultivated in Great Britain : with
Kalendars of the Work reriuired in the Orchard and Kitchen Garden during every month in
the year. By George Lindley, CM. H.S. Edited by Professor Lindley. 1 large vol. Svo. IGs.
boards.
LLOYD.— A TREATISE ON LIGHT AND VISION.
By the Rev. H. Lloyd, M.A., Fellow ofTrin. Coll. Dublin. Svo. 15j. boards.
LORIMER. -LETTERS TO A YOUNG MASTER MARINER,
On some Subjects connected wth his Calling. By Charles Lorimer. 3d edition, 12mo.
with an Appendix, 5*. 6d. cloth.
LOUDON (MRS.)— THE LADY'S COUNTRY COMPANION;
Or, How to Enjoy a Country Life Rationally. By Mrs. Loudon, author of "Gardening for
Ladies," etc.
Contents- Introduction -The House — The Garden - Domestic Animals-Rural Walks-
Miscellaneous Country .\museineiits -Country Duties.— /n the press.
LOUDON.— AN ENCYCLOP/EDIA OF TREES AND SHRUBS;
Being the " Arhoretum et Fruticetum Britannicum" abridged : containing the Hardy Trees
and Shrubs of Great Britain, Native and Foreign, scientifically and popularly described :
with theirPrnpagation, Culture, and Uses in the Arts; and with Engravings of nearly all the
Species. For the use of Nurserymen, Gardeners, and Foresters. ByJ.C. Loudon, F. L.S. etc.
In Svo. pp. 1-234. with upwards of 2000 Engravings on Wood, 2/. lll.«. cloth.
The Original Work maybe had in 8 vols. Svo. with above 400 Svo. Plates of Trees, and upwards
of 2500 Woodcuts, lOJ. cloth.
PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, BROWN, AND CO. 19
LOUDON.— AN ENCYCLOP/EDIA OF GARDENING:
PrL-seiitinir in one systematic view, the Histon- anil Present State of Gardening- in all Coun-
tries, and its Theorv and Practice in Great Britain: with the Rlanasemerjt of the Kitchen
Garden, the Flower Garden, Lavinij-out Grounds, etc. Bv J. C. Lnudon, F.L.S. etc. Anew
Edition, enlarged and much improved, 1 larife vol. 8vo. with nearly 1000 Knc'ravings on
Wood, 2/. lOs.'clotb.
LOUDON.— AN ENCYCLOP/EDIA OF AGRICULTURE;
Comprising the Theory and Practice of the Valuation, Transfer, Laying-out, Improvement,
and Alanagement of Landed Property, and of the cultivation and economy of the Animal and
Vegetable productions of Agriculture, including all the latest improvements; a general
History of Agriculture in all countries; a Statistical view of its present state, with
suggestions for its future progress in the British Isles; and Supplements, bringing down
the work to the year 1S44. By J. C. Loudon, F.L.G.Z. and H.S. etc. Fifth Edition, illustrated
with upwards of'llOO Engravings on Wood, bv Branston. 2/. lOj. cloth.
The Supplement, bringing down Improvements in the art of Field-Culture from 1831 to 1844
inclusive, comprising aXl the previous Supplements, and illustrated with 65 Engravings ou
Wood, mav be had sfparntely, hs. sewed.
" To know that this Supplement is hy thf author of the jtistla popular Eria/clopadias of
Agriculture aud Gardeniyigy is a siijficieJit recounnejidatiou for its general ea'celUiice. lude-
peiideutli^ of Mr. Loudon's lonsr practical ej'perievce^ every nvailal'le authority on af^ricnlturCf
and wurhs on other sciences in connexion with it, have been consulted, and the result is, one
of the most valuable works on rural affairs either in our own or in anu other lanyiia^e.*'
British Farmer's Magazine.
LOUDON.— AN ENCYCLOP/EDIA OF PLANTS;
Including all the Plants which are now found in, or have been introduced into. Great Britain;
giving their Natural History, accompanied by such Descriptions, Engraved Figures, and
Elementary Details, as may enable a beginnerj who is a mere English reader, to discover the
name of every Plant which he may find in flower, and acquire all the information respecting
it which is useful and interesting^ The Specific Characters by an Eminent Botanist ; the
Drawings by J. D. C. Sowerby, F.L.S. A new Edition (1841), with a new Supplement, com-
prising every desirable particular respecting all the Plants originated in, or introduced into,
Britain between the first publication of the work, in 1829, and January 1840: with a new
General Index to the whole work. Edited by J. C. Loudon, prepared bv W. H. Baxter, Jun.,
and revised by George Don, F.L.S. ; and 800 ne\v Figures of Plants, on Wood, from Drawings
by J. D. C. Sowerby, F.L.S. One very large vol. 8vo. with nearly lU.OUOWood Engravings,
31. 13». 6rf.
*.• The last Supplement, separately, 8vo. pp. 190, los. cloth.
LOUDON.— AN ENCYCLOP/EDIA OF COTTAGE, FARM, AND VILLA
ARCHITECTURE and FIRXITURE. Containing Designs for Cottages, Villas, Farm
Houses, Farmeries, Country Inns, Public Houses, Parochial Schools, etc. ; with the requisite
Fittint'S-up, Fixtures, and Furniture, and appropriate Offices, Gardens, and Garden Scenery :
each Design accompanied by Analytical and Critical Remarks illustrative of the Principles
of Architectural Science and Taste on which it is composed, and General Estimates of the
Expense. ByJ. C.Loudon, F.L.S. etc. New Edition (1842) , corrected, with a Supplement
containing 160 additional pages of letter-press, and nearly 300 new engravings, bringing down
the work to 1842. 1 very thick vol. 8vo.,with more than 2000 Engravings on Wood, 63». cloth.
" The late Mr. Loudon has the merit of having conveyed more information upon archi-
tecture in a popular style, as adapted for general readers, than was ever attempted before,
or than has beeii accomplished since . His Enci/cloptedia of Cottat^e and Village Architecture
is indispensable to the library of all non-professional readers who may at some time of their
life propose to build a cottage or country-house.^' — Westminster Review.
*,* The Supplement, «fp«r«(??y,8vo.7«. 6rf. sewed.
LOUDON.— HORTUS BRITANNICUS:
A Catalouue of all the Plants indigenous to or introduced into Britain. Tlie 3d Edition
(1832), with a New Supplement, prepared, under the direction of J. C. Loudon, by W. H.
Baxter, and revised by George Don, F.L.S. 8vo. BU.firf. cloth.
The Supplement (183.'i) separately, Svo. 2s. 6rf. sewed.
The later Supplement (1839) separately, Svo. 8». sewed.
LOUDON— THE SUBURBAN GARDENER AND VILLA COMPANION:
Comprising the Choice of a Villa or Suburban Residence, or of a situation on wliich to form
one; the Arrangement and Furnishing of the House; and the Laying-out, Planting, and
general Management of the (iarden and Grounds ; the whole adaptect for grounds from one
nerch to fifty acres and upwards in extent; intended for the instruction of those who know
little of Gartfening or Rural AfTairs, and more particularly for the use of Ladies. liyJ.C.
Loudon, F.L.S., etc. 1 vol Svo. with above 3U0 Wood Engravings, 20«. cloth.
LOUDON. -HORTUS LICNOSUS LONDINENSIS ;
Or, H Catalogue of all the Ligncciu>> Plants cultivated in the neighbourhood of London. To
which are added their usual Prices in Nurseries. ByJ.C. Loudon, F.L.S. etc. Svo. 7s. Gd.
LOUDON.-ON THE LAYING-OUT, PLANTING, AND MANAGEMENT OF
CE.METF.RIES ; and on the Improvement of Churchyards. By J. C, l.ou.l.ui, F.L.S., etc.
Svo. with GO Engravings, 12». cloth.
LOW. -ON LANDED PROPERTY, AND THE MANAGEMENT OF ESTATES;
Comprehending the Hclati. ins between Landlord and Tenant, an. I tlie I'l ini ipl. s a. .1 Furrns
of Leasej; the Construction of Farm buildings, Enclosurck, Drains, Eml>ankments, and
other Works j and the Economy of Woods, Mines, etc. By David Low, F K.S.E. etc , Hvo.
Jn the press.
20 CATALOGUE OF NEW WORKS
LOW. — THE BREEDS OF THE DOMESTICATED ANIMALS OF GREAT
BRITAIN described. By David Low, Esq. F.R.S.E., Professor of Affriculturc in the Univer-
sity of Edinburgh ; Memberof the Roval Academy of Agriculture of Sweden; Corresponding
Member of the Conseil Royal d'Agriculture de France, of the Societe Roval tt Centrale,
etc. etc. The Plates from drawings by W. Nicholson, R.S.A., reduced from a Series of Oil
Paintings, executed for the Agricultural Museum of the University of Edinburgh by W. Shiels,
R.S.A. In 2 vols, atlas quarto, with 56 [ilates of animals, beautifully coloured after Nature,
16^ I69. half-bound in morocco.
Or in four separate portions, as follow : —
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LOW.— ELEMENTS OF PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE;
Comprehending the Cultivation of Plants, the Husbandry of the Domestic Animals, and the
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versity of Edinburgh. 8vo. 4th Edition, with Alterations and Additions, and above 200 Wood-
cuts, 21». cloth.
*^ Low's ^Elements of Practical Agriculture^ is the best work on farming t7i ojir lavgnage.^''
Gardeners' Chronicle.
MACAULAY. -CRITICAL AND HISTORICAL ESSAYS CONTRIBUTED TO
the EDINBURGH REVIEW. By the Right Hon. Thomas Babington Macaulay. 3dEdition,
3 vols. 8vo.3fis. cloth.
MACAULAY. -LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME.
By T. B. Macaulay, Esq. 5th Edition, crown Svo. pp. 192, 10s. Gd. cloth.
MACKENZIE.— THE PHYSIOLOGY OF VISION.
By W. Mackenzie, M.D., Lecturer on the Eye in the University of Glasgow. Svo. with
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MACKINTOSH'S (SIR JAMES) MISCELLANEOUS WORKS;
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MACKINTOSH, ETC.— THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
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MACLEOD.— ON RHEUMATISM,
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7s. cloth.
M'CULLOCH.— A DICTIONARY, GEOGRAPHICAL, STATISTICAL, AND
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ByJ.R.M'CuUoch, Esq. 2 thick vols. Svo. illustrated with Six large important Maps, 4/. cloth.
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be guided by its light, and satisfied by its clear and frequently elaborated communications.
Evert) public room in which commerce, politics, or literature forms the subject of discussion,
ought to be furnished with these volumes."— (Mohe.
M'CULLOCH.— A DICTIONARY, PRACTICAL, THEORETICAL, AND
HISTORICAL, OF COMMERCE, AND COMMERCIAL NAVIGATION. By J. R.
M'Culloch, Esq. An entirely New Edition (1844), 8vo., illustrated with Maps and Plans,
50». cloth; or 55». strongly half-bound in Russia, with flexible back.
" Without eraggeration one of the most wonderful compilations of the age. The power of
continuous labour, the wide range of inquiry, and the power of artistical finish, which have
been brought into play by this work, are probably unrivalled in the history of literature . .
Compared with all previous attempts to compile a commercial dictionary, Mr. M'Cnlloch's
appears as the realisation of an idea which former projectors had conceived too vaguely to
be able to carry into execution. It is superior to them all, quite as much J or the spirit of
judirious selection brought by the author to his task, as for any other quality. The great
merit of the work is, that, while omitting nothing of essential importance, it contains nothing
that is useless or merely cumbrous . . . The success of the earlier editions of Mr. M'Cnlloch's
Dictionary is, after all, the best proof of its merit; the facts attending it prove that the
mercautile, political, and literary public were in want of such a work, and that they were
satisfied with the manner in which Mr. M'Culloch had performed his task. Ao readfr can rise
from the perusal of any one of the larger articles without feeling that no previous writer has
concentrated so much valuable information within so small acompnss, or conveyed his inform-
ation in so agreeable a style. And the remark is equally applicable to all the numerous
articles of which this crammed volume is composed .... It is, indeed, invaluable as a book
of reference to the merchant, the insurance-agent, the statesman, and the journalist ; audits
articles, from the care and talent with which they are eirecuted, are as well calculated to
supply the wants of the patient inquirer as of the hurried man of business. Mr. M'( nlloch
occupies a high place amongst the authors of the day as a hard-headed original thinker in
political economy: a still higher, as one of the most zealous and successful labourers in
rendering that science popular ; but, of all his publications, his Commercial Dictionary is the
one least likely to encounter the rivalry of a work of superior or even equal value."
Abridged fr07n The Spectator of March 16, 1844,
PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, BIIOWN, AND CO. 21
M'CULLOCH.— THE PRINCIPLES OF POLITICAL ECONOMY:
With some Enquiries respecting tlieir Application, and a Sketch of the Rise and Progress of
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8vo. 15». cloth.
MALTE-BRUN.— A SYSTEM OF UNIVERSAL GEOGRAPHY,
Founded on the Works of Malte-Brun and Balbi, embracing an Historical Sketch of the
Progress of Geographical Discovery, the Principles of Mathematical and Physical Geography,
and a complete Description, from the most recent sources, of the Political and Social Condition
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Index of 12,000 Names. 8vo. 30s. cloth.
MARCET (MRS.)-CONVERSATIONS ON THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
For the Use of Children. Bv Mrs. Marcet, author of " Conversations on Chemistry," etc.
2d Edition, ISmo. os. cloth.
Part II. continuing the History to the Reign of George the Third, separately. Is. M.
•' Juvenile literature will freely own hoii> much it ij indebted to Mrs. Marcet, not only for
thf present, but all her preceding works. She imparts interest to dry and dull details; and,
irhile she teaches, begets a desire in her pupils for further knoirledge, so pleasantly imparted.
These ' Conversations,' admirably suited to the capacities of children, may be skimmed advan-
tageously by ' children of a larger srou-th."'—t,ileiaTy Gazette.
MARCET.— CONVERSATIONS ON CHEMISTRY;
In which the Elements of that Science are familiarly Explained and Illustrated by Experi-
ments. 14th Edition, enlarged and corrected, 2 vols, foolscap 8vo. 14s. cloth.
MARCET.— CONVERSATIONS ON NATURAL PHILOSOPHY;
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CONTENTS.
Of the General Properties of Bodies; the At-
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MARCET.— CONVERSATIONS ON POLITICAL ECONOMY;
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CONTENTS.
of Springs, Fountains, etc.; Pneumatics; the
Mechanical Properties of Air; on Wind and
Sound; Optics; the Visual Angle and the
Reflection of Mirrors: on Refraction and
Colours ; on the Structure of the Eye, and
Introduction; on Property; the Dh
Labour; on Capital; on Wages and Popula-
tion ; on the Condition of the Poor ; on Value
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MARCET.— CONVERSATIONS ON VEGETABLE PHYSIOLOGY;
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of Trees ; on the Cultivation of Plants which
Produce Fermented Liquors ; on the Culti-
vation of Grasses, Tuberous Roots, and Grain;
on Oleaginous Plants and Culinary Veget-
ables.
Introduction; on Roots; on Stems; oi
on Sap; on Cambium and the peculiar Juices
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on Plants; on the Naturalization of Plants;
on the Action of the Atmosphere on Plants ;
on the Action of Water on Plants ; on the
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Flower ; on Compound Flowers ; on Fruit ;
MARCET.— CONVERSATIONS FOR CHILDREN;
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Maps, shewing the comparative .Altitude of Mountains, .5s. 6rf. cloth.
MARCET.— CONVERSATIONS ON LANGUAGE,
For Children. By Mrs. Marcet, author of " Mary's Grammar," etc. ISmo. 4». 6rf. cloth.
" In these fonversations .Mrs. Marcet travels over a sri-at deal of ground with hrr wonted
skill in adaptinif knotrledge to the capacity nf the young. The nature of articulate sounds,
and the organs of speech, the history of mankind to indicate the formation of different
languages, the manner in which English has been indebted to Latin, the probable or possible
origin of language, and the use of cognomens and names, are all familiarly displayed in this
instructive little ro/Kmif."-Spectator.
MARCET— THE GAME OF GRAMMAR,
With a Book of Conversations, shewing the Rules of the Game, and aflTording Examples of
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MARCET. -MARY'S GRAMMAR;
Interspersed with Stories, and intended lor tlic Use of Children. 7th Edition, revised and
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" A sound and simple work for the earliest a^f»."— Quarterly Review.
22 CATALOOUE OF NEW WORKS
MARC ET.— LESSONS ON ANIMALS, VEGETABLES, AND MINERALS.
By Mrs. Marcct, author of "Conversations on Cliemistrv," etc. I2n.o. is. cloth.
" Oi:f of Mrs. Marcel's carefully writtfn boohs of histruction, hi which natural history is
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MARRIAGE GIFT.
By a Mother. A Legacy to her Children. Post8vo.5». cloth, giltertpres.
" "The best of Robinson Crusoe's numerous descendants, and one of the most captivating of
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MARX AND WILLIS.— ON THE DECREASE OF DISEASE EFFECTED BY
THK PROGRESS OF CI VILIZATIOX. IJj C K. H. Marx, M.U. Professor of Medicine in
tlie University of Gottingen, etc.; and R. Willis, M.l). Member of the Royal College of
Physicians, etc. Foolscap Svo. 4s. cloth.
" This little treatise, although evidentli/ designed for professional perusal, is perfectly
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out of the profession ; it is a work which does such credit to the hearts and the heads of its
authors.'^— huacet.
MARRYAT.— THE SETTLERS IN CANADA.
Written for young People. By Captain Marryatt, CD. author of "Peter Simple,"
*' Masterman Ready," etc. 2 vols. fcap. Svo. 12s. cloth.
MARRYAT.— MASTERMAN READY;
Or, the Wreck of the Pacific. Written for Young People. By Captain Marryat. 3 vols, fools-
cap Svo. with numerous Engravings on Wood, 22s. 6rf. cloth.
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MAUNDER.— THE TREASURY OF HISTORY;
Comprising a General Introductory Outline of Universal History, Ancient and Modern, and
a Series of separate Histories of every principal Nation that exists ; developing their Rise,
Progress, and Present Condition, the Moral and Social Character of their respective
Inhabitants, their Religion, Manners, and Customs, etc. etc. By Samuel Maunder. Fcap.
Svo. 10s. clothj bound in roan, 12s.
** In the * Treasuri/ of History' we see the same utility of purpose, the same diligence and
painstahine; with the materials, the same skill and talent in putting them together, and, in
fine, the same t^eneral ea-celleuce which have marked all Mr. Mnunder's productions. The
arrangement is most clear and judicious, and the infor/nntion furnished at once so concise
and ample, that within this small volume we Jind a very complete and satisfactory epitome
of the history of the world from ancient to modern times.^' — Literary Gazette.
MAUNDER.— THE TREASURY OF KNOWLEDGE,
And LIBRARY of REFERENCE: containing a new and enlarged Dictionary of the English
Language, preceded by aCompendious Grammar, Verbal Distinctions, etc. ; a new Universal
Gazetteer; a Compendious Classical Dictionary; a Chronological Analysis of General
History; a Dictionary of Law Terms, etc. etc. By Samuel Maunder. 14th Edition,;foolscap
Svo., with two engraved Frontispieces, 8s. firf. cloth , bound in roan, 10s. 6rf,
MAUNDER.— THE SCIENTIFIC AND LITERARY TREASURY:
A New and Popular Encycloptcdia of Science and the Belles Lettres; including all Branches
of Science, and every Subject connected with Literature and Art. The whole written in a
familiar style, adapted to the comprehension of all persons desirous of acquiringinfotmation
on the subjects comprised in the work, and also adapted for a Manual of convenient Refer-
ence to the more instructed. By Samuel Maunder. 3d Edition, fcap. Svo. with an engraved
Frontispiece, 10s.; bound in roan, 12s.
MAUNDER.- THE BIOGRAPHICAL TREASURY:
Consisting of Memoirs, Sketches, and brief Notices of above 12,000 Eminent Persons of all
Ages and Nations, from the Earliest Period of History; forming a new and complete Dic-
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MAUNDER.—THE UNIVERSAL CLASS-BOOK:
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MODERN SYRIANS;
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*' A pleasant and sensible volume, written by an active and observant traveller, A series
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the UrMsps."— Athena!um.
MONTGOMERY'S (JAMES) POETICAL WORKS.
New and only complete Edition. With some additional Poems and Autobiographical
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7 other beautifully sngraved Plates, 20s. cloth ; or bound in morocco, with gilt edges, 1/. 16s
PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, BROWN, AND CO. 23
MOORE'S POETICAL WORKS;
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A R.A. MediumSvo 1/. l5. rloth.
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MOORE'S LALLA ROOKH.
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MOORE.— THE HISTORY OF IRELAND.
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research; and innuinerable passages might be cited in proof of the independent and truth-
seeking spirit of the author.''— Atheuxuni.
MORAL OF FLOWERS.
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MORTON.— A VETERINARY TOXICOLOCICAL CHART,
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MORTON.— A MANUAL OF PHARMACY,
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Institution. By W. J. T. Morton. 3d Edition, 12mo. 10s. cloth.
MOSELEY.— ILLUSTRATIONS OF PRACTICAL MECHANICS.
By the Rev. H. Moselev, M.A., Professor of Natural I'hilosophy and Astronomy in King's
College, London ; being the First Volume of the Illustrations of Science by the Professors
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MOSELEY.— THE MECHANICAL PRINCIPLES OF ENGINEERING AND
ARCHITECTURE. By the Rev. H. Moselev, M.A.F.R.S., Professor of Natural Philosophy
and Astronomy in King's College, London; .and author of "Illustrations ot Mechanics," cti-.
1 vol. Svo. with Woodcuts and Diagrams, H.48. cloth.
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to increase the author's high reputation as a mathematician." — t^\.\\c\\^\\xA,
MULLER.— INTRODUCTION TO A SCIENTIFIC SYSTEM OF MYTHOLOGY.
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lated from the German by John Lciteh. Svo. uniform with " Miiller's Dorians," 12s. cloth.
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can be complete without .Miiller's valuable ' Introduction to .Mythology.' "--Sunday Times.
MURRAY.-ENCYCLOP/EDIA OF GEOGRAPHY;
Comprising a complete Description of the Earth: exhibiting its Relation to the Heavenly
Bodies, its Physical Structure, the Natural History of each Country, and the Industry, Com-
merce, Political Institutions, and Civil and Social State of all Nations By Hugh Murray,
F.R.S.F,.: assisted in Astronomy, etc. by Professor Wallace; Geology, etc. by Professor
Jameson; Botany, etc. by Sir W. J. Hooker; Zoology, etc. by W. Swaiiison, Esq. New
Edition, with Supplement, bringing down the Statisticaf Information contained in the Work,
to December 1813: with >fi Maps, drawn by Sidney Hall, and upwards of 1000 other
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•,* The Supplement, containing the moat important recent information,
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24 CATALOGUE OF NEW WORKS
NirOLAS.— THE CHRONOLOGY OF HISTORY,
Containing Tables, Calculations, anil Statements indispensable for ascertaiuinjf the Dates of
Historical Events, and of Public and Private Documents, from the Earliest Period to the
Present Time. By Sir Harris Nicolas, K.C. M.G. Second Edition, corrected throughout.
1 vol. foolscap 8vo. with Vignette Title, 6j. cloth.
" fVe slroimli/ rccowmryid to historical students the clear and accurate ' Chronoloi;!/ uf
Hiatorii,' by Sir /[arris Nicolas, which contains all the iiiformaliun that can be practically
rcvHirprf."— Quarterly licvicw.
OWEN. —LECTURES ON THE COMPARATIVE ANATOMY AND PHYSI-
0I,0(;Y0FTHE INVEHTEBRATE .animals, delivered at the RoyalCollege of Surfreous
in 1813. By Richard Owen, F.R.S. Huntcrian Professor to the College. I'rom Notes taken
by William White Cooper, M.R.C.S. and revised by Professor Owen. With Glossary and
Index. 8vo with nearlv 140 Illustrations on Wood, 14s cloth.
" Bii all who know the importance of Profesxor Owen's labours in the vast field of com-
parative analomt/. this work uill he hailed with delight, ft treats only oj the anatomy of
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matter interrsthm to all who wish to huow something oJ the wonderful laws which govern the
strnetnre and functions of animated beings. IVe can also recommend them as being admirable
e.ramples of the application of tht^ principles of inductive science to the studu of onranised
m.,/(er."-Dr. Undley, in (Ap Gardeners' Chronicle.
*•* A Second and conchiding Volume, being the Lectures ^on Vertebrata delivered by
Prof. Owen during the present session, is in the Press.
PARKES.— DOVIESTIC DUTIES;
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PARNELL.— A TREATISE ON ROADS ;
Wherein the Principles on which Roads should be made arc explained and illustrated by the
Plans, Specifications, and Contracts made use of by Thomas Telford, Esq. on the Holyhead
Road. liy the Right Hon. Sir Henry Parnell, Dart., Hon. Memb. Inst. Civ. Eng. London.
Second Edition, greatly enlarged, with 9 large Plates, II. Is. cloth.
PEARSON.-PRAYERS FOR FAIVilLIES:
Consisting of a Form, short, but comprehensive, for the Morning and Evening of everyday in
the week. Selected bv the late K. Pearson, D.D., Master of Sidney Sussca College, Cambridge
To which is prefixed, a Biographical Memoir of the Editor. New Edit. 18mo. Ss. 6rf. cloth.
PEARSON.— AN INTRODUCTION TO PRACTICAL ASTRONOMY:
By the Rev. VV. Pearson, LL.D. F.R.S. etc. Rector of South Kilwortli, Leicestershire, and
Treasurer to the Astronomical Society of Loudon. 2 vols. 4to.with Plates, 71. Js. boards.
Vol. 1 contains Tables, recently computed, for facilitating the Reduction of Celestial Obser-
vations ; and a popular Explanation of their Construction and Use.
Vol.2 contains Dcscri])tions of the various Instruments that have been usefully employed in
determining the Places of the Heavenly Bodies, with an Account of the Methods of Adjusting
and Using them.
PERCIVALL.-THE ANATOMY OF THE HORSE;
Embracing the Structure of the Foot. By VV.Percivall, M.R.C.S. 8vo. pp.478, IJ. cloth.
PERCIVALL.-HIPPOPATHOLOCY •
A Systematic Treatise on the Disorders and Lameness of the Horse ; with their Modern and
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nary Schools. Bv \V. Percivall, M.R.C.S., Veterinary Surgeon in the First Life Guards.
Vol. 1, Svo., 105. M. boards ; vol. 2, Svo., 14». boards.
PEREIRA.— A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIET:
With Observations on the Dietetical Regimen suited for Disordered States of the Digestive
Organs; and an Account of the Dietaries of some of the prin.'ipal Metropolitan and other
" ' " ■ " ■ inals. Children, the Sick, etc. By Jnn. Pereira,
ia Mcdiea." 8vo. 16». cloth.
lition of the entire subject of alimentary sub-
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present and vital interest."~T^\t's Magazine.
PHILLIPS.— AN ELEMENTARY INTRODUCTION TO MINERALOGY:
Comprising a Notice of the Characters and Elements of Minerals ; with Accounts of the Places
and Circumstances in which tlicv are found. By William Phillips, F.L.S. M.G.S. etc. 4tli
Edition, considerably augmented by R. Allan, F.R.S. E. 8vo. numerous Cuts, 12s. cloth.
PHILLIPS.— FIGURES & DESCRIPTIONS OF THE PAL/EOZOIC FOSSILS OF
CORNWALL, DEVON, and WEST SOMERSET; observed in the course of the Ordnance
Geological Survey of that District. By John Phillips, F.R S. F.G.S. etc. Publi.sheri by
Order" of the Lords Commissioners of H. M. Treasury. Svo. with 60 Plates, comprisiiig
very numerous Figures, Its. cloth.
PHILLIPS.— A GUIDE TO GEOLOGY.
By John Phillips, F.R.S. G.S. etc. 1 vol. foolscap , Svo. with Plates, 5J. cloth.
PHILLIPS— A TREATISE ON GEOLOGY.
BvJohn Phillips, F. U.S. G.S. etc. 2 vols, foolscap Svo. with Vignette Titles and Woodcuts,
lis. cloth.
Establishment.s for Paupers, Li]
natics, Criir
IM D. F.R S., author of "Elemc
nts of Mate
Dr. I'ereira's booh contains s
ich an e:rpo
icrs and diet as must be alike a
cceptable tc
erni render. The chapter on
Dietaries-
ient and vital interest."- Tail
s Magazine.
PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, BROWN, AND CO. 25
PORTEH.— A TREATISE ON THE MANUFACTURE OF SILK.
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rOUTER.-A TREATISE ON THE MANUFACTURES OF PORCELAIN AND
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PORTLOCK. -REPORT ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE COUNTY OF
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Svo. with 48 PUtes, 24s. cloth. , . . . ^.
POSTAN'S (CAPTAIN).— PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS ON SINDH,
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" Fnr th" interesting drtaih of the manners and custnnis of the Sindhians of all classes,
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r'-nder to Capt. Postan's valurble work, which cannot fail to alf'ord him eaual information
«Hrfam«»fmfK«."— Asiatic Journal. t J
POWELL.— THE HISTORY OF NATURAL PHILOSOPHY.
From the F.arliest Periods to the Present Time. By Baden Powell, M. A., Savilian Professor
of Mathematics in the University of Oxford. 1 vol. fcap. Svo. Vignette Title, 65. cloth.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON.
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PYCROFT.— A COURSE OF ENGLISH READING;
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James Pycroft, B..\., Trinity College, 0.\ford, author of "Greek Grammar Practice "
"Latin Grammar Practice," etc. Foolscap Svo., 6s. 6rf. cloth. '
" This course is admirably adapted to promote a really intellectual study of history,
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dates in the memory which passes for education. U'e would recommrud to every idle and
inaltentire reader, whether old or young, the author's sound and judicious advice, ' How to
remrmberwhat we read.'-'— luhiiBuil. , " '
REECE.— THE MEDICAL GUIDE:
For the use of the Clergy, Heads of Familie.'s, Seminaries, and Junior Practitioners in Medi-
cine; comprising a complete Modern Dispensatory and a Practical Treatise on the distin-
ETiishing S)Tnptoms, Causes, Prevention, Cure, and Palliation of the Diseases incident to the
Human Frame. By R. Reece, M.D., late Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of London
etc. 16th Edition, Svo. 12j. boards. '
REID (DR.)-ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF
VENTILATION: with Remarks on Warming, Exclusive Lighting, aud the Communication
of Sound. Bv D. B. Reid, M.D. F.R.S.E. etc. Svo. with Diagrams, and a'U Eneravini^s on
Wood, ICs. cloth. b , g a ingson
" /Ke regard this as a booh of considerable interest and importance, and which mu>l com-
mand a large share of public attention, as it contains a complete development of the tlieoru
and practice— that is, the science and the art of ventilation, made known to the public lor
the first time. There is not a chapter that does not offer a great number of novel and
important suggestions, well worthy of the careful consideration alike of the public and the
professions. It is, besides, full of curious illustrations; the descriptions and application of
the 'principles' being interspersed throughout, with a variety of umusin" anecdotes bearinir
upon the general suiject."-MurmngChiumclt:. »""i
KEPTON.— THE LANDSCAPE GARDENING & LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
of the late Humphrey Hepton, Esq.; being his entire Worlis on these subjects. New
Edition, with an Historical and Scicutitic Introduction, a systematic Analysis, a Biographical
Notice, Notes, and a copious Alphabetical Index. By J. C. Loudon, F.L.S., etc. Originally
published in oue folio and three quarto volumes, and now comprised in 1 vol. Svo. illustrated
by upwards of 250 Engravings, and Portrait, 3«j. cloth ; with coloured Plates, 31. 6s. cloth.
RIDI)LE-A COMPLETE ENGLISH-LATIN AND LATIN-ENGLISH DIC-
TIONARY compiled from the best sources, chielly German. By the Rev. J. E Riddle
M A. :i.l Kdition, corr..-ctcd and enlarged. Svo. 31s. 6,/. cloth.
*,• Separately -The English-Latin part. Ids. 6rf. cloth ; the Latin- English part, 21*. cloth
RIDDLE.— A DIAMOND LATIN ENGLISH DICTIONARY.
lor the waistcoat-pocket. A Guide to the Mcaniiiu', Quality, and ric'ht Accentu.tinn „f
Latin Classical Words. By the Rev. J. E. Iiiddle,M.A Roval 32mo 4,. hound
RIDDLE.- LETTERS FROM AN ABSENT GODFATHER:
Or, a Compendium of Religious Instruction lor Young Persons. By the Rev. J. E. Riddle,
M.A. Foolscap Kvo.Gs. cloth. .ui,
RIDDLE.— ECCLESIASTICAL CHRONOLOGY;
Or, Annals of the Christian Church fron, its Foundation to the present Ti.ne. Containing a
View of General Church History, and tiic Course of Secular Events ; the Li.nits of the Church
and its RelalionB to the State j ControverHicB j Sects and Parties: Hites Institutions «„.!
Discipline : Ecclesiastical Writers. The whole arranged acc.,r,lin, „ >!„■ /.ricr of Dates' a
dividcMl into Seven Period,. To which arc mided, Lfsts of Councils a,,,! Pones PatrL;^
and Archbishops of Canterbury. By the Ucv. J. E. Ridillc, M.A. Svo. l.',,. cloth.
26 CATALOGUE OF NEW WORKS
RIVERS.— THE ROSE AMATEUR'S GUIDE:
Coutaiiiiiitr ample Descriptiniis of nil the fine leading varieties of Roses, regularly classed in
their respective Families; their History and mode of Culture. By T. Rivers, Jun. Third
Edition, corrected and improved, foolscap Svo. 6<. cloth,
" Mr. Rivers is the bfst nuthority on the subject of the cnltiiintiOn of the rose ; his book is
unea-ceptiiinnbte and coniprehemive^ ntiri snpplien^ nideed. all the information regarding the
viirious varieties that can be desired "—Gentleman's Maga/.ine.
ROBERTS.-A COVIPREHENSIVE VIEW OF THE CULTURE OF THE VINE
under GLASS, liv James Kolierts, Gardener to M. Wilson, Esq., Eshton, Hall, Yorkshire.
limo.Ss. 6</. cloth'.
ROBERTS. — AN ETYMOLOGICAL AND EXPLANATORY DICTIONARY OF
the TERMS and L.\NGU.A(;E of GF.OLO(;V; designed for the early Student, and those
who have not made great progress in the Science. By G. Roberts. Foolscap Svo. 6s. cloth.
ROBINSON. -GREEK AND ENGLISH LEXICON TO THE NEW TESTAMENT.
By K. Rohinson, O U., author of " Biblical Researches." Edited, with careful revision,
corrections, etc., by the Rev. Dr. Bloomfield. 1 vol. Svo. ISs. cloth.
ROGERS.— THE VEGETABLE CULTIVATOR:
Containing a plain and accurate Ucseription of all the different Species of Culinary Vegetables,
with the most approved Method of Cultivating them by Natural and Artificial Means, and the
best Modes of Cooking them j alphabetically arranged. Together with a Description of the
Pbysical Herbs in General Use. Also, some Recollections of the Ufe of Philip Miller, F. A.S.,
Gardener to the Worshipful Company of Apothecaries at Chelsea. By John Rogers, author
of "The Fruit Cultivator." 2d Edition, foolscap Svo. 7». cloth.
ROME.— THE HISTORY OF ROME.
2 vols, foolscap Svo. with Vignette Titles, \2s. cloth.
RONALDS.— THE FLY-FISHER'S ENTOMOLOGY,
Illustrated by coloured Representations of the Natural and Artificial Insect; and accom-
panied by a few Observations and Instructions relative to Trout and Grayling Fishing. By
Alfred Ronalds. 2d edition, with 20 Copper Plates, coloured, Svo. 14s. cloth.
ROSC'OE.-LIVES OF EMINENT BRITISH LAWYERS.
By Henry Roscoe, Esq. 1 vol. foolscap Svo- with Vignette Title, fis. cloth.
S.4NDBY (REV. G.)- MESMERISM AND ITS OPPONENTS:
With a Narrative of Cases. By the Rev. George Sandby, Jun., Vicar of Flixton, and Rector
of All Saints with St. Nicholas, South Elraham, Suffolk; Domestic Chaplain to the Right
Hon. the Earl of Abergavenny. Foolscap Svo. 6s. cloth.
" A book written by a clergyman well known to be a man of high character, great talent,
and clear intellect, conlh/ turning supposed illusions inta facts, pn.ving their reality by a
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ciples for seeming miracles, belief in which had been set down as evidence either oj the grossest
ignorance or the wildest insanity! We look upon the appearance of Mr. Sandby's volume
as an important event in the progress of philosophy, for it is impossible to suspect the author
of either folly or charlatanism. His cases are soberly stated, hts reasonings logical, and his
deductions inevitable."~Uiinm News.
SANDFORD. -WOMAN IN HER SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC CHARACTER.
By Mrs. John Sandlord. 6th Edition, foolscap Svo. 6s. cloth.
Causes of Female Influence; Value of Letters to Woman; Importance of Religion to Woman ;
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SAN DFORD.— FEMALE IMPROVEMENT.
Bv Mrs. John Saudford. 2d Edition, foolscap Svo. 7». 6rf. cloth.
The Formation of F'emale Character ; Religion, a paramount Object ; the Importance of Religious
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and its Recommendation; Accomplishment; Temper; Taste; Benevolence; Marriage; the
Young Wife; the Young Mother.
SANDHURST COLLEGE MATHEMATICAL COURSE.
ELEMENTS of ARITHMETIC and ALGEBRA. By W. Scott, Esq., A.M. and F.R.A.S.
Second Mathemalical Professor at the Roval Military College, Sandhurst. Being the
Second Volume of the Sandhurst Course of Mathematics. Svo. 16s. bound.
" This es'cellent treatise is admirably adapted for the purpose which it is intended to answer,
and certain to prove as permanently beneficial to the interests and credit of the Institution
as it is honourable to Prof. Scott's talents. It is, we perceive, the first of a series which is to
constitute a neneral course of mathematics, and which, when completed, will be an invaluable
addition to the cash books already in use at Sandhurst."— United Service Gazette.
PRACTICAL ASTRONOMY and GEODESY. Bv John Narrien, F.R.S. and R.A.S.
Professor of Mathematics in the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. Being the Third
Volume of the Sandhurst Mathematical Course. Svo. Just ready.
ELEMENTS of GEOMETRY ; consisting of the first Four and Sixth Books of Euclid, chiefly
from the Test of Dr. Robert Simson ; with the principal Theorems in Proportion, and a
Course of Practical Geometry on the Ground ; also. Four Tracts relating to Circles, Planes,
and Solids, with one on Spherical Geometry. Bv Mr. Narrien. Professor of Mathematics in
the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. Being the First Volume of the Sandhurst Course of
Mathematics. .Svo. with many Diagrams, 10s. 6rf. bound.
PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, BROWN, AND CO. 27
SAVAGE.— A DICTIONARY OF PRINTING.
By William Savage, author of " Practical Hints on Decorative Printinir," and a Treatise
"On the Preparation of Printing Ink, both Black and Coloured." In 1 vol. Svo. with numerous
Diagrams, 1/. 6s. cloth.
SCORESBY.— WIACNETICAL INVESTIGATIONS.
By the Rev. William Scoresby, D.D. F.R.S L. and E. etc. etc. Comprising Investigations
concerning the Laws or Principles affecting the Power of Magnetic Steel Plates or Bars, in
combination as well as siirgly, under various conditions as to Slass, Hardness, Qualitv, Form,
etc. as also couccruing the comparative Powers of Cast Iron. Part 2, 8vo. lUs. 6d. cloth.
P.irtl, with Plates, 5i.
SCOTT.— THE HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
By Sir Walter Scott, Bart. New Kdition,2 vols, foolscap Svo. with Vignette Titles, IQj. cloth.
SEAWARD.— SIR EDWARD SEAWARD'S NARRATIVE OF HIS SHIPWRECK,
and consequent Discovery of certain Islands in the Caribbean Sea: with a Detail of many
extraordinary and highly interesting Events in his Life, from 1733 to 17-19, as written in his
own Diary. Edited by Miss Jane Porter. 3d Edition, with a New Nautical and Geographical
Introduction, containing Extracts from a Paper bv Mr C. F. CoUett, of the Roval Navy
identifying the Islands described by Sir Edward Seaward. 2 vols, post Svo. 21j. cloth.
SELECT WORKS OF THE BRITISH POETS:
From Chaucer to Witliirs. With Uiographical Sketches, by R. Southey, LL.D. 1 vol. Svo
3U.!. cloth ; or 31j. Crf. with gilt edges.
SELECT WORKS OF THE BRITISH POETS:
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*,* The peculiar fentuTu of these two works is, that the Poems included ari^ printed entire,
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Jit fur the perusal of youth, or for reading aloud.
SHAKSPEARE, BY BOWDLER.
THE F.AMII.V SHAK^PEARE , in which nothing is added to the OriginalText ; but those
\\'ords and Expressions are omitted which cannot with propriety be read aloud. Bv T.
Bowdlcr, Esq. F.R.S. Seventh Edition (1839), 1 large vol. Svo. with 36 Illustrations after
Smirke, etc. 3I)». cloth : or 31s. 6rf. gilt edges.
*,* .\ LIBRARY EDITION, without Illustrations, 8 vols. Svo. 4/. 14». 6d. boards.
SHELLEY, ETC.— LIVES OF THE MOST EMINENT LITERARY MEN OF
ITALY, SPAIN and PORTUGAL. By Mrs. Shelley, Sir D. Brewster, J. Montgomery, etc.
3 vols, foolscap Svo. with Vignette Titles, 18s. cloth.
>HELLEY.- LIVES OF THE MOST EMINENT FRENCH WRITERS.
By .Mrs. Shelley and others. 2 vols, foolscap Svo. with Vignette Titles, 12s. cloth.
HORT WHIST:
Its Rise, Progress, and Laws ; with Observations to make anv one a Whist Player; containing
also the Laws of Piquet, Cassino, Ecarte, Cribbage, Backgammon. Bv Major A • * • • «.
7tb Edition. To which are added, Precepts for Tyros. By Mrs. B *•'**• Foolscap 8vo'
3s. cloth, gilt edges.
SISMONDI.— THE HISTORY OF THE ITALIAN REPUBLICS:
Or, of the Origin, Progress, and Fall of Freedom in It.ilv. from A.D. 470 to ISO.",. Bv J. C. L.
De Sismondi. I vol. foolscap Svo. with Vignette Title, iis. cloth.
SIS.^IONDI.-THE HISTORY OF THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.
Comprisinga Viewof the Invasion and Settlement of the Barbarians. ByJ.C.L. Dt Sismondi.
2 vols, foolscap Svo. with Vignette Titles, 12». cloth.
SMITH— AN INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF BOTANY.
Bv Sir J. E. Smith, late President of the Linnie.-in Socictv. 7th Edition (1S33) , corrected • in
which the object of Snutli's "Grammar of Bolanv" is combined with that of the "Intro-
duction." Bv Sir William Jackson Hooker, K.ll. LL.D. etc. 1 vol. Svo pp 5m with
:t(i Steel Platek, Ifis. cloth ; coloured Plates, 2/. 12.». Grf. cloth. "'
SMITH -COMPENDIUM OF THE ENGLISH FLORA.
By sir J. E. Smith. 2d Edition, with Additions and Corrections.
lJmo.7».C<f. cloth. THE SAME IN LATIN. 5th Edition, 12
SMITH —THE ENGLISH FLORA.
By sir James Edward Smith, M.D. F.R.S., late President of the Linnopan Society, etc.
f> vo1s.8vu.3/.12j. boards.
CONTENTS :
VoU. I. to IV. the Flowering Plants and the Ferns, 2/. Ss.
Vol. V. Part 1,12». -Cryplogamia; comprising l Vol. V. Part 2, 12».— The Fungi- coninletina
the Mt.Bscii, Hcpatica.-, Lichens, Chara- the work, by Sir \V. J. Hooker, and the
eex, and Algic. By Sir W. J. Hooker. I Rev. M. J. Berkeley, F.L.S. etc.
SMITH.— THE WORKS OF THE REV. SYDNEY SMITH.
2d Edition, :i vuk. ^Svo. witii Portrait. p|>. 1112, :t<l< . I..1I1.
*,* VAis collection toniitit of the .iutlior's contribntiont to the " tCdiuburgh Hevirie," feter
l-li/oiley's-' l.lttirs nn the latholieK,' and ..thrr tni,i;-ltaurous works.
28
CATALOGUE OF K EW WORKS
to the year 1843.
Fcap. 8vo. pp. 162, 05. cloth.
SMITH.— LETTERS ON THE SUBJECT OF THE CATHOLICS,
To mv BROTHER ABRAHAM who lives in the COUNTRY. By Peter Plymley. 2l8t Edition,
post 8vo. pp. 200, 7». cloth.
SMITH.— THE MEMOIRS OF THE MARQUIS DE POMBAL.
By John Smith, Private Secretary to the Mariiuis de Saldaua. 2 vols. 8vo. with Portrait
arid Autograph, 21s. cloth.
These Memoirs of this illustrious Portuguese Statesman, designated by his eountrymen the
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that awful occasion— The establishment of the Oporto Wine Company-The Duke of Aveiro s
conspiracy-Rupture with the Court of Rome -Strange hallucinations of the Jesurt Malagrida—
Suppression of the Jesuit order throughout Europe effected by Pombal's energy and address—
Family compact, and war with France and Spain -Extensive reforms and flourishine condition
of Portugal- Death of the king -Pombal's resignation, examination, sentence, illness, and
death. The whole interspersed with extracts from the despatches of Mr. Hay, Lord KiunouU,
Mr. Walpole, etc. never before published.
SMITH.— AN INQUIRY INTO THE NATURE AND CAUSES OF THE WEALTH
OF NATIONS. By Adam Smith, LL.D. With a Life of the Author, an Introductory
Discourse, Notes, and Supplemental Dissertation. By J. R. M'CuUoch. New Edition,
corrected throughout, and greatly enlarged, Svo. with Portrait, 1/. Ij. cloth.
SOUTHEY'S (ROBERT) COMPLETE POETICAL WORKS:
Containg all the Author's last Introductions and Notes. Complete rn one volume, medium
Svo. with Portrait and Vignette, uniform with Byron's Poems and Tliomas Moore's Poetical
Works. 21«.; or 42s. bound in morocco, in the best manner, by HaydRy.
Also, an Edition in 10 vols, foolscap Svo. with Portrait and 19 Plates, 2^. lOl.
The following may be had, bound separately, in cloth: —
JOAN OF ARC 1vol. as. I THALABA 1 vol. 5s.
MADOC 1vol. 5s. BALLADS, etc. 2vols.lns.
CURSE OF KEHAMA - - -1 vol.. 5s. I RODERICK 1vol. 5s.
SOUTHEY, ETC.— LIVES OF THE BRITISH ADMIRALS;
With an Introductory View of the Naval History of England. By R. Southey, Esq. and
R. Bell, Esq. 5 vols. 'foolscap Svo., with Vignette Titles, 1/. 10s. cloth.
SPACEMAN. -STATISTICAL TABLES
Of the Agriculture, Shipping, Colonies, Manufactures, Commerce, and Population of th(
United Kingdom of Grei.t Britain and its Dependencies, broiight d(
Compiled from Official Returns. By W. F. Spackman, Esq.
SPALDING— THE PHILOSOPHY OF CHRISTIAN MORALS.
Bv Samuel Spalding, M.A. of the London University. Svo. 10s. 6rf. cloth.
'■' The whole u-urkis throughout thoiightfulti/ and eloquently wriWen. "—AtheniEura.
SPIRIT OF THE WOODS.
By the author of "The Moral of Flowers." 2d Edition, 1 vol. royal Svo. with 23 beautifully
coloured Engravings of the Forest Trees of Great Britain, \l. Us. 6(f. cloth.
SPOONER.— A TREATISE ON THE STRUCTURE, FUNCTIONS, AND
DISEASES of the FOOT and LEG of the HORSE ; comprehending the Comparative Anatomy
of these Parts in other Animals ; embracing the subject of Shoeing and the properTreatment
of the Foot; with the Rationale and Effects of various Important Operations, and the best
Methods of performing them. By W. C. Spooner, M.R.V.C. 12mo. 7s. 6rf. cloth.
STEAM ENGINE, BY THE ARTIZAN CLUB.
.\ Treatise on the Steam Engine. Bv the Artizan Club. Nos. 1 to 4, 4to. 1». each, sewed.
To be completed in 24 Monthly Parts, each illustrated by a Steel Plate and several Woodcuts.
" The treatise is marked by the same cleverness and vivacity which belongs to ' the Club;'
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agreeable and interesting mnnner.''— Railway Chronicle.
STEBBING— THE HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH,
From its Foundation to A.D. 1492. Bv the Rev H. Stehhing, M.A., etc. 2 vols, foolscap Svo.
with Vignette Titles, 12s. cloth.
STEBBlIsG.— THE HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION.
By the Rev. H. Stebbing. 2 vols, foolscap Svo. with Vignette Titles, 12s. cloth.
STEPHENS.— A MANUAL OF BRITISH COLEOPTERA ;
Or, BEETLES : containing a Description of all the Species of Beetles hitherto ascertained to
inhabit Great Britain and Ireland, etc. With a complete Index of the Genera By J. F .
Stephens, F.L.S., author of " Illustrations of Entomology." 1 vol. post Svo. 14s. cloth.
STEEL'S SHIPMASTER'S ASSISTANT, ^ . ,
And OWNER'S M.ANU.iL; containing Information necessary for persons connected Willi
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dom, and British Possessions abroad; Navigation Laws ; Registry Acts ; Duties of Custorns
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Charges on Shipping, etc. New Edition, corrected by J. Stikeman, Secretary to the F.ast
India and China Association. With Tables of Monies, Weights, Measures, and Exchanges.
By Dr. Kelly. With a Supplement. 1 vol. Svo. 17. Is. cloth.
PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, BROWN, AND CO,
29
STRONG —GREECE AS A KINCDOWl :
A Statistical Description of that Country— its Laws, Commerce, Resources, Public Institutions,
Army, Navy, etc. -from the Arrival of King Otho, in 1833, down to the present time. From
Official Documents and Authentic Sources. Bv Frederick Strong, Esq., Consul at Athens for
the Kingdoms of Bavaria and Hanover. 8vo. 15s. cloth.
SUMMERLY (MRS. FELIX).-THE MOTHER'S PRIMER:
A Little Child's First Steps in many Ways. By Mrs. Felix Summerly. Fcap. 8vo. printed
in colours, with a Frontispiece drawii on zinc by William Mulready, R.A. Is. sewed.
SUNDAY LIBRARY :
Containing nearly One Hundred Sermons by the following eminent Divines. With Notes,
etc. by the Rev. T. F. Dibdin, D.D. 6 vols, foolscap 8vo. ' ' ' "'
rith 6 Portraits, 30s. cloth.
Bp. Mant
Dr. DOyly
Rtv
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—
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- Parr
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— Van Mildert
Professor White
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C. W. Le B.1S
Dean Chandler
Rev. Arch. Alison
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— • C. Benson
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Thos.Rennell
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— Seeker
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SWAINSON.-A PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE ON THE STUDY OF NATURAL
HISTORY. By W. Swainson, Esq. 1 vol. foolscap 8vo. 6s. cloth.
A TREATISE ON THE NATURAL HIS-
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Bv W. Swainson, Esq. 1 vol. foolscap 8vo.
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NATURAL HISTORY AND CLASSIFICA-
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NATURAL HISTORY AND CLASSIFIC.\.
TION OF BIRDS. By W. Swainson, Esq.
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A TREATISE ON MALACOLOGY ; Or, the
Natural Classification of Shells and Shell-
Fish. By W.jSwainson, Esq. 1 vol. fcap,
Svo. with Vignette Title and very numerous
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NATURAL HISTORY AND CLASSIFICA-
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