the left side; under the clavicle, the respiration is stated to be markedly bronchial, with the expiration greatly prolonged, and loud bronchophony, (pectoriloquy ?) the bronchial respiration being increased lower down; in the axillary aspect the respiration is more natural, but becoming bronchial towards the pectoral border; on the top of the shoulder the same strong bronchial respiration, with greatly prolonged expiration, as on the front; respiration very feeble on the lower parts posteriorly.

No doubt, part at least, of the conditions of the lower lobes found after death was produced subsequently to my last examination.

EFFECTS OF ÆTHER INHALATION IN
PARTURITION.

The following extract of a letter from a correspondent, in reference to the subject, dated Paris, February 25th, may not be unacceptable to our readers :--

"The mind of the profession here, is entirely occupied upon the æther question, to the temporary

exclusion of all others. The Baron Dubois read a

very interesting paper to the Academy of Medicine the day before yesterday, giving the details of six cases of protracted and difficult labours, in which the vapour of sulphuric æther was inhaled with marked advantage. The particulars will be almost immediately published, but in the interim I may as well tell you that the results of the Baron's experience warrant him in concluding that the vapour of the æther may be inhaled by parturient women:-1st, without any danger to mother or child; 2nd, with advantage to both, in so much as that it destroys all resistance in the voluntary muscles of the perineum, relaxing or rather paralysing them for the moment, without impeding or interfering in the slightest degree with the natural physiological muscular actions of the uterus. The Baron has also observed that the abdominal muscles in their actions in parturition are not at all affected by the inhaled æther.

"The two first cases-both instrumental-one in labour forty hours, the other thirty-six, before the vapour was inhaled, turned out ultimately unfortunate, as both patients died of puerperal fever which was at the time prevailing in the hospital, (La Maternité.) This sad result the Baron does not think can be ascribed at all to the use of the vapour; nor does he on the other hand attribute the immunity of the other patients in the same hospital to it.

139

"The Baron upon interrogating the patients after delivery as to their sensations during the operation, was informed by all but one, that they felt nothing of what was doing, but that one smiled and would not say what she had felt. It afterwards turned out that this patient, by her confessions to the nurse, was ashamed to say what she felt and thought, as she found herself engaged, all the time whilst under the infludelivery, with her husband, in that preliminary process ence of the æther and undergoing the operation of which is so essential to the bringing about of that condition in which ladies like to be who love their lords.

"There is an American dentist here disputing the honour of the discovery with Dr. Jackson. This dentist, a Doctor Wells, or Way, says he made the discovery by induction, in 1844, and that after many successful experiments in his own practice, he travelled from the city of Hertford, in Connecticut, to Boston, to lay the discovery before Dr. Jackson. He was introduced by Dr. Jackson to his class after lecture, and made some experiments before them, but they unfortunately failed, and the young men, to use his own words, denounced him as an impostor. He returned to Hertford, and there continued to use the inhalation in his practice with constant success. Such is his account to the Academy of Medicine and to the Institute here, and

his claim to the discovery is under consideration."

HOMEOPATHY.

Madame Hahnemann, widow of the celebrated founder of Homœopathy, was summoned on the 20th ultimo, before the correctional tribunal at Paris, for having illegally practised the medical art. The prosecution was directed by the procureur du roi, on a complaint by M. Orfila, senior member of the faculty of medicine. Madame Hahnemann declared that she had received a diploma as Doctor of Medicine, in Pennsylvania. She also stated that she never received pecuniary remuneration. M. Delau, M.D., of Montpellier, confirmed the latter fact, and stated that he often consulted Madame Hahnemann. The court pronounced judgment thus:-"Whereas, Madame Hahnemann had, without diploma or certificate available in France, illegally practised as a doctor, and at the same time compounded and sold, without legal authority, medical preparations, offences provided against by the law, the said widow Hahnemann be condemned to 100 francs fine, and to the expenses."-Lancet.

MEDICAL APPOINTMENTS.

James Paget, Esq., Professor of Surgery to the Royal College of Surgeons, has been elected Assistant Surgeon to St. Bartholomew's Hospital, in the room of Mr. Lloyd, lately appointed Surgeon.

Dr. R. F. Lindoe has been elected Physician to the Eastern Dispensary, Bath, in the room of Dr. Tarleton, resigned.

ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS.

Gentlemen admitted Members, Friday, February 19, 1847 :-H. Davies; T. Pratt; L. P. Madden; J. Nash; J. W. Poland; A. Gozybowski; A. Asmar; R. B. Sawer; E. L, Webb; J. Hutchinson.

SOCIETY OF APOTHECARIES.

Gentlemen admitted Licentiates, Thursday, February 18th :-John Bleeck, Bristol; Temple Chevallier Paley, Gretford; Edward Monement, Lynn Regis; George Pretyman Hubbard, Bury St. Edmunds; Anthony Unthank, Nottingham.

ROYAL MEDICO-CHIRURGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON.

At the Anniversary Meeting of the Royal MedicoChirurgical Society, held on Monday, March 1st, the following gentlemen were elected officers for the ensuing year:-President: James Moncrieff Arnott, F.R.S.-Vice-Presidents: Robert Ferguson, M.D.;

Jonathan Pereira, M.D., F.R.S.; Robert Liston, F.R.S.; Richard Partridge, F. R. S.- Treasurers: George Burrows, M.D.; Benjamin Phillips, F.R.S.Secretaries: George Cursham, M.D.; Fred. Le Gros Clark.-Librarians: William Baly, M.D.; Richard Quain, F.R.S.-Other Members of Council: George Budd, M.D., F.R.S.; W. F. Chambers, K.C.H., M.D., F.R.S.; P. N. Kingston, M.D.; Thomas Mayo, M.D., F.R.S.; James Arthur Wilson, M.D.; Henry Ancell; Richard Blagden; George Busk; Charles Hawkins; Benjamin Travers, F.R.S.

DEPUTATION TO SIR GEORGE GREY.

We are authorised to state, that a deputation from the Council of the Provincial Medical and Surgical • Association, has had an interview with the Right Hon. Sir George Grey, and that from the result of this interview, strong hopes are entertained that a settlement of the questions connected with Medical Reform, satisfactory to all branches of the profession, may be obtained. These hopes are, however, dependent upon some approach to unanimity, in the concession of minor points, being manifested by the different sections of the profession.

OBITUARY.

Died, February 12th, at Enniscorthy, of fever, John B. Macartney, Esq., M.D., F.R.C.S, of Ireland, &c. &c. February 15th, at Wellington, Somerset, aged 36, Albert Langley, Esq., Surgeon.

February 20th, at Edinburgh, Jolin Pitcairn, Esq., M.D.

February 26th, aged 58, of angina pectoris, George G. Bompas, Esq., M.D., of Fishponds, Bristol, long a member of the Provincial Medical and Surgical Association, and President-Elect of the Bath and Bristol Branch. Dr. Bompas was possessed of considerable scientific attainments, especially in his own branch of the profession-the relief of mental disease. He was of mild and amiable deportment, a model of the christian gentleman, and all his actions were influenced by a feeling of deep responsibility. These characteristics were especially manifested in the performance of bis professional duties, and although not an implicit follower of what is called the non-restraint system, his judicious and gentle management of the patients

entrusted to his care effected the successful restoration

of the mental powers in a very remarkable degree. February 27th, at Carlisle, Railton Atkinson, Esq., M.D.

Lately, at Dungannon, of fever, William Dawson, Esq., M.D., Medical Officer of the Workhouse. Lately, at Paris, Dr. M. Cottereau, the associate of M. Raspail.

In December last, at Rio Janeira, M. Felix D'Arcet, one of the Commissioners appointed by the French Government to examine and report on the plague of Egypt.

BOOKS RECEIVED.

1847. London: Churchill. pp. 288 and 362. The London and Provincial Medical Directory.

Medicines, their Uses and Mode of Administration, &c., &c. By J. Moore Neligan, M.D., Edin., M.R.I.A., Licentiate of the College of Physicians of Ireland, Physician to Jervis Street Hospital, &c., &c. Second Edition. Dublin: Fannin and Co. 1847. 8vo. pp. 485. On the Mechanism of Respiration. By Francis Sibson, Esq. (From the 66 Philosophical Transactions.") London: Taylors. 1846. 4to. Plates. On Diseases of the Skin. By Erasmus Wilson, F.R.S., Consulting Surgeon to St. Pancras Infirmary, Lecturer on Anatomy and Physiology to the Middlesex School of Medicine, &c., &c. Second Edition. London: Churchill. 1847. 8vo. pp. 482. Plates.

On Cataract, Artificial Pupil, and Strabismus. By F. H. Brett, Esq., M.D., F.R.C.S., Surgeon to the Western Institution for Diseases of the Eye, &c., &c. London: Churchill. 1847. 8vo. pp. 89. Plates.

Report of the Liverpool Eye and Ear Infirmary, for the year 1846. Liverpool: 1847. 8vo. pp. 33.

Notes on the Inhalation of Sulphuric Æther in the F.R.S.E., Professor of Midwifery in the University of Practice of Midwifery. By J. Y. Simpson, M.D., Edinburgh, and Physician Accoucheur to her Majesty in Scotland. (From the "Monthly Journal of Medical Science.") Edinburgh: Sutherland and Knox. 1847. 8vo. pp. 11.

Medical Statistics; their Force and Fallacies. A Lecture delivered in Park Street School of Medicine, November 4th, 1846. By James F. Duncan, A.M., M.B., Fellow of the King's and Queen's College of Physicians, Physician Extraordinary to Sir P. Dun's and Mercer's Hospitals, &c. Dublin: McGlashan. 1847. 8vo. pp. 42.

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

Communications have been received from Mr. F. Buckell; A Member; the Sheffield Medical Society; Mr. W. C. Worthington; Chirurgo-Medicus; Dr. Cullen; Mr. W. F. Clarke; Mr. P. Wright.

The Æther-Quackery shall be noticed in the next number, with some other points connected with the subject of Æthereal Inhalation, which we have been compelled to omit.

It is requested that all letters and communications be sent to Dr. Streeten, Foregate Street, Worcester.. Parcels and books for review, may be addressed to the Editor of the Provincial Medical and Surgical Journal, care of Mr. Churchill, Princes Street, Soho.

On the fourth day from admission, he is reported to have suffered much less pain, and to have passed much better nights. An improved diet was ordered. On the tenth day, it is stated that the pain is much less severe, the intermissions being longer; slight tendernes of the gums; has acquired a greater power over the affected lid, and can slightly raise it; the iris is less sluggish to the influence of the light, and the patient states that he can perceive the light stronger and brighter. The mercury was withdrawn; Quinæ Disulph. gr. ij.; Extr. Aloes, gr. j., ter die.

appeared to exist. With such a category of symptoms could there be any doubt as to the presence of some cerebral condition, as the cause of this aberration of sensibility and motion? But I wish to make this clearly evident to you, and in doing so, you will not fail to perceive how confessedly dependent is pathology upon anatomy and physiology, and how little of the nature or cause of disease could be known or discovered without the aid of these sciences,-sciences which are as indisputably the foundation of all true pathology, as they are indispensably the basis of all certain, welldirected, and efficient therapeutical practice.

The muscular power of the levator palpebræ is dependent on a branch of the third nerve; the perceptive faculty of the eye is regulated by the optic nerve; the

In offering to you some clinical observations on this case, let me first direct your attention to the symptom most palpably evident,—one that without any complaint on the part of the patient you could not fail to notice, namely, the dropping of the left eye-lid, termed ptosis, from a Greek word Two, simply meaning to fall down. Ptosis may be considered either as an affection per se, or as a symptom of internal cerebral disease. The first is dependent on certain integumentary conditions, such as hypertrophy of the cellular tissue of the upper lid, or excess of integument, so that power of the levator palpebræ is overcome by the mass of the lid to be raised. It is comparatively a trivial affection, and is frequently relieved by surgical operation, and it must be carefully distinguished from the dropping lid, which, as a symptom, is one of considerable moment, as indicating some serious organic lesion in the encephalon.

When ptosis is a symptom of cerebral disease, it does not occur alone, there are usually several other concurring conditions sufficiently explicit, pointing to the cerebral centre as their source.

Now in this case, the second point of observation was the numbed and deficient sensibility of the cheek, forehead, scalp, and chin of the left side. Our attention was next fixed upon the loss of vision; the left eye, unable to distinguish form or colour, was yet faintly sensible to the difference between light and dark. We next noticed the sluggish motions of the iris to the action of light; then the uncertain action of the muscles of the eye-ball; and lastly, the play of the features on the opposite sides of the face, was not consentaneous when the patient spoke or laughed. This circumstance was evident; but when the countenance was at rest, no want of unity of expression

of the iris, arise from the ciliary nerves, derived from the ophthalmic ganglion, which is formed by a portion of the fifth, and a branch of the third nerves; the motions of the eye-ball are influenced by the third or motor occuli as it is called; the sensitiveness of the skin of the cheek, scalp, forehead, and chin, is due to the fifth; while the muscles of the face are guided in their motions by the branches of the portio dura of the seventh. We thus find that the second, third, fifth, and seventh nerves, are deprived of a certain amount of the healthy influence exercised over the muscles and parts to which they are distributed. There was something singular in the degree or extent to which these nerves were deprived of their accustomed power; in none could it be said that there was total paralysis, or complete loss of power; vision was not totally obliterated; the patient could distinguish between light and dark; sensation in the cheek, forehead, and scalp, was not entirely lost; the parts were rather numbed than paralysed; the laying of the finger gently on the forehead or cheek was not felt; but if the skin was pinched he winced. Moreover, there was at times much exaltation of sensibility ia these parts, lancinating excruciating pain darting in paroxysms through the affected nerves. The mobility of the eye-ball was only imperfect-not destroyed. When told to look to the right or left, upwards or downwards, the motions were made without precision,-awkwardly, hesitatingly, as though the muscles were not perfectly under the influence of the will. It could not be said that the iris was insensible to light, it was only sluggish to its influence. The injury therefore to these nerves was partial and not complete; their functions may be said to have been suspended rather than destroyed. From so many nerves being implicated, and the partial manner in which these were affected, it could not be doubted that the morbid cause was operating at the roots of these nerves,—at their cerebral centres, not at the extremity of their peripheral distribution. To the brain, therefore, we were to look for the special morbid cause.

Now, the history of the attack materially aids us in our diagnosis. Sitting by the fire, he suddenly becomes insensible, and falls after the manner of a fit, from which he recovers to find a surgeon extracting blood from his arm. As complete consciousness returned, he became aware of the loss of sight in the