perpendicular sections of it. The surface itself, when looked upon from above, appeared as if perforated by a number of small apertures, or covered with numerous white points, and these, when examined by the microscope, were found to be the openings of cylindrical glandules. These glandules, or follicles, were from one and a half to two Paris lines in length,were held together by a transparent material, and terminated each by a blind extremity, which rested on the fibrous tissue of the uterus. They ran a somewhat wavy course, but never branched or anastomosed. Previous to impregnation it seems to be exceedingly difficult to discover these glands in the mucous membrane of the uterus. Probably they then exist in a very undeveloped state, but immediately on the occurrence of conception increase rapidly, and exude an abundant secretion. Of these glands and their secretion (together with blood-vessels,) the membrana decidua and later on the placenta essentially consist. The statement that a membrana decidua exists in the Fallopian tube, as well as in the uterus, in cases of Fallopian impregnation, Bischoff combats, by observing that so far as has yet been seen, the lining membrane of the Fallopian tube contains no glands by which the formation of a structure corresponding to an ordinary membrana decidua could be effected. A similar view to the above, in regard to the nature of the membrana decidua, has been advocated also by M. Courtz, who considers this structure to be merely a somewhat altered condition of the mucous membrane of the uterus. A description of the mucous or lining membrane of the uterus, in the unimpregnated state, has been furnished by M. Deschamps. He states that this membrane, when carefully dissected off, appears as a whitish, very delicate, and friable structure; it is continuous above with the membrane lining the Fallopian tubes, and below, at the neck of the uterus, it is united with the mucous membrane of the vagina. | He mentions also, that with a lens he has distinctly observed the free surface of the membrane to be finely villous, owing to the number of minute follicular glands with which it is beset; from the orifices of these he observed a viscid fluid to exude on pressure. This fluid, with which the interior of the uterus is moistened, possesses all the ordinary characters of mucus.— - Dr. Kirke's Report on Anatomy, &c., in Dr. Ranking' Half Yearly Abstract, Vol. IV. PATHOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY. CONDITION OF THE BLOOD AFTER DEATH FROM M. Cicerone having observed that after death from asphyxia the quantity of fibrin in the blood is dimin. ished, and that after the respiratory movements have ceased circulation of the blood still continues for some time, was led to infer, that in those cases in which respiration is stopped by the application of a cord round the neck, and in which also the return of blood from the jugular veins to the heart is at the same time prevented, the circulation of blood through all other parts of the body below the cord being in the meanwhile continued, and the conversion of arterial into venous blood continuing (though imperfectly,) to take place, the blood accumulated in the jugular veins would be in its natural condition, whilst that in all other veins below the constricted part of the neck would have suffered a diminution in the quantity of its fibrin. If such was the case, it would be an important fact in relation to medical jurisprudence, inasmuch as this difference between the character of the blood examined from the jugular veins and that from the rest of the body, would not be observed in those cases in which a cord had been tied around the neck of a person already dead. M. Cappa has recently undertaken some researches on the subject. In ten hens which he strangled, death was caused six times by asphyxia and apoplexy conjointly, and twice by asphyxia alone, and twice by apoplexy alone. In the two last cases the corpuscles of the blood in the veins above the constricted part of the neck, were found beneath the microscope to be distended, most of them deprived of their nuclei, others elongated, and others more or less broken up; whilst the corpuscles of the blood from other parts of the body had their natural appearance. But, in the two cases in which death resulted from asphyxia alone, the above-mentioned alterations in the corpuscles occurred in the blood of parts below the seat of con. striction; and in the six cases in which death was produced by asphyxia and apoplexy conjointly, the same alteration of the corpuscles was observed alike in all parts of the body. The test proposed by M. Cicerone would therefore, according to M. Cappa's account, only be available in the cases where death was caused by apoplexy, and not in those cases in which death from strangulation is produced by apoplexy and asphyxia conjointly, and which are most frequent. M. Cappa, moreover, has found that the blood in the jugular veins above the ligature is thicker, and contains a larger proportion of fibrin, (as M. Cicerone inferred,) in death from apoplexy alone; whilst in death caused by asphyxia alone, an opposite condition was observed. This test, as well as the other, will therefore fail to be of service in those cases (the large majority,) where death is due to the combined influences of asphyxia and apoplexy.-Medical Gazette, Dec. 11, 1846., from Heller's Archiv. Heft, 2, 1846. NATURE OF DIABETES. M. Bouchardat has published another memoir on this obscure disease, of which the following is a summary : 1. Diabetes consists essentially in a perversion of the digestion of feculent substances. These articles of food instead of being dissolved in the intestines by means of the pancreatic juice, as in health, are dissolved in the stomach, giving rise to the formation of diastase. 2. The theory of the neutrality or alkalinity of the blood in this disease is erroneous, and the continuance of food containing fecula together with the administration of soda is hazardous. 3. It is impossible, for various reasons, to accomplish more than temporary amendment in hospitals, but if we meet with a patient whom we can treat at home, surrounded with all the necessaries of life both hygienic GENERAL RETROSPECT. and dietetic, we may in many cases accomplish a complete cure, provided there is neither tubercle in the lungs or any disease of the pancreas and its ducts, and that the patient has resolution to avoid the use of food containing fecula.-Gazette Médicale, Janvier, 1847. PATHOLOGY. ON THE CUTANEOUS ERUPTIONS INDUCED BY VARIOUS Opium.-The eruptions which in certain individuals follow the use of the preparations of opium are always of an exanthematous nature. In general they consist of red isolated patches not unlike those of measles. This kind of eruption is rare. The Solanea.-The eruption induced by the ingestion of the preparations of this tribe of plants are also of the order exanthemata, and are as uncommon as those which are the effect of opium. The patches are larger and irregular, resembling scarlatina. The Oleo-resins. All the medicinal substances of this class are liable to be followed by cutaneous eruptions, but none so frequently as turpentine and copaiba. The eruption very much resembles that produced by opium and belladonna, being sometimes measly, at other times scarlatinous in its appearance. It is a rare exception to see either vesicles, pustules, or papules. Cod-liver oil.-This medicine sometimes gives rise to a form of eczema, which appears generally about the fifth day from the commencement of its use; it is, however, rarely observed. Iodide of potassium.-The eruptions which follow the use of this medicine are far from uniform, sometimes being eczematous, at others pustular, as in acne. It sometimes happens that the skin escapes the action of the medicine, and that the mucous membranes are attacked instead ; in such cases we observe coryza and conjunctivitis, which cease as soon as its use is suspended, but which will not yield to topical treatment as long as the medicine is persisted in. The discrimination of the cutaneous affections which are induced by different medicinal substances taken internally, is of no slight practical importance; we have seen ignorance of these characters and causes give rise to very unpleasant mistakes.-Annuaire de Therapeutique, 1847. STRONGULUS GIGAS IN THE HUMAN KIDNEY. 165 life, indistinct undulatory movements were visible over the affected kidney, which were accompanied by a sensation of "creeping" internally. The patient at length died in a state of complete marasmus, when dissection revealed the presence of a large Strongulus gigas in the right kidney, the structure of which had become greatly disorganized. ON THE MEANS OF ASCERTAINING WHETHER THE Dr. Mitchell considers that the above point may be determined by means of an instrument which he has devised. This consists of a gum-elastic catheter, with a stilette, to the bulbous extremity of which a portion of litmus paper is fixed. The catheter is introduced into the cervix uteri, and the stilette being pushed forwards, the litmus paper is allowed to remain in contact with the secretion. It is then withdrawn into the catheter before the latter is removed. The entire instrument is then withdrawn, and the paper examined; if it remains of its original colour, Dr. Mitchell considers that the disease is located in the cervix; if, however, it be reddened, we have evidence that the fundus is the source of the discharge.. Dublin Medical Press. [There appears to us to be one source of fallacy in this experiment, which Dr. Mitchell does not take into account, viz., the acid nature of the vaginal mucus, the accidental contact of which would equally redden the litmus.] MATERIA MEDICA. FORMULE FOR THE IODIDE OF IRON. The Messrs. T. and H. Smith now make a solution of iodide of iron in a Florence flask, with six drachms of pure iron filings, two ounces two drachms of iodine, and four ounces and a half of cold distilled water. This mixture is boiled till the liquid loses its colour; it is then filtered rapidly into a clean flask, and evaporated at a boiling heat. They obtain the compound either as a crystallized hydrate, or in an amorphous anhydrous form, according to the extent of the evaporation, and inclose it, without the slightest delay, in small well-corked bottles. As all the solid preparations are liable to change, they farther recommend powdering their anhydrous iodide as soon as it is taken from the flask, and then instantly to incorporate it with twice its weight of pure refined sugar in powder, and to make it up in mass with honey. M. Calloud, in a memoir on this salt, points out the advantages of preparing it by double decomposition. He shows, by analysis of various specimens, that when the salt is prepared in the direct manner, and its solution evaporated to dryness, there` almost always occur flakes of crystallized iodine adhering to a bluish mass, friable and insoluble in water, which is no other A recent number of the Journal of the Academy of Medicine of the Loire Inférieure records the curious case of the presence of a living strongulus in the human kidney. The subject of the case was a farmer, aged 60, of intemperate habits, but robust. After a debauch of several nights' duration, he was seized with severe pains in the region of the right kidney, which were attributed to renal calculus. The resources of legitimate medicine, as well as of numerous quacks, were exerted in vain for the relief of his sufferings, a transient cessation from his pain being than a mixture of reduced iodine and sesqui-iodide only obtained from the use of sulphuric wether and the spirits of turpentine. At the expiration of three years' continued suffering the patient had become reduced to a skeleton. For the last ten months of his of iron. The following are his observations on the iodide of iron obtained by double decomposition: By reducing iodide of potassium and sulphate of protoxide of iron to a fine powder, and triturating the mixture of the two salts, we obtain the protiodide of is about to be made, time must be given for the dregs iron. 161.52 206.94 1 part iodide of potassium The double decomposition being produced by the assistance of the water of crystallization of the sulphate of iron, we treat it with alcohol of 85o per cent. which only dissolves the iodide of iron that is formed. The alcoholic solution has all the characters of the protosalts of iron; and the re-action of the two salts is complete. The sulphate of potass is, in this case, in the condition of the insoluble salts. The iodide of iron, thus mixed with the sulphate of potass, may be employed therapeutically with undoubted advantage in a dry state. The following formula may serve for certain pharmaceutical preparations, having iodide of iron for a base: Crystallized sulphate of iron- 3 parts. 4 It is important to choose the sulphate of iron in small, colourless, and translucent crystals, which integrally represent the protoxide, with seven propor. tions of water. The iodide of potassium ought to be perfectly neutral and pure; the least excess of alkali in the iodide would also be at once shown by the sulphate of iron, which, in this case, is a good test. To be satisfied of the purity of the substances, the mixture of the two salts being dissolved in a certain quantity of water, the latter ought not to be rendered cloudy by the green or yellow oxide of iron, which would indicate the employment of a basic iodide of potassium, or a sulphate of iron, partially peroxidized.-Dr. Day's Report in Ranking's Half-Yearly Abstract, Vol. IV. Mr. Hemingway has more recently proposed the following formula: Take of Iodine, (pure and dry,) oz. iij., dr. vij., scr. ij. Iron filings, (clean,). .. oz. ij. ... • q. s. Distilled water, Add, little by little, the iodine to the iron filings, in a mortar, containing six ounces of water, allowing each action to cease previous to the next addition; agitate the mixture without additional heat until it assumes a green colour; transfer the liquid portion into a measure; wash the filings that remain with half-an-ounce more of water, again, and a third time; mix the washings with the decanted fluid, and make up exactly to twelve fluid-ounces and a half; call it "the solution," and keep it in a well-stoppered bottle, with iron wire and filings; each fluid-drachm will contain thirty grains of crystallized iodide of iron. When wanted for use pour off without disturbing the sediment and pass through coarse filtering paper. From this solution it is proposed that the syrup should be made, and from it also (for the purpose of dispensing,) inferior solutions of any required strength may be easily obtained. Should it become brown by keeping, and it will if the stopper is insecure, the bottle must be shaken, that the green appearance may be recovered; and should this be the case when syrup to subside, in order that filtration may proceed as rapidly as possible. To make the syrup : Take of Simple Syrup, (white,) P. L. 15 fluid oz. Solution of Iodide of Iron, as above, 2 fluid-oz. Put the syrup into an upright pan-a common saucepan lined with enamel is suitable-and accurately balance the whole; next, apply heat, until by a gentle ebullition it has decreased in weight two ounces avoirdupois; remove it from the fire; get ready the "solution," and, without loss of time, mix it intimately with the reduced syrup, and bottle directly (if consumption is small,) in four-ounce bottles; when quite cold shake well up. Each fluid-drachm contains four grains of crystallized iodide, the equivalent of rather more than three grains of the dry.-Dublin Medical Press, Jan. 10th. THE PROVINCIAL MEDICAL DIRECTORY. TO THE EDITOR OF THE PROVINCIAL MEDICAL AND SURGICAL JOURNAL. SIR, Having understood that one of the principal objects of the London and Provincial Medical Directory was to furnish the profession, not only with the names, but also with the qualifications, of its legitimate members, I may, perhaps, be allowed, through the medium of your Journal, to express my surprise that so many persons should be introduced as recognized practitioners, without the slightest intimation as to the nature or date of their credentials. The existence of this defect must have attracted the notice of all who have glanced over the pages of the Directory; and my only motive in thus mentioning the error, is the hope that hereafter it may be corrected. Were the omissions of the specific qualifications rare and accidental, it might be ungenerous to make any comment upon them; but that this is not the case, may very readily be proved. For example:-In the first twenty pages of the provincial department, there are upwards of a hundred names without any statement of the premises upon which the parties are entitled to a place in a medical list. In the next twenty pages, there are also upwards of a hundred omissions of the same kind; and in the next twenty pages likewise; so that in sixty pages there are three hundred claimants who give no account of the foundation upon which their claim rests. I have not made an actual enumeration beyond the sixtieth page, but conclude that the remainder of the work is chargeable with a similar defect. Trusting that the editors will in future exclude those who will not take the trouble to supply an accurate and definite description of themselves, I remain, Sir, ÆTHER ADVERTISING. MEDICAL INTELLIGENCE. It is with regret that we feel called upon to notice the On subjoined letter on the subject of æther-inhalation. referring to the "Provincial Directory," we observe the name of "Matthew Carter, Castle Cary, Somerset, Physician, M.D., Memb. Roy. Coll. Phys., Lond., 1846," &c., &c. It cannot be supposed that the writer of the letter, and the Member of the Royal College of Physicians, whose name appears in the "Directory," are one and the same individual, and the genuine Dr. Carter owes it alike to the College, to his professional brethren, and to himself, immediately to disavow the use which has been so reprehensibly made of his name: THE VALUE OF THE VAFOUR OF ÆTHER IN THE TREATMENT OF DISEASE. To the Editor of the Sherborne Journal. SIR,-I feel it my duty energetically to draw the attention of the public, but more particularly of my medical brethren in this county, to an important, though simple fact,-namely, to the value of the inhalation of æther in the treatment of some of those various chronic, and indeed acute forms of disease, which have hitherto unhappily baffled the best-devised means of our art. The result of my experience of its efficacy in the treatment of disease, has astonished and delighted me. Taught hitherto to believe, and observation and experience having confirmed my teaching, that there existed not in the details of medicine any agent which should deserve the name of "specific," I cannot express the amount of my gratification in having thus to say, that the vapour of æther, judiciously applied, in my opinion, approaches nearer unto what may be understood by the term specific," than any other therapeutic agent with which we are acquainted. The most violent paroxysms of gout, of rheumatism, of neuralgic affections, tic-douloureux, &c., &c., have yielded, as it were magically, to the influence of this agent, and in no one instance in which I have applied it have I had any reason to doubt of its efficacy; on the contrary, the transition from acute pain to the most perfect ease, has, in each instance, attested its most salutary property; and it is right to mention, that in no one case have I found it necessary to carry the inhalation of the vapour so far as to induce any thing approaching to insensibility; the slightest influence of the æther produces immediate results, and pain begins to cease almost instananeously. I trust I have said enough to draw the attention of my medical brethren to the value of the fact. I shall be happy if, by this means of publicity, I induce them to test, and attest for themselves, the truth of what I now assert, confident as I am that an agent is discovered of stupendous power, which in the hands of our profession, rightly wielded, will, I doubt not, prove one of the most valuable, as it is, I think, most decidedly one of the most certainly efficacious means of treatment to which the medical profession has access. Your obedient servant, MATTHEW CARTER, M.D. Castle Cary, February 15, 1847. Medical Entelligence. 167 FATAL EFFECTS OF ÆTHER: INQUEST. An inquest has been held on a young woman, the wife of a hair-dresser, at Spittlegate, in the county of Lincolnshire, from whom a tumour had been removed while under the influence of æther. She never rallied, and died without the slightest re-action having taken place, sixteen hours after the operation. The following verdict was returned:-"That the deceased, Ann Parkinson, died from the effects of the vapour of æther, inhaled by her for the purpose of alleviating pain during the removal of a tumour from her left thigh, and not from the effect of the operation, or from any other cause." The surgeon who performed the operation stated that he fully concurred in the verdict, as he had no doubt whatever that the æther alone was the cause of death, and it was a duty he owed to the public to say so. GLOUCESTERSHIRE MEDICAL AND SURGICAL ASSOCIATION. THE MEDICAL REGISTRATION BILL. Some time since a meeting of this Association was convened for the especial purpose of considering what course should be pursued in reference to Mr. Wakley's new Registration Bill, when the following resolution was adopted :-"That the Medical Registration Bill proposed by Mr. Wakley is cordially approved by this Association, and that it be energetically and promptly supported." The Bill, it is understood, is now in the hands of Counsel; but when the proper time arrives, active measures will be adopted to carry the resolution into effect. MEDICAL APPOINTMENTS. Dr. William Wegg has been appointed Physician to the Westminster General Dispensary, in the room of Dr. S. W. J. Merriman, resigned. Dr. Merriman has been appointed Consulting Physician to the Institution. Dennis Phelan, Esq., Surgeon, of Dublin, has been re-appointed an Assistant Poor-Law Commissioner for Ireland. M. Gibert has been elected a Member of the Académie de Médecine, Paris, in the Section of Therapeutics. M. Civiale has been elected a Member of the Académie des Sciences, Paris, in the room of M. Bory de St. Vincent, deceased. ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS. Gentlemen admitted Members on Friday, March 12th :-G. Alibutt; C. M. Empson; H. Barnett; H. Green; W. Faithfull; J. M. Birom; J. Rice; C. S. Hugo. SOCIETY OF APOTHECARIES. Gentlemen admitted Licentiates, Thursday, March 4th:-Peter Brady; Thomas Orton, Rothwell; William P.S.-I hope shortly to lay before the medical profes- Cumming; Edmund John Burman, Banstead; James sion a short pamphlet on this subject. Graham, Liverpool. A Treatise on Diet and Regimen. By William Henry Robertson, M.D., Physician to the Buxton Bath Charity. Fourth edition. Part I. London: Churchill. 1847. pp. 116. On Wounds and Injuries of the Abdomen and the Pelvis, &c. By G. J. Guthrie, F.R.S. London: Churchill. 1847. Royal 8vo., pp. 73. On the Sanatory Condition of Newcastle-on-Tyne, and the Means necessary for its Improvement, &c. By George Robinson, M.D., Joint Lecturer on Materia Medica and Forensic Medicine in the Newcastle-on-Tyne Medical School, &c. Newcastle-on-Tyne: Richardson. 1847. 8vo., pp. 58. Analysis of Evidence laid before the Health of Towns' Commission on Metropolitan Sewerage Manure, &c., &c. London 1847. 8vo., pp. 32. METEOROLOGICAL JOURNALS FOR JANUARY, 1847. Kept at Sidmouth, by W. H. CULLEN, M.D.; at Romsey, Hants, by FRANCIS BUCKELL, Esq.; at Uckfield, Sussex, by C. L. PRINCE, Esq. Communications have been received from Mr. P. Wright; Mr. E. Daniell; W. J. W.; Dr. Durrant; Dr. Butler Lane; Dr. Black; Mr. T. E. Amyot; the Sheffield Medical Society; Mr. H. L. Smith; Mr. W. H. Broughton. The continuation of Dr. Addison's paper will be given in the next number, which, as well as Mr. Wright's communication, has been unavoidably delayed on account of the wood-cuts. |