most common of which is the vanilla, a substance very liable to disagree with the stomach, and to produce a train of nervous symptoms. As a common beverage, chocolate is highly objectionable; it contains an oil which is difficult of assimilation; it therefore oppresses the stomach; this effect is of course increased by the application of too much heat in its preparation. Another objection against its use is to be found in the observations which I have already offered on the subject of too great concentration.

COCOA is usually considered as a substitute for chocolate. As it contains less nutritive matter, it is not so objectionable; and, as the oily matter exists only in small quantities, it is less likely to disagree with the stomach.

WHEY is a delightful beverage; but as its nature and operation cannot be well understood till the composition of milk is investigated, the observations which I have to offer on its use will be deferred till the history of this fluid has been examined.

The nature of weak broths, and the manner in which they are de composed in the digestive organs, have been already considered.

There are certain saline solutions which are frequently employed as drinks, and deserve some attention in this place: such as imperial and soda water.

IMPERIAL. This is a solution of cream of tartar flavored with lemonpeel. It ought never to be used except as a medicine. If employed as an ordinary drink, it is apt to retard digestion. If ever useful as an article of diet, it will be under circumstances of robust health, and where a large quantity of animal food has been taken.

SODA WATER. The modern custom of drinking this inviting beverage during, or immediately after dinner has been a pregnant source of dyspepsia. By inflating the stomach

Ye shrink!-the bards whose lays

Have made your deep hearts burn, They have left the Sun, and the voice of praise,

For the land whence none return : And the lovely, whose memorial

Is the verse that cannot die,

They too are gone with theirglorious bloom, From the gaze of human eye.

* Late discoveries have shown, that the carbonic acid exists in a liquid state in soda water; when, therefore, it is hascertain portion of heat, as it passes from tily swallowed, it robs the stomach of a a liquid into a gaseous state. It therefore cools as well as distends this organ.

Extract of a letter addressed to one of the Editors by Dr. Dudly Atkins, of Kingston, Pa. "Since I came to this part of the country, I have become acquainted with the medicinal properties of a plant, which I find an invaluable remedy. I refer to the Ampelopsis, the Vitis and Hedera of some authors, the common creeper which covers the walls of many old buildings in Philadelphia and its environs, growing also on trees, &c. When I came to Kingston, I found this plant, under the name of consumption vine, enjoying a high and universal reputation as a remedy for consumption. I have heard of more than a dozen well attested cases of its curing people who were on the borders of the grave, and who had been given up by the best practitioners in the country, as incurable. But these were not, so well as I can ascertain, cases of genuine consump

tion, that is, of ulceration in the lungs. I have tried the remedy in a dozen cases, of various forms of pulmonary disease. I find it of little benefit in cases where the lungs are ulcerated, as ascertained by the stethoscope, or by other modes of information. But in cases of chronic catarrh, of chronic purulent discharges from the bronchial membrane, even when attended by hectic, &c. I have found it invaluable. In these forms of disease, it is almost specific.

"It appears to operate on the pharynx, larynx, and whole lining mucous membrane of the lungs, more immediately and directly than any medicine of the class of expectorants I know of, or have used.

"The mode of preparation is, to take the trunks and branches of the vine, to scrape or peel off the rough external bark or cuticle, and then to separate from the wood, the thick internal bark or cutis, a small handful of which is to be infused in a pint of hot water, and from a pint to a quart to be drank in the day. This infusion forms a mild mucilage, which, on being tasted and drank, will be found to produce a sensation of roughness, and a tickling over the whole fauces, that irresistibly produces secretion from the mucous and other glands.

"As the remedy is so simple, so cheap, and yet so effectual, I wish it may become generally known." Phil. Med. &Surg. Jour. Oct. 1826.

ON THE TRAFFIC WITH LEECHES. The increased demand for leeches during the last 20 years, and the scarcity of them in France, America, and particularly in England, compared with the abundance of these creatures in Germany, Silesia, and Poland, bas gradually given rise to a trade in these animals, which is much greater than one would at first sight be inclined to believe. How profitable this trade must be, may be learned from this fact; that Apothecaries in Paris and London find it to

their advantage to send men from these towns to procure or cause to be procured these animals for their use, and to convey them to these capitals. This, however, is less remarkable when we consider that in the year 1819, the expense for leeches alone in the Parisian hospitals was £4,800 sterling. In the year 1823 it was nearly 7000 guineas. According to Sarlandiere the yearly sum paid for these animals, for the hospitals in France, is upwards of one million and a half of francs, or in English money £60,000! Not less than seven million two hundred thousand of these animals are annually sent to England. The merchants buy them in summer for 12 rix dollars, 36 shillings, a thousand; in winter they pay from 30 to 45 dollars; a price which they can very well afford to give, for according to Boehr's statement, a shilling or eighteen pence will be sometimes paid a piece in the shops in London.

The mode by which the leech merchants transport these animals is different. Some make use of wooden vessels, which have been carefully cleaned with boiling water, and which must have contained neither salt, nor tobacco, nor the like. In this vessel from 2 to 3000 are placed with out water. In 36 hours afterwards, and just before they are to be put into the wagon, one fourth part of the vessel is filled with water.

As the young animals attack the old, care is taken by the merchants not to put these two together. When the journey is not above eight days, the animals in general live, but if the period of their transportation exceeds this, the greater part of them die. The mortality is still greater when the weather is warm, or there has been thunder.

Another set of people, particularly the French merchants, transport these animals in a linen bag, which has been well washed, without soap, however, and in order to avoid the bad consequences of shaking during the transportation, they carry them.

When thunder comes on they thrust bag and leeches into any marsh they find on the way, but not in a running stream. When the place is at no great distance, they put into one bag as many as it can hold. The better way seems, however, to be that we have already adverted to, transporting them in small numbers in bags.

The great object of the above statement respecting the quantities of leeches used, is to show the probable danger there exists of the sup plies of these animals being soon exhausted, and to propose measures to be taken to prevent such a dreadful event. The alarm, however, is unfounded; and if it were not, the plan proposed of bringing them all together in one large marsh, or in places constructed for them, would be much more likely to create a dearth of these animals sooner than double the present consumption.

Hufeland's Journal.

From the American Medical Review.

Marlborough, Pa. July 10.

CASE OF A HORNED WOMAN.

Dear Sir-I take the liberty to forward for your perusal the following case of a Horned Woman, boping that, from its very rare occurrence, it may not prove unacceptable. The account may be relied on, as many others, besides myself, have seen her, and as she resides but five miles from this place.

Mrs. B, aged about 70 years, the wife of a farmer of Bucks County, of a robust constitution, was affected, four years ago, with a very troublesome itching over the centre of the parietal bone of the left side. In a short time she perceived a hard tumor of a horny structure occupying the place thus affected, which continued to increase, so that by the end of twelve months it had attained the length of one inch. Without any considerable pain, it has progressed in its growth, an inch every year, and is at present, 4 inches in length, and thick as one's little finger.

peared, however, that something, that much indeed could be done, and ought to be speedily attempted, to diminish this overwhelming and prostrating evil. We were encouraged and refreshed by the good spirit and intelligence which were shown on this occasion, because they obviously tended to confirm what we have for some time supposed to be true, that something might be done with a good prospect of success. Whenever the enlightened and temperate portion of society shall be duly penetrated with the importance of doing what ean be accomplished in this matter, and every discreet and practicable means of suppressing the intemperate use of ardent spirit, shall be steadily and perseveringly put in operation, the effects must be extensive and highly beneficial. Let us begin, then, with ourselves individually. Let eve ry member of society who uses spirit at all, put this question to them selves, distinctly and individually: Is the quantity of rum, brandy, gin, or anything else as bad, which I al low myself to drink, of any service to my health, is it really medicinal and necessary? If this question cannot be answered affirmatively, and the affirmation sustained before an impartial and competent tribunal, let the practice be abandoned. Having thus taken for ourselves the course which reason and conscience shall approve, as the first step in the momentous reformation to be brought about, let us next extend our care and watchfulness to those who are placed nearest to us, our families. Let no child, wife or husband be made the worse by our example, or

by a direct assistance and invitation, taught to love spirit of any kind.

Having thus established the proper system to be observed at home, we are next to extend our views to society, and here we are not to do anything which shall lessen, or counteract the good effects of our person al and family rules of conduct; we must decline to drink spirit when invited to do so abroad, and cease to offer it to our guests when at home, unless specifically and clearly as a medicine.

Having done this for ourselves and our acquaintance, the question now presents itself, what can be done for the public, the great multi, tude of transgessors? Here we must remove, as far as possible, every facility to intoxication. Here we need, and will hope for, the cooperation of the legislator and civil magistrate,-but we ought not, we will not wait for this. We can set up, if we will, some discriminations in favor of what is right, and in discouragement of what is wrong. Let families, manufactories, towns, states, in the selec-. tion of their agents and servants, set their faces decidedly against the intemperate, and do something to hon, or, and hold up in reputable distinc tion, those who will consent to be temperate, and decent, and healthful. When has this attempt been firmly made in any single community, without having produced a manifest and decisive melioration? have heard of several instances of success, and not of one failure where the trial has been made with sufficient unanimity among the influential and leading members of society,

We