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pretenders to relinquish their trade of bleeding, drawing teeth, and setting of bones, we hope the man who suffered from the ignorance of the druggist, will discharge his duty to the public by prosecuting him.-Ibid.

From the Providence Journal.

ON THE TEETH.

From what has been said, relative to this branch of surgery, in some of our late papers, I conceive it highly incumbent on me to offer a few remarks, by way of caution and advice, to those who may be too ready to have any experiments, however absurd or dangerous, performed on them, in the hope of instant relief from the tantalizing pain of a toothache. That this department of medical science owes much to ingenious mechanical invention, for its present state of perfection, is a fact not to be denied; yet this fact augurs but poorly that every invention, because it may boast considerable ingenuity in its maker, should, of course, be an improvement in the science.

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loose, and the roots are in a high state of inflammation. Now I would ask any professional man what he would accomplish in cutting off a tooth in this state? Would he reduce the inflammation? or, would he not be more likely to increase it?

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The treatment, in a case like this,

simple, and almost universally sal utary. In the first place, fill the tooth in question with gold; then scarify the gum in the region of the tooth, and allow it to bleed freely; lastly, brush the tooth and gums in a brisk and rough manner, and by so doing you harden the gum, and deaden that sensitiveness in the tooth be fore experienced.

If the nerve is exposed, it is as easily destroyed before, as after, cutting off the tooth, by merely placing in the cavity of the decayed tooth, a small piece of caustic. If this will have no effect, we must have recourse to extracting. Mr Fay ad

mits that it is sometimes necessary to extract; and it will be seen that this is the point at which that prac tice must be followed.

An artificial grinder! a mere impossibility; no dentist will undertake to set them; or, if they do, they are worse than useless; for it is not pos sible to make them perform the of fice of mastication but for a very short period; then they will soon work loose, and you are compelled to take them out.

The effect of Mr Fay's method of curing the toothache, by cutting the tooth off below the gum, has been too often, unintentionally, manifested in this country, by the ignorance of quacks, in their selecting improper instruments, when called on to ex- I have now only to speak of Mr tract a tooth, and to their surprise Fay's last, and, apparently, most and confusion, it was broken at the powerful, reason for amputating teeth: neck. What is the state of the pa- that is, the support they offer to the tient at this unhappy accident? It adjoining teeth. This is, in fact, the is seldom the case that he can expe- most plausible of all; but it is only rience relief till, the remaining roots necessary to say, that, provided the are removed; and the facility of operation should succeed, those completing the operation is not un- roots, if not obliged to be dug out, frequently out of the power of the will, of themselves, very shortly presumptuous operator. drop from their sockets.

When a tooth is slightly decayed, and exposed to the air, the patient is liable to take cold, if I may use the word, in the tooth; and in this case the jaws swell, the tooth appears

In relation to the curved and straight cutting forceps, for which Mr Hay has obtained the medal, I would beg leave to state that Dr Flagg, of Boston, was the inventor of

these articles; and some three years since made patterns in wood of the same, and obtained them from London; they are approved and lectured on by Dr. Warren, of Boston, not indeed for the purpose of cutting off teeth, but in various other surgical operations, as in exostosis, a morbid enlargement, or hard tumor of a bone, &c. These forceps may be seen at my office by those who may feel interested in the subject. For ceps, for the purpose of extracting teeth perpendicularly, have been invented by a very ingenious mechanic in Boston, but as it compels us to make a fulcrum of the tooth anterior to that which is to be extracted, we are extremely likely to fracture, or otherwise injure a sound tooth; its inutility, it is hoped, will be sufficiently obvious. J. F. B. FLAGG.

From the Boston Daily Advertiser.

NEW SURGICAL OPERATION.

Mr HALE-I saw in the Advertiser of Friday last, a paragraph from a London paper, giving an account of a "New Surgical Operation," by Mr Fay, an American, for curing toothache without extracting the tooth, which consists in cutting off the carious crown of the tooth with a pair of sharp forceps, and of leaving the sound roots in the jaw. This is stated to be a perfectly salutary and painless operation.

Real improvements in surgery are generally brought before the public

A set of forceps exactly answering the description given of Mr Fay's were ordered by an eminent surgeon in this city more than two years ago, for the purpose of performing operations in the mouth and about the jaws, and in deep seated cases of diseased bone. They were made in London, by drawings sent for the purpose, which were taken from the rough instruments invented and used here in the early part of the year 1824. They were not indeed for cutting off the teeth, for the teeth cannot be cut off as the other softer bones may be, but merely made to fracture and divide by the pressure of the forceps at any particular part. F. J.

in due season by the numerous journals which are issued for this purpose; but when communications on subjects of this nature are first presented to us through the medium of newspapers, they ought not to be received without much caution, particularly when, as in the present case, they are likely to lead to hazardous and mischievous experiments in a branch of surgery in which there is as much quackery as in any other.

"Every anatomist," even if he has not been in London, beside knowing that "there is in the middle of each tooth a little cavity in which the fine branches of nerves passing through the roots of the teeth are expanded," knows also that the exposure of this nervous expansion of the root of a tooth, will give as acute suffering as in this "little cavity." And every well informed surgeon and experienced dentist knows, that it is not merely by the exposure of this cavity by caries that the pain in the teeth is occasioned, but by the inflammation of the membrane by which the roots of the teeth are connected with their sockets; and that by cutting off the carious crown of a tooth with this cavity and its nervous expansion, he is more likely to leave the quivering and lacerated nerves hanging from the open channels in the roots, than to destroy or extract them by such an operation. He knows, also, that when "in a moment the upper part of the tooth snaps off," as in this "new surgical operation," it cannot "in an instant permanently relieve all pain," but that in most cases the unfortunate subject is obliged to draw his breath with torture, till the nerves shall be destroyed by some powerful caustic, or by the violence of an inflammation, which is most commonly followed by ulceration, and often by caries of the jaw. There are few, tooth cut off, as it frequently is, by who have ever had the crown of a the unskilful application of the key or forceps, who cannot bear solemn

testimony to the truth of these assertions.

It is not denied that the roots of teeth which are left in the jaw in this way, do in a few instances, after a considerable length of time, become comparatively easy, only giving pain occasionally; but in these cases there is a constant effort of nature to cast them out, and this is sooner or later effected according to circumstances. -They in most instances previously become troublesome, and have to be extracted; and their use, either in masticating the food, or in preserving the sockets of the other teeth, is ne ver so great as to be worth consider ing, and seldom sufficient to counterbalance the troubles which attend them and the evils which are liable

to occur.

It may be important here to add a remark in reference to Mr Fay's other improvement, for which, with that above mentioned, it is stated that he has "received the large silver medal from the Society of Arts," namely, his improved forceps for the perpendicular extraction of

teeth.

There is a prevailing popular belief, that if the teeth could be drawn perpendicularly from their sockets, the operation would be more safe and less painful than by the common mode approved by the most skilful operators of the day. A knowledge of the existence of this opinion has enabled, and still continues to enable quacks and pretenders to entrap and torture those who are not too well informed. The opinion however is an erroneous one, and the principle a false one. Whatever instruments, therefore, are made to operate in a manner to effect this purpose, must be worse than useless, and all efforts to bring them into common use must be attended with unnecessary hazard and suffering; as has been fully proved by numerous ingenious efforts for the last half century, not a few of which have been made in our own country.

From Silliman's Journal.

NOTE ON THE PREPARATION AND USE OF
ALKALINE DIGESTIVE PASTILS, CON-
TAINING BICARBONATE OF SODA.
M. D'ARCET.

BY

Having been obliged, three years ago, to make an almost daily use of pastils of magnesia, I was afraid that the frequent employment of this substance would contribute to favor the formation of urinary calculus, and I thought of substituting carbonate of soda.

In 1822, I made a series of experiments, which gave me such good results that I decided, from that time, on taking no more magnesia for the correction of an impaired digestion, and from the month of September, in that year, I employed only pure carbonate of soda. These pastils instantly destroyed the acidity occasioned by bad digestion, and favored perfectly the functions of the stomach; but they had the inconvenience of being too strongly alkaline, and having a disagreeable taste. 1 nevertheless made use of them, with much success, till the middle of June, 1824, when I repaired, for the first time, to the waters of Vichy. I knew that these mineral waters were digestive, and I soon found that a glass, taken after a meal, was sufficient to promote digestion, and even to restore it when disturbed. Having verified the goodness of this remedy, during my first visit at Vichy, and knowing that the bicarbonate of soda is the active principle of these waters, and that this salt has a taste much less alkaline than that of carbonate of soda, I thought of substituting the former for the latter, in 1 gave the pastils I made use of. the receipt for these pastils to M. Regnauld, who began to offer them to the public in the month of January, 1825.

The use of them having rapidly spread, and obtaining from them myself the best effects, I took the receipt to Vichy, in the month of June last. M. Batillar, apothecary of the thermal establishment, manufactured large quantities of

them, and he now prepares, daily, five kilogrammes, or 5000 pastils. The receipt has been communicated to those who have asked for it, and the alkaline digestive pastils, prepared with bicarbonate of soda, are found in the shops of the first apothecaries of Paris, Lyons, &c.

The following is the receipt, as I have given it: I invite the apothecaries, who may avail themselves of it, to vary it as they may think proper.

Take bicarbonate of soda, dry and pure, in fine powder, 5 grammes. Very white sugar, in fine powder, 95 grammes. Mucilage of gum adraganth,* prepared with water-q. s. essential oil of peppermint, pure and fresh, two or three drops.

The bicarbonate of soda and the sugar are to be put into a very dry bottle, and thoroughly shaken, so as to mix the powders well together. They are then poured out and well mixed with the gum mucilage and oil of peppermint on a marble slab, and converted into pastils or drops, so that after being dried in the air, or by a stove, each may weigh about a gramme, Having a slight attraction for moisture, they should be preserved in bottles well stopped, or kept in a dry place.

Note by the Translator.-By the advice of the discreet author of the above article, the carbonic acid dis engaged from the fountains of Vichy, is employed in saturating the alkalies, and thus preparing, almost without expense, the bicarbonate of soda. Some of the best shops of Paris are now supplied with the bicarbonate from that quarter. The copious emision of gas from the waters of Ballston and Saratoga might easily be employed for the same purpose, and in all probability the alka line pastils of D'Arcet be rendered as fashionable and useful there as at Vichy. But for the purpose of ob taining the alkali well charged with

Tragacanth?-ED.

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carbonic acid, a common brewer's vat or fermenting tub, might answer as good a purpose, and be used as cheaply as a natural spring. A solution of the common carbonate of soda, suspended in a broad vessel over the fermenting liquors, would doubtless become thoroughly charged with the gaseous acid. Frequent agitation would greatly expedite it.

It is further observed by M. D'Arcet, that a glass of the water of Vi chy, two decilitres, contains 1 gramme of bicarbonate of soda, equal to the quantity contained in 20 of the pastils.

The patients at Vichy commonly take 5 glasses of water every morning, besides a bath during the day in the same water. Supposing, -which is not the case-that the water of the bath is not absorbed, it is certain that a drinker at Vichy, takes in a few hours as much bicarb. of soda as if he had taken 100 pastils in the same time; but the experience of many ages has proved that the waters of Vichy are salutary to the health. The physician of the place, M. Lucas, has never known that those of his patients who have returned the most frequently have ever been troubled with diseases of the urinary passages; and it is proved, on the contrary, that the use of the waters reestablishes the digestive functions, and reproduces in the system, an energy which has surpassed all expectation.

These considerations are advanced to prove the harmlessness of using incidentally, alkaline remedies, not taken fasting, but when an acid disengaged in the stomach is ready to neutralize the small quantities of alkali which the pastils contain.

Experience has shown that a feeble digestion may be easily remedied by taking only one or two of the pastils, and that it is seldom necessary to have recourse to a third, and that when the object is simply to facilitate the functions of the stomach, the pastils have many advantages over the water of Vichy, taken as it comes

from the springs. Not only very painful indigestions, when they actually occur, may be remedied by these powders, but their occurrence may be prevented, by taking before hand one or more of the pastils, and allowing the stomach to receive food, which, without this aid, would disturb its functions. The author states, that in his own case, the remedy has well established his digestive powers, and that he now seldom has recourse to the pastils, and can take, without their aid, food, which for two years past, he could scarcely have digested. In one instance which fell under his notice, a female, who had suffered for five hours, from a violent indigestion, was promptly relieved by taking a pastil every five minutes. The first she took afford ed some relief, and eleven were sufficient completely to reestablish her digestion, although these eleven contained no more alkali than half a glass of the water of Vichy.

I will add, says M. D'Arcet, that in using these pastils, when one is fatigued with a slow and painful digestion, relief is more promptly obtained, than by employing pure or carbonated magnesia. The action they produce is so prompt and complete, that it appears purely chemical. He recommends the employ ment of them as soon as it is perceived that the stomach has become debilitated, for there is every advantage in adopting the remedy before the evil has become aggravated. Rev. Encycl, Jan. 1826.

PHILOSOPHY OF SPEECH.

Mr James Maxwell, of Philadelphia, has in the press, and will shortly publish, a work entitled "PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN VOICE, by JAMES RUSH, M. D. A notice of this forthcoming work has appeared in one or two of the papers, but not full enough to convey to the general reader an idea of its character. The subject is one which is calculated to interest not only physicians, but literary men

generally, especially those whose avocation consists in part in public speaking; and we understand that the manner in which it is treated, is entirely original.

From a gentleman who has devoted many years to studies of a similar character, and who has had an opportunity of inspecting the manuscript, we learn that Dr Rush bas, among other things, done for Elocution what Guido did for Music. He has invented a scale by which the intonations of the human voice can be measured, both as regards degrees and quantity, and their proper adaptation to the expression of various passions and sentiments, easily and correctly ascertained. The work being stated to be original both in manner and matter, a complete idea of its character cannot, of course, be acquired without a perusal : and we know not how to communicate the impression we received from the gentleman who gave us the description but by a comparison with the familiar subject of music, which we have selected, only requesting the reader to bear in mind that whatev er there is of difference between song and speech must be strictly noticed in a philosophical disquisition of the subject. As the components of speech are all, in the course of the work, resolved into their elements, a physiological analysis of the functions of the vocal and articulatory organs was necessary. This forms the basis of the work, and has been, as we are informed, made in, strict accordance with the rules of inductive philosophy.-Philadelphia Gazette.

BREWING.

The London Mechanics' Magazine gives the following instruction for brewing "on a small scale."

"The art of brewing is exactly similar to the process of making tea. Put a handful of malt into a teapot, then fill it with water, the first time rather under boiling heat. After it has stood some time, pour off the li

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