ing to Bellingeri, affect the respiratory muscles; but respiration was rendered frequent and panting, by the section of the anterior columns. By a very delicate operation, he divided the grey matter in the centre of the cineritious portion. The abolition of sensation was the consequence, while both kinds of motion continued perfect. In half an hour the power of sensation returned, and became more exquisite than in the normal state of the sense. He, therefore, interposed a thin lamina of wax between the cut ends of the grey matter, immediately after which, sensation again disappeared, and did not return for two hours, when, having removed the wax, it again returned, but not to the same degree as in the normal state.-Ibid. CUTANEOUS ERUPTIONS IN CHIL DREN. Dr. Morton, physician to the Royal Metropolitan Infirmary for sick children, having frequently observed inflammation of the brain to follow the use of astringent or repellent applications to eruptions, &c. of the skin, and particularly of the scalp, has communicated an article to the editor of the Medical and Physical Journal, with the view of inducing practitioners to attend to the practical cautions which he has deduced from the results of his extensive experience, compressed in the following conclusions :— 1. That in all cases of cutaneous eruptions on the heads of infants, particularly if extensive, danger may arise from their artificial repulsion. 2. That in cases where eruptions have occurred on the scalp of infants, subsequent to affections of the brain, dangerous or fatal consequences will most probably ensue on their intentional removal by local treatment. 3. That as astringent ointments, and other applications of a similar nature, are found by experience to have the power of speedily repelling the eruptions in question, they should not be employed unless their effects be carefully watched, and their evil tendencies against. promptly guarded "The treatment of these diseases, therefore, in infants," continues Dr. Morton, "should in every case be commenced with purgatives, and repellent applications should not be made use of without due caution; such as may be selected, being at first extremely mild, and afterwards gradually increased in strength. If the patient, during their employment, should become drowsy, and sleep much, or lay his head constantly down, a sure indication of the commencement of affections of the head in infants, they should be immediately discontinued, and purgatives be freely employed. In cases where an eruptive disease has attacked the scalp subsequent to inflammation of the brain, it will seldom be prudent to employ local applications at all, the cure being more safely accomplished by purgatives and alteratives." In the first or inflammatory stage of an eruptive disease in children, whether of the scalp or any other part of the surface of the body, no surgeon of any experience, or indeed of common sense, would think of applying the class of remedies termed repellents or astringents. He would, of course, attend to the constitution, and not have recourse to a topical application till the disease had considerably given way to the constitutional treatment, and the system was nearly, if not entirely, free from inflammation. If he should not have been consulted during the first stage, or till the disease had advanced to a state of suppuration, scurf, or ulceration, he will even then correct the state of the stomach and bowels, attend to the state of the san, guiferous system, the skin, &c., before he adopts a decisive topical treatment. It is common in children that are overfed, or what is vulgarly termed of "gross habits," to be attacked by some internal inflammation, generally of the brain, the lungs, or intestines, on curing an eruptive disease, or even one attended with a puriform or purulent discharge, as of the ears, nostrils, &c., by a topical application, without paying due attention to the bowels, and indeed the whole system. In such habits the irritation or diseased action on the surface of the body keeps the internal organs healthy, and in such children, if they are improperly fed, an external disease is almost necessary to maintain a state of general health, and when subdued by astringent or sedative applications, or what Dr. Morton terms repellents, mischief will take place in an internal part which is most predisposed to disorder. London Gazette of Health. GALVANISM, VAPORBATH, &c. In a late Number we gave an analysis of that portion of Mr. La Beaume's work which exclusively relates to the rise, progress, and medical effects of galvanism; we now resume our observations, and give some account of the remedies occasionally used by him in aid of the galvanic course. Electricity is the first auxiliary mentioned as being resorted to in those cases where a dilated and expansive influence and a mechanical force are required; and for an ample detail of its medicinal properties, and his mode of applying this wellknown active agent in various disorders, the author refers to a former work written by him expressly on the subject. The other principal auxiliaries are various kinds of baths which have been found to be efficacious in promot, ing the constitutional effects of galvanism. Of these we shall give a brief account in the order in which Mr. La Beaume has placed them. The General Vaporbath, invented by a gentleman of great mechanical ingenuity, has been improved by the Honorable Basil Cochrane, and lastly by Mr. La Beaume. Its construction is very simple, and can be employed, being of a portable size, either at home or abroad, and near the bed, or even in the bed of the sick, without inconvenience or danger. The same apparatus is frequently used as a local Vaporbath. The Portable Sudatory, a general warm Airbath, applicable to patients at their own houses and in bed, is considered by Mr. La B. as one of the most efficacious remedies ever introduced into medical practice. It is particularly light, and consists of atmospheric air, heated by artificial means to a given temperature, and may be administered under the bedclothes as the patient lies in bed in the position most agreeable to his feelings. It is particularly adapted for prompt appli cation in cases of emergency; and its beneficial effects in gout, rheumatism, palsy, dropsy, cutaneous eruptions, &c. have been fully ascertained by Mr. La Beaume and other practitioners with decided benefit. The Airpump Vaporbath unites the effects of fomentation and the cuppingglass, on a plan more extensive than hitherto devised; and is particularly applicable to gout, rheumatism, palsy, contractions of the muscles, cutaneous and other diseases, particularly of the chronic kind. This construction is adapted to the leg or arm only; and its effects are mild, safe, and efficacious, affording relief in the very worst forms of disease. Since the high encomiums passed on this machine by Dr. Garnett and Professor Hufeland, it has undergone various and important improvements. The Local Sudatory is a portable apparatus of a semioval form, sufficiently spacious to admit a part or the whole of a limb, for the application of warm air, which may be impregnated with aromatics, sulphur, camphor, or any other volatile or aromatic articles. It is used in cases where the Local Vaporbath and the Airpump Vaporbath do not apply, and where a copious perspiration in a diseased limb is required. It is a powerful agent in restoring the balance of circulation, by determining the blood to a part in which it is languid, and generally affords immediate ease without occasioning a general excitement of the system. Its construction is very simple; and we believe it has been found highly advantageous in the affections for which Mr. La Beaume recommends it. Besides the above auxiliaries, our author occasionally recommends topical bleeding, exercise, friction, footbaths, &c. Mr. La Beaume concludes his work with quotations from various periodical publications which have acknowledged the merit of the philosophical agents employed in his practice. These are highly honorable to him as testimonies of his professional abilities, and we see no commendation of our contemporaries in which we do not heartily join; for we sincerely wish his practice may grow lucrative to him, in proportion to the benefit invalids may derive from it.-Lond. Gaz. of Health. THE STOMACHPUMP. Mr. J. Harrison, a respectable general practitioner, has published a case of intoxication from whiskey, in which Mr. Read's Stomachpump was successfully employed by him after a strong solution of the sulphate of zinc had failed to excite vomiting. The patient was in a state of total insensibility. Mr. Harrison abstracted two pounds of blood "suddenly," by opening the external jugular vein, and a vein of the arm at the same time. After bringing up the contents of the stomach by the instrument, about a pint, which had the smell and appearance of raw spirit, Mr. Harrison washed out the stomach with warm water, which had evidently a very beneficial effect in rousing the vital powers. Blisters were then applied to the nape of the neck and exterior surface of the legs. Of the propriety of a sudden abstraction of a quart of blood, by opening the external jugular vein and one of the arm at the same time, in a case of "total insensibility from BOSTON, TUESDAY, SEPT. 4, 1827. THE first article in this paper, on transplanting the teeth, places the subject in a just light, and will, we hope and presume, induce all who have thought of trying it, to give it an excessive use of whiskey," attended with a "pulse slow, extremities cold," appears to us very questionable. Mr. Harrison has omitted to notice the habit of the patient; he merely states that he was a private of "the Grenadier Guards," and therefore probably not of a plethoric habit. In Russia, the com- up as an experiment very likely to bmon treatment of a fit of intoxica- fail, and as almost certain to prove tion is the affusion of cold water, injurious. which is generally practised by placing the body under a current of water from the mouth of a pump. In France, the common practice is to administer a strong solution of the subcarbonate of ammonia. Ib. DEATH FROM THE BITE OF A VIPER. On the 26th of August, 1824, a shepherd of Radonsk, near Marienwerder, caught a viper in a wood, and gave it to another shepherd. The latter let the reptile twine itself round his arm, and allowed it to put its head in his mouth, on which the viper bit his tongue. The part immediately swelled so much, that when the man reached the nearest village he was unable to speak; the swelling increased rapidly, so that his tongue hung partly out of his mouth; and two hours afterwards the poor man died a victim to his imprudence. Arch. Gen. from Rust's Mag. A mode of treatment employed in Thrace, in cases of the bite of rabid animals, has been communicated to the French Academy. It consists of making incisions under the tongue at any period of the disease, and without any regard to the appearance of the ordinary pustules there. In Thrace, this remedy is regarded as infallible, and no apprehensions of hydrophobia are entertained. N. P. A. We have not forgotten the last essay of Salus, nor are we disposed to undervalue his efforts or the useful tendency of his writings. He, however, who is not sick, or does not believe himself to be so, is not commonly disposed to seek a remedy, nor is he who is suffering from the want of athletic exercise and recreation, likely to examine the proofs in favor of the gymnasium till he is led, from some cause or other, to believe that such proofs really exist. We must often consult the prejudices and weakness of the invalid if we wish to benefit him; the lesson, or the dose, or the diet, may be too long, or large, or frequent, for his appetite, capacity or digestion. We think, however, that after an interval of some length, those for whom we endeavor to provide acceptable and salutary fare, will be ready for another lecture from our persevering and benevolent correspondent.-We have not forgotten some other favors received.. The following precepts are taken from the New Haven Journal. The anonymous writer might well assume the title of Experience, for we know nothing of the kind which experience will more fully prove to be in the highest degree useful. DIRECTIONS TO PREVENT SICK NESS. 1. So soon as you feel too unwell to attend to your ordinary business, lay it aside at once, and dismiss all care and anxiety about it; as rest and relaxation both of body and mind, are of the greatest consequence. 2. Observe a rigid abstinence, as to diet, by eating no food but that of the simplest and lightest kind; and no more of this than the appetite craves, which will not be much. You will not starve to death during the first few days of an illness, though you may starve out the disease. 3. Avoid all kinds of spirit, wine, ale, and even cider. Dismiss care, but never attempt to drown it with stimulating liquor unless you would increase the violence sevenfold. It is surprising that so many people should imbibe the absurd notion, that rum, wine, &c. are necessary in all manner of complaints. 4. Take no quack medicines, or anything else, with the nature of which you are not well acquainted. These few simple directions will be proper in the commencement of nineteentwentieths of the diseases of this country, taken as they rise; and if followed, will throw off a large proportion of them and mitigate the rest, so that their course will be milder, and their terminations more favorable. Many diseases are rendered untractable, and many lives lost, by improper management during the first twentyfour hours of an illness, and before any medical assistance is deemed necessary. Nothing is more incorrect or injurious than the theory which advises sick persons to eat and |