ter his recovery, I called to see him, and inquired whether he continued to abstain from the use of spirituous liquors. He answered in the affirmative, and the same information was given by his wife. He said he had felt, several times, as if he wanted something, but could not tell what; he thought of several articles of food, but it was nothing of this kind; he next thought of ardent spirit, but the mere idea excited disgust; this he seemed surprised at, as it never was the case before. He was still ignorant of any attempt having been made to overcome his habit of intemperance. About a week after this, his wife informed me that when he came home the preceding evening, he told her some of the men, with whom he worked, had been drinking, and that the odor of the liquor was so unpleasant to him that he could scarcely refrain from vomiting. This disinclination for all spirituous liquors continued till the 19th of August. On this day, after considerable solicitation, he was prevailed on by a companion to visit a tavern, where they indulged pretty freely in the intoxicating draught. On the 23d, he told me that his desire for ardent spirit had returned; and requested that I would again give him something to destroy this habit, which he acknowledged he was unable to resist. I added a drachm of the acid to a pint of brandy, and directed him to take four wineglassfuls a day. The third dose occasioned vomiting. After

much value in mania a potu. My knowledge of its utility, in these cases, was originally derived from Dr. Physick; to whom, so far as I know, the credit is due of introducing it into the treatment of this disease.

much persuasion he attempted to take another dose, but it was so unpleasant to him, that he only succeeded in swallowing half of it. By this time, however, his desire for ardent spirit had ceased.

A day or two after I was first called to the preceding case, another of the kind presented itself.

Case 2.-H. W., aged forty years, had always been an honest and industrious man, an inoffensive neighbor, and a kind and affectionate husband. His wife informed me that he had been in a frolic about a week previous; since which time, he had done nothing but throw himself away, as she expressed it. She expostulated with him, and endeavored to persuade him to abandon the course he was pursuing; but all to no purpose. He acknowledged his folly, and said he was convinced he was injuring himself; but notwithstanding all this, he confessed his total inability to refrain from drinking. I added a drachm of sulphuric acid to a pint of whiskey, and requested his wife to give him a wineglassful every hour. His wife told him that as he was conscious the brandy was injuring him, and yet could not relinquish its use, she had requested me to put something in it to counteract its injurious effects. This information gratified him, and he consented to take no liquor but what she gave him. She poured out a wineglassful, and he took it with much satisfaction. In an hour, she poured out a second, and though his desire for it was not so great, he drank it. The next hour she poured out the third dose, he said he believed he did not want any more. She told him it would not injure him, as the doctor had added something

to it to prevent its producing any effect of this kind. He still declined taking it, alleging that he felt no inclination for it. She then proposed wine or porter; but he persisted in refusing everything of the kind. Since that time he has had such a disgust for all spirituous liquors, that he has uniformly refrained from their use. This was a striking case, and one which unequivocally manifested the efficacy of the sulphuric acid in eradicating the disposition to indulge in the use of inebriating potations. So great was the impression made on the mind of the individual, and so sensible was he that his relief was attributable to what was put in the liquor, that he called on me in a few days to express his gratitude for the important service I had rendered him.

Case 3.-C. B. had been an intemperate man for many years. So freely had he indulged in the use of ardent spirit, that his constitution was materially impaired. He commenced taking the remedy at the request of the gentleman by whom he was employed. One pint of gin containing a drachm of the acid was sufficient to destroy his inclination for all kinds of ardent spirit.

The only cases, in which I have had an opportunity of ascertaining the effects of the remedy, have now been detailed, and I trust, with candor. Certain I am, that there has been no intention on my part to impose on others; and future trials must determine whether or not I have been deceived myself.

These facts I have been induced to lay before the profession mainly with a view of calling their attention to the subject of intem

perance. It is a subject which is exceedingly interesting to every humane individual; and one which involves the spiritual, as well as temporal concerns of thousands of our fellow creatures.

I cannot refrain from express. ing my regret, that we have no institution for the relief of persons addicted to intemperance. Notwithstanding the many charitable and benevolent societies by which we are surrounded, the poor drunkard is forgotten, or perhaps his vice is even encouraged indirectly by these very establishments. Could there be an Asylum for the reception of such persons, their intemperate habits could unquestionably, in some instances, be eradicated in one way or another. Let the medical faculty once have a fair opportunity of directing their exertions to the suppression of intemperance, and we fear not an unfavorable result to their investigations. It would give us unfeigned pleasure to see this subject engage the attention of those humane individuals, whose numerous philanthropic acts have rendered them a blessing to their country. Every one with whom we have conversed appears to be sensible of the importance of instituting a society for the suppression of intemperance: nor is the practicability of establishing a society of this kind less generally conceded. hope, therefore, that measures will be taken by our enterprising citizens, to accomplish this design.

Philadelphia, Sept. 1, 1826.

We

The preceding observations were written nearly a year ago, with a view to publication; but by the advice of an eminent medical friend, I was induced to withhold them from the public,

taken without suspicion by this means, a considerable degree of nausea was kept up, and vomiting was occasionally excited: he continued to take it, however, till he finished two quarts; since which, he has felt no desire for ardent spirit; though it has repeatedly been offered to him, he has uniformly refused it. I have suc ceeded in four or five other cases with ipecacuanha; indeed, I now make it a rule to give the latter, where the patient refuses to take the former, or where he is unwilling to take any remedy; and I prefer it in these cases, because it can be given without the knowledge of the individual, which is often an important consideration; for I not unfrequently have applications from females, who are so unfortunate as to have husbands addicted to intemperance, and yet so infatuated as to refuse to take anything which they aight suppose would deprive them of their relish for spirituous potations. I have succeeded in several cases of this description; and to this day, the individuals have not been able to account for their disgust to ardent spirit. I commence its use by directing a drachm of pulverized ipecacuanha to be infused in a quart of any kind of ardent spirit, for ten or twelve hours; after which the liquor is to be decanted, and taken ad libitum: where a sufficient degree of nausea is not excited, the proportion of ipecacuanha is to be augmented.

I may here remark, that ipecacuanha appears to be the active constituent, in the remedy of Dr. Chambers, of New York, disguised with cochineal, gum ammoniac, and some other unimportant articles; and from its occasional harsh

effects, I am inclined to believe that it contains, at least sometimes, a portion of emetic tartar.

We are pleased to find that a society has just been established, in this city, for the purpose of discouraging the nse of ardent spirit: from the conspicuous station which many of its members hold in society, joined to their well known zeal in the promotion of objects of benevolence and public utility, we anticipate much good from their labors. It is quite gratifying to observe so respectable a number of medical gentlemen in the list of managers.

The able report of a committee of the Board of Guardians of the Poor of the City and Districts of Philadelphia, recently published, contains the following important remarks:

"Another indispensable institution remains to be established; we allude to an Asylum for the Intemperate this, if erected, and properly conducted, would tend to stop the progress of an increasing and destructive evil. If full powers were granted to its directors, to arrest and detain these brutalized beings, otherwise devoted to shame and reproach, a more effectual blow would be inflicted on pauperism than could be achieved by any other means; for drunkenness is the parent of every crime, and disease and want its inseparable followers." An asylum of this description, we are fully persuaded, would be productive of results the most beneficial.

W. D. BRINCKLE, M. D.

Philadelphia, August 1st, 1827.

From the Gaz. of Health, Lond., Sept., 1827.

For the following valuable communication, we are indebted to

the experienced and scientific Dr. Kinglake, of Taunton.

Morbid Fallacies.-Three cases have lately fallen under my notice, in which the cavity of the pericardium was wholly obliterated by adhesive inflammation, which had the effect of embarrassing the action of the heart, so as greatly to enfeeble its contractile energy. An aching sensation was also experienced about the pericardial region. The respiration was occasionally quickened and somewhat oppressed, with a strong tendency to fainting on sudden or unusual exertion.

Dyspeptic symptoms, of the worst descriptions, with intestinal constipation and a vitiated state of the biliary and the various enteric secretions almost constantly prevailed. These ailments were indeed so prominently afflicting as to have induced a suspicion that the disordered feeling of the heart sympathetically emanated from them, leading to the fallacy of substituting the effect for the

cause.

Each of these cases was under close medical observation for upwards of twelve months, and eventually proved mortal. After death they were severally examined, when a universal adhesion of the pericardium to the heart so as to consolidate the two structures, was found to be the organic disease that had been chiefly characterized by disordered feelings of the digestive organs. No manifestation of disease presented in the other viscera, excepting a plethoric fulness of vessels resulting from a retarded and impeded circulation.

In renal disease, much uncertainty and deception often arise in speculating on the concomitant

symptoms. Instances have occurred of the kidneys having been vastly augmented in size, and on the contrary, of having been diminished and wasted almost to annihilation. Of the former description, an example was recently afforded in this place, in which one of the kidneys had been gradually enlarging for upwards of twenty years, and had finally attained, as proved by examination after death, so enormous a bulk, as to weigh rather more than nine pounds. The strange anomaly on this occasion was, that though the patient was an experienced medical practitioner, no ailment wa ever either felt, or suspected exist in the region of the kidneys, but was uniformly and exclusively referred to that of the liver, inducing the patient to observe, use his own expression, that he had been oppressed for many years with a heavy liver,' which, from its long duration and magnitude, was held to be irremediable.

The urinary secretion was extinct in the diseased kidney, but the other had undergone no structural change, and seemed to have sufficiently executed the natural office of both kidneys. In the circumstances stated, it is almost incredible that the deception should have been so complete as to have persuaded the patient that the liver and not the kidney was the seat of the enlargement that had prominently intruded itself into the anterior part of the cavity of the abdomen.

In another case, a diseased liver was supposed to exist under circumstances that had long threatened to prove destructive. At length, life was terminated, when on examination, the hepatic organ was found to be in a healthy