stant, although on the whole not more laborious, they voluntarily asked for bacon fat and milk, as a change of diet from the flesh meat and beer; this change was effected on two days in each week with the best results as to the health of the nurses, and as to their power of discharging the new kind of labor imposed upon them.

2. I have been informed, on competent authority, that the health of the Cornish miners breaks down ultimately, from failure of the action of the heart and its consequences, and not from the affection of the lungs called "miners' phthisis." The labor of the miner is peculiar, and his food appears to me badly suited to meet its requirements. At the close

of a hard day's toil, the weary miner has to climb by vertical ladders through a height of 100 to 200 fathoms before he can reach his cottage, where he naturally looks for his food and sleep. This climbing of the ladder is performed hastily, almost as a gymnastic feat, and throws a heavy strain (amounting from one-eighth to one-quarter of the whole day's work) upon the muscles of the tired miner during the half-hour or hour that concludes his daily toil. A flesh-fed man (as a Red Indian) would run up the ladders like a cat, using the stores of force already in reserve in his blood; but the Cornish miner, who is fed chiefly upon dough and fat, finds himself greatly distressed by the climbing of the ladders-more so indeed than by the slower labor of quarrying in the mine. His heart, over-stimulated by the rapid exertion of muscular work, beats more and more quickly in its efforts to oxidate the blood in the lungs, and supply the force required. Local congestion of the lung itself frequently follows, and lays the foundation of the affection, so graphically, though sadly, described by the miner at 40 years of age, who tells you that "his other works are very good, but that he is beginning to leak in the valves."

Were I a Cornish miner, and able to afford the luxury, I should train myself for the "ladder feat" by dining on half a pound of rare beefsteak and a glass of ale from one to two hours before commencing the ascent.

On Sulphurous Acid in the treatment of Pyrosis.--By DR. HENRY LAWSON, Assistant Physician to St. Mary's Hospital.

THE very remarkable cures recorded by Dr. Dewar and Mr. Pairman, as having been effected by the use of pure sulphur vapour, led me to give sulphurous acid a trial in cases

In every

short

of pyrosis, and certainly the result surprised me. instance in which it has been employed it has, in a very time, completely arrested the water-brash secretion. Indeed, it has given me so much confidence in its valuable action, that I never hesitate to assure the patient he may very soon hope for relief from at least the distressing symptom of pyrosis. Dr. Dewar and Mr. Pairman have advocated the use of sulphurous acid to a degree that I should be far from accepting, and have been, in my opinion, over-zealous in urging its claims as a panacea. But for all this, I am disposed to think its usefulness in conditions of pyrosis can hardly be overrated. It checks the excessive secretion, stops the vomiting and lessens the epigastric dragging pain so often complained of.

What is the explanation of its action? This is a question which is especially interesting just now, but which it is impossible to answer definitively in the present state of science. Some would say its good effects are due to the production of ozone and the destruction of vegetable germs, and among these I desire provisionally to rank myself. Others would, perhaps, urge that it has some special action on the mucous membrane. It is a significant fact, first, that in all the specimens of water-brash immense quantities of vegetable organisms are present; and, secondly, that sulphurous acid is fatal to these structures. I have made numerous microscopic examinations of the fluid of pyrosis, and nearly in every instance I have detected not only sarcina (which Kühne holds to have. no fermentative power on sugar) and torlæ, but huge clusters of leptothrix and myriads of vibrions, and bacteria.

Pasteur has shown the vast influence which these latter bodies have in promoting certain fermentation, and it is only natural to suppose that the sulphurous acid, by destroying them, checks these unusual processes. That the clusters of leptothrix are productive of irritation (hence possibly of undue secretion), must be evident from the manner in which they are buried and rooted in the very substance of the epithelium particles. Whatever, then, may be the relation of an unhealthy state of the stomach to the first development of these vegetable forms in its walls, I am induced for the present to infer that their continual presence is productive of the excess and alteration of the gastric secretion, and that the reason why sulphurous acid is so beneficial, is simply that it is a parasiticide.

The doses in which I have given the acid (B. P.) vary from xxx grs. to 3j three times a day, shortly before meals. Bitter infusions may be employed as a vehicle, but plain dis

tilled water is the best. I have seldom heard patients complain of any unpleasant effects of the medicine.-The Practitioner.-Braith. Retrospect.

A case of Long Standing Epilepsy, cured by an extensive burn.--By JOHN C. PEARSON, M. D.

In the month of January, 1864, I was called about daybreak to see Joseph Garing, à German, who had had an epileptic fit and fallen in the fire, burning himself severely.

I found my patient in the most excruciating agony. He had, upon arising in the morning, stirred up a large bed of live coals in an extensive old-fashioned fire-place and fallen into them in a fit; and, being alone in the room at the time was dreadfully burned in the hands, arms, face, neck, breast and head before assistance fortunately happened to come in.

I administered opium and stimulants freely, and dressed the whole burnt surface with a liniment composed of lime water and linseed oil. But regarding the treatment I shall say but little, my sole object in writing this communication being to relate this result-the ultimate result after the recovery of the burn. Five weeks elapsed before the entire burnt surface had healed, during which time it was dressed daily. It suppurated during this period most profusely, and the fetor arising from it was almost insupportable.

My patient, Joseph Garing, at that time about forty years of age, had been the subject of epileptic convulsions from early boyhood, rarely going the lapse of two or three months without the recurrence of a fit, and sometimes having one every few days for a while. This was the case anterior to the burning; but since that great and as the sequel has proved-fortunate event in his life, he has not, up to the present time, experienced the slightest symptom of an epileptic spasm! Four years have passed away, and not a single fit has returned, whereas, prior to the reception of the burn every few days would, sometimes, witness a hideous paroxysm of the dreadful disease.-Medical and Sugical Reporter.

Bromide of Potassium for the Sleeplessness of Infants.

M. Moutard-Martin has communicated to the French Academy of Medicine a memoir on "Some Applications of the Bromide of Potassium to the Medicine of Young Infants." Every one, he observes, admits the possession of sedative

properties by the bromide, and in this direction it has become one of the most useful substances in the Materia Medica. Bearing in mind its hyposthenic action in erethism of the nervous system, and its innocuity, even in large doses, he believed that it might be employed with advantage in some of the pathological conditions of very young children. Among these sleeplessness, alike mischievous to the infant and wearying to the nurse, is one of very common occurrence. The child does not seem otherwise ill, but has a very great insufficiency of sleep both by day and night, or only at night. Where a great variety of means has failed to remove this sleeplessness, the bromide succeeds in a remarkable manner, and M. Moutard-Martin adduces in his paper several cases in proof. His conclusions are-1. The bromide of potassium given in small doses (from five to twenty centigrammes) is very well tolerated by young infants. 2. By its sedative action it cures insomnia in these cases. 3. Administered to infants suffering from the accidents of dentition, such as restlessness, insomnia, cough, etc., it frequently relieves these; and it is probable that its employment, regulated with prudence, would sometimes prevent the occurrence of convulsions. 4. It should not be administered to infants when suffering from diarrhoea. 5. In certain exceptional cases in which the nervous erethism is predominant, its action is prompt and decisive.-Medical Times and Gazette, Dec. 12, 1868.

Fracture by Iodine Ointment.

On examination, the right

from something that

Mr. B. W. Switzer, Asst. Surg. 6th Punjaub Infantry, relates (Med. Times and Gaz., Sept. 19, 1868) the following curious case. A Hindoo boy, aged about four years, was brought to him for treatment. humerus was found to present a uniform enlargement, from about three inches below the head to within two inches of the condyles, tapering above and below. The history of the frightened him, and fell heavily on his arm, sustaining a bad comminuted simple fracture through the whole extent of the middle third of the bone. Residing far from any surgical aid, his people simply let him alone, and this tumour was but nature's rough surgery. No trace of crepitus remained; it was from head to condyles one solid bone. state eight months after the accident.

was that the boy had been running

VOL. IV.-No. 9.

Such was his

Mr. S. was at a loss

30

what to do; he allowed the boy to run about, and his general health improved, and finally, for the sake of doing some thing, he ordered him an ointment containing 100 grains of iodide of potassium and 10 grains of iodine to an ounce of lard, to be rubbed into the tumour twice a day; he was also to take internally a grain of the iodide twice daily. After treatment of this kind for about three weeks, on examining the arm crepitus was detected and the tumour found, like an iceberg in summer, rapidly breaking up in every direction. Finally all the callus was absorbed and the fragments left movable. All medicine was then stopped, and the bone properly set in splints. He made a capital recovery, callus being again thrown out; and the fragments re-united in their proper places.

The Use of Sulphite of Soda in Chronic Cystitis.

It has been known for some time that the salts of sulphurous acid, when taken internally, possess the power of preserving healthy urine from putridity. Reasoning from this, Mr. L. Wilcox, late house-surgeon of King's College Hospital, supposed that they would have the same effect in those cases of chronic cystitis where, from the large secretion of mucus, the urine becomes putrid before it can be evacuated, and thus the walls of the bladder are kept in constant contact with a highly irritating fluid, and have no chance of regaining their normal condition. He therefore lately recommended and employed the sulphite of soda with very marked success in several cases of chronic cystitis in the hospital. The urine, from being intensely alkaline and horribly fetid, loaded with pus, and with difficulty retained for a quarter of an hour, shortly became clear, acid, without odor, and capable of being retained for two or three hours. The mineral acids had been tried in the same cases previous to using the sulphite, and with little benefit.-British Medical Journal.

A New Preparation of Lupuline.

Dr. Dyce Duckworth, medical tutor of St. Bartholomew's Hospital, says that it is certainly remarkable that lupuline has not found a place in the new Pharmacopoeia of this country. It may, however, be said that it is not altogether