costal vein, and several other branches. This trunk is at first horizontal, then becomes vertical in passing before the cross of the aorta with the left division of the pulmonary artery; it next passes above the appendage to the left auricle at the posterior part of this auricle, where it becomes again horizontal, and terminates in the left part of the right auricle by a wide sloping aperture deprived of valves; this aperture is situate at the left of the lower vena cava, and behind the oval space which separates it from the opening of the upper vena cava, so that these two veins open into the auricle at the distance of one inch from each other. The cardiac veins open by three distinct orifices, and deprived of valves in the horizontal portion of the second trunk behind the left auricle, and not, as is ordinarily the case, at the very cavity of the auricle by a single aperture. The heart of this individual offered no other vice of conformation. Death of Dr. VALLI.-Dr. Valli, who, during his long residence at Smyrna and Constantinople, believed, from the experiments he had made, that it was possible to prevent the contagion of the plague, embarked a few months ago for the West Indies with the intention of making analogous observations on the yellow fever. Arrived at Jamaica, and, finding no epidemic disorder there, he went to the Havannah, where he was told it existed; again deceived, and resolved to hunt it out wherever it might be, he learnt that it made its ravages in another part of the Isle of Cuba, where it was forbidden to penetrate; inspired by enthusiasm, and sure of his talisman, he resolved to evade the guard stationed round the village where it spread its havoc; he succeeded, and established himself in a house where two individuals had died of it, and a third was already attacked; he carried his temerity so far as to sleep in their bed, but the third day after his passing the line of contagion, he fell a victim to his erroneous opinion of the non-existence of contagion in the yellow fever [we should rather say to his erroneous theory of contagion]. This event is the more to be regretted, as it proves nothing, and as Dr. Valli was well known to all Europe for his talents and intrepidity. * ** At the sittings of the French Institute on Monday the 31st of March, a long memoir was read on Contagion, from which the author drew, amongst others, the following conclusions: speaking of infected air and the insalubrity of the marshes of Italy, that the most dangerous times for breathing infected air is at sun-set and at sun-rise, or a little before it; that combustion destroys or neutralizes its effects, as the labourers who were compelled to breath it preserved themselves from its pernicious effects by keeping up large fires; that its action is most powerful in an empty stomach, breathing it after a hearty meal producing no ill effects; that its transmission might be arrested in a variety of ways, as by trees, which attract or receive and retain its particles, while the unchanged air passes freely; that canvas, muslin, silk, or even gauze, between the current of air and the object, was generally found to be a sufficient protection. From which it appears that the miasma or infectious particles of NO. 224. xy matter, matter, whichever they be considered, forming contagion, are at rested by any object in the line of the current. We shall develope this important theory in a future Number. Case of Wounded Bladder, terminating favourably. By J. DOUGLAS, Surgeon, Hawick. Captain S. was wounded at the battle of Chippawa, in Upper Canada, on the 5th of July, 1814. The ball, having penetrated the left groin, over Poupart's ligament, by the side of the large blood-vessels of the thigh, fractured the anterior part of the pelvis, passed through the bladder of urine, slanting obliquely across the basin, and terminated its course beneath the integuments on the right buttock, over the ischiatic notch, from which place it was instantly extracted. This Immediately after being wounded, Captain S. was bled copiously, and the catheter was introduced to draw off the urine. treatment afforded him a little relief. On the evening after the action, the army being ordered to retreat, he was conveyed to Fort George, a distance of seventeen miles, in an open waggon, during the inclemency of the night, the motion of which gave him considerable uneasiness. From thence he was carried on board a small vessel, conveyed across Lake Ontario, and landed at York on the evening of the fourth night after he received his injury, when, for the first time, he was committed to my care. When I entered his chamber, I found him stretched upon a hair mattress, his countenance pale and anxious, pulse quick, respiration hurried, and the urine, tinged with blood, flowing freely from the groin. The wound in the buttock, from which the ball had been extracted by a simple incision, looked clean and healthy. On the contrary, the wound in the groin appeared sloughy and inflamed, and the discharge from it was fetid and offensive. He made frequent attempts to void his urine by the natural passage, but, after the most painful and convulsive efforts, he could not effect it. He requested of me to introduce the catheter, for he had obtained considerable relief by that operation at a former period. On attempting to pass it, he felt severe spasins in the perinæum, and I was obliged to desist, having had the mortification of adding much to his sufferings by my interference. I directed an enema to be given, and an opiate to be taken at bed-time. On the following morning, when I visited him, a longitudinal piece of bone, nearly an inch in length, and about the thickness of a crow's quill, presented itself at the urethra, which I immediately extracted. He had spent a restless night; but the expulsion of this foreign body gave him a good deal of relief. For three weeks following he appeared nearly in the same state, only the wound in the groin looked more clean and healthy, from having its slough detached. However, he could now pass a few drops of urine by the natural passage, but in accomplishing this he fit most severe pain. The discharge of pus and urine was also copious, and extremely fetid, so that it was difficult to remain in the apartment for any length of time. The posterior wound now began to to inflame and suppurate. A piece of cloth was discharged, and the urine flowed through both openings. At this time also another piece of bone was passed by the urethra, which, when pressed between the fingers, mouldered down like a piece of earthy matter. About a fortnight after this period, the season became extremely hot, and the wound in the groin was over-run with maggots, which, for a short time, increased the suffering of my patient much, and really seemed to concentrate in one individual the highest degree of human misery. They were, however, soon destroyed by an injection of brandy and water. After this period, the wounds began to contract, and to be filled up with healthy granulations, while the functions of the bladder gradually resumed their office. The final closure of the wounds was much retarded by frequent attacks of intermittent fever, which indeed had proved fatal to a number of the wounded in hospital. Fowler's solution of arsenic was administered, as it was found most efficacious in putting a termination to the paroxysms of the fever. After having suffered much by three or four relapses of fever, my patient was ordered to the lower province of Canada, for a change of air and climate. He accordingly sailed on the 24th November from York, with his wounds completely closed, a period about three months and a half after they were first inflicted. On his arrival in the lower province, he was attacked with fever in the continued form, which was also attended with catarrhal symptoms. From the exertion of coughing, the wound in the groin was forced open, and the urine was again discharged. The fever abated in the space of eight or nine days; and in six weeks afterwards the wound in the groin was finally -healed, Remarks.-The wound, from its particular situation, excited a great deal of medical regard, for every surgeon who saw Captain S. despaired of his recovery. This case being complicated with splinters of bone, was one evidently not suited to the introduction of the elastic gum catheter, which has been found só useful in wounds of the bladder. The longitudinal piece of bone appeared to be a splinter from the anterior brim of the pelvis, and it was surely most surprising how it could find its way into a passage so narrow as the urethra. The exit of urine by the posterior wound had been prevented at first by the piece of pantaloon, which was afterwards discharged by suppuration. Captain S. is now in England, and, since my arrival from America, I have had an opportunity of seeing him. The present statement with regard to his wound is as follows: The left limb is smaller than the right, and appears shorter when he walks or stands erect. He can walk a distance of three miles without resting, but is not able to ride on horse-back, from a tingling sensation, like the pricking of pins, in the perinæum, and which extends itself down the inside of the left leg. When he voids his urine, he stoops a good deal forward, presses in the abdominal muscles with his hands, in order to facilitate its expulsion. He feels at times a pain in his groin, especially in cold or damp weather, Y y 2 and and complains of much debility about the lumbar region. His bladder is not irritable, for he can contain his urine almost for any length of time. His urine, upon standing, deposits a thick sediment of a lateritious colour, but there is no appearance of pus in it. He has become rather corpulent, probably owing to his not being able to take his usual exercise.-Edin. Jour. Mr. J. ACTON has communicated the following to the Editor of the Philosophical Magazine:-A friend of mine has lately prèsented me with two specimens of calcareous matter, taken from the bladders of two of his horses after they had died from disease,— one weighing nearly ten pounds, in an irregular form,-the other weighing about ten pounds and a quarter, of a conic form. As soon as I can possibly find time for their minute examination, it is my intention to send you the particulars. Our readers will recollect the annular saw we some time ago announced, the invention of Mr. MACHELL, of Great Rider-street, St. James's. That valuable instrument has since undergone various improvements, which it was our intention to have described in the present Number. But, with all its advantages, it is supposed to be capable of others. These are now under trial, and, as soon as they are confirmed, we shall offer a full description of the instrument in its complete form. Every friend of philosophy will, with us, regret the loss of Dr. WELLS, of Sergeants-inn, Fleet-street. For our next Number, we shall endeavour to procure a short biography of that truly philosophical physician. We have also to lament the loss of Sir JAMES EARLE, the Master of the College of Surgeons, son-in-law to the celebrated Percival Pott, and, for several years, Senior Surgeon of St. Bartholomew's, Mr. THOMAS BELL has been appointed to succeed the late Mr. Fox, as Lecturer on the Structure and Diseases of the Teeth, at Guy's Hospital. Mr. T. J. PETTIGREW, F.L.S. Surgeon-extraordinary to their Royal Highnesses the Dukes of Kent and Sussex, will commence his Winter Course of Lectures on Anatomy, Physiology, and Pathology, on Friday the 17th of October, at eight o'clock in the evening precisely. The lectures will be continued every succeeding Wednesday and Friday, at the same hour, until completed. Dr. MARCET intends to give a Course of Clinical Lectures, at Guy's Hospital, during the next winter. Mr. GUTHRIE, Deputy-inspector of Military Hospitals, will commence his Autumn Course of Lectures on Surgery, on Monday, the 6th of October, at five minutes past eight in the evening, in the Waiting Room of the Royal Westminster Infirmary for Diseases of the Eye, Mary-le-bone Street, Piccadilly. To be continued on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Te To the Editors of the London Medical and Physical Journal. GENTLEMEN, By some accident, the account of our excursions in July was delayed too long for your last Number. In my next, besides that for September, you will receive a comparative statement of the periods for flowering and ripening of the seeds of several plants. This will be interesting to your botanical readers, and particularly to those at a distance from the metropolis. The increase of my class, and the necessity imposed on the stu dents in physic to acquire some knowledge of botany, has induced me to undertake a Winter Course of Reading and Conversation on Botanical Subjects. This, with a well-furnished library, and the occasional exhibition of dried or green-house specimens, wili enable us to conclude the Summer or Spring Course much earlier. ther account of the plan will be prepared for your next Number. I remain, gentlemen, yours, &c. W. SALISBURY, Mr. SALISBURY'S Botanical Excursions for July. A fur July 4, 1817. Battersea-fields and gardens in the neighbourhood. July 12th. Kensington-gardens, Bayswater, &c. Lathyrus pratensis July 18th. Battersea-fields and the neighbourhood. repens Rubus fruticosus July |
