a young man who was dismissed seemingly cured. Owing to the irritation caused by the cicatrix, this patient commenced picking his tongue; hæmorrhage came on, which proved so alarming that Dieffenbach was sent for, but so much blood had been lost that the man sank.

Notwithstanding the imminently dangerous nature of this operation, several of the most distinguished Surgeons of Paris have hastened to execute it, and seem now to be contending who shall perform it most frequently, and boast most loudly of their success.

From Dr. Post's Observations on the New Operation for the Cure of Stammering. (New-York.)

The operation has been repeated a considerable number of times in Paris, by Amussat, Baudens, Velpeau, &c., &c., by whom it has been essentially modified, and rendered easier to the Surgeon, and less formidable to the patient. Amussat pursues the following mode of operating:

1st. He separates with a bistoury. the frænum linguæ from its attachment to the lower jaw, and divides the fibro-cellular membrane beneath it. In a few cases, he has found this part of the operation to be of itself sufficient to restore freedom of speech.

2d. He divides the genio-hyo-glossi muscles at their origin from the lower jaw. The wound generally heals in about eight days. Amussat has had some cases followed by troublesome hemorrhage, which he has generally arrested by the free use of ice; sometimes by introducing compresses of lint, and making pressure on them with two fingers of each hand introduced into the mouth, while the thumbs are applied below the chin. In one case only it was found necessary to make pressure by means of a hard body applied over the lint. If these means should fail, he recommends the use of styptics or of the actual cautery.

Baudens operates in the following manner. An assistant stands behind the Stammerer, and holds his head slightly thrown back, with his mouth widely opened, and the two little fingers of the assistant in the angles of the mouth, drawing back the lips. The Surgeon with his left hand holds a sharp hook, which he inserts into the frænum linguæ, near the insertion of the genio-hyo-glossi, which he thus puts on the stretch. He then plunges the points of a sharp pair of scissors on each side of the origin of the muscles, to the depth of about an inch, and by closing the scissors divides the muscles. If any fibres remain undivided, he cuts them with a probe-pointed bistoury.

Velpeau divides the genio-hyo-glossi, sometimes with a narrow bistoury, through a puncture of the mucous membrane, and some. times with scissors, dividing the mucous membrane more extensively

From the American Journal of the Medical Sciences, October,

1841.

Operations for Stammering. A reviewer in the British and Foreign Medical Review, July, 1841, thus speaks of them. "The sanguinary operations which have been recently devised and executed, with the view of curing Stammering, are one of the greatest outrages upon modern Surgery. Although some of them had their origin in legitimate motives, most, we fear, serve but to show what ruthless expedients will be occasionally resorted to for the purpose of acquiring professional fame, however short-lived, and to what extent the ignorant and credulous will become a prey to craft and subtlety. If our indignation was awakened at the barbarous cruelties practised upon dumb animals for the sake of elucidating the truths of Physiology, how much more ought it to be when we consider the multitude of our fellow-beings who have suffered themselves to be maimed and mutilated at the instigation of individuals more remarkable for their reckless use of the knife than for the soundness of their Medical Science!"

From a very intelligent young German Physician, recently on a visit to this country, we learn that Dieffenbach has abandoned his operation, on the ground that the danger to the life of the patient exceeds the chance of a cure. And we also learn that many of the cases announced as cures, were merely temporarily relieved.

REMARKS.

Nothing can be more unphilosophical and absurd than these operations for the radical cure of Stammering. Will removing "wedge-shaped" portions of the tongue, passing needles through its substance, or dividing the genio-hyo-glossi muscles, inspire a Stammerer with confidence, or give him a knowledge of Elocution? If Stammering depended on the permanent contraction of a muscle, as in Strabismus, it would be rational to conclude that it might be relieved by a surgical operation; but as the exciting cause, in the majority of cases, exists in the mind, and not in the tongue, an operation on the latter can be of no permanent advan tage.

QUESTIONS

TO BE ANSWERED BY THE PUPIL.

[NOTE.These Questions were omitted in the proper place— they should have followed those on page 166.]

Page 134. What letters are employed for noting the disposition of the fingers? What letters are used for noting the manner of presenting the palm? What letters are used for noting the elevation of the arms? What letters are used for noting the posture of the arms in the transverse direction? What letters are used for noting the force of motion of the hands and arms? What letters are used for noting the direction of motion?

Page 135. What letters are used for noting the manner of motion? What letters are used for noting the posture of the head and direction of the eyes? What letters and numerals are used for noting the positions of the feet? What letters are used for noting the degree of extension of the feet? What letters are used for noting the steps?

Page 136. What letters are used to note parts on which the hand may be placed? What letters are used to note the manner of combining the fingers of both hands? What letters are used for noting the combinations of both arms? What does a capital B, preceding and joined to a set of small letters, signify? Name some of the letters used in noting significant gestures.

Page 137. Into how many classes are the notation letters divided? What is meant by a set of letters? To what does each letter in a set, respectively relate? Illustrate this by an example. Do the letters and sets of letters relate to both arms indifferently? How are they distinguished? When there is a single set of letters, how is it known whether it belongs to the right hand and arm, or to the left?

Page 138. How is a set of letters, designed for both arms, distinguished? How is a change of gesture noted? How is alternate gesture expressed? By what kind of letters are the postures of the head and the direction of the eyes indicated, and where are they placed? Where are the letters placed, which mark the positions of the feet?

Page 156. In notating an oration, is it necessary to mark every gesture?

Page 157. What is necessary to be attended to in the recitation of descriptions of any kind? Why should not the same gesture be often repeated? What general rule should be observed in oratorical action? What is the best method for acquiring a finished rhetorical delivery?

1

CHAPTER XIII.*

COMPLEX SIGNIFICANT GESTURES.

Complex Significant Gestures are employed chiefly in dramatic representation. They are combinations of simple significant gestures, variously associated according to the mingled passions which they represent. The boldest and most magnificent of them are termed attitudes. The following are examples of complex significant gestures:

Reproach puts on a stern aspect: the brow is contracted, the lip is turned up with scorn, and the whole body is expressive of

aversion. Fig. 166

represents Queen Ka

tharine, in the trial

scene, in the play of Henry VIII. reproaching Wolsey for the injuries which had been heaped upon her. Apprehension is the prospect of future evil accompanied with uneasiness of mind. Fig. 167 is a good example. It represents Hamlet

in the act of exclaiming, "Ay, there's the rub." [See Hamlet's Soliloquy, p. 249.]

Terror excites the person who suffers under it, to avoid the dreaded object, or to escape from it. If it be some dangerous reptile on the ground, and very near, the expression is represented by starting back and look.

* This Chapter should have followed p. 130.

ing downwards. If the danger threaten from a distance, the terror arising is expressed by looking forwards, and not starting back, but merely in the retired position. But if the dread of impending death from the hand of an enemy awaken this passion, the coward flies. Of this there is a fine example in the battles of

Alexander, by

Le Brun. Fig. 168 represents terror as described by Engel. It is that of a man alarmed by lightning and thunder. He shuts his eyes, Covers them with one hand

and extends

the other behind him, as if to ward off the dreaded stroke. Aversion, as already observed, is expressed by two gestures. (See p. 122.)

Horror, which is aversion or astonishment mingled with terror, is seldom capable of retreating, but remains in one attitude, with the eyes riveted on the object, the arms, with the hands vertical, held forward to guard the person, and the whole frame trembling. (Fig. 169.)

Listening in order to obtain the surest and most various information, first casts the eye quickly in the apparent direction of the sounds; if nothing is seen, the ear is turned towards the point of expectation, the eye is bent on vacancy, and the arm is extended, with the hand vertical; but all this passes in a moment. If the sounds proceed from different points at the same time, both hands are held up, and the face and eyes alternately change from one side to the other with a rapidity governed by the nature of the sound; if it be alarming, with