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vial, which I carry in my trunk as an amulet) is said by the medical gentlemen of this quarter, to be a solution of the chloride of zinc. The latter, according to Dr. Hall, is a liquor of nitrate of lead. When I left Quebec, arrangements were making for experiments in the Marine Hospital, but its physicians seemed to think lightly of the practical value of such measures. When I was at Gros Isle, Dr. Douglas, the Quarantine Physician, sagaciously remarked, that the proper place for such experiments is an emigrant ship on her voyage.

In conclusion, I must beg of you to correct at least the grosser blunders of style, which are unavoidable in the circumstances under which I have written this most hurried epistle. With all its imperfections, it may, however, be of some interest to such of your readers as may not have seen much of what may have have been written by others on the Irish epidemic; and in that conviction I dismiss it, by Your ob't servant, subscribing myself, very respectfully,

DAN. DRAKE.

Massachusetts Medical Society.-A quarterly meeting of the Counsellors of this Society was held at the Masonic Temple on Wednesday last, the day the Journal is published, which precluded the possibility of inserting even a synopsis of the transactions in that No. There has not been so many Counsellors together at an ordinary business meeting within the compass of our recollection. The circumstance even quite astonished one gentleman, who expressed his surprise, and exclaimed-" Mr. President, what is the meaning of this unusual congregation? Is there some design in it?" Dr. Howe, of Billerica, contrary to an impression abroad, took the chair, having withdrawn his letter declining the honour of the presidency. A long and unnecessarily tedious debate occurred in regard to a short report from the delegates of the Society to the National Medical Convention. Closely upon that, another came upon the tapis, which would have been admirable in a legislative body, where the object was solely to occupy the time in order to keep off another subject.

Everything else having been satisfactorily disposed of, Dr. Childs, of Pittsfield, introduced the following resolution :—

"Whereas, The great object of medical association is the advancement of medical science, and the promotion of harmony and good feeling in the profession, thereby contributing to the best interests of society and whereas the present organization of the Massachusetts Medical Society does not fully meet these important objects-therefore, Resolved, that a change in the organization of the Massachusetts Medical Society is in our opinion deemed both wise and expedientand that the change consist in making the basis of the State Society, local or county associations; in other words, having the State Society constituted by delegates annually chosen by the county associations, agreeably to the principle adopted in the States of Connecticut, New York, Vermont, Ohio, and in most of the States in the Union."

Its introduction was like sending a fire-brand into a magazine of wet powder. There was no sudden explosion, but a general movement on the surface. By little and little, the ignition extended, and

such a warming up of the quiescent old furnace has not occurred in that sedate circle for many a day. The Counsellor from Berkshire expressed himself with an unusual degree of energy and eloquence. Even those who most staunchly opposed the measures advocated by him for a re-organization of the Society, so that the profession in the western counties may profit by the association, admitted that the speaker was a man of strength, who pleaded his cause with commanding force and dignity. We shall not detail the various propositions for throwing overboard the petition for a remodelling of this venerable institution, which has, for a period of sixty years, conducted so many physicians and surgeons in peace, security and respectability; nor advert to the cogent and ingenious arguments urged upon the Council in favour of the scheme. After a protracted, as well as excited session, an unmistaken evidence of impatience being manifested by those wishing to take the afternoon cars, as well as by another division accustomed to dining before tea-time, a large committee was raised, to whom the subject was referred, and a report may be expected at the next meeting in February, when, it may safely be predicted, the Council will again be well attended.

Drs. Jeffreys of Boston, Peirson of Salem, Walker of Boston, Bartlett of Concord, and Childs of Pittsfield, were the prominent speakers on this exciting question. While some regretted, in private conversation, the introduction of this apple of discord, others were delighted with the discovery that there was some excitability in what they had doubtless considered as dry bones.

When the Berkshire gentleman memorialized the General Court the past winter, and stated sundry grievances, such as the local wants of the members residing at a distance from Boston, and also the noticeable fact that about one hundred regularly-educated physicians, in western Massachusetts, could not become members of the Society in its present imperfect condition, the petition was very summarily put under the table, or, what was equivalent thereto, disregarded by the committee, which aroused the Esculapian blood on the sun-setting side of the Berkshire hills, whose excited members now seem disposed, like General Taylor, never to surrender.-Boston Med. and Surg. Journal.

Case of Poisoning by Vinegar. By A. H. DAVID, M. D., Montreal. -Poisoning by acetic acid is so uncommon an occurrence, I have to request a small portion of your valuable columns for the details of a case I met with a few days ago; in which the patient-a widow woman, with four children-took, as near as I could ascertain, a quart bowlful of common vinegar. It appears that she had been dull and low spirited for two or three days previous, in consequence of the neglect (as her friends suppose) of a person from whom she had received the most marked attention, and to whom she had been attached prior to her marriage with her late husband. When I saw her, about three hours after she had taken the vinegar, she was in bed,

covered with a cold perspiration, and trembling from head to foot, and apparently alarmed at everybody and everything about her. Her breathing was very laborious and hurried; her countenance perfectly wild, and the pupils dilated; the tongue was dry and cold; pulse ninety-six and full: the abdomen much distended, with extreme acute pain at the scrobiculis cordis, so much so, that the slightest pressure there caused her to shriek out. She did not know any one about her, not even her own children, nor had she any recollection of anything that had happened from the time of taking the vinegar, which was about 11 at night, not even of her having gone to bed, which she was the last in the house to do. About 1 o'clock the inmates were all awakened by her shrieking for cold water, of which she had drunk an enormous quantity before I was called to see her. There was not any pain, heat, or constriction of the throat or fauces, but there were slight efforts to vomit. Having procured some sulphate of zinc, I gave her two scruples in a cup of water, which soon produced full vomiting, with great straining. I had then to leave her, but ordered full and repeated doses of carb. magnesia, till I could see her again, which I did about six hours after, and found her much relieved, and only complaining of headache, which left her after the operation of a dose of castor oil. Two days after, she was taken ill with a slight attack of continued fever, but is doing well.

I should mention that the quantity she threw up from the effects of the zinc was very great, and smelt strongly of vinegar, which she still perseveres in saying she did not take, although she was seen with the bowl filled with it in her hands by some of the family, when they were retireing to rest, she maintaining that she used the whole of the vinegar in bathing her head. However, I think we have strong presumptive evidence against her having so used it, and are justified in concluding that she took the whole of it.

The only case of poisoning by acetic acid that I have been able to find, is the one related by Orfila in the Annales D'Hygiene, and quoted by both Beck and Christison. The experiments instituted by Órfila prove that common vinegar, in large quantities, was found destructive to dogs when vomiting was prevented.

Taylor, in his work on Medical Jurisprudence says, "Acetic, citric and tartaric acids are not commonly considered to have any poisonous action on the body. At least, as far as I know, there is no case reported of their having acted injuriously on the human subject; and he is the only modern writer on medical jurisprudence who takes any notice or makes mention of acetic acid.-British American Journal of Medical and Physical Science.

Nephritis from Calculus, Simulating Cancer of the Stomach.-A Captain of infantry entered the Hospital of Val-de-Grace, under M. Champouillon. For seven years, this officer, of a sanguine and robust constitution, had complained of pain in the epigastrium, increased during digestion, and attended with vomiting after a tolerably full meal. For these sufferings the patient consulted numerous physicians,

all of whom spoke of gastralgia, of chronic gastritis, and consequently prescribed for him repose, baths, and a vegetable and mik diet. This regimen always produced a notable amelioration of the symptoms, so as to give the patient the idea of recovery. However, a new and final relapse occurred at the end of March, and the captain determined to enter the hospital, which he did on the 7th of April. The vomitings were then very painful, and almost continual; the belly was distended; the feet and hands presented a moderate amount of serous infiltration. Leeches were applied to the epigastrium, and ice placed on, and which was also taken internally, with morphia. The vomiting was by these means suspended for a few days, and then returned. The tongue, previously dry and brown, began to be moist and white. The matters vomited, at first white and glairy, became on the 12th of April, of a blackish colour. On a microscopical examination, they were found to be composed of mucus, and of a granular matter, which M. Millon recognized as blood-discs, altered in form. On the 13th, a consultation was held. The physicians present attempted in vain to percuss the epigastric region. The abdomen, always distended, prevented a manual examination, and the slightest pressure also caused the most severe pain. This circumstance, coupled with the nature of the matters ejected, and the straw yellow tint of the countenance, gave rise to the opinion that, instead of chronic gastritis, there was cancer of the stomach; and this opinion was strengthened by the fact, that his mother had suffered from cancer of the womb. Ice and opium were given; but the vomiting persisted till death, which occurred on the 16th. A post mortein examination was made the next day. The mucous membrane of the stomach was found slightly injected towards the great cul de sac, but appeared elsewhere quite healthy. The intestines, liver, and spleen, presented no pathological lesions. The kidneys were very large, imbedded in a layer of compact cellular tissue, to which they were firmly adherent. The cortica! substance, considerably atrophied, was of a decidedly black colour. Each kidney enclosed a calculus of lithate of ammonia, rugose and mamillated, and of the size of a pigeon's egg. Several smaller calculi were contained in the pelves of the kidneys.

Here, then, was a complete error in diagnosis. The symptoms were such as might, with the greatest probability, be referred to can. cerous disease of the stomach, with ulceration. In forming the diagnosis, no aid could be drawn from a manual examination of the epigastric region, and from palpation; but the same thing may happen in cancer of the stomach. M. Champouillon, indeed, in making his examination, and pressing on the lateral and posterior region of the abdomen, had excited acute pain. This pain, coinciding with the œdema of the extremities, and the frequent vomiting, at once led him to suspect nephritis from calculus, or with albumen. Consequently, he examined the urine of the patient to detect albumen, or an excess of lithic acid; but the re-agents employed gave no indications of either; and moreover, the patient never having complained of pain in the lumbar region, or of any derangement in the functions of the

kidney, the idea of renal disease was given up.-Dub. Med. Press, from the London Lancet.

Pathology of Elephantiasis.-M. Cazenave has now under his care, at the Hospital St. Louis, a case of elephantiasis affecting the entire right leg. The thigh is so enormously distended, that its circumference surpasses that of the woman's body suffering with it; but with this increased size there is no deformity. The leg, on the contrary, is not only enlarged, but deformed, presenting hard, projecting masses, extending down to the instep, and the foot is also large and deformed. According to M. Cazenave, this elephantiasis of the Arabs, consists in a pure and simple hypertrophy of the affected parts--hypertrophy peculiar so far as it is connected necessarily with inflammation of the lymphatics. Ordinarily, and such has been the history of the present case, the disease commences suddenly, by a sharp and deep-seated pain along the course of the lymphatic vessels, which are soon transformed into hard, knotty cords; the limb then becomes the seat of an erysipelatous inflammation, which disappears, but this only for a time, being again reproduced and continuing for a greater or less time. This state of things may go on for several years. The cellular tissue is consecutively inflamed, and a more or less considerable tumefaction is set up, which augments at every fresh outbreak of the disease. Although tolerably soft at first, and, as it were, oedematous, the swelling at length gets hard, and resists the impression of the fingers. It is then the knobs or lumps make their appearance, and which produce the characteristic deformity of elephantiasis, knobs which will extend onwards to the feet or hands, (according as the legs or arms are affected,) and are sometimes separated by deep circular fissures, the whole accompanied by the normal colour of the skin, or by a duller whitensss than is seen in the healthy state. The soft tissues alone are affected, unless the disease is of very long standing, and the deep fissures have degenerated into wounds and ulcers, which may bring on consecutive disease of the bones. It is very peculiar that elephantiasis is observed much more frequently in the lower extremities than in the upper. However, there was a case some years since under M. Sanson, at La Pitié, of a very bulky elephantiasis affecting a woman's right arm.

It is a difficult matter to determine the treatment to be adopted. In M. Cazenave's patient, compression has been tried by means of a wide bandage, with agaric placed under it, at places much tumefied. Internal medicines, as mostly happens, have proved quite ineffectual. Since the compression has been employed, certain parts of the limb have notably diminished in volume, although a perfect cure cannot be hoped for, on account of the old standing of the malady, and the enormous degree at which the swelling has arrived.-London Lancet.

Influence of Quinine on the Volume of the Spleen in Ague.-M. Valleix, physician of the Hotel Dieu, has directed his attention to the action of the sulphate of quinine on the volume of the spleen in inter

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