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certainly is little of it shown in his skull. What are called kindness, be-nignity, compassion, hospitality, goodnature, are so many modifications ofthis feeling, which I consider as fun-damental. We may even see its in- fluence on thieves ; some there are who have this feeling pretty strong, butacquisitiveness much stronger, wouldrather steal from the rich than from the poor. This is the cast of a per-son who was the leader of a band ofrobbers, and he always prevented liiscompanions from stealing from the

poor, Some people steal from churchesrather than from other places, and,again, there are others who would never steal from churches. We must look first for the fundamental powers, !and having made ourselves acquainted with them, we can go further, andobserve their combinations, and themodifications produced by the action of one on the other. There is a fun-

damental feeling of benevolence whichdisposes us to be kind and agreeableto others ; if we see a sufzering beingwe are disposed, by this feeling, toassist him. This feeling is given todirect onr actions in relation to other

beings; if we had merely selfishness or attachment to offspring, or to our homes, and if we paid no attention ! to beings surrounding ns, would so- iciety go on as it does ? No, I am sure i

itwonldnot; man’s benificence would be confined to his personal friends, orhis family connexions at most, and weshould never see that disinterested

liberality extended to mankind. Be-nevolence is the feeling which inclinesus to act in obedience to that lawwhich requires that we should loveour neighbours as ourselves. I havenow given you an explanation of whatI consider a moral feeling, and thenext time we meet I shall go to anotherfeeling, which I consider also as fun-damental, and which is evidently givento make man a religious as well as amoral being.

FOREIGN DEPARTMENT.

ANALYSIS OF FOREIGN MEDICAL JOUR-

NALS.

REVUE MEDICALE—MARS.

Observations on penetrating Wounds oftlae Chest.

IN the month of August 1823, a car-penter, twenty six years of age, laidhimself down on a bed with two of his

companions, without taking off hisclothes, and during the night he fellupon the floor, when a pointed file,which he had forgotton to take out ofhis waistcoat pocket, stuck into hischest and broke off, leaving a partsticking in the wound. A copious,

hæmorrhage ensued, which continuedfor two hours.

The respiration was at first verymuch disturbed, and the surgeon whowas called applied lint to the orificeof the wound and kept it open. Dur-

ing the first month a bloody colouredi serum issued from the wound, and therelief experienced was in proportion to the quantity discharged. In the- next two or three months the patientconstantly had fever, and althoughat first he could only lie upon the-

sound side, he was obliged afterwardsto lie upon the wounded side. At the-time the accident happened there wasno bloody expectoration. Things con-tinued in this state for some timenotwithstanding various demulcentmedicines were nsed. The chest wasnot examined by percussi6n or mediateauscultation, so that the real state ofthe thorax was not ascertained. The

patient returned to the country, where-he thought his death was fast ap-proachinsr. Towards the close of the

year, having been ill more than fourmonths, he could only breathe in theupright position, and the left leg andthigh had become completely oedema-tous. The kidneys continued to se--crete as before, and throughout the-progress of the disease the patientcomplained of no difficulty of makingwater.As I had occasion, says M. TouL-

MOUCHE, to pass near the dwelling of

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this man, I called on him ; I foundhim pale, emaciated, and exceedinglyweak, scarcely able to respire; heliad for some time kept his bed, andexpectorated a large quantity of puru-lent matter. Toward the angles ofthe ribs, and between the ninth andtenth, a tisttiloits orifice remained, intowhich I introduced a sound obliquely,from below npwarils, from before

backwards, to a considerable depth.I had not a stethoscope with me, andcould not therefore make an accurateexamination of the chest. I made thepatient promise to call on me, and inlive days afterwards he came in a gig,although he was almost in a dyingtate.

EXamination of the Chest by Per-cussion.

The left side furnished no sound,- except at the anterior and upper part;the sonnd became altogether dull anddead at the lateral and inferior part.The upper third of the left side of thechest yielded a good sound on per-cussion, and the two !ower thirdsafforded none. On the right side,on the contrary, the sound was clearthroughout. The intercostal spaceson the right side were rather widerthan natural, and during the time thatthe mensuration of the chest was ac-

complished, the patient complainedof great fatigue. -

Examination of the Chest by Auscul-tation.

On the left side the respiration wasonly distinguishable below the clavicle,along the external edge of the upperthird of the sternum, and along thempper part of the spine and shoulderblade. It was accompanied, duringexpiration only, by the mucous rattle,which was sonorous and brief. Thevoice resounded strongly from thesame points of the chest; but it wasnot accompanied by the tintement

metallique * On the right side the

* LAENNEC regards the tintementmetallique as the proof of a communi-cation between the pleura and bron.chia ; no such communication was ob-served in the dissection of this case.-Ed. L.

respiration was puerile. The voicemomentarily traversed the cylinderwhen applied near the spine.

Succussion. The patient, when shookby the shoulders, enabted you to heardiatinctty at the ’distance of someinches, even by the naked ear, a de-cided fluctuation, like that producedby shaking a bottle half filled. Thesound could of course be detected

even still more distinctly, by the appli-cation of the cylinder. The heart wasexamined by auscultation, but it pre-sented nothing very particular; its

pulsations were rather quickened bythe fever, but yet they were moredistinct on the right side than theleft.

Prohnosis.I:. conseqneuce of the phenomena.before mentioned, I gave the follow.

ing prognosis. Adhesions of the leftlung; the upper part of this organfree , abundant sero purulent effusionof the left side, witla pneumo thorax;the heart in a natural state ; tcberdesin the right lung, with excavations.

The patient was removed to the hos-

pital, and soon afterwards died.

Necropsy, twenty-four hours ofterdeath.

The thorax. The left side was a

little more protuberant than the other;

the subject was placed upon his back,and when a scalpel was thrust intothe chest at the distance of two inchesfrom the sternum a quantity of airescaped from the left side of the chest.When the cartilages of the ribs werecut through and the ribs raised, theleft lting was found adherent to theanterior and lower part of the chest,indeed all of it excepting the upperpart ; and the adhesions were so

strong that it was with difficulty theycould be torn through. Its tissue wasperfectly crepitons on the fore andupper part. The pleura was coveredon its costal and diaphragmatic sur-face by a thick false membrane of agreyish white colour, almost of thethickness of cartilage, and towardthe orifice of the wound, was of ablackish cnlour, somewhat like decom.posed fibrin, or like the sangaineousextravasation which occurs about awotmti. The other parts of this false

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membrane were soft and villous, andcovered by a thick layer of an aibumi-tious exudation of a variable consist-ence, but for the greater part likethat of soft cheese.The cavity of the pleura contained

about three pints and a half of a seropurulent liquid of pale yellow colour,less thick toward the surface than atthe bottom of the chest, where therewere numcrom albuminous flakes, softand opaque. A canula had been in-troduced through the wound previousto the opening being made in thechest, and although it was introducedits whole length, it did not reach fur-ther than the base of the lung; it wentthrough he false membranes, bnt did not penetrate the lung. The rightlung was adherent to the pleura to-ward its npper part, and there wereseveral tubercles in its tissue. The

other parts of the body, the head, theabdomen, and heart were in a naturalstate.

Tlte Olfactory Nerve.M.MAGENDIE has lately reported

to the Academy -a pathological fact,in confirmation of his former opinion,that the olfactory nerve is not the

organ of smell. BECLARD had a manunder his care in the Hôpital la

Pitie, in whom on dissection the an.terior portion of the brain and olfac-tory nerves were found almost de-stroyed by ulceration, but who at thesame time retained his sense of smell.He took snuff, and was quite capableof distinguishing its various qualities.

Appearance of a Medical Work in

Turkey!A medical work has made its appear-

ance, the only one during 150 years,at Constantinople, it is a folio, of 300pages,with 56 copper-plate engravings,on anatomy and medicine, entitled,"Mirat el abd fi techrih azail," byChani Zadeh Mehemmed-Ata-Oullah,member of the religious and judicialorder of the oulema. The Oulemitesfill the offices of ministers of religion,of the laws, of equity, and havealways endeavoured to crush the risinggenius of the nation. It is not, there-fore, a little surprising that a work on

anatomy, plysiology, medicine, andtherapeutics, should be published byone of this fraternity. The substanceof the work appears to be a translationfrom various French works. The au-thor being a Mussulman, what he sayson vaccination is very interesting ; hegives its history, and insists on the

many advantages it has over inooi-lation; he concludes by giving direc-tions as to its use, and with some ofthe vaccine virus brought from thevillage ot’ Aiaz-aga, many thousandshave been vaccinated in Turkey.

On the employment of hot water in thecure of Gout and Rheumatism.

The following, novel treatment hasbeen proposed by M. Cadet-de-Vauxtor the cure of Gout and Rheumatism ;we recommend it to the perusal of ourreaders, both on account of its sim-plicity and the ingenious manner inwhich the " modus operandi " is en-deavoured to be explained. It con--sists in the drinking, at intervals ofevery quarter of an hour, large qiian-tities of very warm water,* duringthe continuance of the paroxysm. Dr.

Buchassen, of Guise, has borne testi-mony to its efficacy in four differentindividuals, whose cases we subjoin.

CASE I.

The case of Macquigny, aged 60,of gonty parents, had been afnictedby various attacks of gout from theage of forty-five, but enjoyed betweeneach pretty good health. Latterly,however, the paroxysms had been.more frequent; and whenever winterapproached his suffering was mostacute, being regularly confined to hisbed for six weeks or two months ; hisnights and days rendered sleepless,and the appetite all but gone. Wecan readily, therefore, conceive this

wretched season passed in misery andsuffering. Spring brought some alle-viation. But stiil the loss of appetitecontinued even to an utter repug-nance of all animal food. To so greatan extent had the disease arrived, thatthe greater number of the joints of thefingers and toes had become anchy-

Forty-eight tumblers full of warmwater have been taken by one patient.

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lased. All the usual remedies weretried, but in vain. Towards November1824 he was a little recovered, andon endeavouring to celebrate mass hefell senseless- at the foot of the altar ;in that state he was carried home, andhe recovered his faculties but to ex-perience an aggravation of all hisformer symptoms. Warm water wasnow had recourse to,-on taking theeighth glass the pain became less ;vomiting took place on administeringthe nineteenth. He succeeded, never-theless, in the end, in swallowing theprescribed quantity. The kidneyswere strongly acted on, perspirationbroke out ; he slept well, and the nextmorning the patient was on his legs.The appetite returned, with total ab-sence of pain. In this state he con-tinned until last February, when an-other fit occurred, which was treatedin the same manner as before, andwith equal success. On this occasionthere was no vomiting, but a slightswelling of the joint of the left little

tae, without, however, any pain.From that period to the present heenjoyed perfect health, and is quiteready to have recourse, for the thirdtime, to the 48 glasses of warm water,if ever again lie should be afflicted.

CASE II.

A patient complained of some rheu-matic pains which confined him to hisbed. I ordered four grains of tartaremetic in two pints of the infusion oforange leaves; a wine-glassful to betaken every two hours. The next

morning I was informed the patientwas very ill, and had some nausea atthe stomach. On visiting him I foundhim quite immovable, and that he haddecided rheumatic fever. The most

painful parts were the left arm andright leg. I proposed the forty-eightglasses of water, which he consentedto take. He drank this quantity intwo hours ; the kidneys acted in pro-portion to the fluid taken, and thesame night he could sit beside his fire.The following morning he was cured,and has remained so ever since. Somechronic pains existed before the acuteattack, which continued some littletime afterwards.

CASE III.

A lady was for many months afflict-ed with sciatica on the left side.Leeches, blisters, and oil of tnrpen.tine were all employed, but with nobenefit. This patient drank the farty-eight glasses of water in about twelvehours. On calling two days after, Ilearnt she was Well, and had gone out,and it was two months before I againsaw her, when she assured me, thatfrom the time of her taking the warmwater she had not felt the least returnof the complaint.

CASE IV.This case, which was that of a

weaver, has not been so fortunate.The patient was about forty years ofage, of a gouty habit, and had somestiffening ot the joints of the fingers.I attribute the failure, in some mea.sure, to the impatience of the patient,who drank the water when the painwas very slight. He voided littleurine, and a sort of anasarcons swel.ling of the abdomen supervened. Thenext morning, however, these unplea-sant symptoms had disappeared, butthe man had no wish to recommencethe drinks. This confirms the pro.priety of the remark of M. Cadet-de.Vaux, that the water ought to bedrunk during the paroxysm of thegout or rheumatism.

In accounting for these facts, mightI ask, whether this great quantity oflluid received into the digestive pas·sages does not greatly excite the ab-sorbents of these organs, the kidneys,and the cutaneous exhalants? Thatthis action, kept up for 18 or 24 hours,removes that morbid action whichwas concentrated on the joints, onthe ligaments and aponeurotic strnc-

tures ; and on the sciatic nerve in theneuralgia of that name. The caloricof the water acts as an irritant on themucous membrane of the intestinalcanal, the tendency of which is to ia-crease its action, and consequently itsabsorbents. An action, influencingsympathetically the kidneys and exha-lents of the skin. In short, it is whenthe paroxysm is at its height that thepatient ought to drink the water, as itis a fact quite decided in the presentday, that powerful stimulants can beapplied to the mucous membrane ofthe stomach, with impunity.

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An Inquiry into the seat and causes ofEpilepsy. By BENARD. On the 16th of December, at five

Velock in the evening, I was sndden- ly called to a child fourteen months Iold, labonring under violent and geiie-ralconvulsions. It had, pleviously to this attack, taken the breast as usual,ate, and appeared cheerful. At themoment I saw it, from the nature ofthe attack, sttch as convulsions withloss of volition, the frothy appear-ance at the mouth, the thumbs bent,&c., I pronounced it an epilepticfit, Supposing, as is very frequentlythe case, all overloaded stomach

might be the exciting cause, I hadan emetic administered ; after its

operaiion, the child fell into a coma-tose state, accompanied with sterto-rons breathing. The night and nextday (17th) were passed without anyparticular change ; the child sucked,and rested quietly in bed ; the pulserather quick, and the eyes prominent.

18th. In the night the child wasobserved to be grinding its teeth,towards morning it became stiller,the pulse tense and vibrating, andtongue clean; it took the breast withall appetite. Placing the finger onthe anterior fontanelle, the cerebralarteries were found violentl throb-bing. On the 19th, the child broughtup a large round worm, and from thistime it grew worse. I had beforedirected my treatment to the head, Inow altered it to the stomach andintestines.

20th, The epileptic convulsions re-tnrned with greater violence, thebladder becarne paralysed (the penishad been constantly half erect sincethe 18th), the heart’s contractions

violent, and pulse not to he counted.In the course of the night the childdied. The spine was laid open fromthe sacrum to the occiput, the duramater had, here and there, a few

red spots, the traces of inflammationbecomiug more distinct on advancingtowards the brain ; at the base ofwhich, in a space occupying aboutfour or five inches, a small quantityof greenish coloured pus was inter-posed between the arachnoid mem-brane and the dura mater. The duramater of the brain was thickened,opaqae, injected, and adltered in

many places so firmly as to preventits detachment. Between the menin-ges was a layer of greenish purulentmatter. The ventricles contained littleor no serum. The cerebral sinusseswere gorged with black liquid blood.The cerebellum softened and diffluentat its base. The abdominal visceraremained in a natural state. _

The author of this article has ob-served, in more than twenty cases ofthis kind, the cerebellum thus pecu-liarly affected, and he has not theslightest hesitation in affirming thatthis part is the seat of the disease inalmost all instances. In the severer

attacks, more especially of youngpeople, he has always observed thehead bent backwards, with a reten-tion more or less complete of thenrine, and the semi-erect state of thepenis.Violent animal passions may be

ranked among the most powerful ex-citing causes of epilepsy in the adaltstate ; more particularly those con-nected with the function of genera-tion.

To the Editor of THE LANCET.SIR,—On the ground of being a con-

stant reader of your valuable puhlica-tion, I take the liberty of addressing aline to yon, on a subject which has fre-quently occasioned great loss of time tothe Borough students. The grievanceI complain of is the want of regularityobserved by the surgeons of Guy’sHospital in their hours of visiting thewards. One of these gentlemen at-tends most punctually, twice a week,at the time he appoints, and the pupilsare thus never disappointed; but an-other, who has no regularly fixedtime, has, day after day, week afterweek, kept us in expectation, takingthe air in the court, perhaps for morethan an hour at a time before he en-ters the wards, and then often omitshis visit altogether, deferring it untilthe following day. You, who are

aware of the various avocations of amedical student, will not, I am sure,consider this complaint as " frivolousand vexatious." By its insertion youwill highly oblige, .

Sir, your obedient servant,STUDIOSUS.

Borough, May 11, 1825.