535

the heels so as to obtain pressure on the

frog, we are left ignorant of his definitionof proper paring," which we still contendcan only mean what was before stated.Do cam and beacns illustrate the doctrine

offrogpressure’? ? We cannot discover the

intimate connection, and a grand point ofdifference spoils the pretended analogy,inasmuch as the horse can always exert a will of his own in eating his provender,while the degree of frog pressure is sub-servient too often to the fancy or stupidityof those who impose it.

As to mistaking the mejtM for the end, weconsider that the end is always governed bythe means, which, therefore, are of greatestconsequence ; thus, for instance, we have

shown, that the end this gentleman proposes(i. e. frog pressure) cannot be obtained inthe degree the Professor has taught, bythe means of full and level heels and a com-

mon shoe. However, these are things, lTr.

Ganly, which not only the purely scientific,but the merely reasonable man may see.But to argue against such objections is totrifle away time. What has become of the

patent artificial frog, the thin-heeled shoe,the patent frog and spit-bar shoes ? in

these alone we can behold this collegebugbear perfectly developed ; where are

they ? They are gone by, laid aside for

ever; and now we are told, in excusa anddefence of Mr. Coleman, that, in what is

really common shoeing, much benefit is de-rived from the simple profession of this nowimaginary principle, which experience hasproved to be worse than useless when di-rectly applied.

In what degree this can be beneficial letour readers judge, and also how far anything which has hitherto been advanced hasgone to invalidate the truth of the principleswe advocate, for these minor discussions

must not make us lose sight of the ques-

tion before us-the elasticity of the foot ofthe horse, and the necessity and proprietyof aa expansion shoe.

SUBSCRIPTION

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OPHTHALMIC INSTITUTIONS.

Tu the Editorof’!’rrF LANCET.SIR,-No department of the medical pro-

fession requires, in a greater degree, thepruning touch of your reforming hand, thanthe Ophthalmic Surgery of London. For al-

though, by the progress of knowledge, ithas been rescued from the clutches of pro-fessed quacks ; yet, melancholy to think,it has now become the property of thosewho, under the mask of a scientific garb,wear, in their hearts, the very spirit of

empiricism. No part of medicine has, withinthe last few years, advanced with such rapidstrides as ophthalmic surgery, and nowherehave the principles that ought to regulatethe treatment of disease, been more fullydeveloped and explained than in it ; yet it isobvious to every attentive mind, that nearlyall the London nculists treat these complaints,on plans diametrically opposite to those

principles which guide the practice of scien.tific medical men, in the same diseases oc-curring in other organs and textures. Thishas chiefly arisen from the desire of certainindividuals to acquire for themselves a

reputation for manual dexterity, which, ifthey once obtain, they know will procurefor them a monopoly of this lucrative branchof the trade. You have already held up toview the spirit and motives that gave originto the Moorfields Ophthalmic Infirmary,but these may be justly extended to all the

eye institutions of this metropolis. Nothingcan prove the truth of this more than the

striking fact, that not a single improvementin ophthalmic surgery, since the days oi theillustrious Saundeis, has emanated fromthese dark abodes of artifice.One professed oculist, who at this mo-

ment enjoys a large share of this practice,treats his patients on the most narrow andempirical views of disease. A great varietyof the affections to which the eye is sub-

ject, arise from constitutional causes, andare inseparably connected with the differentderangements of the general system, yet allhis remedies consist in the application of avast variety of drops, ointments, and solu-

536

tions, and in numerous dexterous manipu- I

lations. But this hero, like another Crich-ton, thinks himself invincible, and thus ,,trusts entirely to the dexterity of his ownunerring hands. No one is admitted to viewhis secret operations, and none but theblind are allowed to darken the entrance ofhis ophthalmic grotto, but truth will find itsway even from "unknown lands;" and manyof his patients, after suffering for monthsunder his treatment, have at length desertedhim, !and divulged the secret practises ofthe sorcerer. But his day will soon beover; he will disappear from the fashion-able horisons, and, like a fallen star, leavenot a trace behind.Taking advantage of that warlike chal-

lenge which was offered to you, Mr. Editor,we took the liberty of paying a forenoonvisit, with the necessary precaution, how-ever, of being well armed, to the West-minster Eye Infirmary, in order to have apeep, unnoticed and unknown, at the dreaddoings of the blustering chief who presideswith almost feudal power within its pom-pous walls, and likewise to contemplate, ata sacred distance, that visual hero, 1’ebbs,who, although tender in years, and unpre-tending in talent, has yet derived, from thereflected knowledge of his master, a degreeof ophthalmic information, which has placedhim far beyond the level of five-sixths of thewrong-headed surgeons of London. Theclassic scenes which now opened to our viewwould baffle the pencil of a Hogarth to de-pict, nor can any language which we pos-sess convey an adequate idea of its ludicrousnature, considering its connexion with thedignified profession of medicine, nor of ourpity for the numerous patients who weresubjected to the blind practice.. On one side of the " modest author" wasplaced a table divided into innumerable par-titions, in which were to be found everykind of unguent, from simple oil to the

yellow or golden ointment, with every genusand species of wash, and a vast variety ofparcels of medicine for all ages and consti-tutions ; in one corner might belseen a9-grainsolution of the nitrate of silver, in anothera saturated one of the chlorate of soda. Ten

patients passed from " the presence," with-out bearing a memento of each of these.They were marched up stairs, and placedbefore the military Guthrie in tens. In ashrill voice, that might °° call spirits fromthe vasty deep," on our entrance, he askedfor 29, on whose approach, he exclaimed," By Gad! well now! here’s a curious

case, do your eyes run hot or cold ? This iswhat some people would call rheumatic in-flammation of the cornea, but I don’t see

why they should-putt him in a drop. No. 9,let him putt a blister on the nape of hisneck, and give him some seenna tea in the i

morning." No. 30. " Now this is a casewhere I extracted cataracts from both eyes.One eye is cured, (i. e. able to distinguishlight from darkness,) the other I ’!putt out."

"

We are strongly inclined to suspect, thatMr. Guthrie will putt out many eyes, till helearns to subdue inflammatory action byother means than the employment of stimu-lating washes, and ’° oxymuriate" drops.It is with much regret we have to informyou, Sir, that all those allegations whichyou published in a former Number, and towhich you received so terrific an answer,are, in every respect, correct ; in proof ofwhich, we have only to refer to a certain

protest which is entered on the books of thishospital, and which we think Mr. Guthriewould have no great inclination to see

figuring in your pages. But let me not

weary you with too minute a detail ; the

specimen which is now before you, will con-vince you that the practice of this Institu-tion is conducted on far different principlesthan those derived from an acquaintancewith the philosophy of medical science.Having paid the due tribute of attention tothe more prominent actors, we looked forsome God-like countenance, which mightbetray to us the too celebrated Tebbs, butwe looked in vain, for all had the appear.ance of ordinary mortals ; and, on inquiry,we were horrified to find, that the sameblast which had wafted his fame to everycorner of the earth, had extinguished hismoral existence, he had fled, no one knewwhither, and

" bid adieuTo all, save memory of you."

Aciss.

PUPILS OF ST. GEORGE’S HOSPITAL.

To the Editor of THE LANCET.SIR,-It is with great reluctance that I

trouble you with a short list of the grievancesand insults which the surgical pupils of St.

George’s Hospital are forced to submit to,and I am afraid that unless it is through thecolumns of THE 1,ANCEl, it will be long be-fore they are redressed. They are as fol-low :-First, The irregularity of the sur-

geons’ attendance : among the list of regu-lations placed in the hand of the student,at the time of introduction at the weeklyboard, (where the Rev. Mr. Hughes is al-ways placed as Chairman,) is the following:" That each pupil or apprentice shall be atthe Hospital every morning at ten, and notdepart till two, or until the surgeons shallhave left." Here, Mr. Editor,is a grievanceindeed, as the surgeons do not condescend tomake their appearance until nearly one; and