"Says Dr. B., 'We understand, already, that the proprietor has ceded its use to the Massachusetts General Hospital, and that his intentions are extremely liberal with regard to the medical profession generally.' Not a word of the sort is in the proprietor's advertisement. Did not Swaim give his panacea to the poor gratis, and a lot of ground to build a church on to boot? And did not John Williams, the oculist, with a trunk full of seals and royal testimonials, invite all the reverend clergy to come to him, and to bring with them all the poor, blind people of their parishes, that he might cure them without money and without price?

"The 'preparation is inhaled from a small, two-necked glass globe,' and smells of ether, and is, we have little doubt, an ethereal solution of some narcotic substance. The patient is rendered insensible for a period of from five or ten minutes to an hour; the pupils are dilated; 'very young subjects are affected with nausea and vomiting, and for this reason Dr. M. has refused to administer it to children.' In one case, a patient of Dr. Dix, 'the respiration was very slow, the hands cold, and the patient insensible.' Various active measures were found necessary to restore the patient, and complete consciousness returned only at the expiration of an hour.'

"We are persuaded that the surgeons of Philadelphia will not be seduced from the high professional path of duty, into the quagmire of quackery by this will-o'-the-wisp; and if any of our respectable dentists should be tempted to try this new 'patent medicine,' we advise them to consider how great must be the influence of an agent over the nervous system, to render a person unconscious of pain,—the danger there must necessarily be from such overpowering medication, and that if a fatal result should happen to one of their patients, what would be the effect upon their conscience, their reputation and business, and how the practice would be likely to be viewed by a Philadelphia court and jury? We cannot close these remarks, without again expressing our deep mortification and regret, that the eminent men, who have so long adorned the profession in Boston, should have consented for a moment to set so bad an example to their younger brethren as we conceive them to have done in this instance. If such things are to be sanctioned by the profession, there is little need of reform conventions, or any other efforts to elevate the professional character-physicians and quacks will soon constitute one fraternity."

It may be well to add, that in the last No. of the Medical News and Library, attached to the American Journal of Medical Sciences, edited by Dr. Isaac Hays, and also published in Philadelphia, a large part of Dr. Bigelow's first article is copied, which the editor says he hastens to lay before his readers. But few comments accompany it.

Anatomical Materiel.—This last word now stands in the place of subject for dissection, and is likely to become familiar to ears medical, through the extra bulletins of the University School in New York, and the Geneva College in the same great State. This matter was alluded to week before last, since which, the published documents and a communication from Dr. Webster, have been received. Dr. W. is a spirited man, whose energy cannot be put to sleep with mesmeric passes. If he is thoroughly convinced that the University gentlemen have done wrong intentionally, the fur will fly a long while to come. In consequence of having more

communications on hand than can possibly be disposed of for a month, we are obliged to forego the publication of Dr. Webster's paper on the materiel case for the present week.

Edema of the Glottis; Erysipelas propagated to the Mucous Membrane of the Mouth and Larynx; Scrofulous Abscesses in the Neck.—Mr. R. W. Smith presented to the Pathological Society of Dublin a specimen taken from the body of a man, æt. 36, who labored under strumous enlargement of the cervical lymphatic glands; several of the tumors suppurated, and the matter made its exit near the ear: slight febrile symptoms followed, and in a few days erysipelas appeared on the neck and lower part of the face after a few days more the erysipelas began to fade from the skin, but at the same time spread over the lips and attacked the mucous membrane of the mouth; difficulty of breathing and dysphagia rapidly succeeded; the patient became semi-comatose, and died. Upon examination of the body it was found that the erysipelas had spread to the orifice of the larynx, producing oedema of the glottis; the submucous tissue of the arytenoid region being infiltrated with serum. Mr. Smith also detailed the case of a man, æt. 48, who was admitted with erysipelas of the head and face; upon the seventh day after the reception of a lacerated wound of the scalp the erysipelas spread to the mucous membrane, and the man died suddenly upon the twelfth day. Post-mortem examination discovered effusion of serum in the sub-mucous tissue, covering the left arytenoid cartilage; the mucous membrane was elevated in the form of a tense, shining vesicle, which overhung and closed the orifice of the larynx.-Dublin Quarterly Journal of Medical Sciences.

Quack Doctors and Medicines.-The Mayor of Lyons has just issued a proclamation that no bills or placards announcing the treatment of any disease by particular individuals, or the sale of any particular medicines, shall be posted on any of the walls of the city, or otherwise exposed to public view; and further that none of the public newspapers shall insert any such announcement in their advertisements or otherwise. A similar ordinance has been issued in Paris and every city in France.—Jour. de Chem. Méd.

TO READERS AND CORRESPONDENTS.-An extra sheet of eight pages is sent out with to-day's Journal, which enables us to publish the excellent paper of Dr. Stone, on artificial pupil, which has been on hand some time, and also some portion of the matter which is pouring in respecting the all-engrossing topic of the day. A mass of other deferred papers is still unpublished, but their writers may depend upon the earliest possible attention being given them. There have also been received, communications from Prof. Webster, of Geneva, N. Y.; from Dr. E. D. Mansfield, of S. Reading; Dr. Bugbee, of Michigan ; Dr. É. Warren, of Newton'; Dr. W. C. Wallace N. York.

DIED,-In Townsend, Mass.. of consumption, Dr. John Bertram.-In Penn Yan, Dr. William Cornwell-drowned-In New York, Dr. M. H. Burrell. 37.

Report of Deaths in Boston-for the week ending Dec. 12th, 43.-Males, 20-females, 23.Stillborn, 3. Of consumption, 7-old age, 2-dropsy, 2-marasmus, 5-typhus fever, 6-intemperance, 1-throat distemper, 1-suicide, 1-teething, 2-jaundice, 1-inflammation of the bowels, —infantile. 1—croup, 3-paralysis, 1-dysentery, 2-disease of the heart, 1-chickenpox, 1— pleurisy, 1-accidental, 1-hip disease, 1-liver disease, 1-hemorrhage, 1.

Under 5 years, 14-between 5 and 20 years, 3-between 20 and 40 years, 13—between 40 and 60 years, 7-over 60 years, 6.

Menstrual Function in Apes and Monkeys.-No very precise record is extant of the facts that exist and might be collected to show that a menstrual flux exists in the apes and monkeys, for the same end that it does in our own race, and regulated by the same laws. A few months since, a large female ape was brought to Boston, from the West Coast of Africa, in a condition to excite the curiosity of medical inquirers, who are well convinced, both from what they actually saw, and the relations of the master of the vessel, that the quadrumana, in their own country, menstruate regularly, but not as frequently, it was suggested, as females of the human species. Dr. J. B. S. Jackson, we opine, must have collected some curious physiological observations on this point, having examined the animal the day after its arrival.

Recently, we have gleaned a mass of information illustrative of the sexual developments, propensities and habits, of this family of animals (semia), from an intelligent keeper of a menagerie, which could no where else have been collected. He says that all the female apes, monkeys, baboons, &c. menstruate at regular periods in his establishment. If any of our correspondents could furnish the results of their observations to show how extensively this law operates, and how it is modified when animals from a tropical region are brought to this, they will confer a special favor on professed naturalists, as well as physiologists.

Strength of the Human Skull.-Practical anatomists are eloquent in their osteological comments upon the carpentry of the skull. Who that has listened weeks in succession to lectures on the bones, does not recollect how much is said on the arrangement of the arches in the interior of the cranium, which give it great power of resistance in short, were the frame-work of the head constructed upon any other principle than the one nature adopted, such are the shocks and blows to which it is constantly exposed, the walls would be frequently broken, and the functions of the brain destroyed. But no lecture room demonstration, however ingeniously illustrated, hypothetically, can compare with the following fact." A few days since," says the Amherst Express, "a son of Mr. Dudley, of Shutesbury, Mass., about five years old, accidentally fell from a cart containing about twelve hundred pounds weight, which passed directly over his head. He received no apparent injury except a slight bruise near the ear, made by the wheel."

Medical Miscellany.-Dr. Ninian Pinkney has gone out surgeon of the Sloop of War Albany, bound to the Gulf of Mexico.-A board of six Naval Surgeons have decided that the cause of the disease which has been prevalent at the Pensacola Navy Yard, was of local origin.-The cholera is still raging in Mecca and Medina, and report says it has crossed the Red Sea, and is now sweeping off the inhabitants of Egypt. Nearly one hundred deaths occur daily in Bagdad by it.-One Dr. Longshare has been fined in Penn., for a misdemeanor, viz., blocking up the way by the crowd that went to hear him lecture on teimperance.-Fifteen hundred troops are believed to have died since opening the campaign on the Rio Grande. In ten years, Morison, the great English pill manufacturer, paid the Government for stamps, or, in other words, a license to bequack Her Majesty's subjects, the enormous sum of £800,000.

THE

BOSTON MEDICAL AND SURGICAL JOURNAL.

VOL. XXXV. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1846.

No. 21.

THE MEDICAL SCHOOL IN BOSTON.

[Communicated for the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal.]

ITs founder, the eloquent brother of General Joseph Warren,* taught anatomy, surgery, physiology, obstetrics, not in lack of accomplished aspirants to these various, high subjects; he sufficed without foreign aid; "gave, borrowed not." His indulgent gentleness, in differing from his colleagues, invited respectful attention, and guards to the ardor of early professional life, "winning souls, suaviter in modo, fortiter in re." The School dwelt not then in palaces, attracting admiration and respect; but in the attic of a drug-store, retired from jealous notice. The pupils, instead of assembling in commodious amphitheatres, followed the surgeon a dozen miles, to see a cataract couched! "We have no such lengths to go." Anatomical research, almost driven in labor, watch and peril, to rob graves, was even brought to the criminal dock. To meet pecuniary costs of such sorrows, esprit du corps was appealed to; but selfreproach, "wounded spirit, who could bear"? Now, enlightened legislation fosters anatomical inquiry, and allays public apprehension.

A small cabinet treasured the anatomical museum, another the medical books; a sort of cave of little Holden-Chapel in Cambridge held chemistry. Now, besides its commodious quarters in the new Medical College, chemistry occupies half of Harvard Hall. The Prof. of Anatomy (Dr. Warren) has expended more than $20,000 on his own museum, which is well arranged in that College, and more than $3000 for a choice duplicate of our skeleton of the mastodon; to make it well accessible to inquirers, he will spend twice that sum.‡

Par nobile! may it be of their Paradise to know of our blessings and prospects, of which they were harbingers!-Gen. Warren left the medical profession. which he graced, for his country's service. We are not old enough to have seen him mount to heaven and reach a crown of glory; we had the edifying spectacle of Dr. Warren in self-forgetful, self-regardless daily course, richly earning a heavenly wreath. His, too, was generous martyrdom. His last illness followed immediately exposure to extreme, tempestuous weather, and fatigue, in his anxiety to meet extraordinary emergencies urging his professional notice.

+ Only Mr. Daniel Webster's ingenious eloquence, sympathy, devotion, averted prison! but not exile beyond the circle of distressed, harrowed friends of the violated dead, and of public resentment, execration. That excellent teacher of anatomy. Dr. Thomas Sewall, was driven, in his household's apprehension and dismay, from his native Ipswich. Mass, to Washington, D. C., where, it was the bright part of his life, he enjoyed, to his death, Mr. Webster's good will and furtherance, which our profession gratefully acknowledge.

When President Quincy, whose intimations have ever been locomotives of good will to Alma Mater, suggested that $25,000 worth of books were needed in the University library; that,

A Samaritan, L., who never "passes by on the other side," proposes to grace our late Medical College with "Children, come!-of such is Heaven." Another temple of beneficence is planned, inscribed “ Eyes to the blind!" On our hospital, might long ago have been written, " Feet to the lame!"

To Cicero's precepts, De dolore tolerando, he adds, Lævatio agritudinus omni e philosophia fructus uberrimus--a tribute due to a prescription lately published here, to be hereafter fully and authentically developed, as to inducing sleepiness, insusceptibility of pain under surgical operations, by inhaling sulphuric ether vapor.

*

May medical learning grace its palaces; instant, in season, out of season, minister, take care of, cherish, soothe, watch, wait, doubt, refrain, reform, elevate, instruct-try to heal-unspotted prove its uses, magnify its apostleship, fulfil its high, sacred vocation, its almost religion; natura duce, bene agere ac lætari.

Few, says Louis, have the talent, inclination for observation of disease, thorough regard for truth, elevation of character. The physician's is an office demanding greater sacrifices than any other: his is Cicero's motto, "Non domus perfugium, non lectus ad quietem: multa pertuli, concessi, meo dolore sanavi.

DR. BETHUNE ON THE DISEASE KNOWN AS MORBID SENSIBILITY OF THE RETINA, ILLUSTRATED BY CASES.

[Communicated for the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal-Concluded from page 592.1

TREATMENT.-The first and most important is, as far as possible, to give the eyes rest, at least from all exertion of sight on small objects or such as require any great effort of vision. Reading, sewing, the exposure to lighted rooms, &c., should be carefully avoided. As a general rule the patient should be encouraged to go freely into the broad light of day, even though it temporarily aggravate the pain, as entire seclusion is apt to render the eye still more sensitive. For the same reason, for com

duly to "consider the heaven, the moon and the stars," a great telescope should be provided, and other instruments, and a tower to receive them, which might cost $50,000-salaries for observers, from $1500 to $2000-soon the books were ours, the tower was reared. Prof Pierce and Messrs. Bond will soon be sweeping the firmament through that wondrous object-glass! To this matter Mr. David Sears gave $10,500. Mr. P. C. Brooks cast in $10,000, that the President of the University may dwell in a palace, as he merits. (In olden time, " £150 were assigned for a house to be built for the President. The students were assessed 9d. per quarter for the support of public worship"!)

66

* Our medical school's and our profession's "days of small things,' our actual prosperity and reasonable expectations, recal to me "Lafayette's welcome" among us in 1824; the orator of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, now President of our University, alluding to Lafayette's youthful request of passage to this land, and our Government's reluctant, mortifying answer, we have no means, even of so humble accordance to the noble offerer to our cause of his comfort and best blood." That we had been in such straits, then caused in him and other stout hearts near him in age, an overflow of emotion! That personification of patriotism, Judge Story, seemed as if sup plicating "oh that my eyes were fountains!"-answer was graciously vouchsafed to the prayer! Was any passage of Lafayette's life more illustrative of his merits, more likely to induce our substantial acknowledgment of them which cheered his old age! Providence, kind and large," led our Country, University, our Medical School, from very small things to much greater! Præcipui Academiam Deo administrari, Ille salvum voluit.