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This reminds us of the flagellations recommended in cases of poisoning by opium. The dissecting rooms of Clamart have been closed, by order of the director of hospitals, till the end of June, to prevent any insalubrious effects from the accumulation of subjects. The municipal body of Paris have voted £6,000 for burial expenses, and £2,000 for the extraor dinary cholera dispensaries. The council of the Bank of France have sent £1,000 to the prefect of the Seine, to be distributed to poor families bereft by cholera. Two large mansions belonging to the state, one lately occupied by General Cavaignac, the other by the Austrian ambassador, have been converted into cholera hospitals. Opinions are still at variance as to the contagious nature of cholera. warm discussion took place on the subject the other day, at the Academy of Medicine; and it is but right that our readers should know, that so high an authority as M. Velpeau affirms that the disease is contagious. A contagionist medical practitioner of a certain village, having struck terror into the minds of the people, the sick remained without assistance, and the dead without burial, so much so that the clergyman. was obliged to bury them himself. M. Melier, who mentioned this circumstance in the Academy, promised to name the place to the cholera-committee. Eating-houses and butchers shops are being examined by the police, upon an order from the Board of Health.

A TESTIMONY IN FAVOUR OF TEMPERANCE AND THE WATER CURE.

BY JOHN GREAVES, ESQ.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE WATER CURE JOURNAL.

DEAR SIR, I send you my published case, with which you may make whatever use you please, to which I may add, that I am now in the 76th year of my age, enjoying perfect health; few men of my age can walk or ride on horseback more miles in a day than I can, nevertheless, my pulse

continues to be extremely irregular. A physician who felt it some two years since, said, "That pendulum must cease!" Another physician within the last few months said, "It is a mad pulse." Yet, thank God, it goes on and on much to my

satisfaction.

From the day on which I commenced hydropathic treatment viz., the 16th of October, 1843, to this day, I have not had within my lips one grain of medicine.

Influenced by the motive stated in the first paragraph of my "Testimony," I am a devoted advocate for hydropathy; have read most of the works published in England upon the subject; have visited twelve establishments, some of them more than once; have conversed with numerous patients, and witnessed numerous cures; the more I read, see, and hear, the more I think upon the subject, the more I am convinced that the prediction which I published in the year 1844, is being verified, viz., "Hydropathy (it may be slowly, but certainly not the less surely) is working a revolution in the healing art." It was in the preface to the History of Cold Bathing, published by Groombridge and Sons. Wishing your Journal every success,

I remain, dear Sir, yours faithfully,

JOHN GREAVES.

Radford Semele, near Leamington, August 17th, 1849.

A TESTIMONY.

Wishing to caution young men against the habits of intemperance, and to afford consolation and encouragement to others who may suffer, as I have done, from dyspepsia, disease of the heart, and dropsy, with their concomitants, prostration of bodily strength and mental distress, I publish the following narrative of my case.

I am in the seventy-second year of my age. When at school I drank, as other boys did, small beer at dinner and supper. When I returned home I was allowed a little ale, and sometimes, by way of a treat, a glass of wine; and I dare say I never refused my glass. At the age of twenty-one, or thereabouts, I took ale, spirit and water, or wine, as I pleased, Business led me into inns, and inclination into company, so that I had early training and the other common

temptations to drink deep. Yet I never did so. I invariably abstained from drinking before dinner; I scarcely ever tasted neat spirit, and was never intoxicated but twice. The last time was at an early age, in a party at Dublin, when I completely lost my senses. Upon finding them again the next morning, I was so mortified at my folly, and so unwell, that I resolved never to do the like again. For many years I usually took four or five glasses of wine at dinner, and frequently a pint, which I seldom exceeded. I took in addition a glass or two of ale or porter, and sometimes a glass of brandy and water at night.

Such, I confess, has been my practice as to drinking; and now let me state what was the result. I find that, for the sake of a daily stimulus, always followed and counterbalanced by depression, I have purchased, at the cost of £3,000, days and weeks of misery.

Upon calculation I cannot have spent less than 1s. 6d. per day in drink-say 10s. per week; this, improved at 4 per cent., compound interest, for forty-four years, amounts to £3,000, which sum, I have reason to believe, I might have made of it.

Moreover, the money paid for medical advice and for medicine. which was to a large amount, should be added to the direct pecuniary loss. But all these combined, serious as they are, are trifling compared with the losses I have sustained in a physical and moral sense; for who can calculate the worth of health and happiness? They are beyond all price. I had seldom been well long together; having been subject to dyspepsia, and fits of palpitation of the heart, which, as I increased in years, became more frequent and of longer duration, insomuch as to lead me to believe that it (the heart) was subject to an organic disease.

If any one should inquire, "How do you know that the illness of which you speak was occasioned by drinking too much?" or, "Why did you not desist before ?"-to the former question I may answer,

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'I know it by long experience, as certainly as I know that I once was ill and now am well." To the latter question I may reply,

That I was taught to believe that good wine or good beer, taken in moderation, could do me no harm; and as I was never guilty of what is called excess, I considered myself to be a moderate drinker." It was not till recently (late in life, I acknowledge, but "better late than never") that I found out the mistake, and that I had been habitually drinking too much.

I believe that I may state, without presumption, that when a youth my constitution was perfect. I have always been a moderate eater and an early riser. My business and pursuits have been of an active kind, leading me much into the open air, and to take regular and rather strong exercise, very often on horseback. In a word, I say, with great thankfulness, that the circumstances and events of my life (with the exception I have stated) have been upon the whole such as contribute to health, happiness, and long life. I have seldom had a cold, and but once, for a few days only-fever. All my illness has proceeded from a disordered stomach.

Whenever I have been unwell, it has been my custom to consult a physician or other medical man, and ten at least have prescribed for me. Some have said, "Take my prescription, and take less than your usual quantity of wine, and in a few days I doubt not you will be well." Others have said, "Abstain from wine until you are well." No one ever advised me to abstain from wine as a preventive. They considered me to be a temperate man, and I thought so to. Total abstinence was never even hinted at. I took their medicine and advice, and I recovered. But no sooner was I quite well than I returned to my usual practice, led perhaps by business or inclination into company, where I had a great objection to be singular; and seeing others drink wine with apparent impunity, I have thought that I might do the same. So I have gone on, year after year, "sinning and repenting, sinning and repenting again."

In September, 1837, being much exhausted by a long and severe fit of my old complaints, my heart fluttering and throbbing, feeling assured there was something seriously wrong in that organ, I consulted Dr. John Conolly; and, in great anxiety, told him my fears. After questioning me as to my diet, habits of life, &c., and carefully examining my chest, he, to my great comfort, said, "There is no organic disease at your heart. I pledge my reputation as a physician there is not. The disorder is functional, occasioned by indigestion. An aperient medicine will relieve you now, and hereafter you must pay strict attention to your diet, and do abstain from wine." I had previously said that then I took no other fermented liquor than wine. I attended strictly to the advice I had received. The result was, the fit left me, my circulation became regular, and in a few weeks my bodily health and my spirits were restored. I had no more acidity in my stomach, no soda to correct it, no blue pills, no "blue devils."

I continued to enjoy good health until the spring of 1842—four years and a half; during which time I had only a few slight fits of palpitation, and an attack of erysipelas which confined me to the house about a week. But in April of that year, in consequence of excessive bodily fatigue, I had several shivering fits. The disease at my heart assumed a serious character, my liver became enlarged, and ultimately dropsy ensued. At this time I was attended by a skilful and kind surgeon (Mr. Hitchman of Leamington), from whom, I believe, I received all the assistance which the art of medicine could bestow. I have since thought it would have been as well for me if I had not called in the aid of any other medical man. If I had not done so, but had taken the step which I am going to state, I might have avoided a long course of medicine and misery. However, during the course of my illness, I did consult six other eminent Physicians and surgeons, (Doctor Conolly was not one of them, he, being at that time Physician to the Hanwell Lunatic Aylum, had declined private practice,) five of whom agreed in opinion that I had an organic disease of the heart. But they were not agreed upon the nature of it. One said the left ventricle was contracted, in consequence of which the blood regurgitated. Another said he thought the heart was enlarged. The first I consulted was a good old London physician, long celebrated for his attention to heart complaints. He said ossification had commenced, and, it might be for my edification, it certainly was not for my amusement, minutely described the process which was going on within my chest, concluded by saying: Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life-let nothing disturb your mind or body, and you may live even for years. Do not ride on horseback-if the house should be on fire, do not run away from it." This physician gave me "Hydrd. cum Pil Scilla" quant: suf: to keep my mouth sore for a fortnight. Another medical gentleman, after I had left his consulting room, kindly called me back, and entreated me to lead a tranquil life. In a word, they all gave me the same advice, which, in nautical language, was to "trim the boat and sit quiet."

I have now before me twenty-eight of their prescriptions, and queer, outlandish documents they are. I cannot conceive what worthy motive physicians can have for so disguising their prescriptions.

The last medical gentleman under whose care I was-than whom there are few of higher character and standing-in a private con