CASE I.

W. J. a seaman, applied to me for advice respecting the treatment of sores on the glans penis. The account he gave of them was as follows. He had observed similar ones to these about a year ago, while in England. They had supervened shortly after sexual intercourse; that he had applied to a surgeon, who had ordered a mercurial course, supposing them to be syphilitic. The sores, however, did not yield, but were manifestly aggravated by the specific action of the mercury. He now went to sea, the mercurial course was suspended, the ulcers grew healthy and soon healed. It was soon after his return from this voyage, sexual intercourse having been had, that ulcers similar in their appearance, reappeared, and for these he applied to me. From taking the circumstances into consideration, I apprehended that these were not venereal; they had not the most striking characters of chancre. I therefore ordered a wash composed of lime-water and the sub-muriate of mercury, and in a few days my patient was very well, and has continued so now, at the distance of some months.

No one will contend for a moment that the cure in the preceding case was effected by the specific action of the mercury used in the wash; for a disease in the same parts, with exactly similar appearances had been aggravated by the constitutional mercurial irritation; whereas the cure in this case was undoubtedly the effect of local stimulus alone, and which might with equal ease have been the effect of any other stimulus acting with an equal power. But it may be asked, how can local stimulus act to the production of a cure, of a diseased action, which is aggravated when the curative process is carried on by the same means through the agency of the system at large. We reply, that the very nature of a local irritation, diseased action, or whatever it may be called, implies a local remedy. That while higher or lower degrees of excitement are believed to occur in parts only, local stimuli or sedatives promise cure.—In short, not the smallest necessity can be supposed for constitutional remedies for local disorder, since it has not in the small. est degree any connection with the system at large, it has not proceeded from any derangement in it, and of course cannot require such derangement as specifics produce, for its cure.

(To be continued.)

CASE AND DISSECTION OF A BLUE FEMALE

CHILD:

In a Letter from John S. Dorsey, M. D. Adjunct Professor of Surgery in the University of

Pennsylvania.

S. R. when born, was for a considerable time supposed to be dead-did not cry, or evince any living actions. The lungs were artificially inflated for several minutes, and life at length appeared, but very feebly.-A livid countenance, with frequent syncope took place. With great maternal care the infant was kept alive, and as she grew became remarkably sprightly and active. When two years old was unusually intelligent and fond of exercise. As she advanced in age, her fondness for violent exercise in playing often exposed her to danger, as these efforts never failed to produce syncope and a kind of convulsion. Laughing, crying, or any emotion of mind, also brought on the syncope, from which, after falling into a horizontal position, she generally soon recovered. Her countenance, at all times blueish and livid, was in these fits extremely so. Her nails were always of the colour of litmus, or perhaps a little nearer to violet.

She had the usual diseases of children, the vaccine-chicken pox-scarlatina-whooping cough-measles-from all which she recovered as rapidly as is usual. The peculiarities of those children in whom the foramen ovale of the heart remains open, all appeared in this little girl, and need not be more minutely described.

After death the thorax was examined.-It was of an unusual shape, being more cylindrical than common, and the lungs having less the form of a cloven hoof, when inflated, than they usually assume. The heart was very small. In place of a right auricle was observed a small appendage like the edge of that portion of the heart, not capable of containing more than one fourth its usual contents. The right ventricle was as firm in texture as the left, and the quantity of muscular substance about equal in both ventricles. But the most singular circumstance was in the distribution of the great arteries. The pulmonary was extremely small. The aorta of unusual size, and communicating with both ventricles.

9*

SPURRED RYE.

THIS article has been introduced into general notice through the medium of the New York Medical repository, and in this quarter more particularly by Dr. Thacher, in his valuable Dispensatory. Our experience has fully satisfied us of its powers "ad partum accelerandum." It has not appeared to us to relax "the rigidity of the contracted muscular fibres;" but it has almost uniformly increased the efforts of the uterus to expel the fœtus. Accordingly, where an increase of those efforts was alone wanting, it has hastened the termination of the labour.

But we are apprehensive that one evil may sometimes result from its use, which has not been hitherto suggested, and this is the death of the child. In ordinary labours the head of the child is pushed forward by every pain, and undergoes oftentimes considerable pressure; but this is commonly of short duration, for it retreats as soon as the pain goes off. But when the ergot has been administered, the efforts of the uterus are so continued, that even though the head be not constantly pressed forward, it is never allowed to retreat. So at least it happens in many cases, and the head is consequently subject to unceasing pressure for several minutes, and occasionally for half an hour or an hour. It would not be surprising if the life of the child should sometimes be lost under these circumstances.-In truth, so we fear it has been; for we were led to the foregoing reflections by observing that in a large proportion of cases, where the ergot was employed, the children did not respire for an unusual length of time after the birth; and in several cases the children were irrecoverably dead.

It would be a consolation to us to learn that we are alone in the foregoing observations; but we feel it a duty to give this caution, and we hope others will be equally ready in stating their observations, if they have been equally unfortunate. At present we think that this powerful article should be administered only to women, who have previously had children, where the presentation is natural, and where there is a very perfect relaxation both of the os tincæ and os externum.

ON SOME

PHYSIOLOGICAL RESEARCHES,

RESPECTING THE INFLUENCE OF THE BRAIN ON THE ACTION OF THE HEART, AND ON THE GENERATION OF ANIMAL HEAT.

BY MR. B. C. BRODIE, F.R.S.

Read before the Royal Society, December 20, 1810.

HAVING had the honour of being appointed by the President of the Royal Society, to give the Croonian Lecture, I trust that the following facts and observations will be considered as tending sufficiently to promote the objects for which the lecture was instituted. They appear to throw some light on the mode in which the influence of the brain is necessary for the continuance of the action of the heart; and on the effect, which the changes produced on the blood in respiration have on the heat of the animal body.

In making experiments on animals, to ascertain how far the influence of the brain is necessary to the action of the heart, I found that when the animal was pithed, by dividing the spinal marrow in the neck, respiration was immediately destroyed, but the heart still continued to contract, circulating dark coloured blood, and in some instances, from 10 to 15 minutes elapsed before its action had entirely ceased. I further found that when the head was removed, the divided blood vessels being secured by ligature, the circulation still continued, apparently unaffected by the entire separation of the brain. These experiments confirmed the observations of Mr. Cruikshank* and M. Bichat,† that the brain is not directly necessary to the action of the heart, and that when the functions of the brain are destroyed, the circulation ceases only in consequence of the suspension of respiration. This led me to conclude, that, if respiration was produced artificially, the heart would continue to contract for a still longer • Phil. Trans. 1795.

Recher. Physiolog. sur la Vie et la Mort.

period of time after the removal of the brain. The truth of this conclusion was ascertained by the following experiment.

EXPERIMENT Í.

I divided the spinal marrow of a rabbit in the space between the occiput and atlas, and having made an opening into the trachea, fitted into it a tube of elastic gum, to which was connected a small pair of bellows, so constructed that the lungs might be inflated, and then allowed to empty themselves. By repeating this proces once in five seconds, the lungs being each time fully inflated with fresh atmospheric air, an artificial respiration was kept up. I then secured the blood vessels in the neck, and removed the head by cutting through the soft parts above the ligature, and separating the occiput from the atlas. The heart continued to contract, apparently with as much strength and frequency as in a living animal. I examined the blood in the different sets of vessels, and found it dark coloured in the venæ cave and pulmonary artery, and of the usual florid red colour in the pulmonary veins and aorta. At the end of twenty five

minutes from the time of the spinal marrow being divided, the action of the heart became fainter, and the experiment was put an end to.

With a view to promote the inquiry instituted by the society for promoting the knowledge of animal chemistry, respecting the influence of the nerves on the secretions,* I endeavoured to ascertain whether they continued after the influence of the brain was removed. In the commencement of the experiment I emptied the bladder of its contents by pressure; at the end of the experiment the bladder continued empty.

This experiment led me to conclude that the action of the heart might be made to continue after the brain was removed, by means of artificial respiration; but that under these circumstances, the secretion of urine did not take place. It appeared, however, desirable to repeat the experiment on a larger and less delicate animal; and that in doing so, it would be right to ascertain whether, under these circumstances, the animal heat was kept up to the natural standard.

* Phil. Trans. for 1809.