but who concerns himself about the suffering physician? And yet he has most frequently to experience that in bereavements the tears of survivors become like aquafortis to his soul, and that powerlessness to save others curdles as it were his own blood.

"But I hear you exclaim, 'O desine renovare dolores!' and therefore I will cease to complain, and solace myself with the hope, that as in other respects there have been improvements in the condition of the medical man, so there will be also in regard to consideration shown to their feelings.

"He, who has read the letters of Zimmermann which appeared after his death, will remember that medical attendants in noble houses were formerly accommodated with a seat but not with a chair, and that domestic physicians were permitted to use riding horses but not leather bridles.

"There is no word of more frequent recurrence in Japan than 'Patience!' Golownin's journey and the narrative of his captivity in that country suffices to teach the European physician contentment. You indeed practised patience and resignation so thoroughly, that you may justly claim the palm of victory." P. 61.

The remarks of Dr. Mackness upon this admirable letter are worthy indeed of his theme :

"The trials (of medical men) here described, may be chiefly classed under two heads the sorrows of sympathy and the sorrows of isolation.

"The first of these, the sorrows of sympathy, especially pertain to the medical profession, and woe to him who enters into it without a full appreciation of his requirements in this respect, for his duty and conduct will then be full of inconsistencies. A medical man, more than any other individual, is called to drop in the words of consolation in the hour of trouble, for to him only is often confided the heart-sorrows of his fellow-creatures. What is a medical man worth who has no feeling for his patients, or who looks upon them merely as puppets, by working with which he is able to make up a certain amount of income! who has not a deep sense of the solemn responsibility of being, to some extent, the guardian of the lives and health, those dearest earthly blessings which constitute the happiness of his fellow-creatures, who is incapable of tasting the sweet pleasure of bringing ease to the sufferer-hope to the drooping-health to those who, without his aid, would sink under disease!" P. 62.

After showing that nothing save "high moral and religious principles of action" can sustain and direct the physician in the many and varied trials which his mission necessarily imposes upon him, and quoting a very beautiful passage from the correspondence of Dr. Lettsom, Dr. Mackness vindicates, with much good feeling, the character of the medical profession in point of disinterested humanity to the suffering poor.

"Who is first appealed to by the destitute in the hour of nature's suffering? Nay, who is most ready to attend on such occasions? It is the medical man. Wherever human misery exists, wherever pain is endured, in the lowest hovels of the poor, where disease and death, contagion with all that is offensive to the outward senses are present, there will be found the medical man, alleviating pain, soothing the sorrowful, smoothing the pillow of death, and offering consolation to the survivors; and often all this without the slightest expectation of reward. No class of the community, not even the ministers of religion, are called to make such immense personal sacrifices as medical men; nor is any class so little appreciated for their humanity and generous disinterestedness, at least by the public generally." P. 65.

Often indeed are his services, even when most harassing, not known; and, when known, not appreciated or even admitted. No one, therefore,

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Life and Character of Hallé.

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has so much need as a medical man of looking for his recompence in the secret approval of his own conscience, and of Him who is greater than his conscience, and knoweth all things.

So much for the sorrows of sympathy; let us now see what Dr. M. has to say touching the sorrows of isolation. The following passage will shew his sentiments upon this subject.

"The other trials of feeling mentioned, peculiar to a medical man, seem to arise out of his isolated position. Few but those of his own profession can enter into his feelings, or sympathise with them, and when sickness comes near himself or his family, he has, less than others, the comfort of hope. He is so conversant with every symptom, every ailment, that his mind is apt to get into a morbid state through his very familiarity with disease, and hence it has often been remarked that medical men are bad patients. If it be, indeed, the fact that medical men receive less of general sympathy in the domestic and personal trials which befall them, it may, perhaps, arise from this, that they are supposed to be so sufficient for themselves that sympathy is deemed almost impertinent. Another and a sadder cause, when sickness befalls them in their own persons, is, that they are compelled to conceal it as much and as long as possible, lest they should be deemed unfit for their duties. There is, indeed, a sad want of gratitude and generous feeling sometimes displayed in this respect. On the first indication that a medical man's health is failing, persons will begin to relax in their adherence to him, and to look about for some new candidate, when a little patience and forbearance on their part might enable him, who has, perhaps, many a time stood beside their couch of suffering, to regain his exhausted strength, and preserve his position. A beautiful instance of consideration and kindness is mentioned in the life of the late excellent, and noble-minded Dr. Arnold, when he was attacked by the fatal seizure which deprived, in so brief a space, our country and church of one of their brightest ornaments; he objected to his wife's wish immediately to summon medical aid, that the hour was early, and that he did not like to disturb Mr. Bucknell who had been recently ill. We are far, however, from believing that such instances are singular." P. 69.

With respect to the last sort of trial to which medical men, more than any other persons, are exposed, viz. hasty and unfair censure, we have already seen how such men as Boerhaave and Cheyne felt and acted when calumniated or unjustly accused. Whoever has the "mens sibi conscia recti" within, need not fear the shafts of envy or malice. It will never do for a medical man, if he seeks to enjoy peace and comfort at home, to think much of all the ill-natured remarks, evil speakings or insinuations to which he may be exposed abroad, whether from patients or from his professional brethren. There is a way by which he can "make even his enemies to be at peace with him." We quite agree with Dr. Mackness, that the practice of the late amiable Dr. Hope that of taking notes of every little circumstance which he thought capable of misconstruction, and obtaining the signatures of witnesses to vouch for their accuracy—is one not to be commended or imitated, at least as a general rule. It seems to indicate too little trust in the force of truth, and in the majesty of innocence. A much wiser and better advice is that of Dr. Mackness: "be patient under the trial, knowing that merit always outlives calumny, and strive, by cultivating the highest motives, to live above unjust censure."

And now we must quit the pleasant company of Professor Marx and his worthy translator; trusting, however, that, ere long, we shall have again to welcome their labours in the same agreeable path of authorship.

* O

Had our limits permitted, it was our intention to have borrowed more largely from the pages of the "Life of Dr. Cheyne." Altogether, it is one of the most interesting-aye, too, and instructive-specimens of medical biography which we have met with for a long time. It forms one of a series in the course of issue under the editorial superintendance, we understand, of Dr. Greenhill of Oxford, so favourably known to the profession by his admirable edition of Sydenham's works, and by the discovery and publication of the "Anecdota Sydenhamiana." Already the lives of Sir James Stonehouse, Dr. Burder,* and Cheyne have appeared; and we are promised those of Boerhaave, Haller, Hey, Abercrombie and others, who have adorned our ranks by the moral graces, as well as by the intellectual excellencies, of their character. "Tis a pleasing sign to observe a taste for professional biography springing up in our literature; few things are better calculated to keep alive a spirit of sound and healthy feeling among us than the occasional retrospect of the lives of the great and good. It is therefore with true pleasure that we find that the editor of our very talented cotemporary, the Dublin Medical Review, has commenced a series of sketches of the more distinguished of his countrymen. The Memoir of Dr. Mosse—the founder of that noble institution, the Dublin Lying-in Hospital-in the number for last November, is full of interest. What an example of intrepid unwearying philanthropy does it unfold!

I. PRACTICAL REMARKS ON NEAR-SIGHT, AGED-SIGHT, AND IMPAIRED VISION. With Observations on the Use of Glasses and on Artificial Light. By William White Cooper. 8vo. pp. 216. Churchill, 1846.

II. A MANUAL OF THE DISEASES OF THE EYE. By S. Littel, Junr. M.D. 2nd Edition, 8vo. pp. 360. Philadelphia, 1846. III. ANNALES D'OCULISTIQUE. Tom. XIII.-XVI. Paris, 1845-6. AMONG the inconveniencies of the practice we have so frequently censured of addressing the public and the profession simultaneously, is the pecuniary grievance, which, although slight in importance compared to the other evils, is yet worth notice. Why should the educated medical reader pay for the paper and print wasted in endeavouring to instruct the non-professional peruser in the A, B, C of medical science: and why is the latter to be mulcted for the information offered to the former, which can be of no

* There is much, in the memoirs of this very estimable man, to awaken a medical practitioner to a proper sense of the duties of his responsible calling. We would specially direct the attention of the reader to the "Letters from a Senior to a Junior Physician" (which have already appeared in the Life of Dr. Hope), and also to the admirable letter of the late Dr. Abercrombie-whose praise is on everyone's lips-to Mrs. Burder on the death of her husband.

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On Spectacles.

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service, or may prove prejudicial to himself? Even Mr. Cooper's little work illustrates this on a small scale; for in it we find an account of the laws of optics and of the anatomy and physiology of the eye, which any tyro would be ashamed to confess he stood in need of; and a description of the treatment of ophthalmia and incipient amaurosis which the nonprofessional reader could not comprehend, nor would be benefited by comprehending. As respects the professional reader, we do not find that Mr. Cooper supplies him with much information additional to that which was already accessible to him in works upon optics and ophthalmology, and we scarcely think the parcelling out small portions of large subjects into separate treatises, unless novel views or extensive series of facts are to be adduced, a useful practice. Still, the work is written in a lucid and interesting manner, and will be found useful to those who have not hitherto turned their attention to the important subject upon which he treats. And what more important matter can engage the attention of the practitioner than the preservation of sight? Yet the subject has been unduly neglected by the profession, and either left to Nature's uncertain ministrations, or consigned to the care of quacks, oculists, or opticians. So strongly has M. Sichel of Paris, felt this to be the case, that he has for some time past devoted a clinical lecture weekly to the consideration of all that relates to spectacles. Some of these are now publishing in the periodical whose title we have quoted at the head of this article, as a series of papers upon "Spectacles and the pathological conditions consequent upon their injudicious employment." They are of an interesting and important character, and we proceed to lay before our readers the substance of some of them.

Accommodation of the Eye to different Distances.-The point of distinct vision, M. Sichel observes, varies much in different persons, as also does the space through which it continues in operation. The less an individual has been compelled by the nature of his occupations to constantly limit himself to one visual distance, and the more he has been in the habit of alternately exercising his eyes on near and distant objects, the more considerable will the extreme limits of his sight be. Those who have much varied the distances in this way can discern near objects as distinctly as the myop, and distant ones as well as the presbyop. The notable diminution or complete loss of the power of accommodation is the cause of the extreme conditions of myopia and presbyopia, and of the ill-consequences which follow the injurious use of spectacles.

On Spectacles.-Glasses of 48 inches focus are those of the lowest power ground for the presbyopic eye in London; and, until the last few years, the same was the case in Paris, when M. Sichel introduced those of 72, 80, and even 96 inch focus-the last being little else than a plane surface. The opticians at first ridiculed the employment of glasses of so low a power, but they have since admitted their great utility under various circumstances. Spectacles are often made oval and small, for the sake of neatness, but M. Sichel recommends their glasses being round and large, so as to cover not only the eye but its immediate vicinity. This is especially necessary for the coloured preservers intended to mitigate the effects

of the impression of light in various affections of the eye; for otherwise the light is reflected at the sides, and the centre alone being protected, the very contrast increases the injurious effect. So, too, when even colourless glasses are employed, if they are small and oval, an irregularity of refraction takes place which may cause much confusion of vision and even diplopia. Care must be taken in fitting and wearing the spectacles, so as to prevent their falling forwards on the nose, and giving rise to a different degree of refraction. They should be as close to the eye as possible, but not so close as to allow the eyelashes or other appendages to touch the glasses. Upon this subject Mr. Cooper offers a useful caution.

"There is one point of considerable importance, which is seldom regarded, viz. the fitting of the spectacle frame, so that the centre of each glass shall be exactly opposite the pupil of the corresponding eye. There are scarcely two persons of precisely the same width between the eyes, and yet in the majority of cases this fact is entirely lost sight of in the selection of spectacles. A person finds that when, at an optician's, he looks through a lens of a certain power, it suits him exactly. He sees delightfully with it, and forthwith orders spectacles of that power. He tries them on as soon as he receives them, anticipating with eagerness the comfort they will afford him; instead of which he finds he can hardly see at all, or, if he does, his eyes soon feel fatigued. The glasses are right, the error is in the frame. Unless the width between the eyes is such, that the centre of each glass is exactly in front of the eye which it is to assist, the rays that pass through the lens will not all enter the pupil, and the spectacles will be comparatively valueless. Care should be taken then, in every case, to have the bridge made of such a curve, and such a width, that the position of the lenses as regards the eyes shall be perfect, both horizontally and vertically." P. 125.

Mr. Cooper also thus expresses his opinion upon the substitutes for spectacles.

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"Some persons prefer to use an eye-glass, others reading-glasses, in lieu of spectacles. Reading-glasses, however, are objectionable, from their not being firmly fixed in front of the eyes. The motion of the head not being in accordance with that of the hand which holds the glasses, has the effect of trying the eyes exceedingly in their constant and ineffectual endeavour to adjust themselves to the position of the glasses, inducing unnecessary fatigue to the eyes, and rendering necessary an earlier resort to glasses of a higher power than would have been required had proper spectacles been adopted from the commencement. But a single eye-glass is more injurious still; and many young men, who, from shortness of sight, or a singular vanity, have thought proper to use a quizzing-glass, have had reason to regret it to the end of their lives. The consequences to perfect vision are serious, for as one eye is made to do more work than the other, an alteration in their relative strength takes place; the result is, that sooner or later, when the person resorts to spectacles, he finds that the lens which suits one eye will not at all suffice for the other. Watch-makers, and other artists, who work with a magnifier, are very subject to this imperfection of vision, and generally find that they see better with one eye than the other. If, instead of always applying the magnifying-glass to one eye, they were to use the other eye in turn, a habit which might easily be acquired in early life, although with difficulty afterwards, they would preserve the power of their eyes more equally, and the perfection of vision longer; for, by using the eyes alternately, rest, and an opportunity of recovering from the fatigue produced by the exertion of looking through the magnifier, would be afforded to each. In like manner, those who indulge in microscopical or astronomical pursuits, should