boxes is loaded: in most wind instruments the voicing part is thus loaded and strengthened, as in the organ pipe, horn, flute, clarionet, &c. The bassoon, which in its lower notes approaches the human voice, is uncertain and wheezy in tone for want of this provision.

"When the thyroid body is small and thin, the voice will be found to be small and shrill; when large, the tone will be full and sonorous; when it is morbidly enlarged, the voice will be deeper and more bass; and when very large, as in bronchocele, the voice will be smothered.

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The compass of the voice is in great part produced by the raising and lowering of the larynx, the shortening and lengthening of the vocal tube. The thyroid body partakes of this motion, at the same time firmly fixing and rendering tense the parts in each position. By its change of shape, bulk, and density-flattening and thinning when the larynx is raised, enlarging and bulging when it is lowered-it aids in giving the particular tone or pitch, high and acute in the first case, full and deep in the second; and, in like manner, by its varying shape, bulk, density, and pressure, it takes a great part in producing the wonderful qualities of modulation and expression peculiar to the human voice. In animated conversation, declamation and singing, this may

be seen."

On the Analyses and Immediate Principles of Human Excrements in Disease. By Dr. MARCET, F.R.S. ("Proceedings of the, Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society," January 22, 1858.)

The object of this communication is-1. To describe an easy and very practical method of analyses to be applied to feces in the diseased condition. 2. To show that the method of analysis in question is essentially anatomical or mechanical, and as free as possible from chemical reactions. 3. To show that in three instances of disease where the bile was prevented from flowing into the duodenum, the feces yielded a quantity of crystallizable fatty acids, (margaric and stearic acids), which immediate principles are known to be absent from healthy evacuations, except in certain cases depending on a peculiar diet. A few words may suffice for describing the analysis. The evacuations are exhausted with boiling alcohol, and the solution strained through muslin. On cooling, a precipitate or deposit occurs in the fluid, which is separated from the mother liquor by filtration. This deposit, after it has been washed with boiling alcohol, is found in healthy cases to consist of stearate and margarate, or soaps of lime and magnesia, with or without earthy phosphatesthese compounds existing in the evacuations under examination in the form of immediate principles. The alcoholic washings or solution obtained from the deposit yielded, in cases of retention of bile; considerable quantities of free margaric and stearic acids. The clear original alcoholic extract being mixed with milk of lime, containing a considerable excess of water, is converted into muddy fluid, when a distinct precipitate will be noticed. After having collected this precipitate in a filter, washed it with water, and dried it on the water-bath, it is to be exhausted with a mixture of alcohol and ether. The clear extract thus obtained deposits on standing, in all healthy cases, impure crystals of excretine; a substance easily purified and prepared, perfectly colorless, by repeated crystallizations in alcohol and filtration through animal charcoal. The author had previously described the characters of excretive in communications to the Royal Society, published in the "Philosophical Transactions" for 1856 and 1857. Diseased excrements do not always contain excretine, as it was absent in those cases referred to in the present communication, where it was searched for. The lime precipitate exhausted with alcohol and ether, is now to be mixed with water, and decomposed by means of hydrochloric acid; chloride of calcium is formed, and an insoluble substance remains floating in the liquid; this he has found very abundant in some diseased cases, and also in a few exceptional instances after a vegetable diet; it consisted of margaric and stearic acids mixed with a considerable proportion of oleic acid. Finally, by concentrating the filtrate from the lime precipitate on the water bath, and decomposing the residue with sulphuric acid, certain organic acids soluble in

water are obtained, possessed of a very pungent odor, and whose properties have not yet been investigated; the castings of carnivorous animals yield in this stage of the analysis butyric acid, a substance not present in healthy human evacuations. It must be remembered that the animal body contains a number of organic acids forming known soluble salts with lime, and consequently the examination of the filtrate from the lime precipitate in diseased cases is not to be neglected. The above description, although necessarily most incomplete, gives a rough sketch of the processes recommended for the analysis of feces; it has been put to the test for the examination of a very great number of human evacuations, and found to yield constant results in health; it is, therefore, perfectly adapted for the investigation of the composition of diseased excrements. Dr. Marcet now wishes to draw the attention to the circumstance that chemical reagents have been used as seldom as possible in these analyses, in order to avoid the decomposition of immediate principles or of compounds, such as they exist in the body. Alcohol and ether, with and without the application of heat, are the principal means employed. It is not impossible, however, to determine immediate principles by chemical analysis; and a remarkable instance of the aid obtained from chemistry in these investigations, is the fact, that by the analysis of the mass deposited in the original alcoholic extract of feces on cooling, he has been able to ascertain that it contains phosphoric acid, fatty acids, lime, and magnesia, exactly in such proportions as are required for the substances to combine in the form of earthy phosphates and earthy soaps. These compounds had, therefore, previously existed in the intestines in the form of immediate principles. Dr. Marcet then gives the detail of three cases in which he carried out his examinations.

An Experimental Inquiry into the Effect upon the Mother of Poisoning the Foetus. By Mr. W. S. SAVORY, Demonstrator of Anatomy at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, &c. (Pamphlet, 1858.)

Although we are in possession of absolute facts, which furnish clear and convincing evidence of the direct transmission from the mother to the foetus, not only of certain diseases, but also of foreign substances-as camphor and oil, yet we had no conclusive facts in support of the converse proposition. However strong the argument from analogy might be, supported as it is by the record of cases of extreme interest, yet demonstrative evidence has been wanting of the direct absorption of foreign matter from the foetus by the mother, or rather experiment has seemed to show that there was no such absorption. Mr. Savory, however, has set the question at rest, and experimental proof is no longer wanting of the direct and rapid transmission of matter from the foetus to the mother through the blood in the placenta.

We select three experiments as fair examples of the rest.

Experiment III.-A cat, far advanced in pregnancy, was rendered insensible by chloroform. The abdomen was opened and the uterus exposed. It was divided at a part to which a placenta was not attached, and a vigorous foetus extracted in its membranes, which were removed from it. It was supported on a napkin, and into the abdominal cavity about ten minims of the solution were injected. The portion of integument around the puncture was then carefully pinched up and secured by a ligature, so as to prevent the possibility of any escape of the solution. A second foetus was then extracted and treated exactly in the same manner. Both, with the portion of the uterus, were then returned into the abdomen, which was closed with sutures.

"For ten minutes from the period of the first injection the cat lay on her side breathing tranquilly. Then slight spasms ensued in the hinder extremities; these gradually increased, and at length passed into violent and general ones. In seven minutes more the cat was dead.

"The abdomen was then re-opened, and the ligatures placed upon the punetures in the fœtusus were found still perfectly secure. Both the injected foetuses were yet alive. Within a few minutes after they were injected they exhibited

or holding in solution quina, the iodide of iron, and the biniodide of mercury. Each capsule contains twenty minims of the oil, and the dose of the quina or iodide may be varied. Patients who object very much to the oil, think nothing of taking three, or even half a dozen capsules three times a day.

"The combination of biniodide of mercury with cod-liver oil is particularly useful in some of the chronic syphilitic superficial diseases of the skin and mucous membranes. A tenth or twelfth of a grain with a drachm of the oil in three capsules three times a day, I have found to answer admirably in cases of chronic pityriasis and psoriasis, with superficial ulceration of the fauces. In some of the chronic joint affections of scrofulous subjects, the iodide of iron given in the same way, but in larger doses, is also very efficacious. When it is desired to give iron in the oil without iodine, and to give larger quantities, the wafer-paper so much used for taking the cubeb and copaiba paste answers extremely well. A paste may be made of the sesquioxide of iron-the so-called carbonate-by mixing up with it a sufficient quantity of the oil. A teaspoonful of this paste, enveloped in wetted wafer-paper, is swallowed without the least difficulty or unpleasantness by any one who can take a pill.

"In many cases of secondary syphilis in persons of broken-down constitution, it is desirable to combine the iodides of mercury and iron. In this combination the iodide of mercury becomes soluble, and it may be given either in the oil in capsules, or in the form of a very elegant syrup which Mr. Bastick prepares. In prescribing this, however, the ordinary dose of the iodide of mercury must be considerably lowered, as the action becomes much more powerful when the salt is made soluble. The syrup is prepared of various strengths; but in the proportion of a quarter of a grain of the iodide of mercury to two grains of the iodide of iron in a drachm of syrup, it will be found extremely useful, and not very disagreeable."

By Dr.

Some Remarks on the Physiological Action of the Tanghinia Venenifera. KÖLLIKER, of Wurzburg, and Dr. PELIKAN, of St. Petersburg. ("Proceedings of the Royal Society," March 16, 1858.)

The famous poison-tree of Madagascar was described for the first time by Aubert du Petit Thouars in his "Genera Madagascarensia," under the name of Tanghinia venenifera. At a later period, Sir W. Hooker published a good description, with a figure of this tree, named by him Cerbera Tanghin (see "Botanical Magazine," pl. 2968), so that nothing is wanted with regard to the botanical knowledge of this plant. On the other hand, the physiological effects of its poisonous parts have not been hitherto investigated. All we know is, that the fruit of the tanghinia is a strong poison, and is used in Madagascar as an ordeal poison in the most strange and revolting way. The only experi ment on animals made by Ollivier, show that twelve grains kill a dog in some hours, but this experiment gave no further insight into the real action of the tanghinia.

The poison used by us was the alcoholic extract of the leaves and small stems of the tanghinia, prepared from dried specimens, which Professor Pelikan had received from Count Seyderitz, of Mecklenburg. About one centigram. of this extract was sufficient to show the full effect of the poison on frogs, when introduced into a wound of the back. It acted also when given by the mouth, but in this case a somewhat larger dose was required to produce a full effect. The observed symptoms were the following:

1. First of all, viz., in about five to fifteen minutes, the heart was affected and stopped in its action, in such a way that the ventricle became contracted and very small, whilst the auricles remained dilated, but were also paralyzed.

2. The voluntary and reflex movements were at first not at all affected, but some time-from half an hour to one hour-after the paralysis of the heart, they became weaker and weaker, and gradually ceased totally, without any sign of spasms or tetanus.

3. In the third place, the tanghinia has a great influence upon the voluntary muscles, which become paralyzed. This action begins very soon, and we have been able to show, with the aid of the myographion of Volkman, that as soon

jected foetus and its mother, except through the cord and placenta. It cannot be doubted that the poison passed from the blood of the foetus to the blood of the mother at the placenta."

History of two cases of Hernia of the Ovary, in one of which there was periodical Enlargement of this Organ. By Dr. OLDHAM, Obstetric Physician to Guy's Hospital. ("Proceedings of Royal Society," May, 1858.)

These cases are examples of a rare conformation of the female sexual organs, in which the ovaries had descended through the inguinal canal, and become permanently lodged in the upper part of the external labia. In both of them it was impossible to detect either uterus or vagina; and in the first there was a periodical increase of one or other of the ovaria, followed by its gradual reduction-a direct evidence of an ovarian menstrual act.

CASE 1.-The subject of this case applied to me in September, 1851, for advice on account of never having menstruated. She was nineteen years of age, of a tall figure, symmetrical frame, well-expanded pelvis, and womanly aspect, bearing all the marks of a full completion of the physical changes of puberty; and her general health, though not robust, was fairly good. She was one of a family of five children, and her sisters had menstruated between fifteen and sixteen years of age. The principal point which was elicited from her history in connection with her complaint was, that, eighteen months before, a swelling had somewhat suddenly appeared on the right side of the external organs, which had caused her some pain for a few days and had then disappeared. In four or five months a similar swelling again appeared, but was attended with so much suffering that a medical man was consulted, who took it for an abscess and ordered it to be poulticed. Again it passed away, again to recur at the end of two months; and so it had gone on at irregular intervals until the time of her seeing me, when the pain of a renewed attack of unusual severity had occasioned her some alarm. On examination, a swelling the size of a goose-egg was found to extend between the external abdominal ring and the centre of the labium on the right side, which was very tense and firm to the touch; and the cellular tissue, skin, and mucous membrane of the labium were oedematous and inflamed. It was painful, but by no means so painful as a labial abscess, which in its general aspect it resembled ; and there was but little febrile disturbance. A more critical examination detected the presence of a solid body of an oval shape within the tissue of the labium, which proved to be the ovarium, whose enlargement had so compressed the surrounding tissues as to swell and inflame them. On the opposite side there was another oval body, the size of a walnut, which passed just beyond the outer ring, but readily slipped into the canal. This was the left ovary in a quiescent state. The external sexual parts were normally formed; but the ostium vagina was closed, a slight indentation in the median line alone marking its position. Frequent careful physical examinations failed to detect any trace of a vagina or uterus, and the conclusion arrived at was that these central pelvic organs had not been developed. The mammary glands were fully formed.

I have had repeated opportunities during the six years which have intervened since first the case came before me, of examining the organs both during the periods of ovarian excitement and during the intervals. For nearly two years, however, I completely lost sight of her, when I learned to my amazement, that in spite of my strong admonition both to her mother and herself that she should lead a single life, she had married. For some time past I have seen her more frequently, and have watched the recurrence of the ovarian swellings.

For the first three years the right ovarium was exclusively enlarged, and the intervals were not so regularly marked, varying between three and six weeks excepting for the first year, when they were much longer, occasionally extending to three months. For the last two years the left ovarium has been far more frequently affected, the right remaining quiescent; occasionally both are painful and tumid, but even then one more than the other. The

PART XXVII.

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intervals are now pretty regularly three weeks. The acute inflammatory symptoms which accompanied the onset of these swellings have long since ceased to recur, which is obviously due to the loose state of the tissues from repeated stretching, so that the swollen organ is no longer compressed.

The accession of a menstrual time is sometimes suddenly felt. She will go to bed well, and in the morning the ovary will be swollen: more commonly, however, it is very gradual, augmenting in volume for four days, then remaining stationary for three days, and then gradually declining; the whole process, before the ovary is reduced, generally lasting ten or twelve days. On separating the ovary, when at its height of swelling, from the tissues surrounding it, it appears scarcely, if at all, less than double its usual volume; its outline is clearly defined, and it is plain that the whole, and not merely a part of the organ, is involved. There is no suffering worthy of notice during the time; the swelling is tender if pressed; and tender, too, in the act of sitting down or rising up; but she walks about as usual without distress, and there is but little lumbar or hypogastric pain. Neither are there any manifest sympathies excited, either of the mammary glands or other organs. Nor is there any vicarious flux, either of blood or any secretion, with the exception of an excess of saliva, but this is not in any large flow. The ovary alone appeared to be engaged in this periodical act, which it is not too much to suppose, in accordance with modern physiological views, would have been attended with a flus of blood, had not the organs which normally supply it been absent.

But while this may be said to represent the usual course of a period, yet the volume of the ovary, and the length of time it remains swollen, is subject to occasional variation; sometimes being much less tumid, and dying away in a shorter time.

The repeated attempts at sexual union have only had the effect of somewhat loosening the tissues around the vulva, but the vagina remains imperforate as before, and is beyond the reach of surgical remedy. It may be added, that the subject of this history recognizes an increase of sexual feeling at and soon after the periods of enlargement of the ovary.

CASE 2.-This case was that of a young woman who had attained the age of twenty without having menstruated. She was a tall, strumous-looking person, in weak health. There had not been any well-marked efforts at menstruation, but she had suffered slightly from lumbar pain. The mammæ were well developed. The pelvis was fairly formed. On examination I found the two ovaria just appearing beyond the external abdominal rings, and readily returning by pressure into their respective inguinal canals. They were of equal size and similar shape, being ovoid bodies about the size of small chestnuts. They were not tender when touched, although organically sensitive, and she had never experienced pain in them. The external sexual organs were somewhat less perfectly developed than usual; the vaginal orifice was closed, and no trace of a canal or uterus could be detected by exploration with a catheter in the bladder and the finger in the rectum. These organs, as in the former case, were absent. During the time I saw the patient, which was only for two months, the ovaria did not enlarge, although her general health improved.

On the Immediate Principles of Human Excrements in the Healthy State. By Dr. MARCET, Assistant-Physician to the Westminster Hospital. ("Proceedings of Royal Society," 1858.)

The new results obtained by Dr. Marcet are the following:

"1. Margarate of lime, phosphate of lime, and margarate of magnesia, are discovered to be immediate principles of human evacuations.

"2. I find a new method for obtaining excretine, and its chemical formula has been established.

"3. The fact that vegetable food induces the presence of margaric acid in excrements has been confirmed.

"4. The existence of a comparatively large quantity of cholesterine in the spleen, which I had mentioned before as probable, has been confirmed.

"When human feces are exhausted with boiling alcohol, the fluid being