me I could point out as a case of cholera. I afterwards made the same observation to Dr. Stevens in the presence of the Governor and Dr. O'Shaughnessy. I repeatedly begged Dr. Stevens to show a recent case, a case of confirmed cholera -a case of collapse. He replied it was unlucky I had come that day,* and there was no case of collapse then in the house, and remarked that by his treatment, he prevents their ever coming to the collapsed stage. Yet twelve have died since the 3rd, two of whom died the day before yesterday; and he (Dr. Stevens) allows that several became collapsed after having been admitted into the hospital of the prison, consequently while under the saline treatment.

One boy admitted this morning, in bed, has had neither vomiting nor purging, and presents a steady pulse.

Two persons looked pale, sallow, and with sunken eyes, as if they had suffered some severe evacuations, but the pulse in both is good. Seltzer water is given as common drink.

Recommended grated openings to be constructed in the walls of the small yards and rooms on a level with the floors. The air in these places being more or less stagnant to a height of eight feet at least.

Dr. Stevens, during our visit to the prison, and afterwards on the way to the Regent's Park, repeatedly asserted, that two-thirds of the patients which he showed us, would have fallen into collapse, and would have most certainly died if subjected to the ordinary plans of treatment by calomel, opium, stimulants, &c. In short, that the present usual mode of treating this disease is absolutely poisonous. When asked if he had ever seen even one case of blue collapsed cholera saved, that had been treated by the twenty-grain doses of culinary salt, and by nothing else, he candidly admitted that he never had, for that he recommended, in addition to the salt, large mustard poultices, hot saline and opiate enemata, and hot salt and water-baths, friction, &c.

The substance of the above notes was written in the prison, or immediately after returning from it, and in their present state were read by Dr. O'Shaughnessy, previously to the publication of Stevens' work on the blood.

D. BARRY, M.D. I have read the above notes, which I saw several days since, and have to state, that they are accurate in every respect. 16th July, 1832.

(Signed)

W. B. O'SHAUGHNESSY, M.D."

It was indeed "unlucky" that Sir David Barry went-unlucky for salines -unlucky for the Doctors-unlucky for the renown in futuro, and éclat in præsente, which the firm in Coldbath-Fields fondly hoped to acquire.

We shall not pursue this ludicrous, or rather melancholy subject any further-we shall not trust ourselves with the expression of what we think or what we feel. We turn from the whole affair with mingled sensations of pity and disgust, and the best that can be hoped for the "saline treatment" and its authors is, that both may be speedily forgotten.

We have cautiously abstained from discussing the question of saline injections into the veins in the treatment of cholera. We certainly do not anticipate any thing from this plan, and we feel convinced, from what we have seen and read, that it will ultimately be given up. But this stands on a very different bottom from Dr. Stevens's saline treatment-it is advocated by a very different description of persons, and supported by a very different kind of facts.

It may seem to many of our readers that, in reviewing Dr. Stevens' book,

• "I had come, by appointment, with the Dr. himself, made on the 25th at the College of Physicians."-D.B.

we have adopted a more severe and menacing tone than is our usual practice. We acknowledge the fact. It is neither our habit nor our inclination to be severe-we feel no pleasure at others' pain-we cannot contemplate with gratification even the writhings of a worm. But there are occasions on which leniency is criminal, and such an one we have deemed the present. Dr. Stevens will in future understand that forbearance is not always weakness, and that because a reviewer does not often use the lash, he is therefore inexpert in its employment. We know that although ourselves may be insignificant we wield a mighty power, and we trust that we entertain a due sense of our responsibility. The press is almost omnipotent for good or for evil, and Dr. Stevens might as well dream of contending with the Atlantic, as with Justice and the press together. We take our leave of Dr. Stevens, in all probability for ever.

XII.

A COMPENDIUM OF HUMAN AND COMPARATIVE PATHOLOGICAL ANATOMY. By Adolph Wilhelm Otto, M.D. Royal Medical Counsellor in the Medical College of Silesia, &c. &c. Translated from the German, with additional Notes and References, by John F. South, Lecturer on Anatomy at St. Thomas's Hospital. Octavo, pp. 456. London, 1831.

THIS excellent work has only been lately placed in our hands, and we cannot delay expressing the high opinion we entertain of it. It is a refreshing thing to turn from the contemplation of works like that reviewed in our last article to productions of sterling merit. A compendium like this is of course insusceptible of analysis or review, and can only admit of a notice in a periodical journal. But it is not on that account the less valuable, and we do not hesitate to say that no scientific physician or practical surgeon should want it in his library.

In order to afford an idea of the nature of the volume, we first shall present the subjects treated as they appear upon the page of contents, and then subjoin a specimen or two of the mode in which those subjects are handled. We have little to say in addition, but we cannot refrain from expressing our satisfaction at the manner in which the original of Dr. Otto has been translated by Mr. South. The latter gentleman is already favourably known to anatomical students, and the present publication will enhance his claims to their approbation. The Borough and London University Schools are at present taking a decided lead in the medical education of the metropolis, and when we turn our eyes to the WEST, we look in vain for even the shadow of the glory of Baillie and the Hunters. New buildings indeed we see, but the whitewash upon them is fresh, and the memory of former days finds no sacred spot to linger in. It is with feelings of melancholy that we see the West End School, to which our own youthful recollections are attached, vailing its head to the increased intelligence, and activity, and talent of the East.

Vale, vale domus nostra!

But we turn to another, and, may we be permitted to say, a less painful subject. General anatomy has been hitherto neglected in this Country ;— there is no denying nor apologizing for the fact. Our students were ground for the College; and, after shuffling through the examination of that body, they hurried into practice, regardless of all but the means of making money. Hence the grovelling, ignorant, abject, contemptible creature, which the world often found the routine practitioner, and hence the debasing but far too faithful picture which the novellist and dramatist have drawn. With the great and general improvement of medical education, the method of teaching anatomy may readily be supposed to have undergone some alterations. Those alterations have been partly for the better, partly for the worse. Special anatomy is taught less rigorously, but general anatomy is more regarded. Till very lately we had no English system of general anatomy, but lately Grainger's has been published, and this was followed by the pathological anatomy of Craigie. We should not be doing justice to them if we did not express our approval of their labours-we should not be doing justice to ourselves, if we said that they are what the honour of English medicine demands. They are not national works, they are not to us what Bichât's was to France. Under existing circumstances we must be content with what we can get, and original productions being scarce, we must e'en import from abroad, for a good translation is not the less useful because it humbles our national pride, and exposes our national weakness. The causes of the decay of anatomical research amongst us are neither very numerous nor obscure. They are to be found in the present constitution of society in this kingdom, in the circumstance of wealth being considered the great good, whilst only successful practice can lead to it. Hence ambitious and talented men leave the dissecting-room for appointments to hospitals, and the career of private practice. This is a subject deserving more attention than it has received, but we cannot pursue it any farther at present.

The work before us is divided into two parts, one general, the other devoted to the consideration of the particular organs and tissues. The contents of the first part are as follows:-Of the Vices of Animal Organization in general-Of Vices relating to Number-Of Vices relating to Size-Of Vices relating to Form-Of Vices relating to Position-Of Vices relating to Connexion-Of Vices relating to Colour-Of Vices relating to Consistence Of Vices relating to Continuity-Of Vices relating to Texture-Of Vices relating to Contents. From the foregoing enumeration it will be seen how comprehensively the general question of the vices of organization is considered. We shall now shew the contents of the Second, or Particular Part.

FIRST BOOK.

OF THE PARTICULAR ORGANS, on the OrganIC SYSTEMS.

"TWELFTH SECTION. Of Cellular or Mucous Tissue.

THIRTEENTH SECTION. Of Cellular Membranes.-First Chapter. Of Serous Membranes. Second Chapter.-Of Mucous Membranes. Third Chapter.-Of External Skin.

FOURTEENTH SECTION.-Of Horny Tissue. First Chapter.-Of the External and Internal Cuticle. Second Chapter. Of the Nails and Hoofs. Third Chapter.-Of Hair and Feathers.

FIFTEENTH SECTION. Of the Bony System. First Chapter.-Of Bones in general. Second Chapter. Of Bones in particular.-A. Of the Bones of the Head.

B. Of the Bones of the Trunk. C. Of the Bones of the Upper Extremities. D. Of the Bones of the Lower Extremities.

SIXTEENTH SECTION. Of the Cartilaginous System.

SEVENTEENTH SECTION.-Of the Fibrous System in general, and of the Joints in particular.

EIGHTEENTH SECTION.-Of the Muscular System.

NINETEENTH SECTION.Of the Vascular System. First Chapter. Of the Pericardium. Second Chapter.-Of the Heart. Third Chapter. Of the Arteries. Fourth Chapter.-Of the Veins. Fifth Chapter. Of the Lymphatic Vessels and Glands.

TWENTIETH SECTION.-Of the Nervous System. First Chapter.-Of the Brain. A. Of the Membranes of the Brain. B. Of the Brain itself. Second Chapter.-Of the Spinal Marrow. A. Of the Membranes of the Spinal Marrow. B. Of the Spinal Marrow itself. Third Chapter.—Of the Nerves."

As a specimen of the manner in which the subjects are handled, we subjoin the section on Alterations of Colour. Yet it is not a fair sample, for, independently of being selected at random, we are constrained for want of space to omit the referential notes, which equally evince the great labour of the author, and enhance the value of the work to the purchaser.

"Of Vices relating to Colour.

The IRREGULAR COLOURING of animal parts is very frequently conjoined with vices of texture, and may then consist, as in scirrhus, in the change into fat, in ossifications, &c. in diminution of colouring; or as in inflammations, caries, cancer, mortification, &c., in the deepening of colour, and frequently also in an entirely different colouring. But this abnormal colouring can also occur without any, or at least without any visible vice of texture, and then for the most part depends upon change in quantity or quality of the colouring fluids found in the organs, and especially of the blood.

First, as to what concerns diminished colouring; this is itself sometimes original; thus a particular part does not possess the proper degree of colour belonging to it, and remains pale as in the embryon, such is one kind of retarded formation; yet, however, deficiency of texture is usually connected with this state. To this belongs, also, the more common state of ALBINOISM, leucæthiopia, leucopathia, albinoismus, which occurs both in man and animals, in which the skin, the hair, and the eyes, are found unnaturally pale; this morbid state is sometimes hereditary in man, but more frequently in animals, and in the latter, then produces distinct varieties. Unnatural paleness is more generally an acquired diseased state, a change of colour or bleaching, and is especially produced by a diminution of the blood generally, and of its cruor in particular, on which account it is the usual attendant of long continued disease, of cachexia, and especially of consumption and dropsy. To this place also we refer the more local change of colour, viz. in the skin of coloured persons, the change to grey and white of the hairs and feathers, the bleaching of dark eyes, &c.; the cause of this bleaching of the above-named parts is found in the diminution or total removal of the colouring matter. The frequent loss of colour in the mucous membrane of the mouth, and of the alimentary canal after poisoning with the concentrated acids and with tartar emetic, is also worthy of notice.

The abnormally increased colour of an organ, or the DEEPening of its cOLOUR, depends in some cases, and especially in muscles originally pale, upon hypertrophy; but most commonly on the gorging of a part with blood, which has been augmented in it by congestion and stagnation, stasis; this is very often observed in the lungs, the liver, the spleen, and the mucous membrane of the alimentary canal. Sometimes it happens that the congested blood is itself unnaturally deep coloured, and thus doubly deepens the colour of the part in which it is collected; this is especially the case after suffocation, apoplexy, poisoning with narcotic substances, and hydrocyanic acid, adynamic fevers, and especially in the blue disease. A red or bluish colour is often observed in certain parts of the body, produced by congestion of blood in the most delicate vessels, for instance, DEATH SPOTS, lividitas, nigror, sugillationes spuriæ, the form, extent, and colour of which are very variable, ac

cording to circumstances; further, we notice similar red and dusky spots on the internal parts, arising from the same causes, as on the intestines, and more especially on their mucous coat; and the dusky colouring of those parts into which, if they be lowest, the blood sinks according to the laws of gravitation; such spots are produced, even sometime after death, on the putrefaction and thawing of frozen corpses.

From this kind of dusky spots we must distinguish other similar colourings which originate in the percolation of the darker juices after death; thus we sometimes observe in persons who have died of inflammation of the lungs accompanied with their adhesion to the pleura, large livid or violet-coloured spots on the chest; on the stomach there are seen dusky red spots, where it is in contact with the bloodgorged liver and spleen. The large venous trunks filled with blood often colour the neighbouring parts, and the gall bladder very frequently tinges a part of the adjacent stomach and duodenum with its bile. Sometimes, also, the naturally pale surfaces immediately in contact with the blood become equally red, for instance, the inner surface of the heart, the great arterial trunks, the rectum in piles; a peculiar change in the blood seems to be the cause of this colouring.

A particular kind of deeper colouring is also produced by EXTRAVASATION, ecchymosis, ecchymoma, effusio, suffusio, sugillatio, either under the skin, or more deeply, but which differs from the above described similar spots, as it is produced by the actual effusion of blood from the vessels into the cellular membrane of the part. This usually accompanies a BRUISE, contusio; but it is not unfrequently consequent on severe strains of a part, on suckling in delicate skinned women, on great muscular exertions, on coughing, vomiting, and on many diseases, especially scurvy, petechial fevers, the morbus hæmorrhagicus of Werlhof, &c. These extravasations are at first blackish or blue, and distinctly circumscribed, but by degrees become more extended, as it were, fade, and by little and little assume a violet, greenish and yellow colour.

Further, the irregular colouring of animal bodies is often caused by the reception of various extraneous colouring matters into the body. This is observed almost generally in the lower animals, especially in the parasitic, when living on different kinds of food; also locally, as the consequence of various medicines and poisons; thus the bones of men, beasts and birds, are more or less reddened by food of a red colour. The taking of rhubarb often tinges light parts yellow; hydrocyanic acid renders many organs bluish or greenish; nitrate of silver, quack medicines, of which the composition is unknown, and other medicines, often render the skin blackish.

Finally, we oftentimes observe some peculiar colouring matter or pigment spontaneously produced in animal bodies, and colouring certain parts more or less completely; such is the case in jaundice, icterus, and in melanosis. In the former disease there is formed in the body of a yellow animal extractive or colouring matter, which has great similarity to the pigment of the bile, and tinges almost all the solid and fluid parts of the body more or less yellow and dusky, however, so that many of the systems assume a yellow colour more frequently than others. Diseases of the liver, asthenic fevers, as the plague, the American yellow fever, typhus fever, &c. are commonly attended with jaundice; the same also occurs in animals, but much less frequently. In melanosis, on the contrary, a deep brown or more frequently a blackish tinted pigment is morbidly produced, which occurs sometimes generally, sometimes to a limited extent; in the former, it is either mingled with the particular excretions, as the urine, the perspiration, the mucus from the lungs, in certain cases also, perhaps (in the matter evacuated) in Melana, or the BLACK DISEASE of Hippocrates, and colours them blackish; or it may be deposited as a fluid or semi-coagulated mucus on the expanded surface of serous membranes, particularly the peritoneum and pleura. In the confined state the black pigment is found accumulated either in the otherwise healthy substance of an organ, especially of the skin, of the lungs, of the bronchial glands, &c. or it may accompany the various vices of texture, as mortification, particularly of the dry kind, false membranes, soft swellings, scirrhus, cancer, medullary sarcoma, and most commonly, at least in animals, tubercular swellings."

We again recommend this volume very cordially to the student, the surgeon, and physician. We have placed it in our own library as a standard work.