is better that the constitution be under the influence of the medicine, before the bowels are moved by the addition of aperients.Generally speaking, from three to four motions in twenty-four hours, have not the effect of diminishing the strength of the patient. After persisting in its use for ten or twelve days, and in some instances, even earlier, a degree of nausea may be experienced, accompanied by slight vertigo. These symptoms are not to be regarded more than as usual, and what may be expected, unless they become distressing to the patient, which rarely happens when the bowels are sufficiently acted upon. "From the twelfth to the twentieth day," Mr. Farr has observed "the motions usually to exhibit the following appearances. In colour they will be found much darker than usual, with small green specks. These gradually increase in size, and not unfrequently, several motions will be found to consist for the most part of this tenacious glass-like substance. Previous, however, to these, a quantity of slime is occasionally voided, which, if permitted to any extent, generally reduces the strength of the patient. This may be obviated by adding to the infusion a small portion of quince seeds, which, yielding a quantity of mucillage, serves to sheathe the alimentary canal; but, if the patient be of a full and gross habit, with a tolerably strong constitution, there will be no necessity for this precaution. "Prior to these changes in the excrementitious matter," observes Mr. Farr," the tumour or tumours will, on attentive examination, be found to have undergone some considerable alteration in structure and size, and will have become softer, and the projecting points will be found more obtuse. The better to ascertain any increase or diminution in the tumour, he recommends two pieces of tape to be used, by passing them over the surface in transverse directions, previous to the patient's commencing the medicine, and by so applying it, at any future time, the diminution that has taken place will be observed. "During the exhibition of this medicine, patients have sometimes complained of griping pains; in which case Mr. F. joins with it the compound tincture of cardamoms, with the syrup of white poppies ; and, in some few instances, tincture of opium. Should there be at any time symptoms which demand relief, they must be left to the judgment and discretion of the medical attendant, to combine with the medicine that which he thinks most likely to answer the desired effect. "The method of treatment which Mr. F. proposes, has the effect, he says, of promoting the absorption of the coagulable lymph, thrown out by repeated inflammation, which forms the primary connecting medium, between the tumour and the healthy parts, such as the pectoral muscle, the ribs, &c. The absorption of this being effected, the tumour becomes moveable, and the surgeon, from its detached state, is the better enabled to complete its extraction, the operation being rendered less tedious, and the prospect of its success being considerably increased; so that, in fact, an operation which, from the strong adhesions, would have probably been deemed mpracticable, he supposes can now be safely performed." No. 73.] Occult Cancer. 19 The Corsican sea moss having been long celebrated as a vermifuge, Mr. Farr thinks that its effects on cancer confirm the opinion of Mr. Carmichael, that the disease possesses a vitality independent of the body: perhaps the same may be said of all organic diseases. On the production of parasitical animals we find the following re marks: “ That animals, as well of the parasitic as of other species, are capable of being produced without progenitors, by what has been called equivocal generation, has, indeed, been frequently attempted to be proved. In the vegetable kingdom, perhaps, this power of self-creation, if I may be allowed such an expression, is more apparent; for if quick lime be scattered upon barren ground, -clover, AS I HAVE WITNESSED, may sometimes be produced; and every farmer knows that upon ploughing up old grass lands, they soon become covered with annuals. But notwithstanding all the analogical reasoning that has been adduced in support of the independant vitality of cancer, we find all our attempts to comprehend such a theory, produces a confusion of ideas, which baffles our powers of discrimination to harmonize or arrange." After The dose of the infusion of the Corsican sea moss, we have observed, Mr. Farr recommends to be gradually increased in proportion to the effect produced; "but if the use of it be continued for two or three months, an ounce and a half, or even two ounces of the moss, may be used to the same quantity of water. having persisted in it for about a fortnight at the greatest strength, should it cease to affect the constitution, or in any way influence the disease, it must be left off for two or three weeks, and recommenced in the proportion of one ounce to a pint of water, and then progressively increased as before, taking four, or even five wine-glasses daily. "One of the greatest advantages attendant on the exhibition of this medicine," proceeds Mr. F." is, that its action on the diseased part is so speedy, that no time is lost during its trial; for within a few days after it has been given, an alteration will be observed in the tumour, so that at most, if properly used, ten days or a fortnight will be sufficiently long for its continuance, to enable the practitioner to determine whether it would be advisable to persist longer in its use. "This observation," he says, applies more particularly to those cases where an operation has been proposed, and in which a longer delay might not only render the success of the operation doubtful, but the death of the patient be hastened thereby. Experience has convinced him that many persons afflicted with this disease, have lost all chance of an operation being performed with any prospect of advantage, by delaying it too long from a natural aversion and dread; but more frequently by the hope 'held out to them by practitioners, who profess to cure cancer by milder means, and who, when they have them once under their care, lead them on to a fatal security, by promises and persuasions, and by depicting to them hopes which, they well know, can never be realized. But that there are cases, in which a few weeks, or even a few months' delay, is of no material import, will be readily admitted; and in these he advises a longer continuance in the use of this medicine, local treatment being conjoined with constitutional; for he has frequently seen cases, which at first appeared to have benefited very little, and after some time have shewn evident marks of amend ment. The author gives, in detail, two cases of scirrhus, with the view of proving the efficacy of his mode of treatment, and as a guide for practitioners to employ it properly. The Corsican moss, according to Mr. Farr's statement, contains different salts, resin, and vegetable fibre." He thinks Iodine is also a component part. Its effects in scirrhous tumours, are probably produced by the latter active article. Mr. Farr, has also given a chapter on the topical treatment of occult cancer. Local warmth he considers of the first importance; and, as a proof of its efficacy in promoting absorption, he gives the following case: "A lady had had a tumour in her breast for some months, and, amongst the various things recommended to her for its removal, was local warmth. The most effectual mode of applying this, she conceived, was by placing her hand on the tumour, and retaining it there for several hours. Accordingly, she was accustomed every night, on going to bed, to lay her hand on the part, and, in a short time, she had so fully acquired the habit of doing this, that when she awoke in the morning, she found her hand in the same position in which she had placed it the night previous. By persisting in this for some months, she found, to her infinite satisfaction, that the tumour was dispersed." Mr. F. adds, "I have frequently succeeded in dispersing scrofulous glandular swellings of the neck, by keeping the part well covered; so that patients have come to me, in a few days, astonished at the reduction which had taken place, attributing to the medicine which they had been taking, that which, in point of fact, arose from the simple circumstance I have just mentioned. In the case of young females, who have these glandular enlargements, I am accustomed to direct them to wear a collerette, lined with cotton wool." When the skin is not discoloured, he recommends the liquid opodeldoc; and after using it some time, to be rendered more stimulating, by adding the compound spirit of camphor. The following liniment, recommended by Dr. Rodman, he has also found occasionally useful: Take of Olive Oil, three ounces; Oil of Turpentine, two ounces; The sulphuric acid should be added to the olive oil gradually, and when well mixed, the oil of turpentine. The latter ingredient, he says, may, in some cases, be increased to forty minims. No. 73.] Occult Cancer. 21 The following composition he has found a most useful application : Take of Camphor, one drachm; Diuretic Salt, two drachms; To be well mixed together. When pains in the diseased parts become distressing, he recommends a fomentation of the decoction of poppies. From the use of mercury, in any form, either local or general, he has never witnessed any beneficial effects. Leeching has also proved of no use. Mercury, even in the small dose recommended by Mr. Abernethy, we have uniformly found injurious in open cancer; and in a case of scirrhus, it so aggravated the disease, as to destroy life in a few weeks. The particulars of this case, and of others, which terminated favourably, under a course of subcarbonate of soda, with topical warmth, we intend to give in our next number. With respect to diet, during the use of the infusion of the Corsican sea moss, &c. Mr. Farr observes; "In recommending a form of diet, for patients subjected to this plan of treatment, I shall first observe, that during the time alkaline substances are taken, all kinds of acids should be carefully avoided; and, although the present vegetable is not one which would effervesce on being joined with an acid; yet, such union, in the stomach, would materially tend to diminish its effects; and, I believe, it is generally admitted, that vegetable acids have a disposition to increase, if not to produce, the disease. Fruit should not be eaten, unless quite ripe; and, even in that state, the patient is better without it. All vegetables of an acrimonious nature are exceedingly improper; such as garlic, onions, mustard, horse-raddish, &c. Al fermented liquors should be very sparingly used, if not altogether discontinued. "For breakfast, I generally direct patients to take either coffee, cocoa, or milk and water. The use of tea, particularly green tea, I strenuously oppose, on account of its influence on the nervous system. "For dinner, plain meats, either roast, broiled, or boiled, drinking water, either alone, or a little wine added to it. "It is also desirable to avoid the alum too frequently mixed in baker's bread. The best bread, I consider, to be made with equal parts of rye and wheaten flour.' The observations of the author, on the modes which are employed by the different practitioners, to whom cancerous patients generally resort, prove him to be a practitioner of minute observation, extensive experience, and scientific attainments; and the manner in which he relates his own mode of treatment, must satisfy every reader, that his object is not to enrich himself, but to communicate a mode of treatment to his brethren, which he considers capable of curing, in its first stage, one of the most distressing maladies that occur in the human frame. HYDROPHOBIA. At Pavia, new trials have been made, which prove the efficacy of oxygenated muriatic acid, in subduing the hydrophobia. Dr. Previsall had prescribed it with success, where the symptoms were advanced, in a liquid form, from a drachm to a drachm and a half daily, in citron water, or syrup of citron. EXCESSIVE DOSE OF LAUDANUM.-In a late number, we have noticed a case of recovery from an ounce of laudanum, which had been retained in the stomach three hours, published by Mr. Yeatman, of Frome, in Somersetshire. In that paper, Mr. Yeatman contends, that instead of death being immediately caused in similar cases, by congestion or stagnation of the blood in the vessels of the brain, and of the lungs (for which bleeding is advised by the celebrated Cullen, and others) opium kills, by destroying the functions of the brain and nerves, in consequence of its sedative effects on the stomach, the nerve termed the par vagum, and great sympathetic nerves. On this principle, Mr. Yeatman, in a subsequent communication, states, that he adopts the prompt use of powerful emetics, vegetable acids, and strong stimulants, and deprecates the early use of the lancet. He illustrates his position by a case of death, in which an American physician opened the temporal artery, the moment re-action had been established by the use of the above remedies. LEPROSY, &c.-A physician of London informs us that he cured himself of a most troublesome leprous affection of the skin, by washing the parts affected every morning and evening with the following composition: Take of Oxy-muriate of Mercury, four grains; Distilled Water, seven ounces.-Mix. He had tried a solution of the oxy-muriate of mercury in water, without any beneficial effect; and also other preparations of that mineral. Tar ointment, with the decoction and extract of sarsaparilla, were of no use. In a case of lepra, of long standing, in a scrofulous subject, the tincture of iodine, in the dose of twenty drops twice a day in a glass of the decoction of marshmallow root, proved successful in the course of a month. For the phagedenic ulcer, termed by Abernethy pseudo-syphilitic, this tincture is also a very valuable remedy. CHILBLAINS.-The following receipt for this annoying disease we insert by the request of an eminent surgeon : Take of Citrine Ointment, one ounce ; Oil of Turpentine, two drachms; Olive Oil, four drachms. Mix. To be well rubbed over the parts affected every night and morning. ASTHMA.-We continue to receive very favourable accounts of the immediate effects of the oxymel of colchicum seeds in terminating the asthmatic paroxysm. The tar vapour, recommended on the |