extraction of the placenta. The late Princess Charlotte of Wales, we suspect, lost her life in consequence of officiousness. The remaining nine articles we shall notice in our next number. DEAFNESS. Mr. John Harrison Curtis, who styles himself an esquire, a Fellow of the Medical Society of London, &c, &c., has made a book of cases, to illustrate his superior treatment of diseases of the ear, both local and constitutional, which he has dedicated to those benevolent characters who have subscribed towards establishing an institution, that the poor afflicted with diseases of the ears may, as well as the rich, receive the benefit of his superior abilities. The author introduces his cases by practical observations, occupying only forty pages; by which it appears, that although no “class of diseases is more troublesome than those of the ear, or which occasion more inconvenience, no diseases incident to the human frame have received so little attention, or have been subjected so rarely to the investigation of science," until he applied his mind to the consideration of them. That the author is a man of science, and deep research, all who have the honour of knowing him, his house, and his furniture, and the Medical Society of London, of which he is a fellow, well know. Such is the reputation of this scientific aurist, that he boldly asserts, "there are very few of the higher ranks of society labouring under deafness, or other imperfections of the organ of hearing," who have not done him the honour of consulting him, as well as many of the middling ranks; and therefore he modestly observes, like a man of real science," it is evident that the actual number of deaf persons must have considerably diminished;" and the simple fact, of the deaf of every class resorting to a man of science, instead of an advertising quack, is an incontestible proof that wise people are increasing. As to the Dispensary which the wise and benevolent have established, to enable him to extend the advantage of his discoveries, it has proved highly beneficial, if not to the poor, to this man of science. Notwithstanding the success of his superior treatment of deafness, and his important discoveries of its causes, &c., he confesses that he has not been able to remove the prejudices which have so long existed in this country, that diseases of the ear are incurable!!! "If this prejudice," says he, "could be removed, and persons labouring under this defect would, at an early period of the malady, apply for relief to a scientific aurist, with the same alacrity as for other diseases, there cannot be a doubt but that the greatest number of cases would be cured, by yielding to proper treatment."!! Deafness, this author has discovered to be sometimes symptomatic of affections of the head, the stomach, and other organs. "Every accumulation of blood in the head, at a certain period of life, is marked by a slight attack of deafness. It also occurs, as a symptom in nervous and irritable constitutions, particularly in females of a delicate chlorotic habit, and is often combined with hysteria, indigestion, and affections of the stomach. How vain then," says he, "would be the attempt to remove these partial symptoms of imperfect hearing, without attending to the general health." An aurist, to do justice to all his patients, should be an able physician. This fact, in the opinion of "Squire" Curtis, must be sufficient to convince every reflecting mind, that diseases of the ear should form a distinct branch of the profession. In our humble opinion it militates against it. Another important discovery this squire-aurist has made is, "that a knowledge of diseases of the ear has been retarded, by the few opportunities that have been afforded of examining the diseased changes that take place in it, which he attributes to such diseases not being the subject of anatomical investigation. If they have not been anatomically examined by Mr. Curtis, they certainly have been by Saunders, Wright, and others. The scientific aurist has ascertained that "the most frequent disease of the ear, to which every period of life is subjected, is a collection of matter in No. 81.] Deafness. says, 66 279 the meatus, termed the puriform discharge, which, according to its progress, The If surgeons did so consider it prior to Mr. Curtis's discovery of its local making nature, and the effects of active local remedies, old nurses did not; for we have known it cured by them before Mr. Curtis even thought of " deep researches into the morbid affections of the ear." The research of this scientific investigator must indeed have been very deep, to have termed the effect of discharge a primary malady. Every surgeon must be aware, that a puriform discharge from the ear is the consequence of a morbid condition of the internal surface, and that it is the consequence of different morbid actions being frequently the sequel of scarlet-fever, measles, small-pox, &c. To say that a puriform discharge is a primary disease, and to divide it into three The assertion, that the second stage is complicated stages, is stark nonsense. with polypi, is equally ridiculous; for, instead of polypi being the progress of the puriform discharge, the discharge is the consequence of polypi: hence this minute observer has evidently mistaken the cause for the effect. disease, of which a puriform discharge is the consequence, we are satisfied, is generally of a scrofulous nature; indeed, we have met with it only in scrofulous subjects. It is therefore frequently, if not always, constitutional. The aurist's lucky discovery of curing this disease, he says, he has published in some periodical works, "for the benefit of the profession"!!! Now this is, we conceive, pushing the puffing art to its utmost extent. Weak solutions of sulphate of zinc, of sulphate of copper, and of acetate of copper, have been employed long before Mr. Curtis, or his father, the eminent physician of Uxbridge, were heard of. Had the learned aurist attended to the Mr. Curtis being a Fellow of the effect of checking this discharge in infants, he would have been aware of the necessity of constitutional treatment. London Medical Society, we hope he did that Society the honour of communicating his mode of treatment to them, previously to his publishing it for the benefit of the profession at large. 66 He has The next species of deafness, in regard to frequency, he has discovered to be that which arises from obstruction of the eustachian tube. discovered that women are more subject to this disease than men, and ," he adds," it may be extended farther, that there are more females perhaps, suffer from deafness, in general, than those of the other sex :" probably in "It is also," says he, "not unworthy of consequence of lingual exercise. remark, that the same consent seems to exist between the two ears as between This is indeed a most important the two eyes; for if we stop the hearing of one ear, we do not hear with the other in the same perfect state as before."!! discovery, and worthy so great a man as 'Squire Curtis. A characteristic symptom of this deafness, from obstruction in the eustachian tube, he says, is a sense of confused noise heard by the patient in his own ear."!!! The treatment of this species of deafness consists in inflating the tube, by means of his new instrument!! After he invented this new instrument, he discovered a more simple one had been long before employed by the late Dr. James Sims, which the doctor had employed with considerable success. The observant aurist, not satisfied with such important discoveries as those we have noticed, continued his investigation for the benefit of the profession! and, of course, suffering humanity. During his attendance on the deaf and dumb, this minute observer has ascertained, that "in most cases of deaf and dumb, a defect of hearing prevails; and it is this defect which is, for the most part, the sole cause of the want of speech."!! Hence to give the dumb an idea of sound, his hearing should be restored!! Most learned Curtis, thou reasonest well. In consequence of this discovery, he "strongly recommended to the Governors of the Deaf and Dumb Asylum, an examination of the ears of the deaf and dumb children;" but so stupid were the medical officers of the institution, that they did not duly appreciate the value of his gratuitous advice. "Although it is clear the actual state of the organ is beyond inspection;" so peculiar, says Mr. Curtis, are the affections of the ear, that in cases of poor patients, at his Royal dispensary, when he had entirely despaired of affording relief, he has often, by perseverance, succeeded; one instance of which, it may be proper to notice:-An old woman, who had been fifty years deaf, applied to him at the dispensary: "from her great age, and other circumstances, he considered the case hopeless." The poor woman having heard of his great skill and judgment, earnestly importuned him to do something for her. The humane gentleman "immediately commenced a very active treatment," the result of which "astonished him and the patient, for in a short time she could hear with ease." To remove the "prejudices of the ignorant, of the incurability of diseases of the ear," Mr. Curtis has taken the trouble to give no less than 58 cases of deafness which have been successfully treated by him:-many of which are taken from a former work!! The first of the list, a Mrs. W. he says, applied to him, "under a violent inflammation of both ears, attended with much pain and fever: her hearing was not much affected, although she could not hear sounds distinctly!! After abstraction of blood, applying warm fomentations, and administering an aperient medicine, the symptoms abated." Now, no one but a scientific aurist, would pronounce this to have been a case of deafness. Among the patients he has cured, is a Dr. B.-whom he represents to be "a physician of some eminence."!! Mr. Curtis soon discovered that the "odd noises in his head, attended with deafness," arose from a disordered stomach; and that the learned physician was hypochondriacal!-Emineut as the physician was, he agreed to adopt the medical treatment of Mr. Curtis, even after being assured by him, that the affection of the ears," and the odd noises he heard in his head," depended solely on the state of his stomach!! The learned aurist prescribed stomachic and stronger nervines than the eminent physician had taken, which succeeded in restoring him to health. He also advised him to "take constant exercise on horseback, instead of riding in a carriage"!! Was Dr. Bree the physician of some eminence, who condescended to place himself under the medical care of Mr. Curtis, or the eminent Dr. Bankhead, whom we have noticed in our present Number? As some practitioners, acquainted with the physicians of London, may entertain some doubt of this being a genuine case, we shall be obliged to any person who will favour us with the name of the gentleman. In the long list of cases which the learned author has selected, we cannot discover one which would do credit to any old woman. Not one in which any new mode of treatment was adopted. The book affords a good advertisement, and some "scientific Reviewers" have insulted their readers by recommending it to their notice. The extracts from certain Reviews, which Mr. Curtis has given in his public advertisements, will enable medical men to form a just estimate of those publications. Mr. Curtis's Royal Dispensary, for the diseases of the ear, we shall notice in an early Number. GAZETTE OF HEALTH. No. 82. To OCTOBER 1, 1822. VOL. VII. THE LATE DR. CHARLES GOWER. THIS physician was the son of the late Doctor Foote Gower, the well known historian of the county palatine of Chester, who was descended from a long line in succession of physicians. The Doctor was a native of Chelmsford, a place lately distinguished for physicians of chemical and metaphysical knowledge. After receiving the common routine classical education of the Charter-house school, under the late Dr. Samuel Beardmore, Master Charles was sent to Oxford to be enrolled in Oriel College, where, after taking the minor degrees, he selected that of M. D. as most likely to enable him to display his classical acquirements advantageously among his connexion in town. This he obtained, according to the old established custom of this University, without being subjected to the inconvenience of an examination, touching his medical acquirements. Although the Doctor was furnished with so imposing a testimonial of his being most profoundly learned in medicine, authorizing him to exercise his professional abilities in any part of his Majesty's dominions, for the benefit of his liege subjects, highly to his credit, he became a physician's pupil at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, to obtain a practical knowledge of the science of medicine, of which he had read something in the works of Hippocrates and Galen, during his residence in Oxford. Having added to his stock of classic lore, as much practical knowledge of modern medicine as he could collect in one year at this Hospital, he became a Fellow of the College of Physicians, and boldly commenced the fee trade. The Doctor soon found, that to make a practice adequate to the support of the establishment of an Oxford physician, and the dignity of a Fellow of the College, something more than a practical knowledge of medicine was necessary. The interior of the head may be well furnished at Oxford and a London hospital, but the medical phiz, the bow, and the art of pleasing, so necessary to ensure success in this enlightened age, were only to be obtained at Edinburgh. Sooner than submit to be drilled by a dancing-master, or to imitate the examples of some of his cotemporaries, he gave up the practice of medicine, and embarked with a few friends in a mercantile concern, in which he employed the whole of the property his father had left him, amounting to about fifteen thousand pounds. Being now a proud merchant of the city of London, he pretended to hold in great contempt the practice of medicine, as conducted by a certain set of high bred physicians of the metropolis, whose success depended on pleasing a set of old women or ladies' maids. He would now often contend that medicine had not advanced since the time of Hippocrates, and lament that his system was not generally adopted. The opinions entertained by physicians, with regard to the nature and VOL. VII. treatment of diseases, were so diametrically opposite, that he thought it was of no consequence by whom the art was practised. That physicians studied only the means of giving publicity to their names, and of worming themselves into the connexion of their brethren, to effect which many have descended to meaunesses which the lowest mechanic would despise. The mercantile speculation having failed, and the Doctor having lost the whole of his property in it, he was induced by the earnest persuasion of his friends to try his luck once more in the guinea trade. The Doctor accordingly assumed the dignity and consequence of a high bred physician. He entered cordially into the popish spirit of the College; the public had nothing to do with medicine, but to take it; that no person was so well qualified to prescribe it as a learned graduate of an English university; and that the attempts to acquaint the public with the state of medical knowledge, or to enable invalids to form an opinion of the qualifications of certain physicians, was a species of quackery which should be opposed by every member of the College; and as to the medical graduates of the Scotch universities, who pretended to have a knowledge of medicine, they should be made to feel their inferiority. The Doctor, when in society, talked much, and often, in commendation of medicine, and endeavoured to persuade his friends that he was better acquainted with the modus operandi of remedies and the nature of diseases than his brethren. This superior knowledge, he pretended, arose from collecting facts, and that by proceeding on them, he avoided the wild theories and medical fashions of the time, to which some hundred lives were daily sacrificed. As to physicians in general, with all their boasted knowledge of medicine, they were not acquainted with more than two specifics (in consequence of their criminal inattention to the effects of medicine), viz. mercury for syphilis, and sulphur for the itch, and these, he observed, sometimes fail; but the Doctor having minutely watched the operations of different remedies, had discovered many specifics, which, however, he never condescended to communicate to the College. The Doctor's plan, plausible as it was, did not succeed to the extent of his expectation. His immediate friends recollected the remarks he had so often made on the inefficacy and trade of medicine, when he was engaged in another pursuit, and some of them entertaining the unfortunate idea, once a merchant always a merchant, he was not able to establish a high degree of reputation from the employment of his numerous specifics. He had, however, the good fortune to obtain the appointment of physician to the Middlesex Hospital, the Refuge for the Destitute, and the Clergy Orphan Charity, beyond which the fortunate or unfortunate results of his practice did not extend. A short period previously to his dissolution, which suddenly occurred about three months ago in an hotel, he authorized the publication of a three shilling and sixpenny book, under the sanction of his name, entitled "Auxiliaries to Medicine." This work is divided into four tracts-the first contains an account of the sudatory, with remarks on its efficacy in producing perspiration, and in curing a variety of diseases. This apparatus has lately been much improved, and the mode of employing it simplified by the scientific Mr. La Beaume, who has published some valuable observations on the practice. The second tract is a description of an instrument to which |