No. 83.] Suppression of Urine. 333 symptoms of recovery. The following morning she was perfectly sensible, and in the evening was quite well. In cases where the patient has not the power of swallowing, and where the speedy unloading of the bowels is of importance, the croton oil is a most valuable remedy, the desired effect being produced by its action on the gullet. Dr. Darwall, physician to the Public Dispensary in Birmingham, has prescribed the croton oil very extensively, and the results have satisfied him that it is a very valuable purgative medicine. He has generally found it to produce nausea, and sometimes vomiting, but not so frequently griping. He has observed one circumstance to attend its operation, which has not been noticed by any writer, viz. the very little constitutional derangement it leaves. After the operation of other drastic purgatives, says the doctor, "a feverishness and a loss of appetite remain for a considerable time, and the purging excited by elaterium is frequently alarming." None of these consequences occur after the croton oil; for however violently it may have operated on the bowels, he has not met with an instance of its having left the slightest disorder or uneasiness. In other respects the doctor's experience corresponds with the accounts which have been given of it by other writers. A clergyman of Devonshire informs us that he has found the croton oil pills, noticed in our last Number, very efficacious in a case of obstinate costiveness; but the nausea they produced continued for two days, and the peculiar irritation in the upper part of the gullet did not subside for a week. LEECHES.-SIRS, Having often experienced great difficulty in making leeches fasten with their mouths to the skin, I have great pleasure in sending you the following information, which I acquired by an accident, for insertion in your invaluable Journal. Dip the mouth of the leech into fresh porter, and apply it immediately to the spot from whence it is deemed advisable to abstract blood, and it will immediately fasten on it and begin to suck. By following this direction, not only much time will be saved, but the leech may be applied to any particular spot, which in some local affections is of great importance. I am, Sirs, Southampton Row, Your constant reader & sincere friend, October 16, 1822. SUPPRESSION OF URINE.-The non-secretion of urine is so rare a disease in this country, that we have pleasure in being able to insert the following well marked case of it, which lately occurred in the practice of Mr. Bidwell, an eminent surgeon of Warbleton, in Sussex. On Thursday, the 8th of August, Mr. Bidwell was requested to see a man named Jenner, a carpenter, residing at Burwash, who had not voided urine for three days. He was verging on 60 years of age, and of a plethoric habit. He complained of great pain in the course of the ureters, and in the region of the stomach. Anxiety was strongly depicted in his countenance; the pulse was hard, full, and jarring, not exceeding ninety. No probable cause could be assigned for the complaint. Mr. Weston, the attending practitioner, had previously extracted 24 ounces of blood, administered saline cathartic medicines, recommended the warm bath, and passed the catheter. On examination, Mr. B. could not perceive that intumescence above the pubes which characterizes retention; nor did the sensation of a distended bladder present itself to the finger in the rectum. Mr. B. however, considered it to be his duty to pass the catheter, but no urine following its introduction, he was convinced the case was suppression. He ordered him to be bled in the erect posture, and though nearly three pounds of blood were extracted, the depletion was not attended by fainting. He then ordered him to be immersed in the warm bath twice during the night, and prescribed the following : Take of Foxglove Powder, one grain; Syrup, sufficient quantity to form a pill; one of which to be taken every third hour with the following draught :Take of Camphorated Mixture, one ounce and a half; Sweet Spirit of Nitre, three drachms.-Form a draught. On visiting him the next morning, he expressed considerable relief, though the kidneys had not resumed their secretory functions. Perceiving great tumefaction, he applied cupping glasses over the lumbar region, and extracted blood to the extent of three pints. The anguish of the patient was still futher alleviated by this evacuation. Convinced that nothing but bold and decisive practice could afford the most distant hopes of recovery, Mr. B. ordered the following pill and draught :— Take of Calomel, one grain; Foxglove Powder, two grains; Form a pill; to be taken every third hour with the following draught Take of Infusion of fresh leaves of Foxglove, one ounce and a half; Sweet Spirit of Nitre, three drachms.-Mix. He recommended this plan of treatment to be persisted in as long as the suppression lasted, and then taking leave, he requested Mr. Weston to inform him of any material change in the patient. On Sunday afternoon, Mr. W. informed him that the disease continued, and that hiccup and tendency to drowsiness had supervened with a sinking pulse. Conceiving the case as hopeless, Mr. B. ordered the foxglove to be omitted, and the following to be administered : Take of Sulphuric Ether, half an ounce; Camphorated Mixture, six ounces.-Mix. Two table-spoonsful to be taken every third hour. On Tuesday, Mr. B. was informed that the man had discharged large quantities of urine, and was rapidly recovering. The kidneys had recommenced secreting the day previous, after having been in a state of total inaction for six days. The following reasons induced Mr. B. to publish this case:66 First, the disease almost universally terminates fatally;-Secondly, the proximate cause of death has been proved to be apoplexy;Thirdly, no regular treatment of this complaint is laid down by authors." The sanguiferous system being overloaded, in consequence of the secretion of the kidneys being suspended, bleeding and purging are unquestionably proper; but the following mixture would, in our No. 83.] Wen. 335 opinion, be more likely to bring the kidney into action, than either foxglove, or the sweet spirit of nitre. Take of Almond Emulsion, six ounces; Oil of Turpentine, four drachms; Liquor of pure Potass; two drachms. Mix. Two or three table-spoonsful to be taken every three or four hours. A turpentine clyster would also be proper. The bladder should likewise be injected with warm water, and the skin over the region of the kidneys, irritated with a liniment of olive oil, liquor of pure ammonia, and oil of turpentine. The warm-bath, and application of cold water to the head, are likely to prove powerful auxiliaries to this mode of treatment. - CRYING OF A CHILD IN THE WOMB. Dr. Lister, an eminent physician of London, has published a case of a child who cried in the womb, forty-eight hours before it was born, which was communicated to him by a Doctor Ziterland. Being a very uncommon occurrence, the Doctor thinks it worthy of being recorded in a respectable Journal. Now, as the lungs of a child in the uterus, are in a state of collapse, and the body surrounded by a fluid heavier than water, how can it be possible for it to cry? The Doctor must have a very accurate idea of the powers by which the noise of crying is produced. As long as this great philosopher, and the great Sir Everard Home, live, the Royal Society of London cannot be at a loss for a proper person to fill the President's chair, in case of a vacancy. WEN.-The following communication, on the efficacy of iodine, in dispersing the tumour, termed wen, is from the pen of Mr. J. B. Austin, an experienced and scientific surgeon of Haslemere, in the county of Surrey, where the disease is very prevalent. "I lately had two patients brought to me-sisters; the eldest about fourteen, the youngest between eleven and twelve years of age: the tumours of both had been gradually increasing from childhood, and were now very prominent. In the eldest, both lobes of the gland were equally enlarged; the right lobe of the youngest was the part most affected; in both they were hard, and unyielding to pressure. Wishing to try the comparative efficacy of iodine, and the burnt sponge lozenges, I furnished the eldest with a concentrated tincture of iodine, and desired her to take ten drops, twice a day, in water, and to increase the dose gradually, till she arrived to twenty. The youngest I supplied with the lozenges of burnt sponge, as prepared by Mr. Shepherd, of Fleet-street, directing her to allow one gradually to dissolve under the tongue, night and morning; and I was assured of the perseverance of both, by the superintendance of a careful mother. The eldest girl bore an increase of the tincture to fifteen or sixteen drops without inconvenience; but on reaching twenty, she was obliged to desist awhile, on account of sickness, vertigo, and some disturbance of the bowels, all which, however, soon went off, without the assistance of medicine; and after about a week, she recommenced with a dose of twelve drops, which she increased to fifteen, eighteen, and eventually to twenty, without much disorder, though occasionally obliged to desist a day or two. After having taken it about three weeks, the tumour was evidently softer, and its measure less; and at the expiration of two months it had nearly disappeared. She was desired to persevere another month-and now not any remains of it are perceptible, and her health is excellent. The youngest sister took the lozenges daily, and in less than a month her tumour was evidently less; but afterwards, it did not decrease so rapidly as that of her eldest sister's: and even now, three months from her commencing the lozenges, there is still left a little tumefaction, and a small indurated portion, about the size of a hazel nut. "I have been in the habit of recommending the sponge lozenges very confidently, from observing their efficacy, if not in entirely removing the tumours, at least, in rendering them much softer, and materially lessening them; and in most cases, when wen first appears in young females, the use of them for a fortnight only, will cause its total disappearance. The cases related above, were of some years standing, and within the last three, had increased very rapidly. As the disease is common in this neighbourhood, I purpose giving the tincture of iodine a very fair trial; should the results be favourable, I may probably trouble you with them, if worth your notice, on some future occasion." Mr. Osborne, of Tunbridge, has increased the dose of the saturated tincture of iodine to sixty drops, twice a day, in a case of wen, without disordering the stomach; and Mr. Ives, of Market Lavington, near Devizes, has given it a fair trial in this disease, in both of which it was of no benefit; but the subjects were far advanced in life. In young women, the saturated tincture of iodine, in the dose of twenty drops, twice a day, has been very successful in dispersing wenny and scrofulous tumours. In some cases of scrofula, the saturated tincture, in the same dose, in a decoction of Iceland moss, seemed to have acted like a charm, probably in consequence of the general health having been previously improved, by attending to the state of the stomach and bowels, as directed by Mr. Abernethy, whilst in other, where the preparatory treatment had been neglected, it failed to produce any beneficial effect; indeed, the digestion being bad at the time, the remedy disordered the stomach. To give a remedy a fair trial, the digestive organs should be put in a state of health, by the blue pill, a mild tonic, and proper diet, as directed in our Fifth and Sixth Numbers, under the head of Digestion, previously to its exhibition. A considerable quantity of iodine has been sent to a wholesale chemist, in the city of London, by a chemist at Glasgow, at a very low price, which is certainly very inferior in quality to the German iodine. A correspondent informs us, that the said chemist obtains it from coke. Part of it being only dissolved in alcohol, is a proof that it is not genuine. HEAD-ACHE.-We have received a copy of a popular Treatise, On the Prevention and Treatment of Primary and Secondary HeadAches, which the Author says, "is interspersed with the most useful remarks on these subjects, from the works of Abernethy, No. 83.] Astley Cooper, Hamilton, and Wilson Philip. In the class of primary head-ache, the author enumerates several species; viz. from organic disease, from pimples, from cancer, from obstructed circulation of blood in the head, from superabundance of blood in the head, from passion, from great exertion of the mind in business, study, emotions, and from indulging in sleep, and the contrary. The class of secondary head-ache embraces seven species: viz. (1) head-ache from bile, and disorders of the liver and stomach; (2) from nervous debility, a Megrim, &c.; (3) from intemperance; (4) from gout and rheumatism; (5) from commencement of fever; (6) from syphilis; and, (7), from scrofula and consumption. This classification, to the ignorant, may appear very plausible; but to the medical practitioner, the object of the author will at once appear evident; for the species composing the class of primary head-ache, are as much symptomatic or sympathetic as those of the second, and beyond this imposing display no medical man, we presume, would go in search of information, in the author's book. Of all popular works on medicine, no one, in our opinion, is more likely to prove injurious than one on head-ache, which directs the attention of the readers to sympathetic or symptomatic affections as primary diseases; for head-ache is very rarely a primary complaint, and is often a forerunner of very serious local mischief, or constitutional disturbance. We, however, need only notice the learned compiler's prescriptions, to convince our readers that the author is not a medical man, and, consequently, that his work is unworthy of their attention. Page 78. For periodical head-ache, the following draught is recommended, "to give immediate relief: Take of Senna Leaves, an ounce and a half; Ginger Powder, a drachm; Tincture of Rhubarb, half a drachm.-Mix. The author, in compliment to his medical readers, has condescended to give this prescription also in Latin, of which the following is a correct copy : R. Fol. Sennæ, 3j. Pulv. Zingib. 3j. Tinct. Rhei. 3ss. M. ut fiat haustus. If a patient were to swallow an ounce and a half of senna leaves, or, as in the Latin formula, an ounce, with a drachm of ginger powder, we agree with the learned author, that the dose would soon cure the head-ache. For the throbbing head-ache, the author recommends the following draught to be taken during the fit: Take of Infusion of Valerian, one ounce; Ammonia, a drachm and a half; Tincture of Henbane, twenty drops; Peppermint Water, a sufficient quantity to form a draught. After taking a drachm and a half of ammonia, the fit no doubt would soon terminate. Throbbing pain is an indication of increased arterial action, or increased nervous excitement; in either of which, a drachm of ammonia (supposing the author means either the carbonate, or the liquor of ammonia) would produce most serious |