PHARMACOLOGY. No. XXVI. In the case of average intensity, my mode of proceeding is this-If my patient is still up, I order him at once to bed, and apply a light but large bran poultice, moistened with infusion of Vinum Opii,-Wine of Opium.-This preparation is prescribed in such cases camomile, and occasionally sprinkled with laudanum, over the abdomen. This being covered with oiled silk, maintains its warmth and moisture for a long time. A large piece of patent epithem is an admirable substitute when it can be obtained. Warm jars placed to the feet, a liberal supply of bedclothes, and a warm, but not close, atmosphere in the bed-room, render great assistance. As soon as it can be obtained (I generally carry it with me), a dose of spirit of turpentine, about fifteen drops is given, combined with laudanum; or if this be for any reason contra-indicated, an equivalent of some other sedative (hyoscyamus, e.g.;) or sometimes without any other medicament. This dose is felt almost immediately to check the disease; and here, if I were to describe my own feelings, the aptest expression I could use is, that a message seems, as by electric telegraph, to be conveyed on the moment to the whole canal, that the discharges are to cease. In place of the sickly nausea, of the coldness and sensation of incessant movements of the bowels, which tell you that your serum is oozing out, a feeling of warmth and cheerful tone at once pervades the system, and tells you that the disease is checked; in fact, this first, or a second dose, would generally complete the cure if the patient would remain in bed for a few hours, and for a day or two observe a strict dietary. If the process be not always so speedy, still, perseverance in the use of these measures has as yet succeeded in every case in which I have tried them, with one exception. I should here mention what I have found the easiest way of taking the rather disagreeable medicine I propose. Having prepared the tincture of hops with some French brandy, I put in a wine-glass about a drachm of this tincture. I drop in the spirit of turpentine, which floats on its surface. Then, just as the patient is going to drink it off, half an ounce of cold spring water being added, the turpentine is so engaged in the molecular movements that occur while the spirit and water are mixing, as to disappear. At this moment the draught is easily swallowed; and, if care be taken not to wet the lips, its flavour very soon passes off. After a few seconds the turpentine again floats, and, if left for some hours, the mixture becomes troubled and milky, and is not easily taken. Each dose should, then, be dropped out as it is required. THE EXTORTIONS OF THE QUACKS. (To the Editor of The Lancet.) SIR,-You have lately made some remarks on the charges made by impudent quacks for advice given to the public. The following may be a useful bit of warning to my country brethren: A gentleman of my acquaintance unfortunately has two sons deaf and dumb. He had heard of Mr. ——, who describes himself as an oculist and aurist, and who I believe also practises as a throat cutter. After asking his advice, Mr. - remarked that, though uncertain, he thought he could cure them. The gentleman asked his charge, offering £100 for a cure. The operator asked £500 each, when the gentleman said he would think about it. "What am I indebted to you for your advice?" "Fifty pounds!" Indeed, that is great deal; I thought five would suffice." Fifty pounds is my charge"-which I am sorry to say the gentleman paid. Your obedient servant, 66 W. **The writer of this note is a gentlemen of great respectability, and whose high character is a sufficient voucher for the accuracy of the extraordinary statement which his communication contains.-ED. LANCET. NARCOTICS-(continued from page 102.) as the tincture of opium is required; but as it occasions less disturbance of the brain and nervous system, it is better suited for very young persons, invalids of a nervous habit, and in cases in which the head is much affected. It is made by macerating two ounces and a half of the extract of opium, with the same quantity of cinnamon and cloves, in two pints of sherry. The dose is from ten drops to a drachm. Tinctura Camphora Composita,-Compound Tincture of Camphor, Paregoric. This well-known remedy for coughs and colds is thus prepared:Take camphor, two scruples and a half; hard opium, powdered, and of benzoic acid, of each seventy-two grains; oil of aniseed, a fluid drachm; proof spirit, two pints. Macerate for fourteen days and strain. The dose is from one drachm to three drachms; a fluid ounce contains nearly two grains of opium. Pilula Saponis Composite,-Compound Pills of Soap.-This is an excellent form for administering opium, especially to elderly or irritable persons. It is prepared by assiduously beating together half an ounce of hard opium and two ounces of Castile soap until the mass is thoroughly incorporated. The dose is from three grains to ten. Five grains of the soap pill contain one grain of opium. Pilula Styracis Composite,-Compound Pill of Storax.-This pill is balsamic, and slightly expectorant; it is a valuable remedy in some chronic affections of the lungs, inasmuch as the expectorant properties of the storax counteract the "clogging" frequently induced by opiates in chest affections. The dose is from three grains to ten. Five grains contain Pilule Ipecacuanha Composite,-Compound Pills of Ipecacuanha.—This is one grain of opium. an excellent preparation; it is most valuable in chronic coughs and asthmas in elderly persons: it is both sudorific and narcotic. It is prepared as the compound ipecacuanha powder, ten grains of which contain one grain of opium (Dover's powder), fresh dried squill, ammoniacum, and mucilage. The dose is five grains three times a day, or ten grains at bed-time. Pulvis Crete Compositus cum Opio,-Compound Powder of Chalk with Opium.-This powder is both astringent and anodyne; it is prescribed with great benefit in diarrhoea and dysentery. The dose is from five grains to half a drachm. Forty grains contain one grain of opium. Pulvis Ipecacuanha Compositus, Compound Powder of Ipecacuanha (Dover's powder).-See pages 77, 134, Vol. I. (Nos. 10 and 17). This powder contains ipecacuanha, hard opium, and sulphate of potash; the sulphate of potash being added merely to divide the more active ingredients. The dose is from five grains to twenty. Ten grains contain one grain of opium. - Pulvis Kino Compositus,-Compound Powder of Kino.-Like the compound chalk powder this preparation is both anodyne and astringent, and is used in similar cases of bowel complaints. The dose is from five grains to twenty. Twenty grains contain one grain of opium. Trochise Opii, Opium Lozenges. A form for preparing these lozenges is given in the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia (we believe the quack nostrum, impudently styled Locock's Wafers, to be made in a similar manner) :— Take opium, two drachms; tincture of tolu, four drachms; simple syrup, eight ounces; extract of liquorice, powdered gum, and warm water, of each five ounces. First rub the opium with the tincture; then add, by degrees, the syrup and liquorice; afterwards mix in the powdered gum arabic; lastly, dry them into a mass, and divide into lozenges, each weighing ten grains. One allowed to dissolve in the mouth now and then may allay the irritation of the throat producing cough in protracted catarrhs. Six lozenges contain one grain of opium. Linimentum Opii,-Liniment of Opium,-is prepared by adding two ounces of laudanum to six ounces of soap liniment. It is a useful sedative liniment to allay pairs, and to procure sleep, when opium cannot be taken into the stomach. Emplastrum Opii,-Plaster of Opium.-This plaster, which contains the resin of spruce fir, lead-plaster, and opium, is both stimulant and anodyne; it is rarely employed. The late Dr. A. T. Thomson says:"Although it is undoubtedly certain that opium, in that state of minute division in which it exists in the tincture, produces its specific effects on the system in a small degree when externally applied; yet we doubt whether the effects of this plaster will sanction the adoption of it by the London College." Enema Opii,-Enema of Opium,-Opium Glyster,-is thus directed to be made:-Take decoction of starch, four ounces; tincture of opium, thirty minims. Mix. It is used in irritable bladder, diseases of the prostate gland, in dysentery, and in strangury induced by blisters. The bulk of the fluid is small, for the obvious purpose of causing it to be retained for some time, so that it may act as an anodyne to the irritable bowels. HINTS FOR HEALTH. TO PROTECT CHILDREN FROM BURning. Add one ounce of alum to the last water used to rinse children's dresses, and they will be rendered uninflammable, or so slightly combustible that they would take fire very slowly, if at all, and would not flame. This a simple precaution, which may be adopted in families of children. Bed curtains, and linen in general, may also be treated in the same way. TO AVOID DANGER FROM WET CLOTHES. Keep if possible in motion, and take care not to go near a fire or into any very warm place, so as to occasion sudden heat, till some time after you have been able to procure dry clothes. TO FUMIGATE A ROOM. Make a strong brine of saltpetre and water, in which cascarilla bark has been previously infused. Dip pieces of thick brown paper into it, and dry them before the fire; keep When wanted. tear a strip, set it on fire, and them for use. carry it about the house on a shovel or plate; it should smoke, but not blaze. COD LIVER OIL. Cod-liver oil is neither more nor less than cod oil clarified; and consequently two-thirds of its medicinal qualities are abstracted thereby. Cod oil can be purchased pure at any wholesale oil warehouse, at about one-thirtieth part of the price charged for the so-called cod-liver oil. TO DETECT ARSENIC. ASTHMA, BRONCHITIS, INFLUENZA, and CATARRH; the Causes, Symptoms, and Rational Treatment. "Dr. Yeoman, in his admirable little treatise on Consumption, has already A solution of blue vitriol dropped into any liquid in which popularised with safety. This is an excellent sequel to the former work."very satisfactorily proved that in certain cases medical knowledge may be arsenic has been put will turn it green. Weekly Times, January 19, 1848. GROCERS' "ITCH." This is a disagreeable disease attending grocers, who have much to do in handling sugar. The hands first become chapped, pustules appear upon them, and if they continue to handle sugar, a settled callous ulceration follows. We recommend the use of gloves made of parchment to prevent the disease, as well as to THE Volume I. is now ready, price 4s., in strong and elegant cloth, of conducting a journal of this nature. assist in curing it. Those affected with it should every night keep their hands in warm water for half an hour, then touch the parts with diluted citron ointment, and put on a pair of soft leather gloves, in which they should sleep. In the morning the proper gloves above alluded to should be put on, and the hands by no means allowed to come in contact with the sugar until the and all Booksellers and Newsvendors. It is requested that all orders for disease is quite removed. THE EFFECT OF TOWN LIFE ON THE HEALTH. : London published by the AUTHOR, 25, Lloyd Square; and sold by GEORGE VICKERS, Strand; EFFINGHAM WILSON, 11, Royal Exchange: copies to be sent by post may be forwarded to the Author, so as to insure punctual dispatch. EVILL'S PATENT FLOUR OF LENTILS,— properties which will prevent the use of medicine for Indigestion, Constipation, Is the produce of the ARABIAN LENTIL, possessing natural restorative and all other derangements of the Stomach, Intestines, Liver, &c. Recom mended by medical men for persons advanced in age, Invalids, and delicate Children. Packets, at 6d. and 1s. each; in Family Canisters of 6lbs. and 12lbs., 5s. 6d. The impurities in the air of large towns, existing both within and without the dwellings of their inhabitants, tend to modify the state of health of those who are reputed healthy, and to render them liable to a class of diseases distinguished from those of rural districts by an absence of power or tone, no less than by the different and even opposite treatment which they require. Thus a disease, which in the country will bear and require bloodletting, will, in large towns, scarcely admit of any amount of depletion, and may even demand an opposite mode of treat-RUSSES.-S. SMITH, Truss Maker, 1, High Holborn, ment. This depressing and debilitating effect of the atmosphere of large towns, displayed in the pallid aspect of those who are esteemed healthy, and in the want of power accompanying the diseases to which they are subject, is a fact of great practical importance, and one which ought always to be borne in mind at the bed-side. three doors from Gray's Inn Lane, respectfully announces to the Public that TRUSSES can be had at his Establishment at the following Low Prices:--Double Trusses, 16s. each; Single Ditto, 8s. Belts, Back-boards, Dumb-bells, Wooden Legs, Crutches, Supports for WeakManufacturer of Lace Stockings, Knee-caps, Suspensory Bandages, Riding ened Legs, and all Instruments and Apparatus for the Cure of Deformities. Mrs. Smith attends on Ladies. his oppression, he avoids the least movement, or even the effort of speaking; this difficulty of breathing continues to increase as the disease advances. Cough is often present, although occasionally it is so slight that the patient does not notice it; in the beginning, it is usually dry and without expectoration; after a time, it may become more dietressing, and return at very short intervals, and prove most obstinate. When expectoration takes place for it is not of constant occurrence- —it becomes so characteristic, that Laennec believed that from it alone the disease might be detected. The sputa, which he calls glutinous or pneumonic, when collected in a flat open vessel, as a plate, forms a mass so tenacious and viscous, that if the vessel be reversed when full, the expectorated fluid is separated, or is detached from it with diffiulty: it trembles something like jelly upon agitation. The colour of the expectoration varies-it may be red or rusty, sea-green, orange, saffron, yellow, or of a dull green; and these colours are often intermixed. It has something of the transparency of horn, or of white of egg coloured, and frequently contains bubbles of air of unequal size, and in large quantities. Sometimes it is streaked with blood. In addition to these local symptoms and to the general fever, we also notice that the pulse is quick, in most instances sharp, and in many cases both hard and full. The urine is more highly coloured than in other symptomatic fevers-in some cases it is nearly red. There is more or less thirst; the tongue is coated with a white or brown fur; the appetite is lost; there is pain in the head and limbs, with great depression of mind and strength of body. If relief is not afforded in time, and the inflammation proceeds with such violence as to endanger suffocation, the bloodvessels of the neck will become turgid and swelled; the face will alter to a purple colour; an effusion of blood will take place into the cellular substance of the lungs, so as to impede the circulation through that organ, and the patient will die exhausted or suffocated. (To be continued.) HOSPITALS FOR THE INTEMPERATE. We should like to see this important subject taken up by judicious persons, and much of the fallacy, error. and prejudice in association with it dispelled. Alas! how many hundreds are annually sacrificed at the shrine of intemperance, whose lives might have been spared had efficient means been resorted to at any early period, before habit became fixed and confirmed. That there is a disease of the mind manifested solely in an uncontrollable desire for stimulating drinks, we have not a doubt; the more we see of the insane, the stronger is this conviction fastened on our minds. There is ordinary intoxication, and this may, to a certain extent, become a habit; but there is, apart from this, a form of insanity, exhibiting itself almost exclusively in a morbid yearning for intoxicating drinks. We have often seen cases of this kind, and as often have lamented our inability to grapple with them until the disease has extended into positive delirium, and it is only at this stop that the law allows us to interpose.Psychological Journal. THE executors of the late Sir Robert Peel have, within the last few days, remitted fees to the various medical gentlemen who attended him and endeavoured to alleviate the effects of the fearful accident which was the means of terminating his life: To Sir Benjamin Brodie, £250 guineas; to Mr. Shaw, 100 guineas; and to the other gentlemen proportionate sums. THE INFLUENCE OF THE PASSIONS ON THE HEALTH. BY THE EDITOR. No. III. THE EXCITING PASSIONS (continued). JOY. Joy is the intensity of the pleasurable passions; the degree of gladness and delight which the word serves to denote being rather a consequence of the emotions, Love, Hope, and Friendship, than a distinct and specific passion. 66 The effect of joy on the animal economy is that of a direct stimulus of a very powerful kind, which acts not only on the nerves but on every part of the body; the action of the heart is excited, it "leaps for joy," and the blood under its animating influence is propelled more liberally to the surface, therefore the "heart is light," and the minute blood vessels of the skin become more thoroughly injected; the countenance is flushed and “ expanded," its expression is brightened, and the face "beams with joy." The whole body participates in this cheerful elasticity, its movements are quickened, the step is buoyant, and there is a desire to run, to jump, to laugh, to dance, to sing in fact every organ, every function, and every limb, appears to be gladdened and invigorated by the happy moral condition. When the joyous excitement is sudden and great, when the flow of joy is immoderate and violent, the consequence must be always prejudicial to health, in some instances the derangement is serious, and even fatal; the nervous system being unduly excited and the circulation unnaturally increased, there follows a corresponding degree of sensorial exhaustion, and the strength of the body is completely prostrated. Thus, as in intoxication from wine or spirits, the state of excitement is succeeded by depression, languor and lassitude. The very insignia of griefsighing, sobbing, and panting, frequently follow extravagant joy; and sometimes the countenance will turn pale, and the limbs refuse to support the body. Occasionally the exhaustion of the sensorial power, succeeding to the ecstasy of joy, is so sudden and complete, that the whole nervous system seems instantaneously to become discharged of its contents, like a Leyden phial loaded with electricity when touched with a brass rod, and death takes place at the moment. There are instances on record in which culprits just at the point of execution have immediately expired on the announcement of a pardon. Valerius Maximus relates two anecdotes of matrons who, in like manner, died of joy on seeing their sons return safe from the battle between Hannibal and the Romans at the lake of Thrasis; the one died while embracing her son— the other had been misinformed, and was at that moment lamenting his death. Ancient history affords numerous examples of this sudden and fatal effect of joy; it is recorded of Chilo, a Spartan philosopher, one of the seven wise men of Greece, that on seeing his son obtain a victory at Olympia, he fell overjoyed into his arms and immediately expired. "Excessive and sudden joy," says Haller, "often kills, by increasing the motion of the blood, and exciting a true apoplexy." A case in illustration of this remark is detailed by the late Dr. Mason Good. A gentlemen who had consented to be nominated one of the executors in the will of an elderly person of considerable property with whom he was acquainted, received, a few years afterwards, and at a time when his own income was but limited, the unexpected news that the testator was dead, and had left him sole executor, together with the whole of his property, amounting to three thousand a year. He arrived in London in great agitation; and on entering ON A JAPANESE REMEDY FOR STERILITY. his own door, dropped down in a fit of apoplexy, from which he Could joy be employed as a medicine, administered with a due regard to time and measure-in drachm or minim doses-the materia medica would be forsaken; for, says the great Haller, "Love, hope, and joy, promote perspiration, quicken the pulse, promote circulation, increase the appetite, and faciliate the cure of disease." Where are we to look for the drug that can effect so much? The feeling of well-being which constantly attends good and pleasing intelligence has, at one time or another, been experienced by us all; when the health is perfect, moderate joy adds a zest to the enjoyment of that health; our functions perform their part in harmony, and we feel conscious of our strength, and of the integrity of the animal machine. In sickness what balm, what cordial, equals a gladdened and tranquil mind; how frequently do we see patients, in an extremity of danger, rally on the receipt of a letter from an absent relative; and how constantly is the action of remedies, hitherto inert, favourably assisted when the invalid is cheered by the companionship of some loved friend. When it is attempted to employ joyous emotion as a remedial agent, we should do so cautiously and gradually, and be as careful in imparting pleasing intelligence, or introducing a wishedfor, though unexpected guest, as we should be in disclosing sorrow, or anything that could depress the patient. As I have already stated, rapid and extreme alterations of feeling, like all sudden extremes, are repugnant to the laws, and consequently dangerous to the well-being, of the animal economy. It has been well remarked, that to endeavour at once to eradicate deep grief by excessive joy, is as irrational as it would be to expect the restoration of a frozen limb from pouring upon it hot water. Ecstasy may be considered to hold the same relation to joy, that rage or fury does to anger; for, during the paroxysm of rapture, or excessive elevation of the mind, the reason is for a time lost. Individuals are occasionally met with who appear to exist almost continually in an unnatural state of felicity; whose every thought and feeling seems imbued with an enthusiasm of delight, unsaddened even by reverse of fortune or disappointed hopes, and who cannot devote serious attention to any subject, however grave it may be in importance to themselves. Such cases are sometimes, but not always correctly, attributed to deficiency of intellect; when, in fact, they are the result of a peculiar temperament, characterised by high spirits and a sportive and boisterous imagination;-they commonly terminate in insanity or early death. An able physician, writing on this subject, says,"These seemingly favoured beings, have generally come to an early grave; it appearing as though Nature had ordained that none of us should exceed a limited sum of enjoyment, and that in proportion, therefore, as she increases its intenseness, does she curtail its duration." (To be continued.) AFTER twenty years' absence from my native land, during which time I have resided in the various islands of the Pacific Ocean and the Eastern Archipelago, anxious for information bearing upon my profession, as I have always been, I could scarcely avoid picking up at various times many matters of practical importance, as well as some curious information of the mode of treating dis Amongst the many botanical remedies that popular experience has made common in Japan and China is one that is believed to exert specific influence upon the uterus, more particularly in cases of sterility and checked menstruation; and from the numerous cases in which I have administered it with advantage, I am inclined to think it will become a valuable addition to our materia medica. The tree from which the preparation is made that possesses the virtues ascribed to it is, no doubt, one of the order Ternstromaceæ of Jussieu, growing to the size of the English laurel, with leaves somewhat larger than the congou tea, and botanically it may be described as leaves lanceolate, alternate, serrated, downy on the under side, and emitting when bruised a strong odour resembling pulegium and sabina. Its properties are said to vary considerably with the age of the tree, likewise as to its being gathered at the full or wane of the moon, and as to the season of the year. It is perennial, and grows best in moist and sheltered places. The mode of preparation is to take a quantity of the leaves, macerate them in as much rice-spirit (samshu) as will just moisten them for six hours; then express and give about a tea-spoonful every hour, and two or three doses will invariably bring on the menstrual secretion, which can be maintained by a dose or two daily for any length of time. Females in the healthy state are expected to menstruate in their eighth year in Japan and China, and should they not do so they are ineligible for betrothal; therefore recourse is had to the key tu sing with certain results. To ensure its success, according to popular belief, the leaves must be gathered by a virgin the while using certain cabalistic formula, at the full of the moon, and during the burning of a certain number of highly perfumed jop-sticks. When required for the purpose of obviating sterility, the tree must be in its second year, and also gathered with certain prescribed formulæ at the wane of the moon, and equal parts of the root must be added to the preparation, which is made in the same manner as the preceding receipt. That the root is aphrodisiac (a remedy for sterility and impotence) in its effects I have not the slightest doubt, as I have administered it to animals with obvious results, and without any ill effects even to mules and castrati. THE APPETITE OF SPORTSMEN. THE author of the "Sportsman and his Dog" a most amusing little volume, that has made us deplore our compulsory citylife,-relates the following anecdote of the president of Avignon. This respectable magistrate said one day, "We have just been eating a superb turkey, it was excellent, stuffed with truffles to the neck, tender, delicate, and of high flavour; we left only the bones." "How many of you were there?" said I. "Two," he replied. "Two?" said I. "Yes, the turkey and myself" IMPORTANT TO THE PUBLIC, DRUGGISTS, AND MEDICAL MEN. GRIFFITHS v. WALFORD. A CASE of some importance to the medical profession and to the public, was tried a short time since before Mr. Bullock, in the Guildhall County Court. The plaintiff, a Mr. Griffiths, of Wolverhampton, brought an action for damages and compensation against Mr. Walford, of the firm of Lunn and Walford, 149, Aldersgate-street, alleging that, being taken ill while in London, he applied to Mr. Walford for a dose of Sir James Murray's fluid magnesia, which he was in the habit of taking to allay irritation in the stomach, and for a four-grain calomel pill. Mr. Walford administered to him a dose of Epsom salts, whereupon he expressed himself very angry on the subject, and refused to take any more medicine of Mr. Walford's making. In consequence of the dose of Epsom salts, to which medicine he had a great aversion, as tending to excite, not allay, irritation in the stomach, he was laid up for that night and the next day, and detained in London from his business at Wolverhampton. The plaintiff, who acted as his own counsel, said that he did not seek for damages, but to enforce, by the verdict of a jury, upon the attention of medical men and druggists, the principle, so important to the public, that if he or any one went into a druggist's shop, and called for some particular medicine, that druggist-or surgeon in attendance in his shop-should not be at liberty to substitute another, either because he had not got the medicine asked for, or did not choose to sell it or desired to sell something else by which he made a larger profit; or had the presumption or the vanity to think he knew better than his customer what was good for him. On the part of the defendant, it was argued by his counsel, Mr. Mellor, that the plaintiff had applied to Mr. Walford for advice, and that were it possible for him to obtain a verdict, no medical man, for the future, would be safe in prescribing for a patient. He called Mr. Lloyd, Surgeon, of Aldersgate-street, who spoke as to the efficacy of bicarbonate of magnesia, the mixture which, he understood, Mr. Walford had given to Mr. Griffiths, and explained that although sulphate of magnesia entered into its composition, its action was neutralised. Mr. Walford, of 149, Aldersgate-street, stated that he was a partner in the firm of Lunn and Walford, Mr. Lunn not being his partner as a surgeon, but simply as a chemist and druggist. He is himself a surgeon; Mr. Lunn only makes the preparations. He recollected the plaintiff coming to his shop. He was out at the time, and just returning from visiting a patient, when he met Mr. Griffiths coming out of the shop. He re-entered with him. The apprentice said, that the gentleman wanted some advice. Mr. Griffiths complained of flatulency and heartburn, and said, the mutton and turnips disagreed with him. He had not been drinking anything. He looked at his tongue, and sent for the bottle containing a mixture of bicarbonate of magnesia. While pouring this out, Mr. Griffiths said he should like fluid magneHe replied he would give him something quite as good. Mr. Griffiths then swallowed the dose; but no sooner had he done so than he pulled a wry face and angrily exclaimed, You have given me Epsom salts, which is wrong.' He replied, 'I have given you something quite as good as what you asked for, and I will not be dictated to by my patients.' He made a rule of not telling his patients what he gave them; as otherwise, on other occasions, they might doctor themselves, and do mischief by an injudicious use of proper medicines on improper occasions. That was the common sense of the mystery of medicine. Mr. Griffiths was very angry, and in an excited manner, said, he did not care for him, to which he replied, that he did not care for Mr. Griffiths, and took his money and left him. sia. Cross-examined by Mr. Griffiths. The mixture was not Epsom salts, but was composed of bicarbonate of potass and sulphate of magnesia; sulphate of magnesia was Epsom salts, but they became neutralised in that mixture, which then became bicarbonate of magnesia. He could not swear that Mr. Griffiths did not ask him for the fluid magnesia, but distinctly remembered his asking for a calomel pill; thought Mr. Griffiths asked his advice. He complained of headache, flatulency, and heartburn. He could not say whether they had Murray's fluid magnesia on the premises at the time. Epsom salts was not fluid magnesia. He could not remember the name of the patient from visiting whom he was just returning when he found Mr. Griffiths in the shop. Remembered Mr. Griffiths mentioned fluid magnesia, while he had the bottle of mixture in his hand and was pouring it out; will not swear that Mr. Griffiths did not ask for Murray's fluid magnesia. Mr. Griffiths said, 'You shall not make the pill for me; you have given me wrong.' Alexander Jackson stated, that he was the apprentice to Messrs. Lunn and Walford; he remembered the plaintiff coming to the shop, and thinks he said he wanted some advice. He remembered the plaintiff saying after he had taken the dose, 'I wish you had given me what I asked for ;' and also remembered that he said, 'I won't have the pill; you have not given me what I asked for. He cannot swear that he remembered hearing plaintiff ask for Murray's fluid magnesia, but will not swear that he did not ask for it. Mr. Lunn, of the firm of Lunn and Walford, said, that he was a chemist and druggist, and in partnership with Mr. Walford. They had Sir James Murray's fluid magnesia in stock on the first of April. They obtained it from Mr. Edwards, St Paul's Churchyard. He does not sell much of it, as he generally sells his own preparations, which pay him better. to This Cross-examined by Mr. Griffiths.-Begged distinctly state to the court that he did not profess a knowledge of anatomy, or the practice of physic; was not a surgeon, and did not wish to be examined as one. He was a chemist.-Mr. Griffiths: Very well, Mr. Lunn, we will examine you as a chemist then. [The discussion as to the elements of Epsom salts, and the true properties of sulphates, carbonates, and bicarbonates of magnesia, here became so animated and exciting between the various medical witnesses, and Mr. Lunn and Mr. Griffiths, both of them operative chemists, that the judge, the jury, the court, and even the cause itself, seemed to be forgotten, and we might have fancied ourselves present at a scientific reunion; when, on a sudden, a very naïve offer, made by Mr. Griffiths in the excitement of the discussion, that the jury should test the two by taking a dose of the Epsom salts and a dose of the fluid magnesia, convulsed the jury with horror, and the court with laughter. trial by ordeal was, it is needless to say, declined with great energy by the gentleman of the jury, and the examination proceeded.] Mr. Griffiths: Mr. Lunn, as an operative chemist, do you know a bottle of Murray's fluid magnesia when you see it? Yes.-Do you keep it in your shop? I do.-Do you sell much of it? No.-How is this? I sell my own preparations, which pay me much better.-Now, sir, will you tell the jury whether Epsom salts are fluid magnesia? They are not.-Is Murray's fluid magnesia Epsom salts? Certainly not.-Do you make all your own preparations ? No.-What do you make? Those preparations that pay me best.-That I was aware of, sir; but that is no answer to my question. Do you make the preparations of opium, morphine, and so on? No.-Extracts? No.Plasters? No.-Paregoric and Syrup of rhubarb, I suppose you do make? Yes.-Pray, Mr. Lunn, are you a member of the Pharmaceutical Society? I am not.-Not a member of the |