THE UTILITY OF WINE, AS AN ARTICLE OF DIET. There is no one dietetic point in which grievous errors are more frequently made than in respect to wine; and as these appear to arise, in most instances, from mistaken ideas as to its action on the animal economy, a few words explanatory of the principles according to which it ought to be granted or withheld, may prove of service. Wine is stimulating, but not nutritious; hence, it contains nothing really strengthening to the body, although, when administered with judgment, it answers a good purpose of its own totally independent of any nourishing virtue. In certain cases it quickens the nerves, if I may be permitted to use that expression; or more technically, it bestows tone and vigour on the nerves and blood-vessels of the stomach, in consequence of which they are enabled to perform their functions with more energy than they would have done without it. The wine is not aliment in itself, but it qualifies the stomach to act with power on other substances capable of affording it. Is wine, then, good for all stomachs? or which are the certain cases alluded to wherein this beneficial operation may be expected? When the stomach is sound, no stimulation beyond that of plain wholesome food is required; and when wine is taken under these circumstances, all that can be said is, that the vigour of the mucous membrane protects it against injury: but, on the other hand, the function of digestion by no means derives any advantage therefrom. When wine has been habitually taken in moderation, the stomach gets accustomed to the artificial stimulus, so that sometimes it will not work well without it. This state may at last become natural from habit, and the individual may continue all his life to drink wine without suffering from indigestion: more frequently, however, the strength of the stomach is eventually impaired. But it is chiefly where the stomach is weak, although perhaps not dyspeptic, that most advantage is to be derived from the medicinal use of wine. If much wine or spirits (which in their action on the mucous membrane may be considered as concentrated wine) be taken, various evils arise. Thus the lining membrane of the stomach is over-stimulated or inflamed, and the gastric juice deteriorated, or even the secretion of it arrested. Hence, the point in prescribing wine is, to give enough to impart a beneficial stimulus without producing any of the bad effects mentioned. To fix this quantity absolutely is of course impossible; and it must always be left to the judgment of the practitioner to allow for difference of constitution or previous habits: but at the same time, I am satisfied, from the careful observation of many cases, that the "useful" allowance will be found to lie between a half and a whole wine-glassful at luncheon and dinner, Idiluted with about twice its bulk of water. Patients usually, and, it must be admitted very naturally, plead "debility" as a reason for increasing the quantity: they argue, the greater the weakness, the more wine is required; but the inference is altogether wrong. When the point of healthful excitement has been attained by the slight impulse afforded by the wine, every drop beyond that tends to mischief. The patient, it is true, may experience the fleeting sensations of comfort that arise from the use of stimulants, but the stomach pays the penalty. It is a far safer, and a much more truthful dietetic axiom, that the weaker the individual and the stomach may be, the more easily is the latter disordered, and the greater is the effect which stimulants exert on the mucous membrane. Increasing the quantity of food always strengthens the patient, provided he be able to digest it; but increasing the quantity of wine imparts no real vigour, and the moment the healthy limit is passed, the spirit in the wine tends to paralyse the functional activity of the stomach, and prevents it from digesting food so well as it would have done had it been left to its own resources.-Dr. Child. PROSECUTION UNDER THE LUNACY ACT. At the Kent assizes, held last week, at Maidstone, Dr. A. B. Maddock and Mr. Perfect, the proprietor and medical officer of the lunatic asylum at Malling, pleaded guilty to an indictment preferred against them by the Commissioners of Lunacy, for making false entries in their books, representing that no personal restraint had, during a certain period, been used towards any of their patients. Dr. Maddock also pleaded guilty to a second indictment. The defendants pleaded guilty, as they stated, to spare the exposure of the names of their patients. The case, however, was gone into, and the indictment fully sustained. Mr. Baron Parke said that the question was not whether restraint was necessary, but it was imperative on the defendants to have placed the employment of that restraint on record. The Commissioners had most properly instituted this prosecution. The present proceeding would operate as a warning. It was the duty of the defendants to have made the entries, and having failed to do so, they were subject to the consequences. But under all the circumstances, justice would be satisfied by the defendants paying the costs of the prosecution, which he understood would be £150, and he ordered Dr. Maddock to pay a fine of £50 on each of the indictments, and Mr. Perfect £50 on the indictment against him. CASE OF POISONING FROM SWALLOWING PERCUSSION CAPS. BY T. W. FOSTER, M.D. Not long since, I was called in great haste to attend an infant, aged 14 months. Upon entering the room, I was informed by the parents that they had observed their child, about two hours previous to my visit, playing with a box of percussion caps, and they supposed she had swallowed some of them, as signs of acute suffering were exhibited soon after. The little patient appeared to be sinking very fast. The eyes had a hollow, glazed appearance; there was great heat in the epigastric region, and coldness of the extremities; there had been eight or nine discharges from the bowels in an hour, and her general aspect denoted approaching collapse. Before my arrival free emesis had been produced by some domestic remedy, yet I continued the vomiting by administering ipecac. and large draughts of warm water (of which the patient greedily drank), with the hope of discharging at least a portion of the offending matters. The discharge became so debilitating, however, that I threw up an injection of eight drops of laudanum, suspended in starch mucilage, and immediately afterwards gave a large dose of calcined magnesia. An alkaline purgative was selected for the purpose of neutralizing any acid which might be found in the stomach or intestines, and thus prevent any chemical change in the copper. In the course of an hour the child became perfectly composed, and fell into a pleasant slumber, though it had previously suffered excruciating pain, attended with spasms. Dr. Spilman, the family physician, now took charge of the case, and applied counter-irritation to the abdomen. On the next day four caps were discovered in the fæcal matter, which were found to be devoid of their fulminating powder. The child is now enjoying very good health.-Philadelphia Medical Examiner. A HINT TO PRACTITIONERS. It is a great fault common to young practitioners, particularly of late, that they strive principally to excite sensation, whether it be by the newest fashion of dress or science, or by love of paradox and singularities, or even by charlatanism.—Hufeland. HINTS FOR HEALTH. 66 HARDENING" CHILDREN. In early infancy an ordinary tepid bath night and morning is very useful it invigorates, and is enjoyed by the youngest child. It is, however, a mistake to suppose that the daily immersion of a child all the year round in cold water, or almost cold, renders it robust. In the summer it may have that tendency, but in cold weather the effect of such a shock is positively debilitating: a check is given to the circulation early in the morning, when the child has been long fasting, and it does not recover itself the whole day afterwards. If, however, the water is used warm, it acts in winter as a stimulant; it promotes and equalizes the circulation, and enables all parts of the body to resist the chilling effects of the atmosphere. NOCTURNAL INCONTINENCE OF URINE. M. Morand recommends the extract of belladonna as a valuable remedy for nocturnal incontinence of urine, in those cases of it which seem to be associated with a state of general debility. For children from 4 to 6 years old, he begins with a pill containing a quarter of a grain of the extract twice a day, increasing the dose to one grain in the course of fourteen days. He suspends the medicine if symptoms of narcotization come on, but otherwise continues it for two or three months, so as to effect a perfect cure. MODE OF ARRESTING HÆMORRHAGE FROM LEECH-BITES. Dr. Houston recommends the following plan for preventing excessive bleeding from leech-bites, which he has found invariably successful. Take a small pinch from the felt of a beaver hat, pile it on the bite; or if there be several points, pile one respectively on each, and spread over the whole a piece of thin muslin, drawing it tightly, so that any blood which flows must pass directly through both; then with a fine sponge drying up the blood as it oozes out, and in a very short time both felt and muslin will have become dried by the coagulation of the blood in the thin fine meshes, and the hæmorrhage arrested. The muslin may then be all cut away, except the adhering points, The Causes, Symptoms, and Rational Treatment. "An excellent little work upon those disorders so incidental and so common to us that nothing but want of knowledge, which is here amply conveyed, can perpetuate-we could have said tolerate them. A book like this, clearly written, is worth the prescriptions of twenty physicians; and as such we wish it a world-wide reading."-Weekly Dispatch, March 31st, 1850. Price 4d., by post 6d., HEADACHES: their Varieties, Causes, Symptoms, and Rational Treatment. which, in the course of a couple of days, will of themselves drop DIS off, leaving the parts healed, and free from any such disfigured marks as those which necessarily follow cautery, caustics, or needles. ON THE MEANS OF PREVENTING BED SORES. This book is intended to supply legitimate information on those peculiar infirmities that render the diseased and the debilitated the easy prey of ignorant empirics. London: published by GEORGE VICKERS, 28 & 29, Holywell Street, Strand; and sold by all Booksellers and Newsvendors:-by post direct from the Author. TRUS prices:-Double Trusses, from 8s.; Single ditto, from 3s. Manufacturer of Lace Stockings, Knee-Caps, Suspensory Bandages, Riding Belts, Back-boards, Dumb-bells, Wooden Legs, Crutches, Supports for Weakened Legs, and all Instruments and Apparatus for the Cure of Deformities. Mrs. Smith attends on Ladies. The thicker the cuticle, the more it will protect the parts beneath; you may, if you attend to it in time, add to the thickness of the cuticle by stimulating the surface of the skin. Nurses know this very well, for when patients are bed-ridden, they wash the parts subjected to pressure with brandy. What is still better is a lotion composed of two grains of bichloride of mercury to an ounce of proof spirits. When you think that a patient is likely to be confined so long in bed that sloughs may be found on the os sacrum, begin at an early period to wash the parts two or three times a day with this lotion. I have found it useful in other cases where a patient suffers from pressure. For example, in a case of hernia, which requires to be supported by a very NEVIL powerful truss, the truss galls and frets the skin, and may at last cause inflammation and sloughing; but, under the use of a stimulating lotion, a thicker cuticle is generated, and such mischief is avoided.-Sir B. Brodie. SPECTACLES. The best are the Brazilian pebbles; they are cool to the eyes, and not liable to be scratched or broken. Persons cannot be too cautious of whom they purchase spectacles; for it is a fact that they are to be bought at one shilling per dozen. The use of such inferior articles cannot be too much reprobated. EVILL'S ARABICA FOOD, THE PATENT FLOUR OF LENTILS. This most agreeable food has in thousands of cases entirely superseded Medicine for Indigestion, Constipation, Nausea, and Sickness; Nervous, Bilious and Liver Complaints, and all derangements of the Stomach, Bowels, and Digestive Organs. It is the best food for Invalids and Children, as it never distends the weakest Stomach, nor disagrees with the most delicate. Sold in Canisters, 1 lb. 1s., 3 lbs. 2s. 9d.; 6 lbs. 5s. 3d.; 12 lbs. 10s.Beware of impositions. Ask for NEVILL'S Arabica Food, and note the signature of the Patentee, A. H. NEVILL. Manufactured by Nevill and Co., 12, Liverpool Street, King's Cross, London. Du Barry's much-puffed Revalenta is composed of our Patent Purified Lentils, with which we supply him; therefore be not deceived by false statements and high charges. TO CORRESPONDENTS. NOTICE. All communications for the Editor must be addressed, pre-paid, to his house, No. 25, LLOYD SQUARE. THE EDITOR is at home every day until One o'clock; and on the evenings of Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, from Seven till Nine. The People's Medical Dictionary, a small volume, bound in VOLS. I. and II. of the PEOPLE'S MEDICAL JOURNAL are now ready, price 4s. G. H. (Strand).-Without seeing you, we cannot offer you more minute in- J. S. (Princess Square, Sunderland).-Is it possible that you are, as you say you are, "a Chemist's Assistant"? If you are, you are totally unfit for your position. You should know, sir, that potassa fusa is never administered internally-then why ask the dose? It is a powerful escharotic, and you deserve to have its effects tried on your thick head. You ought also to know the composition of glycerine and the purposes for which it is used. If you are "an assistant," you deserve this sharp answer; if you are not an assistant," you deserve a yet sharper reprimand, for assuming a title to which you have no right, and degrading a body of intelligent young men by claiming fellowship with them. DOARDO (Strand).-First-In such cases we are like a lady, we never give "because" to a rude "why." Second-See YEOMAN ON COLDS AND INFLUENZA. Third-Accept our cordial thanks. a W. J. SIMPSON (Ossulston Street).-The fact of your having purchased the THOMAS GEY (South Moulton Street).-Why apply to the Brompton D. D. (Bedford Square East).-Discontinue drugging yourself. Only give ROBERT HART (Castle Street, Liverpool).-Take four grains of the com- JEANETTE (St. Helier's, Jersey).-There is a translation of Parent-Ducha- A. CHARLES JEFFREYS (Winchester).-We have noticed the very great age to which many persons have arrived during the last few years. Several deaths have been recently recorded in which the persons had exceeded a century by several years. The approaching census renders speculation unnecessary. We do not attach much importance to your theory. A SHOPKEEPER (Bedford Place, Commercial Road).-Have moral courage, and tell the little "Apothecary" to "send in" his bill, to send his "boy" for the money, and not to call again. He will, if you continue to take his black draughts, run you up a bill that will compel you to get white-washed to remove your responsibility. Some apothecaries are like nasty little annoying insects-let them once get into your house, and you never can get them out again. ROBERT JONES (Merthyr Tydfil).-Take the following as a general rule. Supposing a full-grown person to require one drachm, or sixty grains, of any medicine; a youth of fourteen to sixteen would require twothirds, or forty grains; a boy from ten to fourteen, one half, or thirty grains; a child from five to ten, one third, or twenty grains; from two to three years old, one eighth part, or eight grains; for one year old, one twelfth part, or five grains; and so on proportionally to the tenderest age. Of course there are many, very many, exceptions to this general rule. CONSTIPO (Southampton Row).-The common black draught is thus made: Take of senna leaves, half an ounce; Epsom salts, half an ounce; a small piece of bruised ginger-the whole infused for two hours in a cupful of boiling water. The addition of five or ten drops of sal volatile deprives the dose of its nauseating taste. See PURGATIVES IN PHARMACOLOGY, in Vol. I. ANTHONY.-You must be a careless reader, if a constant reader. It has been often explained in the Journal, that the pulse is the vibration given to the arteries by each contraction or beat of the heart. There is a long article on the Pulse in No. 17, page 131, Vol. I. A WATCHMAKER (Wynyatt Street).-We will not advise without examining you by aid of the stethescope. W. H. (Southampton).-Call immediately in Lloyd Square. A. MICKLE (Bedale).-That of Dr. Bird; published by Churchill, Princes MARY GORDON (Camden Town).-Read the chapter on "Bilious Head- RICHARD JEFFRIES (Uxbridge).-Yes, on the mornings of Sundays as well, unfortunately. B. C. (Portsmouth).-A letter, directed as you requested, has been rereturned to us by the post-office authorities, marked "not called for." This is very annoying. JOSEPH BLAKE (Shrewsbury).-Many careless dispensers employ a hot iron in spreading blisters. This is improper; great heat destroys the efficacy of the cantharides. This, probably, was the cause of failure in your case. A. A. S. (Temple).-See answer to R. R. (Hatton Garden), in No. 65. ROLAND CAXTON (Pall Mall). Many thanks for your" echo." The original MARTHA (Huntingdon). It is "bilious headache," caused by a disordered stomach and liver. Will you read the Editor's small work on the varieties of headache? Refer to page 3, and write again. HEALTH OF LONDON DURING THE WEEK.-London is most unhealthy. The Deaths registered last week amount to 1412. The sickness which now prevails is common to all periods of life; influenza in conjunction with bronchitis, inflammation of the lungs, diseases of the heart, or other malady, was fatal in 65 cases; bronchitis, 156; inflammation of the lungs, 125; consumption, 166; asthma, 39; hooping cough, 81; croup, 12. Measles shows some disposition to prevail; but it is satisfactory to observe that small-pox is less fatal than it was a few weeks ago, and has declined to 16 deaths. The births of 824 boys and 756 girls-in all, 1580 children, were registered. London: Printed by JOHN CATCHPOOL, of 35, Great Percy Street, Pentonville, at his FIGURE XXVII. TEETH. [PRICE ONE PENNY. The lower jaw has, in the adult, sixteen alveolar cavities, or sockets, for the reception of the teeth. There are twelve pairs of muscles attached to this bone. THE lower jaw, or os maxillare inferius, is by far 5 1 (The permanent teeth being as yet alveolar cavities, or sockets.) FIGURE XXVIII. THE TEETH. Each jaw is provided with sixteen teeth, arranged with perfect uniformity-eight on each side of each jaw; those of the one side exactly corresponding with those of the other. The formation of the teeth takes place in what anatomists have termed a capsule, which is, in fact, an apparatus for their production, seated in the alveolar cavities of the jaws. These capsules exist at an early stage of existence; and the teeth, though as yet undeveloped, are, to a great extent, formed at the period of birth. The first dentition, saliva at the mouth, heat, and fulness of the gums, occasional flushings, increased thirst, restlessness A LATERAL VIEW OF THE WHOLE SERIES OF THE PERMANENT TEETH; 3. The Cuspid. The section of this tooth also shows the structure of the teeth. a the bony part; b the enamel; c the interual cavity; d the foramen, or hole at the extremity of the tooth. 4. The first Bicuspid. 5. The second Bicuspid. 6. The first Molar. 7. The second Molar. 8. The third Molar, or Dens Sapientiæ. or fretfulness, and frequent endeavours to thrust substances into the mouth, evidently to allay irritation or itching. We may here add, that the best thing to place in the hands of an infant "cutting its teeth," is an India rubber ring—a coral or an ivory ring is much too hard. When the sixth or eighth year is attained, the phenomena of the second dentition commence by the development of a third molar, stronger than those already noticed, and the strongest of the set about to be formed. Next, all the first teeth fall out (or their roots, being more or less absorbed, are readily removed by the finger and thumb), exactly in the order in which they first appeared, and are replaced by others stronger and larger, but of the same character, excepting that the two molars double teeth, or grinders-succeeding the canine, are replaced by false or bicuspid molars. This operation is completed at about the twelfth year; soon after which the second molar appears; and lastly, the back molar, or wisdom tooth. The time of the appearance of this tooth varies; it seldom cuts the gum till several years after the others, and is occasionally delayed till near the thirtieth year. Figure xxvii. displays the relative situation of the two sets of teeth, previously to the fall of the first; and figure xxviii. gives a side view of the permanent teeth. For the convenience of description, a tooth is divided into three parts the crown, which is the exposed portion; the neck, which is continuous to the crown, and is covered by the edge of the gums; and the root, or fang, which is a continuation of the neck, gradually diminishing in size to its extremity, and lodged deep in the jaw. Three tissues enter into the formation of the human tooth the enamel, which coats with variable thickness the crown of the tooth (b, fig xxx.); dentine, or ivory, which forms the great bulk of the tooth (a, fig. xxx.); and cement, or dental bone, which forms the surface of the fang. In the centre of each tooth is a cavity (o, fig. xxx.) partaking generally of the shape of the exterior of each tooth, being very small at its commencement in the root, and gradually increasing in size, till it terminates in the crown. The vessels, nerves, and remains of the original pulp of which the tooth was formed, occupy this cavity, from which it has obtained the name of the pulp-cavity. It is only in this cavity, and its contents, that the tooth is endowed with sensation. Here is the seat of that "hell o' all diseases," as Burns, more emphatically than elegantly, calls toothache. The teeth of each jaw receive their nerves from the sensitive branches of the fifth pair; the arteries are derived from branches of the external maxillary branch of the external carotid. The nerves and blood vessels that compose the pulp enter the dental cavity through a minute hole at the extremity of the fang. For the accomplishment of their office the teeth must be endowed with great strength; for the fulfilment of purposes immediately connected with the apparatus of digestion, it is necessary that they should be placed in the neighbourhood of exceedingly soft, delicate, irritable, and sentient organs. That they may possess the requisite degree of strength, they are constructed chiefly of bone, the hardest organized substance. Bone, though not as sensible as some other parts of the body, is nevertheless sentient. The employment, says Dr. Smith, of a sensitive body in the office of breaking down the hard substances used as food, would be to change the act of eating from a pleasureable to a painful operation. Had a highly organized sensitive body been made the instrument of cutting, tearing, and breaking down the food, every tooth, each time it comes in contact with the food, would produce the pain now occasionally experienced when a tooth is inflamed. Yet a body wholly inorganic, and therefore insensible, could not perform the office of the teeth; first, because a dead body cannot be placed in contact with living parts without producing irritation, disease, and consequently pain; and, secondly, because such a body being incapable of any process of nutrition, must speedily be worn away by friction, and there could be no possibility of repairing or of replacing it. The teeth, from the differences they present in their size, form, mode of connexion with the jaw, and use, are divided into four classes; namely in each jaw-four incisors, or cutting teeth; two cuspid, or canine, or dog-teeth as they are sometimes called; four bicuspids, or small grinders; and six molars, or large grinders. The central incisors of the upper jaw (1, fig. xxix.) present a large, scarcely convex surface, in apposition with the lips, are wedge-shaped from behind forward, and terminate in a broad cutting edge, similar in shape to a chisel. The corresponding teeth in the lower jaw (1, fig. xxx.) though possessing a general resemblance, are much smaller than those of the upper jaw, being only half as wide on the cutting edge. The lateral incisors (2, figs. xxix.-xxx.) are less in lateral diameter than the central, frequently to the amount of one third, the depth of the crown and of the enamel being slightly less: the fang is compressed laterally, and is somewhat shorter than those of the central. The office of the incisors is, as their name imports, to cut the food, which they do on the principle of shears or scissors. Standing next to the lateral incisors are the cuspid, canine, or eye teeth, (3, figs. xxix.-xxx.). They are the largest of the single-fanged teeth; the external surface is convex, and the crown terminates in an obtuse point; those of the lower jaw are less convex, and the point is broader; the fang is longer than that of any other tooth. The office of the cuspids is to tear such parts of the food as are too hard to be readily divided by the incisors. Next the cuspids are the bicuspids, four in each jaw (4, 5, figs. xxix.-xxx.); they are so named from being provided with two distinct prominences or points, and in them we find the most simple form of molar teeth: the external surface is convex, and, like the canine, terminates in an obtuse cone. The crowns of these teeth are, at least, one third shorter than those of the previously described; the fangs are sometimes double, and if only one, it is deeply grooved and perforated by two cavities, uniting to form one in the crown. The office of these teeth is to tear tough substances preparatory to their trituration by the next class. There are three pairs of molars, or grinders, in each jaw, named in the order of their respective places, as regards the anterior part of the mouth, first, second, and third (6, 7, 8, figs. xxix.-xxx.). They are provided with four or five prominences on the grinding surface, with corresponding depressions; which are so arranged that the elevations of those of the upper are adapted to the concavities of those of the lower jaw. The molars of the upper jaw have three fangs, those of the lower jaw only two. When the prominences on the crown (tubercles or cusps) are worn down by use, the grinding surface offers a tolerably square surface, surrounded by a ring of enamel. (To be continued.) WORMS A CAUSE OF EPILEPSY. A woman, aged 26, had been confined for a period of eight years in a lunatic asylum in consequence of fits of epilepsy. which sometimes lasted for two or three weeks together. Various remedial measures had been employed without benefit, when one day after a dose of rhubarb and calomel she vomited a foreign body, which from the description appeared to be a lumbricus worm. After this there was no return of the fits; the woman became cheerful, and was perfectly restored to health. |