BMJ

Academy of Sciences, Paris, Sept. 21Source: Provincial Medical and Surgical Journal (1840-1842), Vol. 1, No. 3 (Oct. 17, 1840), pp.44-45Published by: BMJStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25489881 .

Accessed: 14/06/2014 20:41

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

.

BMJ is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Provincial Medical and SurgicalJournal (1840-1842).

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 62.122.78.43 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 20:41:27 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

44 BIRMINGHAM SCHOOL-FOREIGN SOCIETIES, a

Association has published a manifesto; the Irish Associa tion has long been in the field, with its own plan of cam paign. We may, perhaps, have some ideas of our own, in petto. For aught we know, the medical corporations may each, or all of them, be concocting schemes which, what ever be their object, they will certainly denominate plans for medical reformation. It is evident, from this very brief survey, that we are on the point of entangling ourselves in the meshes of a net-of falling into inextricable confusion. Something, then, must be done to give unity to the opinions by which medical reformers seem to be divided. We must have some standard, round which to rally-some leader, worthy of the cause, to lead us on to victory. As a pre

liminary step, we would strongly advocate the propriety of the measure proposed at the late aniniversary of the British

Medical Association, for the appointment of resident dele gates in London, during the next session of parliament.

BIRMINGHAM ROYAL SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY.

ON Wednesday, September 30th, a meeting of the offi cers, &c. of the Birmingham Sclhool was held in the lecture room, for the purpose of distributing the prizes which had been awarded to the students of the school, for proficiency in the various 1b;anches of medical knowledge. The meet ing was attended by a great number of medical and other gentlemen interested in the prosperity of this valuable institution. The report was read by Dr. Booth; it alluded briefly to the state and prospects of the school, whiclh were extremely flourishing: more than two hundred students had obtained their diplomas since the establishment of the school, and many of these were settled in Birmingham, or in the neighbouring counties. Many of the pupils educated at the school, had obtained distinguished employments in London and in other places. Two additional lecturers Dr. Percy and Dr. Melson-had been appointed; the former on Organic Chemistry, the latter on Experimental Plhilosophy. Ini order to render the practical and efficient education of the students more perfect, a " Clinical Hos pital" had been instituted, under the patronage of the Queen and the Queen Dowager. Towards the erection of the hospital, the Rev. Dr. Warneford had contributed 10001.

After the reading of the report, the following prizes were distributed:

By Lord Lyttleton, gold medals, for general good con duct and proficiency-to Mr. Swain, of Weedon; Mr. W. French Clay, of Handsworth; Mr. Millinigton, of the Brades; and Mr. Vere Webb, of Leicester. Mr. Swain also received the Jephson prize (twenty guineas) for good coniduct.

The Webster prize (ten guineas) was awarded to Mr. C. T. Male, of Westbromwiclh, for the best essay.

The Rev. Mr. Hargreaves presented the following prizes:

For general anatomy and physiology-To Mr. Fulford, of Birmingham.

For surgery-To Mr. Fulford. For descriptive anatomy-To Mr. W. F. Clay, of Hands

wortlh, and Mr. W. Davies, of Stourbridge. Dr. Booth presented the prize for practice of plhysic, to

Mr. Chiarles T. Male.

J. E. Piercy, Esq. presented to Mr. Greensill, of Stour port; Mr. Pain, of Banbury; and Mr. Millington, of the trades - prizes for proficiency in materia niedica and therapeutics.

Mr. Osborne presented the prize for chemistry to Mr. Milington and Mr. W. F. Clay.

The prize for midwifery was awarded to Mr. Swain, and that for anatomical demonstration to Mr. Clay and Mr.

Davis. On Thursday, the introductory lecture for the session

1840-41, was delivered to a crowded audience, by Dr. John Percy.

ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, PARIS, SEPT. 21. EXPERIMENTS ON THE TRANSMISSION OF RABIES.

(From our own Reporter.) M. BRESCHET announices, that lie has assiduously studied

this still unknown disease for twenty-five years past, and his inquiries, which had been suspended, have been latterly resumed, in conisequence of discussions having arisen con cerning the mode of propagation. The facts which hie has collected, clearly establislh the fact of contagion alone. The spontaneous origin of the disease has never been ob served, excepting in the dog; for when it has been suS pected to be present in man, without inoculation from the bite of an infected animal, the hydrophobic symptoms are to be considered purely nervous, and differing essentially from the communicated disease. A great number of cases of hydrophobia have passed under the observation of the author at the Hotel Dieu, and they have constantly arisen from the bite of a rabid dog. There is no authentic ex ample of hvdrophobia transmitted from one human subject to another; but the author has conveyed it to the dog trom

man bv inoculation. The animal, in this case, was seized with furious rabies on the thirty-eighth day after infection; and many other dogs bitten by this one also became rabid. The author has remarked, that the disease was no longer communicable when the contagious principle had passed through three or four animals.

Rabies, in general, has been observed to make its ap pearance from tly twentieth to the thirtieth day after the bite, but sometimes after three months. In a few cases, the aversion to water is absent.

The author caused an ass to be bitten by a mad'dog. At the expiration of three weeks, the ass presented all the symptoms of the disease at its highest degree.

Two horses were inoculated with the frothy saliva of a diseased dog; both became rabid, but in lesser degree. The saliva of the rabid ass was introduced under the skin of several dogs, and the symptoms were produced in all. In a very short time, rabbits, inoculated with the saliva of an infected dog, became themselves diseased. In birds of differenit species, fowls, palmipedes, rooks, and birds of prey, inoculation caused death without having pro duced any of the usual svmptoms of rabies. So active is the absorption of the virus by this class of animals, that ten minutes is sufficient for the purpose; and, strange to say, that an electric current passed through the wound of inoculation, by means of a metallic wire connected witlh one pole of a galvanic pile in action, the other end of the wire being in contact with some other part of the animal, dissi pate all the symptoms. This experiment was first per formed by M. Pravaz. Many veterinary surgeons do not believe that herbivorous animals can commulnicate the disease to animals of the same species.

Enaux and Chaussier have seen lhydrophobia produced by the saliva of a mad dog, which had been received on the lips; but M. Breschet conceives that the simple contact is not sufficient for the purpose. The autlhor inquires whetlher the blood is itself diseased, or capable of communicating the infection, and responds in the negative. Numerous experiments, he says, prove, that the only fluid capable of communicating it is that secreted in the mouth and throat.

The pathological results, as discovered after death, lhave been as follows:-the isthmus of the throat, the velum palati, the pharynx and cesophagus, were sometinmes found of a rosaceous tint, but more frequently of an intense red colour, bordering uipon violet; a frotlhy secretion, siailar.

This content downloaded from 62.122.78.43 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 20:41:27 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

ACADEMY OF MEDICINE. 45

to that of the respiratory organs, covered all these surfaces, and descended to the origin of the esophagus. The dis tension of the capillary vessels of the lungs with black

blood, was very marked. Ihe vascular net-work of the pia nmater, of the circumference of the brain, of the interlo bular intervals, has been frequently found injected; but no material alteration, no well-defined inflammatory state of the brain, or its envelopes, has ever been traced. The cellular tissue of the pia mater has, however, been found distended with a sero-gelatiniform matter, chiefly over the course of the principal arteries. The lungs were always

more or less injected; but one of the most frequent altera tions is that of the mucous membrane of the air passages,

wlhich consists of a red tint, sometimes violaceous, and verging to brown in the bronchiae, and occasionally in the trachea. Emphysema of the cervical region, and especi ally of the lung, has been often remarked. As to the precise source of the frothy secretion of rabid animals, nothing is known. The salivary glands are neither more red nor turgid than in the ordinary state; on the other hand, the trachea, the bronchiae, the posterior fauces, and the pharynx, contain it in abundance. These facts induice the author to believe that the saliva forms but a part of tllis

morbid secretion.

DOUBLE HARVEST OF POLYGONUM TINCTORIUM.

THE indigenous manufacture of indigo in France is making rapid strides to perfection, and a hiope is entertained that a sufficient supply will be produced to supersede the purchases from other countries. Hence, any contrivance calculated to diminish the cost of production is of im portance. M. Saint-Hilaire has ascertained, that by cutting the stalk of the polygonum witlhin two inches of the ground, in gathering the plant for use, a second crop of leaves will sprout equal in quantity to those furnished by the plants from which no previous harvest had been ob tained. The author adds, that by putting leaves and stalks together in the macerating vat, the indigo is no less beau tiful and abundant than when the leaves were separated.

As the expense of that operation amounted to 300 francs per hectare, a saving of importance may be effected.

The plants upon which the author operated, were placed in the nursery of the Luxembourg, on the 29th of June. 'rhe first gathering was made on the 20th of August, and thte plants are now nearly fit for a second harvest; but in order to produce a second crop equally rich in indigo with the first, the plantationi shouild be made towards the middle of May, and the first gathering should be effected two months afterwards.

ON THE TRANSFORMATION OF VEGETABLE ACIDS.

Al. PERsoz read a memoir on this curious subject. The tartaric, racemic, citric, mucic, and gallic acids become transformed by the plumbic and mainganic suroxides.

Doebereiner demonstrated the fact as to tartaric acid, wlhiclh was changed into the formic under the double influence of sulphuiric acid, and the manganic suroxide. Thle autlhor rejects the opinions of Doebereiner oni this subject, and is disposed to conclude, that the tartaric acid is convertible under the influence of the suroxide alone, withouit the sulphuric acid. In the investigation of this question, he has performiied several experiments,-first, on the action of the manganic anid pltimbic suroxides on the tartaric acid, then on their actioni upon the racemic, gallic, mucic, and citric acids. These experimenits lead to a direct process for the preparation of formic acid. They also show the use of the plumbic suroxide in determining the quantities of acid contained in vegetable juices, and also in distin guishing tartaric and citric acids. They bring to light a t:act hitlherto unknown, the decomposition of the plumbic tartrate, either by the plumnibic or manganic suroxydes, a deconmposition so muclh the more remarkable, as it differs froln all that our previous InotioIns of tlhese plhenomenia

would have led us to anticipate.

ACADEMY OF MEDICINE, PARIS, SEPT. 22. HEMIPLEGIA.

(From our own Reporter.) M. CASTEL addressed the academy on a pathological

fact adduced at the last mneeting. A morbid specimen had been presented, in which an erosion was perceived in the corpora striata, surrounded by a cyst. The subject from which the part was taken had laboured under hemiplegia for 22 years, and finally died of some other complaint. This observation, said the speaker, resembles, in many re spects, some which are recorded by other authors, and especially the 14th of Wenzels. Life was maintained, not withstanding that a serious disorganization existed in the very centre of the brain; and why? because there was no compression.

Let this fact be compared with one submitted to the academy on the 1st of September, in which apoplexy was occasioned by an effuision of pus from the dura nmater, anid from the dropsy of a portion of that membrane. The pus had not penetrated beyond the surface of the brain, whose substance was perfectly healthy.

These two facts, apparently different, lead to the same conclusion-that among the cerebral affections none is more promptly mortal than compression, because com pression is the most formidable obstacle to the transmission of the nervous influence. Wlhen this fact is admitted, we shall cease to wonder at the issue of certain affections or lesions of the brain related by Lamotlie, Petit, Wenzel,

Morgagni, and others. We shall perceive how turgescence and distension of the vessels of the encephalon suffice to produce apoplexy. In this manner aneurismal tumours, obesity, and even a tumour in the abdomen, when it has

acq7uired a stufficient volume to obstruct or modify the cir cufation of the blood, may bring oni death from com pression within the brain.

LIGATURE OF THE CAROTID FOR ERECTILE TUM1OUR IN TIE ORBIT.

M. JOBERT, of the Hospital St. Louis, had transmitted a memoir on this subject, which was now favourably reported by M. Gimelle, commissioned ad hoc. The eminent sur geon of St. Louis had not only cured his patient of the distressing maladv in question, but had performed inany experiments on living animals, which had led to interest ing results, and these had been repeated in presence of the academical commission. The reporter proposed that the

memoir of M. Jobert should be sent to the committee of publication, and that his name should be officially inscribed on the list of candidates, which was unanimously agreed to.

M. VELPEAU mentioned a curious case of the same de scription. He had been present at M. Jobert's operation, and a few days afterwards he hiimself operated on a patient at la Charite, in whom a singular result was observed. Pressure on the right carotid stopped the pulsation of an

erectile tumour in each orbit, and finially the ligature of the righlt trunk cured the tumour in the left orbit, while the

right tumour continued to pulsate and increase.

M. LONDE adverted to a fact of M. Jobert's operatioj, that the diminution of the tumour did not commence until fifteen days after the application of the ligature.

SOFTENING OF STONE IN TIIE BL ADDER FROM INFLAMMATrON.

M. SEGALAS, who reports this fact, has already recorded several cases of the spontaneous breaking up of calculi inito

fragments, btut he believes that his case of softening is

uinique. The patienlt, 60 years of age, had been operated upon for

the stone by M. Souberbielle, who extracted two uric cal

culi. At the expiration of six years the disease returned, with frequenicy of passing the turine, and a sonorous stone of large size was detected by the sound. The removal of this was attempted by lithotrity, but as the forceps was

unable to retaini the stone withins its grasp the operation failed.

The urine now became charged with mucus and pus, and

This content downloaded from 62.122.78.43 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 20:41:27 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions