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It seems therefore probable that the linear arrangement ofthe cells has some relation to the due discharge of the secre-tion. Further, I have lately endeavoured to show, that it isby the cells at the margins of the lobules, forming the termi-nations of the several radiating series, that the secretedmatter is finally discharged. It appears to be transmittedfrom cell to cell until it reaches these, which, projecting atsuch times towards the fissure, burst, and yield up their con-tents, to be conveyed away by the minute efferent ducts.Thus, the secreting process appears to reach its terminationin the marginal cells of the lobules, which are often seen tocontain more numerous or deeper tinged particles of secretionthan those in the interior; and in these it is quite conceivablethat the transmissive function may be especially liable tointerruption-the centrifugal force by which the secretionmakes its way outward failing as it were at this point, andthus an accumulation of oily matter taking place in thecells. How far this theoretical view may prove to be correct,further inquiry will probably show. Its main idea, however,is, I think, well founded, and practically important, as itrecognises, and.in some degree explains, the great tendencyof the liver to be affected with biliary congestion, or, in otherwords, undue detention of secreted material in its cells.

Mr. SANKEY exhibited specimens ofGREAT HYPERTROPHY OF THE SOLITARY AND AGMINATE

GLANDS OF THE INTESTINES,Which were taken from the body of a female patient, whohad died on the fourth day of fever.

Mr. DALRYMPLE exhibited a specimen ofDISEASED HEART, IN WHICH THE ROOT OF THE AORTA. HAD

AN OPENING COMMON TO THE TWO VENTRICLES.

The patient, a delicate female, aged twenty-five, with narrowthorax, had been subject to deranged circulation from herbirth. She died from ascites and anasarca. The heart weighedtwenty-six ounces; the right auricle was large and thick, theright ventricle dilated, and encroached on by the bulging ofthe septum; the tricuspid valve healthy, the pulmonarythickened; left auricle thin and dilated; mitral valve thick-ened, and studded with nodules on its free edge; left ventricledilated and hypertrophied to a great extent, and, at the apexof its cavity, was observed a fleshy polypus, adherent to theanterior wall, injected, and having a purulent deposit in thecentre. Aortic valves healthy; foramen ovale closed; root ofthe aorta opening between the two ventricles by an apertureof the size of a sixpence. ____

Mr. ToYNBEE exhibited a preparation ofANEURISM BY ANASTOMOSIS, IN THE SUBSTANCE OF THE

PARIETAL BONES.

The subject of the disease was a youth aged nineteen, whodied of consumption. He was brought into the room for dissection; and there is no evidence to show that the disease wasdetected during life. Corresponding with each parietal emi-nence, there is a rough and slightly elevated portion of boneapparently occupying the centres of ossification, and situatedabout an inch from the coronal, and an inch and a quarterfromthe sagittal suture. These osseous projections are pear-shaped, the apices being directed posteriorly, and the broadends in front. That on the right side is rather the larger,measuring three inches in length, and at its greatest breadthone inch and three quarters; that on the left side is in lengthtwo inches and three quarters, while its breadth is an inchand a half. The surface on the right side measures seveninches in circumference; that on the left, seven and threequarters. The right projection, though as broad at its widestend, diminishes so much as to be not more than three quartersof an inch at its narrowest. On further examination of thesesurfaces of bone, they are found to present at their circum-ference a certain degree of unevennesp, caused by numeroussuperficial grooves, as if from vessels lying upon the bone.These grooves radiate from the circumference of the surface;and as they approach the portion of bone most diseased, theybecome deeper, and small orifices are observed opening intothem. The rough surface itself is composed, firstly, of grooves,which are in some parts from a line to a line and a quarter indepth; secondly, of osseous cavities, about a line in diameter,and bounded laterally by the walls of the canals; thirdly, ofcanals which admit of a free communication between thegrooves. These grooves, cells, and canals, are so numerous,and their intercommunication so intricate, that they form a

’ labyrinthine network of singularly beautiful appearance. Intothe floor of the canals and sulci innumerable orifices enter.The grooves and canals were, in the recent state, full of anintricate network of ramifying bloodvessels, but it was impos-sible to inject them, from their being cut into before theirnature was detected.

, Mr. TOYNBEE remarked that, so far as he had been able toexamine, the tumours situated in the substance of these boneswere analogous to the congenital vascular tumours so fre-quently developed in the integuments of the head and face.

British Medical Journals.PHARMACEUTICAL QUACKERY

is the heading under which some sensible remarks are made,in a late number of the Pharmaceutical Journal, the drift ofwhich will be perceived from the following quotation. Some-

thing must be done to remedy an evil so universally diffused;the privilege which the writer claims is one of its most fruitfulsources, and must be surrendered before the abuse can becorrected.

" The following extract from a handbill is an illustration ofa description of quackery which is particularly objectionable,as the author is a chemist, who, by transgressing the boundaryof his legitimate province, injures our whole body by furnishingan instance in which legislative interference appears to becalled for. It is practices of this kind which bring discrediton chemists in general; and while we claim, on behalf of ourbrethren, a discretionary power of giving a dose of medicineon an emergency, or in any simple case, we protest against aproceeding which, if found to prevail to any considerableextent, would frustrate our efforts by affording an unanswer-able argument against us:-

"’ PRO Boxo PUBLICO.—Should any one despair of relief afterhaving taken all kinds of quack medicines, (Morison’s pillsnot excepted,) with many other puffs and nostrums of thepresent day, they are invited to call at -’s philanthropicestablishment, where they can be supplied with remedies fortheir various ailments at a comparative trifling expense, andwhich in most cases will be attended with a speedy, safe, andcertain cure.’" We have before us a specimen of a shopbill, in which the

proprietor states, that as he prepares his drugs, and com-pounds his medicines, he can answer for their goodness.’ Hegives a long list of remedies, among which are-

"’ Pills for cough and asthma, pills for pain in the back,pills for diarrhoea and looseness, and physicking pills strongand mild, often giving relief after once taking. He alsomakes plasters of all kinds; his warm plaster is muchesteemed. He likewise makes ointments of all kinds; hisuniversal ointment is much esteemed for curing burns, scalds,wounds, and foul ulcers. And lie makes lineaments of allkinds, one of which is very efficacious in curing sprains,bruises, stiffness of the joints, rheumatic pains, and oftenbrings down a swelling in twenty-four hours; he also makes avery efficacious ointment for the piles, sure to give relief inone night; he has a cure for toothach, relieving it in oneminute; he also compounds a cure for the gripings of infants,giving relief in half an hour; he also makes a compound for apain in the back, generally curing it in two days.—Physicians’prescriptions accurately prepared, and horse medicines com-pounded.’This is followed by a list of oils, colours, &c. &c., including" Slates, school-books, blacking, nails, flaws and tacks,

shoemakers’ nails, muds, and sprigs.11 1 Take notice, R. R. has a back shop, where he keeps a

provision store, and supplies families with flour, maslin, wheat,meal, split peas and whole, salt, and barley; also with groceriesof all kinds, spices of all kinds, birdseed, soap, candles, tobaccoand snuff, butter and cheese, potatoes, &c.

"‘ R. R., wishing to make himself useful in the neighbour-,hood, has followed the business of bookbinder and glazierfifteen years; therefore he will be happy to bind any book ornumber of books sent to him, in the neatest manner, and onthe shortest notice. He will also glaze any window or num-ber of windows, or put in a single pane of glass, (he has glass,)on the most reasonable terms.’

" We give this extract, not for the purpose of criticizing thecombination of trades, (a custom unavoidable in small country

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towns,) but to give an idea of the kind of establishment inwhich physicians’ prescriptions are compounded, and variousailments cured in definite periods of time. We could givemany other specimens of a similar description, having receiveda considerable collection from various parts of the country;but the above is sufficient to illustrate the genus.

" The editor of THE LANCET has recently exposed the pre-valent custom of fraudulently using the name of eminentmedical men as alleged promoters of quack medicines, as inthe case of Ashley Cooper’s pills,’ Locock’s pulmonic wafers,’’ Holloway’s ointment,’ said to be recommended by Dr. Bright,’&:c. This kind of imposition ought not to be tolerated; andalthough medical men may shrink from a controversy withthe authors of such libels, they ought not to be subjected tothe annoyance, and a summary process should be contrived bywhich the offenders could be punished. This forms a branchof the question of medical reform," [an important one, too.]

ON THE FORMATION AND CHARACTERS OF PUS.

Some highly interesting observations on this subject, byDr. HuGHES BENNETT, are contained in the last number of theEdinburgh Monthly Journal. The peculiar appearance whichhe describes in certain pus corpuscles from parenchymatousorgans, is altogether new, and, if correct, would cause us tochange our ideas of their constitution. The description cor-responds with some very recent observations on the bloodcorpuscles." Exudation poured out on a mucous membrane sometimes

coagulates in a mass, forming lymph; but, in the generality ofcases, passes into an opaque, unctuous, straw-coloured, or

slightly greenish fluid, long known under the name of pus.When poured into the meshes of the areolar tissue, the sametransformation occurs, constituting an abscess, the contents ofwhich, in an otherwise healthy individual, must be consideredas the type of this formation."On examining well-formed pus under high magnifying

powers, we find it to be composed of numerous corpuscles,floating in a clear fluid. These corpuscles are perfectlyglobular in form, and vary in size from the 1/100th to the 1/75th of amillimetre in diameter. Their surface is finely granular.They have a regular, well defined edge, and roll freely in theliquor puris upon each other. On the addition of water, theybecome much increased in size, their finely granular surfacedisappears, and they become more transparent. Weak aceticacid partially, and the strong acid completely, dissolves thecell wall, and brings into view the nucleus, which generallyassumes the appearance of two or three granules close together,each with a central shadowed spot. They are generally aboutthe 1/400th of a millimetre in diameter. Occasionally the nucleusmay be thus seen to be composed of four or even five granules.Alkalies and ether completely dissolve the whole corpuscle.

" These corpuscles seem to be produced in the followingmanner:-The exudation first forms a molecular and granularblastema, the individual granules of which unite together intwos and threes, to constitute the nucleus from which the cellwall arises. The early stages of the formation of pus mayfrequently be observed in the coagulated masses occasionallysqueezed out of unripe abscesses, and may also be seen in fluidexudation in the discharge from blisters, and early purulentformations, following frictions with tartar-emetic ointment." In grey hepatization of the lungs, and in minute abscesses.

scattered through other parenchymatous tissues, we have fre-quently seen the bodies just described as pus corspuscles to besurrounded by a distinct though very delicate, cell-wall. Thecell so formed is about the 1/50th of a millimetre in diameter, andis highly elastic, assuming different shapes, according to thedegree and direction of the pressure to which it is subjected.Water and acetic acid cause the cell wall to be at once dis-solved, whilst the nucleus, which, before the addition of re-agents, exactly resembled an ordinary pus corpuscle, exhibitsthe usual two or three granules, which, under these circum-stances, must be considered as nucleoli. Are, then, the bodies,which have hitherto been considered as pus cells, only thenuclei of corpuscles, the delicate walls of which are dissolvedvery rapidly, and at an early period ? We have no hesitationin stating that this is the case in certain instances, but whetherit be invariably so, requires further observation to deter-mine."Pus when formed on a mucous membrane is frequently

mingled with epithelial cells in various stages of development.Some have spoken of mucous corpuscles, but there are no

bodies peculiar to mucus. What have been described as suchare sometimes those of pus, at others those of epithelium."

" C.’ESARIAN SECTION.

" Four cases are related of the performance of this opera-tion, with a favourable result both to mother and to child; twoin which the mother survived; six in which the life of thechild was preserved; and two in which neither life was saved.The history of the mother, in Mr. Goodman’s case, is notcarried beyond the third week, at which time, however, shewas doing well. In the patient on whom Dr. Meyer operated,the uterus contracted around the neck of the child so firmlyafter the body was extracted, as to render it necessary toenlarge the incision-an accident which illustrates the advan-tage of extracting the head first whenever that is possible.Mr. Lyon’s case presents many points of interest. The ope-ration was rendered necessary by the presence of a tumourblocking up the pelvis, and which, from its position behindthe rectum, as well as from its firmness, was taken for anosteo-steatomatous tumour of the pelvis. It turned out, how-ever, to be the left ovary, enlarged, and converted for themost part into an adipocire-like substance. [The case derivesgreat importance from being almost, if not quite, the onlyinstance of an ovarian tumour getting behind the rectum;and it illustrates the necessity of making an experimentalpuncture or incision of such tumours through the vagina,before exposing a patient to the dangers of the Csesanan sec-tion.] In the case reported by Mr. Aitken, the uterus hadgiven way before the patient’s admission into the hospital, sothat the Cæsarian section, which the extreme contraction ofthe pelvis rendered necessary, could not be regarded as thesole caus3 of her death. [The statistics of the operation atpresent yield the following results:-It has been performedin 378 cases, of which trustworthy accounts have been given.In 145 of these cases the women recovered; in 233 they died;or the recoveries were in the proportion of thirty-eight percent., or as one in 2’6 cases. The fate of 318 children is men-tioned, of whom 219 were saved, ninety-nine were lost; or thechild survived in sixty-eight per cent., or in rather more thantwo cases out of three."]—British and Foreign Review.

HELLER’S OBSERVATIONS ON THE BLOOD, URINARY DEPOSITS, ETC.,IN BRIGIIT’S DISEASE.

"The deposits are composed of two classes of materials, onecomprehending those which are normally and constantlypresent in urinary deposits; the second, those which are acci-dentally present. The constant ingredients are :—1. Thepavement epithelium. This epithelium is always found in largequantity, especially at the commencement of the disease, atwhich time the deposit is almost entirely composed of it.The epithelial cells are not, however, of a natural figure,being rather round than oval, with very distinct nuclei.-2. The epithelium of the tubes of Bellini. This epithelium isgenerally small in quantity at the commencement of themalady, wherein it differs from the former. It presents itselfunder the form of colourless canals, containing brownishnuclei of variable size. Considerable attention is required todetect the species of epithelium in the urinary deposit, as itis frequently so transparent as to elude observation.-3. Alb2c-minous flocculi. (Albaznziaz pilze.) These are very distinct, espe-cially when the urine is alkaline, of various shapes and sizes,and resemble fragments of pearls.-4. Mucus-globules.—5. In-flammatory globules. These are found, for the most part, duringthe stage of congestion.-6. Fattyglobules. Which exist princi-pally in the chronic stages of the disease." The accidental matters found in the urine of Bright’s dis-

ease, are-1. Crystals of uric acid, for the most part colour-less, and of a rhomboid figure.-2. Urate of ammonia, whichexists principally in the early stages.-3. Pus, generally seenin the early periods.-4. Crystals of uro-glaucin. These crystalsare seldom seen in the urine at the time of excretion, but areoften visible after it has stood for some time. They appearas a crystalline mass of an indistinct blue colour.-5. Crystalsof ammoniaco-magnesian phosphate.—6. Carbonate of am2iio?iia.Both these are peculiar to the last stages."—Provincial l6ledi-cal and Surgical Journal.

CHARACTERS Of THE BLOOD IN BRIGHT’S DISEASE.

"The blood in this disease loses its density in a notablemanner in consequence of the loss of albumen. It, however,retains its natural appearance and coagulates perfectly. Theserum is pale, and of a low specific gravity. It containsurea in considerable quantity, but no biliary colouring matter.The fibrin and globules are not materially changed. Thechief alteration, therefore, consists in a loss of albumen andthe presence of urea; the latter condition, however, is notpeculiar to the disease in question, but is observed also incholera an in ischuria renalis."—Idem.