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habits of the people. The author doubts, however, the

probability of finding a substitute for this valuable gum, and,at the same time, being fully impressed with the importance ofits use, thus hints at a means to reduce its price :-

" The introduction of the Gutta Percha Tree into Bengal,and the promotion of its cultivation, are measures which wouldappear to deserve the attention of the Government."

Much as we should like to dwell upon the contents of the

remaining sections,-Parts IV. and V.,-our limits will onlyallow us to briefly notice their leading features. In Part IV.we are made acquainted with the " Instruments and Offices,"as they exist at present on the Calcutta and Kedgeree line, andas they will exist, it is hoped, ultimately over India. In

superintending the construction of the above-mentioned line itwas the constant endeavour of Dr. O’Shaughnessy to do awaywith all needless complications, and simplify the machinery asmuch as possible, and this was the secret of his great success.He soon found that the " complex and delicate apparatus,employed in England, France, and America, was of very littleuse in India."The storms which prevail from March to October in Bengal,

and the " strong constant current of natural electricity" flowingin the north and south lines, played all kinds of tricks with ’’,the needles, reversing or destroying their polarity, and causingendless vexation and trouble. "Our sole alternative," saysthe author, "became accordingly the simplification of theinstruments or abandonment of the undertaking." So the in-struments were simplified, and proved fully effectual for all

occasions. We will give one extract to show the efficaciousmanner in which even the might correspondence is conductedat present :-

" As an instance, we may adduce a visit made by the Super-intendent of Marine, Captain Rogers, by order of the Governor-General, at eleven P.M., on the night of February 14, 1852, tothe Calcutta office, to learn if the Phlegethon steam-vessel hadlanded a despatch from the King of Ava at the Diamondharbour post office. In four minutes the answer was obtainedfrom Diamond harbour, although all the signallers were in bedand asleep, and no sentry posted when Captain Rogers enteredthe Calcutta office."

Experiment, however, must yet determine, on the completion Iof the first long line in India, what instrument will be bestadapted for general use. Through the liberality of the Courtof Directors of the East India Company, a fine collection hasbeen formed in duplicate of nearly all the instruments actuallyin use in England and other countries; and some have beenadded which have not been as yet tested by actual experience,but which are considered of good promise.

The "Miscellaneous Details" which fill Part V., includinthe " Crossing of Rivers by Masts," the "Precautions on Linesduring Hurricanes," and last, though by no means least ingeneral interest, the rates of charges for messages, and pay,and pensions, on the English, American, French, and Belgiumestablishments, afford information not at present too easilyattainable ; whilst the " Laws affecting Telegraphs" in variouscountries cannot be otherwise than perused with benefit. The

brave, manly tone in which the author details the dangerswhich must necessarily beset the employés on the lines duringstorms and hurricanes, cannot be too highly admired; andwhilst he speaks solemnly of accidents to be feared, and en-couragingly of precautions to be observed during these awfulvisitations, he earnestly asserts the necessity of discipline beingsteadily maintained, and of every duty being fearlessly andconscientiously fulfilled.The Appendices, of which there are five, contain also most

important statistical information, which cannot fail to impressthe mind both with wonder and admiration-wonder at thevast magnitude and promised good of the projected undertaking- admiration at that unconquerable will, which, through sun-shine and cloud-through hope and disappointment-throughdifficulties the most disheartening, and want of encouragement

at first almost amounting to scorn-never once swerved fromits conscientious task, but progressed boldly onwards to thetriumph of its inevitable accomplishment.

Our necessarily imperfect and somewhat long—though wetrust not tedious-notice of this clever work must now drawto a close; and since the subject of which it treats is one ofuniversal importance, it will no doubt soon be more fully dis-cussed, and its history and progress publicly known. In this

hope we conclude our extracts with the following propheticwords of the author :-" The history of the telegraph in India must convince every

one employed, that, while unavoidable failures are looked uponwith indulgence, successful exertion is certain of proportionatereward. Let us all then vie with each other in the executionof our exciting task, and indulge in the hope that we may bespared to witness the miracle of Calcutta and Bombay ex-changing despatches in minutes instead of weeks-when theanswes may arrive from one thousand miles before the ink is

dry on the record of the question—and when persons morethan that distance from each other can communicate more

quickly than the inmates of different rooms in the same house.’’As reviewers, we will now take leave of this exceedingly

interesting work. Of Dr. O’Shaughnessy himself we can speakin the highest terms of praise. Twenty years since, he wasone of the staff of THE LANCET, and often have we had reasonto be proud of the great ability that he displayed. Had heremained in Europe, not any man could have surpassed him inthe department of science to which he then devoted his extra-ordinary powers of mind. He is a man of honour and a,

gentleman; and the Indian Government may exult in havingfound a man endowed with such unusual qualificationsfor carrying into execution a scheme of operations whichwould reflect credit on the most enlightened government inthe universe. Long may Dr. O’Shaughnessy live to witnessthe triumph of his sagacity and profoundly scientific labours ’ I

Contemporary Medical Literature.

RESISTANCE TO CAUSES OF DISEASE.—A soldier of the 31stRegiment, at the battle of Sobraon, received from a musket-ball a fracture of the left parietal bone, near the vertex, almostengaging the sagittal suture; a large piece of fractured andcomminuted bone was removed, and the dura mater, appa-rently uninjured, was exposed to more than the size of ashilling. After the first few days he hardly complained of

inconvenience. He was retained in hospital until some mecha-nical means of protecting the brain could be procured. How-ever, about two months after the receipt of the wound, whileriding in the bazaar, my attention was attracted by a crowdof natives round a drunken soldier; on going closer, I wasastonished to recognise my friend, who had escaped from hos-pital, and was, about noon in the month of April, drunk,without the least covering on his head, his hair shaved off, anda small portion of the dura mater exposed to the direct ray ofan Indian sun, offering to light any number of the assemblednatives. He was as soon as possible conveyed back to thehospital. Even from so great an exciting cause there did notfollow the least ill effects.—Remarks on the Examination ofRecruits, &c., by H. H. MASSY, M.B.

CANNABis INDICA.—The peculiarities of its action as con-trasted with opium render it fit for a class of cases in whichlittle or no use can be made of opium, as in the tetanus ofchildren, for instance. Trismus nascentium is a disease of

frequent occurrence with the black population, and as yetthere has been but little success in any method of treating it.Opium must be employed with a sparing hand, if indeed itcan be safely ventured on at all.-Dr. WRAGG, iaz CharlestonMedical Journal.

TREATMENT OF INFLAMMATION. - The stream is the mostvaluable form of applying warm water for the cure of localinflammation. I have been familiar with it for years. It hadbeen used by surgeons to relax the muscles, in reducing luxa-tions, but I am not aware of its having been employed for thereduction of local inflammation before I introduced it into

practice. For this latter purpose, I am acquainted with noremedy which can equal it in value. I do not wish to over-

190

rate, or to appear to exaggerate its powers, for this would

prevent a proper estimate being placed upon it; yet to thosewho have not tried the remedy the whole truth will look likeexaggeration. Cups, leeches, blisters, and the lancet do notequal it.-Dr. GORDON, M Western Journal of Medicine.OLEA EUROPÆA.—I was in the island of Mytilene at a time

when fever and ague of the worst description were raging inthe island ;-in fact, it was so bad, that death ensued fre-

quently after a week or ten days. The small quantity ofquinine at the druggists’ was soon exhausted, and I could pro-cure none to administer to patients. Knowing that biheoiraeand salicine were often used for fever and ague, I turned overin my mind all the bitters I could think which might proveeffectual. Many were poisonous, and I rejected them;then thought of olive-leaves, and after several trials,I commenced administering doses of a decoction of the

. leaves - say two handfuls boiled in a quart of water tillevaporation had reduced it to a pint. This I gave in doses ofa wineglassful every three or four hours. Obstinate cases offever gave way before it, and for many years I have found itmore effectual than quinine.—Mr. MALTAS in PharmaceuticalJournal.

COFFEE-LEAVES. - The coffee-leaves, when digested withboiling water, yielded a deep brown infusion, which in tasteand odour closely resembled an infusion of a mixture of coffeeand tea. On the addition of milk and sugar, it formed a verytolerable beverage, and as the roasted coffee-leaf can be im-ported into Europe for rather less than twopence per pound,the poorer classes, are likely to find it a very useful substitutefor tea and coffee. Should a more moderate temperature beemployed in drying the leaf, I think its flavour would be

greatly improved.-Dr. STENHOUSE in the Philosophical Maga-zinc.

CHEMISTS’ QUACKERY.—The worst case of typhus fever Iever saw I have now under care, in what I should say is the

eighteenth or twentieth day: a young man of nineteen. Thechemist was treating him for " the liver complaint" at a

boarding-house, and when the boy began to rave, " packed offthe young villain home"-to use his own words-in an openrailway-carriage, forty miles the opposite side of London,through a succession of cabs, omnibuses, and trains, perfectlyfrightful to think about.—London Correspondent in DublinMedical P2-ess.

ETHNOLOGY OF THE NEW ZEALANDER. -According to Dr.Thomson, the average stature of the New Zealand race of menis 5 feet 6 inches. 2. They are taller than the natives ofBelgium or the temperate countries of Europe, but not so tallas the English. 3. Their average weight, deducting clothes,is 140 pounds, or ten stone. 4. They are about equal in weightto the natives of Great Britain, and heavier than those ofBelgium. 5. The indolent life of the New Zealander tends toincrease the bodily weight. 6. The circumference of his chestis about 35 inches, or a little under that of the British soldier.7. The New Zealander is inferior in physical strength to thenative of Great Britain, but superior to the Belgian. 8. Hisinferiority in this respect to the English soldier is probably insome measure attributable to the difference in the diet.-Atttenceurn.

Foreign Department.M. STEINLIN’S Experiments respecting the Best Mode of

Employing Galvano-Puncture in Aneurisms and VaricoseVeins.

BAUMGARTEN and Würtemberg had, by actual experiments,obtained the following results :—1. The negative pole alonegives rise to no coagulation. 2. The two poles used togetherproduce but a very slow, feeble, and incomplete coagulation.3. The positive pole alone produces coagulation very rapidly,completely, and infallibly. The " Wiener Zeitschrift" publishessome further experiments of M. Steinlin, which he performedin such a manner that the effects of galvano-punctures could beimmediately seen, which circumstance could not exist in Baum-garten’s experiments, as the latter were performed upon livingmen or animals. M. Steinlin used principally albumen. Wehave not space for full details of these experiments, but shallmerely state that the above propositions were completelyverified. M. Steinlin advises a combination of zinc and lead,or tin, to be used in galvano-puncture; or to have the steelneedles covered with a layer of zinc. The mode of performing

galvano-puncture is as follows :-The needles are thrust intothe aneurismal tumour, or the varicose vein, and then con-nected with the positive pole ; after which the negative pole isbrought in contact with a platinum plate, and placed on theskin in the vicinity of the aneurism. The integument shouldbe moistened with a dilute acid or a saline solution. Insteadof the platinum plate, a sponge dipped in a saline solution maybe used.

Vaccination without Punctures.M. MORLANNE, of Metz, has just made public that he pro-

duced three regular vaccine pustules, which appeared on thefourth day, by merely placing some vaccine matter on the armsof two children, and rubbing up and down the spot with thesharp end of an ivory paper knife. He was led to try the ex-periment from recollecting the fact of young girls taking thecow-pox on the fingers used for milking.

FATAL BLEEDING AT THE MEATH HOSPITAL,DUBLIN.

To the Editor of THE LANCET.

SIR,—I have just finished reading a lecture reported to havebeen delivered and published by Dr. Stokes, of Dublin, andam no longer surprised that sanguinary epithets should besometimes applied by the public to members of our profession.His description of the practice of the Meath Hospital, Dublin,

at the time when he was a student, is the most revolting detailof treatment I ever saw in print, and I make these few remarksin the hope that some Dublin physician will stand forward tocontradict the statement, or that Dr. Stokes himself will de-clare it to have been a mere exaggeration for the sake of givingeffect to his lecture, and to make the misuse of the lancet morefully felt by his hearers. He says-" There was hardly amorning at the Meath Hospital that some twenty or thirty un-fortunate creatures were not phlebotomized largely. The floorwas running with blood. It was dangerous to cross the pre-scribing-hall for fear of slipping. Patients were seen wallowingin their own blood, like leeches after a salt enaetic, and thesedisgraceful scenes continued for many years."

Disgraceful indeed! Why was this state of things notstopped by Dr. Graves? He surely could not have concurredin this wholesale murder, for murder it surely was, as the

sequel proves. Dr. Stokes goes on to say next, " Leecheswere applied, and over and over again the patient died whilethe leeches were on his temples-died as surely as if shot

through the head;" and " an eminent apothecary assured himthat there was then hardly a week that he was not summonedto take off large number of leeches from the dead body."

Pray, Mr. Editor, let us hope for the sake of humanity thatthis is not true. The picture is too disgusting to contemplate.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant,London, Jan. 1854. A LOOKER ON.

THE NON-PAYMENT OF MEDICAL REFEREES.

JOHN H. BILLING.

To t7te Editor of THE LANCET.SIR,—You will much oblige me by inserting the following in

your widely-circulated and useful journal :-Some few weeks since, the Gresham Life Assurance Society

applied to me for answers to certain questions relative to thehealth of a patient of mine. I replied, requesting the usual fee,prior to giving the necessary information. I heard nothingmore from the office ; but afterwards ascertained that the lifewas accepted. About ten or twelve days elapsed, when an-other application was made from the same office, respecting thehealth of another gentleman. I wrote, refusing to give therequired information, upon the same grounds as before, ex-pressing my surprise that I should have again been applied tofor gratuitous information.

I would now beg to suggest to the profession, that on anapplication coming from this, or any other assurance societynot recognising the payment of the medical referee, that nonotice whatever be taken of the communication, but at onceendeavour to persuade the patient to enter an office that

acknowledges medical remuneration. They will in many in-stances succeed in taking them to more liberal societies ; and,at the same time, be saved the trouble and annoyance of re-fusing to work for nothing.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant,Longsight, near Manchester, Jan., 1854. JOHN H. BILLING.