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narrow-minded ignorance of the true interests of the

patients, and of medical science, which we should scarcelyhave credited on the part of public functionaties in modernAthens, had it not been so clearly proved. It is reallyimpossible to conceive on what grounds so natural a demandas that of Dr. Cormack and one so modestly put, could berejected. As we stated a few weeks back, when discussingthe same subject with reference to the Leicester Infirmary,hospitals have two-fold purposes to serve. Firstly, andprincipally, they are destined to afford relief to the sick

poor who are received within their gates, and secondly,they are called upon to furnish to those who are learningthe symptoms and nature of disease, with a view to treat-ing it out of hospitals, an opportunity of studying on alarge scale, under the eye, and with the assistance of men who are supposed to possess a more than. ordinary amountof information respecting the healing art. This, which wemay call the second obligation of hospitals, ought to befurthered in every possible way; and in none can it be moreadvanced than by encouraging the medical officers in givingclinical instruction to pupils. Dr. Cormack ought to havereceived the warmest thanks and approbation of the mana-gers of the infirmary, instead of being flatly and uncourte-ously denied his request.

THE professional public will be delighted to perceive, by anadvertisement which appears in THE LANCET of this week,that a subscription has been opened for defraying the ex-penses which Mr. WESTLAKE, the surgeon of the ANDOVER

UNION, incurred in prosecuting the inquiry into the dis-

graceful conduct of M’DOUGAL, the governor of the work-house. In return for the public services of MR. WESTLAKE,the guardians have suspended him from his office, and thequestion is now before the Poor-Law Commissioners; but

the rate-payers of the town, in order to show their admira-tion of -LNir. WESTLAKE’S conduct, elected him, on Saturdaylast, by a triumphant majority, into the-town council of theborough. Such a man as Mr. WESTLAKE is an honour to

the profession, and a powerful shield to the afflicted poor.

EXAMINATION OF THE MAD AND FOOLISHMEMORIAL BY THE BRISTOL ASSOCIATIONCOMMITTEE.

AT a meeting of the Committee of the Bristol Association ofSurgeons, held October 2-1th, 1845, a Sub-Committee was ap-pointed to examine a certain Memorial, addressed to Sir JamesGraham, Baronet, purporting to have issued from a meeting ofFellows and Members of the Royal College of Surgeons of Eng-land, held at the Golden Cross, Charing-Cross, London, October9th last. At an adjourned meeting of the Committee, heldOctober 29th, Wm. James, Esq., M. D., surgeon, in the chair,the following Report of the Sub-Committee was unanimouslyadopted.

Report of 5’M&-C’OMMtMee.Your Sub-Committee having given the document their best

consideration, and paid careful attention to each paragraph,beg now to lay the result before your Committee.

1st.—They consider that this paragraph does not merit parti-cular attention, as it merely embraces a notice of the prayer ofthe Bristol Memorial, and is introductory to the remainder.

2d.—This is correct in letter, incorrect in spirit, inasmuch asthe Council of the College, in the manner of appointing theFellows, have exposed themselves to the inference, that theirown re-election would result from the suffrages being given totheir friends.

3d.—Incorrect in fact, as the. present eminent position " ofthe profession of surgery in England" is more to be ascribed tothe collective intelligence and integrity of its members, than’ to any benefits resulting from the government of the Council

of the College, characterized as that has been by many acts ofa worse than doubtful tendency.

4th.—The unjust conduct of the Council must prove to everyhonest mind its complete inaptitude to direct any scientificbody, as its principles have not appeared to be of the sound,orthodox, high character, which from its position we have aright to expect; nor does the Bristol Memorial anywhere ex-press a wish to place the College under the government of HerMajesty’s Ministers, but has only prayed them to grant a sup-plemental Charter, which would have the effect of neutralizingthe recent act of injustice.

5th.-This paragraph requires no comment.6th.—We congratulate the profession that only sixty-eight,

out of upwards of 12,000 Members, or about one in two hundred,have been found weak enough to submit to an examination, afterthe iniquitous proceedings of the Council, and, so far fromagreeing with the conclusions of the Golden Cross gentlemen,inattributing the rejection of the fifteen to their ignorance, weshould rather infer it to be the result of a continued extensionof the same unjust principles which had guided the Council inits previous selections.

7th.-The allusion in this paragraph to ,injustice and breachof good faith," is not based on truth, with reference to the

objects of the Bristol, or, rather, we should say, the Memorialistsfrom all parts of the United Kingdom: but this may veritablybe applied to the degradation intended by the Council for theMembers of the College.8th.-The first part of this paragraph seems to have been

written when the Golden Cross gentlemen had reasoned themselvesinto the belief, that the supposed probable injustice to fifty-three members was to eclipse that actually inflicted on 12,000,and, under this impression, not only approved of the conductof those gentlemen who had truckled to the Council, actedunwisely to themselves and families, and, at least, ungenerouslyto their professional brethren, but also desire further to in-crease the insult, by perpetuating it. The second portion isof the most extraordinary character, inasmuch as it prays forsupport to be given to a quality that does not exist, viz.: thedignity of the Council of the College. Were the prayer that dig-nity should be infused into the proceedings of that body, sofar from objecting, we should have the highest pleasure inacceding to it. GEO. ROGERS; R. DAVIS, M.D.; H. RoBERT-sorr, M. D.; Sub-Committee.The Committee of the Bristol Association of Surgeons feeling

that no public document, however mean and trivial in its cha-racter, tending injuriously to affect the interests of the profes-sion, should be suffered to pass unanswered, have adopted theresolutions on the details of the before mentioned document.By direction of the Committee, HENRY ROBERTSON, M. D.; J.

P. McDONALD, Hon. Sec.

MEDICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON.

MONDAY, OCT. 27, 1845.—DR. THEOPHILUS THOMPSON, PRESIDENT.DR. CLUTTERBUCK made some general remarks on the discussionof the preceding meeting, in which he commented on the dis-crepancy of opinion which appeared to exist, not only withrespect to the nature of purpura, but also with reference to itstreatment. He knew the difficulties of the subject, and hadhimself no specific opinion to offer. He commented on thetreatment pursued in Mr. Dendy’s case, as too active andsevere.

Mr. DENDY explained that he had carefully watched theeffects of the remedies he had employed, and not administeredthem without extreme caution. He urged that mercury didnot exert its specific powers on young children; its actionbeing arrested by its becoming obstructed by the mucus

always present in the bowels of patients at that early periodof life. He had never seen ptyalism under the age of three orfour years. With respect to the employment of arsenic, hehad, in other instances, given as much as in the present case.His experience went to show that arsenic did no good in thescaly eruptions of children, previous to the eighth or ninthyear. The indications to leave off the use of arsenic were veryplain: the child complained of pain in the head, which usuallydrooped on the shoulder; he then stopped with the medicines,administered diaphoretics and purgatives, and then com-

menced with the arsenic again.Mr. Bisiiop had found that, unless the system bore the use

of arsenic for six or eight weeks, that medicine had no effecton the scaly eruptions of children. Larger doses of arsenicwere borne better in proportion as the menstruum was large.

Mr. DENDY had failed with arsenic, even when he had con-tinued it for six or seven weeks.

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Mr. HILTON suggested that the specific effects of mercurywere most marked when it was administered in the syphiliticdiseases of children. Might not the fact of the salivary glandsbeing, as it were, in abeyance in children, explain the circum-stance of ptyalism not being produced in them?Mr. BisHop had, in some cases, been obliged to discontinue

the use of bichloride of mercury to suckling mothers, in conse-quence of the gums of the infants becoming affected.Mr. HEADLAND observed that ptyalism in children was rare;

but the state of the salivary glands was not sufficient to explainthis.

’

Mr. RoBARTS had found the salivary glands large, in propor-tion, in infants. In dentition, children had a large quantity ofsaliva. He then read the following case:-The Rev. John M , of spare habit and nervous tempera-

ment, aged fifty-eight, was attacked, on the 14th Sept., withpains in his limbs, rigors, and difficulty of deglutition, fromsoreness of the right side of the throat; he was relieved byappropriate measures, and eat his breakfast with ease andtolerable appetite, on the 18th, but was overtaken, in thecourse of the day, with rigors and dysphagia, from pain in theleft side of the throat; the fever, pain, and difficulty of deglu-tition increased as the day advanced, and, by five o’clock onthe following evening, he could not swallow the smallest drop;he spoke also with great pain, though the voice was loud andclear, but could not snuff up air through the nostrils; leecheswere applied, and hot fomentations; by twelve o’clock in theday, there were decided paroxysms of difficulty of breathing,with sibilation; the velum pendulum palati was muchreddened at its lower base; the tonsils could not be properlyinspected, but did not seem to be swollen in proportion to thedifficulty of deglutition. A blister was applied, and belladonnaadministered. By five o’clock in the afternoon, he was in astate of impending asphyxia; the body bathed in perspirationwith the violent struggles for breath; and, shortly afterwards,he fell into a condition of semi-consciousness. The operationof laryngotomy was performed at six o’clock; in cuttingthrough the ligament there was a slight haemorrhage from awounded vein, and some of the blood escaped into the larynx,and was coughed up through the tube, and through the mouth;for a few seconds the patient seemed not to respire; presentlyhe breathed softly; and fell into a tranquil sleep, which lastedfor ten minutes or a quarter of an hour; he then woke, andconsciousness gradually returned; he was much relieved, butobserved a singing noise in his left ear, which gradually sub-sided in the course of the evening; still he swallowed with

great difficulty. The blister had vesicated the skin, and wasremoved, and dressed with mercurial ointment, which was alsorubbed in the arm-pits. At ten o’clock he had had severalcomfortable naps, and breathed easily through the tube; wascheerful; and had a firm pulse of 86. A small enema of gruelwas administered for nourishment; one grain of calomel wasordered to be given every hour.

20th. Morning.-Breathes easily, but is greatly distressed ifthe finger is placed upon the tube; respirations, sixteen perminute; complains of pain over the right parotid; deglutitionslightly improved; eight powders have been taken, and thebowels are much griped and purged, the stools consistingprincipally of blood and mucus; a slight disposition to

stranguary; the urine scanty. Gum-arabic in his toast-and-water ; a sixth of a grain of opium, and three grains of chalk,to be added to each dose of calomel; a turpentine epithen tothe nape of the neck; an astringent gargle for the mouth andthroat.

Evening.-Respiration more laboured, and attended with soloud a hissing noise that it may be heard on the stairs, outsidethe room; there is a slight sonorous rhonchus on the left side,of a dry character; the tube was withdrawn, and found to bemuch obstructed by a plastic lymph of a peculiarly tenaciouscharacter, closely resembling the false membrane of croup; thehissing sound immediately ceased, and did not recur when thetube was replaced, after it had been cleansed; complains ofheadache and pain about the upper part of the throat; bowelsnot opened since morning; micturition easy. Eight leechesapplied to the right side of the neck; repeat the gargle andpowders.During the course of the night the tube frequently became

obstructed, and was taken out, and cleansed, and at ten o’clockthe next morning, was altogether withdrawn; it was thenobserved that, on swallowing liquids, a few drops escaped atthe wound, although deglutition was easier; there are occa-sional fits of coughing. The calomel to be continued.

Evening.-The wound has been blocked up for the last threehours with dried mucus, yet the breathing, which has been

tolerably free during the day, is not much impeded by it; can

speak in a whisper; coughs less; there is a copious expecto-ration ; deglutition much easier. Has only taken three powdersto-day; to go on with them.22d.-Passed an easy night; breathes easily; coughs less;

voice louder; deglutition much easier; mouth affected by thecalomel; the wound is generally closed. From this time hewent on improving, and resumed his ordinary duties as a cler-gyman on 19th October, five weeks from the first appearanceof his complaint.Mr. RoBARTS remarked on the rapidity and urgency of the

symptoms and the necessity for the operation. He thoughtthe inflammation was of an erythematic character, and that itaffected the rima glottidis and epiglottis, and parts above the,cordae vocales; that the tube had excited an inflammation lowerdown, which induced cough, and might have destroyed thepatient had its employment been persevered in; that in per-forming the operation there should be a very free external in-cision, and that the parts should be well cleared away, before theopening was made into the larynx, in order to avoid haemorrhage.A discussion followed in which several gentlemen took part.

WESTMINSTER MEDICAL SOCIETY.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24, 1845.—MR. DUNN IN THE CHAIR.THE Society held its first meeting of the session this evening.There was a full attendance of members.

Dr. FuEDERic BIRD read a paper introducing cases of puer-peral mania, in which that disease appeared to have had itsorigin in antecedent rheumatism. Under the name of puer-peral mania had been included almost every form of cerebralaffection, occurring in the parturient, in which delirium[formeda symptom; and whilst one authority may allude to it as a.

comparatively unimportant malady, another may treat it asgrave and often fatal. Its too general application favouredsuch discrepancies; and, in order that lie might be rightlyunderstood, he would briefly observe, that the cases he had torelate belonged to that form marked by the occurrence of de-lirium, by concomitant febrile action, by local pain, by derange-ment of special functions. Such were the general symptomsin his cases, in each of which they arose suddenly, and insome ended fatally.The first case related was that of a patient, aged twenty-two,

delivered shortly after the completion of the eighth month ofpregnancy. For four days she progressed favourably ; on thefifth complained of indisposition; was feverish; had a hurriedpulse, and a white-coated tongue ; she had pain in moving, andmore particularly so in one wrist-joint, which was found to beswollen, reddened, and painful to the touch. After the lapseof twelve hours, she was seized with all the symptoms of peri-cardial inflammation; the wrist-joint was no longer the seat ofrheumatic affection; that the pericardium had become at-tacked was subsequently evidenced by a friction-sound; re-

covery from the thoracic symptoms took place, but the jointsagain became affected by swelling, redness, and pain. As had

previously happened, these local symptoms rather suddenlydisappeared, and mania set in, associated with fever, ferrety eye,pain in the head, and small rapid pulse. In two days from theaccession of these symptoms the delirium had passed into alow form and ended in death. The marked subsidence of thesecond rheumatic attack, and the prompt supervention of cere-bral symptoms appeared to support the belief that their cause was metastasis to the brain, an opinion strengthened by theprevious occurrence, under the same conditions, of pericarditis;the rheumatism, ill-developed and erratic, was the cause ofboth.-The second case was that of a patient who had fre-quently suffered from rheumatic affection, and who, whilst inlabour, was affected with that disease, its seat being the wristand ankle-joints; mania occurred, and on inquiry it wasfound that the local signs of rheumatism had suddenly dis-appeared. Under treatment the limbs again became the seatof rheumatism, and the cerebral symptoms subsided.-The fourth case occurred after a second child-birth; the

patient had been attacked at the time of labour with the inci-pient symptoms of scarlet fever, which disease became fullydeveloped, but passed rapidly through its course; the patientwas doing well when she was attacked with rheumatic inflam-mation, affecting the wrists, and, to a less extent, one ankle;suddenly these symptoms subsided, and were very quicklyfollowed by delirium, connected with febrile action; an anxiousexpression of countenance; a suffused ferrety eye; a whitetongue; and a pulse of 160, somewhat irregular and fb&Me.Treatment founded upon the assumption of a metastatie origin