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hazard. Boyhood with a carious joint is to be preferred tomanhood with the mutilation or loss of a limb. Mr. Gayshowed specimens of carious bones, and microscopic illustra-tions of the views of the pathology of caries which he broughtforward.Mr. RoGERS HARRISON, after expressing himself as agreeing

with Rokitansky’s views, asked the author’s opinion on a casewhich he then had under treatment. It was that of a younglady, who had an abscess of three years’ duration, which, onbeing opened, emitted a quart of pus, and several long piecesof bone from the fourth or fifth rib. During the past twoyears these exfoliations of bone had continued at intervals.He had supported the system, but expected the case to endfatally. by abscess opening into one of the serous cavities.Mr. BISHOP opposed the author’s views as to the vitality of

the earthy matter of bone, referring to the opinion of Lehmann,who affirmed the contrary, on the ground that it may be re-moved without carrying away any vital structure.. Dr. CAMPS supported the author’s views, both as to the

organic nature of earthy matter, and the essential pathologicalchanges which take place in caries.

Mr. HIRD agreed with Mr. Bishop and the German chemico-pathologists, and cited the fact that we may take away theorganic material alone, by calcination, or the earthy matteralone, by acids. He considered that the earthy matter wasmixed with organic matter merely for mechanical purposes.He stated that Dr. Colles had formerly defined caries to be anulceration of the bone, and necrosis a destruction with simul-taneous regeneration of bone. He considered that the authorhad begged the point of treatment when he stated that hewould treat the structures of a joint precisely as he would treatthe same structures elsewhere, there being in reality no similarstructures apart from joints.

Mr. W. ADAMS did not regard caries and necrosis to beidentical processes, but was unable to state precisely the dis-tinguishing characters of each.Mr. GAY stated, in reply, that his object in bringing the

subject before the profession was to prevent the removal of alimb as a necessary consequence of a carious state o& the joint.Caries was not an irremediable disease, but one amenable to agreat extent to local and general treatment.

PHYSIOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

MONDAY, MARCH 13, 1854. — MR. RICHARDSON in the Chair.

ON THE DEPOSIT OF FAT IN CERTAIN CONDITIONS OF THE BODIES

OF THE LOWER ANIMALS.

Dn. CRISP directed the attention of the members of theSociety to the above fact, which, as far as he knew, hadbefore escaped observation. A short time since, a Chilian eagle,which had been seventeen years in the Regent’s-park Zoolo-gical-gardens, died suddenly from the rupture of a bloodvesselin the lungs. The bird was in beautiful plumage, in good con-dition, and weighed six pounds and a half. £ Dr. Crisp foundthe lungs so tuberculated that scarcely a sound portion couldbe seen. Notwithstanding this extensive pulmonary lesion,the bird was excessively fat, the flakes of fat on the pelvis andabdomen being large and solid. Dr. Crisp had met with manyinstances of a similar kind, more especially in birds; but theywere not confined to this class of animals, for he had seen

many examples of fat pigs with tuberculated lungs, and he hadlearned from some feeders of cattle that an ox with a damagedlung would often make fat faster than a sound animal. Perfectrest, however, was necessary, and it should be borne in mindthat if the thoracic lungs of a bird were diseased, other partsof the body would take on a compensatory action. Dr. Crispthought the explanation of the phenomenon in these cases was,that the carbon not being eliminated by the lungs was con-verted into fat by its union with hydrogen and oxygen. In

making a comparison between pulmonary tubercle in man andthe lower animals, it is important to remember that the latterare not affected with the exhausting purulent discharges whichgenerally occur in the human species.FATAL EFFECTS OF IMPERFECT UNION OF THE UMBILICAL VEIN

AFTER CHILDBIRTH ; JAUNDICE AS THE RESULT OF IAIPER-

FECT CLOSURE OF THE DUCTUS VENOSUS.

Mr. HENRY LEE read the particulars of two cases, one underthe care of Mr. Willing, of Hampstead; the other under thecare of Dr. Herapath, of Bristol. In the first, jaundice wasthe -most prominent symptom, and commenced immediately

after birth. Six days after the separation of the penis (inwhich process there was nothing abnormal), slight haemorrhagemade its appearance. The blood passed was of a thin serouscharacter, scarcely discolouring the linen upon which it wasreceived, and, when dry, not stiffening it. The bleeding con-tinued for two days in spite of every attempt to avert it. Itthen stopped after the umbilicus had been plugged by cobweb.The little patient, however, shortly afterwards sank. On apost-mortem examination, the umbilical vein, one umbilicalartery, the ductus venosus, the ductus arteriosus, and theforamen ovale, were all found open. No coagula were foundin any part of the body, and the blood discharged from thevessels, both before and after death, had evidently lost itspower of coagulation. It appeared entirely deficient in fibrin.There was no appearance of inflammation of the lining mem-brane of the umbilical vein, although the structures around,.near the umbilicus, were somewhat condensed and thickened.The jaundice in this case was attributed by Mr. Lee to theblood from the vena porta having passed through the ductusvenosus instead of circulating through the liver. When thenatural circulation through the ductus venosus at childbirthceases, if that vessel remains open, it affords a ready passageto the blood from the portal system, and thus the blood fromwhich the bile should be secreted may never get to the liver atall. Under such circumstances, the bile would necessarilyaccumulate in the system. Instances have been related inwhich the secretion of bile went on perfectly well where therewas no vena porta; but there were cases in which the hepatiaartery was very much larger than natural, and supplied theamount of blood required for secretion as well as for nutrition.In Dr. Herapath’s case, some blood escaped from the umbilicusat the time the penis separated, and shortly after birth thechild became jaundiced. It was subsequently attacked witherysipelas, and secondary deposits formed in various parts, butnot in the lungs. This was accounted for by Dr. Herapath,from the circumstance, discovered on a post-mortem examina-tion, that the foramen ovale had remained open. It wastherefore thought that the vitiated stream of blood from thelower cava had been directed, as in the fœtal circulation, bythe Eustachian valve, through the foramen ovale to the leftside of the heart, and thence to the system generally; whereasthe blood from the superior cava, which had not been directlycontaminated, alone passed into the right ventricle, and wasthence sent to the lungs. In this case the umbilical vein wasfound filled with curdy, puriform fluid, and afforded a strongcontrast to the first case, in which the vein contained only avery delicate filamentous coagulum, and presented within noother sign of disease. The differences observable in the twoinstances in this respect supported, as Mr. Lee believed, thedoctrine which he had now for some years advocated—namely,that the puriform fluid found in the vein in such cases wasformed by the softening of the fibrin and of the coagula whichthe vessels contain; and that where, from whatever cause, nosuch deposit of fibrin or coagulation of the blood occurs, thereno puriform fluid would be found in the vein, and none of theordinary signs of inflammation of the lining membrane of thevein would be present.

Dr. CoGSWELL read a paper on

THE MEDICINAL CONSTITUENTS OF THE LEMON.

The author’s attention had been drawn to the subject by thepublications of Dr. Owen Rees and others on the treatment ofrheumatism by lemon-juice. The remedy was no doubt oftensuccessful; but still there were many failures, and these didnot seem to be sufficiently accounted for, as had been attempted,by reference to the difference in the forms of the disease. Butthere was much uncertainty as to what constitutes lemon-juice.Has it always the same composition, or are there not variousaccidental circumstances attending its preparation calculatedto render one specimen different from another? Sometimes thefruit is ordered to be squeezed at home, at other times the pre-scription is sent to a draggist’s, or the juice is allowed to bepurchased wherever it is cheapest. When obtained from thefresh fruit by expression without removing the rind, it is aturbid, pale-yellow fluid, exhaling a grateful odour of theessential oil, and of a specific gravity in different specimens,between 10’43 and 10’47. By distilling a fresh specimen whichhad not been filtered, the author had obtained from twelveounces half a drachm of essential oil, but from another sampleafter filtration only five minims. Some purchased at a fruit-preserver’s, which had stood for several months in a cask, andundergone a kind of fermentation, was bright-yellow, andclear, of density 10 37, and yielded scarcely a trace of oil. Ithad received an impregnation of common salt from the former

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contents of the cask. A sample of lemon-juice from the stores of a merchant vessel smelt of rum, had a density of 10-10, andcontained a multitude of torulæ. The effect of the different

processes for pressing the juice, mentioned by Christison, wasto separate one or more of the ingredients which might beof consequence to its remedial efficacy. Heat would expel theessential oil, filtration remove the solid clebr-is of the pulp, andthe addition of alcohol with filtration withdraw the mucila-ginous matter. It appeared that the druggists in London donot make a practice of keeping the juice ready on demand,but that they usually prepare it extemporaneously whenordered. The dose was equally a matter of uncertainty. Itseems to be the prevalent idea that the average produce of alemon is about half an ounce; but the author had not foundany ordinary specimen to yield less than seven drachms, whilethe average was rather more than an ounce. Hence he con-cluded that it was necessary to fix a standard for the composi-tion and dose of the juice before its remedial efficacy couldbe fairly tested. In the rind, besides the essential oil, theauthor observed granules of starch. A decoction of the whitespongy portion afforded pectine, hespericline, and a trace oftannin. Hesperidine was discovered by M. Lebreton, whoemployed orangettes, but his proceeding proved complicatedand unproductive. The author had found the crystals de-

posited by evaporating a decoction of the spongy envelope,while from the same part of the shaddock it was separated bysimple maceration in cold water, and could be collectecl in afilter. A specimen as thus obtained was exhibited to the

Society. It had a decided bitter taste, but turned, not red, ascommonly stated, but yellow with sulphuric acid. Another

principle, called aurantiin, was supposed to be the source ofthe bitterness of the lemon tribe, but its existence had notbeen demonstrated, and the author was inclined to regard thehesperidine as the true bitter principle. The essential oil

belonged to a class corresponding to the formula C5 H4, andincluding the other oils of the fruits of the Aurantiaceæ, theoils of turpentine, juniper, savine, elemi, copaiba, cubebs, andpepper. Some of them were approved remedies in rheumatism.From trials made with the oil of lemons in this disease, in flatu- Ilent dyspepsia, and leucorrhœa, the author entertained a highopinion of its therapeutical value, and thought that thechemical fact stated suggested the possibility of bringingtogether the various scattered evidences on the remedialefficacy of the oils of the same class, and referring them to ageneral law. The fresh juice, when evaporated in a waterbath, yielded 8 ’5 per cent. of solid extract, and the ash ob-tained by incineration amounted to 0 ’27 per cent. The lattercontained sulphuric and phosphuric acids, potash, lime, mag-nesia, and iron. A controversy existed as to whether thecitric acid or the potash in lemon-juice is the true medicinal

ingredient. In reviewing the evidence, the author consideredit an error to suppose that either would answer so well sepa-rately as united. The efficiency of the juice probably dependsnot on one or other of the ingredients, but on the whole com-bined. In using the essential oil, he gave it in doses of aboutfifteen minims, with two drachms of vinegar, in barley-water,always being careful to keep the bowels freely open by purga-tives. If the efficacy of the juice in rheumatism depended onanything more than the refrigerant action of the citric acid, hethought the true anti-arthritic agent was probably the essen-tial oil when present, and he repeated his views as to the ne-cessity of establishing a definite standard for the composition ofthe juice. A table was exhibited, showing the composition ofthe essential oils mentioned in the paper.

HARVEIAN SOCIETY.

THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 1854.—MR. COULSON, PRESIDENT.

Dr. HANDFIELD JONES related a case of

CYSTIC CALCULI.

The patient was a lady past mid age, in whose family there isinsanity. She had passed calculi many years ago, and had tohis knowledge been passing cystine in her urine, as a prettycopious deposit, for tive or six years. The cystine was in theform of hexagonal tablets, mingled with fatty matter, andmore or less of mucus. On one or two occasions there hasbeen very little cystine, much mucus and fatty matter, and acopious evolution of sulphuretted hydrogen gas, with abun-dance of triple phosphate prisms ; it was also decidedly albu-minous, sometimes acid, sometimes alkaline. It has some-times contained a notable quantity of blood; indeed, the al-

bumen proceeded, he believed, always from the admixture ofmore or less blood. She has suffered much from pain in theback and the right loin for the last four or five months. Nomedicine was of much benefit. The four calculi he exhibitedcame away of themselves with very little pain, and some smallsand-like fragments had been passed since. They cut easily;their surface has a waxy lustre ; they are combustible ; theypresent, under the microscope, crystalline prisms, of veryvarious sizes, generally much elongated, and mixed with ratherfatty epithelial scales. Ammonia dissolves the calculus com-pletely, and, on evaporation, there remain both hexagonal platesand elongated prisms.

Dr. SIBSOV brought before the Society aCASE OF ALTERNATE APN<EA ANT) ACCELERATED BREATHING,

then under his care in St. Mary’s Hospital. The patient,aged seventy-four, presented a remarkable peculiarity ofrespiration. He was admitted on the 20th of January. Ex-

cepting rheumatism and a slight winter cough, he enjoyedgood health until nine months previously, since which periodhe had suffered from cough and dyspncea; he did not leave offwork until six weeks before admission, when his legs began toswell. Within the month he had three attacks of sudden in-

sensibility, in which he fell to the ground, remaining uncon-scious from a few minutes to half an hour. On admission, legsmuch swollen from cedema; urine albuminous; veins of neckand temples swollen, diminishing somewhat on inspiration;heart’s impulse feeble, just perceptible; liver low; breathing,vocal vibration, and resonance on percussion better over rightdorsum than left. The respirations varied remarkably in depth.After a pause of about five seconds they gradually increasedfrom three or four hundredths of an inch to from forty toseventy-five hundredths, and then decreased steadily untilthere was a renewed pause of about five seconds. The respira-tions increased, diminished, and came to a stand still in re-newed succession with remarkable regularity, the pauses suc-ceeding each other at intervals of about a minute. On the26th the pauses recurred in about sixty seconds; they variedin duration from six to twenty seconds, the idea being some-times conveyed that he had actually ceased to breathe; therewere from twenty to twenty-tour respirations between the

pauses. The pulse was more quick and regular during thepause, being then thirty-two in twenty seconds, than duringthe period of accelerated breathing, when it was twenty-fivein 203, the pulse being strong during the expiration, inter-mittent during the deep inspirations. This character of respi-ration continued during the whole of the time that he was in.St. Mary’s Hospital, from the 21st of January to the 3rd ofMarch, when he died. On the 13th of February the mouthwas opened at each inspiration, the upper jaw being raised bya slight action of the muscles at the back of the neck, whichlower the occiput. During the pause the eyes nearly closed,and he became unconscious. From this date he gradually de-clined ; his mind wandered; his strength diminished. The

deeper respirations became less full, rising only to twenty ortwenty-five hundredths of an inch instead of forty, fifty, oreven eighty. On the 21st of February there was an interval ofseventy seconds between the beginning of one pause and thatof the next, each pause lasting about fifteen seconds, and thenumber of intermediate respirations being from twenty-six totwenty-eight. On the 28th of February the right ninth ribmoved outwards, during the deep inspiration, the fifteen-hun-dredth of an inch, while the left ninth fell in fifteen-hundredth.There was fluid in the abdomen, and great &oelig;dema of the lowerlimbs. On the 1st and 2nd of March the intervals from pauseto pause, were forty to forty-five seconds; the number of in-termediate respirations twenty to twenty-two. A soft systolicbruit to the left of the nipple was audible during the wholeperiod that the patient was under observation until the lastday or two, when it was no longer audible. The temporalarteries were constantly full during the last few davs of life.On post-mortem examination the heart was found to be

greatly enlarged, the walls being thickened, the cavitiesdilated; the left ventricular walls were nearly an inch inthickness; the mitral and aortic valves were somewhatthickened and atheromatous, but appeared as if they wouldprove nearly adequate to their function; the aorta in its wholelength was much dilated, and was studded with atheromatousand calculous patches of various size and thickness. The arte-ries at the base of the brain were atheromatous. There wasmuch fluid in both pleural sacs, particularly the left; the leftlower lobe being almost completely condensed by the fluid inwhich it floated. The bronchial tubes were dilated and con-gested, and the pulmonary artery and its branches were