703

phagus, but revolve in the fundus. The

ejection of the contents of the stomach inthe adult requites therefore the strongpressure of the abdominal muscles and

diaphragm to effectuate it; while in thesucking child a slight anti-peristaltic mo-tion of the viscus is sufficient to producethis effect, on account of the cylindricalshape of the stomach, and the more di-rect communication of the oesophaguswith it.

EFFICACI’ OF THE biAGNCT 1N A CASEEFFICACY OF THE MAGNET IN A CASE

OF NEURALGIA 1’LEXUS SOLARIS.

This affection was first described by theauthor of a paper under the above title,Dr. BRUCK, in l’llifeland’s Journal, in theyear 1827, and, later still, in this Journal

(1831, No. 6). Since then several cases

have fallen under his care, amongst whichthe following is not the least remark-

able :-

Mons. G., forty-eight years of age, evenwhen a boy, suffered much from difficultdigestion. The death of his father com-pelled him to leave the university wherehe was being educated, and when return-ing he caught a very severe cold The

disposition to disorder of the abdominalorgans now increased, against which heemployed without any ax-ail various reme- Idies, purgatives, and tonics. After a length -’’-of time the disease became fully formed, iand showed itself under the followingsymptoms-viz. want of appetite, desirefor stimulating food, costiveness, fiatu-

lence, a sensation of vertigo, pain in thehead, and disturbed sleep. In the sum-mer of 1825 the patient took the baths ofCarlsbad for six or seven weeks, withoutany good effect. In 1830-31 he tried

sea-bathing with equal want of success.Medical treatment was continued for six

years, but all the symptoms became ag-gravated, and the patient suffered espe-cially from an oppression about the pit ofthe stomach, a symptom that the authorregards as pathognomic of neuralgia ofthe solar plexus. The slightest form ofthis oppression passed gradually into sucha sensibility of the precordial region, thatthe patient, to whom the least pressuregave excruciating pain, was unable to holdhimself upright. The patient’s mentalfaculties now became affected, and hefell into a state of hypochondriacism.As so many remedies of different kinds

had been tried in the present case withoutany benefit, the author determined on em-ploying the magnet. Accordingly a mag-netic iron, of three-pound force, was ap-

plied directly on the scrobiculus cordis, andthe application was so efficacious, that infive or six hours he found himself wonder-fully relieved, and on the following day wasquite free from any unpleasant symptoms.This state continued for from six to eightweeks, during which the magnet was notapplied, and the patient felt as a perfectlysound man. However, neither the slimystools nor the troubles of the digestiveprocess were removed, and at the end ofthe time above mentioned the patient feltthat the action of the magnet was quiteworn out, and his ancient state returning.Hence the experiment was repeated fromtime to time, but without any success.However, as the cramps in the abdomenwere for some time back felt with great vio-lence, the author thought right to try theeffect with two magnets, one to the pit ofthe stomach, the other to the loins. Afteran hour the cramps became less violent,and in a few hours more they were alto-gether removed. But (says the patient,from whose own words the above accountis taken) after one or two days I thoughtI remarked an action on the nerves of theabdomen, which 1 cannot otherwise de-scribe than by speaking of it as a state inwhich I could neither walk nor speak, andwhich- on the following day was so dis-tressing that I was compelled to removethe magnet, which I had carried for thelast twenty-four hours. From this period,says the patient, I have continued to en-

joy very good health, and the repetition ofthe use of the magnet has not been judgednecessary.

A Treatise on Insanity, and other Disordersaffecting the Mind. By J. C. PRICHARD,M.D.,F.R.S. London. Sherwood. 1835.8vo. pp. 483.

A Treatise on Insanity, and other Disordersaffecting the Mind. ByJ.C.PRICHARD,M.D.,F.R.S. London. Sherwood. 1835.8vo. pp. 483.

Dr. PRICHARD was one of the indivi.duals to whom the University of Oxforddid itself the honour of presenting a de-gree at the late meeting of the BritisltMedical Association. His early work onthe Natural History of Man, displayinggreat research, sound, clear thinking, andmany highly philosophical views of ourspe-cies, deservedly conferred and establishedhis fame. With Blumenbach and Cuvier,whose researches were then novel in this

country, Dr. Prichard furnished the know-ledge of comparative anatomy and natu-ral history-the tide which Mr. Lawrencetook at the flood. Dr. Prichard is a firm

dissenter, and his life has been marked

704

by consistency. Mr. Lawrence suddenly new field of light created in the mysteri.saw the error of the liberal views he had ous region of the human mind by Gall,before advocated, at the moment he was and cultivated by Spurzheim, the publicabout to become a member of the Council will feel the want of a general criticalof the College of Surgeons. So, too, when history of insanity-3uch as Dr. Pricharda candidate for the situation of surgeon to has here supplied.Bethlem Hospital, he was persuaded all In successive chapters are treated,-at once to become a Christian; and, not- moral insanity, monomania or melan-

withstanding the severe nature of the ini- choly, raving madness, incoherence, gene-tiatory rite, would, doubtless, have pro- ral paralysis, the terminations of insanity,fessed himself a Musselman, if such a pro- the causes of insanity, necroscopical re-fession had brought him a step nearer to searches into the changes of structureBethlem. Mark the difference between connected with insanity, the pathology ofconsistency and renegadism. The dissen- mental derangement, the treatment ofter Prichard occupied a proud position at insanity, puerperal madness, idiotism, theOxford. Mr. Lawrence is everywhere de- statistics of insanity, unsoundness of mindspised, and is branded with that most in relation to jurisprudence, and, finally,odious of titles-an apostate. Who shall ecstatic affections.describe the mingled scorn and pity with The last chapter but one deserves thewhich some of the profession heard, and particular attention of jurists. The En-

all have since read, the damning evidence glish law recognises two classes of incom-against his character which was elicited petent persons,-" idiotce eae nativitate,"before the Parliamentary Medical Com- natural idiots; and lunatics or madmen,puttee, and when he himself confessed his styled "non compotes mentis." Englishalliance with that unholy cause to which writers admit only that form of insanityhe had prostituted his reputation and ac- which the Germans call wahttsinn theyquirements ? know nothing of moral insanity, either asOur business, however, is with Dr. requiring control in the exercise of civil

Prichard’s book; yet are these remarks rights, or as destroying or lessening cul-not wholly foreign or impertinent, lector pability in criminal ones. Thus, in a

benevole for the book commences with the report of a judgment delivered not manyclass of infatuation called by the ancients years since by one of the most distin-" melancholy."* guished lawyers in this country (Sir J.it ’I< ’* <IF - ,., Qnid avarus’? t Nicboll), it is laid down that insanity is

Stultus et insanus. ******" &middot;’ deluded imagination, the substitution ofDr. Prichard states, in his prefatory fancies for realities." The existence of

observations, " that although many ex- moral insanity, or exalted irregular pro-cdlent treatises exist on various matters pensities, independent of any lesion of the

. connected with mental deran6ement in intellect, is now fully established:-the English, French, and German lan-

"The co nclusi on that eccentricity ofthe English, French, and German lan- "The conclusion that eccentricity of

guages, there is yet not one work extant habits or character is not, as implied byin either of them which exhibits the pre- common expressions, allied to madness,sent state of knowledge and opinion on but actually constitutes in many instancesthe whole subject of diseases affecting the a variety of mental derangements, is of

mind ;" an opinion in which we readily some consequence in respect to one pointof criminal legislation. Various cases areconcur.

on record, in which homicide and otherAfter having read Pinel, Georget, and atrocious acts have been committed by

the various articles of Esquirol, Heinroth, persons of morose and wayward habits,Hoffbauer, and Jacobi, - the spirititel given up to sullen abstraction, or other-Haslam, Burrows, Ure, who adopted the wise differing in their propensities and

paradox of Horace, that all the would was dispositions from the ordinary character’ of mankind. In the investigation whether

mad ; even after having risen into the such acts of violence are attributable to in... III ’1 signum diagnosticum melancholi&aelig; est, sanity or not, it will be important to note

qnod uni ec etdcm cogitationi pertinacissim&egrave; in- the fact that the peculiarities of conducth&aelig;reant tales &aelig;gri.&mdash;VAN SWIETEN. for which the perpetrators had been other.

705

wise remarkable are sufficient to afford inthemselves a strong suspicion of insanity.

"This consideration, had it been fullyentered into, would have led to an import-ant result in the case of John Howison,who was executed for the murder ofWidow Geddes, at King’s Cramond. No

Iwell-informed person who reads the ac-count of this unfortunate man’s trial, asgiven in Mr. Simpson’s late work "On theNecessity of Popular Education," will en-tertain a doubt that he was mentally de-ranged. His case constitutes a very cha-racteristic case of moral insanity. Hefell a victim to ignorance." The principal consideration in which

the subject of moral insanity is importantin criminal jurisprudence, is that of insanepropension to such acts of violence.Homicide, infanticide, suicide, have beencommitted in numerous cases under cir-cumstances which gave room for suspicionas to the sanity of the agent. This pleahas been set up in many trials, and hasoften been rejected by juries, while it hasbeen the opinion of medical persons thatthere were ample grounds for maintainingit."-pp. 183-4.

Dr. Prichard devotes a long section to

phrenology,to which we can only call atten-tion ; our own views are much more favour-able to that doctrine than Dr. Prichard’s;yet we acknowledge the weight of several ofhis objections. Let Dr. Prichard, however,confess that nearly all this new light on

the subject of moral insanity has burst onM. Esquirol, on himself, and on the Scotch

metaphysical school, since the appearanceof Gall’s immortal work on the anatomyand functions of the brain.

Dr. Prichard’s work shows an extensive

knowledge of his subject. The materials

have been industriously collected in ourown and in foreign asylums,-in the Bri-tish, but more particularly in the Frenchand German writers on insanity. The

style is elaborately finished. The work

will form an indispensable addition to

every medical library in which there is

a section on insanity. It may be regardedas an essential index to the literature of

the disease.

A Treatise on Pulmonary Consumptioncomprehending an Inquiry into the

Causes, Nature, Prevention, and Treat-ment of Tuberculous and ScrofulousDiseases in general. By JAMES CLARK,Diseases- in general. By JAMES CLARK,M.D., F.R.S. London, Sherwood, 1835.8vo, pp.399.

WHEN the article on "Tubercular Phthi.sis " appeared in the " Cyclopaedia ofPractical Medicine," we noticed its con-tents in our columns, and expressed a veryfavourable opinion of the manner in whichDr. CLARK had arranged all our presentknowledge of this frequent disease.; direct-ing the attention of the profession moreparticularly to the principles which Dr.Clark had laid down for preventing itsinvasion ; and to the original views thrownout regarding the means of diminishingthe mortality produced by the disease,and, in the end, of extirpating, at least toa certain extent, the scrofulous diathesisfrom our race. Dr. Clark contends with

Laennec, Andral, and Carswell, that tu-berculous ulcerations in the lungs willheal and cicatrize, but that this termina.tion is so rare, as to justify no man inasserting that he can positively cure con-sumption. Where only one case in ten,or one case in a hundred, or one in athousand is cured, it is a deception on thepublic to assert in round terms, that con-sumption, like a common inflammation orfever, is curable. That the sufferings of

the patient may be much relieved, thatthe disease may at an early period of itsattack be averted, and that the patient’slife may be considerably protracted by thejudicious regimen and treatment detailedby Dr. Clark, we willingly believe.

Besides medicines, and the ordinarymedical treatment, Dr. Clark dwells at

considerable length on the hygienic treat-ment of consumptive patients. His exten-

sive observation in this country, and onthe continent, has taught him the greatinfluence changes of temperature and hy-grometricity effect on the pulmonary or-gan, the principal outlet of carbonic acid,aqueous vapour, and heat from the system ;and ultimately the great effect so wroughton the fluids, solids, and secretions. This

public recognition of the great importance

06

of physiological and meteorological know- and excellent summary of the generalledge in regulating the vital processes, on views entertained by the author on thethe part of a physician engaged in exten- subject of pulmonary consumption. Wesive practice, we hail as a favourable sign confess, as humble judges of literary pro-of the times. In these drug-days, which, ductions, that the candour of such an ad-unfortunately, last all the year round in vertisement, the professional zeal which itthis country, a return to the ancient prin- develops, and the modesty of feeling underciples taught by Hippocrates, illustrated which it was evidently dictated, would atby the improved means and facilities of once decide us to the perusal of the workmodern observation, may do much to- of any author to whose production itwards saving medicine from the waves of might be attached, and we think it will

empiricism, which on every side beset it; have the same effect on the inclinationsand to those who, like ourselves, struggle of such of our readers as have not yetto place medicine on the sound basis of seen the present volume or the originalexperience and scientific principles, the article.progress towards those principles is cheer- I The greater part of the following trea-ing. tise first appeared as an article in theThat iodine has a very decided effect on ’’ Cyclopaedia of Practical Medicine,’ under

scrofulous enlargements and ulcers, there the head of ’Tubercular Phthisis.’ In

now cannot be the least doubt ; Dr. Clark publishing it as a separate work, various

recommends it in the early stage of con- alterations and additions were required.

recommends it In the early stage of These I have endeavoured to supply assumphon, when the disease is threatening. fully as the short space of time which hasThe clinical experiments of Lugol and elapsed since its first appearance per-

Baudelocque show that iodine very much mitted. That the work might have been

improves the general health: besides, as rendered more perfect by deferring its

there is not the least doubt or difference .-publication I readily admit; but after ma-there is not the least doubt or difference of ture consideration, I venture to lay it be-opinion among well-informed pathologists, fore the public without further delay.as to the identity of the scrofulous and " If I am not greatly deceived, the viewpulmonary tubercles, this entitles us to which I have taken of tuberculous diseasesanticipate its specific effect in phthisis. is calculated to lead to a more successfulInhalation is, we believe, an inefficient method,

both of prevention and treatment,method of administering iodine ; Baude- than has hitherto prevailed. With thismethod of administering iodine; Baude. impression on my mind, I feel myself jus-locque has proved that when inhaled, it tified in submitting my views and opinionshas no effect on scrofulous diseases, which to the consideration of the profession, wellcan be readily observed. aware, that, if erroneous, the task of cor-

Viewed in a therapeutic point of view, recting them is not very likely to originatewith their author, and tnat, if well founded,from which in England we are always ac. the efforts of an individual can avail littlecustomed to look at disease, Dr. Clark’s in procuring the general application oftreatise on Consumption is the best that them.has yet been published in this country, or

" Although I have entered more par-on the continent: it shows an intimate ticularly into the history of tuberculous

knowleclge of the improved methods of disease of the lungs, or pulmonary con-knowledge of the improved methods of sumption, my observations will be found

diagnosis, and of the morbid anatomy so to be applicable to the whole class of tu-successfully investigated by the conti- berculous and scrofulous diseases. Theynental pathologists and by Professor Cars- all originate in the same constitutional

well; while it displays an acquaintance disorder, acknowledge the same remote

with the resources of the system, and the causes, and admit of the same rules of

with the resources of the system, and the ’. and, I may i) that the sameWit h th e resources of t he sys tem, an the prevention; ana, I may add, that the same

power of therapeutic agents, only pos- mode of treatment is essentially applica-sessed in this country and in Germany, ble to the whole.In order to afford the subscribers to the " The total inefficiency of all means hi-

" Cyclop&aelig;dia" an opportunity of knowing therto adopted for diminishing the fre-under what circumstances the treatise is qucncy or reducing the mortality of this....... class of disease, is of itself sumcient in-

printed in its present form, we shall ex- citement to us to seek for some ’othertract entire the Preface to the present method of. remedying the evil; and it isvolume. It contains also an interesting evident to me that this can only be done,

707

with any reasonable prospect of success,by directing the attention to such mea-sures as are calculated to prevent the

hereditary transmission of the particularmorbid state in which the formal diseaseoriginates, and to correct the predisposi-tion to it in infancy and youth. It is, ac-cordingly, on this part of my subject,which involves the consideration of theorigin, causes, and prevention of the dis-ease, that I have more especially dwelt."I cannot but be aware of the great

difficulties which present themselves tothe accomplishment of my views regard-ing prevention ; and that these can neverbecome generally applicable until the pub-lic is fully impressed with the necessity ofattending to them. This furnishes mewith another urgent motive for the pub-lication of the present work; as it is onlyby tne comomeu exertions 01 tne protes-sion that the public can be influenced insuch a case. And here I hope I may beallowed to calculate the more surely on thesupport of medical brethren, because, insetting forth my views and opinions, Imake no pretension to originality or pe-culiarity of doctrine. Much that is con-tained in the following pages is alreadyknown to the more intelligent and ex-perienced of the profession, and the onlycredit I can claim, is the having, perhaps,placed the subject in a more striking pointof view, and advocated it with a degree ofearnestness commensurate with its im-portance. !The subject, in the comprehensive

view which I have taken of it, involves somany momentous considerations, and em-braces so wide a range, that some pointsdeserving notice may, no doubt, have es-caped me, while others may be regarded Ias too lightly treated ; still I trust it will befound that I have omitted nothing of realimportance. If zeal for the accomplish-ment of my main object has induced meto enter into and dwell more fully uponsome parts than others, the conviction oftheir paramount importance must be myapology. My great aim has been to pointout the nature and causes of the constitu-tional affection in which tuberculous dis-eases have their origin, and on those tofound ruies for prevention and treatment.

" By diminishing thp. disposition to thia

most destructive of all human maladies,we shall not only reduce the sum of itsdaily victims, but we shall raise the stand-ard of public health, and at the same timeadvance the moral excellence of man,augment his mental capabilities, and in-crease the sphere of his usefulness ; for itneecl not be stated, that without soundbodily health the intellectual powers lan-guish and decay. Our subject, therefore,

is one which not only concerns personalfeelings and social happiness, but involvesthe well-being of society at large, and theintellectual as well as the physical charac-ter of nations ; and when we further consi-der that the disposition to tuberculousdiseases, and the deterioration of healthwhich this implies, are evidently, to meat least, on the increase, assuredly no higherobject than that to which the present workis devoted, can engage the attention of thephysician;’and if I succeed in awakeninga more general interest in the professiontowards it, and in pointing out a surerpath for observation, I shall not have la-boured in vain." Respecting the alterations which have-

been made in my work since its originalpublication, I may state that the wholehas been carefully revised, much the

greater part has been rewritten, and con-siderable additions have been made toalmost every chapter; more particularlyto those which relate to the causes andprevention of the disease. But I am fiillysensible that much is still wanting to illus-trate these the most important parts ofthe subject, and that the labours of manymen and of many years will be required tocomplete a work which I consider as onlyjnst begun. I may further state, that Ihave avoided entering into theoretical dis-cussions ; my object having been to adhere,as closely as the nature of the subjectwould admit, to the simple results of ob.servation, and what appeared to be legiti-mate deductions from them. There beingalso a probability that my work, from theimportance and general interest of thesubject, may pass into the hands of the

public, I have endeavoured to divest mylanguage as much as possible of technicalterms."Memoirs of the Royal Academy of Medicine,Paris.-Fasciculus 4.

The last number of the Transactions of

the Royal Academy, published last weekin Paris, contains, as usual, little that isworthy of attention, much less of extrac-

! tion. It is really astonishing that the

elite! of the memoirs sent in to the Academyby some of the first men in Franco, shouldafford such a scarcity of new, or even ofsound matter, that we have searched invain through many successive numbers,without falling upon a single memoirwhich we could sit down to analyze withpleasure and advantage. We regret, infact, to be obliged to say that the printed i

708

productions of the learned body resemble Iits oral discussions, in which noisy argu-ment too often takes the place of scientificinvestigation, and from which the strangerretires with the unsatisfactory impressionthat he has been listening to a number ofgreat men for two or three hours, withouthaving gained a single new idea, or ac-

quired any experience beyond the verybanale one, that great names mav be some-times attached to very worthless things.Reserving to ourselves the liberty of giv-ing, one day or another, a true and faithfulportrait of a seance at the Royal Academy,we give a brief notice of the volume be-fore us. It contains,

lst. Instructions given to M. Gaymard,Surgeon to the Expedition sent into the

North Sea in search of the 11 Lilloise." ’

This appears to be a most learned and

curious document. Indeed, unless M.

Gaymard be possessed of more talent thanthe admirable Creighton, or unless he havethe good fortune to be enclosed in thenorth seas for the next half century, hewill find it utterly impossible to inquireinto one-tenth of the various subjectscrowded one after the other in these in-structions. Thus the unfortunate surgeonhas not only to investigate facts connectedwith medicine, but with the accessory sci-ences, that is to say (according to the in-structions) "with all the sciences which

exist, for is there a single science which isnot connected with medicine ?" Thus, totake a single example. The Esquimauxfeeds principally on flesh, and the flesh ofcetaceous animals; hence the surgeon hasto find out what influence this nourish-ment has on their general health. Doesit produce local plethora ? Does it acce-lerate puberty in the women? Does it

produce suffocations and hemorrhages ?And if so, what is the quality of the blood?Is this blood very plastic, and much co-loured, like that in the Arabs of Egypt ?Is the circulation very rapid and precipi-tate, as in the Arabs? Is the Esquimauxmuch subject to hernia, as the monkswere who made an abundant use of oil ?

Is it the odour produced by this kind ofdiet which has rendered circumcision ne-

c4essary ? Is it true that the venereal dis-ease no longer exists in Iceland? When

was it introduced there ? How? How do

the natives cure it ?" These are-all cer-

tainly questions of interest, and of some

importance to be decided, but we fear thatcircumstances will render it very difficr’t

I to answer many of them.I

2nd. MEMOIR ON TUBERCLES.

This is a very long memoir by M. Rauin,in which the author professes to investi-gate the nature, origin, and structure oftubercles, together with the circumstancesunder which they are formed. As a pub-lication under the authority of the Aca.-demy, we suppose it contains views to

which that learned body accedes : hencewe extract the conclusions at which theauthor has arrived.

1st. Tubercles are not the product of aparticular matter, or of a peculiar vice,existing in the fluids.

2nd. The predisposition giving rise tothem in certain persons rather than inothers, depends on individual constitution.

3rd. Tubercles (no more than phleg-mon) are not accidental productions.

4th. There are two species of tubercles,one that is formed in the serous tissues, inthe cellular or other analogous tissues; theother formed in the glandular tissue.

5th. Chronic inflammation does not giverise to tubercles, except when it attackssome one of these tissues.

6th. Tubercles of the first species aremuch less common than those of the se-cond.

7th. We seldom find the two species oftubercles in the same patient. (In chil.dren this proposition is certainly incorrect.We seldom find the subserous tubercle inchildren, without also finding the bronchialor mesenteric glands tubercular.-ED. L.)

8th. Tubercles of the second speciesconstitute the greater number of cases ofphthisis (pulmonie).

9. Bronchitis, or enteritis, may commu-nicate with the mucous crypts, and thusdevelop the tubercular state; and, on theother hand, this latter state constantlygives rise to inflammation of the membranewhere they touch.

10th. Thus bronchitis and chronic pneu-monia may determine tubercles; but it ismore common to observe the contrary.

llth. If tubercles produce bronchitismore frequently than pneumonia, it is be.cause the mucous glandules are more di-

rectly in relation with the bronchial mem.branes than with the pulmonary tissue.12th. When the tuberculated glands of the

chest determine and keep up a chronic in.flammation of the interlobular tissue, this

latter often passes to the gray hepatization,

709

which is the tubercular state of the tissue:here then we have the two species of tu-bercles coexisting: but here the disease ofthe pulmonary tissue is secondary: the

general diathesis does not exist, and theother serous systems are not affected.

13th. Hence we see that phthisis pul-monalis does not consist either in bron-chitis, or in chronic pneumonia, but mostfrequently in an affection of the mucousglands, commonly succeeded by that of thebronchi or pulmonary tissue.

As to the phthisis depending on tuber-cles of the second species, as it never de-pends exclusively on an affection of themucous glands of the larynx or bronchi,but on one extending to all the analogousglands of the body, the author proposes tocall it myxadinite.We have, next, papers on Fracture of the

Vertebral Column, by Professor LAUTH, ofStrasbourg. Complete obliteration of thePupil, after operation for the Cataract, byDr. SILVY. A Case of complete Luxationof the Tibia backwards, by M. BLANCH-ARD. A Case of severe Luxation of the

Knee, with reflections on its Natural Me-chanism, by M. LARREY. This has al-

ready been published; and here we are

disposed to quit our notice of the volume.

M. CRUVEILHIER has been appointedto the Chair of Pathological Anatomy,founded by DupUYTREN.

THE LANCET.

London, Saturday, August 29, 1835.

LECTURES PUBLICATION BILL.

A BILL having the following curious andstriking title has been read a first and

second time in the House of Commons :-

" A BILL

FOR PREVENTING THE PUBLICATION OF

LECTURES WITHOUT CONSENT.

Ordered by the House of Commons to beprinted, August 20, 1835."

It was not, however, introduced into thathouse before it had undergone a first, a

second, and a third reading in the House

of Lords, and had also encountered a

Committee of that Bill-destroying assem-bly. Yet the public, strange to say, hadheard nothing of the bill until the presentweek. The "readings" in the Lords allpassed sub silentio, and it appears to havebeen a committee of mutes who presidedover the destinies of the measure.

It was read a first time in the Commons

without remark, and the LORD ADVOCATEof Scotland moved the second readingwithout a remark,-without offering oneword in explanation relative to the groundsor the circumstances which had inducedhim to present such a measure to the con-

sideration of the House. The LORD AD"

VOCATE, however, is not surpassed foropen and manly conduct by any memberof the House of Commons ; and assuredlyhe would not, at the request of any nobleLord belonging to the Upper House, havelent himself to the promotion of the billin question, if he had believed that the

enactment of such a measure would in the

slightest degree have been injurious to thepublic interests. The LORD ADVOCATE is

not the supporter of jobs or of jobbing,and all the measures which have been

brought forward during the session, for the

purpose of promoting reform in Scotland,have been characterized by a spirit of li.

berality throughout the whole of their

provisions. This Lecture-bill therefore

does not belong to the LORD ADVOCATE’It has been assigned to him by a friend,and the manner of the learned LORD

ADVOCATE indicated with how great a

degree of repugnance he had undertakenthe task imposed upon him. The follow.

ing is a copy of the bill:-

"A BILL, &c.

WHEREAS printers, publishers, andother persons, have frequently taken theliberty of printing and publishing lecturesdelivered upon divers subjects, withoutthe consent of the authors of such lec-tures, or the persons delivering the samein public, to the great detriment of such