REMOVAL OF A FISH-HOOK FROM THE ESOPHAGUS. BY ANDREW R. KIRKPATRICK M.D. panied by frothing at the mouth or general convulsions. He In the summer of 1837, Mrs. was enjoying her usual siesta in the afternoon of a warm day, on a pallet spread upon the floor in a cool part of the house; and, while she was lying on her back, sleeping pleasantly, a little urchin, her grandson, was playing about the house with a fishing-tackle completepole, line, and hook; who, when he discovered the old lady with her mouth widely distended, thought it was a fine opportunity to "catch a fish." Accordingly, in order to effect his purpose, he cautiously deposited the "barbed hook" (the author believes there was no bait on it), within his grandmother's open mouth. The titillation caused her to awake suddenly, and as her mouth was dry from exposure, she closed it, and swallowed the hook two or three inches below the uvula. So soon as she discovered her situation, the whole family was assembled by her cries of distress, except the little culprit, who had dropped his pole in a panic, and vanished. Some gentle efforts were essayed to remove the hook, both by the patient and some of the family; but being apprehensive of fixing the barb in the throat, they ceased all efforts, and despatched a messenger for Dr. E. Leroy Antony, who resided in the neighbourhood. When he arrived, and found that the hook was not fastened into the flesh, his fertile brain suggested a plan by which it could be removed safely and easily. His plan was, to cut off the line within a foot or two of the ON THE STETHOSCOPIC SOUND PRODUCED BY mouth of the patient; then to drill a hole through a rifle bullet and drop it over the line, down on the hook. In order to fix the bullet on the point of the hook, and maintain it firmly in that position, a reed was procured, the joints punched out, and then passed down over the line, and pressed firmly over the bullet. In this manner the hook, bullet, and reed were all withdrawn at once, very easily, without any injury to the œsophagus or fauces. -The Medical Examiner (Philadelphia.) THE INJURIOUS EFFECTS OF MESMERISM. Is there anything in Mesmerism? Jersey, April 12, 1844.-Andrew Kingcomb, aged 13, an amiable and interesting boy, very intelligent, of light complexion, auburn air, and the full eye and large pupil so often indicative of great nervous sensibility, is subject to epileptic fits. He is of a healthy family, and has been generally so, with the exception of an attack of convulsions at the age of three years. The account given by his parents is this:-Being, some time ago, at a school in a town in England through which a peripatetic mesmerist passed, the philosopher came to the school and begged of the master to let him have two or three of his boys to experiment on at a lecture which he was about to give. This boy was unfortunately one of those selected. He was accordingly put into the mesmeric trance, and it was long before he could be awakened. Shortly after this he had his first epileptic attack, and has ever since continued subject to a recurrence. The fits are of an imperfect kind, more or less nearly allied to syncope. They are preceded by tremors of the limbs, twitches of the muscles round his mouth, difficulty of uttering certain words, and not accom TAPE WORM. BY PROFESSOR PIORRY. On the 15th of October, a woman was received at the Pitie, affected with tænia of which several portions had been evacuated, a day or two before her entry. At first, though auscultated frequently and attentively, nothing was heard; but two or three days after, a dose of castor-oil having been administered, so as to produce several evacuations, in one of which was a portion of worm about four inches in length, a peculiar characteristic sound was heard, very different from, and weaker than, that produced by borborygmi. This was heard by several persons, and all were unanimous in stating, that it was evidently produced by a slender body, moving about by jerks, which lasted several seconds. According to one, it resembled somewhat the hydraeric murmur, with very minute bubbles, and was tremulous; according to another, it was like that caused by a small body moving rapidly in a liquid; to a third, like the sound of the rolling of a carriage, heard at a distance; to a fourth, like a peculiar tremor, or undulation. This noise was heard during several days, but only when the patient felt the tænia move in the intestine. Finally, more positive results were obtained by immediate, than by mediate, auscultation. POWER OF THE MIND DURING SLEEP. Dr. Abercrombie relates, that an eminent lawyer was consulted respecting a case of great difficulty and importance; and after several days of intense attention to the subject, he got up in his sleep, and wrote a long paper. The following morning he told his wife that he had had a most interesting dream, and that he would give anything to recover the train of thought which had then passed through his mind. She directed him to his writing-desk, where he found his opinion clearly and luminously written out.-Dr. Moore. CONTAGION. Contagion has been defined to be the medium by which a disease is communicated from one individual to another, whether by actual contact or touch, or by breathing an atmosphere impregnated with effluvia from the human body. HINTS FOR HEALTH. MALARIA. ADVERTISEMENT S. Price 2s. cloth boards, by post 2s. 6d. Malaria, or marsh miasmata-which gives rise to so many and CONSUMPTION OF THE LUNGS, OR DECLINE. The fatal diseases-is one of the results of the slow decomposition of dead vegetable matters. The investigation of the phenomena under which miasmata are generated, has pointed out the means of their removal. Experience has shown that the drainage of marshes, by preventing decomposition, prevents also the production of these pestiferous emanations. Many thousand cases of ague formerly occurred every year in London, arising from the miasmata of marshes on the Surrey side of the Thames. These marshes have long been thoroughly drained, are now covered by the habitations of men, and ague has become a rare disease in London! The same may be said of the fens of Lincolnshire, comparative salubrity and fertility having been attained by drainage. MEDICINAL ACTION OF COCHINEAL. Since the attention of the medical profession has been directed to the use of cochineal, its efficacy in hooping cough has been confirmed on all sides. Professor Schneemann has employed it in Munich, with the most favourable results. Cochineal is, however, not only used in the form of powder, but may also be advantageously combined as a linctus, with syrup. But it must be observed, that the carbonates of soda and potash, which dissolve its active principle, and form a new combination with it, constitute an essential principle of the remedy. Cream of tartar does not seem to answer so well in combination with it as either of the above alkaline carbonates.-Buchner's Repertorium. THE BILE. Dr. Kemp is of opinion that during the progress of digestion, the bile changes its character from the action of oxygen, and, with starch, is converted into the non-nitrogenized portion of the chyle; and he hopes at the next meeting of the British Association to be able to prove from observation the exact period of digestion at which the bile changes its character. Healthy bile is always neutral; but if left in contact with the mucus of the gall bladder, the latter, a proteine-compound, becomes decomposed, carbonate of ammonia is formed, and the bile is rendered alkaline. Causes, Symptoms, and Rational Treatment; with the Means of MORNING HERALD. OCT. 23, 1848. "There is no assumption of quackery in this little volume-it is just such a work as might be anticipated from an intelligent and experienced physician. The suggestions and recommendations of Dr. YEOMAN are extremely valuable, interested in the health and well-being of the rising generation." and may be unhesitatingly and advantageously adopted by all who are THE BRITANNIA. Nov. 11, 1848. "There is so much good sense, scientific knowledge, and useful informatio in this little volume, that we gladly assist in giving it publicity. Dr. YEOMAN discountenances all empirical modes of treatment, at the same time that he suggests some safe and beneficial rules for the cure or amelioration of the disease. The remarks on the healthy discipline of home, show that the author is a sound social philosopher as well as an experienced physician." WEEKLY DISPATCH. Nov. 5, 1848. "This little work, from the pen of a gentleman who has made pulmonary complaints his special study, and who has acquired a well-deserved celebrity by his mode of treating these terrible afflictions, will be found a valuable addition to the medical library. Written unostentatiously, and in a style which the general as well as the professional reader.” is earnest, though completely unaffected, it may be studied with advantage by LIVERPOOL COURIER. Nov. 22, 1848, "This may truly be called a work for all classes; for consumption is the disease of all classes who breathe our humid and variable atmosphere. The large proportion of deaths arising from this cause gives an almost universal interest to the subject; and we have never seen it treated with greater simplicity or practical sense than it is in the pages of Dr. YEOMAN's unpretending little volume. There is no quackery, no learned mystery, no affection of originality in it; but a plain exposition of the causes, symptoms, and rational treatment of the complaint, with the means most likely to be effectual in preventing it; all set forth with the clearness of a man who wishes to be understood, and the earnestness of a man who desires to be useful. We know that in all diseases a timely application of the remedy is more than half the battle. And the aphorism which teaches that prevention is better than cure,' applies with peculiar force to the case of consumption, which, if once established, rarely, if ever, gives way, even to the most skilful treatment and the most sedulous care. Let all, therefore, as well as those who have no reason to apprehend the existence of the seeds of the malady in themselves or their children, as those who have, read Dr. YEOMAN's book; they cannot fail to obtain much salutary advice with reference to the regulation of their diet and the preservation of their health." London: SAMPSON Low, 169, Fleet Street; GEORGE VICKERS, 28 & 29, Holywell Street, Strand. TRUS RUSSES.-S. SMITH, Truss Maker, 1, High Holborn, three doors from Gray's Inn Lane, respectfully announces to the Public, that TRUSSES can be had at his establishment at the following low prices:-Double Trusses, from 8s.; Single ditto, from 3s. Manufacturer of Lace Stockings, Knee-caps, Suspensory Bandages, Riding Belts, Back-boards, Dumb-bells, Wooden Legs, Crutches, Supports for Weakened Legs, and all Instruments and Apparatus for the Cure of Deformities. Mrs. Smith attends on Ladies. NEVILL'S ARABICA FOOD, THE PATENT FLOUR or LENTILS. This most agreeable food has in thousands of cases entirely superseded Medicine for Indigestion, Constipation, Nausea, and Sickness; Nervous, Bilious, and Liver Complaints, and all derangements of the Stomach, Bowels, and Digestive Organs. It is the best food for Invalids and Children, as it never distends the weakest Stomach, nor disagrees with the most delicate, Sold in Canisters, 1 lb. 1s.; 3 lbs. 2s. 9d.; 6 lbs. 5s. 3d.; 12 lbs. 108.Beware of impositions. Ask for NEVILL'S Arabica Food, and note the signature of the Patentee, A. H. NEVILL. Manufactured by Nevill and Co., 12, Liverpool Street, King's Cross, London, Lentils, with which we supply him; therefore be not deceived by false Du Barry's much-puffed Revalenta is composed of our Patent Purified statements and high charges. NOTICE. TO CORRESPONDENTS. All communications for the Editor must be addressed, pre-paid, to his house, No. 25, LLOYD Square. THE EDITOR is at home every day until One o'clock; and on the evenings The People's Medical Dictionary, a small volume, bound in D. (Friday Street).—St. Bartholomew's. If possible, under the care of JAMES HALL (York) -Æthers are compounds produced from a new arrange- 160°. J. F. (Cambridge).-You will find an explanation in the GLOSSARY published with No. 65. A SHOPMAN (Dale Street, Liverpool).-Read YEOMAN ON INDIGESTION; then, if necessary, write again. QUACKERY.-The love of quackery by the British Government, says Punch, D. (Hounds-well, Southampton).-From what we recollect of your locality, ADA VERNON (Bath-Southampton?).-Take one of the following pills every PYRETIC SALTS.-Among the many highly-important facts ascertained by ELIZA (Wincolmlee, Hull).-See the article on THE DISEASES OF WOMEN AND J. WILLIAM HARRIS.-We cannot recommend the dentist you name; we have J. M.-Try bran. Let us know the result. GEORGE ROSS (Millwall).-Refer to the article On Training, in No. 26. MARY ANNE (Great Portland Street).—Engage Sairey Gamp. You know A who and what she is? FATHER (Hampstead Road).-We do not see any objection to the employ A POOR MAN.-You have just grounds for complaint. Write to the Board S. W. S. B. (Sampford Peverell).-" Globules" are the media of homœopa- H. T. F. (Cambridge).-We are obliged by your suggestion, but cannot J. J. (Richmond, Surrey).-The pills are quack pills; we should be sorry to A.B. (Lockwood, Huddersfield).—It is an unalterable rule in the conduct of VERITAS (St. Alban's).-We shall be glad to see you. Depend on cur best consideration. In consequence of some delay in the transmission of the Editor's publications by post, it is requested that all orders for copies to be thus sent may be addressed to Lloyd Square. A Mixture. SUFFERER.--Read the letter of a VICTIM, in reference to the "Quack LION J. J. (Dale Street, Liverpool).—Apply to Mr. Shepherd, Scotland Road, who London: Printed by JOHN CATCH POOL, of 35, Great Percy Street, Pentonville, at bis THE hand is composed of the carpus or wrist, metacarpus, and fingers. The carpus consists of eight small wedge-shaped bones, placed in a double row; each row contains an equal number, and the whole are disposed like stones in an arch. They do in fact form an arch, the convexity of which is upwards, on the dorsal surface or back of the hand; and the concavity downwards, or on the palmer surface. But they differ from the stones of an arch in this, that each bone is joined to its fellow by a distinct moveable joint, each being covered with a 6 smooth articulating cartilage. At the same time all of them are tied together by ligaments of prodigious strength, which cross each other in every direction, so that the several separate joints are consolidated into one great joint. The consequence of this mechanism is, that some degree of motion is capable of taking place between the several bones, which, when multiplied together, gives to the two rows of bones such an extent of motion, that when the wrist is bent the arch of the carpus forms a kind of knuckle. By this construction, a facility and ease of motion, and a power of accommodation to motion and force, are obtained, such as belong to no arch contrived by human ingenuity. α FIGURE XXXVII. a The carpus, or wrist. 3. The cuneiforme bone. 5. The trapezium. 6. The trapezoid bone. 8. The hooked bone, or oS b The metacarpus. c The phalanges of the The metacarpus, or the middle portion of the hand, interposed between the wrist and the fingers, is composed of five bones, which are placed parallel to each other. They are convex outwardly, forming the back; and concave inwardly, forming the hollow of the hand. They are large at each end, to form the joints by which they are connected with the wrist and fingers: they are small in the middle, in order to afford room for the lodgment and arrangement of the muscles, that move the fingers from side to side. Their ends, which are joined to the carpus, are connected by nearly plane surfaces; their ends, which support the fingers, are formed into rounded heads, which are received into corresponding cup-shaped cavities, excavated in the top of the first bones of the fingers. The powerful ligaments that unite these bones pass, both on the dorsal and the palmer surface, from the inferior extremity of the second row of the carpal to the bases of the metacarpal bones. The ligaments are arranged in such a manner as to limit the motions of the joints chiefly to those of flexion and extension, allowing, however, a slight degree of motion from side to side. Each of the fingers is composed of three separate pieces of U bone, called phalanges; the thumb has only two. The phalanges are convex outwardly, for increasing the strength, and flattened inwardly for the convenience of grasping. The last bones of the fingers, which are small, terminate at their under ends, in a somewhat rounded and rough surface, on which rests the vascular, pulpy, and nervous substance, constituting the special organ of touch, placed at the points of the fingers, and guarded on the upper surface by the nail. The round inferior extremity of the metacarpus is admitted into the cavity of the superior extremity of the first phalanx of the five fingers, and their joints are connected by lateral and transverse ligaments of great strength. The situation and direction of the ligaments which unite the several phalanges of the fingers, are precisely the same as those of the articulation of the phalanges with the metacarpus ; and the articulation of these bones with one another is such as to admit only of the motions of flexion and extension. The bones of the carpus, or wrist, are small, very irregular, and angular in their figure; wedged together, and bound in their respective places by ligaments. Anatomists commonly divide the carpal bones of the human hand into two rows-a basal and an anterior-each containing four, as displayed in our engraving (1, fig. xxxvii.). The os scaphoides, or scaphoid bone, so called from its fancied resemblance to a hollow oblong vessel or boat, is united to the radius of the fore-arm on one part, and to several of the carpal bones on the other; and, among them, to the os lunar (2, fig. xxxvii.), so termed from the crescentshape of that side which is in contact with the scaphoid bone: it is, also, articulated to the radius. The os cuneiforme, or wedge-shaped bone (3, fig. xxxvii.), is in apposition with the extremity of the other bone of the fore-arm, termed the ulna; and has on its internal surface the fourth bone of the basal row, viz., the os pisiforme (4, fig. xxxvii.). This little bone derives its name from its resemblance, in figure, to a pea. The tendon of that muscle of the wrist, called flexor carpi ulnaris, is inserted into it, and it gives rise to a muscle for drawing down the little finger, termed abductor minimi digiti. Of the anterior row, the first in order is the os trapezium (5, fig. xxxvii.), having four unequal sides at its back part, whence it has obtained its name. It rests upon the scaphoid bone, and, in pulley-like depression, Such is the association of ideas, that the sight of a feather brings receives the head of the first, or metacarpal bone of the thumb. to mind its softness, its lightness, its warmth, and elasticity, To the trapezium succeeds the os trapezoides (6, fig. xxxvii.though the sight only recognizes colour and form; but experience so called from the irregularly quadrangular figure of its back has taught, that, with such a form and colour, these properties, part: it sustains the first metacarpal bone, viz, that of the first cognizible by touch alone, are always conjoined. finger. The next is the os magnum (7, fig. xxxvii.), or large bone of the wrist it sustains the second metacarpal bone, and rests on the scaphoid and lunar bones. The last is the os unciforme (8, fig. xxxvii.), or hooked bone, which obtains its name from a thin, broad, excavated projection, standing towards the palm, and affording, in its sulcus or groove, both a channel, or passage, and a protection to the tendons of certain muscles of the fore arm, which draw down the fingers: it rests on the os lunare and os cuneiforme, and supports the two last metacarpal bones, viz., those of the third and little fingers. The metacarpal bones are based upon the carpus, on which they have an obscure and limited motion. Their number of course corresponds with those of the four fingers and the thumb; they are, in shape, long and round, enlarging into heads at each extremity, where they are in contact with each other, a space intervening between the bodies; in these spaces are lodged certain small muscles, termed interossei, passing along from the carpus to the fingers. The orderly disposition of the bones of the fingers, each into three rows, has suggested their appellation of phalanges, or phalangeal bones, in allusion to the martial phalanx of the Greeks; they are twelve in number. The first phalanx or row has sockets at their superior extremities to articulate with the metacarpal bones; the inferior extremity is convex from back to front, concave from side to side. The second phalanx has, on the upper ends, concave articular surfaces, with a little rising in the middle, dividing it into two small concavities, adapted to the lower extremities of the first phalanx. The lower ends of the second phalanx are similar to the lower ends of the first. The third phalanx has a joint similar to the second; their points are rough in front, but rounded at their backs to receive the nails. The bones of the thumb very much resemble the bones of the fingers; but as the thumb is the antagonist of the fingers, it is much thicker and stronger. The first bone is connected by a double articular surface to the trapezium. The human hand, in every age, has excited the attention of the reflecting and the wise, and has been often and forcibly referred to, as direct proof of consummate art and design, in the creation of our frame. Let us contemplate for a moment the uses to which it is applied, and the extent of its power, as a means of acquiring knowledge, in order that its vast importance may be properly estimated: in the first place, then, it is the grand organ of touch, or tact; the instrument, by means of which we gain an acquaintance with more of the physical properties of matter than through any other organ of sense. Without it the eye would never, perhaps, duly learn to appreciate, correctly, many of the external properties of matter, the forms, the relative size, the distance, or the position of bodies; and it is the touch which aids, regulates, and corrects the conclusions deduced from the ideas gained through the medium of sight. It is a coadjutor to the eye, though the eye, in its turn, aids the hand: for example, touch will not inform us of the colour of any object -colour is an impression upon the organ of vision alone; but touch gives us its hardness or softness, its lightness or weight, its warmth and texture, its smoothness or roughness; thus, one organ aiding the other, we gain a knowledge which neither, alone, would communicate; and the one, taught, as it were, by the other, will, independently, communicate a degree of information respecting qualities, which the other can only appreciate. The faculty which we commonly denominate the sense of touch, and which, though generally diffused over the whole surface of the body, is refined to a keener perceptibility, a more exquisite delicacy, in the hand, depends upon the mesh of nerves, with which this organ is abundantly supplied: it is upon the pulpy tips of the fingers that this tissue of nervous papilla especially prevails, and that the highest degree of tact resides. Hence it is by the application of the tips of the fingers to bodies, that the most distinct impressions are received. The discrimi nating sensibility which resides in the human hand, and in that alone-constituting an important sense which ministers to the mind-being a faculty not needed, at least in high proportion, by the lower orders in the scale, is wisely denied where its possession would be out of harmony. (To be continued.) THE TREATMENT OF WOUNDS. CONTUSED WOUNDS AND BRUISED cuts. THE term contused is applied to those wounds which are occasioned by some blunt instrument or surface, which has violently struck a part of the body. Contused wounds may appear, at first view, much less alarming than incised wounds, while, in reality, they are infinitely more dangerous. In simple incised wounds, the retraction of the parts and the bleeding are generally much more considerable than in a contused wound, but in the latter there is disorganization of the parts; blood is extravasated within the injured part, the cellular tissue is broken down, and in many cases the seat of the injury loses its vitality. In general there is but little loss of blood, as the vessels are rudely ruptured, and the blood extravasated around them makes pressure upon the bleeding mouths of those which are divided. The pain which accompanies these wounds is in an inverse ratio to the cause of the injury; thus it is generally very severe when the wound is only moderately bruised, as in "jamming a finger in a door; and, on the other hand, the patient scarcely suffers any pain at all, when there has been so violent a degree of contusion as almost to destroy the organization of the nerves of the part, which in popular language is then said to be benumbed. The changes which a contused wound must undergo, depend on the extent of violence by which it was produced, and the strength of the patient. When the bruised fibres have not been exceedingly injured, the part suppurates--that is, pus, or matter, is formed and the sides of the injured part unite; but, such portions of the wound that have suffered greater violence, inevitably die, and are cast off in the form of sloughs; granulations that is minute grain-like fleshy bodies-spring up from the surface of the wound to supply the place of the lost parts, and the breach of continuity is repaired by the process of cicatrization. When a still greater degree of violence has been done to the parts, and especially when art ries of a certain magnitude have been injured, mortification is too frequently the consequence. However, if the constitution is good, and the mischief is not too extensive, the case may still end well; but, in other instances, the event is always alarmingly dubious; for, the mischief is not then limited to the wounded parts, which have suffered the |