the statements of those who maintain that from the so-called terminal loops, there proceed other nerve fibrils, of much smaller diameter. He has also ascertained that, contrary to what obtains in higher Vertebrata, the fibres of the auricles in the Amphibia are non-striated; those of the ventricles being striated, as elsewhere. The same arrangement exists in Fishes; whilst in Mollusca and Crustacea, the entire heart is composed of non-striated fibres.-The author finds, as others have done, numerous ganglionic corpuscles in connection with the nerve-fibres; some of these being prolonged into the peripheral fibres, and others having commissural connections with each other; and, like many other physiologists, he attributes the heart's rhythmical movements to their reflex action, disregarding the fact, that these movements commence when, as yet, the walls of the cavities are nothing but a layer of cells. The lower character of the muscular fibre in the heart of Amphibia and Fishes, seems connected, as he justly remarks, with their longer tenacity of life.-Henle and Pfeufer's Zeitschrift.

On the Oxidation of Ammonia in the Human Body; with some Remarks on Nitrification. By HENRY BENCE JONES, M.D. F.R.S., &c.

Ir is shown in this paper, that when ammoniacal salts are taken into the body, nitric acid is excreted by the urine, although no trace of that substance could previously be detected in it. The author was then led to investigate other cases of combustion, in which ammonia is present, and came to the conclusion, that nitric acid is formed out of the body as well as in it; and he further ascertained, that even the nitrogen of the atmosphere is not indifferent in ordinary cases of combustion, but that it gives rise to minute quantities of nitric acid. He found that a mixture of starch with a drop or two of hydriodate of potash and hydrochloric acid was a more delicate test of the presence of nitric acid than either the indigo test or the protosulphate of iron test; and that he was able to detect, by its means, as little as 1 grain of nitre in 10 oz. of urine, which neither of the other tests would indicate.-Proceedings of the Royal Society.

On the distribution of the Blood-vessels in the Mucous Membrane of the Stomach. By HENRY FREY.

THE distribution of the blood-vessels in the gastric mucous membrane has an interesting relation to its double function; for the vessels of the surface, which are those most concerned in absorption, are veins, and have a large diameter; whilst those of the deeper portions of the membrane, which are subservient to secretion, are arteries, which form very delicate net-works around the gastric follicles.-Henle and Pfeufer's Zeitschrift.

Further Experiments on Cadaveric Rigidity. By Dr. BROWN-SEQUARD. FOLLOWING up the researches on which he has been for some time engaged, the author has ascertained that if a current of arterial blood be re-established through muscles in which cadaveric rigidity has already begun to show itself, they cease to be rigid and recover their irritability. He found that when he connected the aorta and vena cava of the body of a rabbit, in which the cadaveric rigidity had already manifested itself for between ten and twenty minutes, with the corresponding vessels of a living rabbit, so as to re-establish the circulation in the lower extremities, the rigidity disappeared in from six to ten minutes, and that in two or three minutes afterwards, muscular contractions took place when the nerve-trunks were irritated. These experiments have been repeated in various ways with the same result; and they fully justify the opinion of those who maintain that cadaveric rigidity is a vital phenomenon, and not an indication of the death of the muscles, which does not take place until the rigidity passes off. He has even succeeded in removing the cadaveric rigidity from the muscles of the decapitated body of a criminal, thirteen hours after execution, and two hours after the supervention of the

rigidity, by the injection of defibrinated human blood. The muscles lost their rigidity, and continued to contract on irritation, during several hours.—Gazette Médicale, Nos. 24, 27.

[Fully recognising the interest and importance of the series of experiments on which M. Brown-Séquard is engaged, we would yet express the earnest hope that he renders them, by the use of anesthetic agents, as little productive as possible of animal suffering. He speaks so coolly of cutting a live rabbit or guinea-pig in two, leaving the anterior and posterior portions connected only by the aorta and vena cava, that we fear that he must be ranked among those who have been so inured to the manifestations of pain, that they cease to take account of them, save as scientific phenomena, as indications of sensibility.]

Anatomical Examination of an Infant born without Eyes. By M. LISSA. THE palpebral fissures were very small, not being above two lines in length; but the lids and lachrymal apparatus were perfectly developed, and the conjunctival membrane covered the contents of the orbit. There was not a vestige of the globe of the eye in either orbital cavity; its place being occupied by areolar tissue, in which the optic nerves seemed to lose themselves. The intra-cranial portion of these nerves followed its usual course; but the tubercula quadrigemina and the thalami optici were of very small size; thus confirming the view that the latter, as well as the former, are the ganglionic centres of the visual sense.

Gazetta Medica Italiana, July 1850.

On the Post-mortem Duration of the Ciliary Movements in the Human Subject. By M. GOSSELIN.

THE body of a decapitated criminal having been conveyed to the Ecole Pratique, the ciliary movement was recognised on the mucous membrane of the trachea, of the nasal fossæ, and on that lining the maxillary, frontal, and sphenoidal sinuses, 8 hours after death. The movements were still distinguishable, especially on the mucous membrane of the trachea, 32 hours after death. The movement had ceased on the mucous membrane of the nasal fosse and of the sinuses, 56 hours after death; but this was perhaps due to the free exposure of these parts to the air; for the vibration was still active on the mucous membrane of the trachea, where it was distinctly seen to the 168th hour after death, after which putrefaction came on, and the movement ceased. In another case of the same nature, the ciliary movements were much less durable; and this seemed to be consequent upon the earlier supervention of putrefaction, brought about by a higher temperature, the thermometer having ranged from 460 to 54° in the first case, and having risen to 68° in the second.-Gazette Médicale, No. 26.

On the Nerves of the Uterus. By M. BOULARD.

THE author states that his dissections were carried on without any knowledge of the Memoirs' of Dr. Robert Lee and Mr. Snow Beck; which he only consulted after the termination of his own inquiries. He states that these have led him, in all essential particulars, to concur with the latter anatomist; and he particularly affirms that the nerves do not augment during pregnancy. He has made two comparative preparations of the uterus of a girl of 12 years old, and of a woman who died near the end of pregnancy; and he affirms that there is no difference in the arrangement of their nerves, except that which arises from the closeness of the elements of the plexuses in the first case, and their separation in the second. Gazette Médicale, No. 33.

On the Iodine of the Atmosphere. By M. CHATIN.

THE Constant dispersion of iodine, through the slow, spontaneous evaporation of the waters which contain it, and its more rapid volatilisation when heat is applied to these; its elimination from hard waters, which is so speedy that it can seldom be

detected therein, even when they spring from highly iodined soils; and the results, though incomplete, which have been obtained by operating on rain water, are so many circumstances which have led M. Chatin to conclude that this substance must exist in the atmosphere. He estimates the 4000 litres of air, which traverse the lungs of a man in 12 hours, as containing 1-45 milligramme, i. e., the same quantity that is found in a litre of potable water moderately iodined. This iodine becomes fixed during the act of respiration, the expired gases exhibiting about 1-5 of the iodine contained in the inspired air. The atmosphere of ill-ventilated and crowded places is in part deprived of its iodine. The proportion of iodine contained in the waters of a given locality indicates approximatively the quantity contained in its atmosphere. Rain is notably more iodined in the interior than in the vicinity of the coast, inasmuch as the iodine of fresh waters is much more completely dispersed than is that of sea-water. Great differences, due to causes not yet appreciated, exist in the amount of iodine contained in the rain of the same locality; the proportion, however, always diminishing when the rains are very prolonged. As rain always loses its iodine on falling, this might be fixed for useful purposes by placing in cisterns a millionth or half-millionth part of carbonate of potash. Snow is iodined; but, cæteris paribus, less so than rain. Dew contains iodine. Additional observations are required to decide whether iodine exists in the air in the free state, as hydriodic acid, as hydriodate of ammonia, or as forming a volatile combination with certain organic elements.-Gaz. Méd., 1851, No. 19, p. 300.

PATHOLOGY AND PRACTICE OF MEDICINE.

On Cretinism. By M. FERRUS.

M. FERRUS, in virtue of his office of Inspector of the Condition of the Insane in France, has, during his excursions into the Alpine, Pyrenean, and other infected regions, investigated the condition of the Cretins, and has read an interesting memoir on the subject to the Academy of Medicine. As much of what he says is only corroborative of the conclusions of the Sardinian commission, with which our readers have been made acquainted, we shall only advert to some few points. M. Ferrus observes, that the number of cretins may seem to be more diminished than they really are, as, owing to the alteration of opinion that has taken place respecting them, their friends drive them away, instead of exhibiting them as heretofore, one good result of this being that the encouragement of sexual intercourse between them and sound persons has ceased to prevail. After a vivid picture of the condition of the cretins he saw at Sion in 1837, he shows that, in many of their characteristics, they differ from idiots; the latter being far from exhibiting the animation and bizarreries he witnessed among the cretins, who, he believes, are more susceptible of education than they are. The peculiarity which especially struck him was the mode of development of the cranium, which, in all, had more or less of a hydrocephalic character. Even among the more advanced cretins, some remains of memory exist; and in the demicretins it may be considerable, and is more marked than in idiots.

M. Ferrus quotes, at considerable length, Stahl's account of the pathological anatomy of cretinism, which confirms him in his opinion as to the intimate nature of the disease. "I have sought," he says, to render prominent two orders of essential phenomena. 1. A constitutional condition of the entire economy, a peculiar temperament, a lymphatic or cretinous cachexia. 2. A moderate but permanent degree of cerebral compression, shown by the obtuse state of the senses and faculties, the general engourdissement of the economy, the unusual size and the continuous vacillation of the head." The author considers the most exact definition of cretinism would be, a chronic edematous hydrocephalus, diffused hydrocephalus or cerebral ædema,—the considerable effusion into the ventricles and upon the surface of the brain being, in his view, essential features. When the affection

is generally developed in a country under the influence of continuous local causes and generative transmission, the disease affects more or less the entire mass of the brain of the cretin, though it may not at once abolish all the functions. Pathological anatomy may much more frequently show in idiots local affections of the brain, but the remainder of its substance has not undergone any appreciable change; so that in them we sometimes observe isolated faculties nearly untouched, while others are absent; and certain portions of the body paralysed or atrophied, while others are active and useful.

In regard to the causes of the affection, M. Ferrus is in considerable accordance with the Sardinian commission; but he attributes far greater influence in the cretin regions of France (Brittany, the French Jura, borders of the Rhine, Lorraine, and the Pyrennees), to the absence of free ventilation by a pure air, than to bad diet, inasmuch as this is quite equal to that of various other parts of the country where cretinism does not prevail. He denies that the views of M. Grange and others, of the ill-effects of magnesian waters and soils, are founded on fact; and asks how, in such case, the disease has become eradicated from these identical soils, by the vigorous adoption of hygienic measures. He does not deny the remedial power of the iodined food that has been recommended, but he doubts its preventive agency.

M. Ferrus considers that the propagation of the affection by sexual intercourse should be prevented; and that, as regards their sequestration and responsibility, cretins should be administratively and judicially assimilated with idiots.

In respect to education, after referring to the part he had taken in applying this to idiots and the gratifying results, M. Ferrus stated his belief, that even yet more encouraging ones are to be anticipated with respect to cretins, and that for the following reasons:-(1.) Because the disease affecting them, contrary to what is the case in idiots, depends upon the general disposition of the economy, which can be advantageously modified by change of place, regimen, and habits. (2.) Because the pathological alteration of the brain consists in a general modification of the texture of the organ, or rather in the abnormal quantity of fluid which it contains; and that this modification is much more accessible to art than are the arrests of formation and partial alterations of cerebral substance, which are so frequently met with in idiots. (3.) Because, while in the idiot the faculties are radically extinct, or exist only in a rudimentary state, they would have acquired in the cretin with the integral development of the organ an equally complete activity, had not disease interrupted this. Although now oppressed and obtuse, they are not absolutely obliterated.

Entertaining the above view of the nature of the disease, M. Ferrus, besides hygienic and educational treatment, would resort to means calculated to relieve the diseased cerebral condition, viz., revulsive remedies, whether acting as purgatives or external irritants.

(In the discussion which followed the reading of the paper, it was objected to M. Ferrus, that his distinction between cretinism and idiocy, founded upon the pathological appearances hitherto recorded, is based upon very insuflicient data. M. Grange's statements concerning the influence of magnesian soils, too, meet with but little favour at the Academy, though he has accompanied their exposition by an elaborate geological map, the correctness of which is testified to by M. Elie de Beaumont. M. Niepce, who has been investigating the subject in the cretin regions during the last three years, and has just published a work upon it, states that he has repeatedly analysed the waters of the most infected districts, and has hardly ever found them containing the magnesian salts in question. M. Bouchardat believes that the Sardinian commission examined this part of the question in the most superficial manner, though reporting on it so confidently. He observes also, that although it may be true, as M. Grange has brought so much evidence to prove, that the disease especially prevails in magnesian soils, yet it is not probably owing to so innocent a substance as magnesia itself. He thinks it much more likely that the gypsum, so prevalent in such soils, may prove injurious. In localities where

these soils are present, and goitre and cretinism do not prevail, this may be due to the counteracting presence of iodine. The Academy has referred the matter to a commission.) Bullet. de l'Acad., xvi, pp. 200-282, 381, 436, 473; Rév. Méd Chir. viii, 223.

History of a remarkable Attack of Measles in a Family at Padua.
By Dr. ARGENTI.

THE following fearful occurrences took place in the family of Signor Graziani, a respectable councillor of Padua. Measles had prevailed to some extent in the city, when Joseph Graziani, æt. 17, took them on the 31st of May, and recovered in a few days. On the 31st his married sister, Theresa (second case), æt. 28, called with her child, and on learning the nature of the disease, hurried away, much alarmed lest her child should take it, being then herself the prey to excessive grief from the recent death of her husband. She was engaged in a very fatiguing occupation, the management of silkworms; and attributed some febrile indisposition, which she experienced on the 12th and 13th of June, to over-exertion. Getting worse she took to bed, and on the 14th the eruption appeared. The removal of her child, to which she was devotedly attached, caused her great grief. The eruption was profuse and red; the accompanying fever was intense; and she suffered much from dyspnoea, and pain at the epigastrium. On the 17th she was bled twice, with some relief to the pain, but the fever continued excessive; on the 18th she was furiously delirious. The skin was hot, but the eruption had become pale. She was seized with tremors of the lips, convulsions of the limbs, and stertorous breathing, amidst which she expired. Nina (third case), æt. 3, was her child, and, though removed from its mother on the 14th of June, became the subject of the disease on the 25th. This pursued a favorable course, though the fever was intense, and the convalescence tedious. Annetta (fourth case), æt. 16, of a lymphatic habit, enjoyed good health, and was also employed in managing silkworms. She had severely felt the loss of Theresa, and, with her other sisters, was incessantly engaged in anxiously watching little Nina during this period. On the 8th and 9th of July, the eruption appeared, became confluent, and was accompanied by great swelling of the head, and epistaxis. She was doing well, when, on the 11th, she arose from bed, and suppressed a copious sweat, the urine being, however, abundant. Hearing of her sister's death on the 12th, she became the subject of epileptiform convulsions and delirium, and in three quarters of an hour died. The autopsy was conducted in the presence of several able practitioners, who all agreed that no appearance explanatory of death was observed. Fanny (fifth case), æt. 14, of a nervous temperament and lymphatic habit, exhibited the eruption on the same days as Annetta (8th and 9th of July), and by the 30th was convalescent. Laura (sixth case), æt. 22, of nervous temperament and scrofulous habit, and participating in the fatiguing employment and depressing emotions of her sisters, also exhibited the eruption on the 8th of July, it coming well out, but being less confluent than in the others. She went on very well till the 12th, when she was seized with violent delirium and epileptiform convulsions, and in an hour she was dead. In the autopsy, no change in the brain or other important organs (the spinal marrow, however not being examined in these cases) could be discovered. Josephine (seventh case), æt. 19, of nervous temperament and scrofulous habit, but in tolerable health, felt much alarmed at these occurrences in the family, and on the 9th and 10th of July, the eruption appeared. Her removal from the presence of her dying sisters on the 12th, caused her great dismay and anguish. The eruption came well out; but as there was much fever and great disposition to lethargy, some leeches were applied to the head, and were followed by blisters, (which had also been freely used in the other cases.) She was more tranquillised in the afternoon, and there was less somnolence; but early in the evening she was seized with epigastrie pain, as her sisters had been, and then with convulsions and delirium, expiring in about an hour after. The autopsy furnished similar negative results. Maurice (eighth case), æt. 12, exhibited the eruption on the 8th