Part 79

Cordia Sebestena; according to some, the C. Myxa L., a species of Egyptian date. It was formerly employed as a demulcent. A viscid black glue was also prepared from it, and exported in considerable quantities from Alexandria.

Quod Caeretani totum orbem vano quodam ac turpi superstitionum genere ludificantes continuo peregrinantur, familia domi relicta.

Patin called it l'impertinente nouveaute du siecle.

The priesthood in thus stigmatizing the medical profession so soon as its practice ceased to be their exclusive privilege, displayed the same spirit of intolerance and thirst for omnipotent sway that characterized their anathemas on the drama when they no longer were the authors, actors, and managers of their own sacrilegious plays, which they called mysteries and moralities. Previously to the drama becoming the pursuit of laymen, the monkish exhibitions had been so holy, that one of the popes granted a pardon of one thousand days to every person who went to the plays performed in the Whitsun week, beginning with a piece called "The Creation," and ending the season with the performance of "The General Judgment." In these representations the performers belonged to various corporations, and acted under the direction of the clergy. "The Creation" was performed by the Drapers,--"The Deluge" by the Dyers,--"Abraham, Melchizedek, and Lot," by our friends the Barbers,--"The Purification" by the Blacksmiths,--"The Last Supper" by the Bakers,--"The Resurrection" by the Skinners,--and "The Ascension" by the Tailors.

The following curious anecdotes are recorded in the description of a mystery performed at Veximel, near Metz, by the order of Conrad Bayer, bishop of the diocese. This play was called The Passion; and it appears that by some mismanagement a priest by the name of Jean de Nicey, curate of Metrange, who played Judas, was nigh meeting with an untimely end; for his neck had slipped and tightened the noose by which he was suspended to the tree, and, had he not been cut down, he would have performed the part most effectually.

A play was acted in one of the principal cities in England by these clerical performers, representing the terrestrial Paradise, when Adam and Eve made their appearance entirely naked.

Mr. J. A. St. John.

As this worthy never took off his cuirass, it may be shrewdly suspected that his lashes were such as our old friend Sancho Panca inflicted on the tree.

The diseases to which the blood is subject was another ground upon which the vitality of this fluid was founded. The most remarkable kind of diseased blood is that which occurs in cholera, where it is dark, nearly black, even in the arteries. The cause of this phenomenon is by no means decided. Dr. Thomson attributes it to a diseased condition of the blood, which unfits it for being duly arterialised. Dr. O'Shaughnessy denies the assertion, and proves that choleric blood can be rendered florid by the absorption of oxygen. Dr. Stevens, in his treatise on the blood, attributes this dark appearance to the contagion of the malady, which throws the fluids into a morbid state, the effect of which is the diminution of the saline matter which the healthy blood contains. He observed that in cholera-hospitals the blood of all the persons residing in them was also dark. It is, however, more than probable that this morbid condition of the blood arises from the deranged state of the circulation, and may be attributed to a disease of the solids, which must invariably affect the fluids that they propel with more or less energy, flowing in a rapid current, or in a sluggish stream.

I have fully illustrated this want of oxygen in the blood of cholera patients in a work I published in Bordeaux, in 1831, entitled Observations sur la nature et le traitement du Cholera Morbus d'Europe et d'Asie; and, from several experiments subsequently made on cholera patients, I feel convinced that the inspiration of oxygen gas will be ultimately found the most energetic and effective practice in combating this fearful disease.

By the experiments lately made by Dr. Donne of Paris, it has been found that the globules of blood, when submitted to microscopic examination, varied in magnitude according to the description of animals from which it was drawn. In certain diseases, globules of pus have also been detected in the sanguiferous stream. They were larger than those of the blood, and, instead of being defined by a marginal line, were fringed on their circumference, and their centre was striated with interwoven lines.

The same physiologist discovered animalcules in the pus of certain ulcers not dissimilar in appearance to the vibrio lineola of Mueller. Other animalcules, which he has named the tricomonas vaginalis, were also found in great number when the mucous membranes of the organ (whence the latter part of their denomination was derived) were in a state of inflammation. These animalculi could not be detected in healthy mucus. The knowledge of this influence of inflammation may lead to many important practical results.

During the horrors of the French Revolution, various experiments were made by Sue and other physiologists to ascertain if the bodies of the guillotined victims possessed sensibility. No conclusion, however, could be elicited from these inquiries, which gave rise to many absurd tales, such as that the face of Charlotte Corday blushed when the executioner slapped it, as he held it out to the enraptured Parisians.

Organon, xxxii.

Op. cit. xxxi.

Ibid. xxxiii.

Op. cit. xxxviii.

Organon, xl. This will be found to be the case in all diseases that are dissimilar; the stronger suspends the weaker, except in case of complication, which is a rare occurrence in acute diseases, but they never cure each other reciprocally.

On Chronic Diseases. Translation of Begel, p. 107.

Sir Gilbert Blane's Medical Logic.

Organon, v.

Ibid. vi.

Sir G. Blane.

The celebrated Boyle used to apply to his wrists for the same purpose, the moss that grew from a human skull.

The term that designated magnetic manipulation.

Since the first edition of this work was published, animal magnetism has become the subject of much controversy and animadversion in London and various parts of the empire. The utmost virulence has as usual been resorted to, not only to impugn the doctrine, but to stigmatize its supporters; while, on the other hand, the greatest ingenuity has been displayed to convince unbelievers, and to give to the many experiments practised for this purpose the semblance of undeniable facts. Baron Dupotet's labours and publications have been submitted to the test of a public investigation; while Dr. Elliotson and several other practitioners have aided the practice apparently with success. It would be foreign to the nature of this work to consider this matter more elaborately; it is now before the tribunal of public opinion, whose decision we must await.

Inquiries concerning the Intellectual Powers, &c.

That serious accidents might have resulted from the use of hellebore is most likely, since various plants resembling it have been mistaken for it; chiefly the adonis vernalis, trollius Europaeus, actaea spicata, astrantia major, veratrum album, and the aconitum neomontanum, the last of which is a most virulent poison.