3. They are a potent and very frequent cause of disturbance of the heart's actions.

4. The disturbances thus induced are usually the more serious and dangerous, in proportion as the adhesions are the more recent and the more extensive.

5. The characteristic signs of recent general adhesion are the force, the tumult and confusion of the beats of the heart; the frequency, smallness, inequality and irregularity of the pulse; the dyspnoea, precordial anxiety, and tendency to fainting; the serous infiltration of different parts; the pulmonary congestion, visceral engorgements, cyanosis, &c.

6. The sign, so much insisted upon by some medical men-viz: depression of the epigastric region during the contraction of the heart-has not been observed in a single case of pericardial adhesion in our practice; and yet we have occasionally recognised its existence in some other diseases of the heart.

7. Not any one of the symptoms enumerated above, however valuable in a diagnostic point of view, is pathognomonic of, or exclusively peculiar to, adhesions of the pericardium. It is moreover rare to find them all combined in the

same case.

8. Adhesion of the pericardium may prove fatal in the acute state; or in the chronic state by inducing some other morbid lesion, such as Hydrops pericardii, &c.

9. The more ancient that the adhesions are, the less is life menaced by their existence: it may even so happen that scarcely any appreciable embarrassment is caused thereby to the movements of the heart.

10. The only advantage, so to speak, of general adhesions is that they serve to diminish, or even altogether to abolish, the tendency to future pericarditis, just in the same manner as the provoked adhesion of the tunica vaginalis prevents the recurrence of common Hydrocele.

11. The presumed relations of adhesion of the pericardium with Hypertrophe of the heart are certainly very reasonable; but the presumption awaits the sanction of demonstration.

12. The circumstance of adhesion being a frequent termination of pericarditis is an additional motive for prompt and vigorous treatment to subdue the inflammation, when discovered.

13. The diagnosis of the formation and existence of pericardial adhesions may be useful in many respects; it may enable the physician to arrest in time the progress of the adhesive inflammation, or obviate the aggravation of those accidents which adhesions are apt to induce in various maladies, as well as in a state of health.

ON THE ANIMALCULAR CONDITION OF THE BLOOD IN DOGS.

M.M. Gruby and Delafond have recently addressed a second communication to the Royal Acadamy on the verminous alteration of the blood in dogs, by the presence of hematozoary animalcules of the genus Filaria. The principal results to which they have arrived are,

1. The proportion between the number of dogs whose blood is verminous, and of those whose blood is not so, seems to be nearly as 1 to 50.

2. Dogs with verminous blood enjoy very good health, and seem to retain all their instinctive faculties.

3. The blood in such animals is usually redder and more serous than in the ordinary condition.

4. Regimen, the sort of food, exercise, losses of blood, &c. appear to have no influence whatsoever on the number, form, and movements of the filaria.

5. Two decilitres of verminous blood, which had been defibrinated, were transfused into the veins of an animal whose blood was not verminous, without

giving rise to the production of these animalcules in the case of the latter, during eight days after the operation. But when a litre of the verminous blood had been injected, filaria were discoverable in the blood of the animal operated on; yet without any injury to its health being induced.

6. The filaria of the blood are not found in the excrementitious matters of the animal or in any of the other humours, such as the saliva, bile, urine, &c.; nor in any purulent discharge; nor yet in the chyle or lymph. Neither do they exist in any of the simple or compound tissues of the organism.

7. The verminous condition of the blood seems to be constant and durable in certain animals, and to have no injurious influence on the state of their health and faculties.—Comptes Rendus.

M. ORFILA'S REPLY TO CERTAIN MISREPRESENTATIONS.

1. "I had established," says this distinguished Toxicologist," in my first Memoir on Arsenic published in January 1839, that a notable quantity of the poison was discoverable in the blood of dog, within one hour and twenty-five minutes after it had been received into the stomach.

"In the course of last February, M. Chatin announced to the Academy of Sciences that, not only in eight cases of dogs poisoned with arsenic and antimony he had been able to obtain distinct traces of both metals from the blood, but also that he had found traces of the latter metal in the blood of human patients, who had been taking large doses of emetic tartar.

"What then was my astonishment on reading, in an account of a recent meeting of the Academy, the following passage from a note of MM. Flandin and Danger : Whatever be the moment when the blood, destined for examination, be drawn from an animal that has been poisoned by any metallic substance, we never find the poisonous element in the blood.' To this assertion I shall only reply that I am ready at all times to prove to the Commission now sitting, that it is utterly inconsistent with truth.

2. “In the same note of these gentlemen we also meet with the following very erroneous statement: Hitherto, in judicial examinations, it has been more especially in the blood and in the heart that the experimenter has sought for the existence of poisonous substances.' Now this assertion is quite as untrue as the preceding one; for I will venture to assert that they cannot adduce a single experiment in which the examination was limited to the blood and to the heart, when the liver and some other organs could be obtained.

3. "In another letter which he has recently published, M. Flandin, in order the better to establish the claims which, he thinks, he has to the discovery of the important fact, that poisonous substances are found on post-mortem examinations much more abundantly in the parenchymatous substance of the Liver than in other organs of the body, pretends that in my laboratory experiments I have usually analysed, at one and the same operation, the liver, spleen, kidneys, heart, and lungs. If such were indeed the case, I should be ill entitled to claim to myself the idée-mere, to which I at present allude. But this assertion of M. Flandin is as utterly destitute of foundation as the others, and its inaccuracy may be readily disproved by any one who will take the trouble of reading my writings with ordinary attention.

"The experiments 6, 10, 16 and 17 of my first Memoir on Arsenic abundantly shew that I acted on each of the principal organs separately, and not conjointly. For example, in the report of the 16th, it is stated that the brain contained scarcely any traces of arsenic; they were rather more distinct in the lungs; and still more so in the heart and kidneys. The liver and spleen contained more than any of the other viscera.' In examining the body of Soufflard, I acted separately on the liver, the kidneys, and the lungs; and I can shew to the Com

mission, if they should desire it, the specimens of arsenic which I extracted from each of these viscera.

"But it is especially in my Memoir on Antimony, read before the Academy in March 1840, that the fact now under consideration is dwelt upon in such a manner as not to leave the slightest doubt. For, of six experiments described in that Memoir, five were performed by treating the organs separately; and I then distinctly stated, as the result of my observations, that the liver and kidney contained much more of the metal than any of the other viscera.

"In reply to the reproach that M. Flandin directs against me, of considering the animal body as a mere sponge that is apt to become passively charged with certain substances floating through its channels, I have only to say that I entirely adopt the theory of absorption that is advocated by such physiologists as MM. Fodera and Magendie."-Comptes Rendus.

AWARD OF PRIZES AT THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.

The Commissioners, appointed to examine the works on Medicine and Surgery that had been sent in for competition, and to decide upon their claims to Academical distinction, were MM. Breschet, Double, Serres, Dumeril, Magendie, Roux, De Blainville, Pariset, Velpeau and Andral (the reporter)—men certainly that the French metropolis may justly be proud of in the present day, and whose high character is an abundant guarantee alike for impartiality and for professional judgment.

Twenty-six authors appeared on the field as candidates; and out of these the Commissioners had to select the names of those who, in their opinion, had contributed most prominently to the advancement of medical or surgical science.

The following summary of their report will be read with considerable interest.

1. The surgical operation for the Cure of Squinting was introduced into surgery some years age. Devised and originally proposed by M. Stromeyer, it was performed for the first time-on the living subject at least-by M. Dieffenbach, at Berlin, in 1839. Within a short period, he repeated the operation a great number of times; and, ere long, it was pretty generally adopted in every country of Europe. Various changes and modifications were, as a matter of course, suggested and adopted by different operators. The results obtained have been found to vary not a little. In consequence of several surgeons submitting the results of their experience to the Academy of Sciences, as claims for the Monthyon prize, it necessarily became an early subject of enquiry for the Commissioners to examine and determine upon the merits of the operation in question. At that time (1841), they felt themselves unable to come to any very decided opinion, and they therefore postponed the expression of their judgment to a future day. Since that period, the operation has been much more attentively studied, and its true value has been better ascertained; and the Commissioners therefore feel themselves warranted in now declaring their deliberate opinion, that it is justly admitted into the domain of surgery, as one of the recognised achievements of the art. For this reason they have proposed that the sum of 6000 francs be awarded, in equal proportions, to MM. Stromeyer and Dieffenbach-the one for having originated, and the other for having first performed, the operation of Myotomy for the cure of Squinting.

Respecting the modifications and alleged improvements, that have been suggested by various communicants, the Commission feels itself quite unable to determine their respective merits.

2. Under the title of " Iconographie d'Anatomie Chirurgicale et de Medecine

Operatoire," MM. Bourgery and Jacob have published a work, that cannot fail, in the judgment of the Commission, to render essential services to Surgery. The plates, which are admirably executed, represent every surgical operation that is ever performed with surprising truthfulness and exactitude. A prize of 5000 francs is bestowed upon the authors.

3. If it is incontestable that the advancement of medicine is, in a great measure, due to the care with which the various changes, produced in different organs by disease, have been studied, we cannot but receive with favour every rational attempt to represent these changes in a palpable form; for it will be admitted by all that mere description, however accurate, will seldom suffice to give a just idea of them. In this respect, the artificial specimens of pathological Anatomy prepared by Dr. Thibert are entitled to most honorable mention. He has succeeded in reproducing, with remarkable fidelity, a variety of morbid alterations and changes of structure. Having first represented them by coloured designs, he moulds them, and then obtains casts with a material analogous to 'carton-pierre,' which is afterwards painted as near to nature as possible. The pathological characters as to form, relief and colour, are thus given with wonderful accuracy. The Commissioners have examined many specimens representing various affections of the skin and mucous membranes, especially the alteration of the intestinal follicles in Typhoid fever; also numerous diseases of the brain, liver, lungs, and osseous system; and they have been invariably struck with their remarkable fidelity and truth. They have moreover satisfied themselves that these specimens of art remain uninjured by exposure to air. As many copies may be taken from the mould as are required, and their price is very much less than similar representations in wax. It must therefore be obvious that they will be exceedingly well suited for the purpose of lecturing, and so forth. A reward of 4000 francs has been granted to Dr. Thibert.

4. The sum of 3000 francs is awarded to M. Longet, to mark the Commissioners approval of his recent work, entitled, "Anatomie et Physiologie du Systeme Nerveux de l'Homme et des Animaux Vertebrés, avec les Observations Pathologiques relative au Systeme Nerveux de l'Homme." The author first traces with great accuracy the structure and functions of the nervous system in all the classes of Vertebrated animals, and he then applies the knowledge so acquired to the elucidation of various pathological conditions in the human body. He has collected a vast number of facts, bearing on the history of Diseases of the Nervous System, and which hitherto have been scattered over a multitude of different works. In this manner he has been enabled, at the expense of great labour, to test their comparative value, and to correct the conclusions of a more partial and imperfect observation. He has thus succeeded in advancing our knowledge of the semeiology of Nervous Diseases-a nosological groupe, however, which still exhibits many difficult and perplexing subjects of investigation to the pathological enquirer. In acknowledgement of M. Longet's meritorious researches, a sum of 3000 francs is bestowed upon him.

5. Dr. Valleix has published a work on Neuralgic disorders, which is well calculated to throw light on the history, and to improve and methodise the treatment of these troublesome affections. He has analysed, with no common sagacity, the results of his predecessors' observations in this department of pathological enquiry, separating the wheat from the chaff, the practical and really instructive matter from what is merely speculative and fanciful. Hitherto, authors have attended almost exclusively to certain forms of Neuralgia, more especially when it affects the facial and the femoro-popliteal nerves; but M. Valleix has embraced a much wider field of enquiry, and examined with great accuracy the painful affections of the cervico-occipital, the dorso-intercostal, and the lumbo

abdominal nerves also. The isolated production of pain in certain circumscribed points of nervous cords is a circumstance in the history of Neuralgia, which— in the double point of view of diagnosis and treatment-had not attracted the attention which it deserves, before the publication of M. Valleix's work. A sum of 2000 francs is awarded to him.

6. Among the works which deserve honorable mention, the Commission have much pleasure in signalising the Memoir of M. Amussat, which he presented to the Concours for the Monthyon prize of 1842. It contains a summary of a great number of experiments,-accompanied with numerous illustrative drawings and pathological specimens-undertaken with the view of shewing,

a. That a wound made in an artery is capable of becoming so firmly and solidly cicatrised that it is not necessary, in a great number of cases, to tie the vessel with a ligature, but only to compress it with a moderate degree of force.

b. That the coagulation of the blood-which, on wounded surfaces, is effected in the ends of the divided capillaries, in consequence of the retraction of their middle or elastic coat and also of the infiltration of blood into their cellular tunic -gives rise to the formation of a sort of solid 'mamelons,' which may materially aid the surgeon in discovering the arteries, which it is his object to tie.

c. That when a large artery is wounded, the surgeon may almost always distinguish, in the middle of the coagulum that is formed by the effused blood, a sort of crater or well which has a somewhat different colour and consistence from those of the surrounding parts, and which may therefore serve as a guide to direct the tenaculum straight to the wounded point of the vessel.

d. That various sorts of aneurismatic swellings may be produced in animals, by inflicting wounds in different manners on their bloodvessels.

While the Commissioners are willing to render every justice to the zeal and ability with which M. Amussat has carried out his researches, they feel bound to say that, in their opinion, some of the practical conclusions, which he has drawn, are by no means satisfactorily established. For this reason, they are induced to make honorable mention of his labours, and to solicit him to persevere in their completion.

7. The work of MM. Serrurier and Rousseau, on the diseases of the airpassages in man and the lower animals, merits an equally honorable notice. The researches of these gentlemen in the Comparative Pathology of the diseases in question deserve especial commendation, for they tend to throw considerable light on their history and treatment. MM. Serrurier and Rousseau, it is hoped, will find, in this public mention which is accorded to their labours for the second time, in consequence of the additions which they have recently made to their work, a fresh encouragement to the prosecution of their interesting researches.

8. Lastly, Dr. Philippe Boyer is entitled to honorable mention for his work on the treatment of Ulcers by compression with strips of gummed diachylon plaster, and for his truly praiseworthy exertions in extending the benefits of his method of treatment to a vast number of poor patients.

9. The physiological prize of 2000 francs is awarded to M. Laurent for his admirable and most instructive Researches on the common green Hydra.L'Experience.

ON THE TENDENCIES OF COTEMPORANEOUS SURGERY.

The following very judicious remarks are from the pen of M. Janson, ex-Surgeon in Chief of the Hôtel Dieu at Lyons.