Εικόνες σελίδας
PDF
Ηλεκτρ. έκδοση

Dr. Kidd next read to the meeting a paper, consisting of remarks on the anatomical and physiological works of Galen, which the learned Professor was requested to publish in the forthcoming volume of Transactions.

On Thursday, the second day of the meeting, after some preliminary business, Mr. Crosse proceeded to read his Retrospective Address for the past year, of which the following is an abstract:—

Some recent improvements in anatomy were first briefly noticed, and the spread of anatomical knowledge in this country was said to be almost a matter of demonstration-the number of able men devoted to teaching it being treble what it was thirty years ago. Manchester, which was the first town to institute a provincial school of anatomy, possessed all the requisites for carrying on such an establishment, in its locality, its wealth, its population, its public medical charities, and last, though far from least, in that spirit of enterprize and philosophical inquiry which is associated with the name of a White, a Percival, a Dalton, and a Henry. The advancement of physiology was attributed mainly to experiments on animals; but, in a few instances, had been recently accomplished by observing diseases. The different improvements in medicine were dwelt upon, and much was attributed to the stethoscope rendering many internal morbid changes cognizable to the senses, particularly those situated in the chest and abdomen, which before were not understood during the life of the patient. No subject had of late more engaged the attention of physiologists than the action and sounds of the heart,—the Report of the meeting of the British Association, at Dublin, might be cited in proof of this. A remarkable discovery by the microscope, of entozoa infesting the muscles of the human body, belonged to the past year, and one or two thousand of these animalcules had been found in a square inch of muscle; another species of entozoon had recently been found in the intestinal coats of horses. The fact that the saliva is alkaline in a state of health, and acid as often as the stomach is disordered, and the power of iodine to cause salivation, had recently been elicited. The homoopathic doctrine, or new German reverie, which had loaded the press with books and worthless periodicals was sarcastically denounced, and quackery in general alluded to. The recent suggestions and improvements in surgical practice were more fully entered into; and amongst the yearly announcements of cures for diseases hitherto deemed incurable, the most prominent was the treatment of cancerous affections by the chloride of zinc in the form of paste, which had recently been tried under the inspection of some eminent surgeons in this country, and found efficacious. The improved methods of applying cold in cases of local inflammation, so much employed in France, and significantly designated the treatment "by irrigation," were mentioned in terms of recommendation; the irregular use of cold applications in the ordinary method being objectionable, causing rheumatism of joints, and in one instance tetanus, and, uness carefully used, proving worse, as to ease and remedial effects to

the patient, than if no such method were employed.-Hernia had been reduced by applying cupping-glasses, and wooden pads been found serviceable by American surgeons, applied with the common truss, instead of the usual soft pad.-British surgeons have stood foremost in performing operations upon the large arterial trunks, setting the example now followed by other countries; the carotids still continue favourites for experiments upon animals, and in some instances on the human being; and both have been tied in man at the interval of seventeen, and even of twelve days, with a favourable issue; man, however, cannot bear a ligature simultaneously to both carotids, although some animals suffer little from such a proceeding. For a vascular tumour of the scalp, both carotids in man have been tied with a curative result by Professor Kuhl, of Leipsic. Pressure, when the brachial artery is wounded at the bend of the arm in bleeding, has been so often recorded as successful, that it ought to be regarded as the general rule of treatment, when a competent surgeon is called soon after the injury. The practice of treating varicose veins, by pinching them with forceps, and by passing needles through or beneath them, so as to compress the vein, had been much resorted to, and approved. The author thought the attention of surgeons required to be awakened to the detecting of recent dislocations of the joints, which are always reducible. The dislocated hip had been reduced after nearly a hundred days, and of the elbow at seventy: the use of the dynanometer, for measuring the force applied by the pulleys in reducing old dislocations was recommended, and can be obtained of Mr. Weiss.-Upon the excision of diseased joints, the Memoir of Mr. Blackburn was named as the best Memoir in the country from the peu of a student. No department of simply operative surgery has been more fruitful of good results than the excision of diseased bones; and the upper, as well as the lower jaw, and many other bones of the face, have been recently thus proceeded with. The little value attached to the practice of midwifery in this country, was referred to, and a belief expressed that hereafter the present state of things would, in the retrospect, be thought very anomalous, when those gentlemen who practise it are regarded as fit only for a secondary station in the profession. A knowledge of diseases of the placenta was advancing in this country. The use of the speculum was also becoming more general, facilitating a correct knowledge and an efficient treatment of uterine disease, which formerly went on uncontrolled by art. Remarks upon polypus uteri, and upon prolapse and inversion of the organ, were added, and the numerous instances of the Cæsarean operation having been lately performed in different countries, were adduced, as indicating the improving condition of this branch of practice, which flourishes best where it is most encouraged.

The conclusion of this elaborate essay had reference to the press, the great and mighty engine for the advancement of the medical, as well as of all other sciences; the necessity of attending to the style as well as to the matter, was insisted upon, and the important office

of the critic described. The British quarterly medical journals had long stood pre-eminent over those of other countries. The MedicoChirurgical Review, of Dr. Johnson, required only to keep in good humour, and to avoid mixing extraneous matter in its pages, to maintain its ascendency. The accession of the British and Foreign Medical Review was a great advantage, and it could not fail to be honourable to this society to rank the editors of that review, Drs. Forbes and Conolly, amongst its members. The establishing of weekly journals in England was an epoch in medical literature. Like any other newspapers, they were taken for amusement as much as for instruction, and became a necessary part of the yearly purchases of every medical practitioner in the provinces. They placed before the profession many matters of minor interest, which could not appear in the quarterly journals, and had become quite indispensable for free and rapid intercourse of ideas between individuals. But from causes which must be sought for in the succession of their rise, so much personality, invective, and even fiction, was mixed up in them, as to characterize them as peculiar, and unlike what was to be met with in any other country. Whatever benefits had arisen from such publications, it must be allowed, by every considerate mind, that the interested contentions, and low personalities, which disfigure their pages, were a great drawback and counterpoise to their utility. Had they at all improved the ethics of the profession ? Could the slang of a weekly journal in any way advance medical science, or fail to pander to bad taste and the coarsest feeling? The value of medical bibliography was next glanced at, and the state of our literature as to biographical works regretted, as being most deficient. The pictorial art and lithographic printing were not forgotten, as to their influence in promoting so useful a science as medicine; the literature as well as the practice of which, the author expressed a hope, would hereafter receive the regular attention of the Association at each annual meeting.

At the conclusion of the address, the thanks of the meeting were unanimously passed to Mr. Crosse.

The report of the committee appointed to consider the proposals of the Eastern Association was next brought forward, and its recommendation adopted. The report of the poor law committee was then read, and ordered to be published in a separate form; and a petition to both houses of Parliament, deprecating the system for providing medical relief for the sick adopted by the commissioners.

The business of the day having been brought to a conclusion, Dr. Barlow took the chair, and upon the motion of Professor Kidd, seconded by Dr. J. Conolly, a cordial vote of thanks was accorded to Dr. Holme, by acclamation.

The proceedings terminated about five o'clock, and at six one hundred and fifty members, with a few friends as guests, dined together at the Exchange.

PROCEEDINGS OF PROVINCIAL SOCIETIES.

BIRMINGHAM PHILOSOPHICAL INSTITUTION.

THE Literary and Philosophical Society attached to this Institution closed its third summer session on Monday, September the 5th. Two of the papers read to the members were adverted to in the last number of The Analyst, which contained a detailed notice of the one read by Dr. Ward on the effects of the slow cooling of melted basalt. The papers brought before the society since our last number have been, one by Mr. Wickenden, "On the Geological Changes now taking place on and under the Earth's Surface;" one by Mr. Wills, On Circumstantial Evidence ;" and one by Mr. F. Osler, which contained a description of an anemometer invented by that gentleman, for recording the direction, and measuring and recording the velocity, of the wind. It is the intention of the council of the society to make known to the scientific world this very ingenious and admirable invention of Mr. Osler, as the want of a good selfregistering wind-gauge has long been felt by all persons engaged in meteorological pursuits.

66

SHROPSHIRE AND NORTH WALES NATURAL HISTORY

AND ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY.

AN extremely interesting course of lectures "On Botany and Vegetable Physiology" has been delivered, by Dr. Wilson, before the members of this society. The first lecture was devoted to a consideration of the structure and functions of the seeds of plants. The second comprehended a pleasing explanation of the extraordinary process of germination. The subject of the third was the structure and functions of the stem. The circulation of the sap, and the shape and functions of the leaves, were illustrated in the fourth. The fifth treated of the respiration of plants. The sixth lecture was devoted to a description of the various modes of inflorescence, and a detailed explanation of the various parts of the flower, and their probable uses.

During the course of this lecture, the history of the sexual system in plants was concisely considered, and with the truest feeling and best taste the intelligent lecturer paid the following eloquent tribute to the memory of the immortal Linneus :-"This great man was born in the province of Smalland, in Sweden, in 1707. Never was the fame of any man of genius spread more widely or rendered more immortal than his. But however distinguished and extraordinary his merits, as extraordinary and various were the vicissitudes by the expression, correct feelings. Is it not, I would ask, an insult

of his fate, so rugged became the path by which he attained the climax of his greatness. His father (a clergyman) intended him for the church, but he himself preferred to wander in the fields, and was so very backward in his studies that his father, despairing of his abilities, resolved to make him a shoemaker; and had it not been for the kind intercession of Dr. Rothman, who perceived Linneus's talent, he might have succeeded, and the genius of Linneus would have been suppressed for ever. After making choice of the medical profession, Linneus struggled with poverty and its attendant hardships. He was reduced so far as to wear the cast-off clothes of his fellow students, and even repaired his own shoes with card and bark; and not unfrequently the good-will of his college companions furnished his meals. Difficulties and adverse circumstances have frequently been the school in which great men have been formed; they also served to build the greatness of Linneus: and whilst a less energetic character would have been crushed by despair, with him they were fresh incentives to perseverance. When the poverty of Linneus had sunk to the lowest point, fortune and his persevering conduct offered him new prospects. He obtained permission to journey through Lapland, at the expense of the academy; after which his fame increased, and honours fell thick upon him. Linneus was, towards the evening of his life, as happy as his wishes could make him, declaring that he possessed an elysium in his botanic garden. This joy was sealed by seeing his own son made professor of botany, at the age of twenty-two. What a contrast with the stormy paths he himself had crossed to obtain the high seat of honour and peaceful fortune he enjoyed! But he who had been the favoured of nature found her not propitious in his waning years; for the two last of his life might be said to be a slow and lingering struggle with death. Even after having suffered a paralytic stroke in 1774, his public services were continued, in some measure, till 1776, when his already feeble and infirm health suffered another shock. His nerves were now worn out, and his palsied tongue refused its office; he was carried, fed, and dressed, by the hands of others and during the winter, owing to another shock, his deplorable condition rose to the highest pitch. He expired on the 10th of January, 1778, at the age of seventy years and seven months.

Never were honours more deservedly bestowed, or more modestly borne, than by this excellent man. How exquisitely sensible his mind was to the vicissitudes of fortune, and to the opportunities his advancement afforded him of diffusing vast benefits through the wide world of science, is sufficiently shown by his meekly beautiful description of the humble plant, Linnæa borealis, named after him, "a little northern plant, long overlooked, depressed, abject, flowering early."

Keenly and undeservedly as his system has been aspersed by the advocates of other, and in some measure equally artificial, systems, it cannot even by them be denied that it is the most simple, the most complete, and the most generally available one ever attempted.

« ΠροηγούμενηΣυνέχεια »