THE PULSE. The pulse is nothing more than the beating of an artery. Every time the heart contracts, a portion of blood is fourced into the arteries, which dilate or swell to let it pass, and then immediately regain their former size, until by a second stroke of the same organ a fresh column of blood is pushed through them, when a similar action is repeated This swelling and contracting of the arteries then constitute the pulse, and consequently it may be found in every part of the body where those vessels run near enough to the surface to be felt. Physicians look for it at the wrist, from motives of convenience. The strength and velosity of the pulse vary much in different persons, even in a state of perfect health. It is much quicker in children than in adults; and in old men it grows more slow and feeble, owing to the decreased energy of the heart. The pulse is increased both in strength and ve. locity, by running, walking, riding and jumping; by eating, drinking, singing, speaking, or by joy, anger &c. It is diminished in like manner by fear, want of nourishment, melancholy, excessive evacuations, or by whatever tends to debilitate the system. In feeling the pulse then in sick persons, allowance should be made for these causes, or what is better we should wait until their temporary effects have escaped. A full, tense and strong pulse, is when the artery swells boldly under the finger, and resists its pressure more or less; if in addition to this the pulsation be very rapid it is called quick, full, and strong; if slow, the contrary. A hard, corded pulse is that in which the artery feels like the string of a violin, or a piece of tight cat-gut, giving considerable resistance to the pressure of the finger. The soft and intermitting pulses are easily known by their name. In cases of extreme debility, on the approach of death, and in some particular diseases, the artery vibrates under the finger like a thread. In feeling the pulse, three or four fingers should be laid on it at once. The most convenient spot to do this, is already mentioned, is the wrist but it can be readiy done in the temple, just before, and to close the ear in the bend of the arm, at the under part of the lower end of the thigh, among the ham strings, and on the top of the foot. There are two kinds of blood vessels in the human body; arteries and veins. The arteries carry the blood from the heart to the extremities of the body, where they are connected with the veins, which bring it back An artery pulsates or beats; a vein does not.--Mackenzie. AN OSSIFIED MAN. In the museum at Dublin, there is a skeleton of one Clerk, a native of the city of Cork, whom they call, the Ossified Man, one of the greatest curiosities of nature. It is the carcass of a man, entirely ossified, in his lifetime, living in that condition, several years. Those who knew him before this surprising alteration, affirm he had been a young man of great strength and agility. He felt the first symptoms of the surprising change, sometime after he had lain all night in the fields, after a debauch, till by degrees, every part grew into a bony substance, excepting his skin, eyes and intestines. His joints settled in such a manner, that no that no ligament had its proper operation; he could at last no bend in his body; yet, when he was placed not he down nor rise up without assistance. He had upright, like a statue of stone, he could stand, but not move in the least His teeth were joined and formed into one entire bone, therefore a hole was bro ken through them to convey liquid substance for his nourishment. The tongue lost its use, and his sight left him sometime before he expired. Respect for the Ladies." I have observed that the who cherish for them a sincere respect, nay, revermen who are really most fond of the society of ladies, ence, are seldom the most popular with the sex.Men of more assurance, whose tongues are lightly hung, who make words supply the place of sentiments, are the favorites. A true respect for woman leads to respectful action, and this great distance is mistaken by them for neglect and want of interest. Of the truth of the above remarks, no one who mingles in society is ignorant; and we must confess that we have never felt our respect for the ladies so much diminished, as when we have seen them wast ing their smiles and attention upon the unworthy. A womam may be of great assistance to her husband in business. by wearing a cheerful smile continually upon her countenance. A man's perplexities aud gloominess are increased a hundred fold, when his better half moves about with a continual scowl upon her brow. A pleasant, cheerful wife, is as a rainbow set in the sky, when her husband's mind is tossed with storms and tempests; but a dissatisfied and fretful wife, in the hour of trouble, is like one of those fiends who are appointed to torture lost spirits.--Bos. Pearl. A man cannot possess any thing that is better than a good woman, nor any thing that is worse than a bad one. LIFE OF MAN. When ration, lies a small bag containing the venom. The following curious observations on the duration the fang is raised, the closing of the jaw presses its of the life of man, as shown by the bills of mortality, root against the bag underneath, and the force of this of various countries, is translated from the French. compression sends our the fluid with a considerable It is surprising to compare the different ravages of impetus, through the tube in the middle of the tooth death, in large cities and small villages. In the Pays Whit more nuequivocal or effectual apparatus could. du Vaud, and in the village of Brandenburg, the numbe devised, for the double purpose of at once inflictber of deaths in the space of one year, is, with respecting the wound and injecting the doison? to the surveyors, in proportion of 4 to 180; and in the Yet tho' town of Shrewsbury, in England, in the proportion of 4 to 130. On the contrary, in London, 4 persons die out of 83; at Vienna, out of 87; and at Berlin, 4 out of 106. This simple comparison sufficiently demonstrates the truth of the common observation, that large populous cities are the sepulchres of the human race. The most exact calculations which have been made in France, Italy, Prussia, Holland and Sweeden, clearly show that in all ages more deaths happen a mong men, than among women. By a list furnished by M. Susmich, at Berlin, it appears that 482 males died under the age of one year, and only 366 females. At Berlin also, upon a calculation of four years, 6210 males were born, 8724 females, which is almost 21 to 20. M. Leparcienx, at Paris, and M. Wargentin, in Switzerland, plainly prove that women in general, not only live longer than men, but that married woinen in particular have a singular advantage over those that are unmarried. This is so manifest, that, in one of the cantons of Switzerland, the number of maidens doubled that of the wives. lodged in the mouth, it is so constituted. as in its of fensive and quiescent state, not to interfere with the animal's ordinary office of receiving its food. It has been observed, also, that none of the harmless serpents, the black snake, the blind worm, &c., have these fangs, but teeth of an equal size, not moveable as this is, but fixed into the jaw. before going to bed, to make them rise early in the The girls in Padigum drink a pint of yeast at nig morning.-Botanic Sentinel CURE FOR CANKER IN THE MOUTH. Take equal parts of borax and loaf sugar, pulverize fine, and mix; apply it to the mouth in powder. Our vegetable syrup wil cure the same complaint very readily. A man being asked by a neighbor how his wife did, made the answer, Indeed, neighbor. the case is pitiful; my wife fears she shall die, and I fear she will not die, which makes a most disconsolate house.Botanic Sentinel. But in that state of marriage, the wives live much longer than the husbands. At Breslaw, in the course of 8 years, 1891 married men died, and only 1196 married women. By an exact account taken in Po- POTATOES.-We every day hear commerania, it appears, that in the course of 9. years, 13.566 married men died, and only 10,000 married plaints about watery potatoes. Put into the women. In Scotland, it is calculated, that in thirty- pot a piece of lime as large as a hen's egg; one marriages, twenty of the men will die as soon as and how watery soever the potatoes may twelve of the women, and in that proportion. But, have been, when the water is poured off, in a state of widowhood, the case is quite different; the potatoes will be perfectly dry and meathat situation is greatly in favor of the men. Dresden, the exact register of deaths, were kept for ly. Some persons use salt-which only four years, which clearly proved, that 584 widows hardens potatoes. died during that period, and only 149 widowers.At Wirtemburg, in the space of eleven years, 378 widows died, and but 90 widowers. At Gotha, the proportion is 790 widows, to 210 widowers. In Pomerania, the difference is still greater. At SEWING ON GLAZED CALICO.-By passing a cake of white soap a few times over a piece It is beyond a doubt, that large cities tend to dimiu- of glazed calico, or any other stiffened mash population. Man, naturally fond of society, finds terial, the needle will penetrate with equal ihis destruction in society, or rather in the abuses of facility as it will through any other kind of society. At Paris, Vienna, Amsterdam, Copenha- work. The patroness of the school of ingen and Berlin, the number of births is always considerably less than that of the deaths. On the con- dustry pronounces this to be a fact worth trary, where the air is more pure, where agriculture knowing, the destruction of needles in the flourishes, and simplicity of manners is adopted, pop-ordinary way occasioning both time and exulation increases with great rapidity. Dr. Herberden informs us, that in the island of Madeira, the number of inhabitants, doubled in the course of eighty-four years; and, in the American colonies, the augmentation is still more considerable. pense. A new method of acquiring the faculty to write terrific romances. The fang of the viper, says Paley, is a clear and Mrs. Radcliffe, it is said, use to eat indicurious example of mechanical contrivance. It is a gestible suppers for the purpose of dreaming perforated tooth loose at the root; in its quiet state, horribly; so did also Dryden and Fuseh; lying down flat upon the jaw, but furnished with a and truly all these, particularly the first and muscle, which, with a jerk, and by the pluck, as it were of a sting, suddenly erects it. Under the tooth, last, have given ample proof of their succlose to its root, and communicating with the perfo-cess, in their productions. Did those surgeons know so little of physiology and the history of such cases, as to suppose that amputation would inter- . cept absorption and secure the child against the future effects of the virus? "Naughty doctors" indeed they were, to use "a knife and the saw," when they have so many testimonies before them that the vapor bath and lobelia &c. are sure remidies against hydrophobia. We have not known them to fail. It does seem as though physiciens were unwilling to allow this practice to be tried in 'hydrophobia, consumption, &c., where they are compelled to acknowledge that they can do nothing-lest, by such confession they should give opportunity to prove this practice superior to theirs in every other form of disease.-Recorder, PROPOSALS For continuing the publication of the THOMSONIAN many this Prospectus will appear strange. AFFLICTING SCENE Hydrophobia. Several days since, we published an account of the shocking mutilation of a little girl at West Springfield, Mass. by a mad dog, and the amputation of her left arm, in consequence of the dreadful injuries she received. We have just conversed with a lady who was not only a witness of the attack of the dog, but was present when the little sufferer's arm was taken of. Some further particulars of the dreadful misfortune may prove interesting to our readers. The little girl is the daughter of the late Joseph Ely, and is about ten years of age. Sometime in the afternoon, her mother sent her across the common to a neighbor's house on an errant a dtstance of some 40 rods. She had just set out on her return when the rabid animal came running towards her, chased by several men who gave the alarm. She immediately dropped some articles she was carrying home and ran back; but the dog overtook her, and, seizing her by the arm, But be it known and remembered.that the Thomthrew her down, and shook her in a vio-sonian Recorder, published in Columbus, Ohio, by lent manner, until the arm was completely torn into strings below the elbow. Her arm was so badly wounded that immediately amputation was thought necessary, and the three physicans present proceded to the task. The little sufferer did not murmur while the doctors were depriving her of her limb; but peevishly remarked that she believed they were cutting her arm off, because she could not shut her hand.While sawing the bone, she enquired if they were not sawing her mama's rocking chair to peices. Just after the painful operation was performed, her mother came into the room, when the little girl turned her head towards the door to see who was coming, in which effort she accidentally saw her wounded arm laying on the table. She then for the first time burst into a violent fit of weeping, at the loss of her arm. "Mother," said she, "the naughty doctors have cut it off, and now I can't hold my fork any more when I eat my dinner.". It was a full half hour before she could be pacified after learning her unfortunate loss. She is now recovering, and will soon get entirely well, unless the horrible disease of the dog should prove to have taken effect in her system.-N. York Sun, 7th inst. Dr. Curtis, is virtually dead, or the Thomsonian part of it; and that paper is now known by the scientific name of "Botanico-Medical Recorder." Having been instrumental in the birth of the Recor der, I feel attached to the name, and am not willing to have it, like a loathsom weed, thrown away." It is a name that is dear to every true Thomsonian; and as Dr. Curtis himself said, he had no objection to my saving it, I presume he will have no unfriendly feelings towards me for issuing this Prospectus. I wish net to come in collision with the Doctor; for I must here acknowledge, that he is abundantly capable of advancing the cause of Thomsonianism, if he will. I am a Thomsonian in principle and practice. I have tested and proved the Doctor's science to be true; and consider it a privilege to advocate it; and can truly say, I am not ashamed of it, because of its simplicity. Complication and amalgamation are not the products of this invaluable mode of healing the sick. The more you become acquainted with it, the more stmple and beautiful it appears. This fact fact has been proved by all who have closely adhered to the principles laid down by our Venerable Father. TERMS The Recorder will be published once in two weeks, on a super-royal sheet, octavo form. A title page and index will accompany each volume. The price will be two dollars, payable in advance. There will be a number of the paper published in a few days, but it will not be considered a specimeu number. A part of it was in press before I was informed of the above named change. The second number will make its appearance as soon as a return of subscribers' names takes place, and there is sufficient encouragement for me to go on with the work. I hope those who are interested in the preservation of the Thomsonian Recorder, will use their exertions to forward subscriptions, by mail, and also the money for the same. Southern Botanic Journal. VOLUME 1. "Great names may give splendor to Error, but cannot transform it into truth."-ROBINSON. CHARLESTON, DECEMBER 23, 1837. THE Southern Botanic Journal, EDITED BY D. F. NARDIN. Printed by Charles A. Hall. Published every other Saturday, at Two dollars and fifty cents a year, payable in advance. All communica tions, must be addressed to NARDIN & WOOD, Charles ton, S. C. Those not containing remittances, must be post paid. DR. THOMSONS MATERIA MEDICA. No. 4. To cure diseases, it is not only necessary to have means that will arrest the complaint and expel the morbid matter trom the system; but also snch as' will restore the last energy of the system, when sickness has run its course in the body; for then, every organ becomes reduced & weakened by a loss of the vital influence and often from loss of substance itself. It becomes necessary then for the physician who prescribes for the cure of disease, that he should not only give medicine to remove the complaint and the morbid matter, but also favor the restoration of the loss of substances as well as at the vital powers. It is not sufficient that the disease should be arrested and even removed; because, after this is done, the coustitution, the vis medicatrix naatru, which has been contending, agaiust extraneous and chemical causes, that constantly tend to decompose the organzed body and also against the internal agent that produced the disease, we say the constitution, owing to these efforts, would be unab'e, without assistance, to resist those extraneous and chemical agents, that tend to the decomposition of all organised matter. If after a spell of sickness where by the powers of nature have been reduced they are left without support, another disease of equal strength and danger may be generated and prove fatal. Thus we know that after an attack of cholera we fre NUMBER 24. quently have a typhus fever as the se quale of that disease; although, from all we know of their effects, they are pro duced by different causes; the same may be said of most all diseases that have a tendency to prostrate the vital powers of the body, when the acute form of disease is removed, then a chronic, once ensues that often proves more ob stinate than the first. It would be useless to multiply ex amples, as this is a point not disputed, but on the other hand, there is, perhaps no principle in medicine better estab lished than this one, viz:hat the physician has three objects in view in curing disease 1st. to arrest the disease, 2d. to remove the morbid substance created by the morbid cause, and 3d. to re; store the lost energy and substance of the constitution and the body. The um; bers one, two, & three, fill the two first indications and also assist t e third, al though it is properly the office of the number four to restore the constitution after the disease is arrested or removed, and prevent the bad consequences arising, from the primary disease. In this way the No. 4 become as essential for the final cure of disease as the first three. The modus operendi of the No. 4 is not so easy to explain as that of the other numbers. The use of bitters for this purpose that, Dr. Thomson prescribes them is not new, nor does his mode of administering them differ materially from that of the faculty; we mean that he administers them with the same view. But the combination is different, and in consequence of the No. 2 that is generally mixed with them the constitution becomes affected sooner by them, and their impressions is more permanent than when used alone. When they are used alone the stomach is sometime in such a torpid condition that they remain perfectly inactive in the system and by their unaltered presence, become a source of irritation to the stomach, which rejects them and by this means do harm instead of good, for it appears to be a low the administration of the No. 4. neithe are these ever given when immediate action is required. The No. 3 act as we have said (Journal page 21, and sequel) by chemical laws, in a great measure independant of the vital principle; not so with the No. 4, there appears to be no immediate action on the nervous system nor do they act chemically upon the substance of the organs, or their contents. saw of the animal acconomy that no sub- In the old school practice, many articles are comprised under the head of tonics, in fact there is scarcely any means used as remedial agent but what is not a "tomic" at the wish of the practitioner thus they bleeds to strengthen, use the warm and cold bath, per-by others all these means are used to deplete! Among the internal means we have arsenic, mercury, iron, tin, copper, zink, and in fact most all the metals, in addition to bitter vegetable substances. Our readers are aware that we never use any of the former "tonics," but confine ourselves to the latter, that is, vegetable bitters. The action of tonics as we have already said is not easily explained, Dr. Eberly thinks that they act in three ways, 1st, the stomach and bowels by strengthening these organs and increasing their respective healthy functions in preparing the chyme and secreting the chyle, secondly upon the nervous system; this is barely a supposition which we think would not be supported by facts nor by correct logical reasoning. Thirdly, "finally," he says: "tonics may strengthen by being absorbed into the circulation, and by thus acting directly on the whole organization, through the medium of the blood. That remediate substances are carried into the circulation. is a fact which is, I trust, evident by which has already been said of this head in the first chapter; and there can be no reason why tonic substance absorbed into the circulation, should not produce the same invigorating impressions on the parts with which it comes in contact, while circulating in the blood, as when applied to the surface of the stomach, the rectum, or the skin. That they do in fact operate in this way, is further rendered probable by the new qualities which some of the new substances impart to urine and other ex Matalic poisons, falsely called tonics may act through the nervous system, but we doubt whether any real tonic proper ties can be produced from innocent vege table bitters except through the means. |