fatal among dogs, often destroying whole kennels-as not above one in four recovers. It is particularly requisite for practitioners to know this, as when a person has been bit by a dog in the distemper, imagination may induce (if not hydrophobia,) some unmanageable nervous complaint. Mr. John Hunter was wont to state a CASE in his lectures in which a gentleman who had been bit by a dog fell into alarming fits of dread of hydrophobia till the dog was brought to him in good health.-(Med. Chirurg. Transactions, i.)

M. Larrey relates the following singular CASE of hydrophobia, in a note, on a passage in his Essay on the Yellow Fever, noticed in last number:

Pierre Courmontagne, aged twenty-two, a soldier of the Royal Guard, had been bitten, when fourteen or fifteen years old, in the left thigh by a mad dog, the cicatrices of the wounds being still visible; the animal died of rabies.

From that period, Courmontagne has suffered from a sort of nervous affection, accompanied by spasms, and slight derangement of the mental faculties, so that from the time of his entering the service, his comrades have shunned his company, and he has twice changed his regiment. He was irascible, and often agitated by involuntary motions, with a noisy irregular loquacity. He was thin, his eyes haggard, he was subject to frequent vertigo, his face florid, his pulse always hard and vibrating. He has constantly a repugnance to pure clear water, and never shews any inclination to use it, even at the time when his comrades, exhausted by the heat of the day, quench their thirst in his presence. Nevertheless, he drinks ptisans, or any opaque or coloured liquor, with more or less avidity.

Such was his state when he entered the hospital of the Royal Guard, May, 29, 1821, in consequence of a sprain of the right foot, received in running. Besides his habitual disorder, symptoms of nostalgia manifested themselves, and he expressed an earnest wish to be discharged from the service. With this intention, and to retard the cure, he secretly applied a ligature, and kept the limb in an unfavourable posture. Gangrene took place on the lateral and anterior part of the tarsus, and increased rapidly; in the end, sphacelus of the lower extremity rendered amputation necessary. After some slight irritation, the wound was going on well, and was two-thirds healed, when on the thirtieth day from the operation, the patient, all at once, shewed signs of a marked aversion to transparent fluids, with an augmentation of the spasms, and signs of cerebral inflammation. He was convulsed, with spasmodic motion of the jaw, grinding of the teeth, and a state of general tetanic contraction. All the

excretions were diminished, the spasms and stiffness increased, and the man died in the night of the thirty-second day.

On opening the head, the following circumstances were observed:-hypertrophia of the cranium, principally in the occipital region; considerable distention of the vessels of the membranes, and of the brain, as well as of the longitudinal sinus, and choroid plexus; small granulations at the upper part of the hemispheres; about an ounce of yellowish serum, in the lateral ventricles; firmness and density of the encephalon, of the medulla spinalis, and particularly of the tuber annulare, in the substance of which was observed a reddish tinge, also very manifest in the optic thalami: the neurilema of most of the nerves of the medulla oblongata, partook of this tint of inflammation at their origin. The respiratory passages, and the intestinal canal presented no other morbid appearances than some old adhesions of the lungs. The liver was increased in size. The pericardium was not inflamed, but was firmly united by old adhesions to the whole surface of the heart. The cavities of this organ were much diminished in size, and the principal vessels arising from it, had lost nearly a third of their ordinary diameter. M. Larrey thinks that the symptoms in this case, were owing to the poison of rabies, which remained latent, without producing violent effects, until developed by particular causes at the time of the affection which caused the death of the patient.

The most recent and recondite proposal which we have heard of is that of Dr. Paris, who recommends inducing local plethora in the part bitten by means of a ligature; on the principle, that absorption is retarded in a plethoric state of the parts; while bleeding, as Magendie proved, is the most effectual and speedy means of promoting absorption. We think this proposal a piece of pretty theorizing-nothing more; and we are persuaded, that Dr. Paris, should he chance to be in danger of rabies-which, God forbid-would scarcely think of venturing upon so hypothetical a remedy. The argumentum ad seipsum, we hold to be an excellent test of such proposals; for we find it easy enough to contrive remedies, which may either succeed or not, as the case falls out; though, in our own case when danger is hanging over us, we never think of such waking dreams. At the same time, we see no reason why the proposed ligature might not be tried along with other means of prevention, particularly washing the wounds long and well with tepid water, poured from a tea-kettle; ink being first poured into the wound, and the ablution continued, till the water come away untinged by the ink. (WITHERING).

CHRISTEN ON The Nature of OPIUM, WITH THE ROMANCE OF THE ENGLISH OPIUM EATER.*

THE reason which the author has given for the publication of this Treatise will, perhaps, be the best justification of the minute account which we propose to give of it, namely, that it must be important in a scientific point of view, to bring into a monograph, the copious, but widely dispersed materials for the history of an object of the greatest interest in medical practice.

The term OPIUM appears to be derived from the East" The source," says the author, "of so many other human things and ideas." It is called Affion, and Amfion by the Indians, Arabians, and Egyptians, according to Bontius and Alpinus; Afun by the Persians, and Affiun by the Moors. The Greeks called it opion, pretending to derive the etymology from oris, succus, quasi μηκώνος. From this source most other nations have derived the appellation of this substance. Thus it bears the name of opium in the Latin, French, English, German, Swedish, Danish, and Russian languages. By the Italians it is called opio; and with the Germans and Danes, it has the additional names of Mohnsaft, Germ. and Valmuesaft, Dan.

The opinions entertained by the learned, on the nature of the Nepenthe of the ancients have been various. By Th. Zwinger, and more recently by Sprengel, in his history of botany, it is supposed to be opium. According to Delille, in the Flora Ægyptiaca, it is the Hyoscyamus albus. But the best authorities, with whom our author coincides, are of opinion, that the Nepenthe was derived from the Cannabis sativa of Linnæus. Forbes in his Oriental Memoirs, states that in Hindostan Bendsch, i.e., Nepenthe is prepared from this plant. Lindner, (Neueste Kunde von Asien,) states that Bang is derived from the dried leaves of the wild cannabis, the smoke of which is more narcotic than opium itself, The Turks prepare their Maslach, or Bangue from the fresh leaves of the lesser cannabis, rubbed up and heated in vessels which have held butter. Most of the natives of Africa, make a constant use of the Cannabis sativa of Linnæus, which they call Haschisch. Delille remarks, that it is

Opium Historice, Chemice, atque Pharmalogice Investigatum. Per Char. And. Christen, M. D. Lib. Reg. ac Metropol. Urbis. Budensis Phys., item Inclyt. Facultat. Med. Pest. Commemb. Vindobonæ Apud, Frid. Volke. Pp. 316, 8vo. Confessions of an English Opium Eater. London Magazine, Sept. and Oct,, 18?!.

cultivated by the Egyptians, who are ignorant of the purposes for which its fibres may be employed. Many physicians have made experiments with it, among these Domeyer, who experienced increase of bodily strength, and of the mental faculties, with pleasing sleep, and an appetite amounting almost to voracity. It is not productive of the ill effects of opium, namely, afflux of blood to the head, and constipation.

Opium is derived from two genera of plants-Lactuca and Papaver. It has been known from the earliest periods, that different species of Lactuca, principally L. Sativa and L. Silvestris, with its varieties, L. Scariola and L. Virosa, afford a bitter milky juice, bearing considerable resemblance to opium in its external characters, and in its operation on the animal economy. But genuine opium, has been at all times procured from the poppy. The LACTUCARIUM, well known, as an opiate, to Pliny, Theophrastus, and Dioscorides, was, sometime ago, introduced to modern notice by Dr. Duncan, sen., of Edinburgh, (Observ. on Pulmon. Consump.) and has since been occasionally praised, but has never come into very general use. Its high price, and the difficulty of procuring it, have been partly the cause of this. For procuring it, Mr. Young, of Edinburgh, recommends cutting off the top of the stem of the lettuce, when in flower, about a foot above the ground, and taking up the milky juice which exudes, with a moist sponge; making a fresh cut two or three times a day, when it ceases to bleed. Mr. Probart, of Great Portland-street, at the recommendation of Dr Scudamore, made an extensive plantation of lettuces, for the purpose of preparing lactucarium. Mr. Probart collects the juice by means of cotton, and inspissates by applying warm air. It is only when in seed, that the plants abound in the milky juice. Mr. Probart has also made an extract from the old leaves, when about to change into a yellow colour, the milky juice assuming in these a concrete form, which is concentrated in the rind of the leaves. The common lettuce is greatly superior to the virosa for prepar-. ing the lactucarium. The dose of the extract recommended by Dr. Scudamore, is four or five grains at bed-time. (On gout, page 233.) Those who wish to investigate the subject further, we refer to Hahnemann, (Apotheker lexicon, i. 360); Gumbrecht, (Sammlung für pract. Aerzte, II. i. p. 82.); Swediauer, (Phar macologia, in verb.); Haller, Arzneimittelehre, p. 230.); Schlesinger and Wolf, (in Hufeland's Journal); and to the works of Baron Störck, of Vienna, whose experiments with vegetable medicines were so extensive.

According to Linnæus, whom Murray has followed, the Thebaic opium of the ancients was derived from the Papaver Orientale;

but neither have given any authority for this assertion. Schiller, a pharmacopolist, of Rothebury, prepared opium of very good quality from this species, (Anzeige der Deutsch. 1809.) Boulduc, (Mem. de L'Acad. de Paris, 1712) and after him, Dr. Alston, prepared good opium from the P. Rhoeas. The Papaver Somniferum of Linnæus, (calycibus, capsulisque glabris, foliis amplexicaulibus, stigmatibus decem) is the species from which opium is prepared in the East; of this there are two varieties, which some have formed into distinct species-the white and the black.

The mode of collecting, and preparing the opium, has been described nearly in the same manner, by the earliest and the latest writers on the subject. According to Mr. Kerr's description of the method of cultivation in the province of Bahar, (Edin. Med. Enq.) the seed is sown in October and November, and the ground is irrigated until the capsules are half ripe. At this time a longitudinal, superficial incision is made in the capsule at evening, and on the following morning it is collected with an iron spoon into dishes, and worked in the sun into masses of about four pounds, which are wrapped in the leaves of the plant.

The CHARACTERS of genuine opium are the following:-It is in the form of round solid cakes, two or three inches thick, and weighing from four ounces to two or four pounds; it is dense; its specific gravity 1.336 Brisson, 1.363 Friend; it is heavy when compared with the condensed juices of other plants, being exceeded only by opoponax and gum arabic; externally, its colour is black approaching to red; internally, a yellowish, dusky red, and never black; fracture dull, except a few saline, particles scattered through it; it is every where opaque; tenacious; plastic; adherent to the fingers; scissile without noise; its odour peculiar, virous, narcotic, unpleasant, stupifying; its taste nauseous, at first bitter, then acrid, pungent, leaving a sense of heat for some minutes on the tongue, lips, and palate; when moistened, it makes an interrupted, cinnamon-yellow streak on paper; when taken into the mouth it gives a duskyyellow tinge to the saliva. It readily kindles when applied to a flame, with a vivid light, and without a narcotic odour. It is partly soluble in water, this solution not being disturbed by alcohol; it is more soluble in alcohol; very much so in wine, ethereal spirits, alcohol with potash, and aromatic waters; but above all in dilute alcohol. These solutions redden vegetable blues and give a black precipitate with sulphate of iron.

Opium should be rejected when very dusky, blackish or black, when it is of a soft consistence, greasy, grumous, rough, or fri-.