some appendage, the use of which I am at a loss to conceive. It consists of a small cylindrical piece of bone with a hole in it, and through which a thread is passed several times, to fix it to the blade just where it locks.

The last of these instruments, No. 8, is, I presume, a species of sharp hook, the other extremity being flattened out and fenestrated, to permit of a firmer hold. I shall not detain the Society with describing a straight crotchet, with a blunt hook at one extremity and a sharp one at the other, because this has been evidently made by an instrument-maker; nor does it materially differ from many which are used at the present day.

A fillet attached to two pieces of whalebone as handles, and covered with red satin, was also found with these instruments, but it presents nothing of peculiar interest.

Proportions of Dr Chamberlen's Instrument in English inches.

Length

Distance

Angle at which blades diverge.

of point of blade from lock

Greatest dis-
tance of blades.

of spot where
blades are most
separated from
their points.

of blades at
their points.

Greatest
breadth of the
blades.

Distance of
greatest
breadth from

their points.
Length of the
fenestræ.

Greatest
breadth of
fenestræ.

ART. IX-Case of Anomalous Affection of the Nervous System, but approaching to the Chorea rotatio of Mason Good. By C. MARSHALL, Esq. Surgeon, Forfar.

NOVEMBER 8, 1832.—I was requested to visit Jane Stewart, and found her in bed in a state of insensibility. It was with difficulty I could learn from the attendants of the patient any distinct and connected account of her previous history. Not quite thirteen years of age, she has never menstruated till 1831, when she suffered from small-pox and measles. She was s girl equally remarkable for her strong constitution and obstinate ungovernable disposition. From that period her health remained imperfect.

Towards the commencement of April 1832 she began to complain of pain in the head, with considerable uneasiness in the bowels, for which she had medicines prescribed. Deriving no benefit from them, she gradually became worse; suf. fering from almost constant headach, thirst, vomiting, and irregular bowels. Her eyes were not much affected by light. She complained sometimes of dimness, and was annoyed by the slightest noise. She was at no time delirious, but in full session of her mental faculties. Soon after the medicines were administered, she became unable to sit up, and lost the power of standing but not the faculty of moving her limbs. Several months elapsed, during which there was little alteration of the symptoms.

pos

Four months from the commencement of her illness she became speechless,-continuing silent six weeks; during which period her intellect, and organs of sensation and motion, remained unchanged. Recovering speech gradually, as an infant learns to articulate, her vision became permanently impaired-discerning objects indistinctly. Anything brought near her eyes, or in contact with her person, she started and shrunk from it as if affrighted. Delirium next supervened, lasting eight days; and was succeeded, on the morning of October 12th, by paroxysms, which recurred eight or ten times in the course of that day. Since then they have increased rapidly, both in violence and number, amounting now to fifty or sixty during the twenty-four hours.

A paroxysm consists of two stages, which I may distinguish by the terms active and passive, with an intermission formerly, but not now, at all times, distinct. The passive stage resembles syncope; the pulse, however, remaining unaffected. Insensible to all external impressions, she continues during a period of time varying from three minutes to as many hours. Respiration,

previously weak, but full as in sleep, gradually becoming full and sonorous, indicates the approach of the active stage, characterized by a series of actions as difficult to be described as it is painful to behold them. Springing from her recumbent posture, so forcibly sometimes as to pitch herself from the bed, she rests for a moment on her knees; then, making for one corner of the wooden bed, she dashes forcibly against it, striking violently on her head; assailing in like manner the other corners in quick succession. Then throwing herself on her back, screaming at the pitch of her voice, she beats for a short time with her feet rapidly against the panels of the bed, so powerfully as more than once to break them down, rendering it necessary to replace them by stronger ones. This routine of movements repeated several times, varied occasionally by being milder and fewer, or by the addition of others; such as, tearing her clothes, not unfrequently so effectually as to leave herself naked, or tossing at her attendants or window near her, any moveable object within her grasp, constitutes the only remarkable feature in the progress of the stage, which varies from five to ten minutes in duration. Every attempt made to restrain her she strongly resisted. Fearing that some serious accident would result from the violence of her actions, her father one day attempted to hold her; since that time her left arm remained in a state of permanent contraction. ing the active stage, the enjoyment of her intellectual faculties is limited; her motions are at one time apparently involuntary; at another time they seem to be in some measure under the influence of her will; she replies to no questions; her former acquaintances or nearest relations she never recognizes. Excepting that she is unable to stand, or use the left arm, her moving powers are in full vigour. The organs of sensation, so far as hearing, smell, taste or touch are concerned, seem perfect; voice somewhat altered; vision indistinct.

Dur

During the first fourteen days from the commencement of the paroxysms, a distinct intermission, varying in length from a minute to an hour and a-half, succeeded regularly the active stage, becoming gradually less frequent and shortened in duration, excepting one which continues still to occur every morning between the hours eight and nine; the intermissions are not now perceived. While free of the paroxysm she is sometimes perfectly tranquil; at other times she sobs and weeps, appearing restless and discontented, but complains of nothing. So sensitive to external impressions is she, that touching her, the sound of a person's voice, or the smell of food, is sufficient to renew the paroxysm. Her mother is of opinion that she is at no time in possession of her mental faculties.

Such is a brief history of the case previous to my first visit. Till the 17th the symptoms continued much the same as

described, the violence of the paroxysms, however, with the strength of the patient, progressively declining. On this day, recovering from the passive stage, after making several efforts to get up, she sunk down seemingly exhausted. She now lay constantly moaning, with the eyes shut, the jaws locked, the upper extremities contracted; the pulse about 30, and scarcely perceptible; the urine passed involuntarily, and the bowels confined. In this condition she continued till December 23d, when, several hours after the administration of a small quantity of soap in the form of clyster, she commenced screaming, and seemed to suffer much. The pulse was then 110. Her bowels, having remained upwards of five weeks unmoved, now acted with much pain. She partially recovered the use of both hands, and evinced slight symptoms of intelligence. Till the fatal termination on the 31st, her screams were incessant, so long as pressure was not applied to a particular part of the abdomen, which, seeming to afford her much relief, was continued night and day. She died much emaciated.

In reference to the treatment, nothing more than is mentioned had been done by the medical man who first saw her. Indeed, several months previous to my first visit, his visits had been discontinued. The state in which I found her, weak and unable to swallow, and the nature of the paroxysms precluding the application of anything in almost any form, rendered it impossible for me to do much. My treatment accordingly was limited to rubbing of tartar emetic ointment along the spine, and administering several clysters.

Not the least remarkable circumstance attending this disease, was the long continued abstinence from food. From the commencement of her illness the quantity of food consumed by her was exceedingly small; but from the end of September, when she became delirious, till the 31st of December, the period of her death, she did not require so much nutriment as is necessary for the support of an infant for one day. In fact, during the last seventy-seven days of her existence, excepting about a cupful of water every twenty-four hours, and the clyster on the 23d, nothing in the shape of nourishment was received by her. So susceptible of the smell of food was she, which never failed to produce retching, that nothing of that kind could be brought, much less cooked, within the house for several weeks previous to her death.

Inspection. Carefully examining the different parts of the brain and spinal chord, we were unable to detect any morbid alteration of structure. Slight vascularity in different parts of pia mater, and in the substance of the brain and cerebellum existed, with about six ounces of fluid, which we were able to collect from the ventricles and sheath of the chord.

The thoracic viscera were sound.

The upper portion of the alimentary canal was healthy; the lower portion, including the large intestines, contained a small quantity of feculent matter, and its peritoneal coat was tinged of a deep red colour, presenting marks of recent inflammatory action. The other abdominal and pelvic viscera were free of disease.

Without indulging in any remarks regarding this affection, I have confined myself to giving a history of the case, as brief as the nature of the subject would permit.

Its resemblance to some of the violent forms of chorea in the early part of the paroxysms is pretty manifest. But this resemblance diminished and disappeared entirely towards the close, when the symptoms indicated a most intense affection of the cerebro-spinal axis.

June 24th 1833.

ART. X.-An Account of the Topography, Climate, and present State of the Town of Torquay (Devonshire), with reference, particularly, to its suitableness as a place of residence for Invalids. By JOHN COLDSTREAM, M. D. Leith.

MATERIALS for the following account were collected during

a residence in Torquay, from the end of October 1832 till the middle of April 1833; and they have been brought together for publication, under the conviction that a more particular description than has yet appeared is awanting, to enable medical practitioners to estimate aright the true importance, as a remedial measure, of a prolonged residence at this place. The following notices can be considered only as contributions towards such a description; for more extended researches and observations than have yet been made are required, before the characters of the locality, especially as regards its climate, can be given with pre

cision.

Torquay is situated around a small cove at the north-west angle of Torbay, opening to the south-west. The cove_runs inland about 250 yards, and is about 200 yards wide. From its mouth, almost the whole of Torbay is visible. Berryhead, the south-western boundary of the bay, bears by compass SSE. distant nearly six miles. Between the points of south southeast and south-east by east, a part of the British Channel is seen. In every other direction, the horizon is bounded by land. To the south-west the nearest land is Rondham Head, about three miles off. Westwards at the distance of few hundred yards, is the shelving beach of Tor Abbey, between which, and