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ness which continues as long’ as the pressureis kept up on the tumour. The same cir-cumstance has been often remarked by

. others.To ascertain that this communication does

positively exist, Magendie made the follow-ing experiment :-He injected into the lowerpart of the vertebral canal four ounces ofink ; this was done with great caution, andthis quantity was found sufficient, not onlyto blacken all the surface of the brain, butalso the internal part of all the cavities ofthis organ. In making this experiment, hefound that the least pressure made on themembranes of the spinal marrow was suf-ficient to cause a fresh quantity of the inkto be forced into the third ventricle. Thisexperiment, together with the fact men-

. tioned as occurring in spina-bifida, to saynothing of the absolute anatomical arrange-ment, clearly proves that there is a directcommunication with the cavities of thebrain and the spinal marrow, and that thoseanatomists were right who regard the serousfluid found in the brain as a normal produc-tion, and as existing in the healthy state ofthe organ. Magendie avers that he hasfound, in more than fifty examinations, thatthe quantity of this serosity varies from halfan ounce to two, without the patients hav-ing exhibited any signs of a previous cere-bral affection. But if the quantity of fluidshould exceed two ounces, it may be re-garded as a morbid phenomenon.

0 lVIagendie finishes his second paper withthese words :-° Is it not remarkable thatthe parts of the brain named by the ancients,the valve, the aqueduct, the bridge, have pre-cisely the uses that their name indicates ?It is thus that the valve of Vicussens, or thegreat valve of the cerebellum, performs ex-actly the functions of a valve, since it pre-vents the exit of the fluid which traversesit, or which fills the fourth ventricle. Neverdid any part merit its name better than theaqueduct of Sylvius, since, according to theexperiments which I have related, this canalconveys the water of the ventricles towardthe spine, and sometimes the water of thespine toward the head. Lastly, that partwhich has been called a brid,-e is, in fact, alarge medullary arch placed above the cur-rents of fluid which traverse the aqueduct."

PATHOLOGY.

The Examination of the Body of Tulma by his-

own Physician.The following is the only correct account

of the nature of Talma’s disease which has.been published ; it was read to the Academyof Aledicine by Biett, his principal physician:—The body was opened twenty-six hours

after death. The intestines were exces.

. sively distended by gas and fcecal matter,and there was an effusion into the abdomenof a dark-coloured liquid. The rectum

formed a vast sac in the pelvis; at about sixinches from the anus, there was a circularcontraction of that gut of about two inchesin leng.th, reducing the intestine’ to a hardand solid cylinder of about three lines indiameter, so that the canal was completelyobliterated. Below this contraction, therectum was reduced to about the size of oneof the small intestines of a child ; above it,on the contrary, it was enormously dilated,and presented near the contracted part asmall opening, through which the feecalfluidhad escaped into the abdomen. This open-ing had partially adhered to the neighbour.ing surface of intestine below the stricturedpoint, and both were ulcerated. This ac.counts for the circumstance that, duringlife, although all direct communication wascompletely cut off between the upper andlower portions of the rectum, a certain quan.tity of gas and fcEcal matter occasionallyescaped per anum. In the left ventricle ofthe heart, there was an aneurismal pouch ofabout the size of a small egg, filled with afibrous mass. M. Biett concludes that the

organic lesion of the intestine, wInch termi-nated the life of Talma, must have existedfor a very long period, and that it mighteven have been the result of a congenitalmalformation of the parts.

SURGERY.

I The female for whom Lisfranc amputatedthe neck of the uterus, and who became af-terwards pregnant, has been safely deliveredof a full-grown child, and is doing verywell. (See the announcement of the case

in No. 180 of THE LANCET.)

" HOLE AND CORNER" WORK OF THE FACULTYOF MEDICINE IN PARIS.

Those who have spent much time in theFrench capital, must have witnessed thewretched effects of that party spirit whichat present reigns there among the teachers of

medicine, from the lowest to the highest,

pervading alike the benches of the Amphi-theatre, and the chambers of the Institute.Ever since the abolition of the formerfaculte, the greatest discontent has pre-vailed among its members, at seeing youngand inexperienced men introduced, throughministerial favour and jesuitical intrigue;but for some cause or other, the gofern-ment appears to be just as jealous of thepresent members, although entirely of theirown creation. The ex-members of the former

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faculte most heartily despise the membersof the present ; and the latter, again, affectto domineer over the former. The editorof the Gazette de Sante, Dr. Miquel, wasbrought up too long in the republican school,to relish the decumbency of late so preva-lent among his colleagues to political, orrather spiritual power, and his journal is theonly one in which the system is freely ex-posed. In order to show the manner inwhich the affairs of the faculte are at pre-sent conducted, we insert the followingextracts from a letter written by a Frenchstudent, addressed to Miquel:—" We will commence with the distribu- i

tion of the prizes of the Ecole Pratique.Formerly, this annual meeting was a feteday, a day of some importance in the schoolof medicine ; now, the prizes are distributed,in silence, and only a few persons are I .allowed to be present. The opening dis-course was pronounced by Mr. Cruveilhier,secretary of the faculty ; it was consecratedto the eulogy of Moreau de la Sarth, Pinel, IRoyer-Collard, late editor of the Bibliotheque IMedicale, and of Laennec. After havingsignalised the services rendered to scienceby Pinel and Royer-Collard, M. Cruveil- Ihier dwelt with apparent satisfaction on themerits of Laennee, and saluted the ears

of his friends, clothed in ermine, withthe following passages: Independent bysituation as by character, he never bent aservile head to power ; he remained faithfulto an unfortunate dynasty ; and the bust ofCardinal Fesch, of whom he was the phy-sician and friend, still ornaments his apart-ment. If he participated in the organisa-tion of the new faculty, it was because he

could not prevent the dissolution of the

ancient, where his place was marked longago.’ At these words, a burst of applauseissued from the pupils’ benches; but thenew professors, whose places were not

marked like that of Laennec in the ancient

faculty, confounded by such temerity, turnedto the orator such looks, as intimated thathe would repent his imprudence. Thishardihood is so much the more astonishing, asM. Cruveilhier was, as every one knows,the favourite of the new faculty, the enfantgâté of this regenerating committee. Someother expressions escaped the young pro-fessor, which were immediately reported tothe minister, but with what effect is not yetknown.

" Now as to the concours’ of the ag-gregation ;’ this concours at present occu-pies the chief attention of the faculty." Thefollowing observations tend to show the ab-surdity of renewing the practice of carry-ing on medical disputes in a dead language,and of reviving the habits of the fifteenth inthe nineteenth century. It appears that

the language of Cicero was horribly mal-treated. " Figure to yourself," says the

correspondent, eight grave professors pre-tending to take notes of a medical discus-sion, hearing every moment the most barba-rous expressions, half French, half Latin,insignificant and broken down phrases, and .

the usually uncouth scholastic jargon con-verted into the ridiculous and burlesque.Imagine an assembly of students in medi-cine, who thought to hear some instructivediscussions, but who, catching at the bar-

barous expressions of the candidates, evin-

ced by their loud applauses their dis-

gust at the whole proceeding. Imaginecandidates talking without understandingeach other, and you will then. have but afaint idea of the truly comic spectacle af-forded at the Faculte de Medicine." Oneof the candidates, on being pressed by ano-

ther competitor, and not understandingthe question put to him, replied, "Non e,tclarus in tua quastione." The rival repeatedhis question, but it was no better understood,and he received no other answer for a full

quarter of an hour ! By dint of repetition,he at last appeared to understand the ques-tion, and replying in an unintelligible phrase,the auditory began to laugh, when the mor-tified student turned round and said, I 1 11

y’a quinze ans que je n’ai pas revu mon Latin."His adversary, with an air of triumph,’

finished his argumentation with these words,"donc, reliquo questio ;" at which the stu-dents renewed their laughter with increasedrelish. Another candidate commenced his

question with some degiee of assurance :" Quœram ate, egregie candidate, quccaiam sintcausœ motbi qui .. .. qui .. .. qui," andthere he stuck for five minutes on his qui,without being able to mumble out any thingfurther than a few incoherent sentences.Another, speaking of death by suspension,expressed himself thus : "Duorum in cada-vere sicspensorum quos mors modo interfecerat!"Another eluded a question by saying, "Tibirespondam me non debuisse de hoc loquera!"The correspondent of the Gazette de Santegoes onto say, that it is his firm conviction,that no one even of the eight professorscould translate, sur- le-champ, a single page ofCicero, that might be read to them from theChair.

This certainly appears to have been a mostridiculous exhibition ; and it says little forthe education of the Parisian students, andstill less for the policy that rendered suchexposures necessary.