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body was found after death in the third branch of the bronchus;but even if this had been known before, how difficult it wouldhave been to remove a body, grasped as this was by, and filling,the tube. To get the forceps so low down would have beenalmost impossible, though they might be safely employed, per-haps, in the first or second division of the tube. The casewas altogether different from that of Mr. Brunel, in which theforeign body was moveable. He looked upon this case as im-

portant, as having been minutely and accurately given, and ifa precisely similar case should occur, looking at the certainresults of non-interference, he should certainly operate, butwith no great confidence of success. In this very case, how-ever, the course taken by the carotid might have resulted,had an operation been performed, in the death of the patienton the table, from a wound of the artery; and it indicated thenecessity of carefully examining the parts at the upper por-tion of the sternum, when we were about to operate in thatneighbourhood.Dr. W. V. PETTIGREW had never seen such a course of the

artery as that exhibited in this case; if normal, as Dr. Sibsonsaid, it had escaped his (Dr. Pettigrew’s) observation. With

respect t.o the foreign body in this case, even if it had beengristle, it might have been productive of much mischief; itwould not have been safe to have trusted to its becoming soft-ened. He alluded to some cases in which a portion of cab-bage and a piece of walnut-shell had escaped into the air-tube, and on being coughed up to the glottis, produced asphyxia;one of these, fourteen days after it had been swallowed. Mightnot a speculum, similar to Mr. Avery’s bladder-speculum, assistin our diagnosis in doubtful cases. It was sometimes verydifficult to determine when a foreign body had escaped intothe air-passages.Mr. HOLMES CooTE did not regard the operation of passing

a pair of forceps through an opening in the trachea as so easyin these cases. He mentioned two cases of foreign bodies inthe trachea-one a pebble and one a nail, which were bothcoughed up in young subjects without any operative procedure.Mr. CuRLiNQ having made some remarks, the Society ad-

journed. ______________

’,

MEDICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON.

MONDAY, Nov. 19, 1849.—MR. HIRD IN THE CHAIR.

MR. DENDY read the following propositions or aphorismsrespecting CHOLERA, ,

as embracing, in a few words, all that we know of thatdisease.The name-Acholera.-Because when cholera or gall-flux

is established, the prognosis becomes favourable.It is the first stage of adynamic fever.-Because this fever,

in varied degrees, is constantly developed on the subsidenceof the flux.The predisposing causes are, anxiety, low living, bad habits,

crowded locality, malaria of decomposition.-Because theabsence of these is proved to be prophylaxis.

It is epidemic, and not essentially contagious.-Becausethere was a prevalent establishment of the disorder over alarge space of the kingdom in a few days.The exciting cause is a poison imbibed or inhaled, influ-

encing the ganglia, the blood, and the bowels; the symptomsenduring until the poison is destroyed or expelled.-Becausespasm, discrasis of blood, and intestinal flux, are the conse-quences, the blood being rendered unfit for circulation andsecretion.That premonitory diarrhoea is not an essence of the disease.

- Because the epithelial Hakes are fewer than in diarrhoea;and we have, periodically, a severe diarrhœa—not formidable,unless a malignant epidemic be prevalent.Diarrhoea renders its subject highly susceptible of the

malignant invasion.—Because as the uterus, during parturi-tion, so the mucous membrane, during diarrhoea, is a weakpoint in the system.The flux would probably be a safety-valve to the system, as

the pustule of variola and the exanthem of rubeola, and provesalutary, if the systemic energy were sufficient. -Becausemany of the highly malignant and speedily fatal cases oc-curred without the flux; and because, like that of inflamma-tion, its unfettered intensity destroys.The result of the malady depends essentially on the resist-

ing power of the system quoad the dose of poison introduced.- Because persons in various conditions, and subject to thesame influence, evince symptoms of varied intensity.Prognosis must be formed chiefly from re-establishment of

suppressed secretion.-Because this indicates a renovation ofthe blood and the elimination of deleterious matters from thesystem.There is no specific-i. e., antidote-to the poison yet dis-

covered.The adoption of one remedy, (?) from isolated experience, is

unscientific, and its advocacy perilous.The unlimited exhibition of alcohol and opium is unsafe.-

Because it is followed so often by fever and narcotism.LOCAL PARALYSIS.

A youth, eighteen years of age, suffering from paralysis ofmotion in the deltoid and biceps of the left arm, was exhibitedto the Society. He was a fair, scrofulous-looking subject,generally in the enjoyment of good health, and was seizedsuddenly, and without any premonitory symptom, about twomonths since, with paralysis in the muscles above named. Inall other respects he appeared healthy, and the muscularsystem normal; but there was a peculiar condition of themuscles of the face on any exertion which resembled the move-ments of chorea. He was a coach-trimmer by trade, andthere was no good evidence of his having at any time beenaffected by lead. Mineral tonics, friction, and galvanism hadfailed of affording him any relief. What then was the causeof the disease, and what should be the treatment pursued ?It was suggested that it might be the result of local injury;but no such cause could be traced. Was it from lead ? Noevidence existed of such an opinion being correct. Was itpartial chorea ? It evidently, however, was one of those casesof anomalous conditions of the nervous system, resemblingcases of hysteria in women. Might it not be the result ofmasturbation ? Would the use of acupuncture be of service?Would not mineral tonics, carried to a farther extent, effect acure; or if dependent on moral causes, as suggested, wouldnot change of scene, as going to the sea-side, &c., by which themind might be occupied by a different train of thought, bebeneficial?Such were some of the suggestions thrown out for the

guidance of the practitioner under whose care the patient was.In the course of a somewhat discursive debate, opinions were

expressed respecting the relative advantages of various prepa-rations of iron.Mr. ROBARTS had found the sulphate of iron better than

other preparations in the treatment of chorea. It required tobe given in large doses, and sometimes with the sulphate ofquinine. He had seen it given in five-grain doses three timfsa day. The muriated tincture acted more as a diuretic thanas a tonic.Mr. HEADLAND had found, that in all cases in which the

tongue was red, no matter what the disease, iron was inad-missible. The tongue, for iron to be of service, should bewhite, flaccid, and ansemic. In strumous cases, iron, withiodine, in the form of syrup, was a good preparation. In leuco-phlegmatic habits, with struma, and want of tone, iodine andiron were indicated. In dyspepsia with white tongue, thetincture of the muriate, after meals, was of much service inmany cases. The sesquicarbonate was often of use in ansemia.Mr. HIRD related a case of obstructed bowel, occurring in a

thin, delicate boy, seven years old. The case presented allthe evidences of internal strangulation, but was rendered some-what obscure by the presence of a congenital hernia, which,however, was not down during the seizure. The boy livedfour days, all the usual remedies failing to relieve the constantvomiting, the constipation, &c. After death, signs of inflam-mation were found in the intestines and peritonseum, and asmall aperture was discovered in the appendix vermiformis,from which matter had escaped into the peritonseal cavity,and hence the source of all the mischief. No foreign bodywas present.

WESTMINSTER MEDICAL SOCIETY.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 1849.—MR. HIRD, PRESIDENT.

TUBERCULAR MENINGITIS IN A VERY YOUNG CHILD.

DR. ROGERS exhibited to the Society the lungs of a child,not four months old, who had died of tubercular meningitis,(hydrocephalus acutus;) they were infiltrated with tubercle inevery stage and form, miliary, grey and yellow, large massesof which, when cut into, were found entirely softened. Thebronchial glands were greatly enlarged, infiltrated with

tubercle, and diffluent. The principal points of interest inhistory were these : mother phthisical, her relatives had diedof phthisis. The infant, at birth, was a fine, large child,apparently healthy, but evidences were quickly developed of