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mention their limited experience, or their "being personallyunacquainted" with regard to it, and such-like remarks.Surely, when a person takes upon himself the responsibilitiesof authorship, and publishes a work which pretends to be amedical treatise or monograph, the reader supposes that beforehe writes he has made himself thoroughly acquainted with thedifferent methods of treatment pursued by practical inquirers,and that he discusses the subject accordingly.Having had positive proof, in my own case, of the successful

issue and of the great value of this method of treatment, I dotrust that, before future editions of their works are called for,the authors on stricture will have made themselves competentto pronounce opinions from their own individual investiga-tions. I am, Sir, yours obediently,February, 1860. M.D.

(My name is forwarded herewith.)

ON A CASE OF CHLOROSIS.

C. F. STOVIN,Student of Grosvenor-place School of Medicine.

To the Editor of THE LANCET.

SiR,-The following case (though imperfect) may interestsome of your readers, as illustrating the views respectingchlorosis, mentioned by Dr. Brinton in his " Clinical Remarks,"in THE LANCET of Saturday last :-

Sarah H-, aged nineteen, who had never menstruated,had been suffering for four or five years from chlorosis, attendedwith an arterial bruit and considerable cedema, relieved fromtime to time by the administration of iron. Dysoncea wasalways a prominent symptom. She died suddenly, in whatappeared to those by whom she was surrounded to be an ordi-nary fainting fit.My object in sending you these particulars of this case is to

draw the attention of the profession to the danger which isliable to arise from the accident of chlorosis, suggested by thenovel and important views Dr. Brinton has brought forward.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant,C. F. STOVIN,

February, 1860. Student of Grosvenor-place School of Medicine.

THE

PRIVY COUNCIL VACCINATION DIPLOMA.To the Editor of THE LANCET.

SIR,-Having seen in your number of the 18th inst. a copyof a memorial addressed to the Lords of the Privy Council bythe public vaccinators of the Chesterfield Union, relative topublic vaccination in accordance with the regulations recentlyissued by the Privy Council, I am desirous, through the mediumof your journal, of calling the attention of those gentlemen tothe third line of the third paragraph of their contracts (if ap-proved by the Poor-law Board), which states that "he willattend by himself, or some legally qualified medical practitioneras his substitute ;" so that they may disabuse their minds ofthe belief that they have a grievance.

I would also suggest to those gentlemen, whether, each timethey have acted as stated in their memorial (i. e., letting theirindentured apprentices vaccinate), they have not done so inviolation of their engagements with the Chesterfield Board ofGuardians. I enclose my card, and have the honour to be, Sir,

Your most obedient servant,February 21st, 1860. MENTOR.

ON THE TREATMENT OF SMALL-POX BYHYDROCHLORIC ACID.

WM. McDONALD, L.R.C.P. & L. R. C. S. Edin.

To the Editor of THE LANCET.

SIR,-I beg to call the attention of the profession to thegreat value of hydrochloric acid in both the external and in-ternal treatment of small-pox. It allays the prickling pain sodistressing in some cases, reduces the tumefaction, the vesiclematurates earlier, and desquamation takes place sooner, leavingthe skin smoother and purer than by any other plan which 1have tried. Internally, one drachm of the commercial acid totwelve ounces of water: dose, a teaspoonful in a glass of water;to be sipped often. Externally, I use it to the face, hands,and feet-the parts which suffer most from irritation : for theface, half a drachm to, say, ten ounces of water; apply with ahair pencil twice or thrice daily, using occasionally the mercu-rial liniment or cold cream. If the cuticle on the extremitiesbe hard and horny, it may be used stronger.

I shall not here enter into an account of its specific action, asI am preparing a paper on its use in various diseases, which,

with your kind permission, I shall shortly publish in yourvaluable journal. The present epidemic of small-pox affordsample scope for its trial, and I am confident that it will be asserviceable in the hands of my professional brethren as in mine.

I remain, Sir, yours truly,W--4. McDoNALD, L.R.C.P. & L.R.C.S. Edin.

Maryhill, Feb. 1860r. _________________

PARISIAN MEDICAL INTELLIGENCE.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

WITHIN the last few months, we have had here five cases ofnaso-pharyngeal polypi-namely, two at the Fitie, in thewards of M. Maissonneuve ; one at the HOtel Dieu, underM. Foucher; one at the Charite, under Professor Velpeau;and one at the Clinique de 1’Ecole de Medecine, under thecare of Professor Nelaton. The proceeding of Manne for theremoval of such tumours is well known: it consisted in divid-

ing the velum palati in the mesial line through its whole extent,in order to expose the polypus, which has always its seat at

the base of the skull, its starting-point being invariably thebasilar process of the occipital bone. In 1840, M. Flaubert

performed that operation by removing the whole of the superiormaxillary bone. A medium between Manne’s and Flaubert’s

operations had been introduced into continental practice byProfessor Nélaton in 1849, which consisted in dividing thevelum palati, and in the partial resection of the roof of thepalate.M. Maissonneuve brought before the notice of the Académie

de Sciences, in August last, a. new proceeding. He makes onlya button-hole incision into the velum palati (boutonniere pala-tine), leaving the uvula intact. A wire ligature, which can betightened by means of a screw, like the ecraseur, is introducedinto the nostrils, into which the tumour is fixed and cut off bythe ligature. To the pedicule he then applies caustics, &c.

Professor Nélaton, in the case in question, satisfied himselfmerely by Manne’s operation, for he considers it essential tohave free access to the seat of the tumour in case of a recidive,

Result.-M. Maissonneuve reports two cases of success, for itwould be premature to call them cures. M. Foucher’s patientdied from purulent infiltration. Professor Velpeau’s patientdied from erysipelatous indammation. That of Prof. Nélatonis still under treatment.

I may mention a case which has been for some months underthe treatment of Professor Nelaton, on account of its rare oc-currence, and as it is nowhere mentioned in books. A woman,of the age of about thirty, presented herself at the Cliniquewith a congenital salivary iistula. The opening was situatedat the left side of the neck, four millimetres below the hyoidbone. A probe, being introduced, was found to communicatewith the sublingual gland. During the process of mastication,the saliva came out in drops (as it does from the parotid orsubmaxillary gland), but in the continuous form, and becameviscid on cooling. Professor Nélaton first established a com-munication between the sublingual gland in the interior of themouth by means of a seton, and next obliterated the fistulousopening by chloride of zinc.M. Beau, of La Charite, continues the treatment of perito-

nitis and rheumatism by means of large doses of sulphate ofquinine (half a drachm per day), and boasts of successful re-sults; whilst M. Trousseau has, within the last few weeks,cured three cases of acute articular rheumatism by the admi-nistration of solution of sulphate of atropine, four drops perday. Perfect cures were accomplished in four, five, and eightdays. He also cured two cases of aphony, one hysteric andanother bronchitic, by introducing a probang with the solutionof sulphate of copper into the rima glottidis: cure instanta-neous.

There is nothing particular at present at the Lariboisière.M. Chassaignac’s écraseur would, perhaps, be more popularhere if he would not ride his hobby to death in using it for theoperation of phymosis, &c. He removed a tonsil last week bymeans of that instrument.The coal-tar question had nearly fallen into oblivion, but it

has again been revived by the Academie des Sciences. Jn theseance of yesterday, the report of the commission charged toexamine the numerous communications on disinfecting agentswas taken up. The commission considers coal-tar as the moatvaluable agent of all that have been proposed.

Paris, Feb. 14th, 1860.