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.invincible law of mortality, that after death decompositionshall take place, and reduce to its primitive elements, byrapid and noxious steps, every animal substance."To counteract the evils arising from this to the living has

long been the unsuccessful aim, and continues to be so, of thestatesman and the physician.""The greatest obstacle to his (lI. Dop’s) success in obtaining

that attention to his discovery which it deserves, after hisown want of scientific dignity and savoir faire in bringing itinto notice, has arisen from the circumstance, that before heattempted to lay it before the Institute and Academy ofMedicine of Paris, the process of Gannal, which is now known-to have fallen so far short of what was expected, had alreadyfound favour with those scientific bodies; and they thereforelent an unwilling ear to the claims for notice of this obscureand intractable stranger."The communication to Lord Morpeth, from which the above

passage’s are extracted, elicited the following answer from hisLordship:- .

Office of Woods, &c., Feb. 16th, 1848.SIR,—I am much obliged to you for your communication on

a subject of so much interest; I shall be happy, as oppor-tunity occurs, to give it my best consideration.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant,"A. Ross, Esq " (Signed) MORPETH."

In a letter specially addressed to the Editor of Tns LANCET,Dr. Ross states-" am so impressed with the importance of the subject, in

every point of view, that I feel it a duty towards the indi-vidual to whom belongs the merit of the discovery, and to theprofession of which 1 am an humble membcr, to have donewhat lies in my power to direct attention to it. The labour Ihave voluntarily undertaken for this purpose will be amplyrepaid-and it is all the reward I seek-if I shall succeed inbringing into notice a process in the perfection of which theauthor of it has encountered, hitherto, nothing but privation.

" I therefore take this opportunity of hoping that theremay be found some one who, by an honourable associationwith him, or by purchasing his secret, may turn to the advan-tage of all concerned, and above all, to the public, so valuablea discovery."For this purpose I shall have much pleasure in making to

the author any communication on the subject (foreign postagepaid) which may be entrusted to me.

I have the honour to be, Sir, your most obedient servant,"Boulognc-sur-mer, Feb. 1848." A. ROSS.’A. Ross."

Reviews.

A Descriptive Catalogue of the Preparations, Drawings, Models,&c., contained in the Museum of the Birmingham and MidlandCountie.s Lying-in Hospital and Dispensary, for the Diseasesof Wonzeia and Children. By JOHN G. CONNOR, A.C., T.C.D.Birmingham : Billing. 1847. 8vo, pp. 209.

THis catalogue is of a description which reflects the highestcredit upon the author, and the institution from which itemanates.

We shall open the book at random in three places, andpresent to the reader as many specimens of its contents.

" A. 63.-A sparrow, opened to exhibit the testes in situ,and also to show how small they are in the quiescent state,or season when the reproductive organs are not called intoaction. This great law rules most animals also when in theirwild state; for otherwise, the intention of Nature would befrustrated, since the inclemency of the season would destroythe young. So is it likewise in plants; most flower not tillthe proper season. Some aphides, or plant lice, exemplifythis law wonderfully; for they are ovo-viviparous in the earlypart of the year, but viviparous as winter approaches-a pro-vision evidently intended to secure the preservation of theembryo during the inclement season, the eggs remaining un-hatched until the return of spring."-p. 29.

" B. 116.—The uterus of a woman, a short time after deli-

very. A section has been made into the posterior wall, toshow its very great thickness. The glandulse nabothi, in theneck of the uterus, and at the os, which, during pregnancy,secrete the gelatinous plug, (so well seen in preparations 107- 112,) and also, during labour, secrete that discharge whichlubricates these parts, are well seen. There is the remains ofa corpus luteum in the left ovary, bearing all the character-istics peculiar to it at that time, described by Dr. Mont.

gomery, in his ’Exposition of the Signs and Symptoms ofPregnancy.’ "-p. 64.

" C. 158.-A most beautiful specimen of a human placenta,exhibiting the numerous little particles of the phosphate oflime, which are sometimes met with on the uterine surfaceof a full-grown placenta. In this preparation they seem tohave been deposited outside the umbilical radicles. Thisdeposit, occurring as it does in the latter period of uterinegestation, when ossification is rapidly advancing in the foetalskeleton, might lead one almost to suppose that the placentasupplies the material for the bones, and so serve as it does inthe eaily part of embryonic life, as an organ of nutrition, aswell as one for producing a change in the blood analogous torespiration. By some, these bony spiculæ observed in thefully matured placenta are considered as a means of oblite-rating gradually the vascular connexion between the systemof mother and child."—p. 83.

Catalogues generally are mere enumerations of objects,useless unless the latter are present : the above is a readablework, containing a very large amount of information; and wewould suggest, (if this be not already done,) that the severaldescriptions be bodily cut from the catalogue, and pasted bythe curators of the museum on the jars or cases containingthe respective specimens, that he who runs may read." The

spectator would then have before him, at one view, both theobject of his examination, and a description pointing out tohim the circumstances which it is intended to illustrate.

, We have often thought it lamentable that such a methodhas not been pursued in the galleries of the British Museum.The throngs that walk up and down its halls really gain noinformation as to the history of what is there collected; theysee attached to the specimens no description of their pecu-

-

liarities,-nothing, in short, but their scientific names, unpro-> nounceable to the unlearned; and they leave that great1 national institution with the head as empty, and the heart as’

cold, as when they entered it. Catalogues, it is true, theree

are, and of these a specimen or two may suffice." Cases 13-14. The Baboons or Dog-faced Apes from

Africa : as the liamadi-yas, the papio, the mandril, and thedrill.

Cases 15-19. The Monkeys from Tropical America; theyare generally slow, and feed on leaves.

Case 15. The Spider Monkey from Brazils.Case 16. The Negro Monkeys in the upper part of the Case,

and below them the Howlers, so called from the continualloud noise they make in the woods, especially at night.

Case 17. The Sakis, with prehensile tails.Case 18. The Night Apes, with large nocturnal eyes like

owls; the Callithrices, the hairy monkey, and the Jewmonkeys.

Case 19. The Teetees, Marmozettes, and Silky Monkey,which are generally of a small size.

Cases 20-22. The Lemurs and the Propithece, from Mada-gascar ; they eat fruit and insects.

WALL CASES 1-13. SPINY-RAYED Fisn.Cases 1-4. The perches, gurnards, the flying gurnards,

with their large pectoral fins, the bull heads, the hog-fish,sea scorpions, the flying sea scorpions or sea butterflies, para-dise fish, and fingered perches.Case 5. The Scienoid Fish, maigres, ombres.Case 6. The bristle-toothed fish or Chætodons.Case 7. The Holacanthi, the scombers, mackarel, tunny,

the sword-fish, with its long, pike-like nose : some of theseafford a most important article of food.

Case 8. Pilot fish, horse mackarel, john dories, ponfrets:’Such catalogues are beneath contempt; and we do not

forget that some years ago very pitiful obstacles were, by theMuseum authorities, thrown in the way of the sale of bettercatalogues of the British Museum, speculated in by privateparties; in order that they (the authorities) might catch the

, pence of the public for their own meagre and ungrammatical! trash., From any censure on the catalogues and management of

London museums, the Hunterian Museum is entitled to

f honourable exception ; but even there convenience is not. studied byposting good descriptions of the specimens on the- ’ cases and jars. No other museum with which we are

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acquainted can boast of a catalogue exhibiting any approach,in point of value, to that which has called forth these re-marks ; and the money-getting, jobbing metropolis, may welltake many a lesson from public-spirited Birmingham andother great provincial towns.

Medical Societies.

ROYAL MEDICAL AND CHIRURGICAL SOCIETY.APRIL 11, 1848.—J. M. ARNOTT, ESQ., F.R.S., PRESIDENT.

ACCOUNT OF A DISLOCATION, IN CONSEQUENCE OF DISEASE OF THEFIRST AND SECOND CERVICAL VERTEBRÆ. By JAMES PAGET,Esq., Assistant-Surgeon to St. Bartholomew’s Hospital.

THE specimen exhibited and described by the author wasfound in a graveyard, and no information could be obtainedrelative to the individual of whor - it once formed part. Itconsists of the first and second cervical vertebras of an adult,firmly united by bone, in such a position that the uppermostpart of the spinal cord must have been confined within anexceedingly narrow space. The articulating surfaces of bothbones evince evidence of there having been superficial ulcera-tion and subsequent healing, as well as of increased vascu-larity, being porous, and covered, at parts, with a thin layerof new bone; the upper part of the odontoid process is alsoporous and rough. The disease affecting their ligamentousconnexions must have been more considerable than that whichthe bones themselves suffered; for the axis, as if quite loosenedfrom its fastenings, had been moved backwards, with a

very slight deviation to the left, till its odontoid process wasnearly approximated to the posterior portion of the atlas, thering of the latter being thus divided into two unequal parts,the anterior of which measures seven lines from beforebackwards, whilst the posterior is diminished to two lines inthe centre, and three lines on either side, its lateral diameterbeing nine lines and a half. Through this compressed spacethe spinal cord must have passed. The vertebras thus dis-placed are not diminished in size, nor materially altered inform. The author remarked that this specimen is interest-ing chiefly in a physiological view, as illustrating to whatextent the upper part of the spinal cord may be reduced insize, without such impairment of its function as is incom-patible with life. The death which commonly ensues in con-sequence of disease or injury of the upper part of the cord,is due to the impairment of the action of the phrenic andother spinal nerves supplying muscles of respiration; and theforce by which the actions of these several nerves are com-bined is resident in and close by that part of the medullaoblongata from which the roots of the pneumogastric nervesgo out. But if the change be gradual, such instances as thepresent prove that there may be great reduction of the upperpart of the cord without destruction of their chief functionalrelations. The chief difficulty is to explain how motor in-fluence can be conveyed through the contracted part. Theauthor considers that that part of the respiratory processwhich depends on centripetal impressions could be in only aslight degree, if at all interfered with, the pneumogastricnerves not being implicated. But the case is different withthe centrifugal impressions necessary for the respiratory imovements: these would have to be propagated from themedulla oblongata, along the cord, to the phrenic and otherrespiratory nerves. He regards the difficulty of explainingthis as insuperable, if we adopt the opinion that there is aseparate set of excito-motory nerves, which involves the ne-cessity of assuming that the white nerve-fibres are the con-ducting media. But the difficulty is much less, if we admit thatthe fibres of the roots of the spinal nerves do not proceedalong the cord, far from the parts at which they severallypenetrate it, and that the associated actions of the spinalnerves with one another, or with the medulla oblongata orbrain, is effected chiefly by means of the grey matter of thecord. In the specimen before the Society, the exterior of thecord must have been first and most wasted; hence would,most probably, ensue the loss of function of those nerves,whose roots were immediately connected with it-viz., thoseof the first and second cervical, and some of the roots of theaccessory, the consequence of which would be, loss of sensi-bility in the upper and back part of the head, and loss ofmotor power in the mass of cervical muscles supplied by theabove nerves-functional lesions of very little importance,considering the ankylosed condition of the upper two vertebræof the neck.

CASE OF EXTRA-UTERINE FŒTATION. By D. DALRYMPLE, Esq.(Communicated by JOHN DALRYMPLE, Esq.)

The patient whose case is here narrated was thirty-twoyears of age, in good health, and had borne five children. Shesaid she became pregnant early in January, 1847, and quick.ened early in April. About the latter period she strainedherself, and her subsequent feelings were different from whatshe had experienced on former occasions. Shortly after this,the uterus descended, and the author first saw her at thelatter end of June, in consequence of this prolapse, the wombthen protruding, of the size of a full-grown foetal head, andpresenting on its anterior surface a large ulcerated patch, ofa purplish hue. The beat of the foetal heart could be distinctlyheard high up, but the placental murmur was not distinguish-able. Rest and the recumbent posture were enjoined. Atthe end of September she had irregular labour-pains, whichgradually subsided without the os uteri becoming dilated.From this time she ceased to feel the movements of the child,and soon diminished in size, and improved in health, until themiddle of November, when her health became seriouslyaffected; she suffered from increase in the size of the abdo.men, great pain, shortness of breath, &c., and she died onDecember 23rd. On laying back the abdominal parietes, athick layer of yellow lymph was found to line the internalsurface of the peritonæum, within which was a large accumu-lation of thick sanious pus, not putrid. Immediately acrossthe abdomen, above the umbilicus, lay a full-grown fœtus,which occupied a cavity, formed and bounded above by theintestines and omentum, and below by the pelvis: this spacewas covered by lymph, organized and highly vascular at parts.The head of the child was in the left hypochondrium, and thecord could be traced to a large, deep-coloured, spongy mass,apparently attached to the uterus, though that organ couldnot itself be made out, so irregular and confused was the mass.The child was well formed, and weighed eleven pounds and ahalf. The author concluded by stating his belief, that thefoetus had escaped through an aperture in the uterus, which,he conjectures, was ruptured at the end of April, during theact of coitus, at which period, he was informed by the husband,a peculiar sensation was perceptible after a violent movementof his wife’s body. He also remarked that the present is acase in which abdominal section would have completely failed,had a correct diagnosis been formed, and such an operationattempted.

Dr. LEE said that he was not satisfied that the fcetus hadever been in the uterus, as Mr. Dalrymple supposed. Therewas no decided symptom of rupture of the uterus in thehistory of the case; and if rupture had taken place, in allprobability both the fcetus and the placenta would havepassed through the rent into the peritonæal sac, as had hap-pened in the greater number of cases of ruptured uterus hehad met with. But if the placenta had not accompanied thefcetus, but remained adherent to the uterus, the circulation inthe cord would Immediately have been arrested, and thechild destroyed. He (Dr. Lee) was satisfied that it was anordinary case of ventrical conception.The PRESIDENT inquired whether Dr. Lee could answer any

of the questions put by the author, and especially as to thetreatment ?

Dr. LEE replied that in a case which he thought mighthave been this very one respecting which he had been con-sulted by Mr. Crosse, of Norwich, he had recommended asmall opening to be made through the abdominal parietes, toendeavour to extract the child. He said he gave this advicewith the greatest diffidence and hesitation, and more par-ticularly in consequence of the two last cases of extra-uterinegestation which had come under his observation havingproved fatal in the seventh month; and where Nature hadmade no effort to get rid of the foetus by the usual pro-cesses when a foetus makes its way through the abdominalparietes.

Dr. MERYON referred to a case related by Chelden, in whicha foetus remained in the abdomen upwards of twenty years,without apparent detriment to the health of the individual,and requested to know whether this fact would not induceDr. Lee to modify the opinion which he had just expressed.

Dr. LEE replied that the case referred to by Dr. Meryonhad occurred to Dr. Chelden, and was not a case of ventricalconception, but of rupture of the uterus. Labour had com-menced ; the presenting part had been felt; symptoms ofrupture occurred; the child receded, and, in fact, escapedthrough a rent in the uterus into the abdominal cavity, whereit remained for a very long- period. Dr. Lee added, that inordinary cases of extra-uterine conception he was not disposedto interfere, but to trust to Nature, and that the practice he