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not incur blame for lecturing too frequently.Now, Sir, allow me to say, that the student’sof Guy’s Hospital do not find fault with Mr.Morgan for any want of punctuality in de-livering his portion of the course of surgicallectures ; but that they complain of the totalneglect of any thing like a course of clini-cal instruction, in an Institution where thereexist such vast opportunities of impartingknowledge to the student, clinical instruction being the most important of all themeans of medical education.There is another grievance, under which

the students of this hospital suffer, andthat is, the great irregularity of the sur-geons, as to the time of their attendance;half-past twelve is the hour at which it isstated that the surgeons go round the Iwards, and yet we seldom see them until

, half-1Jast one, or, perhaps, two o’clock, so thatwe are obliged to neglect our other studies,and to keep waiting for these officers some-times an hour, sometimes an hour and ahalf, and, after all this trouble, we seldfnthare a clinical lectui-e from any of them.This want of attention to punctuality invisiting the hospital is very shameful, andinterferes materially with those importantpursuits which it is the duty of the medicalstudent to attend to. I am, Sir, your obe-dient servant, A STUDENT OF GuY’s.Guy’s Hospital, Mar. 16, 1837.

’. We have ascertained, that the state-ments contained in the foregoing paragraphare strictly true.

ROYAL INSTITUTION.

Friday, March 17.

APPLICATION OF THE SULFHATE OF COPPER SO-

LUTION TO THE COMMON VOLTAIC BATTERY.

Tills evening the theatre of the Institu-tion was crowded to the ceiling with vi-sitors of both sexes, to witness a demon-stration by Mr. FARADAY, of the powers ofthe common voltaic battery, when excitedby a saturated solution of the sulphate ofcopper, instead of the customary acids. In

introducing the subject, Mr. Faraday ob-served, that it had ever been a principlewith him (which had been inculcated uponhim by Sir Humphry Davy), to considerpublished facts as the only genuine proofof priority of invention in philosophicalmatters. That the sulphate of copper hadthe power of exciting the voltaic pile, had,been long known to himself and others,although no particular use had been madeof the fact. In February, 1836, Mr. Da-niels published a series of experiments,made with a solution of this salt, but witha battery having a membrane interposed be-tween the solution and the plates. In Sep-

tember, of the same year, another gentlemanpublished a paper, on the same subject, andin the December following, M. De la Ruebrought out his essay, in which, for thefirst time, were detailed observations uponthe action of the sulphate of copper uponthe naked plates. Mr. Faraday havingwitnessed astonishing results from the action of this kind of battery at M. De laRue’s house, had prevailed upon that gen.tleman to allow his apparatus to be broughtto the Institution, and exhibited to themembers. The series of troughs, whichwere placed in front of the lecturer’s table,were almost identical in construction withthose originally used by Sir HumpheryDavy in that theatre. The troughs werefilled about half an hour before the com-mencement of the lecture, in order that theaction of the battery might be sufficientlyintense to bring out the full effects. TheProfessor said, that he considered that che-mical decomposition afforded the only cor-rect measure of the power of a galvanicbattery. He had seen various voltaic ar-rangements exhibit great magnetic powers;but, when tried by this test, prove wanting.He should, therefore, trust only to the zolta-meter. This instrument was employed byhim, and, for some time, showed no evidenceof any superior decomposing power in thebattery ; but, during the course of the lec-ture, the power evidently increased, andabout half an hour after its conclusion, wasat its full height.Mr. Faraday exhibited a number of very

brilliant experiments, in illustration of theforce of the arrangement; he burnt succes-sively, with great illumination, variousmetals, such as gold, silver, lead, iron, zinc,copper, &c. A pretty apparatus of M. Dela Rue’s afforded much amusement to theassembly. A series of points were placedon two revolving axes, which were continu-ous with the voltaic circle. A point ofeach wheel being brought in contact withthe corresponding point of the other, pro-duced vivid combustion. The flrst pointswere charged with charcoal and nitrate ofsoda, and the illumination produced by thecombustion was greater than that elicitedby the burning of lime in oxygen. Mr.

Faraday said, that it was proposed to

apply this light in lighthouses. He con-vinced the audience of its intense radianceby using a reflector, which caused a mostdazzling reflection in their faces ; the otherpoints were armed respectively with silver,lead, carbon, and nitrate of strontian, car-bon and boracic acid, and cast iron. Therapid destruction of these bodies fullyproved the power of the battery.Mr. Faraday performed an experiment to

demonstrate the imperfect conducting powerof water. The two poles, armed with char-coal, were placed in contact under water,and brilliant illumination produced ; but,

30

when the points were separated, no effectwas evident. When a lamin of water wasinterposed in the voltaic circle, by placingtwo plates, connected with the wires, in aglass cell filled with water, but not in con-tact, very slight effects were witnessed atthe poles; but when sulphuric acid was

z’

added to the water in question, the full,powers of the battery were developed.The same effect was also brought out bythe addition of sulphate of copper to thewater. Thus it was made manifest thatthis fluid has not only the power of excit-ing, but also of conducting, the galvanicinfluence.

Moreover, Mr. Faraday referred to thenon-conducting property of certain frailbodies, such as paper, when interposedbetween the poles of the most potent circles,which burnt steel, and other hard bodies,like tinder. Before the conclusion, Mr.Faraday succeeded in igniting platina wire.At the {end of the lecture the Professor

informed the company, that the truth of thereport of the death of Mr. Davidson, theAfrican traveller, was conarnied. Thecauses of the catastrophe lay in obscurity,and it was doubtful whether it arose fromthe cupidity of certain merchants, or thejealousy of the Emperor of Morocco. Mr.Faraday had no doubt that the members ofthe Institution would regret the loss of thisrising young man, who had so often contri.buted to their entertainment, by his commu-nications from that place. Mr. Faradayfinished, by pronouncing a well-meritedeulogy on the deceased. Mr. Davidsonhad been a student of chemistry in the In-stitutiou.No evening meetings will take place for

the two next Fridays, as they fall withinthe Easter recess.

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE MEDICALSOCIETY.

March 17.—Mr. Morton, President.

CHLOROSIS AND AMMIA.

Mr. JENNER read a paper on these dis-eases, and reviewed them, as described andclassified by nosologists, from the time ofCullen. He considered that authors hadcommitted an error, in supposing chlorosisto depend either upon the state of the ge-nerative or the digestive organs. and thatthese were only deranged in this disease bysympathy. The occurrence of anaemia, asan independent state of the system in men,first pointed out its relation to chlorosis.The latter disease, the author considered asa form, or variety, of anaemia. The fre-

quent occurrence of -chlorosis in young wo-men, at the time of puberty, probably arosefrom the demand made upon the system, atthat period, for supporting the increased

and altered functions. In the treatment ofthese affections, nothing, he thought, hadbeen found so effectual as the oxide of ironand nutritious diet.RARE DISTRIBUTIONS OF THE INTERNAL YL1-

DIC ARTERY, AND THE VAGUS NERVE.-Mr.MORTON exhibited a drawing of a rare distri-bution of the internal pudic artery, which,instead of passing, as usual, on the ramus ofthe pubis, passed directly on to the pros-tate gland, terminating in the dorsal arteryof the penis. This was a similar case toone which occurred to Mr. Shaw, at theMiddlesex Hospital, in which he operatedfor stone in the bladder. The consequence -was the death of the patient, in an hour ortwo after, from hoemorrhage. A drawingwas also shewn of a very uncommon distri-bution of the vagus nerve, which, insteadof passing down behind the carotid artery,laid in front of it. Such an occurrence, ina case of tying the carotid, would be pro-ductive of very unpleasant consequences,provided even the nerve was not includedin the ligature, but if that were tied, theeffect might be fatal.

WESTMINSTER MEDICAL SOCIETY.

Saturday, March 18.—Mr. R. Quain,President.

LITHOTRITY.-NEW INSTRUMENT FOR DIVIDING

STONE IN THE BLADDER.

Mr. CosTELLO read a paper on lithotriticinstruments, confining his observations, how-ever, chiefly to the modifications, improve-ments, and inventions of which he was theauthor. " From 1824 to 1831 the instrumentinvented by Mr. Civiale was generally em-ployed ; at the latter period another in-strument came into use, a modification, butnot an improvement, on an old one. This,the pe1’CUSSOI’, however, he (Mr. C.) hesitatednot, at that time, to state could not be usedwith safety. One of its chief defects con-sisted in the liability of the anterior bladeto be forced up from between two lateralpieces, from the resistance of the stone onone side, and the blows of the hammer onthe other. Any displacement of this kind,however, he (Mr. C.) had succeeded inpreventing by the invention of the boutoitde sU1’eté, as it was termed. But there wereobjections to this improvement which werenot at first perceived; the edges of thebouton being sharp, the membrane liningthe prostate gland was slightly scarified byit. He, therefore, meditated on a plan fordispensing with it altogether. In 1832 his

attention was attracted by the form of thewater-pipe through which the turncock

obtains access to the great water-mainsin the public streets, and on that hint he(Mr. Costello) at once constructed an in-