364

"Alad,y called to have a tooth stopped: without waiting to askthe dentist what he used, she said,’ I must have it stopped withcement.’ I do not use it,’ was the reply; when the patientsaid, somewhat pertly, ’I suppose you can’t.’ The gentlemanfelt indignant at this gratuitous insult, and told the lady that° it certainly required very great skill and profound know-ledge to put something soft into a cavity; that lie wouldtherefore insist on her remaining to see him do such a mar-vellous feat,’ and having, before her face made an amalgam oftin, he said, You perceive I can make the cement, hut 1 neverhave, nor ever will use it.’ The lady coloured deeply, andasked him, in more respectful language, what he did use ?He told her pure gold. She had her tooth filled with gold,and retained it for some few years, without pain or foetor."

New InventionsIN AID OF THE

PRACTICE OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY.

Anatornical Moclels in Gutta Percha. By GEORGE Srnirsorr, IEsq., jun., Surgeon, London.

MR. G. SiMpsoN, of Bedford-street, Bedford-square, has for-warded to us a coloured gutta-percha model of a sectionof the human head. Mr. Simpson states that he is prepar-ing a full-length anatomical figure of the same material forthe ensuing Exhibition, and that he is the first individualwho has applied gutta percha for anatomical models.The advantages which this material has over papier-mache,

wax, or plaster, is, that objects formed from it may be freelyhandled without being broken, and being painted in oil

colour, models such as that forwarded to us can be washedwhen soiled. The external side of the head, with the severalvessels and nerves in relief, is more particularly deserving ofcommendation ; the interior represents the contents of thecranium and other parts of the head and face as cut throughin the median line.

THE EMERGENCE OF NEEDLES FROM THE

SURFACE OF THE BODY.

To the Editor of THE LANCET.

Sm,-The question of whether needles emerging from thesurface of the body have been swallowed, or introduced at thepoint where they are taken out by the surgeon, seems to bean all-important one at the present moment, by the numberof letters on the subject which has appeared lately. I con-fess that the former does not appear very clear to me: I willnot say that such an occurrence is impossible, but I do thinkthat it is highly improbable; and the following reasons suggestthemselves to me:--Where the needles are several in number,the patients are, I think, invariably females, (probably hyste-rical ones;) and yet it is to be presumed if females sometimesaccidentally swallow a lot of needles, that journeymen tailorsmay occasionally be subjected to the same accident. Secondly:The patients do not generally feel the needles till they getinto such a position that by making a slight opening they canbe removed; and yet, if swallowed, they must have penetratedsome highly sensitive parts to have got into such a position;and how the vessels and nerves should invariably escape undersuch circumstances seems to me a mystery; and yet I appre-hend that the nerves do escape, otherwise we should havemore pain, and probably spasm of the part. Then again,although it is an easy matter for a sharp needle to penetratethe various tissues, yet I imagine that the gastric juice, or thefluids of the body, would so corrode it that it would no longereasily pierce these parts.

Lastly: It seems an extraordinary thing that some of themore important organs should not sometimes become inflamedby the presence of an extraneous body, during the passage ofa needle through them: for however small the puncture, I donot think that it must be invariably harmless. Indeed I knowof one instance, in which a young man pushed a needledirectly backwards in the region of the heart: he died of in-flammation of that organ; and upon a post-mortem examina-tion, the needle was found penetrating it. Now, if inflamma-tion follows when the needle is introduced into an important

organ from without, why should it not when introduced fromwithin, as when swallowed? Again, why are not needles morefrequently found in organs when we make post-mortem ex-aminations ? If ever they are found, they always appear tobe in organs near the surface’, rendering it probable that theygot there from without.

Dr. Cregan has quoted several old authors to set the matterat rest; but, from the extraordinary nature of the cases quoted,I think they are anything but conclusive.Some months since, Mr. Lawrence, jun., of Brighton, re-

moved a hair-pin from the bladder of a girl; and there araseveral other instances of foreign bodies being removed fromthe same part, such as slate and lead pencil, pieces of catheter,&c. Perhaps these old authors would have said that these-had been swallowed.

I have on several occasions removed needles from the sur-face of the body, and once had an opportunity of watching a,.

case in which above thirty were removed, and the girl ac-counted for it by saying that she swallowed a paper of needlessome years previously, and yet I am told that a paper containsonly twenty-five.Where there is only one needle, it is possible to have got

under the skin without the knowtedge of the patient; butwhere there are several, I look upon it that the patients areimpostors; and after the extraordinary attempt at impositionpractised by a patient, with hydrochloric acid, in the BrightonHospital, a short time since, there does not appear to be anylimit to its extent.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant,Jan. 13, 1851. QUESTIO.QUÆSTIO.

MEDICAL LEGISLATION AND THE RIGHT AT LAW

TO RECOVER FEES.

,

To the Editor of THE LANCET.

Sm,-I have not been an inattentive observer of the evi-dence offered in favour of medical reform; yet I am, at times,in doubt whether the profession is in earnest, for the opinionsof those who appear to take the lead in the cause are so anta-gonistic as to justify the remark I have often heard, "that weseem to be aiming more at partial aggrandizement than forthe general good." I greatly fear this is too truly the case;for while the lawyers are treading the flowery meads of life,in harmony with each other, and receiving an ample returnfor the few years devoted to the attainment of their admissionto practice, and for the learning generally acquired withi7athat curriculuriz, a medical man, after years consecrated tearduous toil and study, can never be said to have acquiredsufficient information, but in order to keep pace with therapid strides of science, or at least, in endeavouring to do so,must remain a student as long as lie practises, which is verygenerally as long as he lives. And what is his reward ? Notthe respectable competency which will procure for him or hisfamily the ordinary comforts and pleasures of life; not theprospect of honourable and lucrative appointments, whichmight soothe his declining health and vigour by diminishedduties, but to have that igiiis fatuus, medical reform, flittingbefore his sight, as it has done for the last quarter of a century,.whilst the respective promoters of it, instead of trying to pro-duce some positive good, are fighting for some imaginaryhonour to which all are not equally entitled. This, alas! buttoo truly resembles the story of the Kilkenny cats, and hasrendered us the laughing-stock of the learned.

Sir, I am old enough to remember the establishment of yourjournal, and have taken it since its commencement, in 1823,until the present moment. In you the profession kwe had azealous and staunch supporter of their claims, and althoughyou have effected much to their advantage, a victory has yetto be achieved. It is f rcis coronat opus, and which, when done,I doubt not the profession will place the bays at your feet, inhumble testimony of your worth and talents, and as havingbeen tlxe"hero of a hundred fights," as arduous and as honour-able as any of those won by the sword.The comparative few who have private fortunes, or who

have been more successful, but are not more talented, thantheir less fortunate brethren.are indifferent to the details; butI sincerely hope, that in all legislative enactments, regard willbe had to a power for enforcing the payment of fees, and thatthe unfortunate graduates of Edinburgh &c. should at lengthbe legally entitled to a reward for their labours, for which pri-vilege a large sum has been paid to the English government,.wheedled out of the graduate in the shape of a stamp.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant,FLETA.FLETA.