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TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION.
To be paid in Advance.
Post-office Orders to be made payable to EDWARD THOMAS, at the Strand
Post-office. _________________
TO CORRESPONDENTS.
WE cannot consider that the note of Mr. Perry (Worthing) is written in astyle that is in accordance with the respect which is due to one to whomour profession is vastly indebted, and who throughout all time will rankas one of our greatest physiologists. The attention of Mr. Perry is re-quested to the following paragraph. It is one with which he ought to beacquainted :-
’
11 Itaque nonnullis contigit esse tam felicibus, ut quanquam epilepsyimplicari coeperint dum pueri essent, et crebris deinde aceesstonibus vexatisint, ad summa tamen reipublicae munia, summosque honores, proptereximias ingenii dotes evecti fuerint. Nemo nescit Julium Csesarem bellipacisque artibus excellentem fuisse epilepticum.11 - HEIBERDEN, Com.,cap. 33.-41r. J. Cai-r, (Chesterfield.)-1. The work named would be sufficient.-
2. The examination will be both practical and physiological.L. S. A.-It would be giving the silly quack an importance to which he isnot entitled, to notice his absurd communication.
THE HOSPITAL FOR SICK CHILDREN.
To the Editor of THE LANCET.
SIR,-Will you permit me to correct a slight inadvertence in a statement,with reference to the Hospital for Sick Children, which appeared in your journal of Saturday last. I
It is there stated that it had been found necessary to close some of thebeds, in consequence of want of funds. This is not so. The hospital openedin February last with twenty beds, though the house is capable of receivingforty-two. The committee are now seeking for aid from the public to enablethem to open the remaining twenty-two, and, you will be glad to know,with every prospect of succeeding in this object during the ensuing year.The course of the institution then is a forward, not a retrograde one, as thereference to it in your pages would unintentionally imply.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,Wimpole-street, Nov. 1852. CHARLES WEST.
E. F.-The medicine is one commonly employed, and may be used withperfect safety.
Legitimus.-It is certainly not usual for medical practitioners to have theirpupils °’ in the surgery whilst they are examining patients." There are,
however, many cases, even in private practice, that could be made fairsubjects of study for pupils. As a rule, we believe that medical practi-tioners give their pupils the benefit of these cases; but they are the ex-ceptions. Most patients would not submit to the presence of a pupil.
CLINICAL INSTRUCTION AT EDINBURGH.
To the Editor of THE LANCET.
SIR,-In THE LANCET of October 30th, under the head of Answers toCorrespondents, you did me the honour to publish a letter relative to theclinical instruction at Edinburgh. An error occurs in it which I am anxiousto correct. The student, in place of being made to examine each symptomseparately, should be made to examine each °’ system" separately. Theenclosed, drawn up by Professor Bennett, will, I trust, explain my meaning,and be found useful.
I am, Sir, yours truly,Edinburgh, Nov. 1852. M.D. EDIN. 1852.
IN answer to Mr. Rusk, An Old Subscriber, M.D., &c., we beg to state thatit is the intention of the Editors of the BRITISH MEDICAL DIRECTORY toomit all mention of the diplomas obtained from the universities in qizes.tion.
A. B., (Gravesend.)-We beg to thank the gentleman who has obliginglyforwarded to us the Kentish Independent of October 30th, containing areport of the inquest on the body of Robert Patrick Fergusson, and whichinquest resulted in a verdict of manslaughter against Henry Simmons.Should that person be put upon his trial, it will become the duty of his
- counsel to inquire into the medical treatment of the deceased. Of course,also, the qualifications of those who treated him medically would not escapeinvestigation.
Tyro.-All the information required upon the subject will be found in theStudents’ Number of THE LANCET.
THE PREVENTION OF BED-SORES.
To the Editor of THE LANCET.
SIR,-Observing in your journal for Nov. 6th that Mr. T. J. Ashton re-commends soft woollen felt in the treatment of bed-sores, in consequenceof its "retaining its elasticity for a longer period than amadou, and notbecoming hard by moisture," allow me, through the same medium, to statethat SPONGIO-PILINE has for some time past proved eminently useful inthese cases in the hands of several surgeons. If is soft; has, from its sub-stance, considerable elasticity, and may be made the vehicle of any lotionthe state of the parts may require. To those who have not tried thismaterial in bed-sores, I can confidently recommend it, and shall be happy toreceive information of its success, in these as well as in other cases, fromthose gentlemen who will kindly favour me with it.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,Clapham, Nov. 1852. ALFRED MARKWICK.
Mr. John Childs.-Any other qualified person would do as well as the gen.tleman named. The kousso is now in use at most of the hospitals inLondon.
H. E. 1. C.-Pupils are admitted at Bethlehem and St. I.uke’s Hospitals.A Medical Assistant had better become the inmate of a lunatic asylum thanread any work on the subject he has mentioned.
SELF-SUPPORTING DISPENSARIES.
To the Editor of THE LANCET.
SIR,-Some considerable time since, you, if I do not mistake, alluded inTHE LANCET to some societies in operation for the purpose of superseding,to some extent, the necessity for dispensaries, by the aid of which the poor,on payment of a small sum weekly, had the option of selecting any of themedical men in the district to attend them who were connected with it, andthe latter were remunerated from the funds of the society in proportion tothe cases each had attended.
If you can put me in the way of obtaining information of the working of fthese societies, and getting their rules, &c., you will oblige much,
Yours obediently,Nov. 1852. H. G. S.
*** We have always opposed the so-called self-supporting dispensaries asmost vicious in principle and practice. During the course of last year andthe year before, several articles appeared in THE LANCET on the subject.-SUB-ED. L.
A Dupe of the Advertising Quacks.-We believe the party alluded to hasbeen obliged to abscond. Many more of the same class will also shortlyfeel it necessary to take the same step.
Providens.-The Society for the Relief of Widows and Orphans of MedicalMen.
"THE WET-NURSE SYSTEM."
To tile Editor of THE LANCET.
SIR,-In the Times of Saturday, the 6th, was a letter from the pen of" S. G. 0.," with the above heading, from which I beg to make the follow-ing unwarrantable extract :-
" There is often, it is true, a feint, in the shape of a pretty tale, cookedup by the month nurse or M.D., of interesting seduction, to make it an actof kindness as well as convenience."The Times correspondent, it will be seen, represents, in the most unmis-
takable language, M.D.’s at this enlightened period conniving at the intro-duction of women of bad and unchaste character into families of respec-tability, masking shame by fabricating a few interesting details attendingthe seduction of the woman who is required to act as wet-nurse. Now,Sir, think you not that this serious libel upon our profession is an act of thegrossest injustice, and can have no other existence than in the imaginationof " S. G. 0.," who has fallen into another grievous error and unfortunateexaggeration in the undeserved stigma he casts upon the English mother,of refusing to nurse her own offspring ? Our worthy represents this as anational failing, being in ignorance of the many instances constantlyoccurring where some mechanical or constitutional impediment arises tothe mother’s natural duties being undertaken.Erroneous opinions, such as these, published to the world, must be
attended with incalcuJabJe injury to us as a people, and is a lamentable in-stance of the serious error a man may commit by the ill-advised use of hismisguided judgment.
T am, Sir, your obedient servant,Keppel-street, Nov. 1852. C. R. H.
P.S.-I enclose my card.
Observer.-The observations of our correspondent are correct. We cannotimagine how the ignorant impostor managed to scrape through the ex.amination. The authorities of the University in question ought to bemore guarded to whom they grant their diplomas.
M.R.C.S.-In April, 1853.
To WHAT USE CAN WE APPLY THE ENGLISH RHUBARB-LEAF?
To the Editor of THE LANCET.
SIR,-The proper formation of provident habits being the distinguishedcharacteristic feature in education amongst all classes of the present day,together with the precept of our Divine Master, to 11 gatber up the frag-ments that nothing be lost," leads me to ask, if there be not some useful,nutritious, or medicinal purpose to which the English rhubarb-leaf could beapplied ? There is a great and increasing consumption of this plant, thestatksof which only at present are used for dietary purposes, whilst a great portionof the plant, the fan-like, wide-spreading leaf, is consigned to the dunghill.Knowing that your efforts are continually directed towards eliciting the
most useful properties contained in all the products of "Nature’s greathandy-work," must form my apology for thus trespassing on your mostvaluable time.
I remain, Sir, most respectfully, your obedient servant,Ipswich, Oct. 1852. JAMES JUDD.
ERRATUM.-In THE LANCET of October 30, p. 408, col. 1, line 21 from
bottom, for " Mr. Tuson, of Mornington-road," read " Mr. Tuson, of 18,Mornington-place, Hampstead-road."
COMMUNICATIONS, LETTERS, &c., have been received from - Mr.Hilton; Mr. James Judd, (Ipswich ;) Mr. James Dixon; Mr. W. Fram(Aberdeen;) H. E. 1. C., (Gosport;) H. G. S.; Tyro, (Bletchingiey,Reigate;) Mr. Samuel Kragg, (Huddersfield;) A Medical Assistant;G. W.; Homo; Dr. Day, (St. Andrew’s;) Providens; A Reader of TenYears’ Standing; Dr. J. C. Hall, (Sheffield;) An Old Subscriber; M.D.;Mr. Rusk; A Dupe of the Advertising Quacks; M.R.C.S.; Observer;Dr. Barton, (with enclosure;) Dr. Ross, (with enclosure;) Mr. J. Boland;Mr. A. Rolfe, (with enclosure;) Mr. J. Carr, (Chesterfield;) Mr. C.
Stewart, (Auchterarder;) Mr. Camps; A Correspondent; Professor
Beaumont, (Toronto, with enclosure;) Mr. C. West; E. F.; Mr. Perry,(Worthing;) L. S. A.; Legitimus; A. B., (Gravesend;) Another Corre-
spondent ; M.D. Edin. 1852; Mr. Alfred Markwick, (Clapham;) Mr. JohnChilds ; C. R. H.; &e. &e.
