British Medical Journals.

339 the corresponding part of the lungs, which are indurated, and cient mode of treatment. I am quite aware that slight sores sometimes traversed by ramifications of the bronchi, de- and abrasions, from various causes, very frequently recover formed and flattened. On one occasion the stethoscope de- without any or very little treatment whatever, yet the cases tected tubular respiration over a space the size of a shilling; that are so frequently met with of severe ulceration conand several times I have perceived deep cavernous breathing, tinuing for years, without even a proposal for the employment and almost always autophony. This last phenomenon is ex- of the speculum, and a consequent neglect of remedies applied plained by the fixed and resisting opposition that the indu- to the diseased part, and subsequently the rapid cure which rated lung offers to the vibrations of the voice of the auscultor, I have seen effected by means of that instrument, and topical whilst the thickening and hardening of the pleura produce applications, warrant, I conceive, the above remarks." aegol1Y by the tremulous resistance thence opposed to the The general conclusions arrived at by the writer are to the I vibrations of the patient. The conclusions at which M. Christophe arrives are: 1. following effect :" When aegophony is present, an effusion, either disseminated 1st. That dysmenorrhoea is occasionally only a symptom 2. In simple aegony, such never of this disease, resulting from congestion and ulceration of or collected, always exists. exists. Thus the latter signifies a chronic, dry, and pseudo- the cervix and os uteri. membraneous pleurisy, accompanied generally by a subjacent " 2nd. That sterility is a most frequent attendant, though induration. not, as has been considered, a necessary condition, the mechaMost of the subjects in whom I have met with segony,were nical obstruction in the uterine neck being sufficient to acall affc eted by gastro-intestinal engorgements; subject to cold count for it, as in dysmenorrhoea. and shivering, and liable to get colds. I have also marked 3rd. That abortion is occasionally produced by it; when in them a pale and somewhat yellowish complexion, espe- it does occur, the disease is commonly aggravated, sometimes cially about the nose and lips, shrunken features, a dry cough, altogether lit up by it. with sometimes the expectoration of whitish pellets of mucus, " 4th. That when the os uteri, as well as the cervix, is thick and shining. ulcerated, the mischief extends from the former to the latter. These observations the author has made known, that their The os uteri is generally the last part to yield to the remetruth may be tested, and that their value in diagnosis may be dies. In the treatment it is well to remember this fact. " verified. 5th. That in the generality of cases that have occurred The stethoscopic sign which M. Christophe has made known, to me, the nitrate of silver has answered all the purposes of seems to be, certainly, rather finely drawn. Every person who an efficient caustic, and that I cannot but view the actual has attentively examined the chest in disease, must have cautery, the Vienna paste, the pernitrate and acid nitrate of often experienced some difficulty in distinguishing between mercury, as well as nitric acid applications, of too violent a bronchophony and acgophony, by meeting with sounds which character for ordinary use to that portion ofthe body." might almost indifferently be referred to either; but we have TREATMENT OF LOCK-J.-W IN THE HORSE BY THE NATIVES OF hitherto heard of no one who has developed a new sign from THE WESTERN COAST OF AMERICA. these mid-sounds, and named it; yet we may suppose some of them may be pretty constant in certain conditions, and chaAdmiral Sir GEORGE F. SEYMOUR, commanding in the Paracteristic of those conditions, as M. Christophe represents. in a communication addressed to the editors of the cific, Alloiving the sound of aegony to be a distinct sign, our diagnosis must no longer be confined to noting bronchophony, in all its Veterinàry Record, describes the practice pursued under the .shades, from aegophony, but we must take this new sound, above circumstances. It must be borne in mind, that tetanus, xgony, standing midway between the two, and distinguish it occurring independently of wounds, is not so intractable as from either-a task we believe not very many will attempt and one requiring nice ears and nice discrimination, and, the disease produced by these lesions, and that it yields to withal, having no very direct bearing upon therapeutics. many remedies of different kinds. Of those described by the However, the labourer is worthy of his hire, and M. Christophe admiral, the stimulating effects of the capsicum vapour seem is certainly praiseworthy for his accurate exploration of the to have been the most efficient. The writer, however, may chest in disease, both by the ear, and by post-mortem exspeak for himself. aminations. " Our horses had travelled about forty miles, during the last of which, one of them, usually equal to great fatigue, was. found disposed to flag, and on arriving at the place of our British destination, and trying to take off the bridle, the bit remained fixed, and the jaw clenched upon it. The muleteers at once ON ULCERATION OF THE CERVIX AND OS UTERI. said it was lockjaw, produced by a stroke of the sun, which Dr. EDWARDS, (of Bath,) in the Provincial lTedicaL and Sur- had been intensely hot during part of our ride, and that it gical J ol1rnal, records several cases of this affection, with a was not an uncommon effect with their mules in excessive view of showing its nature, its effects, and the results of treat- heat, and was only to be cured by the following remedy:A quantity of the common green chilies or capsicum, in ment. The facts and arguments correspond entirely with the pod, were placed in a linen bag, and set-fire to in a chafingthose familiar to the readers of THE LANCET through the dish, which was placed under the horse’s nostrils, and he was to inhale the smoke. The animal showed great distress writings of Dr. H. Bennet. We refer, therefore, to the pre- made this time. The action of his heart was loud, with a quick sent communication rather with a view of showing the ex- by spasmodic pulsation. The veins, particularly those of the tension of these important principles, and adding a word of head, were turgid and distended, and the natives said that he encouragement to the writer, than from any striking novelty would die unless blood flowed from the head. This occurred which it contains. On the importance of a judicious applica- in about an hour and a half, in a thick but not copious disof blood from the nostrils. The jaw then relaxed a tion of the speculum vaginae, the following remarks are well charge and the bit fell, and the horse gradually recovered. little, " put:He had been previously back-raked; some eggs were intro" The drawbacks for investigating the condition of the in- duced into the fundament, and the ears had been rubbed with ternal female organs of generation, in this country, are nume- a liniment. The natives, however, treated these remedies as rous ; and those who have made this branch of our profession secondary, and relied on the smoke of the chilies, which, they a subject of special study, will agree with me when I assert, said, had in one instance saved a horse after continuing with that a delicacy of feeling in the patient, which I, at the same his jaw locked for upwards of seven hours, but he had then time, cannot too highly commend, has been hitherto too fre- bled, and recovered. quently fostered on the part of the medical practitioner, by They expressed a disinclination to use the fleam. his not duly estimating his importance, and thus caused an "I do not think, from the state of suffering in which I saw additional impediment to the necessary examination with the the horse, that he could have lasted much longer than the speculum, necessary alike, I believe, to the welfare of the pa- time at which lie was relieved by the discharge from the tient and the reputation of the practitioner; and if the wel- nostrils. After it the man in charge of the horses would not fare of the former be connected with such an investigation, allow his patient to remain quiet, but led him gently up and may not the physician’s delicacy be construed into an almost down the yard the whole of the subsequent night. " criminal neglect, if he thus allows evils to continue for years, At three o’clock in the morning he appeared quite recodisappointing hopes of relief, and leaving for a last resort vered, and was allowed to feed on maize-stalks, and to eat that which is from the beginning the only rational and effi mashes made of light farinaceous materials."

bronchophonic

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