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CHOLERA.—PREVENTIVE QUALITIES OF CARBONIC ACID GAS AND CHARCOAL.
165
1847, I was more than fully remunerated for my surgical attendance. Undaunted by the black patch on the judge’s wig, I exclaimed energetically, by interrogatory, against such doctrine in an English court of justice, when the judge, evidently ashamed, fumbled and foundered in explanation, and then repeated the same thing. I considered I could not be more sarcastic than by coolly informing his honour that I understood him in that light at first; that my profession was not inferior to any other; and that his decisions about the medicine forced upon my mind how insulting it would be to a lawyer to consider the paper on which he wrote as valuable as the instructions he might place thereon. At this his honour I looked big, and cried, " Pooh, pooh! Nonsense!" Now, Mr. Editor, this is all very mortifying; but who is to blame ? Is it the Scotch gallipot, the English judge, or the Irish Paddy ? Or, rather, is it not the gross blackguardism that is practised in the profession in and about London. " Bears’-grease," " Tooth-brushes," and " Specimens of Mark. ing Ink," with " Persian Sherbet," at so much per pound, ornament the surgery window of our poor-law medical officer in this district. A little beyond him lives another barber-ous surgeon, once a chemist and druggist. On a late occasion I fell foul of this crooked practitioner, thus : A person engaged me to attend her in childbirth, but before her accouchement arrived, she learned from Mr. D-, that he would attend her for 10s., (being less than my fee,) but virtually for 5s., as he would only require 5s. when she was confined, and 5s. in a month after, alias never. Decus et tutamen! He’ll find so much Latin on the edge of the five-shilling-piece. The woman had a respectable appearance when she came to me, and a respectable address, - Belvidere-road; but if I had thought her capable of this huckstering, I should have bundled her out of my surgery. This scale of charges does not surprise me, since I learn that the same party visits a patient, prescribes two or three powders, and charges for the lot, attendance and all, threepence! Again, to my own knowledge, he has visited a patient, and ordered a four-ounce bottle, for which he charged only ls. 1½d., the said bottle covered all over with yellow paper, in imitation of the patent-medicine dodge, on which was printed, " D-’s Celebrated Cough Syrup, for Coughs, Colds, Asthmas, Shortness" of Breath," &c. A wee bit higher up we have a celebrated camphor-plaster doctor." Can any respectable man-not to say gentleman-recognise such contemptible fellows? I condescended to upbraid the mean leech who pilfered my patient, but he told me he did not care twopence for the profession, or any man in it. This information was unnecessary from one whose conduct is such as I have now described. What guarantee of character did the College and Hall get with this man ?&ic rc; For myself
tract of country producing a large quantity of wine, that is kept in open casks, which evolved a large quantity of carbonic acid gas, only sixteen deaths from cholera occurred in the whole district; whilst the city of Trapani, only eighteen miles lost nearly a fourth of its population; and in the city of Mazzara, only sixteen miles distant, nearly a fifth of the inhabitants died. The same comparative freedom from this
distant,
noticed in other countries that produce wines in was remarked in the territory of Marsala. I think that if all water intended for drinking were filtered through a bed of charcoal, which should be frequently changed, the effects might prove very beneficial to those using it; and I would suggest that all public water-companies should in a like manner filter all the water previous to its passing into the mains; thus, in all large towns, the water supplied would in a great measure tend to counteract any predisposition to this scourge. I have observed that on the coast of Africa, the crews of those vessels which brought with them from England a sufficient supply of water to last for the entire voyage in casks, the insides of which were previously charred, were always nearly exempt from dysentery, while those of other vessels that had been drinking the water of the country were seldom free from it; and from this circumstance I am induced to observe, that if in India and other tropical climates the water that is supplied to the troops were filtered through a bed of charcoal, dysentery would not prevail to the enormous extent it sometimes does. The foregoing remarks may possibly induce some of your professional readers to take up the subject with benefit to the public.-I remain, Sir, yours most respectfully, THOMAS J. RITSON. Manchester, July 26th, 1848. disease
was
large quantity, as
NEW TREATMENT OF DEAFNESS. To the Editor of THE LANCET. SIR,—I feel very great pleasure in bearing my testimony to the value of Mr. Yearsley’s important in the treatment of deafness from perforation in the membrana tympani. I have applied it in cases occurring in my practice, and in every case where I have been able to apply the remedy, with a result as satisfactory as from that gentleman’s valuable
" I’d rather be a dog, and bay the moon, Than such a"—surgeon. Yours &c.
MICHAEL K. O’SHEA.
CHOLERA.—PREVENTIVE QUALITIES OF CARBONIC ACID GAS AND CHARCOAL. To the Editor of THE LANCET. SIR,—As that dreadful scourge the cholera is fast approaching, and in all probability will not fail to visit this country, no time should be lost in preparing ourselves against its ravages, by using every exertion to discover if a remedy exists against the disease, or for rendering its effects less fatal. I am induced humbly to call the attention of your readers to the following facts, which were observed by many parties in different places when the cholera last visited Europe, and which may or may not have been brought to the notice of the medical gentlemen in this country by their professional brethren abroad. The almost total exemption of the porters and other labourers engaged in discharging and storing the cargoes of vessels laden with charcoal at Malta from attacks of cholera was particularly observed ; at Palermo, the comparative freedom from this disease of the same class of people was also a subject of observation; and the same fact was noticed at all the other large ports of the Mediterranean, where charcoal principally is used for fuel. The antiseptic property of that substance is believed to have been the chief cause of the exemption of that particular class, who inhale in the course of their labour the minute particles of its dust, so as to correct internally any tendency to the disease that might have been produced by the then usual condition of the atmosphere. In the territory of Marsala, in Sicily, that city containing a population of about 24,000 persons, surrounded by a large
discovery
paper I was led to expect. I say, where I have been ABLE to apply the remedy; for I find that unless the cotton wool is applied "neatly and nicely" to the hole in the membrane, the result, as Mr. Yearsley’s experience has proved, is not so satisfactory ; and it is with this view, from the difficulty I experience occasionally in using the remedy, that I hope he will inform your readers whether he can suggest any form of instrument by which the difficulty may be obviated. In common with many others engaged in this particular department of the profession, I shall feel, too, grateful for any other suggestion which may enable me to give full force to a discovery which I consider in importance second to nothing which has been brought before the profession for many years.-I am, Sir, your obedient servant, THOMAS
BARRETT,
Surgeon to the Bath Ear and Eye Infirmary.
BLENNORRHŒA PRODUCED BY THE CONTAGION OF LEUCORRHŒAL DISCHARGES. To the Editor of THE LANCET. SIR,—I send the accompanying cases for your perusal and insertion, should such seem fit. I think they will fully bear out the remark in a recent LANCET,—how necessary it is to make a careful and accurate diagnosis in the treatment of disease, as by this means the peace of many a family may be preserved, which would otherwise be perfectly destroyed ! They will be found useful, too, in pointing out what I consider are fertile sources of complaint, much more so than is usually allowed by the profession at large, since I think no doubt can exist upon the mind of any candid reader, that gonorrhoea is frequently contracted and perpetuated in this manner.-I have the honour to remain. Sir. vour obedient servant. FREDERICK CHARLES JONES, M.D., M.R.C.S.E., &c. was four years ago confined with a male had a good labour, although having suffered severely from fever for five weeks previously; the child was suckled for twelve months; the last six months the menses returned. About six months after the birth of the child she felt an or, as she expresses it, a lump on the left side,
CASE 1: M. C-
enlargement, child,
1847, I was more than fully remunerated for my surgical attendance. Undaunted by the black patch on the judge’s wig, I exclaimed energetically, by interrogatory, against such doctrine in an English court of justice, when the judge, evidently ashamed, fumbled and foundered in explanation, and then repeated the same thing. I considered I could not be more sarcastic than by coolly informing his honour that I understood him in that light at first; that my profession was not inferior to any other; and that his decisions about the medicine forced upon my mind how insulting it would be to a lawyer to consider the paper on which he wrote as valuable as the instructions he might place thereon. At this his honour I looked big, and cried, " Pooh, pooh! Nonsense!" Now, Mr. Editor, this is all very mortifying; but who is to blame ? Is it the Scotch gallipot, the English judge, or the Irish Paddy ? Or, rather, is it not the gross blackguardism that is practised in the profession in and about London. " Bears’-grease," " Tooth-brushes," and " Specimens of Mark. ing Ink," with " Persian Sherbet," at so much per pound, ornament the surgery window of our poor-law medical officer in this district. A little beyond him lives another barber-ous surgeon, once a chemist and druggist. On a late occasion I fell foul of this crooked practitioner, thus : A person engaged me to attend her in childbirth, but before her accouchement arrived, she learned from Mr. D-, that he would attend her for 10s., (being less than my fee,) but virtually for 5s., as he would only require 5s. when she was confined, and 5s. in a month after, alias never. Decus et tutamen! He’ll find so much Latin on the edge of the five-shilling-piece. The woman had a respectable appearance when she came to me, and a respectable address, - Belvidere-road; but if I had thought her capable of this huckstering, I should have bundled her out of my surgery. This scale of charges does not surprise me, since I learn that the same party visits a patient, prescribes two or three powders, and charges for the lot, attendance and all, threepence! Again, to my own knowledge, he has visited a patient, and ordered a four-ounce bottle, for which he charged only ls. 1½d., the said bottle covered all over with yellow paper, in imitation of the patent-medicine dodge, on which was printed, " D-’s Celebrated Cough Syrup, for Coughs, Colds, Asthmas, Shortness" of Breath," &c. A wee bit higher up we have a celebrated camphor-plaster doctor." Can any respectable man-not to say gentleman-recognise such contemptible fellows? I condescended to upbraid the mean leech who pilfered my patient, but he told me he did not care twopence for the profession, or any man in it. This information was unnecessary from one whose conduct is such as I have now described. What guarantee of character did the College and Hall get with this man ?&ic rc; For myself
tract of country producing a large quantity of wine, that is kept in open casks, which evolved a large quantity of carbonic acid gas, only sixteen deaths from cholera occurred in the whole district; whilst the city of Trapani, only eighteen miles lost nearly a fourth of its population; and in the city of Mazzara, only sixteen miles distant, nearly a fifth of the inhabitants died. The same comparative freedom from this
distant,
noticed in other countries that produce wines in was remarked in the territory of Marsala. I think that if all water intended for drinking were filtered through a bed of charcoal, which should be frequently changed, the effects might prove very beneficial to those using it; and I would suggest that all public water-companies should in a like manner filter all the water previous to its passing into the mains; thus, in all large towns, the water supplied would in a great measure tend to counteract any predisposition to this scourge. I have observed that on the coast of Africa, the crews of those vessels which brought with them from England a sufficient supply of water to last for the entire voyage in casks, the insides of which were previously charred, were always nearly exempt from dysentery, while those of other vessels that had been drinking the water of the country were seldom free from it; and from this circumstance I am induced to observe, that if in India and other tropical climates the water that is supplied to the troops were filtered through a bed of charcoal, dysentery would not prevail to the enormous extent it sometimes does. The foregoing remarks may possibly induce some of your professional readers to take up the subject with benefit to the public.-I remain, Sir, yours most respectfully, THOMAS J. RITSON. Manchester, July 26th, 1848. disease
was
large quantity, as
NEW TREATMENT OF DEAFNESS. To the Editor of THE LANCET. SIR,—I feel very great pleasure in bearing my testimony to the value of Mr. Yearsley’s important in the treatment of deafness from perforation in the membrana tympani. I have applied it in cases occurring in my practice, and in every case where I have been able to apply the remedy, with a result as satisfactory as from that gentleman’s valuable
" I’d rather be a dog, and bay the moon, Than such a"—surgeon. Yours &c.
MICHAEL K. O’SHEA.
CHOLERA.—PREVENTIVE QUALITIES OF CARBONIC ACID GAS AND CHARCOAL. To the Editor of THE LANCET. SIR,—As that dreadful scourge the cholera is fast approaching, and in all probability will not fail to visit this country, no time should be lost in preparing ourselves against its ravages, by using every exertion to discover if a remedy exists against the disease, or for rendering its effects less fatal. I am induced humbly to call the attention of your readers to the following facts, which were observed by many parties in different places when the cholera last visited Europe, and which may or may not have been brought to the notice of the medical gentlemen in this country by their professional brethren abroad. The almost total exemption of the porters and other labourers engaged in discharging and storing the cargoes of vessels laden with charcoal at Malta from attacks of cholera was particularly observed ; at Palermo, the comparative freedom from this disease of the same class of people was also a subject of observation; and the same fact was noticed at all the other large ports of the Mediterranean, where charcoal principally is used for fuel. The antiseptic property of that substance is believed to have been the chief cause of the exemption of that particular class, who inhale in the course of their labour the minute particles of its dust, so as to correct internally any tendency to the disease that might have been produced by the then usual condition of the atmosphere. In the territory of Marsala, in Sicily, that city containing a population of about 24,000 persons, surrounded by a large
discovery
paper I was led to expect. I say, where I have been ABLE to apply the remedy; for I find that unless the cotton wool is applied "neatly and nicely" to the hole in the membrane, the result, as Mr. Yearsley’s experience has proved, is not so satisfactory ; and it is with this view, from the difficulty I experience occasionally in using the remedy, that I hope he will inform your readers whether he can suggest any form of instrument by which the difficulty may be obviated. In common with many others engaged in this particular department of the profession, I shall feel, too, grateful for any other suggestion which may enable me to give full force to a discovery which I consider in importance second to nothing which has been brought before the profession for many years.-I am, Sir, your obedient servant, THOMAS
BARRETT,
Surgeon to the Bath Ear and Eye Infirmary.
BLENNORRHŒA PRODUCED BY THE CONTAGION OF LEUCORRHŒAL DISCHARGES. To the Editor of THE LANCET. SIR,—I send the accompanying cases for your perusal and insertion, should such seem fit. I think they will fully bear out the remark in a recent LANCET,—how necessary it is to make a careful and accurate diagnosis in the treatment of disease, as by this means the peace of many a family may be preserved, which would otherwise be perfectly destroyed ! They will be found useful, too, in pointing out what I consider are fertile sources of complaint, much more so than is usually allowed by the profession at large, since I think no doubt can exist upon the mind of any candid reader, that gonorrhoea is frequently contracted and perpetuated in this manner.-I have the honour to remain. Sir. vour obedient servant. FREDERICK CHARLES JONES, M.D., M.R.C.S.E., &c. was four years ago confined with a male had a good labour, although having suffered severely from fever for five weeks previously; the child was suckled for twelve months; the last six months the menses returned. About six months after the birth of the child she felt an or, as she expresses it, a lump on the left side,
CASE 1: M. C-
enlargement, child,