Sciatica cured by Extract of Belladonna. Removal of Discoloration of the Skin from Nitrate of Silver. ART. I.-The Northern Lakes, a Summer Resort for Invalids of the South. By DANIEL DRAKE, M. D., Professor in the Medical Institute of Louisville. ART. II.-Remarks on the Diseases that appeared in Rutherford County, Tenuessee, during the year 1841,, and the win- ter of 1841-2; being a Report read before the Medi- cal Society of Tennessee, at its annual meeting in May 1842. By JOHN W. RICHARDSON, M. D. ART. III.-A few practical Remarks upon Erysipelas of the ART. IV.—Elements of Surgery. By ROBERT LISTON, Surgeon to the the North-London Hospital, Professor of Clinical Surgery, &c. &c. From the second London edition with copious notes and additions, by SAMUEL D. GROSS, M. D., Professor of Surgery in the Louisville Medical Institute, &c. Illustrated with numerous en- gravings. Philadelphia: Ed. Barrington and Geo. D. ART. V.-The History, Diagnosis and Treatment of Typhoid and of Typhus Fever; with an Essay on the Diagnosis of Bilious, Remittent and of Yellow Fever. By ELI- SHA BARTLETT, M. D., Professor of the Theory and Practice of Medicine in Transylvania University. Philadelphia: Lea & Blanchard. 1842. pp. 393, 8vo. ABT. VI. Catalogue and Circular of the Medical Department 458 On the Blood-Globules, their Formation and Use. On the Coloration of the Bones by Madder. Physiological Observations on Double Uterus. Mode of Preserving Nitrate of Silver. ORIGINAL INTELLIGENCE. THE WESTERN JOURNAL OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY. JULY, 1842. ART. I.-A History of the Improvements which Practical Medicine has derived from Auscultation; being the essay to which the Medical Society of Bordeaux awarded its prize in November, 1839. By G. PEYRAUD, Doctor of Medicine of the Faculty of Paris, Corresponding Member of the Bordeaux Medical Society. Quæ fundata sunt in natura, crescunt et perficiuntur; quæ vero in opinione, variantur, non augentur.-Baglivi. Translated from the French for the Western Journal of Medicine and Surgery, by CHARLES A. Pope, M. D., of St. Louis, Lecturer on Anatomy and Surgery, Physician to the St. Louis Dispensary, &c., &c. (NOTE BY THE TRANSLATOR.-A desire to be useful, and to employ the leisure occurring at the outset of a professional career, which might otherwise be less profitably spent, has prompted the present task. To those physicians who are already acquainted with auscultation and the advantages which have resulted from it to practical medicine, this work will, I think, give a more clear, connected, and methodical idea of the improvements derived from the discovery of Laennec than any other yet published; while to such prac titioners as are yet unacquainted with the art, and who, through ignorance and prejudice, undervalue its aid, it will, I hope, set forth arguments, and afford inducements, sufficient to incite them to acquire a knowledge of this means of explanation, which will best enable them fully to appreciate its utility. By a glance at the contents, it will be seen that our author has surveyed the whole field of auscultation, not only as to its use in the diseases of the chest, but also in its application to cases of an entirely different character. He has, I think, treated his subject with rare ability, and the work is one of just and impartial criticism. As it is addressed to those already acquainted with auscultation, I take great pleasure in recommending to the attention of such physicians as are not yet familiar with physical examination, and who are distant from our large cities, and consequently deprived of access to extensive hospitals, Gerhard on the Chest, and particularly the last chapter, for facilitating them in acquiring a knowledge of the physical signs. Relatively to the theories of the sounds of the heart, I may here mention that a new one has recently been started by M. Cruveilhier of Paris. He was called to see an infant, a few hours after birth, in whom an extraordinary malformation of the chest existed. The heart was situated fairly out of the thorax, from which it had passed through a circular opening in the upper part of the sternum, being thus as completely exposed as if the sternum had been removed, and the pericardium opened. M. Cruveilhier made many interesting and important experiments in this case, with the view of determining the seat and cause of the movements and sounds of the heart. They are too long to be reported in this place; a fuller account may be found in the Medico-Chirurgical Review (January, 1842, p. 193 et seq). He infers, however, from his observations, that "the two sounds of the heart have their seat at the origin of the pulmonary artery and aorta, and their cause in the clacking of the sigmoid valves (du redressement des valvules sigmoïdes, préalablement abaissèes); and that the second sound, which coincides with the diastole of the ventricles and with the contraction of the auricles, is the result of the closing together of the same valves folded back by the retrograde wave of blood." With regard to the manner in which I have accomplished my task, I may say that no one is more sensible than myself, of its many imperfections; and those who are aware of the difficulties inherent to every translation, and the almost impossibility of giving the various shades of an author's meaning in a language other than his own, will be the first to grant their indulgence. I have endeavored always to give the sense in as plain and perspicuous a language as possible; but that some gallicisms will appear, I think more than probable). When Baglivi wrote the lines which serve me for a motto, he established the surest principle for separating opinions founded in nature, from mere theories and vain hypotheses. Should one of these new ideas, such as are daily arising, appear in the scientific world, come from whatever quarter it may, from one of the masters of the art, or from some obscure member, let us not be misled by the clamorous admiration of complaisant friends, nor prejudiced by criticisms inspired by envy or springing from foolish precipitation. Let us wait, for time will quickly decide its worth. If this new idea be true, and founded in nature, it will gain ground despite the bitterest criticisms, and will finally become an established and incontrovertible truth. If, however, it be false and devoid of foundation, the exaggerated praises of those who have an interest in its propagation, will not sustain it. It will be |