those who believe in both; our own opinions on this subject have been so often expressed in this journal and elsewhere,' that it is not necessary to repeat them. Vezin on the Itch.2 In the published reports of the Town Hospital of Osnabrück we are much struck with the large proportion of cases of itch; in the first report, the ratio being as 76 to 179 of the whole number admitted; in the second, as 102 to 232; in the third, as 71 to 163; in the fourth, as 129 to 243; and in the fifth, as 132 to 289. We are not surprised, therefore, that the attention of the medical superintendents should be directed to the cheapest and most expeditious mode of curing this complaint. Dr. Vezin, who is the near relative of a respectable resident of this city, has turned his attention in this direction, and has satisfied himself, that the English plan of treating the disease by sulphur is the most advisable. He recommends it first, because the disease is cured by it with great certainty; secondly, because it is removed most expeditiously; thirdly, because the elevated temperature, to which he exposes the patient during the treatment, and the rapid disappearance of the eruption, are devoid of any prejudicial action on the economy; and fourthly, because it is extremely cheap. We have always preferred the treatment by sulphur, and are in the constant habit of employing it. Where warmth is employed, and the body is well rubbed with the unguentum sulphuris compositum for a couple of days, it will be found, that the acarus has been destroyed, and the eruption overcome. Ryan's Formulary.3 This is a most inaccurate production. We have had occasion to inspect it narrowly, and have been astonished at the numerous errors it contains. Not only are the names of the preparations estropiés; but also the quantities of ingredients. In a first edition this might be palliated. In a third it admits of no excuse. We caution our readers, who may possess it, not to depend upon it without close examination. MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES. Albany Medical College. The number of students, during the session 1838-9, was 68-of graduates, 13. 1 Elements of Hygiène. Philad. 1835. * Ueber die Krätze und ihre Behandlung nach der englischen Methode, Von Dr. Hermann Vezin, Königl. Hannoverschem Hofmedicus, Arzte am Stadtkrankenhause zu Osnabrück u. s. w, 12mo. S. 76. Osnabrück, 1836. Zur Behandlung der Krätze, Von H. Vezin u. s. w. in Beylage zu N. 52 der Insbrucker medicinisch-chirurgischen Zeitung, 1838. Erster, zweiter, dritter, vierter, and fünfter Bericht über das Stadtkrankenhaus zu Osnabrück. 4to. Osnabrück, 1834, 1835, 1836, 1837, and 1838. 3 The Universal Pharmacopoeia, or a Practical Formulary of Hospitals, both British and Foreign; including all medicines in use." Translated from the last edition of MM. Milne Edwards and P. Vavasseur. Third edition, considerably enlarged and improved. By Michael Ryan, M. D., Member of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, London, &c. &c. 48mo. pp. 534. Lond. 1839. 4 Catalogue and Circular, &c. 8vo. pp. 30. Albany, 1839. Medical Department of Hampden Sidney College, Richmond, Va.-The number of students at this institution, during the session of 1838-9, was 48 -the number of graduates, 14.' Medical Department of the University of Virginia.-The number of students during the past session was 60-almost as large a class as has ever been present. Congenital Absence of the Liver. This rare malformation was found, by Dr. Kieselbach, in a human embryo, which was, in all other respects, well formed. The umbilical vein passed through the umbilicus to the part which the liver usually occupies, without dividing; there the portal vein received it, and divided into two branches, one of which passed to the vena cava, but the other divided into innumerable ramifying branches, which terminated blindly. There were no traces of hepatic veins. One cannot, therefore, regard the flocculent division of the branches of the umbilical vein as residue of a liver which had once existed, and at a later period had, from some cause, wasted. The case is probably to be regarded as one of those rare arrests of development in which one of the most important organs is not formed, but in which a vascular growth occupies its place.-Froriep's Neue Notizen, No. 159. On the Formation of Urea in the Animal Body. In illustration of this subject, Dr. Marchand has employed a modification of the experiment of removing the kidneys from dogs that had fasted for many days, and then seeking for urea in the blood (See Müller's Physiologie, Bd. 1. p. 586.) He has not starved the dogs on which the experiments were performed, but has fed them on perfectly pure sugar, which he had ascertained by the most careful examination to be entirely free from azote. He fed a large, healthy, and strong sheep-dog for 14 days with milk, to see how large a quantity of urea the urine of an animal thus simply nourished would contain. After the first five days he found 2.6 per cent. and in the next five days 3 per cent. at which proportion it remained stationary. The animal was now fed with perfectly pure distilled water, and pure sugar, of which he took 10 ounces daily. After six days, in which the dog appeared in very good health, the urine contained 2.8 per cent. of urea ; in the next five days only 2.4 per cent.; and after five days more only 1.8 per cent. The animal was now very thin and rather weak, but there were no ulcers on the cornea, such as Magendie speaks of. He was now fed again with milk and bouillon, on which he rapidly recovered himself; and it was interesting to see that the proportion of urea in the urine did not keep pace with the improvement of condition, for the dog had recovered his embonpoint, while the urine still contained only 2.4 per cent. of urea. After 14 days of recovery under this diet, when the urine contained from 3.2 to 3.35 of urea, the dog was again fed on pure sugar and distilled water. After 8 days the proportion of urea fell to 2 per cent. The renal nerves were now tied, an operation followed by the same suppression of urine, with less danger than that of extirpation of the kidneys. The wounds soon healed, and for six days no particular symptom occurred; then vomiting and diarrhoea set in. Ten days after the operation the jugular vein was opened, and three pounds of blood drawn; from this blood urea was extracted, in a quantity amounting (in its combination with nitric acid) to 4.88 grains. The fact seems to prove that the urea proceeds from the animal substances 1 Catalogue of the Officers and Students, &c. 8vo. pp. 16. Richmond, 1839. 8vo. pp. 23. Richmond, 1839. already formed in the body, and not, or at least not only, from unassimilated nutriment containing nitrogen. Dr. M. has also obtained almost a direct proof of the presence of urea in healthy blood. The most remarkable property of this principle being its power of producing by its mere presence a different crystalline form in common salt than that which is usual, he has used this as a test of its presence. He found this test so delicate, that he could discover by it from 1-10th to 1-20th of urea, in from 100 to 150 parts of water. He mixed 20 pounds of serum of cow's blood with absolute alcohol, and filtered the fluid from the albumen. The fluid was then evaporated to dryness in a water-bath, and the residue was completely exhausted with absolute alcohol; the latter was then distilled off, and the residue was dissolved in water and mixed with some common salt. After a few days some octobedral crystals formed, which were found to be pure hydrochlorate of soda; and as no other substance is yet known capable of producing this change of crystalline forin, the presence of urea in healthy blood may fairly be assumed.-Müller's Archiv. Hft. 1, 1839. BOOKS RECEIVED. From the American Editor.-Outlines of Physiology, with an Appendix on Phrenology. By P. M. Roget, M. D., Secretary to the Royal Society. &c. First American edition, revised, with numerous notes. 8vo. pp. 516. Philad. 1839. From Messrs. Haswell, Barrington & Haswell.-Intermarriage, or the Mode in which, and the Causes' why, Beauty, Health, and Intellect result from certain unions, and Deformity, Disease, and Insanity from others; demonstrated by delineations of the structure and forms, and descriptions of the functions and capacities which each parent, in every pair, bestows on children, in conformity with certain natural laws, and by an account of corresponding effects in the breeding of animals. With eight illustrative drawings. By Alexander Walker. 18mo. pp. 584. New York, 1839. From the Author.-A Treatise on the Eye, containing discoveries of the causes of near and far-sightedness, and of the affections of the retina, with remarks on the use of medicines as substituted for spectacles. By William Clay Wallace, Oculist. 2d edition, 12mo. pp. 88. New York, 1839. From Messrs. Thomas, Cowperthwait & Co.-The same work. From the same.-Diseases of the Uterus; a series of clinical lectures, delivered at the Hospital La Pitié by M. Lisfranc, and edited by H. Pauly, M. D. Translated from the French by S. Henry Lodge, M. D., Fellow of the Massachusetts Medical Society, &c. 8vo. pp. 401. Boston, 1839. From the Author,-An Examination of Phrenology in two Lectures, delivered to the Students of the Columbian College, District of Columbia, February, 1837. By Thomas Sewall, M. D,, Professor of Anatomy and Physiology. 2d edition, revised and enlarged. 8vo. pp. 110; (six plates.) Boston, 1839. THE AMERICAN MEDICAL INTELLIGENCER. Vol. III. September 2, 1839. No. 11. ART. I.-ON THE SEDATIVE PROPERTIES OF ERGOT. [In the first volume of the "Intelligencer," on the occasion of a communication from Dr. Bishop, of New Haven, we drew attention to the investigations of Professor Hooker, of Yale College, into the properties possessed by the ergot. We then stated, that Dr. Hooker found-when a quantity of pulverised ergot was macerated for several days in sulphuric ether, and the liquid was evaporated in a glass vessel until it no longer afforded the smell of ether, there remained, at the bottom of the vessel, a small quantity of thick heavy oil, resembling, in appearance, fish oil; above this was a lighter oil, much more abundant than the former, of a light reddish-brown colour, and of a sweetish nauseous taste. This light oil was found, by Dr. Hooker, to possess narcotic properties; and-as he has repeated to us within the last few weeks-invariably acts, according to his experience, as a sedative, reducing the force and frequency of the pulse to a degree not to be mistaken. Desirous of examining into this subject still farther, we requested Drs. Cottman and McKee, two intelligent resident physicians of the Philadelphia Hospital, to institute trials both with the preparation of Dr. Hooker, and the ergot, itself in powder; and it will appear, from the following communications that the narcotic effects were decided; that in some cases the sedative was not readily separable from the nauseant effect; but that even where nausea was not induced, there could be no doubt as to a resulting action of sedation.-Ed.] Experiments with the Secale Cornutum, in Powder. By Joseph B. Coltman, M. D. The subjects of these experiments were strong, healthy men, but lunatics. A diminution in the frequency of the pulse, and, in several, of the volume, were the only phenomena observed, except in three cases; in these, it produced slight nausea, but no vomiting; in two others, to whom it was given the day before, violent emesis was brought on in the course of one hour. When administered in half dram doses, it either produced nausea-and, consequently, sedation-or diminished the frequency of the pulse, without nauseating, in the course of twenty-five or thirty minutes; but, when given in scruple doses, it appeared to excite rather than diminish the pulse in that time; in fifteen or twenty minutes, however, the pulse lost a few beats in the minute, but not to the same extent as when given in larger doses: in IP. 329. several cases it produced little or no effect when given in the smaller doses. No other cause operated in producing this result, unless we presume that the fact of giving the men medicine when they were in health, excited them; and as I examined the pulse in every case just before giving the medicine, and forty or forty-five minutes afterwards, the excitement might have passed off, and, consequently, the pulse be diminished in frequency; this, indeed, is not unlikely, as the pulse, in several cases, was much above the natural standard. It is necessary, I need scarcely say, to be very cautious in drawing conclusions with regard to the medical properties of any drug from a limited number of experiments, but I think we may safely infer, that the ergot has a power of depressing the pulse when given in large doses, but may question very much its sedative agency in small doses. The following is a list of the cases. The age of each individual is affixed to his name. Experiments with the Ethereal Preparation of Secale Cornutum. By William H. McKee, M. D. PHILADELPHIA Hospital, Aug. 12, 1839. Dear Sir,-At your request, the ethereal preparation of secale cornutum was given in several cases in the dose of from ten to forty drops. It was used in two cases, both of which were opium eaters. On the first it had little or no effect; at first, she seemed quiet, but soon found, from her feelings, that she had been persuaded to take that which was not laudanum. It was administered in the dose of gtt. xl., and under the belief, on the part |