Dr. Simmons especially, we find it to be composed of lenitive electuary and jalap!!! The contents of a 2s. 9d. box cost the humane Doctor about a penny.-Such is the composition of a nostrum, which the proprietor declares" to have baffled the judgment of medical men for the great cures it has done in disorders of many years standing, having restored patients to health, who had been turned out of the London hospitals incurable, and others who had been under the care of the first physicians and surgeons in London!!!" The Doctor has very properly termed his nostrum "Scuroy Pills," and with equal propriety his dupes may, no doubt, term his practice. CHEMICAL MATCHES.-The matches sold under this name, are made by covering the end of a thin slip of deal with the oxymuriate of potash, sulphuret of quicksilver, &c. made into a very thin paste with mucilage of gum arabic, in the following proportions: Take of Oxymuriate of potash, finely powdered, two drachms; Camphor powdered, ten grams; Arrow-root jelly, a sufficient quantity to form a paste of such a consistency, that the ends of the slips of deal, on being dipped into it, may be thinly covered. The deal should be well dried, and in order that the fire may be communicated to the wood, the ends, previously to their being covered with the above composition, should be immersed for about half an hour in the oil of turpentine, and not dipped till the surface is dry. The sulphuret of mercury is employed only as a colour. On using those matches only one-third of the covered end should be immersed into the sulphuric acid, to ignite it. If the whole be introduced, or the acid be also applied to the wood, the fire will cease on the covered end being consumed. The immersion should also be very quick. AMULETS.-The articles sold under this name are composed of gum myrrh, benzoin, opoponax, elemi, musk, orris powder, oil of cloves, essence of roses, and balsam of Tolu and Peru, formed into cakes. NOSTRUMS FOR GOUT.-A proprietor of an infallible remedy for gout, a few weeks ago, died suddenly after taking a dose of his own nostrum. The event was considered so much a matter of course, that the coroner was not troubled on the occasion. Notwithstanding this fatal effect of the remedy, it is still industriously advertised as a certain specific for the gout!! In the proprietor's case it certainly manifested great specific powers, for in the course of a few hours it effectually terminated the gouty paroxysms and the patient's worldly concerns for ever. "Sic transit gloria mundi!" A Mr. Fuller, of Islington, also died a few hours after taking a powder advertised by an unprincipled quack, as an infallible cure for the gout!! ICE.-Mr. T. Grothuss has published the following simple and speedy method of congealing water: "Into a metal vase half filled with water, I poured very gently an equal quantity of ether, so that no mixture might take place of the two liquids. The vase was placed under the receiver of an air-pump, which was so fixed upon its support as to remain quite steady when the air was pumped out. At the first strokes of the piston, the ether became in a state of ebullition; it was evapo rated totally in less than a minute, and the water remained converted into ice. I made this experiment for the first time at Mittau, in an apartment, the temperature of which was 16° R." No. 64. To APRIL 1, 1821. OF LIVING BIOGRAPHY. VOL. VI. WE find that some practitioners, members of that class which claims an exclusive right to the title of regular physicians, and who have no relish for "living medical Biography," have been very active in propagating a report, that in giving sketches of medical men, we have been actuated by the most unworthy motives-that we have indulged in the most scurrilous abuse of some, under the idea that we might succeed to their practice, and that we have been very handsomely remunerated for the favourable sketches we have given of others. Of late years, in consequence of the stationary state of medicine at the English universities,the conduct of the College of Physicians towards the graduates of the Scotch universities in refusing to admit them members of their institution, under the pretext of inferiority of education and judgment,-the progress of medical or constitutional surgery, and the authority granted by the legislature to apothecaries to visit patients at the bed-side, and to prescribe for their maladies, the whole profession is in that confused state, that the public are really at a loss to whom they should apply in case of formidable disease, to obtain the most able advice. In the list of the college we have fellows, candidates, inceptor candidates, licentiates and extra-licentiates; we have practisers in medicine, surgeons, surgeon apothecaries, and apothecaries. The graduates of Oxford and Cambridge style themselves regular physicians, and insinuate that those of the Scotch universities are qualified only to prescribe in simple cases of disease, and on this account, the college merely grants them licences; and as to the practitioner, who received his education at the London hospitals, and possesses an honorary diploma, he is represented by the college members to be a inost dangerous Quack. They also discountenance the attendance of surgeons, surgeon-apothecaries, and apothecaries, in medical cases. The graduates of Edinburgh contend that they received their education at the first medical school in Europe, that they passed an examination in medicine before the degree of M. D. was conferred on them, and therefore are as well, if not better qualified to discharge the important duties of a physician as the graduates of Oxford or Cambridge, which are not proper schools of medicine, and where a degree of M. D. is granted, after keeping a certain number of terms, without any examination in medicine. The physicians who possess honorary diplomas, assert that they are acquainted with every branch of medicine, that they were educated in the schools of surgery and pharmacy, at the first hospitals in the world, and by the first teachers; and they have also had the advantage of experience, of which the graduates of the English or Scotch universities cannot boast. The surgeon, the surgeon-apothecary, and the apothecary, also contend that they have had the same advantages as the latter practitioners; and that, with respect to their medical education and practical knowledge of diseases, they consider themselves as capable of undertaking the treatment of diseases as those who possess academical honours. The apothecary asserts that the physician who is not acquainted with pharmacy and chemistry, is not qualified to prescribe medicines, whilst the surgeon-apothecary declares that a knowledge of surgery is as necessary as that of chemistry and pharmacy to form a physician. That the physician, acquainted with surgery, in consequence of his superior knowledge of natural and morbid anatomy, is more likely to attack diseases judiciously, and to discover their lurking places. To acquaint the public with the real state of medicine, and with the qualifications of different practitioners, we conceived that it was necessary to give a biographical sketch of the different members, and in doing this, we have confined ourselves, as much as possible, to their professional education and acquirements. The only interest we have had in view was that of the community, and we are happy in having it in our power to state, that we never received, either directly or indirectly, an application from a practitioner to speak favorably of him. If such an insulting request had been made, we should certainly have noticed it in our Journal. Had we been actuated by interested motives in conducting this part of our Journal, we should certainly have followed the example of the author of a late publication, "Authentic Memoirs of eminent Medical Men," in praising all, to induce them to send their prescriptions, and otherwise patronise the Medical Hall, in Piccadilly, with which, it is well known, we are connected. Many chemists and apothecaries have amassed great wealth by recommending and flattering the vanity of leading physicians. A trader in drugs, who styled himself a chemist and druggist, in the neighbourhood of the Strand, obtained a very high character for genuine drugs, and correctness in compounding prescriptions, by sending the fashionable physicians of the day a haunch of venison every three months, and sometimes oftener, according as the prescriptions came in. He also got a good character among all the members of the college, by placing in the most conspicuous part of his shop, the printed college list. The arrow root was brought into fashion, as a nutritious article of diet for children, by means of haunches of venison, before its qualities were properly ascertained. This article was first introduced into this country as a substitute for starch, when wheat was very dear. The crafty dealer in drugs, knowing the influence of haunches of venison, purchased the whole stock, at the rate of one shilling a pound, which, through venison influence and flattery, was soon sold at the moderate price of eight shillings a pound.As to practice, all who know us, are aware that we have hitherto sacrificed it, by devoting so much time to this and other works. Besides acquainting the public with the state of medicine, we have done no small service to junior practitioners, by pointing out the progress and circumstances which have led to pre-eminence, and affording them models for imitation. To teach, at the same time, what they should avoid, it was necessary to notice the failings of character, as well as their perfections. Living biography, we allow, is a subject of great delicacy, and however impartially given, must subject us to the charge of invidiousness.-It is therefore our intention to discontinue our biographical sketches. Indeed, those we have given, are sufficient to answer our object. In our next, we, therefore, purpose to sum up the evidence they afford, that our readers may be enabled to deter mine for themselves, whether we have been actuated by selfish views or by a desire to benefit the community. HOOPING COUGH, &c. &c.-For the following cases of affections of the lungs, cured by the vapour of tar, we are indebted to Surgeon Wansbrough of Fulham. A fine healthy child, twelve months old, was violently attacked with symptoms of hooping cough. The paroxysms were so severe as to threaten suffocation. The disease had existed nearly six weeks, when Mr. Wansbrough first saw her. Inflammation of the lungs had then supervened. The child refused the breast, and was exceedingly restless and uneasy from difficulty of breathing. Mr. W. ordered the warm bath, and three leeches to be applied to the pit of the stomach, purged her briskly, and continued the use of an expectorant and an antimonial sudorific. In the course of twenty-four hours from his first visit, a considerable amendment was evident. This active treatment closed with a blister to the chest, after which the inflammatory state of the system soon subsided. The paroxysms of the cough, nevertheless, were still violent, though the frequency of them declined with the concomitant symptoms. In short, the little patient appeared likely to conquer this formidable foe; when unfortunately, she was accidentally exposed to a current of air, which produced an aggravation of the cough. On the following morning, when Mr. W. saw her, he determined on applying the vapour of tar, the absence of inflammatory symptoms warranting the application. The shortness and difficulty of breathing being apparently the consequence of a loaded state of the bronchia with mucus, Mr. W. thought that such a topical application was most likely to afford immediate relief. He accordingly decomposed a portion of Barbadoes tar, by dipping into it the end of a common poker made hot. The child was then held over the vapour, as it arose, so that she might not inhale it until it was sufficiently diluted by the atmospheric air. The patient no sooner inhaled this gaseous compound, than she exhibited manifest signs of relief. Instead of attempting to avoid the volume of vapour as it arose from the vessel, she willingly breathed it, and suffered the tar to be placed almost under her nostrils. The effect was conspicuous in relieving the pressure under which the little sufferer laboured: expectoration became free and copious. In short, after six exposures to its influence, the cough almost ceased; and without the aid of any auxiliary, the child recovered. Mr. W. states, that he has since experienced the heartfelt satisfaction. of preserving, by the same means, from threatened destruction, his own child, an infant three months old. Accidental exposure to cold produced catarrh; the breathing was short and difficult, attended with sensible accumulation in the air tubes of the lungs, which the child was unable to expectorate. The symptoms increased rapidly. There did not exist any other excitement than the difficulty of respiration. The distress of the infant excited feelings in his breast, of which a parent only can form an idea. He had already lost one child from hooping cough, in which the vapour of tar was not thought of: another fell a victim to watery head; and this last appeared hastening to form an addition to the number. From her birth she was delicate. Leeches were inadmissible; not only because of the absence of active inflamma tion, but also from the apprehension of depleting a system already in a very debilitated state. Emetics and expectorants were unavailing; a blister he deemed inadmissible, from the supposition that it would increase the general irritation. Under these conflicting circumstances, Mr. W. had recourse to the warm bath; but the agitation it occasioned obliged him to abandon it. At length, nearly worn out with fatigue and suffering, at the end of three days, the poor little sufferer refused the breast, when Mr. W. was apprehensive the complaint would soon terminate fatally. At this crisis, he had recourse to tar vapour, as mentioned in the former case. He first applied it at a distance, whilst the child lay in the mother's arms, breathing quick and short, with frequent interruption, from what appeared to be accumulation of mucus in the bronchia. The infant seemed revived the instant she inhaled the vapour, and made an effort to cough. Delighted at this effect, he placed the vessel nearer to her nostrils, and continued the fume for about three minutes, when a cough intervened, followed by an immediate vomiting of viscid phlegm and mucus. The quantity evacuated from the lungs and stomach was very considerable. Complete exhaustion for about a minute succeeded; and, to his inexpressible joy, the little patient took the breast heartily, and sunk into a profound sleep, which lasted two hours. She awoke refreshed, and considerably relieved. Encouraged by this unexpected and happy success, he continued the application of the vapour for a week, twice in the day; when, from the decided remission of symptoms, he discontinued it. The first six applications were succeeded, each time, by a copious expectoration, which always ended in an abatement of the previous symptoms. About a month ago, the child again took cold, when the difficulty of breathing returned, attended by wheezing and cough. Recourse was again had to the same remedy, the first application of which afforded relief, by producing sickness, and a copious expectoration of phlegm and mucus. The second application was not so successful; symptoms of an inflammatory type supervening, with fever. The child being now six months old, and considerably mended in constitution, he exhibited antimonials, and applied a blister to the chest. The febrile symptoms remitted, and an amendment followed. The support which the mother had afforded now declined, both in quantity and quality; and he was necessitated to adopt another source of nourishment, but through the same medium, viz. the breast. Change of air, at the same time, has, in conjunction with her nourishment, happily restored the infant to the anxious hopes of her parents. After the subsidence of the inflammatory action, the vapour was applied three or four times, and with confirmed success. The child is now perfectly well, and is gaining flesh. Master Alfred Wallis, having three months since manifested symptoms of asthma, his father, hearing of the success Mr. W. had experienced in the application of the tar vapour, in affections of the lungs, requested Mr. W. would give it a trial in his case. The father was unwilling that any active measures should be resorted to, the child having recently recovered of incipient phthisis. The state of the little patient was as follows: his breathing oppressed; cough frequent and violent, without any expectoration; each paroxysm produced suffusion of the eyes, and florid countenance. His rest was much disturbed by |