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the list to 251. The whole number of from the Health Office, was 681, which is deaths from all causes in the four weeks six more than for the same period last year. following within the month, as reported

P. S.

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* This observation was at 1 P. M., or the maximum; at 2 P. M. it had fallen 10 degrees.

Prosecutions of Medical Men.-In our We feel it difficult to find words sufficiently previous number, p. 110, we alluded to se- strong to express the iniquity of the ververal suits brought against medical mendict :upon the alleged plea of malpractice, but { "In April, 1845, Dr. Crosby was called in which the real motive we suspect to have upon to visit one Lorenzo Slack, of Norbeen to raise money, and ought to have wich, Vt., who had been severely injured subjected the plaintiffs to the penalty of by the fall of a bank of earth upon him; "obtaining money under false pretences." { but declined going on account of sickness. Another case, in addition to those already A physician residing in Vermont, who was noticed, has occurred, which, if the follow-present at the time, volunteered to go and ing statement in regard to it, from the Ver- see the injured man, and did go. Another mont Chronicle, be correct, is well calcu- neighbouring physician was also called, and lated to alarm medical men, and awaken them to the necessity of adopting some measures to protect themselves from being fleeced by an ungrateful patient or victimitized by an ignorant jury. The victim insult Dr. Crosby in regard to dressing the the following case is Dr. DIXI CROSBY, the Professor of Surgery at Dartmouth College, and one of the ableat surgeons in his State.

the two upon examination found the left thigh of Slack badly broken, high up, in two places. Regarding it as a severe case, they concluded to go to Hanover, and con

injury, and also procure splints for the purpose. They did go, and on examination of books there, decided to use a particular

kind of splint, and ordered it to be made. Tribute to the Memory of Drs. Chapman At their earnest solicitation, Dr. C. went and Horner.-Pursuant to a call made by to Norwich, and assisted in putting the pa-several of the physicians of Mobile, quite a tient into the splint, which had been pre-large meeting of the Graduates of the viously prepared. Here ended all connec- Medical Department of the University of tion of Dr. C. professionally with the case. Pennsylvania, was held at Dr. Lee Fearn's He only saw him once afterwards-about office on Monday morning, the 18th instant, two weeks after the injury—and then called to express their sense of the loss that the at the earnest request of the attending phy-Profession of Medicine had sustained in the sician, and gave some general advice to the patient on the importance of remaining as quiet as possible, to facilitate the healing of his limb, expressly stating to him that he assumed and could take no professional responsibility in his case. Slack remained at the house where he was carried after re-tary. ceiving his injuries, a month or more, under On motion of Dr. John P. Barnes, a comthe care of a respectable physician of Nor-mittee of four was appointed to draft resoluwich, during which time the fracture healedtions and propose a plan of accomplishing remarkably well, and the leg was not more the objects had in view.

recent death of Professors NATHANIEL CHAPMAN and WM. E. HORNER, and to devise some method of paying a lasting tribute to their memories.

Dr. S. Mordecai was called to the Chair, and Dr. Geo. A. Ketchum appointed Secre

than a quarter of an inch shorter than the The Chair appointed the following com. other at the time, when, against the remon-mittee: Drs. John P. Barnes, R. Lee Fearn, strance and protest of his physician, he in- E. P. Gaines, and Geo. A. Ketchum. sisted upon being carried to his home. He was thus carried-he recovered with a bad limb, and about six years afterwards commenced an action against Dr. C. for malpractice, which has resulted in a verdict by the jury in favour of the plaintiff."

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At a subsequent meeting, held on Tuesday, 19th instant, the committee reported the following preamble and resolutions :

Whereas, It hath pleased Divine Providence to remove from the sphere of their usefulness, our much respected and honoured instructors, Drs. Nathaniel Chapman and Wm. E. Horner; and whereas, in our 160 opinion such services as they have rendered 60 the cause of Medical Science and our "Alma 50 Mater," deserve some especial and lasting 33 tribute; and whereas, it was our peculiar 26 privilege to receive instruction from their 36 lips, and to have held up before us their 26 bright examples of zeal and devotion to their 87 profession, and high and honourable conduct in their private life-feelings of respect and esteem for them, and pride for the Science which they have so honoured, have prompted us to meet together to give form and expression to the sentiments that fill our hearts in view of the bereavement that their deaths have occasioned. Be it therefore

Buffalo Medical College.-Dr. AUSTIN FLINT has resigned the Professorship of Theory and Practice of Medicine in this school, and Dr. THOMAS F. ROCHESTER has been appointed in his place.

Hampden Sidney College. — The new chair of Physiology and Medical Jurisprudence recently created in this school, has been filled by the election of Dr. G. A. WILSON.

University of Virginia.-Dr. SOCRATES MAUPIN has been elected Professor of Chemistry in this institution, to fill the va cancy caused by the resignation of Dr. SMITH.

Resolved, That in the death of Professors Nathaniel Chapman and Wm. E. Horner, our time-honoured Alma Mater has lost two of its most indefatigable teachers, the city of Philadelphia two of its most respected and esteemed citizens, and the Profession of Medicine two of the most zealous contributors to the facts upon which that science has erected an enduring foundation.

Resolved, That as former pupils of these distinguished Professors, we especially

know how to appreciate the loss that our profession has sustained-and though we know that the rich treasures of knowledge that they have left as a legacy to Medical Science will perpetuate their names as long as the truths of that science last; still we, the Alumni of the school, with whose glory their names are so inseparably entwined, would do something more to place their services and their virtues as a shining mark by which to direct the steps of future aspirants for the honours and the fame which reward the zealous, the industrious, and the faithful in our noble science.

Resolved, That in furtherance of the above resolution, we do hereby call upon the Alumni of the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania throughout the world to contribute the sum of one dollar each, on or before the 25th of December next, to defray the expenses of erecting a suitable monument to their memories, in the University yard in Philadelphia; that such contribution be sent to the Dean, or any member of the present Faculty, to be used by them for that purpose so soon as, in their judgment, a sufficient sum shall have been received.

than thirty years, he filled the chair of Practical Medicine in the University of Pennsylvania, adding largely to the renown of that celebrated school, and attracting to it unprecedentedly large classes. His pupils almost idolized him, and they will learn with grief that the eloquent voice which instructed them is now silent. For nearly half a century, he was extensively engaged as a practitioner. His extraordinary professional tact, and the fertility of his remedial resources, drew to him patients from every quarter to seek his advice in difficult cases, who will lament that the skill which so often relieved, and the kindliness and sympathy which always soothed and comforted them, is no longer attainable. Generally regarded as the head of the profession in this country, that position was formally awarded to him on the formation of our great National Association, which unanimously elected him as their first President. Eminently distinguished as Dr. Chapman was for professional skill, he was not less loved for his social qualities; and his absence will be lamented from the social circle, where the liveliness of his manner, his sparkling wit, his fine literary taste, the charms of his conversation, the kindliness of his heart, and his generous feelings, made

Resolved, That all medical journals and all papers which may approve this object, be requested to give the action of this meet-him always the centre of attraction. His ing publicity, and to further the objects of these resolutions as much as may be in their power.

Resolved, That a copy of these proceed. ings be sent to the respective families of the deceased, and to the Faculty of the Medical Department of the University of Pennsyl

vania.

The above report of the Committee was accepted, and

On motion of Dr. F. A. Ross, the city papers were requested to publish the same. Nothing farther being brought forward for consideration the meeting adjourned sine die.

S. MORDECAI, Chairman. GEO. A. KETCHUM, Secretary.

Obituary Record,—It is with feelings of the deepest grief, that we record the death of NATHANIEL CHAPMAN, M. D., which took place in this city on the evening of the 1st of July last, in the seventy-fourth year of his age. No physician in this country was more extensively known or more highly esteemed than was Dr. Chapman. For more

friends can look for consolation only in the memory of his numerous virtues, and in the advantage of his illustrious example.

-Died at Louisville, in the ninetieth year of his age, CHARLES CALDWELL, M. D., for many years Professor of Institutes of Medicine in Transylvania University, and in the Medical College of Louisville, Ky.

FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE.

Table Turning. This absurdity has gained numerous adherents in England, and to such an extent has the popular delusion been carried, that a medical journalist has not thought it beneath his dignity to enter into a serious investigation of the fiction, and even Professor Faraday has condescended to examine the subject and point out the source of error.

Our readers may desire to learn what has been said on the subject, and we therefore extract some remarks from an editorial in the Medical Times and Gazette, and an

account of some of the experiments by walking, of playing musical instruments, Professor Faraday.

etc., are instances of the first; those of circulation and digestion are examples of the second. But there is also a class of actions, comprising the ordinary phenomena of mo

"When a number of persons," says the editor of the Medical Times and Gazette, "sit or stand round a table, their fingers resting slightly upon it, it frequently, though{tion, which are certainly not under the not invariably, happens that the table begins control of the will, but which, nevertheless, to move; as soon as this motion is per- are directed by the emotions, or the ideas. ceived, the experimenters follow its course, Thus, the somnambulist walks in obedience and turn round and round with more or less to some mental impulse, while the will is velocity; but, as soon as the hands are re-dormant ; and the person who dreams, often moved from the table, it gradually stops. executes movements in which the will has "The latter part of the experiment-no part, but which are excited by ideas or namely, the rotation of the table-involves emotions. Again, although the will has no a fallacy, for the rapidity of its movement control over the action of the heart and is in no degree owing to any inherent power of motion in itself, but is solely due to the force unconsciously exerted upon it by the experimenters, and the velocity of the motion is entirely and directly proportionate to the amount of force expended upon it, in addition to the momentum it has already acquired in passing from a state of rest to one of motion. The table no more compels the persons to follow its movements than the garden-roller drags the gardener who pushes it before him; in both cases, the vis à tergo is the moving force, and thesciously to the experimenter, the dominant table and the garden-roller do no more than obey the impulse communicated to them.

arteries, yet the ideas and emotions exercise a distinct influence upon those organs; and when attention is directed to their pulsations in nervous persons, the movements have been accelerated or retarded, or have become intermittent. Now, in all these cases, the ideas or the emotions act upon and direct the movements without the intervention of the will. In the case of tableturning, the ideas are concentrated upon the expected movement, and the muscular apparatus of the fingers obeys, uncon

impression in the mind.

still more obvious when the force is distributed uniformly by a number of persons all round the table.

"The amount of muscular force necessa

"When a table is readily movable upon "It must, however, be admitted that the its feet, or upon casters, a small amount of first movement of the table is not so easily force, voluntarily applied by the fingers, explained, for the results of our own ex-will cause it to revolve. This mobility is periments, and those of other persons fully deserving of confidence, have placed the fact beyond a doubt that this movement of the table is performed without any conscious effort on the part of the experiment-rily concerned in accomplishing the revoluers. It remains, therefore, to be shown tion is readily procured, independently of by what mechanism this effect is produced, will. Let four or five persons place their and we shall have no difficulty in solving distributed fingers upon some surface, and the problem by reference to physiological retain their position for a few minutes unre. principles which are well known to the lieved by change; let there be an expectaprofession. The fact is, that the movement {tion of some possible result, and there will in question is due to involuntary muscular soon be perceived a tingling in the skin, action at the ends of the fingers exerted along the course of the muscles, and a deupon the table. The direction of the move-gree of tension, which, without volition ment is regulated, not by the will, but by the dominant idea in the mind, and the term ideo-motor may very properly express the action in question. It is necessary, however, to explain more fully the class of effects to which the term ideo-motor may be applied.

"It is well known that the movements of the human body may be divided into voluntary and involuntary. The actions of

altogether, eventuates in refler, or, as it would be styled in common language, involuntary action. In table-moving, there need not be any voluntary movement, for muscular tension, provoked by irritation, sensation, emotion, or fixed attention, will produce sufficient action to accomplish the expected result."

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evidently tended continually to keep the hand back.

"The next step was, to arrange an index which should show whether the table moved

Med. Times and Gaz. performed some very conclusive experiments, for the particulars of which we must refer to the number of that journal for June 11. Professor Faraday carried on his inves-first, or the hand moved before the table, or tigations with parties, as he says, "very both moved or remained at rest together. honorable, very clear in their intentions, At first, this was done by placing an upsuccessful table-movers, very desirous of right pin, fixed on a leaden foot upon the succeeding in establishing the existence of table, and using that as the fulcrum of a a peculiar power, thoroughly candid and light lever. The latter was made of a slip very effectual." He could not obtain the of foolscap paper, and the short arm, about slightest trace of electrical or magnetica quarter of an inch in length, was attached effects, or the smallest indication of any to a pin proceeding from the edge of a slippeculiar natural force, nor anything more ping card placed on the table, and prepared than mere mechanical pressure, exerted into receive the hands of the table-turner. advertently by the persons around the table. The other arm, of eleven and a half inches He, therefore, proceeded to analyze that long, served for the index of motion. A part of the pressure exerted in a horizontal coin laid on the table marked the normal direction:position of the card and index. At first, the slipping card was attached to the table by the soft cement, and the index was either screened from the turner, or the latter looked away; then, before the table moved, the index showed that the hand was giving a resultant pressure in the expected direction. The effect was never carried far enough to move the table, for the motion of the index corrected the judgment of the experimenter, who became aware that, inadvertently, a side force had been exerted. The card was now set free from the table, i. e. the cement was re

"A soft cement, consisting of wax and turpentine, or wax and pomatum, was prepared. Four or five pieces of smooth, slippery cardboard were attached, one over the other, by little pellets of the cement, and the lower of these to a piece of sandpaper resting on the table; the edges of these sheets overlapped slightly, and on the under surface a pencil-line was drawn over the laps, so as to indicate position. The upper cardboard was larger than the rest, so as to cover the whole from sight. Then the table turner placed the hands upon the upper card, and we waited for the result.moved. This, of course, could not interNow, the cement was strong enough to fere with any of the results expected by the offer considerable resistance to mechanical table-turner, for both the bundle of plates motion, and also to retain the cards in any spoken of, and single cards had been freely new position which they might acquire, and moved on the tables before; but now that yet weak enough to give way slowly to a the index was there, witnessing to the eye, continued force. When, at last, the table, and, through it, to the mind of the tablecards, and hands all moved to the left to-turner, not the slightest tendency to motion gether, and so a true result was obtained, either of the card or of the table occurred. I took up the pack. On examination, it Indeed, whether the card was left free, or was easy to see, by the displacement of the attached to the table, all motion or tendency parts of the line, that the hand had moved to motion was gone. In one particular farther than the table, and that the latter case, there was relative motion between the had lagged behind; that the hand, in fact, {table and the hands. I believe that the had pushed the upper card to the left, and hands moved in one direction; the tablethat the under cards and the table had fol-turner was persuaded that the table moved lowed and been dragged by it. In other similar cases, when the table had not moved, still the upper card was found to have moved, showing that the hand had carried it in the expected direction. It was evident, therefore, that the table had not drawn the hand and person round, nor had it moved simultaneously with the hand. The hand had left all things under it behind, and the table

from under the hand in the other direction. A gauge, standing upon the floor, and pointing to the table, was, therefore, set up on that and some future occasions-and then, neither motion of the hand nor of the table occurred."

When a more perfect lever apparatus was constructed and used,

"The result was, that when the parties

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