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doaea ; and it is also mentioned that thebowels were kept open with castor oil, ad-ministered repeatedly. Dr. Latham givesthe whole credit of the cures to the opiate,whilst the reviewer considers the beneficialeffects to have arisen from the effects of thepurgative. In support of this opinion thereis another paper, in No. 3 of the same publi-

, cation, under the head of 11 Dickinaon onTetanus," in which Mr. Dickinson, a sur-geon in the West Indies, who has hadample opportunity of seeing this disease,and contrasting the success of the differentmodes of treatment, is decidedly in favourof the purgative plan. Calomel. jalap, andcastor oil, and the neutral 9,,ilts,itre the medi-cines he employs, given so as to procure fiveor six stools daily, until the symptoms yidd ;this plan has not only prored successful intetanus from cold, but also in tetanus fromwounds. In confirmation of the efficac)of the purgative plan, I think the abovecase of Mrs. C.’s is another proof. She ex-

pressed particular relief from the operationof the catha tic ; it is also to be rememberedthat no opium was given from the mistakenopinion respecting the pills. I would not.however, overtook the diaphoretic andliniment, which, doubtless, were also beneti-cial; and from which circumstance, III a

similar case, I would endeavour to securethe eltenta of both.

It is to be noticed, that with respect tothis patient’s state of health previous to theattack, it was impaired ; I found she wasthe subject of severe dyspeptic complaints,which I conceived to have originated indiseased )iBer. Reflecting upon these cir-cumstanees in connection with the well ati-thenticated fact, that hydrocephalus is fre-quently produced by the disordered state oftheabdoruinal viscera, I would ask whetheror no such a state of these viscera may nothave predisposed to tetanus.

THE ABORTIVE APOTHECARIES’ACT.

To the Editor of THE LANCET.

SIR :—The recent trial in Lancashire hasthown to the profession what has, it seftnfi,been ovcrtooked by the many, though well]known to i ourself and to some general prac-tionera, ua)ue!y, that the Apothecaries’ Actis a statute in favour of the chemist and drug-gist, and capable of affording little or no

protection to the apothecary. It could notbe expected to prove otherwise, on consider-ing who were the concocters of that ntupidpiece of legislation, and to wbow, a body ofmere pill-makers, wholesale and retail, itspowers were to be confided. Had the Actbeen framed to protect the apothecary in theexercise of his profession, it would have

levelled the shop in Union-street, Whoseproprietors coalcl not shield their own pri.vate interests without virtually recogniaingthose of theirfrilow cltcmiets and druggists inHolborn, Plough-court, and elsewhere. Theygulled the public by professing to make theapothecary respectabte—to " elevate " thethe scale, labour, and expense of his educa.tion and admission into the profession, and,at the same time, legalising the right of thechemist and druggist to undermine him,-making the apothecary the amateur, a me.dical philosopher, and transferring the emo.lument to the druggist. The Act allows thechemist and druggist not only to prepare andcompound, but to dispense medicines ; andas to the assertion that it prevents the drag.gist from calling to ask "how his patientis," is palpably false. No man, whether hebe druggist or dustman, is prohibited by lawfrom visiting his sick neighbour, and recom.mending him a bason of gruel, a glass ofwine, or a cup of rhubarb. Aloreover,inmany cases, the medicines are ordered bythe patient. The druggist has only to pro-pose certain medicines to the patient, andthe patient himself orders them to be sent.The framers of the Act must know that the

druggist, to whom the dispensing of medicinenow legally beicnp&. cannot, by that Act, beprevented from practising as an apothecary.For any one who wishes to tdke the benefitof the Act without passing an exaniiniition,and receiving the licence of the Company,has only to write ov er his door " Chemistand Druggist," and he is safe.

i Every apothecary in the kingdom shouldbe ready to sign a proper petition to theLegislature on the ’-ubject of a reform inmedical law ; and I hope, Sir, you v ill bitupon something for our relief, for we arestarved out by the present Act. I am, Sir,yours,

A Poott APOTHECARY.

PSEUDO-BOA FASCIATA.

, To the Editor of Till: LANCET.SIR :—May I beg a corner in this week’s

LANCET to correct an error in the heading ofmy letter to Mr. Corbyn’ My only reasonfur req ueliting’ the iusertion of the case alludedto was, that Mr. C. might be informed of theproper name of the reptile, which in theLANCET of September 21 at is erroneouslytermed the rattlesnake :—It is the paeudo-boa fasciata, and it will readily be observedthat Dr. Stephenson’s description of thatsnake differs widely from the following re-presentation of the rattlesnake, which isfrom Millin’e popular Natural History.

" Le Crotalus (Itattleanake). Ce genre res-temble au boa; il ae distingue par les pièces

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coniques de l’extrémité de sa qaeue, qu’ounomme sonnettes. Le coiquira se nommeparticulièrement serpent d sonnette, á causedes anneaux mobiles, espce de grelots qu’ilporte au bout de sa quene, ct qui aver.tissent de sa dangereuse approche. On letrouve en Amerique."

I have frequently seen the celebratedIndian jugglers, but do not remember everto have observed the rattlesnake in theircollections. It is my impression, that it isseldom, if ever, seen in India; but is gene-rally to be met with in the southern latitudesof America.

J. G. BRIGHTON, Surgeon.

STATISTICS.

POPULATION OF FRANCE.

THE total number of births in Paris, dur-ing the year 1837. was 29,192 ; or, 14,651boys and 14,541 girls. Of the number born,no less than 9,578, or nearly one-third, wereborn out of wedlock. The number of deathsamounted to 28,134. There died-at home,17,127 persons; in hospital, 10,604; in

prison, 99 ; while 304 bodies were depositedattthe Morgue.Hence of every five persons who die in

Paris, only three have the satisfaction ofdying in bed.The number of deaths from small-pox,

out of a population of 774,338, amounted to458 ; in the year 1836, it was only 227.The proportion of males to females born

is as 17 to 16; but of children born out ofwedlock, the proportion is as 24 to 23.As there is one birth for every 32.7 inhabi-

tants, if we suppose the population to re-main nearly stationary, the mean durationof life is expressed by 32.7 years. Beforethe Revolution, it was only 28.75.-FrenchLancet, Sept. 10, 1839.

PRISON MORTALITY IN FRANCE.

From 1815 to 1818, the general mortalityof the prisons in Paris was one death forevery 12.01 prisoners; from 1819 to 1825,the mortality was reduced to one in 15.30.In the other prisons of the kingdom thegeneral mortality was one in 20.9.

In the places where galley slaves are con-fined, the mortality from 1816 to 1827 wasas follows :

French Med. Gazette Sept. 21, 1839.

A GREEK OKEYISM.

WE recommend the following " authenticfacts to the notice of the deluded Showmanin Conduit-street :-

Early in August last two young Greekgirls landed at Marseilles from Smyrna.According to the testimony of credible wit.

nesses they were endowed with electricalproperties of the most wonderful nature.

Immediately on their arrival they were

visited by a crowd of spectators, includingmany learned men and professoi,s, whoassured themselves of the existence of the

following piienomeua. The girls were

placed at either extremity of a large table,but distant from it by one or two feet, ac.cording to the intensity of the electric

power with which they were at the timeimbued. After the lapse of a few minutesa crackling noise was heard, similar to thatproduced by the passage of the electricfluid through the leaves of gilt paper; thetable seemed to receive a sudden shock, andthen gradually moved from the elder towardsthe younger sister. A nail, a key, or any

piece of iron placed upon the table, imme-’ diately arrested its mysterious movement.The experiments were varied in different’ ways, but the facts observed were alwaysconsistent with the laws of electricity.Thus when glass isolators were employed,or when one of the sisters was clothed in

silk, the electrical influence was immediatelyneutralised. A professor who was present

at these experiments declared that on oneoccasion he mounted up on the table, whichcontinued to move (though more slowly) not-

withstanding his weight. - Journal des

’ Debats, Sept. 19, 1839.

ADULTERATION OF BARK.

THE present high price of cinchona barkhas given rise, in France, to an adulterationto which we think right to direct attention,as, from a similar reason, it may probablybe attempted in this country :-The bark employed in the adulteration is

the cinchona ovata, and a considerable quan-tity has been sold to the central depot ofthe Parisian hospitals. On being analysedby M. Bouchardat it was found to containa peculiar crystallisable principle, butneither quinine nor cinchonine. The cin-chona ovata may be recognised by the fol.lowing characters :-It is of a greyishcolour, mixed with pale yellow, the internalsurface of the bark being dark and con-stantly dirty looking ; it is much lighterthan the true barks, and its form is that ofa tube, from two lines to an inch in diameter,without any admixture of flat bark with it.-French Lancet, Sept. 21, 1839.