[1] During these ten years the following works appeared:
Montesquieu--Esprit des Lois, 1748.
---- Defense de l'Esprit des Lois, 1750.
Rousseau--Discours sur l'Influence des Sciences et des Lettres, 1750.
---- Discours sur l'Inegalite des Conditions, 1754.
Voltaire--Essai sur les Moeurs et l'Esprit des nations, 1757.
Condillac--Essai sur l'Origine des Connaissances Humaines, 1746.
---- Traite des Sensations, 1754.
Helvetius--De l'Esprit, 1758.
[2] The _Homo diluvii testis_, the skeleton of which was described by
Scheuchzer, was considered by Cuvier to have belonged to a species of
Salamander.
[3] For the further illustration of this curious subject, Dr. Eliotson's
valuable notes on Blumenbach may be consulted to advantage.
[4] The dream of Ertucules seems to have been connected with similar
phantasies. "I dreamed, venerable sir," said he to Edebales, "that the
brightness of the moon did proceed from your bosom, and thence afterwards
did pass into mine: when it was thither come, there sprung up a tree from
my umbilic, which overshadowed at once many nations, mountains, and
valleys. From the root of this tree there issued waters sufficient to
irrigate vines and gardens; and then both my dream and my sleep forsook
me." Edebales after some pause thus answered: "There will be born unto
you, my good friend, a son whose name shall be Osman; he shall wage many
wars, and shall acquire victory and glory; and my daughter must be married
to your son Osman, and she is the brightness which you saw come from my
bosom into yours, and from both sprung up the tree."--_Lips. Marsil._
[5] Vide the article "Enthusiasm."
[6] The choenix contained a pint.
[7] These lines afford a convincing proof of the minute attention the
ancients paid to the phenomena of nature. Our poet had no doubt observed
the frequent effect of the application of cold to the surface of the body
producing a reaction in the circulation tending to overcome the noxious
agent by a glow of heat, which in many instances of predisposition may
assume a febrile character.
[8] A Treatise on Insanity.
[9] _Pallido il Sol_ and _Per quanto dolce amplasso_ of Hasse.
[10] Much curious matter will be found in Mr. Nathan's valuable work upon
music, entitled, "_Musurgia vocalis_."
[11] That animals are more frequently guided by the sense of smelling than
by sight, is evident in those plants that shed a cadaverous effluvia,
especially the _arum dracunculus_ and the _stapelia variegata_ of the
Cape, which attract various insects that usually deposit their eggs in a
stercoraceous or corrupt nidus. Here these insects have been deceived by
vision, and imagined in their illusion that they had safely lodged their
progeny in carrion.
[12] According to Aelian, the presence of this fish indicated the
approaching overflow of the Nile.
[13] The Irish, in their metaphorical language, give a corporeal form to
foul effluvia, and one of them assured me that he had a terrier who would
always cock up his tail and bark whenever he _saw_ a stink.
[14] Diodorus, Strabo, and other ancient writers, state that the beer of
the Egyptians called _Zythus_ was scarcely inferior to wine. This beer was
made with barley, to which was added the lupin, the skirret, and the root
of an Assyrian plant. We find the following in Columella:
"Jam siser, Assyriaque venit quae semine radix
Sectaque praebetur madido satiata lupino,
Ut Pelusiaci proviset pocula zythi."
The vicinity of Pelusium was famed for this beverage and its lentils.
[15] Diemerbrook states that, in the Plague of Nimeguen all those who were
taken ill about new and full moon rarely escaped.
[16] Dr. Desgenettes, physician to the French army, in order to inspire
confidence among the troops, inoculated himself twice without experiencing
any other consequence than a slight inflammation of the inoculated parts.
Sonnini mentions a Russian surgeon, who was a prisoner in Constantinople
with a number of his countrymen, and who took it into his head to
inoculate his comrades, with a view of protecting them from the contagion;
but, unfortunately, two hundred of them died, and, fortunately perhaps for
the survivors, the operator himself died of his own treatment.
[17] On this subject see what has been already said in the preceding
article of _Food, its use and abuse_, in Dr. Beaumont's experiments.
[18] Otway.
[19] Shaftesbury.
[20] Oil is, however, a useful application to wounds in warm climates.
During the retreat of our troops after the battle of Talavera, I found the
wounds of many of our men, that had not been dressed for three or four
days, pullulating with maggots. This was not the case with the Spanish
soldiers, who, to prevent this annoyance (which was more terrific than
dangerous), had poured olive oil upon their dressings. I invariably
resorted to the same practice when I subsequently had to remove the
wounded in hot weather.
[21] A Hebrew proverb originating from a tradition that Abraham wore a
precious stone round his neck, which preserved him from disease, and which
cured sickness when looked upon. When Abraham died, God placed this stone
in the sun.
[22] The ancients considered the spleen the seat of mirth, and the liver
the organ of love; hence their old proverb.
[23] _Cordia Sebestena_; according to some, the _C. Myxa L._, a species of
Egyptian date. It was formerly employed as a demulcent. A viscid black
glue was also prepared from it, and exported in considerable quantities
from Alexandria.
[24] Quod Caeretani totum orbem vano quodam ac turpi superstitionum genere
ludificantes continuo peregrinantur, familia domi relicta.
[25] Patin called it _l'impertinente nouveaute du siecle_.
[26] The priesthood in thus stigmatizing the medical profession so soon as
its practice ceased to be their exclusive privilege, displayed the same
spirit of intolerance and thirst for omnipotent sway that characterized
their anathemas on the drama when they no longer were the authors, actors,
and managers of their own sacrilegious plays, which they called mysteries
and moralities. Previously to the drama becoming the pursuit of laymen,
the monkish exhibitions had been so holy, that one of the popes granted a
pardon of one thousand days to every person who went to the plays
performed in the Whitsun week, beginning with a piece called "The
Creation," and ending the season with the performance of "The General
Judgment." In these representations the performers belonged to various
corporations, and acted under the direction of the clergy. "The Creation"
was performed by the _Drapers_,--"The Deluge" by the _Dyers_,--"Abraham,
Melchizedek, and Lot," by our friends the _Barbers_,--"The Purification"
by the _Blacksmiths_,--"The Last Supper" by the _Bakers_,--"The
Resurrection" by the _Skinners_,--and "The Ascension" by the _Tailors_.
The following curious anecdotes are recorded in the description of a
mystery performed at Veximel, near Metz, by the order of Conrad Bayer,
bishop of the diocese. This play was called _The Passion_; and it appears
that by some mismanagement a priest by the name of Jean de Nicey, curate
of Metrange, who played Judas, was nigh meeting with an untimely end; for
his neck had slipped and tightened the noose by which he was suspended to
the tree, and, had he not been cut down, he would have performed the part
most effectually.
A play was acted in one of the principal cities in England by these
clerical performers, representing the terrestrial Paradise, when Adam and
Eve made their appearance entirely naked.
[27] Mr. J. A. St. John.
[28] As this worthy never took off his cuirass, it may be shrewdly
suspected that his lashes were such as our old friend Sancho Panca
inflicted on the tree.
[29] The diseases to which the blood is subject was another ground upon
which the vitality of this fluid was founded. The most remarkable kind of
diseased blood is that which occurs in cholera, where it is dark, nearly
black, even in the arteries. The cause of this phenomenon is by no means
decided. Dr. Thomson attributes it to a diseased condition of the blood,
which unfits it for being duly arterialised. Dr. O'Shaughnessy denies the
assertion, and proves that choleric blood can be rendered florid by the
absorption of oxygen. Dr. Stevens, in his treatise on the blood,
attributes this dark appearance to the contagion of the malady, which
throws the fluids into a morbid state, the effect of which is the
diminution of the saline matter which the healthy blood contains. He
observed that in cholera-hospitals the blood of all the persons residing
in them was also dark. It is, however, more than probable that this morbid
condition of the blood arises from the deranged state of the circulation,
and may be attributed to a disease of the solids, which must invariably
affect the fluids that they propel with more or less energy, flowing in a
rapid current, or in a sluggish stream.
I have fully illustrated this want of oxygen in the blood of cholera
patients in a work I published in Bordeaux, in 1831, entitled
_Observations sur la nature et le traitement du Cholera Morbus d'Europe et
d'Asie_; and, from several experiments subsequently made on cholera
patients, I feel convinced that the inspiration of oxygen gas will be
ultimately found the most energetic and effective practice in combating
this fearful disease.
By the experiments lately made by Dr. Donne of Paris, it has been found
that the globules of blood, when submitted to microscopic examination,
varied in magnitude according to the description of animals from which it
was drawn. In certain diseases, globules of pus have also been detected in
the sanguiferous stream. They were larger than those of the blood, and,
instead of being defined by a marginal line, were fringed on their
circumference, and their centre was striated with interwoven lines.
The same physiologist discovered animalcules in the pus of certain ulcers
not dissimilar in appearance to the _vibrio lineola_ of Mueller. Other
animalcules, which he has named the _tricomonas vaginalis_, were also
found in great number when the mucous membranes of the organ (whence the
latter part of their denomination was derived) were in a state of
inflammation. These animalculi could not be detected in healthy mucus. The
knowledge of this influence of inflammation may lead to many important
practical results.
[30] During the horrors of the French Revolution, various experiments were
made by Sue and other physiologists to ascertain if the bodies of the
guillotined victims possessed sensibility. No conclusion, however, could
be elicited from these inquiries, which gave rise to many absurd tales,
such as that the face of Charlotte Corday blushed when the executioner
slapped it, as he held it out to the enraptured Parisians.
[31] Organon, xxxii.
[32] Op. cit. xxxi.
[33] Ibid. xxxiii.
[34] Op. cit. xxxviii.
[35] Organon, xl. This will be found to be the case in all diseases that
are dissimilar; the stronger suspends the weaker, except in case of
complication, which is a rare occurrence in acute diseases, but they never
cure each other reciprocally.
[36] On Chronic Diseases. Translation of Begel, p. 107.
[37] Sir Gilbert Blane's Medical Logic.
[38] Organon, v.
[39] Ibid. vi.
[40] Sir G. Blane.
[41] The celebrated Boyle used to apply to his wrists for the same
purpose, the moss that grew from a human skull.
[42] The term that designated magnetic manipulation.
[43] Since the first edition of this work was published, animal magnetism
has become the subject of much controversy and animadversion in London and
various parts of the empire. The utmost virulence has as usual been
resorted to, not only to impugn the doctrine, but to stigmatize its
supporters; while, on the other hand, the greatest ingenuity has been
displayed to convince unbelievers, and to give to the many experiments
practised for this purpose the semblance of undeniable facts. Baron
Dupotet's labours and publications have been submitted to the test of a
public investigation; while Dr. Elliotson and several other practitioners
have aided the practice apparently with success. It would be foreign to
the nature of this work to consider this matter more elaborately; it is
now before the tribunal of public opinion, whose decision we must await.
[44] Inquiries concerning the Intellectual Powers, &c.
[45] That serious accidents might have resulted from the use of hellebore
is most likely, since various plants resembling it have been mistaken for
it; chiefly the _adonis vernalis_, _trollius Europaeus_, _actaea spicata_,
_astrantia major_, _veratrum album_, and the _aconitum neomontanum_, the
last of which is a most virulent poison.
[46] The advocates of fasting have calculated that in one hundred and
fifty-two hermits who had lived eleven thousand five hundred and
eighty-nine years, the average age was seventy three years and three
months.
[47] On this very curious subject the reader may consult the various
statistical works of Quetelet.
[48] It is somewhat strange, but in the mountains of the South of Spain,
there does still exist a dance called _los Titanos_, in which the
performers raise their hands in threatening attitude against the heavens!
[49] The matter of insensible perspiration is calculated at being daily
equal weight to one half of the food.
[50] Madder, when given to animals tinges the surface of their bones with
a red hue.
[51] The life of J. E. Jenner, M.D. &c., by John Bacon, M.D. &c.
[52] History of Egyptian Mummies, &c. &c., 1834.
[53] In a work on the "Anatomy of the Passions," which I am about
publishing, I have entered most minutely into this important sympathy.