(_To the Editor of the Mirror._)
In a recent number there was a notice of the uses of the _Esculus
Hippocastaneus_, or horse chestnuts; but a very important one was
omitted, namely, its substitution occasionally for Peruvian bark in
cases of intermittent fever. This disorder, known better by the name of
ague, had been formerly epidemic in Ireland, where the humidity of the
atmosphere is continually increased by the exhalation of the lochs and bogs
with which the country abounds. In consequence, however, of the formation
of the Grand and Royal Canals, and the drainage of the waters in their
vicinity, the tendency to this disease was greatly lessened; and about
twenty years ago the disorder was so rare in Dublin and the neighbourhood,
that the medical students often complained that they graduated without ever
having an opportunity of seeing in the hospitals a single case of this once
almost universal disorder. In consequence, however, of the extreme wetness
of one summer and autumn, agues again resumed their ascendancy, and the
hospitals and dispensaries became crowded with intermittent patients, and
all the bark of the druggists and apothecaries was put into requisition;
but to the surprise and disappointment of all the medical men, this
infallible specific was altogether inert and powerless, and after repeated
trials and disappointments, it was abandoned as useless. It was now a
matter of importance to ascertain the cause of this extraordinary
failure, whether it arose from the altered character of the complaint,
or from the deteriorated quality of the medicine; and it was found to be
the latter. In consequence of the long cessation of intermittent fever,
bark had been little used or called for, and the stock had remained so
long on hand, that it had become effete and worthless. It was necessary
then to try some substitute. Quassia-wood, the acorus calamus, and other
bitters and aromatics, were tried; but that which seemed to succeed best
was the bark and kernel of the horse-chestnut. The nut was moderately
dried in a stove, so as to be capable of being powdered, and in that state
was exhibited in substance with cayenne pepper and other aromatics. The
bark was taken in infusions and decoctions with quassia, and the effects
were sometimes very decided and satisfactory, forming a providential
substitute for the only kind of bark then to be procured in Ireland.