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Venet. gr. iv., Syrup. Rhei, q. s., M. ft. pil. x., S. two every night.

July 5th. Bowels opened; discharge still continues, and profuse, and increased by motion; treatment continued.

July 6th. Returned to the city and saw her with Dr. B. No abatement of the discharge. Treatment-to take of the infusion of secale cornutum a table-spoonful every hour; elixir vitriol, 30 gtt. in "eau sucre," at the same time.

Vesper. Discharge continues; feels very weak. Treatment-R. Secale Cornutum Pulv. Sacch. Alb. aa Dij, M. ft. pulv. No. viii., S. one every half hour until pains are produced.

July 7th. Has taken seventy grains of ergot without causing uterine pains, or affecting the discharge. TreatmentR. Acet. Plumbi jss., Tict. Opii f3j., Aq. Font. f3ij., ft. enema, S, one half at once, the remainder in an hour; elixir vitriol, as a tonic, iced drinks, astringent injections per vaginam, warming plaster to sacral region.

July 8th. The uterus, on examination per vaginam, was soft and spongy; in the commencement of the treatment it was slightly swollen, and the anterior lip enlarged; pain in the back and the discharge continue. Treatment-R. Tinct. Cinnamon f3ij., S. thirty drops every hour; R. Prussiat Ferri, 3j., G. Aloes, gr. v., Conserv. Rosar. q. s., M. et divid. in pil. xx. S. one four times daily; alum water injections, a compress of folded napkins, and a broad roller, applied tightly over the uterine region.

Vesper. Feels better; bowels opened freely; to take but two pills and tinct. cinnamon, as before; discharge as before. July 9th. The discharge having increased in frequency and quantity, I procured twelve pills of the EXTRACT OF MONESIA, of three grains each, and at 2 o'clock, P. M. gave her six pills-one to be taken every hour and a half, until they had an effect upon the discharge.

Vesper. Has taken about three pills, (3 grs. each ;) the first pill having caused pretty severe uterine pains--as she expressed herself, "as if she was going to be sick," (i. e. be confined;) after taking the third pill, the discharge was "a mere show." Treatment-to take the remaing three pills, one every two hours.

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July 10. Slept well; pain in the back gone; the discharge entirely ceased; feels well; pulse natural; appetite good; skin cool; the uterus contracted and free from pain, on examination per vaginam. Treatment-perfect rest, nourishing diet and cold drinks.

Vesper. Improving; no return of the discharge.

July 11. Still no return of the hemorrhage; gaining strength; to take tonics, &c.

July 12. Appetite indifferent; no return. B. Pulv. Colombo, Pulv. Sub-Carb. Ferri, Rhei, Zingiberis aa 3j. M. ft. chart. No. xii. S. one three times a day in molasses. Infusion of Prunus Virginiana, a wine-glassful three times a day. Diet-oysters, &c.

Vesper. Has had, owing to the exertion required in changing her bedding, some slight discharge; checked by one or two pills of the monesia, every four hours.

July 16. Still using tonics; no pain; no return of the hemorrhage; feels well; anxious to get out of bed.

Supposing that the above case may be interesting as showing, that in the Extract of Monesia we have a substance capable of causing powerful uterine contractions, even in small doses, and of arresting profuse menorrhagia of long duration, after the exhibition of all the usual remedies had failed, even when pushed to the extreme; and trusting that this hasty outline of the effects of monesia in this, to me, troublesome (although not uninteresting) case, may be of some interest to members of the profession generally, I remain, gentlemen,

Philadelphia, July 10, 1840.

Your obedient servant,
A. D. CHALONER, M.D.

In this case, the monesia appeared to arrest the hemorrhage by exciting contraction in the muscular fibres of the uterus, in consequence of which its tissue was condensed, and compression made upon the bleeding vessels. Muscular atony is a frequent cause of metrorrhagia, occurring after abortion or labor at the full term, and in such cases we have been long accustomed to prescribe the ergot, in pills or emulson, with the most satisfactory results; indeed, in our hands, it so uniformily succeeds that we are not a little surprised at its failure in Dr. Chaloner's case. It is scarcely necessary to add that the sugar of lead, though a remedy of decided efficacy, when hemorrhage arises from a morbid state of the exhalent vessels, cannot possibly avail when impaired muscular contractility permits the blood to escape from their patulous mouths. On the contrary, it is probable that the lead,

if administered in sufficient quantity, might paralize the uterine muscular fibres, as it is known to do certain of the voluntary muscles, and thus aggravate the discharge. Be this as it may, it is certain that lead is not to be confided in as a remedy for this special hemorrhage, and that ergot is calculated directly to fulfil the indication which it presents. If it should be found, on further trial, that the monesia belongs to the same class of remedies as the ergot and acts with greater certainty and efficiency in exciting uterine contraction, it will prove a valuable addition to the materia medica.

H. M.

THE WESTERN JOURNAL.

No. IX.

LOUISVILLE, SEPTEMBER 1, 1840.

THE NATCHEZ TORNADO.

We are happy to learn by a letter from Prof. Forshey, late of Jefferson College, Mississippi, that he is engaged in preparing a volume on the Tornado at Natchez. He thinks its phenomena highly instructive to the scientific meteorologist, and says they have an important bearing on the Espian Theory. From our knowledge of the Professor's qualifications, and his being on the spot at the time, we anticipate a work of high scientific interest. It will probably appear in October.

D.

NASAL POLYPUS CURED WITH SANGUINARIA CANADENSIS.

Being lately in Newark, Ohio, Dr. Brice, for more than 30 years a respectable practitioner of that place, narrated to us three cases of polypus of the nostril, which he had permanently cured by the application of the root of the sanguinaria canadensis. One of the patients was a youth, in whom the polypus projected out of the

nostril. A physician in a neighboring town tore away a part or the whole of it, and the operation was followed by profuse hemorrhage. Sometime afterwards the doctor saw him, and the polypus again extended beyond the alce nasi. The application of the powdered root and the decoction of the sanguinaria soon caused it to assume a pale color and shrink up. Under the continued use of the medicino he entirely recovered.

Another patient was a little girl, in whom the polypus was distinctly seen, but it did not present itself entirely. The same applications effected a radical cure.

A third was a man rather advanced in life, whose nose was much obstructed by the size of the polypus, but it did not descend to the lip. It was permantly removed by the same treatment.

We do not recollect to what extent the sanguinaria has been employed in the treatment of polypus, and are writing these memoranda remote from all books of reference. Should the reader be already familiar with the use of this remedy, he cannot charge us with prolixity in this testimony of its efficacy.

D.

STRAMONIUM IN INCIPIENT TRISMUS.

Dr. Brice, whom we have just quoted, was called to a man who had received a wound of the scalp two days before, and found his jaws immovable, and other portons of his muscular system than the maxillary showed incipient tetanus. In the course of two hours, the doctor gave him two tea spoonfuls of the powdered seeds of stramonium; immediately afterwards the spasms ceased.

D.

FAMILY CATARACT.

Although cataract is not unknown as a family disease, we have thought the following example worthy of being recorded.

Near Chillicothe, in Ohio, there lives a family by the name of Bunn, in which five cases of that disease have occurred among nine children. We shall say a few words of each, beginning with the oldest.

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