other part of the house gave way, and most generally to the leeward. A writer in one of the Natchez papers pledges himself to point out to the incredulous, in a walk through the city, five hundred explosions-instances in which the violence done can only be explained by the outward action of the atmosphere.

We have a parallel case in the break-bottle experiment with the air-pump, in which a thin square bottle, hermetically sealed, is shivered into a thousand fragments, under the exhausted receiver, by the expansion of the confined air. The pressure of the atmosphere over the city was suddenly diminished nearly one thirtieth, as was shown by the fall of the barometer, and rooms containing four thousand cubic feet of air, were thus subjected it has been estimated, to a pressure from within of eighty-six tons more than from without. The consequence was, that the windows were blown out when the walls were strong, and the equilibrium was thus restored; and in garrets, where the air was more confined, trap doors were blown open, or gable ends thrown out with immense force. In some cases roofs were heaved up and removed, and often, as has been shown, walls were shot out in the face of the wind. Garrets being closer were oftener exploded than other apartments which were relieved by windows and doors; and for the same reason brick houses sustained more damage than those composed of wood. And, finally, in the "explosive" theory we have an explanation of the well authenticated fact, that where doors and windows were unclosed, leeward and windward, houses, as was strikingly the case with Dr. Tooley's, escaped all injury. Whatever, therefore, may be the modus operandi of hurricanes generally, the conclusion seems irresistible, that in the tornado at Natchez the demolition of buildings was occasioned by the rarefaction of the outer atmosphere, and a corresponding expansion of the air within, equalling the explosive force of gunpowder. Still, there are phenomena connected with the the storm for which nothing but the supposition of " a mighty rushing wind" will account; and such a wind, in fact, is inseparable from the rarified state of the air which led to the explosions. Into the air which thus presented a comparative vacuum, the surrounding atmosphere must have rushed with great violence; and it was this wind that uprooted forest trees, raised the immense waves in the Mississippi, and forced the boats from their moorings.

The quantity of rain which fell during the passage of the tornado,

according to Dr. Tooley, was only 83-100 of an inch, but holding in suspension mud and particles of leaves and other vegetable matter in such quantities as not only to darken the air, but leave a thick coating upon whatever it came in contact with.

Dr. Tooley closes his account of the tornado with a description of some curious effects produced by it upon the leaves and buds of plants: they were in a manner seared by it. Those which were not killed outright were crisped, and their growth suspended for ten or more days. Some very thriving grape cuttings in the garden of Dr. T. were killed, and the old vines were also stunted and injured. An arbor vitæ in his yard seemed blighted and dying; the leaves of the succulent morus multicaulis appeared for some days as if an eastern sirocco had passed over them; and fruit trees, grass and weeds assumed the same appearance. Y.

SICK-HEADACHE.

DR. BURBELL, of New York, in a letter to Dr. Alcott of Boston, says, "Not a case of sick-headache has ever occurred, within my knowledge, except with the drinkers of tea and coffee, and not a case had failed of being cured on the entire renunciation of them."

Is this the experience of physicians generally? If so, the fact ought to be known. The use of tea and coffee is almost universal, and it would probably be difficult to find a subject of sick-headache who was not in the habit of drinking them. But is it true, that entire abstinence from them will prevent or cure it? This is the important question, and if settled in the affirmative will go far to prove, that these drinks are the cause of sick-headache.

A lady of our acquaintance in Tennessee who had been for many years the victim of this malady, enjoys now a comparative exemp tion from it. Her attacks of the complaint were frequent and exceedingly severe. She ascribes her recovery to the use of the tincture of Lobelia inflata, which she took in doses of a teaspoonful, whenever she felt the premonitory symptoms of an attack. This quantity was just sufficient to excite nausea, but not to produce vomiting. The improvement in her health occurred about the 50th year of her age,

and may have been the effect of some change of constitution at that period, rather than of the lobelia. The remedy, however, is worthy of trial in this most common and most troublesome affection. Y.

SATURATED ALCOHOLIC TINCTURE ON EUPATORIUM PERFOLIATUM.

WHEN in Galliopolis, Ohio, we were informed by Dr. Hibbard, that he is in the habit of treating ague and fever with this tincture. He gives it in teaspoonful doses several times during the intermission. It is intensely bitter, and neither purges, vomits nor sweats the patient. He has not found the decoction to answer the same purpose. He administers a decoction of Aristolochia Sepentaria at the same time. The Doctor assured us, that he had found this treatment successful in a great number of cases; and it might, he thinks, be made to supercede in a great degree the use of the sulphate of Quinine.

D.

CONGENITAL FUNGUS HEMATODES.

THE first and only case of congenital fungus hæmatodes, or Encephaloid, we have ever seen, fell under our observation, in the vicinity of Athens, Ohio, in a late trip to that town. We were indebted to Drs. Carpenter and Blackstone for the opportunity of seeing it.

The child, a female, was two days old. The discase occupies the whole of the left nates, which is swelled out into a great, shining, globoid tumour; rendered irregular by tuberous elevations. It extends from the perineum, anus and vulva to the sacrum and the spine of the ilium, so as to involve the acetabulum. Its colour is deep red. Many of the cutaneous veins are much enlarged. A portion of the skin had suffered abrasion and considerable hæmorrhage had already occurred. Some parts of the tumour are hard, others soft the general mass felt hard. It was tender under the hand. In short it had all the diagnostic marks of encephaloid, before fungous growths appear. The child was rather lean but seemed to be in health; and was free from tumors or malformations in any other part. From this case it would appear, that this variety of carcinoma occurs throughout a much more extended period of life

than schirrhus, for we have seen it up to the 50th year

while the

latter prevails most in advanced life, is perhaps never congenital and not often a complaint of youth.

D.

MILK-SICKNESS.

When lately at Urbana, Ohio, we collected from Dr. Carter, who has practised medicine in that town for more than a quarter of a century, the following facts, relative to the production of " MilkSickness," or "Sick-Stomach." Formerly the disease prevailed much more than within the last 8 or 10 years. This, Doctor C. ascribes to the confinement of cows within enclosed pastures. The neighborhood of Urbana presents, at the surface, two geological varieties: first, a true upland level, clayey, and covered chiefly with white oak, the soil thin, and reposing on a compact, arenaceous, ashgrey limestone: second, a diluvial formation, consisting in extensive, level deposites of rolled pebbles, gravel and sand, covered with black, carbonaceous mould, destititute of trees and clothed in long grass. These tracts are evidently the beds of obsolete ponds and little lakes.

As long as cattle feed on the latter, according to the observation of Dr. Carter, the milk-sickness is not produced; when they frequent the woodlands, the disease is apt to occur. But it is not dangerous for them to feed in these natural pastures at all seasons of the year. Dr. Carter has never known them nor the people affected before the month of July, and, in most instances, not till August; from which till December is the time of greatest danger. He has never seen a case of the disease in man, that he could not trace up to the cow. Milch cows occasionally die, but on the whole are less liable than cattle which do not give milk. He knows of one tract of woodland three or four miles north-east of Urbana, which has been peculiarly fatal. Nearly all the following facts connect themselves with that spot.

Sixteen or eighteen years ago, a family living near it, had one milch cow, which was suffered to feed upon it. During the first August after their removal thither, and while they were using her milk, the father of the family sickened with the characteristic symptoms and died; and within a week from his death, the wife and two children, experienced the same fate, from attacks of the same kind

A young man living in the family had, at the same time, an attack of dysentery;-suggesting, undoubtedly, that the gastric disease which carried them off might have arisen from the same cause which produced his intestinal complaint. The cow was seized with the "trembles, ". about the time the children were attacked, and died.

In the summer of 1837, in the month of August, the milch cows of Mr. Taylor, were suffered to range for a week in the same wood, during which they were milked as usual. The milk and butter made from it were eaten. A portion was also manufactured into cheese. Four of the family, two adults, and two children, all of whom had used the milk and butter, sickened with the well known symptoms, and one of the former died. The cheese was "thrown to the dogs" one ate of it and sickened; and some chickens which picked up fragments of it died.

In the month of October 1839, about twenty cattle escaping from their enclosures near this wood, were allowed to graze, or rather to browse, in it for 6 or 7 days, when several of them were found dead on the ground. The remainder were driven home, affected with the trembles. Some of them died the first night, and but one of the whole recovered.

Dr. Carter introduced us to Mr. Hitt, an intelligent and respectable farmer, who lives near Urbana, who informed us that he had lost many cattle by this malady; but has never soon it affect any which did not run at large, nor known it occur earlier in the calendar year than August. Two years ago in that month, his cattle ran abroad and one of the finest of them "got the trembles. He kept her from water, fed her on green corn (maize,) and drenched her with lard, as curative means. Finding that she did not improve in health, he determined to give hor drink. After taking a few swallows of cold water, she fell down in convulsions, and to put an end to her sufferings he cut her throat. His two dogs ate of her carcase. In two days, one of them stiffened in his limbs "so that he could not jump over a low fence" and died the other was affected with the same stiffoning, but got well. His hogs, also, ate of the carcase, but were uninjured; but at another time, when he lost four cows, his hogs devoured a part of their carcases, and were destroyed.

We give these facts, with the observation that Dr. Carter is a regularly educated physician, and an honest man.

D.