wine-glassful four times a day, and one of Dr. Beach's anti-dyspectic pills every night, and two pills every morning, made as follows: May-apple root (podophyllum peltatum), two parts; skunk cabbage root (dracontium), one part; blood root (sanguinaria canadensis), half a part; lobelia herb, one fourth part. Pulverize and mix-form into pills, with molasses, of common size. In three months I had Mr. Afflick entirely well. In addition to the above treatment, if there be night sweats, I give twenty-five drops elixir vitrol, in a wine-glassful of fresh water, every night, till the sweat abates. The treatment I have mentioned in James P. Afflick's case is the treatment I universally follow in cases of pulmonary consumption, except with those who think medicine given in the form of decoction is too simple to have any effect. In such cases I keep a syrup to suit. It is made as follows: Take ceanothus two parts, asclepias tuberosa one part, boil down till you have a very strong decoction; strain, and add refined sugar, and boil down to form a thick syrup; add the tincture of Tolu, to give a flavor, and bottle. Dose-one tablespoonful three times a day. This syrup is a substitute for the decoction, but the best effects are produced from the decoction. I suppose it is the sugar that prevents the syrup from having so good an effect. The following syrup is almost an infallible remedy for the whooping cough: Take ceanothus, two parts, asclepias tuberosa, one part; make a strong decoction; strain, add refined sugar, boil down to a thick syrup; and, to every quart of syrup, while warm, add half a pint of the tincture of macrotrys racemosa, and a sufficient quantity of the tincture of Tolu, to give a flavor. Dose, for a child one year old, a small teaspoonful three times a day. In the fall of 1846, George Harris applied to me. I found that his lungs and liver were considerably affected. Harris had been under the treatment of Dr. Rose, who had failed with his remedies; and, when he applied to me, I thought I would try an experiment in his case; and, if I found that I was not likely to succeed, I would quit and take up my former plan. I made a pill composed of equal parts of ceanothus, (bark of the root) and the compound above mentioned of podophyllum, dracontium, sanguinaria, and lobelia. I gave two pills four times a day, and gave no other medicine. In three months I had cured him thoroughly, and at this time he is as able-bodied a man as you would find in a hundred. From fifteen gallons of a strong decoction of the ceanothus americanus boiled down to an extract, I obtained about one quart of extract. It had such an astringent taste that I was afraid to use it in diseases of the chest. I conclusion, I would say, I do not think there ever was a remedy equal to the ceanothus in diseases of the lungs; and, if you or any of the Faculty will give it a fair trial, as I have directed, you will find the most happy results. It is the champion of the vegetable kingdom for diseases of the lungs; but in their treatment it should not be used to any extent, unless in combination with other medicines. Philadelphia, Sept. 7th, 1747. J. W. COOPER. DR. CURTIS' WITHDRAWMENT. Our readers will recollect, that, in announcing, some time since, Dr. Curtis' acceptance of the Professorship of Theory and Practice in our College, we said, that that acceptance was conditional ;-it depended on the question whether the friends in New England would be sufficiently united in expressions of their wishes in favor of the measure. We regret to say, that Dr. C. has not found these expressions and the general manifestation of interest satisfactory. In a letter to us of a recent date, he says, "I was informed, last winter, that, in Connecticut very extentively, and to some extent in New Hampshire, and in all the other Eastern States, there was a strong desire for me to give a course or more of Lectures on Theory and Practice in New England. Well; I gave them an opportunity, but very few embraced it." The doctor does not see sufficient reason to think, that the interest in his behalf now is any greater than it was last year; and, as the Boston movement was a failure, he chooses to leave New England reformers to carry out for themselves their own measures. We e are well aware, that it would be a personal sacrifice to Dr. Curtis to discharge the duties of the office to which he had been invited. Still, we had hoped, that he would have been willing to make that sacrifice, and that we should have been pleasantly associated in the work of promoting a common object. As, however, he has determined to decline this service, we will only say, we will yet labor harmoniously in the same cause, though, like Abraham and Lot of old, one goes to the right hand and the other to the left. [Ed. Jour.] From the Botanico-Medical Recorder. LIFE PRESERVER. A new kind of life preserver has been brought forward in New York, the inventors of which claim for it the following advantages: "A person wearing one of these life preservers can carry from fifty to one hundred lbs. in addition to his person, and float four persons in the water, without sinkiug, and can take no other position on the water, except with the head and shoulders entirely above the water. "The entire person, save the face, is enclosed by an India rubber dress, parts of which are inflated, enabling the wearer to float in an erect, or sleep in a reclining posture; or, with paddles which are attached, a person can move at the rate of three miles per hour." NEW ENGLAND BOTANIC MEDICAL AND SURGICAL JOURNAL. CALVIN NEWTON, M. D., EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR. VOL IIL "Seize upon truth wherever found, WORCESTER, MASS., JANUARY 16, 1849. NO. II. UNUSUAL URINARY CALCULI AGAIN. [We are obliged to Dr. Y. for these additional evidences of the genuineness of the circumstances, which we have before published, respecting this extraordinary case. We begin to think that even Dr. J. V. C. S.'s slightly developed organ of wonder, will be a little excited, in view of the following testimony. Ed. Jour.] I, S. K. M., of lawful age, depose and say, that, when I came to W. Church's, the eleventh day of October, A. D., 1847, and was placed under the medical care of Dr. Wm. Young, of Phillips, Me., I had a very lame shoulder, which was dislocated forwards, about a year previous, by falling down stairs; and, from that time until I came under the care of Dr. Young, it continued to slip out of joint quite often. It would often require the aid of three or four assistants and the physician to set it, and the operation was very painful to endure. Quite a number of different Surgeons had set it, and been consulted, to know if there was any way that it could be retained in its place. None gave me any encouragement; and, during the time that I remained under the treatment of J. L. Blake and G. T. Blake, and Houghton, which was not far from four months, previous to my coming under the care of Dr. Young, they set my shoulder every day; and they tried all means they could invent, to retain it in its place, but in vain. shoulder sever When Dr. Young commenced attending me, he set my al times, during the first two weeks, without any assistants, by taking hold of the arm near the elbow with his right hand (, as it was my right shoulder that was dislocated), and his left hand hold of the shoulder, with his fingers, upon or over the dislocated bone, which he pressed into joint, as he elevated, and carried the arm forward, with his right hand. When he had attended me about two weeks, he fixed a pad, to put on my shoulder, which effectually prevents the shoulder from being dislocated, when I wear it; and he prepared some linimint to bathe on my shoulder, to take down the swelling and strengthen it, which linimint was superior to any thing I had ever before tried. My shoulder now is as strong and appears to be as well as ever. It will keep in place now, and I am not obliged to wear the pad. I likewise had a renal or urinary difficulty which caused a retention of urine, which had obliged me to have a physician visit me, twice a day, for about six months, to use the catheter, not being able to pass urine once, during that time, without the aid of the catheter; and, during this time, I was under constant medical treatment, four months of the time, as above stated. I was attended by J. L. Blake, M. D., G. T. Blake, M. D., and Houghton, in Co. While I remained under their treatment, I could not perceive any improvement in my disease. My urine would of ten change its color and appearance, sometimes being nearly black, as though pounded charcoal had been put in it, especially if I was neglected twenty-four or thirty-six hours. [T. Watson, M. D., Page 917, says, that there has been observed, though very rarely, a form of black urine depending upon the presence, in the secretion, of a peculiar principle, which Dr. Marcet named melanic acid.] After I had been under thorough medical treatment by Dr. Young, between two and three weeks, and when I had been kept under the relaxing influence of lobelia and the vapor bath, I passed urine for the first time; and quite a quantity of gravel, resembling pounded brick in appearance, passed off from my bladder with the urine. And, during three weeks following, while under Dr. Young's treatment, several gravels of a large size passed off, by the assistance of the doctor and the nurse E. Stetson, and my own efforts; some nearly an inch in length, which gave me severe pain, when they passed through the urethra, which they actually passed. Three of these, I am informed, Dr. Young has had analyzed, by A. A. Hays and J. R. Loomis, chemists. There would more or less fine gravels pass off, in connexion with the larger ones,-sometimes a table-spoonful. As soon as the gravels commenced passing off, I commenced to be better of my retention of urine; and I could get along a part of the time, without the use of the catheter. He treated me, at this time, about six weeks, when I was able to do house work, which I did for Mr. Church, earning my weekly wages. Since, I have had another attack, and several more gravels have passed off under the treatment of Dr. Young,-the last, about four weeks since. What these gravels are composed of I do not know;-but, that they were formed within my urinary organs, and passed off from the bladder, through the urethra, or natural passage, are facts. They are not clay or brick burnt, as said to be by some. My health is now good. Phillips, Franklin, ss., May 6th, A. D. 1848. FRANKLIN, SS., May 6th, 1848. Sworn to before me, S. K. M. W. SHERBURN, Justice of Peace. PROF. NEWTON :-Sir,-I send you, above, a copy of a deposition which I have in my possession; and, as to that part which concerns me or came under my knowledge, I can bear testimony to the truth of it. I assisted in passing off a large gravel or calculus from the bladder through the urethra. Phillips, Dec., 12th, 1848. WM. YOUNG, M. D. We can certify to the truth of the above deposition, so far as has come under our knowledge, and have no reason to believe that there was any deception in the case. Dr. Young is a physician of high standing and reputation, sustains a good moral character, and is our family physician. WILLIAM CHURCH. MARG'T. CHURCH. S I, E. Stetson, of Hanson, in the County of Plymouth, and State of Massachusetts, single woman, of the age of thirty-five years, on oath, depose and say,―That I was at Wm. Church's, when S. K. M. came to W. Church's, and was placed under the medical care of Dr. Young of Phillips, and I slept with her every night, (with the exception of three or four, when I was away on a visit,) from the time she came there, the eleventh of October, A. D. 1847, to the sixteenth of January, A. D. 1848. About three weeks after she came to Wm. Church's, and commenced Dr. Young's medical treatment, I assisted her, with my finger, in passing from her bladder, a gravel of considerable size. It was followed by a considerable quantity of finer gravels, some nearly as large as fine peas. She commenced then to be better of her retention of urine, which had obliged her to have a catheter used daily for a number of months, by a physician. She had three or four of these large gravels pass off, during three or four weeks, and a considerable quantity of finer gravels. Dr. Young attended her about six weeks, when her health became good, and remained so until I left, the sixteenth day of January. I think it could not have been possible for S. K. M. to have pounded up and whittled out brick, and put it where I found these, and deceive me. I saw nothing to cause me to think there was any deception in the case. Dated, at Halifax, this sixth day of May, A. D. 1848. EMELINE STETSON. COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS. PLYMOUTH, SS.-On the sixth day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-eight, the aforesaid deponent was examined, and cautioned, and sworn, agreeably to law, to the deposition aforesaid by her subscribed, taken at the request of Wm. Young of Phillips, in the State of Maine. JOSHUA SMITH, Justice of Peace. PROF. C. NEWTON :-Sir,-The above is a copy of a deposition which I obtained by mail, and have in my possession. If you think the within would be pro bono publico, you may give them a place in your excellent Journal, as you did my private letter. Phillips, Me., Dec. 12th, 1848. WM. YOUNG, M. D. I have a great number of certificates, in my possession, of my moral |