I have ascertained by experiment more than six times upon myseif; at one time the symptoms went off in six hours, at another in twelve, and at others in twenty-four hours.

As we know the sensible effects of mercury, whether it is introduced into the circulation by the absorbents, or received into the stomach, are the same, we conclude, whenever these sensible effects are met with, that mercury is actually in the circulation.

It therefore occurred to me, that if the sensible effects of the infusion of the colchicum should prove to be the same, whether it is introduced into the circu lation by the jugular vein, or received by the month into the stomach, that we might equally in both cases conclude it to be in the circulation. To determine this point, thirty drops of the vinous infusion of the colchicum (made by macerating two pounds of the fresh roots in twenty-four ounces of sherry wine, in a gentle heat for six days, the spirit being previously carried off by heat) was diluted with a dram of water, and conveyed into the circulation of a mo derately sized dog by the jugular vein. The dog's pulse in a natural state is 140 in a minute.

In five hours the dog had a tremulous motion of the muscles and fluttering of the pulse, accompanied with nausea, but no retching to vomit. In fourteen minutes the pulse was 180 in a minute, and had frequent intermissions. In four hours the pulse was 120 a minute, of its natural strength, and had frequent intermissions. In seven hours the dog had a natural motion, the pulse had no intermission, was 140 in a minute. The dog had a good appetite for food and appeared in perfect health.

The same dog at the end of three complete days, swallowed sixty drops of the same infusion, exactly double the quantity that had been introduced into the circulation. In two hours he became languid, the pulse wiry and weak, but 140 in the minute. In four hours and a half the langour much less, and the pulse natural. In eight hours the dog had had a natural motion. eleven hours was in good spirits and very well.

In

The sensible effects upon the dog, were similar to those produced upon myself, but in a less degree. Under the influence of a violent fit of the gout in the ankle, on the 23d of Dec. 1815, at ten o'clock in the morning, I

took sixty drops of the eau medicinale, the pain of the gout was insufferable, I got into bed, and was so chilly as not to be able to keep my hands warm, even under the bed clothes. In two hours I became rather hot and thirsty. In three hours the pain was so much dimi nished as to be tolerable, while the limb was at rest. In seven hours I had a confined motion from the bowels, and the pain in the ankle became severe, while the foot was placed on the ground, but this went off as soon as the foot was again placed in a horizontal posture. A nausea, or hal sickness came on my pulse which is naturally eighty in a minute, was lowered to sixty, and intermitted in ten hours, the nausea was gone off, but I remained languid the pulse beating seventy in a minute, I had some appetite for food.

The following morning my pulse was eighty, and having passed a good night, I was enabled to walk as usual, and follow the duties of my profession. If these observations shall be confirmed they must lead us to conclude, that the different kinds of substances, which produce specific diseases, are first car ried into the circulation in the same manner as mineral and animal poisons, and that the medicines by which they are acted upon, go through the same course before they produce their beneficial effects, a material step will thus be gained in the consideration of diseases, and the modes of treating them.

AN

APPENDIX ΤΟ A PAPER ON THE EFFECTS OF THE COLCHICUM AUTUMNALE ON GOUT. BY THE SAME.

Read April 21, 1816.

When I laid before the society my paper upon this subject, I was anxious to establish what appeared to me to be two important facts; one that the infusion of the colchicum can be received into the circulation without producing any permanent mischief; the other is, that through the medium of the cir culation its beneficial effects upon gout are produced, and therefore, the sudden relief which is experienced cau be readily explained.

Having attended to the effects of the eau medicinale, and for this medicine for several years in cases of gout, both in my own case and in those of my friends, I found invariably, that theydiminished the frequency of the pulse

ten or twenty beats in a minute, and this effect generally took place about twelve hours after the medicine was exhibited: I therefore considered this to be the criterion of the constitution being under the influence of the medicine; and when I found that the pulse was affected in the same way by the medicine received into the circulation, and in a much shorter time, I became satisfied that in both cases this arose from an effect upon the circulation and not upon the stomach, and therefore did not further prosecute the inquiry; siuce exhibiting larger doses could only confirm what is already known; namely, that the medicine is capable when injudiciously used, of producing very violent effects.

It has been suggested to me, since the Paper was read, that the only mode of proving that the medicine acts through the medium of the circulation, is to show, that when a sufficient quantity is received into the blood, all the violeut effects are produced that result

from a large dose taken by the mouth;

and as I had no object but the pursuit of truth, I lost no time in complying with this suggestion, and introduced into the circulation of a dog 160 drops of the same infusion before employed.

The animal instantly lost all power of voluntary motion, the breathing became extremely slow, and the pulse was hardly to be felt. In ten minntes the pulse was eighty four, the inspirations natural, which are forty in a minute; in twenty minutes the pulse was sixty, the inspirations thirty in a minute, a tremulous motion had taken place in the hind legs, in an hour the pulse was 115 and irregalar, the animal was capable of sitting up but was in a state of violent tremour, and the inspirations could not be counted. In one hour and a half the tremour had gone off, the pulse continued the same; the auimal made ineffectual attempts to vomit, and continued to do so for ten minutes accompanied with great langour, the inspirations were fifty-four in a mi

nute.

In two hours, the pulse was 150, and very weak; the animal had voided one ounce and a half of water, had vomited twice, each time bringing up a quantity of mucus tinged with bile, and had two liquid stools.

In three hours, had vomited again, and had another stool; the pulse too weak to be counted.

In four hours, continued extremely languid..

1.

In five hours, vomited some bloody mucus, and expired.

On opening the body, the stomach contained mucus tinged with blood, and its internal membrane was inflamed; the duodenum had its internal surface universally inflamed; the same appear ance in a less degree was met with in the jejunium and ilium, and more strongly marked in the colon than in the ilium.

The facts which I have now adduced afford sufficient proof of the action of the colchicum autumnale upon the different parts of the body, being through the medium of the circulation, and not in consequence of its immediate effects upon the stomach and intestines.

RECIPES.

No. XII.

To the Editor of the European Magazine.

SIR,

Able Recipes, to class one that shall be proved a most effective and infallible cure for chilblains and chapped hands, may not be found useless, particularly at this season of the year, to · some of your numerous readers It is nothing more than night and morning. fomenting the parts affected with strong brine (in which salt petre has been used) as hot as can be borne. Once or twice for the hands, when chapped, is generally found sufficient. I have known chilblains, when extremely swelled and black, appearing as if not any thing could hinder them from breaking, in a short time entirely removed. If its simplicity should recommend it for insertion, it will oblige

MONG many other of your valu

London, 14th Dec. 1816.

EXPERIENCE.

P.S. It may not be unnecessary to add, the application should be by the fire, and be held there until the parts are quite dry.

FOR THE LUMBAGO.

Take of volatile tincture of gum guiacum, sweet spirits of nitre, balsam of capivi, and oil of juniper, in equal quantities. One tea-spoonful in a wine glass of gin and water, or warm gruel, in the morning fasting; repeat the dose at noon, and again between dinner and supper, but not late in the evening, as some exercise should be taken, if possible, after the dose.

The Speech of Thomas Fowell Buxton, Esq. at the Egyptian Hall, on the 26th November, 1816, on the Subject of the Distress in Spital Fields, to which is added the Report of the Spital Fields Association read at the Meeting. Published by Order of the Committee then appointed, and for the Benefit of its Funds. 8vo.

T has been said by an elegant writer

tary principles of eloquence are to be found in the sympathies of the heart.* This is a very rational opinion, which both the purpose and the property of eloquence substantiate. The purpose of eloquence is, to prove a necessity for its interference, and to secure the accomplishment of its object. Its properly comprehends those qualities by which its purpose may be made more evident to the judgment of the persons addressed, and their inclinations conciliated to meet the speakers' views; and as eloquence can only then be genuine, when it is made the medium of truth, he that speaks from the natural influence of the best feelings of the heart, will speak eloquently even without the adventitious aid of abstract disquisition, or profound learning.

It is on these grounds that we present this address to our readers, with the character of an eloquent speech-for it embraces all the requisites which could make it impressive to those who heard it, and interesting to those who read it. The truths which it declares, and the cause which it pleads, demand our attention and constrain our concurrence: it does more; it excites our compassion, and blends the subject of the speech with our tenderest regrets. The facts we lament, the cause we acknowledge, and the means of alleviation we are anxious to provide, at the same instant in which we are made acquainted with both.

* Melmoth. Europ. Mog, Vol. LXX. Dec. 1816.

This was the effect which rewarded the earnestness of the speaker at the time that he delivered it; and this is the result which has followed his humane effort.

The cause indeed of itself possessed sufficient interest to call forth all the spontaneous exertions of the humane and generous, in behalf of the miserable sufferers; but, urged as it has been,

guage breathes the most elevated sentiments of a manly sensibility, it has been met by the most comprehensive measures of relief and remedy.

In the noble subscription which has been made for the succour of the distressed multitudes, whose wretched necessities and suffering patience this speech represents so truly, and pleads so ably, we bear testimony to that prompt beneficence of Englishmen, which makes the cause of sorrow its own, and instantly applies its healing hand to bind up the wounds, and assuage the pangs of those who, in the language of holy writ, "go mourning all the day long." To the deplorable case of the Spital-fields' poor, so pathetically described by Mr. Buxton, this expression peculiarly applies; their griefs were of no common sort-sorrow is but a feeble characteristic of their misery-every afflictive burthen that could weigh down the spirits, and plunge the whole man, mind and body, into the lowest depths of wretchedness, had "seized fast hold upon them. Want had come upon them like an armed man," and well nigh crushed every physical and mental power, every domestic consolation, every possession, and every hope in its ruthless grasp. But no sooner was this extreme indigence made known, through a medium in which the efficacy of aid could be most amply secured, than that aid was bestowed-and to the everlasting honour of the inhabitants of this metro- * 3 X

polis be it mentioned, that notwithstanding the straits and difficulties to which they have themselves been subjected, by the depression of their commercial dependencies, and by their individual privations, the cry of the poor was heard with all that unfeigned commiseration, and that charitable eager ness to afford immediate assistance, which mark the pre-eminent liberality of the Merchants and Tradesmen of London. Their munificent gifts are already put into action, and the season able supplies which they have produced, have been as promptly administered, as those gifts were bestowed. The naked are clothed, the hungry fed, and the sick are in a progress to recovery; parents and children, and infants that hung at the exhausted breasts of their drooping mothers, have received new life. The clouds of despondency are dissipated-the sinews of industry are restored to their wonted vigour, and the independent earnings of virtuous toil are returning to their accustomed channels.

These are the best consequences that the most sanguine hopes of those who promoted and supported the meeting at the Egyptian Hall could either contemplate in expectation, or desire in effect.

To the Lord Mayor who called the meeting, and who so essentially conduced by his judicious opening of the business, to that unanimity of principles which gave an effective union of design to the measure, the highest tribute of respectful acknowledgment is dae-Never were well constituted minds occupied in a better work, and never. was the influence of magisterial authorily more ingenuously, and more beneficially applied. The example which was thus set by the City of London, and thus made operative of all the projected good by its excellent Chief Magistrate, has given an impulse of earnest consideration and generous action to all the parishes in London and Westminster-and it is with heartfeit satisfaction that we bear witness to the universal co-operation with which such benevolent exertions have been

Seconded.

It would be excusable were we to advert to the superior claim of real patriotism, which such plans, and such execution of them, might well chal lenge over the cold-hearted sophistries efthose who boasting of their ardent

affection for their country, and their disinterested vindication of her liberties, can without a sigh of pity or a mite of relief, convert the sufferings of poverty, and the afflictions of privation, to their own insidious purposes of rebellion and subversion.-But we forbear, because we differ in toto from their sense of the evils which our labouring poor endure; and because we think, that compassionate relief is a much more efficacious remedy for those evils, than that irritation which such persons seem so studiously to excite, and the incu rable calamities which they appear to be rashly disposed to produce.

We now return to the address befor us, and with the observation of a Grecian orator upon the successful speech of his eloquent competitor, we introduce il to our readers: If you so much admire it as you read it, your admiration would have known no bounds had you heard him deliver it."-The pathos and the well regulated animation with which Mr. Buxton spoke, could only be exceeded in effect, by the good sense and forcible arguments of the speech itself.

The unaffected modesty which tempered the warmth of his feelings is strongly evidenced in the opening of the address.

"As one of the persons who were instrumental in convening this Meeting, it has been intimated to me that it is my duty to explain our objects. This, and this alone, I can truly say, has urged me to place myself in a situation more prominent and more considerable than any other circumstance would warrant. It has been my lot to see something of the distress that rages in our unhappy district: and whoever had seen, as I have seen, the utmost ravages of hun ger, cold, and disease- whoever had witnessed, as I have witnessed within these few hours, the decrepitude of age without one of those many comforts which may alleviate its natural privations;-without the common necessa ries of life-food, fuel, clothing-had witnessed (perhaps the most affecting of all spectacles)-the despair, the fixed, the downcast, the prostrate despair of manhood willing to work, but unable to obtain employment, and compelled to see in the countenance of his dejected wife, and to hear in the cries of his perishing children, the consequences of his arrested toil:-whoever, in short, had been doomed to the unhappy office