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ftrained liquor, to which may be added half an ounce of fal gem, and after wards from two to four ounces of treacle fpirit.

3. Take of martial ball* two ounces, fal ammoniac one ounce; diffolve them in about eight pints of fpring water, and add two pints of rectified spirit of wine. 4. Take of crude alum, and white vitriol, each two ounces and two drams; lytharge of filver and myrrh, each an ounce; Aleppo galls, two ounces; juniper and bay berries, each an ounce; favin and rue, each two handfuls; oak leaves, a handful and a half; verde. gris, half an ounce; camphor, two drams; calamin, fix drams. After having mixed and reduced all thefe in gredients to powder, let two ounces of the compofition be boiled with four pints of water, or with two of water and two of vinegar.

The following embrocations applied to parts already mortified, wili stop the further progress of the mortification ; where it is just beginning they will prevent it, and will also help nature to feparate the dead parts from the found.

1. Spirit of wine three ounces; myrrh and aloes powdered, of each half an ounce; Ægyptian ointment, three drams t.

2. Vinous decoction of fcordium, twelve ounces; vinegar of rue and of roles, of each four ounces; fpirit of treacle, three ounces: and one ounce of fal ammoniac.

3. Lime water, four pints; treacle fpirit, or that of feverfew, two pints; white wine vinegar, one pint; elixir proprietatis, fix ounces; Ægyptian oint

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rit, or that of feverfew, each 2 ounces; fpirits of falt, two drams.

Lastly, in order to foften the parts, feparate the floughs, and promote suppuration, the following application may be used.

Water germander, two handfuls ; mallows and marshmallows, each a handful; flower of linfeed, three ounces; Venice foap and fal ammoniac, of each two ounces; linfeed oil, an ounce. Let these ingredients be boiled together, in vinegar and water, to the confiftence of a poultice.

It may be in general obferved with regard to fomentations, that fuch as are emollient are ferviceable when hard dry crufts prevent a discharge; thofe which abound with acid, when there is a confiderable degree of putrefaction; and laftly, thofe which are fpirituous, faline or strengthening, are moft proper when fwellings are flabby, and the body abounds with aqueous humours.

The diligent use of these fomentati, ons, will in 12 hours alter the condition of gangrened wounds for the better; then the lint and powder may be removed, all the detached pieces of mortified flesh extracted, and the dreffings renewed every 12 hours at the 3d or 4th dreffings, the wounds will discharge matter of a favourable afpect, and then it will be necessary to give the bark internally.

The bark may be given by itself in powder, or made into an electuary with any of the cordial fyrups; if it purges in fubftance, it must be given in the infufion or extract. But if the fever be ftrong, the heat confiderable, and the patient thirsty, be bark will be of no fervice; but recourfe must be had to temperance.

If the bark is given, it may be in dofes of half a drachm or two fcruples, K kk 2 every

The martial ball is thus made: Take of filings of iron one part; white tartar two parts: Let them be reduced to a fine powder, and put into a matrafs with as much French brandy as will fwim about an inch above the powder; exhale to drynefs, either in the heat of the fun, or in that of a water bath. Pour fresh brandy upon the remainder, and evaporate them in this manner feveral times fucceffively, till the mafs appears refinous; then form it into balls neariy of the bignefs of an egg.

In ufing the external vulnerary medicines, in which aloes is an ingredient, it mus be remembered, that they often prove purgative.

every hour at first, afterwards every two hours, and at length, once in every three or four hours: a few drops of spirit of sea falt, or dulcified spirit of vitriol, or a few grains of alum or catechu may be added to every dose, and if the patient be very weak, a small glafs of fome acid wine. His drink fhould be water and vinegar, weak veal and chicken broth, and gruels of barley or oatmeal, acidulated with vinegar, or lemon juice.

In this stage, the dreffings already defcribed, being fuppofed to have procured a discharge of matter, the vulnerary powder and oil of turpentine must be laid aside; but the fuppuration muft ftill be promoted, fometimes to the eighth day by dreffing with the following digestive ointments. Boil half a pint of oil olive, and an ounce of red faunders together, till the oil requires a deep red colour; when it is trained, add a pound of yellow wax, and a pound and an half of turpentine; when the whole is mixed and melted together over a gentle fire, a little balfam of Peru may be added, and it may be quickened with a little effence of myrrh. Suppuration must also be affifted by keeping the parts conftantly covered with emollient fomentations, and by avoiding to cleanse the wound too much, either by compreffion or wiping, and removing the corrupted parts without effufion of blood: regard must also be had to the bones; after the most careful examination, in which dilatation is fometimes neceflary, all the splinters and carious parts, that can be removed without violence, must be extracted, and they must then be covered with the balfam for the bones, of frankincense, maftich, as directed before.

All these dreffings should be finished as expeditiously as poffible, to avoid cold; the room fhould be warm, and if neceffary, a few burning coals held near the part which is dreffed.

After thefe directions, M. Bilguer

argues thus, with refpect to mortifications. They are the effect either of fome internal morbid cause, or external injury; if of an internal cause, amputation can do no good while fuch cause remains, and if that can be removed, a cure may be effected without amputation; if of an external accident, and they continue to fpread, there must be a fever, and general inflammation, and for that reafon amputation can only accelerate the patient's death*, while the mortification therefore is gaining ground the method above propofed fhould be purfued: whenthe progrefs is stopped, we should confider whether the limb can be saved; and nothing but the total rottennefs of the bone is a proof that it cannot; for the periofleum may be cut and torn, without giving pain in a sound state, as Haller has demonftrated. If the bone is totally rotten, amputation should be performed, not by cutting through the quick, but by lopping off the gangrened useless mafs very near it. After providing against an hæmorrhage of the larger veffels by a proper ligature, ftopping the progrefs of the gangrene inuft be then attempted by internal medicines, and fuitable dreffings; the patient's ftrength should be fupported by a proper regimen, and if it increafes, a feparation of the foft parts that are mortified, will certainly enfue; after which it will be easy to faw off the little stump of the dead bone that was left, and the wound may be cicatrifed by epulotic applications, and fuch as have been just recommended for bones when laid bare.

2. With respect to limbs violently contufed, which fome have made a practice of cutting off before they tried any other remedy, M. Bilguer declares exprefsly against amputation, even if the bones, as well as flesh, are bruifed and crushed by the fall of a large beam, a mais of ftone, or by a cart wheel, a fcrew, or a prefs: in these cafes, he fays, the patient has a better chance, even for life, fetting the limb

out

* Our own countryman, Mr. Sharp, who has been long an honour to his profeffion, has irrefragably proved the impropriety of operating on the found part, while the mortification ts gaining ground.

out of the question, if it is not, than if it is, cut off. Two things are generally dreaded, a mortification and hæmorrhage; as to the mortification, if what has already been faid, is worthy. of any regard, it is not probable: as to the hæmorrhage it has fometimes stopped, even in these very cafes, without the affistance of a furgeon. The method of cure, directed by this author, is as follows:

When the lower parts of a shattered limb adhere by a little flesh or fkin, fo as there is no hope of a re-union, they should be feparated intirely: when pieces of bone jut out they must be fawed off, whether firm or moveable: all the other fmall fplinters, either held by the flesh, or adhering to the bone, that can be removed without violence, or a fresh effufion of blood, fhould be extracted by the hand, or a proper inftrument; the limb fhould then be flightly compreffed between the hands, and gently stroked lengthways from above downwards, fo as to restore it as much as poffible to its natural shape; the fore should then be dreffed with a digeftive, adding a little effence of myrrh, or folution of maftich; the whole covered with dry lint, and the fame bandage applied as in amputations, but not fo tight as to caufe pain, or increase the inflammation: the whole fhould be then moistened with as much fpirit of wine as may penetrate the parts affected, and care must be taken to extend the limb in a right line, and lay it foft.

Till the fuppuration becomes plentiful, it should be dreffed only once in twenty four hours, but afterwards twice a day; and fuch dreffings as touch the bone or flesh, should be covered with lint dipped in folution of maftich, balfam of fioraventi, or fome other bal. famic effence, to prevent the fuppuration from becoming too copious; and at each dreffing, all the little fhivers which do not re-unite, and which by degrees come to be feparated without violence, fhould be taken away.

Care should be taken to promote the coalition of the larger fragments, by

light compreffion of the hands, and a little tightening of the bandage. Those that do not coalefce in a month should be cautiously and tenderly loofened, fo as to bring them away. If any are cracked as high as the articulation, they fhould be left to nature.

If the patient is weakened by loss of blood, he must be fupported by broths, with herbs boiled in them, and with wine and water; he should also take, every four hours, half a drachm of the bark, till the pulfe is fufficiently raised, and the fuppuration is laudable; he may then be allowed meat, and his drink fhould be water, acidulated with vinegar or vitriol.

When the fuppuration is too plentiful, and the wound appears difpofed to heal, the patient should be purged once or twice with Epfom falt, fome abforbent powders having been previ oufly administered for a few days. He fhould drink during the day, a flight decoction of the bark; before and after meals, a little ftrengthening acid elixir; and, in the evening, he should take a fmall dofe of the bark in subftance.

The ftrengthening elixir is thus made: "Half an ounce of the extract of wormwood; of that of gentian, leffer centaury, green oranges, and buckbean, of each a drachm; rectified spirit of wine, four ounces, and fpirituous mint-water, one ounce: let the extracts be diffolved in the spirits, over a gentle fire; ftrain them, then add to the trained liquor, half an ounce of dulcified fpirit of nitre, and 30 drops. of oil of vitriol."

M. Bilguer then defcribes a fever, which frequently fupervenes in these cafes, and gives directions how to stop it.

When the bones of a limb are not quite broken through, and the parts fufpended only by a small portion of flesh and fkin, but fo much shattered that the limb may be moved any way, and feems to hang ufelefs, the aperture made by the wounding body must be dilated, and the flesh teparated from the bone, that the splinters and extraneous

fubítances

substances may be extracted; the dref. fings must be the fame as before directed.

If a bullet has penetrated the cavity of a bone, the bone must be laid bare, and afterwards pierced with 2 or 3 trepans, that the extraneous body and fhivers may be extracted.

If a bullet has made its way into one fide of a joint, and splintered feveral bones at a stroke, the fame method muft be followed.

Care must be taken to fix the limb in its natural fituation, to keep the dreffings sufficiently tight above and below the wound; to promote the confolidation of the larger pieces of bone, by keeping them firm in their places, and preventing the re-abforption of pus.

M. Bilguer's obfervations confirm those of Horftius, that patients who have lost a great portion both of the tibia and fibula, may, nevertheless, after their cure, walk with ease, and halt but very little.

M. Bilguer observes, that sometimes the wounds dry up on a fudden, become corrupted, and exhale an infectious stench; the neighbouring parts are inflamed for fome days, and then leave an oedematous tumour, which either produces an abfcefs, with a laudable discharge, or degenerates into a malignant fore, without an abfcefs, which fometimes fwarms with maggots: for this untoward appearance of the wound he directs proper remedies.

3. In cafes of violent contufions, where a great quantity of extravafated fluid under the fkin produces the appearance of a mortified eschar, and tho' the fkin itself is not broken, yet the bones under it are diflocated or fractured, the treatment fhould be nearly the fame as in a mortification, and the part affected should be conftantly bathed with emollient fomenta tions, without any stimulating or aftringent ingredient: if the bones are luxated, they must be reduced, but left without bandages.

If the contufion has not produced a mortified flough, but has yet frac

tured the bone, the applications should be very mild, and no incifions should be made; the two ends of the bone fhould be brought together, and secured by compreffes and bandages; and the whole dreffings ftouped with difcutient and vulnerary fomentations.

4. As to wounds of the large bloodveffels, the furgeon may always, by proper dilatations, come at the wound, and stop the bleeding, by ligatures or aftringents, or both; fo that in that cafe amputation can never be neceffary: and experience has fhewn, that after the operation for the aneurism, the member which it might be supposed would have perifhed for want of nou rifhment, has recovered heat, motion, and frength, even when the trunk of the brachial artery has been cut through: This therefore, when wounded, may be tied without fear, and the prefervation of the limb may be provided for by aperient fpirituous fomentations, and gentle frictions, which contribute to open and enlarge the fmall vessels.

5. As to a caries of the bone, when it is recent and inconfiderable, there can be no pretence to amputate, but the bone must be laid bare as far as the ca ries extends, and fcraped with a scalpel, or perforated in feveral parts with the fpike of a trepan: when the caries has reached the oppofite part of the bone, the crown of the trepan must be used to take out the intire piece: medicines proper in this case are well known, but the mineral acids mult never be employed, not even Hoffman's anodyne mineral liquor; for all do hurt. When the caries is removed, the cure is to be compleated by a nourishing, but not oily diet. The dreffing fhould then confift only of dry lint, taking great care to exclude the accels of air from without.

When the caries is accompanied with a vitiated state of the blood, the external treatment must be the fame, and proper internal remedies must be added: a caries from a venereal cause may be cured like any other.

Amputation is ufelefs while the morbid caufe remains; and when it is re

moved, the cure may be effected without amputation: the portion of bone taken away will be fupplied by a callus, as appears by indubitable testimony. 6. The last cafe is a cancer; concerning which this author fays very little, except that it should be extir pated before it takes root, or not at all. The whole of this interefting work is founded on the author's own a bundant experience in the military hofpitals of Pruffia, during the late bloody war; where a much greater proportion of those who were fo wounded, as, in the general opinion, to juftify amputation, recovered, than are known to recover of thofe on whom that operation is performed.

The work appears to be extremely well tranflated, and is earnestly recommended, by the author of this epitome, to every practitioner in this kingdom.

To reduce the amazing number of beggars, vagrants and gipfies, by inflicting heavy punishments upon thofe who quit their legal fettlements; to confine all the old and infirm of those that are born beggars, and fending the young and healthy to America.

To limit a time for the final decifion of all law-fuits, fuppofe to one year or two at fartheft, which is furely fufficient for all parties to produce their evidences of every kind.

To prevent the pernicious practice of fmuggling, which is fo eafily done.

To enforce the confumption of our own manufactures, by prohibiting, under fevere penalties, the importation of fuch foreign commodities as injure our trade.

To take off fuch taxes as immediately affect the poor manufacturers, in order to enable them to work as cheap as our neighbours; for the dearness of ********** our filks, lace, &c. induces great peo

From the GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE.

Heads offered to the Confideration of the

TH

Miniftry.

HE following particulars are recommended to the ferious confideration of the present ministry, and to those that shall fucceed them; for whoever will contribute moft to the redress of national grievances, will be moft approved of by the public.

To take away all penfions, except to indigent perfons, or to reward real fervices, and merit.

To annihilate all fine cures in the ftate, and to make the falaries and profit of places hold a proportion to the dignity of the office, and the trouble of executing it.

ple to furnish themfelves with fuch things from France.

To contrive fome more fummary way to punith petty thefts, and fmall offences; for the fending fuch to common goals, teaches them more roguery than they knew before.

To encourage a spirit of induftry and frugality, and to punish sloth and drunkenness.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

From the GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE.

A Defence of the Majority in the House

of Commons, on the Question relating to General Warrants. In Answer to the Defence of the Minority.

To lop off, or at least to regulate, T

and fix the fees at public offices.

To render private acts of parliament less expensive.

To raise the credit of the public funds.

To repeal the marriage act, and make matrimony more eafy and open to the common people.

HE Defence of the Minority is

written with a spirit and eloquence which fufficiently diftinguifhes it from the ordinary productions of party writers. It contains an appeal to the understandings of mankind; and submits the conduct of 220 gentlemen to the decifion of the public. In this light, every man has a right to enter freely into the difcuffion of it, and to exprefs

his

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