degree of cold which answers the required purpose without employing fluids or gases under pressure. If we want more than absolute ether, chemistry can furnish us with fluids which boil even at below 70° Fahrenheit, which fluids, dispersed as vapour, would fill the purpose of carbonic acid with only one disadvantage-that of being difficult to keep in store during many months of the year.

THE PRACTICE.

In effecting local anesthesia by my process the surgeon, according to the nature of the case, may either produce entire blanching of the surface to be operated on, or may stop short of that extreme result, and only induce a superficial anaesthesia. In my first experiments, made with the ordinary ether of the shops, I employed the second form of anesthesia alone, and even now when a mere puncture through the skin or mucous membrane is required, I still resort to this method, reserving the extreme action for cases where deep-seated parts have to be divided.

For producing the deep anesthesia with superficial whiteness it is necessary to use absolute ether, and to direct the spray in brisk current at a distance of about an inch from the part. To induce the less determinate condition the ether may be diluted. This may be done by mixing alcohol with the ether, or better still chloroform. Two mixtures of this kind are very useful; one contains six parts of ether and two of chloroform, the other seven of ether and one of chloroform. In using pure ether, or the mixture, differences of time are required. To cause insensibility with the simple fluid-ether-from fifteen to fifty seconds only are necessary. To produce insensibility by the mixture of ether and alcohol, or of ether and chloroform, from four to five minutes are demanded. The sensation felt by the patient also differs. When pure ether is used little if anything is felt until the moment when the part becomes white then there is a sharp, pricking, burning sensation. When the compound or mixture is used, the sensation, very prolonged by comparison, is that of numbness and aching. On the whole, I have found patients generally prefer the more rapid procedure.

The nature of the operation will, to a large extent, determine the method to be resorted to. For opening an abscess, for incising a small carbuncle, for tying a nævus, or removing very small tumours, for applying nitric acid, and for operations of a similar kind, the mixture of ether and alcohol, or of ether and chloroform, answers every requirement. I should myself also use the mixture in an operation for hernia, because the tissues would not be rendered hard, and the dissections could be carried on with delicacy. But for deeper operations, such as removal of the nail,

of portions of bone, of fingers, and the like, the complete action of the anæsthesia requires to be brought into play. For teeth extraction the pure ether also answers best-it acts rapidly and deeply, and there is no great accumulation of fluid in the mouth. By practice, the two degrees of action I have named may be obtained by the employment of ether alone: I mean, the degree of anesthesia from the spray of absolute ether can be determined by the distance from the part at which the spray is directed by removing the jet three inches from the part, a moderate effect is produced, nearly equivalent to the dilution of seven parts of ether with one of chloroform. The condition of the patient generally ought likewise to be considered. Aged and weak people become anæsthetic very readily, and for them the milder process is most applicable.—Medical Times and Gazette.

MEDICAL NEWS.

Professor Brande, D.C.L., F.R.S., the veteran chemist died at Tunbridge Wells, England, on the 11th February, at the ripe age of eighty years. He was an ardent lover of chemistry, and when quite young was introduced to Sir Humphrey Davy, as " a boy fond of chemistry," This introduction lead to an intimacy which continued till the death of Sir Humphrey. Brande's work on Chemistry has been in the hands of the profession almost from generation to generation. At the time of his death he was engaged editing a Dictionary of Science and Art three parts of which only have appeared.

Sir Dominick Corrigan, the Irish Medical Baronet, has lost his eldest son, Capt. Corrigan of the 3rd Dragoon Guards, He died in Melbourne, Australia, where he had gone from India on sick leave.-The entire value of the estate of Dr. Valentine Mott of New York, was $400,000.-The cholera conference was opened at Constantinople on the 13th of February.

The following paragraph, which we copy from the Medical Times and Gazette, will be read with pleasure by Dr. Nicoll's many friends in Montreal. Dr. Nicoll served with his regiment, which was stationed in this city from January, 1862, to September, 1864. "The election of a medical officer to the charter house has been decided in favour of Charles A. Nicoll, Esq., Battalion Surgeon, Grenadier Guards. There were originally eighteen candidates, one of whom did not go to the poll. Amongst them were two army surgeons, one retired militia surgeon, one or two physicians, and the rest were general practitioners. The appointment has for many years been considered the great prize for the general practitioners of the vicinity."

Canada Medical Journal.

MONTREAL, MAY, 1866.

CANADA CENTRAL BOARD OF HEALTH.

PRESCRIPTION FOR CHOLERA.

The following prescription, recommended by the Central Board of Health for the Province, is kindly forwarded to us to-day by the President, Dr. MacDonnel, from Ottawa city, where the Board is sitting, and we publish it in the assurance that any remedy emanating from that body will be thankfully appreciated by the public at the present time:

OTTAWA, April 28, 1866.

The following members of the Central Board of Health, considering it prudent that the public should be supplied with a remedy to be used in the diarrhoea preceding cholera, until the services of a physician can be procured, think the "Medical Field Companion," so generally used in the British army in India, may be safely employed. The following articles enter into its composition:

Oil Aniseed, Oil of Cajeput, Oil of Juniper-of each half a drachm; Sulphuric Æther, half an ounce; Strong Sulphuric Acid, seven drops; Spirits of Wine, twenty-three drops; Tincture of Cinnamon, two ounces: mix.

Ten drops in a table spoonful of water, to be taken every quarter of an hour, until medical services can be procured, or until relief is obtained. (Signed,) R. L. MACDONNEL, M.D., President; JOHN R. DICKSON, M.D., J. A. GRANT, M.D.. Secretary; CHARLES G. MOORE, M.D., W. T. AIKENS, M.D.

We take the above from the Montreal Gazette of May 2nd, 1866, and we must say, if this is pretended to be an official act on the part of the Central Board of Health, that we have never met with a more glaring act of official ignorance. The remedy above mentioned is recommended and used by the army medical authorities as a powerful diffusable stimulant, to promote reaction both in cases of cholera and diarrhoea. It is not given

to check diarrhoea, as is pretended by the above; but after the diarrhoea has done its work and the patient is sinking exhausted, the above prescription is resorted to, but not under the name of the Medical Field Companion. The Companion of that name is a box with compartments, the dimensions of which are, length 13 inches, breadth 6 inches, and depth 8 inches: the contents are medicines, pills, powders, and surgical appliances; such as, rollers, lint, plaster, sponges, needles, thread, a razor in case, shaving soap, and a graduated horn cup; the whole to weigh eleven and one quarter pounds. With regard to the above remedy we would refer our readers to Dr. Aitken's work on the Science and Practice of Medicine, fourth edition, vol. 1, page 665. "To promote reaction in cholera and "diarrhoea, the following formula has met with most universal approval "in this country and in India. So highly is it valued, indeed, that it " is ordered to be always in store, and in readiness in the Medical "Field Companion' of the army when on the march." We may mention that Dr. Aitken is the Professor of Pathology in the Army Medical School; the article "Cholera" in his work will repay persual. But coming back to this "Prescription for Cholera," heralded with full official dignity as emanating from the Central Board of Health for the Province of Canada, is it a fact that this is the recommendation of this very eminent body? We have recently received several letters on the subject requesting us to deny that it is the recommendation of the Board of Health of the Province, but that the gentlemen whose signatures are attached to the document, are alone responsible. We cannot do better, in conclusion, than quote a paragraph from the letter of one of our friends. He says: "I am very anxious to see the name of the Board, and my name "clear of what I hold as the ridicule of recommending a nostrum. A "cholera mixture is to me what would be a typhus mixture, a small pox mixture, a phthisis mixture; just as good outwardly as inwardly as Perry Davis' Pain Killer, Bristol's Sugar Coated Pills, Mrs. Wins"low's Soothing Syrup; and a thousand of the like. I regard all for"mula as dangerous, and that the medical adviser of a family is the only one to prescribe compound drugs or medicines." This last observation we most fully endorse; and if families are anxious to keep in their houses medicines to be used in cases of emergency, let them have the common civility to apply to their physician if they have confidence in his knowledge and honesty; if not, then can they run after the recommendations of the five members of the Central Board of Health for the Province of Canada; or Dwight's Cholera Mixture or Dixon's Blackberry Carminative, or Hamlin's Remedies for Cholera, or the whole category of trash to be had at any of our drug stores for ready money.

MCGILL UNIVERSITY, MONTREAL.

FACULTY OF MEDICINE.

M.D., C.M., HOLMES MEDAL EXAMINATION, SESSION 1865--66.

This prize is given by the Medical Faculty of the University, and is to perpetuate the memory of the late Professor A. F. Holmes, M.D., LL.D., It is the highest honour given in this Faculty and is awarded by special written examination to the competitor who shall take the greatest number of marks. Members of the graduating class can alone compete and those only who shall have prepared a thesis of sufficient merit in the estimation of the Faculty to entitle him to that privilege. The special examination extends over two days. The theses this year were considered so very excellent that twenty-two names were handed into the Dean of the Faculty as entitled to compete for the medal. The successful candidate was George Ross, M.A., of Montreal. We may mention that Dr. Ross graduated with honour in the Faculty of Arts of McGill University. The following were the questions in the various Branches.

FRIDAY, APRIL 27TH.

NOTE. This Medal, founded by the Medical Faculty, is open for competition to those members of the graduating class who have undergone successfully their final examinations, and whose inaugural theses are deemed respectively worthy of 100 marks or more, the maximum number of marks for any thesis being 200. Complete answers to all the questions are equal to 400 marks (50 for each branch) making the total number obtainable 600.

Examiner......

ANATOMY.-2 TO 3 P. M.

..W. E. SCOTT, M.D.

1. Describe the perineal fascia, having reference to the anterior or urethral portion of the perineum; mention the parts contained between the superficial fascia of the perineum and the deep or triangular ligament; give the origin, course and distribution of the internal pudie artery.

2. Name the muscles of the anterior tibial region, and give the relations of the anterior tibial artery.

3. Give the orgin, extent, division, relations and branches of the subclavian arteries.

Examiner.....

CHEMISTRY.-3 TO 4 P. M.

..............W. SUTHERLAND, M.D.

1. What is the formula of urea? give the calculation whereby the percentage of its nitrogen is established, and what volume of this gas is equal to a grain of urea.