ing off the gouty matter, and alfo to have added fome observations on phyfic, which I have made in the courfe of my practice, but am obliged to defer the publishing these obfervations for want of proper leifure. On the virtues of lemon juice and coffee, as diffolvents of the flone. By Z. and Dr. Lobb. I HAVE, for many years, fuffered a great deal from a ftone in one of my kidneys, for which I tried various remedies without fuccefs; but being now cured, I cannot better fhew my thankfulness to God for the eafe I enjoy, than by publifhing my cafe, as it may be the happy means of relieving others who are in the fame melancholy condition. It is, I believe, twelve or fourteen years fince I first perceived a pain, uneafinefs, and weight in my left kidney, which gradually increafed till it made my life very uncomfortable. As I had known Mrs. Stephens's medicines to have been very fuccefsful in many fuch cafes, I applied to her, and took her remedies for fome years, and found myfelf much better and easier for them while I continued them, but whenever I left them off for any time, I had a conftant return of the fame complaints. Upon this I left them quite off, and tried feveral other things which were recommended to me, and generally found eafe upon the first trial of every new medicine, but after leaving it off for any little time, my old complaints returned again. It is now above a year ago fince I left off all these medicines, and took to lemon juice and water, with a little fugar, for my conftant drink. I continued this method for near a year with fome intervals, ufing two or three, and fometimes in hot weather four lemons every day. And I found myself grow daily eafier, fo that for many months I have had scarce any uneasiness in my kidney; and about fix weeks ago I had a great forcing to make water, when a kind of jelly came from me, which, upon examination, feemed to be the gluten, which probably connected together the folid parts of a stone. I think it is the general opinion of our phyficians, that a ftone in the human body confifts of earthy parts, with a little alcaline falt and air, which are connected together by a gluten or glue; and that the alcaline medicines, fuch as foap and lime, diffolve this glue, by which means the earthy parts feparate from the reft, and come away infenfibly, but that acid medicines diffolve the earthy, &c. parts of the ftone, and leave the glue untouched. And Dr. Lobb in his treatise on diffolvents of the ftone, fhews us by experiments, that lemon juice will foften, and even diffolve a stone. I blefs God I am now quite eafy and happy, and am fully fatisfied that I have got rid of a stone which gave me fo much uneafinefs for many years; and which, if I may judge by the largenefs of the glue which came from me, I believe was of the fize of a large Spanish nut. The remedy I used was very pleafant and agreeable to me, efpecially in the fummer. I generally fqueezed the juice of a large lemon lemon into a little above half a pint of foft water, and sweetened it to my taste; and whenever I was faint, or it was cold at my ftomach, I added a little white wine to it. It never gave me the cholic, which I find lemons do to fome perfons, to whom, therefore, this remedy would be very improper. If, upon this faithful narrative of my cafe, any perfons should try it and be cured, I hope they will be fo good as to acquaint the public of it, that it may encourage others to try it. Y diforder has neither con fined me an hour at home, nor kept me any night from quiet fleep. When I perceived the fymptoms of a stone in my bladder, I returned to the use of the coffee. T And on the account of my bloody water, I ordered my fervant firft to make a tea with ground-ivy, and then to make my coffee with that tea, which rendered the flavour to me more agreeable: I put about one fpoonful of milk to a quarter of a pint difh of coffee, and made it very fweet to my palate; I drink three dishes at breakfast, and two in the afternoon. This liquor, we call coffee, as I have obferved, does not ftimulate as a diuretic, nor occafion a palecoloured urine like water, but all the proper contents of urine come off with it. Indeed, after drinking plentifully of tea, punch, cyder, &c. the urine often comes off colourless; and when it fo happens, the faline, the oleaginous, and other excrementitious parts of the blood are retained in it, till, by fome other liquor or exercife, the urine is brought again to its proper colour. When fuch a pale urine happens, the liquor before drank was improper for the perfon, or was taken in too large a quantity. This is commonly the cafe when disorders in the paffions of the mind did not precede. It is a good rule for every man's obfervance, viz. to avoid fuch liquors as occafion a colourlefs urine, or to drink them in lefs quantity. My drink at dinner is about half a pint of New-river water, with the juice of one lemon, and well fweetened with fugar. While my pains were very sharp, as well as frequent, I took half a common fpoonful of a mixture made with four ounces of honey, and one ounce of the oil of olives. I have carefully avoided all ftimulating diuretics, and have used as much as convenient thofe forts of aliment which have a diffolvent quality. Through many months past, I have made no bloody water; and from this alteration in my cafe, and from the abatements of my other fymptoms, I would hope that the ftone in my bladder is lefs, though it is not gone. I will only add, that it will give me a great fatisfaction if this paper proves beneficial to any that fhall read it. The Hypericum Campodarenfe of Co. lumna, recommended to trial as a powerful vermifuge. By Dr. Hill. A 2 こ have feen from time to time publifhed. Common fea-falt, diffolved in the water which the patients drank, would inftantly have precipitated the mercury, and thereby greatly abated its acrimony. As that is always ready, it ought conftantly to be run to first, especially as in a large quantity it vomits, and when it comes not up, goes downward by ftool; either way carrying off the mercury. Dog to whom Dr. Hill had given a dram and a half of the glandular part of the cups of the Hypericum Campodarenfe of Columna, voided, after a few hours, a flat worm, of a vaft length. This was evidently occafioned by the herb; but whether it will difcharge the common round worms, as well as the flat, and whether it will take effect in human, as well as brute bo-Volatile and fixed alcaline falts dies, are points yet to be determined by experience, Phyficians, who feek the good of mankind, are requested to try. The plant is per fectly fafe and wholefome; and the virtues of the genus to which it belongs, in this way, are not unknown, though they have been overlooked. Bartholine has record ed the common Hypericum as a remedy against worms, with the title of præftantiffimum; and Ca merarius, long before, had celebrated it for the fame purpose: af ter a trial of that kind, which feems too weak for the purpofe, this fpecies was chofen, because of its evi dently greater firength; the fcent being more refinous, and the glands of the cup, in which, the principal virtue refides, vaftly larger, and more prominent. The plant is a native of England, tho' not common; and may be eafily raised in any quantity, if its virtues are found by more experience to deserve it. and fpirits alfo precipitate mercury, fpirits of falts of hartfhorn, or fal ammoniac, falt of tartar and wormwood, &c. but as thefe can feldom be got on a fudden, the following articles may be used; pot-afhes diffolved in warm water (or cold till fome can be got warm) fo as not to be too acrid. Failing thefe, ftrain warm-water through afhes of beantalks, broom, afh, or any other plant that can be fooneft burnt: white and black foaps, containing thefe falts and oil, are very fit to be melted in all the water drank, or injected by way of glifter. If none of thefe can be got, or in fome cafes thought not proper, any of the teftacea, crabs eyes, crabs claws, fhells of oysters, mufcles, or eggs, coral prepared, or common chalk pounded or fcraped into their drink, will precipitate the mercury; and as fome of them at the fame time add a mucus to the excoriated ftomach and inteftines, they may be used with advantage at leaft. As one or feveral of the above articles can eafily be got, even in the country, your publishing this of may fave the lives of fome, which The falts ought to be used at firft, fo long as the vomiting and purging is to be continued; then oyls, but ter, fat, broth, drank and injected, to comfort and foften these parts, after fo much violence. Cautions against the ufe of feggs. Aving frequently feen children at play with feggs in their mouths, by blowing them, in or der to make a noife; and others upgrown, who have ufed the juice thereof, for curing of the toothach; I hope an obfervation on its deleterious effects, will not be unacceptable to the publick, as it will give them a caution against its internal use. One Sufannah Lindley, a girl aged 14, fnuffed up her noftrils (in imitation of fome, who had done fo for the tooth-ach) the quantity of a thimble-full of the juice of the root of the common fegg, about 3 o'clock in the afternoon of the 18th inftant; and within half an hour after, began to be affected with a burning pain in her noftrils, and up to her head. Bye-and-bye fhe felt her arms and legs becoming benumbed, and the heat, &c. in her noftrils to increase; which continued until five o'clock, when her legs and arms became contracted, ftiff, and ftretched out, with much pain, She continued thus convulfed for about half an hour, and then her contractions went off; nevertheless the extremities were very cold, and the ftill complained of a painful heat in her head and noftrils, until feyen o'clock, and then her right knee began to fhake moft violently, and the feemed in general to be growing worse. Whereupon they had fome advice, and were ordered to have fome warm milk and water fyringed up her noftrils, as foon as poffible, in order to wash off the juice that ftill adhered to the membranes thereof. But before they could get this done, fhe fell into another fit, the fame as before; yet was inftantly better, upon their throwing up the injection, and, af ter repeating it about eight or ten times, the limbs perfectly relaxed, the pulfe became regular, and the extremities recovered their natural heat. About an hour after this she went to bed, flept well, and in the morning only complained of a flightifh pain and heaviness in her head, which went quite off in the next night's fleep, and fhe has now continued quite well thefe feveral days past. March, 1761. Method of curing luxations of the Spine, or broken backs. T HIS difeafe has been fometimes held to be incurable, not only by the ancient, but by the more expert modern furgeons too; but with how little reafon, may appear from the following cafe, abridged from Bonetus's Medicina Septentrionalis Collectitia, p. 603. Three vertebræ of the loins were diflocated, or forced inward, with total lofs of ferife and motion in all the parts below. The cure was performed by extenfion, with cloths or fwaths under the arms and about the thighs; the former drawn by men, and the latter by a machine in another room, till the cracking bones give notice that the extenfion was enough. The bones then being fet and the extenfion gra dually leffened, the motion of fome parts returned prefently, and of all parts, part, with fenfe, in due time; and after a ftrengthning plaifter. "Tis probable, this method may be improved by a fwathe put under the body, oppofite the luxation, to bring and hold together the broken parts in a ftrait line the better. In fome cafes, this operation is moft eafy; fince it needs only an even but ftrong extenfion, whilft the great ligaments and mufcles will do the reft; and 'tis always far better to try a doubtful remedy, when fafe, than none, with certain death. After this was written, much the fame directions, in the cafe, were found in Dr. Shaw's new practice of phyfic, p. 701: yet the importance of the matter, it was thought, would juftify the prefent publication. A. B. An Account of a remarkable operation on a broken arm; fent to the Royal Society, by Mr. Charles White, Surgeon at Manchefter. From the Philofophical Tranfactions. R Obert Elliot, of Eyam, in Derbyshire, a very healthful boy of nine years old, had the miffortune, about Midfummer in the year 1759, by a fall, to fracture the humerus, near the middle of the bone. He was immediately taken to a bone-fetter in that neighbour hood, who applied a bandage and fplints to his arm, and treated him as properly, as, I fuppofe, he was capable of, for two or three months. His endeavours, however, were by no means productive of the defired effect, the bones not being at all united. A furgeon of eminence in Bakewell was afterwards called in; but, as foon as he found he could be of no service to him, and as the VOL. IV. cafe was very curious, he advised the lad's friends to fend him to the infirmary at Manchefter: he was accordingly brought thither the Christmas following, and admitted an in-patient. Upon examination, we found it to have been a fimple oblique fracture, and that the ends of the bone rode over each other. His arm was become not only entirely useless, but even a burthen to him, and not likely to be otherwife, as there was little probability that it would ever unite, it being now near fix months fince the accident happened. Amputation was therefore propofed as the only method of relief; but I could not give my confent to that; for, as the boy was young, and had a good conftitution, it was hardly poffible that it could be owing to any fault in the folids of fluids, but that either nature was difappointed in her work by frequent friction, while the callus was forming; or rather, that the oblique ends of the bone, being sharp, had divided a part of a mufcle, and fome portion of it had probably infinuated itself betwixt the two ends of the bone, preventing their union: whichever of thefe might be the cafe, I was of opinion, that he might be relieved by the following operation, viz, to make a lon gitudinal incifion down to the bone, to bring out one of the ends of it, (which might be done with great eafe, as the arm was very flexible) and cut off the oblique end, either by the faw or cutting-pincers; then to bring out the other end of the bone, and cut off that likewise afterwards to replace them end to end, and then treat it intirely as a compound fracture. The objections made by the other |