joint at the extremity of the handle. One extremity was placed against the outer part of the sacrum, opposite the promontory, and the other against the outer part of the symphysis pubis. A scale was then so formed, adapted, and calculated, as to give us the exact diameters within. By reading the scale, or by deducting three inches from the full space, we were put in possession of the diameter within. Boudelocque supposed that this pelvimeter would be invaluable in the results which it gave us; and so unmercifully did B, Coutouli's pelvimeter. d, The frame on which the slide moves. e, The slide, on which is marked the scale. ff, The two rests; one placed against the promontory of the sacrum; the other against the symphysis pubis. he ride this hobby, that at one period he applied to the legislature to enact a law, that the priest of every district should be furnished with one, and that every young woman who applied for a marriage license should have her hips measured by the priest with these compasses, in order that he might ascertain whether or not she had a pelvis sufficiently capacious to admit the passage of a full-grown fœtus. If he reported there was not space enough, then she should not be allowed to marry. I will not venture to give an opinion as to whe ther this practice could have been enforced with any degree of advantage so far as the morals of the people were concerned; but I will just illustrate its inutility by adapting the instrument to this cast: from the back part of the sacrum to the outside of the symphysis pubis, you see, is almost of the standard dimensions-not quite, but nearly so, and yet we have not a space of an inch within, whereas we ought to have a clear diameter to form the standard pel vis of four inches. In my opinion, Bou. delocque's instrument would give us a very deceptive and injurious result. We will resume the subject at the next lecture. ABSTRACT OF A LECTURE ON THE CAUSES AND SYMPTOMS OF CONVULSIONS. BY M. ANDRAL, Professor of the Faculty of Medicine, &c. pre It is important to study carefully the causes of convulsions, for the treatment must be modified according to the source of the malady; and unless we are acquainted with the latter, we cannot calculate upon the success of our remedies. Predisposing causes.-Among the disposing causes of convulsions, the period of life which the patient has attained deserves our primary notice. Young children, it is known, are much more subject to the complaint than those who are older; those about the age of puberty are more frequently attacked with it than adults; and adults than the aged. Convulsions may seize those who, to all appearance, enjoy the most perfect health; they may be transient, and leave not a trace behind them to show that they existed. Certain forms or habits of body, and particularly a special condition of the nervous system, exhibit a peculiar susceptibility in this respect. Not to speak of the hereditary predisposition which is manifested towards the disorder in many families, we may observe, that in most children who are subject to convulsions, the head is voluminous; they are remarkable for an extreme excitability, physical as well as intellectual; their skin is generally very delicate and white, and their muscular system sparingly developed; their eyes are haggard and wandering; they have frequent tremblings (tremblemens); they start; they have harassing dreams, sleep little, and often awake with a which cause them to cry out with terror; their look is frequently anxious-their complexion changeable, reddening and growing pale in the course of a few minutes,-changes which seem to have a correspondence with the different degrees of cerebral congestion. At the same time the state of the bowels is various; there is also a remarkable degree of dyspnoea sometimes present, vomiting, languor, or sluggishness of the intestines. But besides the disposition that infancy and a nervous temperament give, there are also other influences which favour the development of convulsions. Acute diseases often beget a tendency to them; violent emotions, fright, wrath, jealousy, produce a simi lar effect. Nor is an involuntary imitation less effectual: every one knows how often convulsions have originated in such a cause; and what is more remarkable, voluntary imitation, or mocking the movements of persons convulsed, have in several instances given rise to the same complaint. The question has been asked, whether the emotions experienced by the mother during pregnancy do not sometimes become the predisposing causes of convulsions in their children. I can only say, that the fact has by no means been proved; though I am ready to confess, that certain circumstances would seem to render it very probable; for we often find that, in famílies where both father and mother are completely exempt from convulsive disorders, all the children die of convulsions. It would certainly be desirable, in such cases, to know how far imitation of the complaint of the first child may have determined that of the others. An attack of convulsions, besides, always seems to threaten a future accession; and the more frequently it has occurred, the more an early relapse is to be apprehended. Exciting causes. — In individuals of peculiar sensibility, in whom a slight pain acts as a violent stimulant to muscular contractions, the least irritation produces a convulsive paroxysm; nor shall we be surprised that it is so, when we recollect the outrageous symptoms which we sometimes observe to be occa sioned by minute doses of certain medicinal substances. It is only a few days ago that we have seen a lavement, containing about as much diascordium as would be equivalent to a single grain of opium, give rise to all the symptoms of violent narcotism in a young phthisical person. Nor is it long since another patient, to whom was prescribed a grain of kermes divided into twelve parts, had, to my great astonishment, not less than twelve stools. The considered as determining causes. same may be said of certain states of the blood. Mere fulness of the vessels may cause convulsions in some cases, as in apoplexy, which often occasions the death of new-born infants. And an opposite state of the system, that of ancemia, for instance, leads to the same results-thus furnishing a remarkable example of causes the most contrasted, giving rise to the same morbid effects. The anemia may be spontaneous, as in The electrical state of the air, on the chlorosis; or it may depend on some approach of a storm, has often served to fault in the sanguification,-when it bring on a convulsive fit. Wounds, too, either directly produces, or greatly agin which nervous filaments have been gravates, the convulsive disorder. We injured, often produce the same effect. must also take into account the alteraSo likewise in certain states of the di- tions which may occur in the quantity gestive organs. Dentition also has a and quality of the blood, and especially powerful influence, and so have inflam- of the predominance of the serum and mations of the mucous coat of the intes- diminution of the colouring matter, as tinal canal. Foreign bodies in the ali we find it in our wards in the cases of mentary tube, changes in the bilious numbers of children, pale, languid, and and mucous secretions, and the accumu- waxen-looking, in whom their bloodlesslation of fecal matter in the bowels, ness is the result of some particular mahave also the same result. I have seen lady-insufficient nourishment, or some one case of this description: a child other unknown cause. Abundant hæof nine years of age was seized, all at morrhages also, as is well known, freonce, and without assignable cause, with quently produce convulsions-a fact convulsions. On the seventh day it was which is observable even in the animals seen that the belly was tense and full; which are bled to death in slaughterand it was observed that there had been houses. In man too, and particularly no motion of the bowels since the fit. in children, it is observed to arise after A purgative was administered, and the a copious hæmorrhage, spontaneous or child was completely restored. On the traumatic. A bleeding from the nose in other hand, an inconsiderate employ- young persons, though not considerable ment of purgatives has sometimes be--certain operations practised on adults come the determining cause of convulsions; in fact, every particular impres. sion on the mucous membrane may occasion the same effect. As to worms and their agency in bringing on convulsive fits, the fact is so well known, that it is almost superfluous to note it. It always deserves to be considered, in what state we find the principal functions in persons predisposed to this disorder. The respiratory process is not in general affected; yet there are occasional instances of its being impeded and labouring. The circulatory function may in a variety of ways give rise to, or encourage the progress of, convulsions. The acceleration of the arterial movement, though artificial, if it last long, may re-act on the nervous system, and thus produce a fit. In children, so strong is the predisposition, that a simple febrile attack may bring out the complaint; and all fevers may thus be uterine hæmorrhage in women during their confinement, or in consequence of cancer of the uterus, sometimes determine the same effects. Thus we must admit that, in an attack of convulsions, the brain is equally affected by an overabundant or too sparing a flow of blood to the head. It seems to be beyond a doubt that the brain, in order to conduct properly the important acts which belong to its province, ought to receive a kind of mechanical impulse from the circulatory system. When this impulse is wanting, syncope takes place; when it is in excess, compression and its phenomena result: in another degree, both these disturbances lead to the same ef fect-convulsions. Along with changes in the circulatory system which operate in the manner just described, we ought to classify the admixture of different foreign substances; camphor, for example, in over-doses: and a remarkable epidemic which raged in Germany not many years ago, and was accompanied by convulsions, has been satisfactorily traced to the admixture of poisonous plants with the aliment of the persons who were seized. Epidemics of convulsive ergotism supply us with more examples. Nor should we omit to add to the other causes, the transfusion of blood. I should also allude to some other sources of convulsions-such as mental emotions-which, when violent and unusual, produce certain changes in the milk, and thus give rise to convulsions in children; it is a singular fact, but it is corroborated by the testimony of some of the best authorities. Sömmering cites a case in which a woman who could suckle her own children very well, invariably gave convulsive fits to others. In general, every thing that disturbs the secretions may be looked upon as a cause of convulsions. Suppression of the secretions also, and a too great activity in the nutrition, or the excessive growth of children; different diseases of the skin; certain accidents, as the pricking of pins in the clothes, the irritation which precedes a cutaneous eruptionmay sometimes occasion violent convulsions. The cause will also be sometimes found in the genital organs; convulsions often result from the abuse of coition, and from masturbation, particularly in women. Some women are seized with convulsions at the epoch of their first catamenia; and some have them regularly at all their courses. In some the state of pregnancy interrupts the usual attacks, while in others the convulsions return every month, though the menses be suppressed. Various organic lesions of the brain and nervous system, such as the presence of tubercles, concretions, &c. have a double effect_as_predisposing and exciting causes. In fine, there are frequent cases in which no possible cause can be assigned for the malady. Symptoms.-Let us now briefly, and in a summary manner, describe the symptoms of this affection. When convulsions occur in the course of some other disorder, or abruptly, and during an apparent state of health, the movements to which I have alluded show themselves, and may assume an infinite variety of forms, or be confined to a particular part of the body. Thus the organs of respiration, in whole or in part, may be alone affected; the diaphragm may contract anormally, and give rise to the most alarming symptoms; the muscles of the larynx may be affected, so as to cause singular and involuntary cries. The heart may also be convulsed; and so may the muscular tunic of the stomach and bowels, in which latter case involuntary dejections take place, with frequent vomitings. The face is very often convulsed, and the upper extremities and the lower, and, in fine, the muscles of the trunk. There is a kind of convulsions in which the intellectual faculties are undisturbed, and the patient is quite aware of his condition. On the other hand, patients have generally no consciousness of their state. During the attack, the pulse exhibits no invariable indication. The respiratory function is often embarrassed, which evidently arises from the mechanical impediment offered to its performance by the convulsive action of the thoracic muscles. The skin is generally very dry during the paroxysm, and does not become moist till the fit is nearly over. The urine is also suppressed at the same time, but afterwards flows very limpid and in great abundance. When the attack is over, the muscles which have been affected are usually the seat of sharp pains, and sometimes present the appearance of considerable ecchymosis: their fibres may be lacerated; the bones fractured, curved, or luxated; especially in young subjects. The duration of an attack is, like that of the malady itself, very uncertain: it may end in death, in the restoration of health, or in a precarious convalescence. In general, relapses are very frequent. The complaint may terminate with an hæmorrhage, a discharge from the bowels, or any other evacuation. M. Husson has also brought to our notice another remarkable termination, or rather interruption, of convulsions-namely, the vaccine. In fine, this disorder, convulsions, may originate various cerebral maladies, or prove fatal all of a sudden by producing cerebral congestion, or complete asphyxia, arising from convulsive contractions of the heart, the diaphragm, the larynx, or the parietes of the chest *. Gazette des Hôpitaux, We shall take an early opportunity of presenting our readers with an abstract of M. Andral's mode of Treatment, ON DENTITION; WITH AN ATTEMPT TO EXHIBIT THE OCCASIONAL CONDITIONS OF THE BODY, We turn now to the teeth. The rudi ments or germs of the teeth appear at a very early part of life. Serres says (Anat. et Phys. des Dents, 1817, p. 2.), that nature works at their formation almost immediately after conception. The embryo has hardly begun to be distinct, when the head and all the organs which it contains are sketched out. The teeth, destined to fulfil the first function in the circle of life, form and grow in the interior of the jaws. This philosophical anatomist asserts that the jaws of the fœtus contain, although in a very limited space, the rudiments of all the teeth with which the adult is to be supplied. (See likewise Rousseau, Anat. Comp. du Syst. Dentaire, p. 46.) In an embryo of two months, he met with the rudiments of the incisors and molares of the first dentition, in the form of rounded bodies not larger than pins' heads (Mem. de la Soc. Med. d'Emul. tom. viii. p. 134.) In one of two months and a half were found the canines, and at three months the germs of all the teeth of the second dentition-even the dentes sapientiæ were in existence. These germs are found imbedded in the membranous folds, which at this period constitute the gums. Those of the first dentition are attached immediately to this membranous fold; those of the second are suspended from it by means of a small pedicle. Meckel (Manuel p. 341), in each half of the two jaws of a fœtus of the tenth week, saw distinctly the capsules of four teeth: two anterior, smaller; two posterior, more bulky, which were dovetailed together two and two; but the anterior and posterior separated by a space. At the end of the third month a third bag was found between the two pairs, so that the whole number of capsules observed was twenty. He says, commonly about the end of the fourth month a sixth capsule, placed altogether behind, is found, and this is destined for the anterior of the permanent molares. d'Anat. iii. Serres met with fibrous partitions separating the incisors at four months, but all the other germs were contiguous to one another. At six months, ossification of the partition of the lesser molaris was found, while the germs of the two posterior molares were still lodged in one cavity. At first these germs are little membranous capsules, containing a reddish fluid; the contents gradually become a whitish yellow liquor. Before the fœtus has existed four months in the uterus, and in some cases three months, a small, reddish, and soft body, rises from the bottom of the internal lining of the bag. It gradually assumes a consistence, and becomes the pulp of the tooth. This little substance is abundantly supplied with nerves, and is nourished by blood-vessels ramifying through it. Gradually it acquires the shape of the tooth, and is the nucleus around which the tooth is moulded. The crown of the tooth is the first part formed, and is in existence sometimes before the remainder appears. But the bag in which the pulp first appears, and from which it receives its blood, has a conformation well worthy of attention. This bag, sac, germ, or capsule, has been sometimes called dental matrix (Rousseau, ante cit. p. 50.) John Hunter (Nat. Hist. of the Teeth, p. 87) says, "We find it made up of two lamellaan external and an internal. The external is soft and spongy, without any vessels; the other is much firmer, and extremely vascular." Blake (Essay on the Structure and Formation of the Teeth, &c. Dublin, 1801. p. 4) describes these sacs or membranes to be thickest and most dense next the gum;" but as becoming "by degrees softer and more gelatinous towards the lower part. They can be easily separated into two lamellæ, the external of which is spongy and full of vessels; the internal one is more tender and delicate, and seems to contain no vessels capable of conveying red blood." Hunter and Blake are upon this point at variance. Fox (Nat. Hist. and Dis. of Teeth, p. 20) states that, both in the human subject and in the calf, he has "found both the lamella to be very vascular;" and in this assertion he is confirmed by Meckel, who has observed the fact in the human embryo and in that of animals, and who adds the remark, that the external membrane has the largest supply of blood |