1830.] Affairs in General. 79 



every magistrate's, beadle's, and cottager's room, from the Land's End to 

 the Orkneys. The disease exhibited itself at so long an interval as three 

 months from the bite, and the sufferer's agony was almost too terrible for 

 description. Yet our streets, shops, and highways, are swarming with 

 mongrels, useless for all possible purposes, but a snap from one of which 

 might inflict the most hideous of deaths. 



We, however, now advert to this melancholy subject, chiefly to men- 

 tion, that a specific for it is confidently said to be known in Mexico. 

 We give the statement from Lieutenant Hardy's (R. N.) travels just 

 published. In the district of Sonora, a wild part of Mexico, infested 

 with savage animals, hydrophobia is common; the lions, tigers, and 

 wolves, &c. as well as the dogs, being frequently attacked with it. Lieu- 

 tenant Hardy was at the house of a Spanish gentleman, whom he men- 

 tions as a man of singular intelligence and integrity, and who assured 

 him, that he had on three occasions witnessed the cure, when the dis- 

 ease was at its height. On one of those occasions the patient was in the 

 most horrid paroxysms, when an old woman effected his cure. She 

 mixed a powder in a glass of water, and in the interval of a paroxysm 

 forced the draught down his throat. She predicted that he would sink 

 into a torpor for twenty-four or forty-eight hours, according to the state 

 of his constitution. The patient on this occasion slept for twenty-six 

 hours ; on his awaking threw a quantity of black fluid from his stomach, 

 and recovered. Lieutenant Hardy conceives the root to be a kind of 

 hellebore j its Spanish name is sevadilla ; its botanical name, he thinks, 

 veratrum sebadilla. Another herb, amole, has been found equally effec- 

 tive. The receipt given by Don Victores Aguilar, the Spaniard in ques- 

 tion, is the following : 



" Method of curing Hydrophobia. The person under the influence of 

 this disease must be well secured, that he may do no mischief to himself 

 or others. 



' ' Soak a rennet in a little more than half a tumbler of water, for about 

 five minutes. When this has been done, add of pulverized sevadilla as 

 much as may be taken up by the thumb and three fingers ; mix it tho- 

 roughly, and give it to the patient ; that is, force it down his throat in 

 an interval between the paroxysms. The patient is then to be placed in 

 the sun, if possible, or near a fire, and well warmed. If the first dose 

 tranquillize him after a short interval, no more is to be given. But if he 

 continue furious, another dose must be given, which will infallibly quiet 

 the paroxysms. A profound sleep will succeed, which will last twenty- 

 four or forty-eight hours, according to the strength of the patient's con- 

 stitution ; at the expiration of which, he will be attacked with severe 

 purging and vomiting, which will continue till the poison be entirely 

 ejected. He will then be restored to his senses, ask for food, and be per- 

 fectly cured." 



All this is very striking, and the friends of science and humanity 

 will be glad to hear that specimens of the root have been brought over 

 from Mexico, by a son of Mr. Ackermann of the Strand, and sent to dif- 

 ferent scientific persons. We know that there have been a hundred pre- 

 tended cures for the hydrophobia ; but this medicine comes with singular 

 testimonials. And when we recollect the powers of the Jesuits' bark, we 

 have no right to be sceptical, at least till full trial has been made of the 

 sevadilla. The whole narrative in Lieutenant Hardy's book is very 

 clear, candid, and interesting. We hope that our colleges of medicine 

 and surgery will inquire into the subject without delay. 



