»The truth of this statement is corro- 
*, 
¥ ‘ 
rated by further evidence. 
s¢ Mr. Crane, the present eminent and re- 
eo give the fullest testimony, that the mu- 
Fiatic acid vapour was so commonly used, 
When he settled in business, more than thirty 
years ago, that the manrfacturers placed it 
spontaneously in their shops, when fever was 
‘Japprehended ; and that in malignant cases it 
as always ordered by my father. He re- 
members Mr. Cooper and Mr. Symonds, two 
‘old and eminent surgeons of Kiddermin- 
ster, who were employed wiih my father in 
his earliest practice, to have frequently men- 
tioned the discovery of muriatic vapour; and 
the use of itin the fever of 1756; and its con- 
tinual use, when occasion called for it, from 
} ,hat period.” 
Nor had the confidence in the muriatic 
fumigation at all diminished in the county 
of Worcester during the time of Dr. 
Smyth’s supposed original experiments, 
on which he founded his claim to national 
remuneration. Dr.Smyth, according to 
the evidence brought betore the House of 
Commons, first used itin 1780. In 1779, 
Dr. James Johnstone, jun. in his Treatise 
on Sore Throat, expressly recommended 
the muriatic fumigation discovered by 
is father. In 1783, a malignant fever, 
hich had broken out in Worcester gaol, 
was subdued by acid fumigation; and 
in 1784, it became the subject of public 
enquiry. 
** Tn consequence of the alarm of the gaol 
feyer, and a report that it had spread into se- 
veral patts,of Worcestershire, Sir Trancis 
Buller wrote to my father in the beginning 
of 1784, desiring information of the state of 
Worcester gaol; and if there were any fever, 
or risque of infection, he would adjourn the 
ensuing Lent assize to Bromsgrove, or soime 
other town in the county. ‘There had been 
solitary instances of fever in the county gaol, 
and in the neighbourhood of Droitwich, to- 
wards the close of 1783; but there had been 
“no peculiar symptoms of malignity in these 
cases; the judge was therefore encouraged 
not to adjourn tle assize from the city of 
Arr. LV. A second Treatise on ihe Bath 
DR. Gibbes has already distinguished 
himself as a chemist in the analysis of 
these celebrated waters. In the present. 
treatise he describes all the medicinal 
powers that are attributed to them, 
gad gives directions for sheir use, 
GiBBES’S SECOND TREATISE ON THE BATH WATERS. 
ctable surgeon in Kidderminster, is prepar-‘ 
{93 
Worcester. My father was, however, de- 
sired to recommend measures of precaution; 
and in consequence the gaol was fumigated, 
the prisoners fresh cloathed, and the county 
hall was also fumigated diiting the whole of 
the absize. “The eyent was favourable, no 
fever appeared. 
«« Shortly after, a malignant fever broke 
out in the workhouse of Kidderminster, and 
upwards of twenty persons were infected.— 
Upon this occasion my father was called in 
by the magistrate of that borough ; he ordered 
the whole house to be fumigated with muri- 
atic vapour, the patients to be washed with 
vinegar and waxer, and nice attention to be 
paid to cleantimess. By these means conta- 
gion was soon stopped, and my father received 
a vote of thanks from the inhabitants of that 
populous town.” p 
‘The remainder of this pamphlet is oc- 
cupied with the fullest and most irrefra- 
guble evidence, that not only the power of 
the muriaticacidis to all appearance fully 
equal to the nitrous, bnt that it can be 
employed with equal convenience to the 
patient, without producing cough, sense 
of suffocation, or any other uneasiness, 
provided it is managed with prudence 
and caution. he testimony given by 
M. Guyton Morveau, corroborates this 
fact; and we fully agree with Dr. John- 
stone, that no valid evidence appears for 
giving the preference to the nitric acid. 
The superior diffusibility of the muriatic 
vapour, at alow temperature, will amply 
explain the reason why its effects should 
be more sudden, and should require a 
somewhat different management ; but 
where the quantity of vapour is equal in 
a given space, both acids appear equally 
to destroy contagion, and to be equally 
safe to the patient. 
Dr. Smyth cannot even claim the merit 
of reviving, but simply of extending with 
a trifling variation, a practice ieag 
well established in the centre of the king- 
dom by the most weighty and respect- 
able authority: the reward has been his, 
let the honour, now posthumous, be paid 
to the memory of the real inventor. 
Waters; comprehending their medical Powers. 
in general, and particularly’ as they relate to the Cure of Dyspepia, Gout, Rieumatismg. 
Jaundice, and Liver Complaints, Chlorosis, Cutaneous Eruptions, Palsy, Sc. By 
Georce Smitu Ginses, M, D. F. R.S. late Fellow of Magdalene College, Oxford, 
Fellow of the Royal Medical Society, Edinburgh, Sc. 8vo. pp. 120. 
We do not find that Dr. Gibbes has 
thrown any real light on the modus 
operandi of these waters, or has made 
any other practical observations than 
have been already given by the different 
advocates for Bath. The whole is in the 
