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iV. An Experimental Inquiry info the Nature of Gravelly 

 and Calculous Concretions in the Human Subject ; 'and. 

 the Effects of Alkaline and Acid Substances on thern, 

 in and out of the Body. By Thomas Egan, M.D. 

 M.R.I.A. 



[Continued from our last volume, p. 307.] 



Part H. ': 



JL HE bad effects of all acid and acescent subL^tances being 

 generally felt and acknowledged, we cannot be surprised 

 ^hal sufferers from these maladies should naturally expect 

 an alleviation of their complaints from substances of a very 

 opposite nature ; or that, perhaps, in the general anxiety of 

 mankind to discover a solvent of these concretions, the 

 active agency of alkaline matters could not be overlooked. 

 We accordingly find that, from the remotest aatiquily up 

 to this day, they were, and still are, though under various 

 modifications, chiefly resorted to. Our antient physicians 

 prescribed waters witti n)ineral alkaline impregnation, such 

 as Seltzer, Carlsbad, and otliers ; and, in latter times, we 

 find our own countrymen more particularly engaged in 

 these pursuits. Lime water, recommended by White, (to 

 whose numerous and interesting experiments I must beg 

 leave to refer;) lime, and pure alkaline matter, forming the 

 bases of the celebrated remedies of madam Stephens, Hart- 

 ley, and others. And, in our own days, the caustic lixi- 

 vium, again forgot, to make room for the more modern 

 and fashionable introduction of both our alkaline sub- 

 and super-carbonates; the vegetable, as in Faulknor's me- 

 phitic alkaline w-ater, or in the crystallized carbonate of 

 potash ; the mineral, in a desiccated stale, as recommended 

 by my learned and indefatigable friend. Dr. Beddoes ; or 

 in that of the well known soda wateis, first introduced in 

 Geneva and Paris. 



Now, in whatever of the above forms these saline mat- 

 ters are employed, their decided good effects are universally 

 experienced and acknowledged. The aijua niephitica alka- 

 lina I consider the most valuable gift bestowed upon man- 

 kind 



