30-1 Trjtiftthitt cf CL-iireous Fhijphutt in the Aih:i;ol Zsjlem. 



tilled or very pure fpring water. \Vhen-,it;'is to be uft<l, tlie /kin muft firft be rubbed 

 with a ifrj' cl.th, or a piece of fine flitinol, 'After this precaution, the difcafcd extremities 

 are to be walbed carefully with the warm folution, and at length wiped, io as to leave 

 no trace of moifture. This praif\icc and waftiiiig muft be repeated at leaft twice a-day. , 

 I can affirm, from repeated trials, that it will foon bcalteiulid with fucccfs. 



"The folution of pot-a(h is not very coftly ; neverthelefs, the habitual and lo]ig con- 

 tinued ufe of this- remedy for a racliiiic patient in the fecond "period, becomes cxpenfive to 

 poor parents. The lixivium of wood-uflies, which has been ufed for walhing fine linen, in 

 which aromatic. plants may b; infufed, becojnes of remarkable utility for the rachitic chil- 

 dren of the poor. I have fecn the mod decided fuccefi rcfult from its ufe. Several chil- 

 dren, who, after having wallccd alone, found a difficulty iu fupporting themfelves, were 

 waflied two or three times .vday with this lixivium, aad in the fpace of one or two weeks 

 they walked wldi eafe and agility, &c. 



" I have fecn various inftances of children cured of their difpofition to rachitis merely by 

 walliing with alk.iline liquids ; but in moft cafes I haye thought it neeeffary to fecure the 

 firft fiiccefs by other remedies. When the rachitis has already made fome progrefs, it is 

 evident that all the remedies muit be united, and lleadily continued. The alkaline lotion is 

 a remedy the more preferable, as it is not at all difgufting, and fcarcely in any refpeA 

 troublefome to eliildren ; but the internal remedies polVefs fuperior eflicacy." 



If the facts here announced (hould be confirmed by further experience, might we not 

 hope to obtain fimilar advantage in fuch other difeafesas attack the fubftance of the bones, 

 and probably have more analogy to the rachitis tlian has been imagined .' Such are lYicfpina 

 ventofa, ferophulous tumours and caries, the oilTiculties In the formation of the bony pro- 

 cefs, after fraftures, flownefs and irregularities of dentition, &c. Thefe queftions, highly 

 defcrving of iuveftigation, are produced by tlie Author of this memoir as confequences of 

 vhat he has related. He llkewife communicates fome ufeful notions refpeding the cafes 

 in which the other combinations of phofphoric acid may be employed,, fuch as the phof- 

 phates of iron and of mercury, concerning whicL experience has yet afforded him no in- 

 formation. 



With the fame candour and dlfTuknce as is difplayed by the Autlior of this memoir, we 

 prcfent his experiments as effays worthy of the attention of enlightened phyficians. We have 

 no doubt but the Author will dlre£l his attention in future to extend his proofs and increafe 

 the degree of precifion and evidence. And even if others (liould go beyond him in this 

 important enquiry, he will neverthelefs enjoy the honour of having begun it. 



Let us conclude this ab(lra£l by a few refle£llons. It feems to us, that a multitude of 

 ideas mud prcfent themfelves to him who fliaU meditate on the f;i£ls here difplayed. 

 Without dwelling on thofe which are (1111 too hypothetical, the fingle fad of the tranf- 

 ition of calcareous pTiofphate through the padagcs of circulation, and confequently its fo- 

 lution in the fluids, and its application to the fubftance of the bones, deferves the higheft at- 

 tention. The means which nature employs to render the calcareous phofphate foluble arc 

 well entitled to the refearchcs of chemills : without doubt its combination with foda may 

 have fome part in this eftecb ; but it is not lefs important, in this place, as a remarkable 

 phenomenon in the animal economy, which is cflentially connected with nutrition, and the 

 development of our organs. If we compare the experiments of Yauquelin on tlie feminal 

 5 fluidj 



