322 THE CONTAGIOUS TYPHUS 



had been a long one, and I was forced to re- 

 linquish the inquiry, which, moreover, was 

 above my means at that period. 



On another occasion, it seemed to me strange 

 that we should be obliged to open the bladder 

 of patients suffering from the stone, or to 

 subject them to lithotrity, which has also its 

 perils. Nature, I said to myself, forms calculi 

 by uniting organic elements, by crystallizing 

 them, and by cementing them with vesical 

 mucus. But would it not be possible to cure 

 the disease by employing contrary means dis- 

 solving the calculi in the bladder by means of 

 continued injections, changing the chemical 

 agents according to the composition of the 

 calculus, and adding thereto the action of a 

 galvanic current ? 



After this, I pursued my inquiry in this 

 direction. I studied for several months the 

 chemical composition of calculi by examining 

 them in their dissolved state ; and I saw that 

 those in which the alkaline bases prevailed, 

 being submitted to a diluted solution of tar- 

 taric acid, which would not injure the bladder, 

 crumbled after a time ; that the calculi with 

 excess of acid were also attacked by an alkaline 



