Vo: XXIV. No. 8.] 
POPULAR SCIENCE NEWS. 
127 
I 
give notice tliereof, that the people may not come 
up to Town in the Interim and lose their labour. 
Probably the "merry monarch" himself 
must have laughed hi his sleeve at the credu- 
lous multitude who believed that his royal 
touch could cure the King's Evil, or scrofula ; 
but the vagaries of the modern mind-healers 
are not one whit more sensible. 
Some years later, in 171 1, The Spectator 
advertised a sure cure for stammering in these 
words : 
An admirable confect which assuredly cures Stut- 
tcaing and Stammering in children or grown per- 
8 jnie, though never so bad, causing theiVi to speak 
distinct and free without any trouble or difficulty ; 
it remedies all manner of impediments in the speech 
or disorders of the voice of any kind, proceeding 
from what cause soever, rendering those persons 
cpable of speaking easily and free, and with a clear 
voice who belbre were not able to utter a sentence 
without hesitation. Its stupendous elTects in so 
i|uickly and infallibly ciy-ing Stammering and all 
disorders of the voice anij difViculty in delivery 
of the speech are really wonderful. Price 2s. 6d. a 
pot, with directions. Sold only at Mr Osborn's 
Toyshop, at the Rose and Crown, under St Duns- 
tan's church Fleet street. 
But a still more remarkable compound was 
the "electuary," also advertised in the same 
periodical : 
Loss of Memory, or Forgetful ness, certainly cured 
by a grateful electuary peculiarly adapted for that 
end : it strikes at the primary source, which few 
apprehend, of forgetfulness, makes the head clear 
.iTid easy, the spirits free, active, and undisturbed, 
corroborates and revives all the noble faculties of the 
soul, such as thought, judgment, apprehension, 
reason and memory, which last in particular it so 
strengthens as to render that faculty exceeding quick 
and good beyond imagination; thereby enabling 
those whose memory was before almost totally lost, 
to remember the minutest circumstances of their 
affairs, etc., to a wonder. Price 2s. 6d. a pot. Sold 
only at Mr Payne's, at the Angel and Crown, in St 
Paul's Churchyard, with directions. 
In the British Chronicle of February, 
1763, we find the following: 
Warham's Apopletic Balsam, so well known as an 
excellent remedy against Fits, Convulsions, &c., 
cures Deafness, bad Humours in the Eyes, inward 
Bruises, dissolves hard Lumps in the Breast, and 
has often cured Cancers, as can be proved by Facts; 
is a sovereign salve for green Wounds, Burns, &c. 
Is prepared and sold only by W. Strode, at the 
Golden Ball, Tottenham Court Road, London. 
Who also prepares and sells Warham's Cephalick 
Snuif, of a most grateful smell, and an etfectual 
remedy for giddiness, nervous pains in the Head, &c. 
Also Warham's excellent Mouth water, which 
certainly cures the toothache, strengthens and pre- 
serves the Teeth, takes off all smells proceeding 
from bad Teeth, &c. 
A balsam that would cure not only deaf- 
ness, but cancers and " inward bruises," must 
• certainly have contained some most powerful 
ingredients. 
Testimonials to the wonderful efficacy of 
these medicines were not lacking, as witness 
the following from the Daily Post (London) 
of July 14, 1736: 
These are to certify, that I Richard Sandford, 
Waterman, dwelling in Ilorsely-down-street, near 
the Dipping Pond, have a Son, who for a consider- 
able Time was troubled with a Pain in his Stomach, 
a Sleepiness and Giddiness, whereupon I calling to 
Mind tiiat some Years since my Wife's Mother, 
betwixt 60 and 70 years of Age, afllicted with a 
Palsy or Hemeplegia, or loss of the Use of one Side 
»f her Body, had been cured b^' 
Mr. JOHN MOORE, Apothecary, 
At the Pestle and Mortar in Laurence-Pountney's 
Lane, the first Great Gates on the 
Left-Hand from Cannon-street, 
I applied to him for Relief of my Son, who after 
having taken a few of his Worm-Powders, they 
brought from him a WORM (or INSECT) like a 
Hog-Louse, with Legs and hairy, or a Kind of Down 
all over it, and very probably more, but he going to 
a common Vault they were lost; upon which he is 
amended as to his former Illnesses, and I desire this 
may be printed for the Good of others. 
Witness Ricmard Sanuford. 
Oct. 6, 1735. 
It is curious to find here the familiar yarn 
of modern times concerning the presence 
of living reptiles in the human stomach. 
"Medical Institutes" and "Colleges of 
Physicians and Surgeons" are not. unknown 
in our own enlightened times, and the follow- 
ing, published in the reign of William and 
Mary, except for the old-fashioned spelling 
and phraseology, might be taken froin 
almost any daily newspaper of the present 
day : 
AlJVERTISEMENT. 
The Physitians of the Colledges that us'd to con- 
sult twice a Week for the benefit of the Sick at the 
Consultation House, at the Carved Angel and 
Crown in King-street, near Guildhall, meet now 
four times a Week ; and therefore give Publick 
Notice, that on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays 
and Fridays, from two in the afternoon till six, they 
may be advised by the known Poor, and meaner 
Families for nothing; and that their Expectations 
and Demands from the middle Rank shall be mod- 
erate : but as for the Rich and Noble, Liberality is 
inseparable from their Qiiality and Breeding. 
Coming down to more modern times, we 
may mention Bishop Berkeley's tar-water, 
Parr's life pills, — said to prolong life indefi- 
nitely beyond a hundred years, — Perkins's 
metallic tractors, and so on through galvanic 
and magnetic belts, liver and kidney pads, 
"safe" cures, oxygenated air, and non- 
alcoholic "bitters" especially adapted for the 
prohibition districts, till we find the nostrum i 
vender abreast of the latest discoveries in ■ 
science ; and in the recent absurdity of a I 
"microbe-killer," alleged to cure diseases 
by cutting of!" the microbes producing them 
in the flower of their youth, we recognize 
the latest developinent of the patent medi- 
cine, and can only wonder what worthless 
preparation will next be brought forward for 
the healing of the nations from all manner 
of diseases. 
I Specially Compiled for f'ojmUir Science Neios.] 
MONTHLY SUMMARY OF MEDICAL 
PROGRESS. 
BY MAURICE U. CLARKE, M. D. 
Treat.ment of Eimstaxis. — Dr. B. W. Richard- 
son, of London, contributes to his magazine, the 
Asdepiad, the following readable article upon nose- 
bleed and its treatment : 
As people generally pay little attention to epis- 
taxis until the loss of blood becomes very profuse, 
it is the rule not to call in medical or surgical aid 
until all "ordinary means" have been brougbt 
fruitlessly into service. These "ordinary means ' 
are varied and peculiar. They are chiefly .- («) cold 
water applied in douche to the nose; (Jj) the appli- 
cation of something cold, like the key oF a door, to 
the nape of the neck ; (c) the holding up of tl e 
arms of the patient above the head ; {<!) the placing 
of the body in a squat position, with the knees 
drawn up to the body, and the arms clasped over 
the knees; (e) the effect of air in blast from bellows 
into the nostril ; (/) the introduction into the nos- 
tril of something that will absorb the blood or act 
as a plug, such substances as cotton wool, the fur 
from a beaver hat, spider's web, and even dust from 
the road. 
It is very diflicult to decide as to the merits or 
value of these lines of treatment, since not one 
of them is trusted alone, and since the bleeding 
stops, in most instances, spontaneously, so soon as 
the action of the heart is sufficiently subdued to 
allow a clot to form and seal up the bleeding vessels. 
The surgeon niiiy, therefore, discard these empirical 
plans for his own rational methods, the production 
of a firm coagulum, and the maintenance of a 
gentle but decisive pressure. These two objects are 
met by a good styptic plug, and no plug answers so 
well as one made of cotton, charged with perchlo- 
ride of iron. If the cotton be sulHciently moistened 
to admit of being nicely modeled, it m,-iy be made 
firm and shapeable enough to be passed, like a 
bougie, along the nasal canal quite into the 
pharynx, and, formed like a wedge, can easily be 
made to fill firmly the whole of the canal, as com- 
pletely as if it were drawn up through the pharvnx 
from behind; and it may, if necessary, be pulled 
down into the throat through the pharynx, so as to 
make the wedge the firmer and more secure. After 
the cavity is thoroughly plugged on the bleeding 
side, — or, if necessary, on both sides, — a gentle 
pressure may be applied to the nostril with the 
fingers, until the plug, soon charged with coagulated 
blood, is firmly set; and this effected, absolute rest 
for ten or twelve hours is sufficient to effect a cure ; 
but it is wise not to remove the plug until it can 
easily be blown out of the nostril by the patient. 
Prof. Parvin considers it a mistake to make a 
routine practice of giving ergot after each case of 
labor. It should not be given unless indicated. 
Drainage'in Abdominal Surgery. — Dr. George 
E. Shoemaker read a paper on this subject before 
the American Medical Association {N. Y. Med. 
Jour.) Drainage was especially indicated if there 
was a suspicion of hemorrhage or sepsis, and this 
notwithstanding the well-known absorbent power 
of the peritonajum. This function of the peritc- 
na;um was of great service if the fluids to be 
absorbed were aseptic, but if otherwise harm would 
result. Drainage lessened the dangers in all such 
cases. The objections to the drainage-tube were 
the possibility of fistula from pressure upon the 
bowel, infection of the ligatures, and hernia. It 
should be removed, if possible, within forty-eight 
hours of the lime of introduction. A fa;cal fistula 
might result if ligatures of large size were used. 
The surroundings of the drainage-tube should be 
aseptic, and the tube should be covered with cotton. 
It was wrong to seal it with a cork. A straight^tube 
