70 THIRTY-FIVE YEARS IN THE EAST. 



twelve years ago, when I was nursing George. His in- 

 tention was to buy some oxen, and he took a large sum 

 of money with him, of which he was robbed while in a 

 state of intoxication. When I heard this, continued the 

 woman, it made a very serious impression on me, and I 

 suppose that my baby was also affected with my grief, 

 as I observed on that very day he was unable to pass his 

 urine, in spite of all his exertions^ until he v/as relieved 

 by suction. From that time he enjoyed good health for 

 several months, yet this stoppage came on periodically, 

 that is to say, as often as the stone obstructed the urethra, 

 on which occasion he used to rub the part , stamp with 

 his feet, and cry for help." After this relation she begged 

 my pardon, adding, "one ought to conceal nothing from 

 the doctor. Yet,," continued she, " I have still one cir- 

 cumstance to communicate to you ; previously to the 

 operation, my child had the bad habit of wetting the bed ;. 

 but he has never done so since." 



In the present state of medical knowledge, it is impos' 

 sible to assert v/hether the cause of the production of 

 stony concretions be connected with the sensations of the 

 nurse, or whether other circumstances co-operate, as we 

 find snch concretions in different parts of the body, not 

 only in the urethra, urine-bladder, kidneys, and the gall- 

 organs, but also in the stomach and intestines of horses,^ 

 oxen, goats, &c,, as just mentioned. But there is no doubt 

 that they are substances of the animal body. We have 

 in ourselves different mineral substances, and a sickly habit 

 causes them to accumulate. I once found five tolerably 

 large stones pressed in the neck of a bladder to such a deg- 

 ree, that I cannot conceive how the man was able to- 

 void one drop of urine. Several cases occurred to me, in 

 which, a few years after the stone had been extracted, 

 new ones accumulated, because the origin of the disease was 

 not eradicated ; and I recommend every operator to com- 

 bine an internal with an external treatment, the extrac- 

 tion or the crushing of the stone being nothing but a 

 palliative. 



