4gO PHILOSOPHICAL TKANSACTIONS. [aNNO I766. 



Strong suppuratives, in the form of cataplasms, were now used, whereby the 

 tumor became more prominent in 2 days; a very deep fluctuation being felt, a 

 large caustic was applied on the most depending posterior side, thereby to avoid 

 hurting the stomach or its appendages by an incision, which was made several 

 hours after, from whence issued a copious discharge, at first purulent, at last 

 glutinous, resembling the white of an egg: no adhesion to the peritoneum 

 could be felt, though accurately tried all round with the finger. Great care was 

 used in the proper applications, bandage, &c. particularly in the posture of the 

 patient; ivory and silver flat cannulas, kept in the aperture, were materially 

 beneficial, as well for the conveyance of balsamic injections, as to facilitate the 

 exit of the putrid contents. The night after the operation, she turned delirious; 

 this symptom, with an increased fever and excessive cough, afforded little or no 

 hopes of recovery, the more especially, as the discharge was now turned 

 excessively thin, of a dusky colour, and very foetid; for these reasons, Mr. S. 

 dressed her twice a day, throwing in large quantities of a warm injection, 

 composed of a decoct, ficuum, and rad. alth. wherein was dissolved bals. 

 capiv. to which was added, when the fever abated, some calomel ppt. In the 

 mean time medicines internally, to allay her fever and cough, were not neglected; 

 and she afterwards took daily, as her stomach and other symptoms would admit, 

 a light infusion of cort. peruv. 



By these means strictly followed, about the 2 1 st day from that of the incision, 

 a laudable pus was obtained; but on the 23d, a thin sanious discharge in great 

 quantities burst out worse than the former, and extremely foetid. Towards the 

 end of the month, it began once more to assume a benign aspect, but broke out 

 a 3d and 4th time, on the 1st and 15th of Sept., every time the discharge 

 growing more and more acrid, so as to excoriate and inflame the external parts; 

 notwithstanding these threatenings, by a, close perseverance in the forementioned 

 method, at the end of lO weeks, a callous cicatrix was obtained on the 

 external wound, and the recovery compleated soon after by the use of a few 

 alterative mercurial pills. 



The woman was alive in 1766, and enjoyed a middling state of health; only 

 had been liable to complaints of gripes and indigestion, every 3, 4, or 5 months. 

 Her last complaint was generally relieved by a few saponaceous pills. 



XIV. Experiments on the Peruvian Bark, by jirtJmr Lee, M. D. p. 95. 



As these experiments do not lead to any result of importance, that was not before 

 known, relative to the chemical composition of the Peruvian bark, or to its 

 pharmaceutical preparations, it was deemed unnecessary to reprint them. 



