TRAVELS IN BRAZIL. 57 



asked our advice and medicines. Our host, too, 

 a man full of patriotic sentiments, thought it his 

 duty to turn the presence of his guests to the ad- 

 vantage of his friends and neighbours, and intro- 

 duced to us a great number of patients. In the 

 space of a fortnight, which we spent here, we dis- 

 tributed above five hundred prescriptions to the 

 crowd of applicants, which half emptied our little 

 medicine chest. By far the greater part of the 

 diseases which we here observed, were of syphilitic 

 origin, or united with syphilitic dyscrasy. The forms 

 under which this polymorphous disease appears, are 

 of the greatest diversity, particularly as regards the 

 cutaneous system, and several of them have perhaps 

 not yet been observed in Europe. In general the 

 character of disease here is inflammatory, and modi- 

 fied by the choleric, melancholy temperament of the 

 Paulista. Under this head must be classed the ex- 

 tremelynumerous cases of inflammation of the eyes ; 

 of erysipelas, combined with liver complaints ; of 

 acute dropsies, particularly anasarca ; of hydro- 

 thorax, the consequences of pneumonic complaints, 

 which appear sometimes simple and sometimes 

 complicated with gastric affections difficult to be 

 recognised ; of apoplexies preceded by cataract, 

 &c. In no part of Brazil are there so many 

 melancholy and hysterical patients as here. Hy- 

 drophobia has been already observed though 

 rarely. In mentioning the circumstances tending 

 to produce diseases in this part of Brazil, we must 



