[ 563 h 
There have been lately made, at the hofpital of 
the invalids, two experiments of this aftringent in 
amputations ; and in both the fuccefs has been equal 
to all that can be defired. The furgeon, in thefe 
cafes, ufed only the two pieces applied one upon the 
other, without ufing the powder in the bag, as be- 
fore 5 and drefs’d the whole wound with lint, and 
the common bandage. 
Thus, then, at laft there appears to be difcovered a 
remedy beyond our hopes, and which art has never 
yet equat'd. The application of fire was the cruel 
refource of the antients ; and Pare believed himfelf 
infpired, when he difcovered the ufe of the ligature. 
But, alas ! how many accidents are there, which 
arife from the ufe of thofe two manners, and which 
too often terminate in the death of the patient! 
Happy for us, that thofe accidents now appear to be 
no longer to be fear’d by the lucky difcovery of this 
ftyptic, the firft experiments of which have fo greatly 
promifed fuccefs ! 
It may be remarked, that, if this aftringent fuc- 
ceeded only in coagulating the blood, it had pro- 
duced nothing extraordinary ; for thefe coagulations 
would not have been fufticient to have flopp’d the 
hemorrhage, directly after the operation in amputa- 
tions : but its excellency lies in contracting the arteries 
fo clofely, that it hardly lets a little probe into the 
aperture of the artery, and by this means forms, as 
it were, a perfect ligature, much more certain than 
the ufual one ; as this is not made in any one point 
of the cylinder of a veftel. Thus this application ex- 
ceeds every thing, which has hitherto been produced 
by the operation of our hands. 
B b b b 2 
This 
