VIBURNUM  PRUNIFOLIUM  IN  THREATENED  ABORTION.  259 
of  the  trade  in  the  aggregate  at  Droitwich  is  in  the  hands  of  such 
masters,  who,  not  possessed  of  sufficient  capital  to  undertake  the 
manufacture  on  a  scale  large  enough  to  permit  the  adoption  of 
expensive  improvements  in  machinery,  or  in  the  system  of  work- 
ing and  payment  of  wages,  are  still  able,  by  employing  their  own 
family  as  workpeople,  to  produce  salt  at  a  rate  so  low  as  to  render 
it  difficult  for  those  able  to  initiate  the  necessary  reforms  to  realize 
an  adequate  remuneration  from  them.  On  the  whole,  therefore, 
although  the  experiment  tried  at  Stoke  has,  we  believe,  been ' 
commercially  as  well  as  socially  successful,  and  must  in  the  long 
run  materially  affect  the  condition  of  the  saltworkers,  there  is 
but  little  immediate  prospect  of  their  making  any  great  general 
advance  in  the  social  scale.  For  the  present  the  public  is  able  to 
purchase  salt  at  a  price  possibly  lower  by  some  infinitesimal 
fraction  than  it  would  be  if  the  manufacture  were  entirely  in  the 
hands  of  large  proprietors  and  the  employment  of  women  and 
children  strictly  prohibited  ;  but  the  advantage  is  dearly  pur- 
chased by  the  continued  existence  amongst  us  of  a  class  of  labor- 
ers which  ranks  below  that  even  of  the  working  colliers." — Lon- 
don Ghem.  News,  Feb.  22,  1867. 
VIBURNUM  PRUNIFOLIUM  IN  THE  TREATMENT  OF 
THREATENED  ABORTION. 
By  D.  L.  Phares,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  of  Newtoma,  Miss. 
This  small  tree  grows  in  rich,  dry  woodlands  from  Florida  to 
the  Mississippi  river,  and  northward.  For  description,  see 
Chapman's  "  Flora  of  the  Southern  United  States,"  and  other 
works.  The  part  used  is  the  bark,  Z  ss  to  Z  i,  in  powder  ;  in- 
fusion f -3  ss  ;  or  saturated  tincture  f  Z  i. 
It  is  nervine,  antispasmodic,  tonic,  astringent,  diuretic,  and 
may  be  used  to  very  good  purpose  in  urinary  affections,  ophthal- 
mia, apthous  sore  mouth,  chronic  diarrhoea,  dysentery,  indolent 
ulcers,  etc.  It  is  an  excellent  remedy  in  colic,  cramp,  spasms, 
palpitation,  and  other  affections  incident  to  pregnancy,  or  arising 
from  uterine  disorder,  and  for  after  pains.  But  it  is  particularly 
valuable  in  preventing  abortion  and  miscarriage,  whether  habitual 
