374 
Dr.  Lyman  Spalding. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
June,  1919. 
more  rarely  above  sixty  and  very  rarely  indeed  at  70.  There  is  a  chronic 
cough  and  emaciation,  and  great  expectoration  in  old  people,  but  it  is  not 
the  true  Phthisis  Pulmonalis. 
3dly.  Is  not  Debauchery  rather  a  Vague  term  for  a  general  Head? 
Does  it  mean  Drunkenness  exclusively? 
4thly.  I  never  yet  saw  a  very  young  child  with  Epilepsy.  There  is  a 
wide  space  indeed,  between  the  convulsions  of  infants,  and  that  truly  wonder- 
ful disease,  Epilepsy. 
5thly.  Mortification:  Was  it  in  the  bowels  or  the  feet?  As  they  are 
widely  different  in  their  cause.    See  Pott  in  the  Latter. 
6thly.  Death  from  Scrofula  is  very  uncommon.  It  predisposes  to  fatal 
diseases. 
7thly.  Paregoric:  Does  it  mean  that  the  Child  was  poisoned  by  that 
composition?  If  so,  had  it  not  better  been  by  Opium  as  Paregoric  means  a 
Alitigator  ? 
You  will  excuse  these  hasty  observations  that  occurred  on  the  perusal. 
They  have  not  originated  from  a  disposition  to  criticise  but  from  a  desire  to 
have  them  free  from  every  exception. 
Yours  Steadily, 
B.  Waterhouse. 
In  1802  Spalding  invented  a  galvanic  battery,  which  gave  rise  to 
considerable  correspondence,  and  which  unquestionably  was  used 
extensively  among  his  brother  physicians.  He  had  letters  asking 
how  to  make  similar  batteries  and  also  their  exact  therapeutic  uses. 
He  further  devised  a  process  for  manufacturing  oxygen  for  inhala- 
tion, and  later  invented  a  soda  water  fountain,  which  seems  to  have 
been  quite  extensively  used.  As  he  neglected  to  protect  his  inven- 
tion by  patents,  as  it  appears  in  his  biography  some  years  later, 
patents  were  secured  by  other  persons,  and  he  was  forbidden  to  use 
it  without  paying  a  royalty  for  his  own  invention.  He  was  an 
active  writer,  especially  upon  anatomical  and  surgical  subjects.  His 
practice  also  extended  in  surgical  lines,  and  he  performed  opera- 
tions for  hernia,  extraction  of  cataract  and  removal  of  necrosed 
bone.  He  continued  his  interest  in  vaccination,  and  received  a 
second  letter  from  Jenner,  who  acknowledged  the  reception  of  some 
interesting  details  concerning  vaccination  and  the  bills  of  mortality, 
for  which  he  thanked  him.  In  Jenner's  letter  an  interesting  detail 
is  given  concerning  the  good  effect  of  vaccination  in  controlling 
cases  of  smallpox  in  Vienna.  Prior  to  vaccination  the  annual 
average  of  such  cases  was  800.  Four  years  subsequent  to  the  in- 
troduction of  vaccination,  but  two  cases  of  smallpox  occurred  in 
the  city. 
