470  THE  USES  OF  SULPHUROUS  ACID  GAS. 
spiral — manner  in  which  medicine  moves,  or,  if  you  will,  pro- 
gresses, though  its  progression  is  limited,  and  as  yet  not  well 
defined,  that  Hahnemann  was  led  by  his  theory  of  disease  to 
propound  sulphur  as  the  most  important  remedy  in  tuberculosis, 
while  Dr.  Dewar,  from  the  success  of  sulphur  in  its  treatment, 
has  been  apparently  led  to  deduce  its  origin  from  cryptogamic 
sporules — a  closely  similar  theory.    With  theories,  however, 
there  is  at  present  no  need  of  troubling  ourselves  ;  the  practical 
results  are  sufficiently  striking  to  ensure  for  this  treatment  a  more 
careful  and  extensive  trial.  In  diphtheria  and  various  other  com- 
plaints sulphur  fumigation  has  proved  immediately  and  strikingly 
beneficial ;  and  in  at  least  one  instance  it  has  almost  instantly 
cut  short  an  outbreak  of  hospital  gangrene  in  the  wards  of  our 
Edinburgh  Infirmary,  and,  properly  employed,  it  may  possibly 
prove  capable  of  limiting  the  spread  of  cholera,  fever,  and  other 
contagious  diseases.    For  the  disinfection  of  inanimate  material 
the  addition  of  a  little  nitre  to  the  sulphur,  and  the  combination 
of  these  fumes  with  the  steam  of  boiling  water,  improvises  a 
disinfectant  at  once  the  most  powerful,  most  searching,  and  most 
efficacious  which  can  be  obtained,  utterly  destructive  at  once  of 
aney  latent  contagion,  and  of  every  form  of  insect  life.    But  we 
nave  not  yet  exhausted  all  the  strange  properties  of  sulphur 
fumigations  :  it  is  not  only  productive  of  animal  health  while  in 
life,  but  it  also  prevents  putrefaction  after  death.    In  some  re- 
cent experiments  (in  June  weather)  in  regard  to  this,  a  sheep's 
head  was  kept  quite  fresh  and  sweet  for  thirteen  days  ;  a  boiled 
crab — well  known  to  be  a  peculiarly  perishable  edible — was 
quite  sound  after  eight  days  ;  haddocks,  after  being  smoked  two 
or  three  times,  were  found  to  be  quite  fresh  at  the  end  of  eight 
clays.    The  process  is  equally  applicable  to  every  other  form  of 
animal  food,  which  merely  requires  to  be  fumigated  three  or  four 
times  a  day  in  a  chamber  closed  as  much  as  possible  against  the 
admission  of  fresh  air.    At  a  convivial  entertainment  recently 
given  by  Dr.  Dewar,  the  company  were  entertained  with  viands 
thus  preserved,  and  one  and  all  expressed  their  perfect  satisfac- 
tion with  the  success  of  the  process,  as  evinced  by  the  satisfac- 
tory condition  of  the  food  presented  to  them. 
How  novel  and  strictly  original  Dr.  Dewar's  views  are  as  to 
