tions of the heart are modified according to the quality and quantity of blood which it receives. An increased quantity determined to it, without having undergone any additional chemical changes, invariably augments the frequency of the pulse, but diminishes its strength; a fact which Dr. Holland had repeatedly proved by experiments on himself. On making a series of deep inspirations, the contractions of the heart were accelerated, but proportionably enfeebled, and the same effect is always observed in cases of sudden and powerfully depressing mental emotions. When the increased quantity of blood is more stimulating than usual, the contractions are likewise accelerated, but, at the same time, greatly augmented in force. The capacity of the heart is, therefore, continually modified, emitting, at one time, an exceedingly small and feeble, at another a much more copious and invigorating stream. It is important to keep in mind that the weak and thread-like current is not attributable to any deficiency of blood either at the right or left auricle, the proportions in both being greatly increased by the causes which have disturbed the functions of the circulatory system. It was further remarked, in direct corroboration of this fact, that whenever congestion takes place within the chest, if unaccompanied by inflammation, the action of the heart is generally, if not always, enfeebled. In most such instances the pulse is found frequent and small, and even in the exceptions, if not frequent, it is weak. It was afterwards shown, that whenever this condi tion of the thoracic organs has continued for some time, syncope and palpitation of the heart often occur on the individual making a deep inspiration. Previously to this, the heart receives only a small quantity of blood-a quantity, however, strictly proportioned to its capacity, which is greatly diminished from that which it possesses in a state of health; and even this is occasionally propelled with difficulty, and is sometimes interrupted in its course, when a slight addition is made to it, by a forced or deep inspiration, or by the least bodily exertion. These phænomena, which are of no unusual occurrence, show that when the heart is only just capable of transmitting forward the small stream which it receives, it is extremely liable to be arrested or disordered in its action, not indeed from the direct influence of the brain, but from any cause producing determination of blood to the chest. With such data, the difficulties of this inquiry, the Doctor said, were greatly lessened. If, in one instance, the cessation of the action of the heart arises from the inward determination of blood, it is unphilosophical to suppose the same cause to operate in another, when it may be indisputably shown, that there exists the same condition of the circulatory system? The author, after these remarks, entered upon the investigation of the influence of respiration on the motion of blood within the chest; on the motion of blood in the arteries and veins; and, lastly, attempted to show how the qualities of the blood are modified by a preponderance of expirations produced by exhilarating

mental emotions.

Dr. Carson differed from the writer. He thought that circulation was but little influenced by respiration-he meant as to force and quantity. There was another matter to be taken into consideration, which left the blood in a great measure in the same situation on inspiration and expiration, and that was the reception of air, by which means the expansion of the chest was accounted for without having any effect on the pressure or suction of the blood. The theory of the oxidizement of the blood in the lungs was considered to be exploded by recent physiologists, and that the air passed into the blood as it was; therefore that oxygenation did not arise from any change in the blood. When a weak person sighed, his circulation was improved. What was the cause? By a deep inspiration the lungs expanded with more force; the heart imbibed a larger quantity of blood, and the circulation was improved. He considered, with Dr. D. Barry, that by inspiration the blood was not in any degree aided in coming to the chest.-Dr. Holland replied, that he had made repeated experiments, and had invariably found that a series of deep inspirations did always bring to the lungs a larger quantity of blood than previously existed. The pulse, which before had only been 70 or 75, became 85, and in some cases 90, and was proportionably debilitated. Setting aside all theory, two effects followed-change in

the rapidity of the pulse, and in its force. He brought forward a theory to account for these effects. But, letting his own theory alone, it was quite clear that inspiration must have an effect on the circulation. Dr. Carson had also stated that air passed directly into the blood. He had never heard this opinion before. All they were acquainted with was, that air was so inspired that a certain change was effected by it in the blood. By chemical investigation they found that the carbonic acid gas, which was exhaled, existed as carbon profusely in the blood, and united with the oxygen inspired; hence they had carbonic acid. Dr. Carson had stated still further, that sighing improved the circulation. He had paid considerable attention to this, and he could not say that it improved it except in one way, and that was, it occasionally gave freer play to the lungs. They saw persons after being interested in any story almost suspend their breath, or, in other words, forget to breathe; and as soon as the interest of the story terminated there was a very deep inspiration, which relieved the blood in the chest. But he was satisfied, that a series of inspirations did not invigorate the system. Dr. Carson had also stated that the blood was not facilitated in its return by inspiration. Experiments had frequently been performed which proved this. But he would refer to those of the son of Dr. Neil Arnot. Yet he was under the necessity of acknowledging that inspiration appeared to have the power of bringing the blood towards the chest about an inch.

Mr. Hare, of Leeds, read a paper on Spinal Deformities. The object was to introduce to the Section the model of an apparatus used in cases of curvature of the spine, &c., and its effects were shown in several casts and drawings of lateral and angular curvature, said to have been taken before and after the treatment. The apparatus consists of an inclined plane about six feet six inches in length, with three pullies at the upper, and two at the lower end, and others according to the nature of the curve; a head-strap, of stuffed leather, passes under the chin, similar to the Hinkley Collar; the shoulder-straps are passed to the axillæ; and a similar contrivance is used for the ankles, for extension, by means of graduated weights. In cases of projection of the sternum, the patient being what is called "chicken-breasted," a regular pressure is made on that bone.

Dr. Mackintosh read a communication, from a medical student, on a disease of the lungs caused by the deposition of particles of dust. It would contribute, he observed, towards the elucidation of that class of diseases affecting artisans, which had, in a more systematic form, been treated by Mr. Thackrah. In the neighbourhood of Edinburgh were many stone-quarries, and the workers in which not unfrequently died from consumption. A mason, a worker in the Craigleith-quarry, was ill; he was bled and treated for a common cold, recovered, and returned to his work. A short time afterwards he was again taken ill, and, two years after the first attack, he died. During his illness percussion afforded a dull sound; on the right side the stethoscope indicated no respiratory murmur; on the left a puerile râle. After death, the lungs presented a black appearance; 20 oz. of fluid were found in the right side, and 4 oz. in the left; there was no membrane, the pleura being fibrous, which was rare.-Dr. Alison stated that he had only seen this etate once, being on the pleura and cardiac portion of this kind of membrane; both lungs were completely studded with black tubercles, as if they were melanotic, and cut like cartilage. Similar projections were on the pleura, and the bronchial glands were long and hard, grating when cut with the scalpel, owing to a cretaceous secretion like bone. The analysis of this cretaceous matter showed it to be principally the carbonate of lime. In the bronchial glands were carbonate of lime, silica, and alumina. He directed particular attention to this analysis, for Dr. William Gregory has published an account of the Craigleith-quarry stone, and the analysis of this stone gave the same ingredients as those found in the lungs of the workman. Dr. Gregory found in the stone carbonate of lime, silica, and alumina. The deduc tion must necessarily be, that this (pointing to a preparation of the lungs which he exhibited) must be an absolute deposition of the Craigleith-quarry stone, from small particles taken into the lungs during respiration, producing consump tion and death.-Dr. Macartney had seen many black glands at the root of the

lungs, and dispersed through its substance, but they were not hard. It was stated that fibrous concretions in the chest were rare; this did not accord with his observations. In his museum, at Trinity College, he had placed many examples of this disease. The inflammation gave, first, condensed lymph, changed it into fibrinous, converted it into cartilage, and finally into bone.-Dr. Mackintosh replied in the negative, to the question if any other part of the body contained stone.

Sir James Murray presented to the Section an apparatus for the purpose of withdrawing atmospheric pressure from the surface of the body, partially or wholly. He presented his reasons and observations to the Dublin Medical Section of the British Association, but they were not well understood, for want of apparatus and drawings. These he had now got, which, beside much labour and time, had cost upwards of 100%.; and he trusted, since he was becoming old, some of the Members would perfect them. The first machine was for the whole body, and resembled in form a slipper-bath, with the addition of a separate part to cover the upper portion of the body, the head only being free. The upper portion was luted to the lower, by means of a composition (used in making printers' rollers for inking the types,) and fixed in a groove; and, if necessary, the patient's face and head could be contained in a glass case, luted to the machine in the same manner, and respiration carried on by a tube. The air from the machine was removed by means of an exhausting syringe, screwed on towards the bottom part of this apparatus. He had tried this machine in the collapsed cases of cholera, and exhausted the air from the body, taking off one ton of atmospheric pressure. The consequence was, that the vessels became full and turgid, and the body, previously shrunk, was rounded and red. He had tried it repeatedly, and the same results followed. The process might be reversed, and pressure of air made on the body, even to the amount of 100 tons, without damage; but beyond this it would not be safe. He had tried it repeatedly in asthma. The principle was applicable topically, and parts of the body could be submitted to the action of the machine, modified so as to be suitable to them. He exhibited a contrivance, of a long tin tube, made air-tight, and with a piece of wet bladder round one end, which was open; at the other end, which was closed up, a small exhausting air-pump was placed. A patient, with a paralytic wrist, put his arm into this; the wet bladder was tied round his arm at the top, to make it air-tight, and the atmosphere was then pumped out of the tube. The atmospheric pressure being taken off, the limb became turgid, the circulation was increased, and the part affected was soon cured. There was another adaptation of the same contrivance to the limbs, to draw off the effect of congestion of the brain; and one to stop hæmorrhage in an injured hand, limb, or other extremity. An exhausting pump was fixed to the end of a bladder, the limb was put into the bladder, and the neck then tied round to make it air-tight. The air was then completely exhausted by means of the pump, which compressed the bladder so close to the skin as effectually to stop even the pores of the skin. The same contrivance of a bladder and exhausting-pump was also applied for the cure of ulcerated legs, by preventing evaporation of the ulcers, by exhausting the air, and making the collapsed bladder adhere tightly all round. For irregular surfaces he thought the instruments of particular value, since no dry-cupping could be used there. If this plan had been known when those melancholy deaths from dissection cuts took place in Dublin, and dry-cupping could not be had recourse to, it would have been fortunate. The machine would be particularly advantageous in withdrawing blood from particular parts to others more remote. Thus, in cases of congestion of blood in the head, where bleeding had been carried to such an extent that it would not be safe to carry it further, owing to the great general loss in the circulation, blood might be made to accumulate in other parts, as in the legs. The case of a well-known brewer in Dublin was treated on this principle, and recovered. Sir James then enumerated the kinds of cases where the apparatus might be used,-asthma, defective external circulation, aneurism, tumours, paralysis, &c.

Dr. Macartney considered the machines very ingenious; and, in reference to dissection wounds, he observed, that he used a solution of alum, keeping

parts moistened with it, and that he had never suffered any inconvenience from them.

Dr. Hugh Carlisle then related two cases of remarkable malformation of the Cerebellum; and made some observations on the structure of the Brain, and the mode of investigating its functions.

Mr. Carlisle exhibited to the Section a cast of the lower part of the brain and of the cerebellum, taken from a female idiot. In this instance, the whole brain was rather small, but not remarkably so, at its anterior part; and, upon dissection, it was found that the deficiency in internal structure was more marked than that arising from want of size or from imperfect form. The cerebellum was extremely small, not more than one-sixth of the usual size; the gyri were few and shallow; the arbor vitæ possessed but two principal branches, although the usual number is six large, and one small one. The corpus dentatum, or ganglion of the cerebellum, was not larger than a very small nut, nearly smooth in the outline of its section, of one uniform light-brown colour, and manifestly defi cient in the true ganglionic structure. The pons varolii was very small, and its internal grey and white substances were not so distinct as usual. The pyramids were parallel cylindric forms, and did not decussate with each other at all, or at most very imperfectly. The corpora olivaria were little prominent, and the grey matter within was obscure. The locus niger was indistinct, and not sufficiently dark in colour. The corpora striata were very small, even when compared with the brain; their white fibres were few and minute. The pineal gland was rather large, and contained a cluster of soft round bodies, in place of the acervulus. The whole character of the brain was imperfect as to structure; the plexuses were not fine, nor so much interwoven as they ought to be; and the grey substance was pale, and not in sufficient quantity. This woman was manifestly idiotic, and possessed the peculiar expression by which idiots are characterized. The upper jaw projected beyond the lower, the hair grew upright from the scalp, a circumstance which generally distinguishes those who are idiots from birth, and the countenance was extremely forbidding. The second case was that of a man who had been deaf and dumb from birth, but was not deficient in intellect. This person died of fever in the Hardwicke Fever Hospital, in Dublin: on examination, it was found that the left hemisphere of the cerebellum was wholly wanting. His muscular system was well formed, and he had possessed full power over all the voluntary movements. Yet, in both these instances, though, as observed, the cerebellum was reduced in size and defective in structure, those organs, to which these portions of the brain are by phrenologists submitted, were remarkably well developed. Two other cases were referred to; and the ques tion was proposed, how far such cases are consistent with Gall and Spurzheim's theory.

Mr. Carlisle further adverted to the particulars of several dissections of the brain in his possession, but which were too much in detail for perusal before the Section. The conclusion to be drawn from these dissections is, that in the brain of idiots the internal structure is always defective, and, in many instances, more so than the size or external form; and that in the brains of persons not idiotic, but possessing various degrees of intellectual power, very marked differences in internal structure may be observed by those who dissect the brain in the manner first proposed by Dr. Macartney, in a paper read by him before the British Association, and published in their Transactions for 1833. It is a most reasonable supposition, from the facts just mentioned, and from observation of the structure of the brain in animals, that the intellectual and moral character is much influenced by peculiarities in the organization of the various plexuses or ganglia, of which the brain essentially consists. Phrenologists have wholly neglected the internal structure of the brain, and have confined their attention to the size of certain portions at the surface; a method which is calculated to mislead,amongst other reasons, because the surface of the brain is not the only part essential to the exercise of the intellectual and moral qualities, and size is a very inadequate measure of power, unless the structure of the part be also taken into consideration. As an example of an erroneous method of investigation, Mr. Carlisle quoted an elaborate paper, by the celebrated Tiedemann, in the

Philosophical Transactions, in which he concludes, from measurements of the size of the cranial cavity in Negroes and in Europeans, that the faculties of both are alike; whereas, it is well known to those who have opportunities of observing the children of Negroes and of Europeans educated together at the same school, that, as long as the perceptive faculties chiefly are employed, equal progress is made by both classes of children; but that as soon as the reflecting and comparing powers are required, as in the learning of mathematical or other inductive sciences, the inferiority of the Negro is almost uniformly made manifest. Mr. Carlisle concluded, by inviting the attention of physiologists to the examination of the minute structure of the brain, and stated his conviction, that by a comparison of its peculiarities with the differences of mental capacity observed during life, much light would be thrown on the functions of different parts of this organ.

Professor Evanson observed, that these facts were inadequate to overturn the doctrines of phrenology.-Dr. Bardsley contended against the use of extreme cases, as contrary to true medical philosophy.

Friday.-Dr. Yelloly, seeing there was so great a pressure of business before the Section, would at the commencement, fearing that there might not be time at the close, move that a vote of thanks be given to Dr. Rutter and the members of the Medical Institution for the great accommodation afforded and the attention paid to them. Prof. Evanson seconded the motion, which was carried unanimously.

Dr. Warren, of Boston, U. S., then offered remarks "On some Crania found in the Ancient Mounds in North America."-Whatever related, he observed, to the lost nations of North America is interesting. The fate of a people which occupied the richest part of that country, for an extent of more than a thousand miles, is involved in the deepest obscurity. Nothing remains of their history, and we can gather no ideas of what they were and what they did but from the constructions existing in the territory they inhabited. These works are numerous, and scattered over the country, from the lakes of Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. They consist of regular lines, having considerable elevations and great extent, of mounds or pyramidal eminences, and of spacious platforms of earth. These different works were adapted for fortifications, 'for places of worship, and for cemetries. Within the last two years, reports, he said, had reached the Atlantic States of very extensive remains of structures indicating the existence of one or more considerable cities in the territory of Ouisconsin, formerly a north-west territory of the United States. The antiquity of some of the numerous works alluded to was great; there are circumstances which led him to refer them to a period eight hundred or a thousand years back. The circular and pyramidal eminences seem to have been destined for two purposes: for places of worship and for cemetries. Some of them contain immense heaps of bones, thrown together promiscuously, as after a bloody battle; in others the bodies are regularly arranged, and in some there are only one or two bodies; the bones in the last are usually accompanied by silver and copper ornaments, some of which are extremely well wrought. The crania found in these mounds differ from those of the existing Indians, from the Caucasian or European, and in fact from all existing nations so far as they are known. The forehead is broader and more elevated than in the North American Indian, less broad and elevated than in the European; the orbits are small and regular. The jaws sensibly prominent, less so indeed than in the Indian, more so than in the European. The palatine arch is of a rounded form, and its fossa less extensive than in the Indian or African, more than in the European, owing principally to a greater breadth of the palatine plate of the os palati. But the most remarkable appearance in these heads is an irregular flatness on the occipital region, evidently produced by artificial means. These peculiarities, with others more minute, give a character to these skulls not found in any living nations. Dr. Warren also stated that he had received other crania, which at first view he believed to be of the same race and nation, for they resembled them in all their peculiarities, more nearly than one Caucasian head resembles another; and he