plex," that careless characteristic valour for which they are so illustrious. The boats of the fleet, manned and armed, were sent away, and, after a tiresome row of 36 hours, succeeded in penning the enemy up in a creek, where they attacked them against the superior odds of their position and their force, and, after a furious engagement, captured every one of them. This achievement was decidedly gallant, and would have stood amidst the most brilliant feats of naval warfare, had not the subsequent failure of the main object of the expedition thrown a bleak shade over its lustre.

The wounded on this occasion belonging to the different ships were not very numerous. The only thing I find worthy of commemoration was the rather unusual number of instances of tetanus supervening to the wounds, although the weather was dry, frosty, and apparently favourable to their healing. One case of marked tetanus, I understand, was successfully treated on the stimulating plan; but my information is not sufficiently precise to admit of particulars.

The landing of the troops was conducted by the boats of the ships of war and transports; but the distance was so great, and the weather so tempestuous, that it was the latter end of December ere the whole army was disembarked before New-Orleans. Even when this important object was achieved, there was little or no remission of toil to the sailors, for the army still required to be supplied with warlike stores, and fed from the fleet, at a distance of 70 miles.

About the beginning of January (1815), bowel-complaints, which had previously appeared amongst the boats' crews and the fatigue-parties of the army, began to be very rife. They varied in degree of severity, from the milder symptoms of dysentery to its most aggravated forms. I may enumerate, in a few words, the symptoms of this disease. The patients, for the most part, complained of severe tormina, tenesmus, scanty bloody dejections, waift of appetite and strength, pains all over them, and a disposition to vomit on taking either food or drink. The tongue was white or yellow; the eye languid; the pulse above 100, small, and easily compressed; the skin often dry, or covered with clammy sweat, but always considerably increased in temperature.

The causes were, generally speaking, obvious enough. The men had been rowing all day, and sleeping all night in the open boats. They had incautiously drank the brackish water of the lakes, and had sometimes been obliged to eat their beef and pork raw, when, on an emergency, they were deprived of an opportunity of cooking it. They were often drenched with

rain or with spray, without being able to put on dry clothes. Added to all this, the weather was extremely cold, particularly in the night, the thermometer before sun-rise being often as low as 25 or 26 degrees, rising no higher during the day than 30 or 38 degrees, and seldom above 50°. *

The locality of the general rendezvous for the boats was very bad (though the best that could be found), being a miry place, covered with reeds, and abounding in miasmal exhalations.

The encampment of the army, too, was on a swampy spot on the left bank of the Mississippi, about six miles below NewOrleans. Indeed, the whole vicinity is a swamp, which, after the rains, so frequent at that season of the year, became a perfect puddle. Having the Mississippi on their left, they drank its discoloured and polluted water, and were exposed to the effluvium of its slimy mud, as well as to the paludal exhalations of an impracticable wooded morass on their right. The huts also in which the troops were sheltered were far from being impervious either to rain or cold; so that, upon the whole, the army and navy, in point of privations, were much upon a par.

On the first appearance of dysentery, its treatment was commenced by a flannel roller bound tight round the abdomen, and ordering flannel clothing next the skin, if the patients had it not already. Saline cathartics, or oleum ricini, with a few grains of calomel, were repeatedly given, until the stools were increased in quantity, and more freely rendered. At the same time, plentiful dilution, with tepid gruel, warm tea, rice-water (seasoned with sugar and a little wine), decoctions of lintseed or of gum-arabic, I always considered of primary importance.

When the primæ viæ had been fully evacuated, an attempt was made to restore the natural secretions, and open the pores of the skin. Antimonial powder, with opium, was employed for this purpose, but more generally the pulvis ipecacuanha compositus, which certainly seemed to succeed best.

Whenever tormina and straining returned worse than ordinary, a cathartic was given in the morning, followed by a large dose of opium, or an anodyne diaphoretic at night.

By these means, aided by perfect quietude, repose, and low diet, the pyrexia soon disappeared, and nothing remained but

* These observations of the thermometer are repeated from my own inspection. On this occasion the cold was so intense, that several of the boats' crews were incapacitated for some days, by pain and numbness of the lower extremities. Many soldiers of the negro regiments had their feet frost-bitten, and lost their toes by the consequent gangrene and sphacelus. Some of them even died in the camp, or in the boats, from excessive cold,

debility and irregularity of the bowels, which were to be removed by the Mistur. cret. c. opio, the Infus. quassiæ excels., or the Mistur. cinchon., given thrice or four times a-day, and a gentle laxative once in three or four days.

Many of the earlier and milder cases yielded to this treatment, but those of a severer sort required measures less inert. In these malignant forms of the disease, I began by giving a strong saline or lubricating cathartic. Blood-letting also was practised when the patients were young and robust, or, indeed, whenever the force of the pulse and pyrexia seemed, on general principles, to justify it. I never saw cause to repent of this evacuation. Practised with prudence, it often moderated local pain of the abdomen, and did not perceptibly increase the subsequent debility. These preliminary steps being taken, I immediately commenced the use of calomel, and pushed on boldly to salivation, from the belief, which seems to be well founded, of an occult connection betwixt dysentery and a morbid condition of the liver. *

The doses I gave were regulated by the constitution of the patients, and the actual state of the symptoms; but one scruple night and morning was the most usual prescription, seldom less than ten grains thrice a-day. I have given a scruple night and morning so often, that I have long ceased to be at all anxious about hypercatharsis. It certainly seldom, in any case, increases the tormina and tenesmus, but generally lessens both very materially, and produces five or six large motions, voided with less straining, and less tinged with blood. I have in this way given 16, 18, or 20 scruples of calomel in the course of half as many days, before the mouth became affected. When the gums were fairly sore, with some ptyalism, the calomel was omitted, the tormina and tenesmus disappeared as a matter of course, and the bowels gradually returned to their natural state. Some tonic or stomachic was prescribed during the days of convalescence; and, generally, as soon as the mouth was well the patients were fit for duty.

Calomel was often thus given alone and uncombined; but often I thought it preferable, on account of occasional symp

* A work has lately appeared, by Mr Johnson, surgeon, Royal Navy, wherein this connection is earnestly maintained and, I think, proved. Notwithstanding some assumed notions about the "Portal circle," rather hyperbolically extended, the work is really one of great ingenuity and utility. Perhaps its greatest fault is, the imposing air of novelty and exclusive improvement with which he promulgates his practice in dysentery, a practice long known to his brethren in the navy who have served in tropical climates.

toms, to conjoin with it two grains of opium, or to give at noon (in the interval betwixt the doses) twelve or fifteen grains of the Pulv. ipecac. compos. This was done to lessen the irritability of the bowels, and to support the cuticular discharge. Under such management, every case recovered where no visceral obstructions existed, or where the coexistent disease of the liver was not irretrievable.

*

Opium is one of those remedies of doubtful utility in dysentery, which has been by some violently decried, and by others sparingly used, from its alleged tendency to check the natural secretions, especially that of the skin. Candour obliges me to say, that I have used it largely, and that I never noticed any of the unfavourable effects urged against it, but, on the contrary, can bear witness, with Dr John Hunter, to its beneficial power. Given after purgatives, it can never be unsafe; and if it does no more, it procures a temporary truce from the discase. How important a cessation from suffering is in every illness, but more especially in so endless and harassing a complaint as dysentery, I need not say. Prejudices, probably illusory and theoretical, ought to give way to an advantage so solid.

Almost the whole body of the profession have concurred in praising injections in this disease. I of course defer to the experience of others, while I detail my own. Having found them almost uniformly hurtful, I entirely laid them aside. The irritation produced by introducing the pipe, more than counterbalances the soothing effects of the injection. Besides the unpalateableness of this species of remedy to the good old English habits of delicacy, I have always seen that, were the enema ever so bland, or ever so small in volume, it could not be retained beyond a very few minutes, and always occasioned more straining and tenesmus in the sequel. As a commodious substitute for injections, I have directed patients to insinuate into the anus a small crumb or two of opium, softened betwixt their fingers for the purpose; or have caused warm fomentations to be used to the parts, and bladders of hot water to be applied to the hypogastric region. These are wont to succeed so well, that the patients speak in strong terms of the relief afforded.

The advanced guard of the army was disembarked on the 24th of December, and took up a position on the only road to New

This is a more frequent occurrence, even in our own climate, than, I believe, is generally expected; but, of those who have lived for any length of time within the tropics, it will be found, that four-fifths have one viscus or other in the abdomen, more or less altered by morbid action. This opinion is deduced from a very considerable number of dissections of such subjects.

Orleans, there to await the landing of the remainder. This body was fired upon, in the night, by an armed vessel from the river (which had dropped down with the current after dark), and by the American army on their right and front. With such unequal numbers, the conflict was obstinate, but very glorious to our troops, who put the enemy to the rout, and drove them "l'epée dans les reins," a considerable distance along the road. There is little doubt, but that for the profound darkness, and the small number of our troops yet landed, the Americans, in their confused flight, would have been followed into New-Orleans, and the town thus taken by a coup-de-main.

Instructed by this sharp and unexpected lesson, the enemy forthwith turned his attention to strengthen his commanding position, at a narrow part of the road, and every hour rendered it more formidable.

Meanwhile, our whole force had landed, but could not advance till batteries had been erected to destroy the armed vessel, whose fire raked the left bank of the river, and flanked any forward movement of the troops. When this desirable object was accomplished, an attempt was made to cannonade the enemy's works, but it did not succeed.

At last the fatal morning of the 8th of January arrived. Before day-light, the whole of our army advanced in columns to storm the American lines;

"Quis cladem illius noctis, quis funera fando

Explicet? aut possit lachrymis æquare labores."-VIRGIL, Æneid.

The works were defended by a broad ditch filled with water, as also a palisade, and a wall mounted with numerous pieces of cannon. The enemy, apprised of our intended invasion, had drawn these lines quite across the only road to New-Orleans. They were absolutely inaccessible at their flanks, as their right touched the Mississippi, and their left rested on an impassable wood and morass. This was the spot which the laws of Nature, as well as the rules of art, had concurred to strengthen; this was the strait which the Americans would fain compare to the immortal pass of Thermopyla.

The attempt to storm failed. In this instance " fortune did not favour the brave;" our columns were beat back at every point with a loss, I believe, of more than five hundred killed, and fully twelve hundred wounded! The Americans, probably being of opinion with the great Sir John Falstaff, that "the better part of valour is discretion," never once stirred from behind that "envious wall," which stood betwixt them and the eager