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vocate homoeopathy, but he did say, thatif medical men would pay attention to Hah-nemannic doses, they would find the practiceof them of great use on certain occasions inwhich they found allopathic doses of noavail. He contended that the public wouldbelieve in the cures by homosopathists, andhe thought that the Society should investi-gate the subject, and make their decisionpublic.

Mr. CRISP said, it had been mentionedthat the opponents of the system should trythe plan before condemning it, but he shouldnot feel justified in making such a trial. Ithad been fully tried in a Parisian hospital,by Andral, and pronounced by him to beuseless. He (Mr. C.) regarded the systemas little less than one of quackery.Dr. LEONARD STEWART thought the sub-

ject should be discussed. He admired thestraight-forward manner in which Mr. King-don had presented his paper to the Society.He (Dr. S.) had, however, objections toraise against Mr. Kingdon’s, as well as allother Hahnemannic cases; they were pickedcases; therefore they showed the relative,not the absolute, effects of remedies. Hethought that all homoeopthamised patientswere cured by nature, and not by the medi- icines employed. J

Dr. J. JoHNSON said it was rather remark-able that homoeopathy flourished only inprivate practice-in the dark-not in hospi-tals. It had met with a most impartial trialin the St. Petersburg Hospital, and wasfound wanting, and was discarded. The

very sight of a doctor who was employed orsent by " My lord duke to some patients,would be a sufficient cure for them. Duringthe time of the cholera, he (Dr. J.) wascalled to a case which had been under ahomoeopathist; the patient, a lady in Wimpole-street,had been getting worse for forty-eight hours, when he (Dr. J.) was sent for,and gave the usual remedies, and in twenty-four hours the patient was well. The ladydid not say that he had been there, and thehomoeopathists now claimed this case as anillustration of their own success-absolutelymaking a boast of it. The system, in short,was "all humbug."Mr. KINGDON said that he never proceeded

farther with his experiments than he couldgo with perfect safety to the patients. Hedid not even wish to supersede the present’practice, but to add, if possible, to its re-sources in cases where medical men werepuzzled what to do. It was well to have ameans of resort which could do no harm,and which there was some authority forthinking was useful. Such, perhaps, wasHahnemannism. Some of his cases hadbeen "picked "ones; so he acknowledgedat the time, but the five cases of scarlatina,(a disease which was not frequently underhis notice,) were not picked ones. He shouldstill proceed in the most cautious manner

with his investigations—not in the practiceof homoeopathy, but in a trial of the Hahne-mannic. ’

Dr. UWINS felt convinced that Hahne-mannism would eventually overcome all op.position. It had been objected to him thathe had said that medicines should he pre.pared in "a particular way," and he con.tended that the mode of preparation hadmuch to do with their effects. For instance,he had ordered a 240th-grain of assafoetida.for a dose. Half a grain having been rubbeddown with sugar, and then divided, thechemist said that the 240th part thus pre-pared smelt stronger than the half of a graia.Since practising these small doses, he hadfelt like Bunyan’s pilgrim, when he saw thecross, and was "relieved from his burden."He could enumerate thousands of instancesof their good effects. With regard to thecase of tic douloureux, mentioned last week,the patient had a slight return of the attack,but he expected to entirely dispel it.The PRESIDENT had not heard one fact

which could not be accounted for on otherthan homoeopathic doctrines. He did notbelieve in the system. Had any memberseen a case of peritonitis, or one of pleuritis,or one of pneumonia, cured by infinitessimaldoses of aconite?No answer was given to this question.A strong resolution was then proposed by

Dr. CLUTTERBUCK, and seconded by Dr. JJOHNSON, condemnatory of the Hahnemannicdoctrines and practice ; but, after some dis-cussion, it was thought better for all partiesthat the Society should adjourn, with theunderstanding that the subject was not tobe brought forward at the next meeting.

October 31, 1836.Dr. WHITING, President,

DELIRIUM TREMENS.

This subject occupied the chief discussionto-night.

Dr. CLUTTERBUCK considered deliriumtremens to be merely a symptom of disor-dered brain. The symptoms of brain affec-tions, he said, were almost innumerable,arising, probably, from the brain consistingof a variety of organs, each differing ins.tructure and function. There were scarcelytwo cases of brain affection alike; the

pathological symptoms, however, were veryfew, and those generally, almost always in-dicated that inflammation, or its conse.

quences, existed. The excitement of vascularaction, by alcohol, did not necessarily pro-duce infiammation, but if carried too far,inflammation occurred as a secondary step.Delirium tremens was the result either oftemporary vascular excitement, or a conse-quence of this slow inflammation acting onthe brain, and, so far as his experience hadgone, was generally best relieved by small

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-blood-lettings, and antiphlogistic treatment,according to the modincation of the disease.There were some cases in which the strengthwas so much reduced, that blood-lettingcould not be resorted to, but in these, leechesand cold water to the head, with aperients,might be used. Opium he had seen occa-sionally do good, but in certain instances inwhich he had tried it with stimulants, he hadreturned to the antiphlogistic treatment.There was, however, no general rule to belaid down, for we found, by experience, thatSome cases were best treated by stimulants ;this was no proof that inflammation had notbeen present. He considered the opinionthat delirium tremens was a state opposedto inflammation was not borne out by expe-rience ; the state of the system, the fever, thefurred tongue, the hot skin, and the suffusedeye, all denoted the presence of inflamma-tion in some part.Mr. HONEYWOOD, fifteen months ago, had

been called to a patient who had labouredunder a peculiar state of brain for a longtime, being subject to erroneous impressions,not amounting to insanity, and not the resultof drinking. The friends of the patient hadtried to laugh him out of his mistakes, with-out effect. Small doses of Battley’s solutionwere given, and in three months he wentabout his usual business. He continuedpretty well until about a month ago, whensome of his erroneous impressions returned.This day fortnight he went to Ramsgate, andthe symptoms returned. He had no recol-lection of being on board the steam-boat, andwhen he arrived at Ramsgate, he was per-fectly insensible, and knew no person. Theformer remedy was employed, and he soongot well.Mr. ROBARTS said, it was difficult to saywhether inflammation was present or not,some persons considering all affections ofthe brain inflammatory. He remembered acase of inflammation of the brain, attendedwith great pain in the interior of the head,and high delirium ; the patient, a gentleman,was bled daily for four days, to syncope,and leeches were applied, without benefit;the pain returned with great restlessness andirritation of manner. On the fourth day afull dose of opium was given, and he gotbetter from that time.Mr. BRYANT had attended a man who was

suffering from delirium tremens, who hadbeen a confirmed spirit-drinker, and whowas not in a state to allow the abstractionof blood. In three days he died. The brainwas free from every pathological sign of in-flammation. He (Mr. B.) thought that therewas a condition of brain which was totallydistinct from inflammation, but in which thesymptoms of delirium tremens were present.The nerves, they all knew, were disturbedin various ways, without inflammation beingpresent, and why might not the brain, of astructure so similar, be affected in the same

way? There were not always marks of in-flammation of the brain in cases of deliriumtremens.

Dr. CLUTTERBUCK said, that there mightbe excitement and disorder of the brainwithout inflammation, but when the brainwas habitually excited by the same cause,inflammation arose, and effected changes init, which, though not always observable,were sufficient to produce the symptoms ofdelirium tremens:

Dr. WHITING could not come to the con-clusion that vascular irritation was thecause of all irritation. He thought thatthere might be nervousirritation without thevascular system participating in the dis-order. For instance, the brain might be ex-cited in an inconceivably short space of timeby mental emotions. He thought, however,that the vascular system generally suffered,though not in the same degree, and, in someinstances, to no appreciable extent, even

when the nervous system was greatly irri-tated. The brain might be disturbed byplethora, not the result of previous inflam-mation, and where there was decreased in-stead of increased action; he conceived thatin delirium tremens the capillaries were inthe same state in the brain as they are in thered nose and the eye of the habitual drun-kard, which, however, were not consideredto be inflammatory. In some cases inflam-mation might come on in the brain as theconsequence of this disordered state of thecapillaries, and might prove highly danger:ous. The practitioner was fearful of takingblood, remembering the former symptoms.He never remembered a fatal case of deli-rium tremens in which there was not effusion.He had invariably found a large quantity ofblood present ori such occasions.

Mr. CLIFTON and Mr. HooPER said, thatthey had found the treatment by opiates themost effectual.Some conversation took place respecting

the properties of opium, and its salts. ThePRESIDENT considered that there was no de-cided evidence of opium acting as a stimu-lant. Its proper effect was sedative, pro-ducing sleep. Respecting narcntine, he wasquite sure that it was not a stimulant. Hehad tried various experiments with it, andhe had found no appreciable effects producedon the system by its administration.

WESTMINSTER MEDICAL SOCIETY.

Saturday, October 29, 1836.

Mr. RICHARD QUAIN, President.

VOTES of thanks were passed to Drs.ADDISON and JOHNSON, the late presidentand vice-president. After which a longconversation took place respecting the placeof the Society’s meetings, some members

professing to think that the Society might beS2