without any kind of treatment. But this circumstance has nothing to do with it. In due time, after these astonishing triumphs have been achieved by our adventurer, friends in the neighbourhood call to make a visit. A story is got up relative to these wonderful cures that the new doctor has effected. Beating their breasts, the old folks look amazed and thunderstruck, and sing out, "a mai, a mai," oh me, oh me, how wonderful! Assuming an air, of dignity and an apparant earnestness, the "Sa tha mah,* theken," for such now becomes his title, attempts to explain the nature of the disease, and above all how easily it could be managed in his hands and by his medicine. All this great matter is of course borne in mind by the visitors. Shortly after the doctor receives a call to see a sick person residing at the other end of the town. If he happens to think that the fates are not against him, he goes, but should the time be unpropitious, he declines and waits for another patient.

Having thus entered the professional sphere, the gentleman has to bestir himself, to look dignified, and furnished with drugs like a regular master of the healing art. A bag to throw over the shoulder is provided. This is to carry with him all the medicines he requires when going to visit the sick. His stock, which is contained in the cotton bag, mostly consists of a little brimstone and some bluestone, some mercury and crude antimony, a small lump of opium, a few bitter and aromatic roots, some powdered spices, as cloves, cinnamon, black pepper and ginger, either mixed or separate in small tin boxes, a little garlic and capsicum, a hog's tooth or two, or a couple of teeth of some wild animal, the claws or nails of a tiger, a flat piece or two of metal, some cotton and woolen strings or thread of different colours, (all the latter are to apply as charms,) and a China cup or two for giving medicine. In the majority of instances this enumeration comprises the whole drug establishment of the native doctors of that country. There is, however, a class of druggists to be found in the public bazaars, who keep a larger and more varied stock, and sell to the practising physicians and quacks.

When summoned to visit a patient, the practitioner makes the person sent sit down and give some account of the case. Having thus learned a few of the particulars, a fee is demanded in advance to buy medicines. A message is then returned to say that the physician will be in attendance presently with his remedy. Reaching the house, he steps in, and walks right up to the sick man. There is no ceremony of bowing and scraping observed, "Theken"

* "Sa tha mah" literally means doctor, or master of medicine. is a term of respect, and signifies friend, sir, master, or lord.

as may be seen in some more civilized parts, and no compliments are exchanged of wishing" good day," &c. The doctor sits down on the floor, by the side of the individual, and proceeds to feel the pulse, looks into the eyes, nose and ears, and sometimes into the mouth. Whether the mouth is omitted in the examination intentionally, or from neglect, I have not heard. But as the whole nation, without exception, chew the beetle leaf and nut, with slacked lime, tobacco and catechu all mixed, it keeps the mouth constantly stained of a red colour. Crusts form on the teeth from this habit. Very seldom a question is asked in reference to pains, aches, &c. The esculapian is supposed, or pretends to know all about them from the pulse. The wonderful pulse, according to his theory, tells everything, and in all certainty he understands nothing whatever of the circulation, and but little of the internal structure of the human economy. How can he, it may be inquired, for he has never seen the inside of a dead body, i. e. the person of a man, or woman.

The amount of their written information, (and this as we have already seen, is known only to a few of them,) respecting the several organs, is exhibited in the extract given below, taken from a book on anatomy, there being no work extant on the specific subject of physiology.

"The heart in shape is like the bud of a water lily; it lies with the point downwards, having three folds at the lower end, and is situated in the middle of the breast; it contains about a handful of blood."

"The liver of a wise man is thin and divided into three lobes: the unwise have large deformed livers: the liver is on the right side under the heart." "The first spleen is in contact with the bowels; it is eight fingers in length, and in shape is like a cow's tongue. The second spleen is on the right side of the liver."

"There are three kinds of lungs, red, black, and spotted; they are situated in the breast above the liver, and are in shape like the fruit of the "thapan," (mirobalans.)

"The intestines of a man are thirty-two cubits long, those of a female twenty-eight cubits; they are coiled up in twenty-one folds below the opening of the breast."

"There are two descriptions of gall; one is contained in a bag, in contact with the liver; the other is diffused through the whole body." "The human frame is also filled with pus."

"Perspiration exists in the orifices from which the hair grows." "The spittle flows from the pouches on each side of the jaws.”

Here is a specimen of jumbling of the most finished touch. The liver is again honored by having allotted to it the lodging place of wisdom. The first spleen must be the pancreas, but how the spleen itself could be assigned to the right side it is not easy to conjecture. The urinary organs seem to be entirely overlooked in this description.

But we must follow the doctor in his practice. Shampooing is a favorite auxiliary in the treatment of disease. It is put into

operation at once. The physician himself squeezes away in every direction; hands, arms and shoulders, feet, legs and thighs, as well as the trunk, all get a share of attention. A dose is then administered to the patient, mixtures being more commonly given than pills. The nostrils are then plied well with some aromatic powder. Next, a charm is formally applied to the neck, wrists or ankles. Certain offerings are proposed to be made to the "nats," or evil spirits. And whether fever or inflammation be present, exhaustion or languor, or anything else, it matters not what, the patient must be stuffed, as a part of the treatment, with quantities of boiled rice. It is given in boluses the size of a peach. The doctor, looking very grave and stern, informs the sick person and his friends, that "unless he eats he must surely die." The whole proceeding, from first to last, would be regard ed by a lover of the stage, as a beautiful farce, divested of all appearance of a plot, but full of action and droll amusement.

The treatment pursued is highly stimulating. Emetics and cathartics are very rarely used, There is a horror of having the bowels moved freely. When the natives seek the aid of a foreign practitioner, they often inquire whether the dose he gives will purge. Frequently the dose has been handed back, when told that it would, with a very significant nod of the head and the exclamation, "Ah! ma kom boo," which means, "Ah! that's very bad." Their last deity having been carried off in consequence of a looseness, seems to awaken in them a strong suspi cion in relation to the fatal nature of free abdominal evacuation. In addition to this historical circumstance, their own purgatives are of the most drastic, violent character, and being oftener administered without, than with, either judgment or caution, is perhaps a sufficient cause to create a general dislike to them among the people. Though this is the popular opinion of the present age, it was not the universal rule of antiquity, as is manifest in some of the old treatises on practical medicine still extant, in which they figure in common with other things. In combination with a number of stimulating ingredients, their formula for certain compound preparations occasionally display the presence of some active cathartic article.

A composition of this sort is presented in the following recipe. The prescription as recorded, is directed to be employed in bowel complaints and pains in the abdomen. It betrays the exciting nature of the remedies, to which they were and are still accustomed to resort.

"A quantity of Cactus triangularis to be sliced, the juice drawn from it and thrown away. The remaining part should be added to the above, and both well triturated together. To be taken in quantities of - * grains when required. Previous to taking this medicine, it must be dipped in salt.”

Besides the efforts of the regular practitioners thus put forth in behalf of the sick, the agency of quacks and silly old women is sought, when the illness of a person is supposed to depend on mischief perpetrated by imps, wizards, hobgoblins and evil spirits. All kinds of mental alienation and disorder are laid at their door, as likewise diseases of a lingering character. The women thus called upon to exercise their craft, for the removal of these imaginary phantoms and spirits, would remind one very forcibly of the poor creatures described by writers on "Demonology," that were burnt as witches and wizards in Scotland and England, during the reign in those countries of superstition, religious intolerance and persecution.

The ceremony for dislodging these pernicious invisibles is somewhat ludicrous. A sort of shrine, with silver and marble images, leaves and flowers, is erected on a raised platform of bamboos. Before it are deposited the different offerings, in cups and on plates. An elderly female is dressed up fantastically, in tattered garments of singular shapes and colours, and decked out with wreaths of flowers and feathers. She holds in each hand a long sword; and in front of the shrine, cutting all manner of antics and capers, she dances to music. This mystical ceremony is sometimes prolonged through the period of a whole day and night, or a couple of days, by the appearance now and then of the female referred to, and of a succession of comical fellows, who dance in the same way, and kick up no uncommon kind of shindy. By looking at them, one is irresistibly led to exclaim, O what stupid infatuation! What worthless folly of concerted phrenzy and vain hope!

To judge from what an observer will witness, relative to the feeling entertained by the people toward their own medical men, the conclusion is, that they do not appear to have any great confidence in their skill, or modes of practice. The Burmese are indeed very fickle in this respect. They somewhat unreasonably desire to see speedy results for good, follow the employment of medicinal means. They soon become discouraged, and quickly relinquish hope, if such do not turn up. At times as many as a dozen practitioners may be called in attendance on a case, in the

*The quantity directed to be given is not legible in the original.

course of a single day, and dismissed one after another, as soon as each one has administered his dose. If the patient die while the last physician is in the house, he gets the name of having done the business. His predicament then is anything but agreeable or pleasant. The poor fellow sneaks out, amid the noise and lamentations that are raised, as if he had by some un. happy blunder really committed a murder.

The Burmese burn their dead. Young children alone are buried. Ordinary funerals are solemnly grand. In burning a priest there is great display made. In speaking of the decease of aged persons, they compare it by a figure of speech which they use," to the dropping of ripe fruit from a tree."

Here I must close the subject, not because it is exhausted, but from an apprehension of wearying my readers. Imperfect and rambling as this sketch may seem, an inquirer can gather from it some of the more prominent facts connected with the present state of Medicine in that interesting kingdom of Asia.

NOTE. The translation from Burmese into English of the several passages quoted in this paper, was made by a gentleman distinguished for his acquirements and knowledge of the literature of that empire.

A case of Serous Effusion in the Theca of the Medulla spinalis. By H. T. CHILD, M. D.

I was requested on the morning of the 11th inst., to see R. D. S., male, aged twenty-six. I found him sitting up, and obtained the following history of his case. He had been exposed to a severe rain, two days previously; and on the afternoon of the 10th he was attacked with paralysis of the lower extremities, so suddenly that he fell over while engaged at business. When I saw him at 9 A. M., the paralysis had extended so as to partially interfere with the motions of the upper extremities; sensation appeared natural; his pulse was about 80; there was no appa rent tenderness on pressure along the spine; he had passed his urine freely within an hour; his speech was somewhat affected. I directed a cathartic of extract of Colocynth combined with powdered Cantharides.

At 3 P. M., my friend Dr. C. H. Bibighaus saw him with me, and we found that, soon after I left, he had lost the power of deglutition; his pulse was now SS, and rather oppressed; we directed free cupping along the spine and a blister to the nape of the neck; in the evening the pulse was 100; he had swallowed nothing, but was profusely salivated and had been all day, the cause of which we were unable to trace. I emptied the bladder