about the middle of July, and the winter coldest about the middle of January. The forests which cover America, and hinder the sun-beams from heating the ground, are a great cause of the temperate climate of the equatorial parts. The ground, not being heated, cannot heat the air; and the leaves, which receive the rays intercepted from the groun, have not a mass of matter sufficient to absorb heat enough for this purpose. Besides, it is a known fact, that the vegetative power of a plant occasions a perspiration from the leaves in proportion to the heat to which they are exposed; and, from the nature of evaporation, this perspiration produces a cold in the leaf proportional to the perspiration. Thus the effect of the leaf in heating the air in contact with it, is prodigiously diminished. For those observations, which throw much additional light on this curious subject, I am indebted to my ingenious friend, Mr. Robison, professor of natural philosophy in the university of Edinburgh. On the Use of fermenting Cataplasms in Mortifications. From Medical Transactions ABOUT the beginning of Ju 1770, I was called to the assistance of a gentlewoman of this town, aged 67 years; she was of a thin relaxed habit of body, and her natural strength much decayed: at this time a mortification was beginning in the end of her great toe, which did not succeed any other disorder or accident. The bark, red wine, opiates, volatile and cordial medi cines, were therefore freely administered. Cataplasms, with the bark, opiates, and aromatics, were frequently applied externally; vinous and spirituous stupes were likewise used; but before the end of September all the toes on the affected foot were perished; and the mortification kept advancing slowly, with a livid appearance spreading as high as the ancle, which gave me very little hopes of her recovery, especially as she grew tired of all medicines. But as I had successfully preserved dead flesh for many months by keeping it in fixable, or new generated air, (according to the discovery of Dr. Macbride) I determined to try the effect it would have by an external application in this case, expecting the putrid effluvia of the gangrened parts, (on which there is great reason to believe the spreading of all gangrenes depend) might be corrected, or in some part destroyed, by the fixable air. A cataplasm was therefore directed of such ingredients as I thought best adapted to ferment by the addition of some yeast, as wheat, flower, honey, and water; these were mixed into a thin paste, and set by the fire till they began to ferment, and were then applied, nearly cold, once a day, for ten days, when to my great satisfaction the mortification was stopped, and the putrid stench abated; the cataplasms were continued till the dead toes became loose, and were removed, when common digestives and defensative plasters were substituted in their place; the sore began to discharge good matter, put up new flesh, and had a favourable appearance. But accidentally one night about the end of No- Since the above case, I have seen the good effects of fixed air, applied nearly in the same manner, (adding sometimes a little cort. Peruv. or tinct. Thebaic. to the cataplasms) in a beginning mortification on the leg of an old gentleman, attended with swelling and blackness about his foot and ancle, with a livid appearance running up the side of his leg, and many large vesiccations upon the foot, which never grew any larger, nor more in number, after the fermenting cataplasms were applied; but healed, or dried up, soon; the swelling abated, and the blackness disappeared in a few days; and in a fortnight he was able to walk about, and still continues well. I have also used the fermentable cataplasms, with some advantage, to fœtid foul ulcers, where I have suspected the absorption of the fœtid matter to be prejudicial to health. Query, Is not fixed air a weak acid? If so, it is not surprising that it should resist putrefaction, as all other acids have been long known to do; but its greater fluidity enabling it to penetrate further into soft bodies, and its causticity being so small, renders it both more efficacious, and more convenient for counteracting putrefaction in living bodies. The acid nature of this Auid appears from its uniting with caustic calcareous earth, and producing those crystals called dogtooth spar. With caustic fixed alkalies, it crystallizes, and produces mild fixed alkalies. With caustic volatile alkalics, it crystallizes, and produces mild vola tile alkalies; and from all these bodies it is dispossessed by stronger acids. It further appears to be an acid, from its dissolving the iron in chalybeate waters. I beg leave to add, that this fixed or fixable air, (if a weak acid) is the most universal acid in nature, as not only all limestone, chalk, marble, and marles, are replete with it, but it makes up a great part produced on lime water exposed to the air, which is a re-production of limestone. I am, Gentlemen, with great respect, of the composition of all animal Your very humble servant, JOHN POWEB. USEFUL USEFUL PROJECTS. Cautions against the Burial of Per- As soon as the semblance of death sons supposed Dead. individual is interested, the writer wishes to render the knowledge of it as general as possible. The custom of laying out the bodies of the persons supposed to be dead, as soon as respiration ceases, and the interment of them before the signs of putrefaction appear, has been frequently opposed by men of learning and humanity, in this and other countries. Mons. Bruhier, in particular, a physician of great eminence in Paris, published a piece, about thirty years ago, intitled, The Uncertainty of the Signs of Death," in which he clearly proved, from the testimonies of various authors, and the attestations of unexceptionable witnesses, that many persons who have been buried alive, and were providentially discovered in that state, had been rescued from the grave, and enjoyed the pleasures of society for several years after. But, notwithstanding the numerous and well-authenticated facts of this kind, the custom abovementioned remains in full force. appears, the chamber of the sick is deserted by friends, relatives, and physicians, and the apparently dead, committed to the management of an ignorant and unfeeling nurse, whose care extends no father than laying the limbs straight, and securing her accustomed perquisites. The bed-clothes are immediately removed, and the body is exposed to the air, which, when cold, must extinguish the little spark of life that may remain, and which, by a different treatment, might have been kindled into flame". I am willing, however, to hope, that, since it has of late been so frequently demonstrated, that the vital principle may exist, where the characteristics of death, except putrefaction, are present, the rational part of the community are, at length, disposed to pay some attention to this subject. With that hope I shall venture to particularise a few of the cases in which this fallacious appearance is most like to happen, and point out the mode of treatment, which, according to the best of my judgment, should be respectively adopted. In apoplectic and fainting fits, *Alluding to the motto of the medal given by the Humane Society, "Labeat Scintillulla forsan." and and in those arising from any vio lent agitation of mind, and also when opium or spirituous liquors have been taken in too great a quantity, there is reason to believe that the appearance of death has been frequently mistaken for the reality. In these cases, the means recommended by the Humane Society for the Recovery of drowned Persons, should be persevered in for several hours, and bleeding, which in similar circumstances has sometimes proved pernicious, should be used with great caution. In the two latter instances it will be highly expedient, with a view of counteracting the soporific effects of opium and spirits, to convey in to the stomach, by a proper tube, a solution of tartar emetic, and by various other means to excite vomiting. From the number of children carried off by convulsions, and the certainty, arising from undoubted facts, that some who have, in ap pearance, died from that cause, have been recovered,† there is the greatest reason for concluding, that many, in consequence of this disease, have been prematurely numbered among the dead; and that the fond parent, by neglecting the means of recalling life, has often been the guiltless executioner of her own offspring. To prevent the commission of such dreadful mistakes, no child, whose life has been apparently extinguished by convulsions, should be consigned to the grave till the means of recovery above recommended in appoplexies, &c. have been tried; and, if possible, under the direction of some skilful practitioner of medicine, who may vary them as circumstances shall require. When fevers arise in weak habits, or when the cure of them has been principally attempted by means of depletion, the consequent debility is often very great, and the patient * I should think myself extremely culpable, if I neglected this opportunity of cautioning parents and nurses against the free use of Godfrey's Cordial. It is a strong solution of opium, and I am persuaded that the sleep it produces has proved the sleep of death to thousands of children. When this poisonous cordial has been given in a dangerous dose, and a discovery of it is made before the power of swallowing is lost, it will be adviseable to give the child a teaspoonful of ipecacuana wine every quarter of an hour, till the contents of the stomach are discharged. † A remarkable fact of this kind may be found in the Ephemerid MedicoPhys. Germ. Ann. Oct. the substance of which is as follows: A girl, about seven years of age, who had been for some weeks before troubled with a bad cough, was suddenly seized with a fit; a physician was immediately sent for, who, finding that the heart and lungs had ceased to perform their functions, that her lips and cheeks were pale, and her temples sunk, concluded that life was irrecoverably lost. For the satisfaction, however, of her afflicted parents, a clyster was administered, and her wrists were chafed with spirituous water; but no sign of life appearing, the soles of the feet were ordered to be rubbed with strong brine; and the friction was continued without intermission three quarters of an hour; at the end of which time she began to breathe. The friction was then increased; two or three deep inspirations followed; and in a short time the child, who was supposed to be dead by the physician, as well as the bystanders, was, to the surprise of both, and the great joy of her parents, restored to life and health. some |