be carefully cleaned after use, and removed from its atmosphere.

Lisfranc and Labarraque maintain the opinion that these agents exert a power over the poison of small-pox and measles; and Mr. Alcock, who has written an interesting work on the subject,* asserts-that they have not only the power of destroying the most putrid effluvia arising from animal substances, but also the property when applied to the substances giving off these effluvia, of arresting or destroying the progress of putrefaction; and that it generally promotes the more speedy separation of the dead parts from the living than can Le obtained by ordinary means. He remarks, "It very often is capable of changing the nature of malignant, corroding, and destructive sores, into the condition of simple ulcers. In many ulcers, not malignant, it is capable of greatly hastening the cure. In short, though not an infallible remedy, it is capable under the guidance of medical and surgical skill, sound judgment, and experience, of alleviating, and often totally removing, some of the most loathsome and distressing diseases to which the human body is liable; diseases which, too often uncontrolled by remedies previously in use, have hurried numerous victims to untimely graves."

The mode of employing the bleaching powder for the purpose of retarding or preventing putrefaction is quite simple, and may be effected at a trifling expense. It is thus given by Labarraque:

The powder (chloride of lime) is to be dissolved in about 40 parts of water, and thoroughly mixed; after which, the fluid is to be decanted.

With this liquid the entire surface of the body should be freely sprinkled, by means of a watering pot, or in any other convenient manner. This sprinkling should be repeated twice or oftener daily, according to the température, degree of putrefaction, &c.

*An Essay on the Use of the Chlorurets of Oxide of Sodium and of Lime, as powerful Disinfecting Agents, &c. &c. by THOMAS ALCOCK.

Should putrefaction be far advanced, or the period the corpse is intended to be kept considerable, it is better to surround the body with a sheet moistened in the solution, and to renew the moistening of it frequently. By these means, all putrefactive odour in the apartment will be perfectly obviated.

But as before hinted at, when the corpse is disinterred for judicial examination, particularly where poisoning is suspected, greater caution is necessary. If blood, or any other fluid proceeding from the body, have flowed upon the ground, which may become the subject of analysis, it should be carefully collected; and when this has been done, the disinfection of the ground may be performed by throwing on a small quantity of the solution. During the dissection of the body also, care must be taken that no portion of solution comes in contact with such parts as are to be examined by tests.

For directions as to the manner in which these compounds are to be applied to ulcers, &c. we must refer to the work of Mr. Alcock, before quoted. In general, it may be remarked, that the strength of the application should be so regulated as to avoid giving any considerable pain. From three to six proportions of distilled water, to one of the concentrated solution, will suffice for ordinary use; but sometimes its immediate application undiluted, when the surface is very foul, may be made, not only without injury, but with decided benefit.

ART. IV. On the Uvularia grandiflora, as a remedy for the bite of the Rattlesnake. Read before the Albany Institute, Feb. 29, 1828, by J. G. TRACY, Esq. of Albany.

IT has long been known that the Indians made use of a vegetable remedy for the bite of the rattlesnake; but there appears to have been much uncertainty respecting the plant which they resorted to for this purpose, and I believe that no description of it has yet been published by which it can be distinguished.

At the time the boundary-line Commissioners were engaged in the surveys made of the islands near the head of Lake Erie, in the month of August 1820, one of the men in their

· employ was bitten by a rattlesnake, and Hank Johnson, a hunter attending on the party, was applied to for assistance. This person is a white, whose parentage is unknown. When a child, during the revolutionary war, he was captured by the Seneca Indians in the western part of Pennsylvania, and has since that time remained among them, adopted by the nation, to whom his habits, dress, and appearance entirely conform, and he is now one of the chiefs of that part of the Senecas who reside on the Cattaraugus Creek. In the late war, he attached himself to the forces under the command of General Porter, on the Niagara frontier, and particularly distinguished himself at the battle of Chippewa, and at the sortie from Fort Erie, by his courage, strength, and fidelity: and in the former action, probably saved the life of Major Frazer, who being wounded, was carried by him on his back to a place of safety.

He immediately collected some plants, and gave to his patient a decoction of the roots and leaves; and after chewing, they were also bound upon the wound. No other remedy was administered, and the man recovered.

Soon after this a dog, belonging to one of the party, was bitten by a rattlesnake severely in the head and tongue. Hank was absent at the time, and before his return, some hours after, the animal was excessively swollen, and apparently near dying. The same remedy was then applied, by pouring a decoction of the plant down his throat, and binding the roots and leaves on the wounds, and the dog very rapidly recovered.

On hearing these circumstances related by General Porter, W. A. Bird, Esq. and Major Fraser, and the plant minutely described by them, I had little doubt that it was the Uvularia grandiflora, and collected some specimens of that plant which those gentlemen examined, and all of them pronounced it to be the same plant which had been so successfully used under their observation. Its identity was afterwards still further es

tablished by a specimen which it was found General Porter had preserved at the time the cures were performed.

Those persons who are generally acquainted with the plants which are found in the northern states, will agree with me in opinion, that no person of ordinary observation could mistake the perfoliate uvularias for any other plant; and the height of this being described as two feet, determines it to be the U. grandiflora, which alone of the perfoliate uvularias reaches that height.

I therefore think that the concurring opinions of the gentlemen whom I have named, is conclusive proof that the plant I submitted to their examination must be the same with that which was made use of by Hank, and which is the

Uvularia grandiflora― Smith.

U.

lanceolata-Willdenow.

U. — perfoliata 3 major-Michaux.

a plant familiar to every botanist, and very generally diffused.

I am aware that the bite of a rattlesnake is not always fatal, even if the wound is entirely neglected, but there is every reason to believe that the usual remedy was resorted to on this occasion; and at a season of the year when the bite of a rattlesnake is known to be peculiarly dangerous, it is hardly possible that the man and dog could have both recovered without some powerful aid.

DESCRIPTION.

UVULARIA, corolla inferior, 6-petalled, erect; claws of the petals each furnished with a nectariferous cavity. Filaments, very short, growing to the anthers; stigmata reflected, capsule 3-angled, 3-celled, 3-valved, valves septiferous in the middle; seeds many, subglobose, arillate at the hilum.-Nuttall's Gen.

U. grandiflora, leaves perfoliate, oblong acute; petals smooth within; anthers somewhat obtuse; nectaries roundish.Smith Ex. Bot.

U. perfoliata major.-Michaux Fl.

U. lanceolata, Willd. Sp. pl.

Hab. Shady hills, in fertile soil, and among rocks from Canada to Carolina.

It has a general resemblance to Solomon's Seal leaves alternate, smooth and perforated by the stem, which is forked near the top bearing one, rarely two, drooping liliaceous yellow flowers early in May.

ART. V. Cases of Compound Fracture of the Elbow-joint successfully treated without Amputation. By ALEXANDER H. STEVENS, M. D. Professor of Surgery in the University of the State of New-York.

COMPOUND fractures of the elbow-joint, especially when attended with much laceration of the soft parts, have been usually considered as requiring amputation.

The case of a mulatto lad, who had suffered an accident of this kind several years since, first led me to doubt the soundness of this doctrine. His friends refused to permit his arm to be amputated, yet he had an easy recovery, notwithstanding the extensive injury of the soft parts which attended the accident.

I am not aware that the limb has been saved in any case in which there was laceration of the brachial artery, and of the lower extremities of the biceps and brachialis muscles. The laceration of the brachial artery is considered by Boyer as rendering amputation necessary, and the general inference from the opinions advanced and the cases cited in the elaborate treatise of Sir A. Cooper on Fractures and Luxations of the Joints, is also in favour of amputation under circumstances such as I have mentioned. I venture to express the opinion that the laceration of the brachial artery, and generally of the main artery of a limb, does not add to the severity or danger of either compound fractures or compound dislocations on the contrary, the inflammation is moderated, and the suppuration is less copious than in similar cases where the continuity of the artery is preserved. The interruption