Vol. I.
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 8th, 1832.
No. 5.
The principal indication which M. Petit, one of the physicians ofthe Hôtel-Dieu de Paris, proposes to himself to fulfil, in the treatmentof cholera, is to keep up a constant impression upon thespinal marrow, and to change the phenomena of innervation. Toeffect this he places over the whole length of the spine a stripof flannel, wet with a liniment composed of an ounce of the essenceof turpentine and a drachm of aqua ammonia, and passesslowly over it a very hot flat-iron. An instantaneous evaporation ofa great part of the liniment results, which acts powerfully on theskin over the spine, and induces very speedily vesication. The heatreturns to the skin, the cramps and vomitings disappear, the circulationis reëstablished, and the patient feels much better. The effectsof this remedy are assisted by hot bricks to the limbs; by frictions tothe body with a decoction of mustard, to which some aq. ammoniais added, and the patient is also made to drink copiously of balmand mint tea. A table-spoonful of the following potion is likewisegiven every hour:—℞. Aq. distil. Tilleæ Europeæ; aq. distil. melissæ,āā. ℥ij.; tinct. opii, gtt. xx.; syrup. ether. ℥j. M. Finally,the patient is rubbed all over with a liniment composed of camphoratedoil of chamomile, ℥ij.; laudanum, ℨij.; liquid ammonia, ℨj.
M. Petit is said to have been more successful than most of his colleaguesin the treatment of cholera. In a communication to the Academyof Medicine he states that under the above treatment two-thirdsof his patients have recovered.
Density of population in cities becomes a matter of extreme importanceconnected with the visitations of pestilential diseases. A[66]too crowded population may of itself engender a pestilence, andmust inevitably aggravate one should it prevail from other causes.Hence the necessity which occasionally arises of thinning the inhabitantsof certain districts—an exigency which, like that of war, oftensubverts civil authority, and demands the exercise of the most arbitrarypower. We have recently seen our New York neighbours compelledto thin the population in some parts of their city, and we mayyet be forced to have recourse to a similar measure. Upon this subjectthere are some interesting calculations furnished in Hazzard’sRegister, (Vol. VIII. No. 5,) where may be found an interesting table,exhibiting the number of square feet in each ward of our city,together with the population at each census from 1790 to 1830, andthe number of square feet to each inhabitant. From this table it appearsthat the increase in density of population throughout the cityplot, has been in the following proportion during the forty years embracedin the estimate.
| In | 1790 | there was | 1 | person to | 1755 | square feet. |
| 1800 | ” | 1 | ” | 1216 | ||
| 1810 | ” | 1 | ” | 933 | ||
| 1820 | ” | 1 | ” | 986 | ||
| 1830 | ” | 1 | ” | 623 |