She was

pulse, as at first. Bromide Potassa 20 grs. every hour, Cimicifuga 20 drops every half hour for 3 hours. She then said she was sleepy, and in a few minutes fell into a quiet sleep. still sleeping when I left in the morning. Cimicifuga to be continued, 20 drops every hour, Potassa 60 grs. ingill water; a teaspoonful every hour if very nervous; to be discontinued until next visit if nervous system is quiet.

March 26th p. m.-Found her sitting in an easy chair, evidently under extreme nervous excitement. She slept until 7 o'clock a. m., said she felt better when she awoke, but in a short time she experienced shocks similar to those produced by an electric battery, extending from the lumbar vertebræ to the toes. A short time previous to my call, she fell into a quiet slumber of a few moments duration, and then began snoring very louda thing very unusual for her in health. Her head soon began to be drawn back, and she became rigid; her hands clenched; toes drawn down and breathing labored. She remained in this condition for several minutes. When conciousness began to return, she screamed and began to choke, her mouth filling with a greenish offensive froth. As soon as she gained control of her limbs, she bounded from the bed and would not return until my arrival. I found her with the following symptoms: severe pain in forehead, and back of the head; pupils dilated; sclerotica injected; spine very tender, and the least jar gives intense pain, extending to the base of the brain; feet still cold; neck stiff, bowels constipated; pulse 120, and full. Continue Cimicifuga and Potassa as before. Nux to be given three times a day, in place of the Potassa.

March 27th a. m.-Found her sleeping; had had two spasms yesterday; bowels still constipated; feet warm; pulse 90; spine less sensitive; headache continues; throat sore; stiffness less troublesome; left side affected more than right; slept well last night; spots disappearing. Continue treatment as before.

March 28th, a. m.-No more spasms; slight movement of bowels; pupils normal; fur on the tongue changed to yellow, possibly from vomiting of bile; pulse 110, rather full; can get no answer to questions; opens the eyes with difficulty; moans occasionally; bowels tender; feels every jar however slight; occasional shocks since yesterday. Ordered Nux whenever shocks occurred and Morphia if stupor increased. Cimicifuga as before. Potassa once in three hours.

March 29th-Slept all night; pupils normal; sclerotica slightly injected; pulse 90; tongue improving; shocks seldom felt; tenderness of abdomen less and confined to left side. Continue Cimicifuga every hour; Potassa discontinued, unless nervous excitement gives trouble; Nux occasionally.

March 30th-Slept all night; became restless yesterday

afternoon; wished to sit up; has been in easy chair twice to-day; appears foolish; tongue drawn to the left side of the mouth; protrudes it with difficulty; organs of speech paralysed; gave signs that she could hear; gave me to understand that an effort to speak gave pain in throat and chest, and that she felt sick when lying down; fever nearly gone. Discontinued Nux and Potassa. Cimicifuga 4 times a day.

March 31st a. m.-Symptoms all favorable; speaks a few words. Continued the Cimicifuga twice a day for a few days, and dismissed the case.

REMARKS BY THE EDITOR.

The above bad model of a bad case we publish for several reasons. We beg the Doctor's pardon, but it is so remarkable in many of its particulars, that we were at first inclined to think that he was attempting to get a practical joke upon us, by the narration of something entirely apochryphal, and again we almost concluded that he had intended it for the columns of some allopathic periodical.

However, we concluded to give it a place, on the basis of its truth (we again beg pardon, we have not the pleasure of Dr. Silsby's acquaintance), and make it a text for a few remarks.

The case was evidently one of no mean severity; and as "the proof of the pudding is in the eating," all must acknowledge that the recovery was unusually speedy-ten days covering the entire course of the disease.

In regard to the treatment, we wish the Doctor had been more explicit in his statement of doses. No mention whatever is made of the strength of the Nux which was used, and that of the Cimicifuga is omitted towards the close.

We presume every reader will recognise the fact that the treatment so far as the Bromide is concerned, was wholly allopathic. This remedy, in the doses in which it was administered, is purely sedative or anodyne in its action. It cannot be shown to be homœopathic to the condition of this patient, in any light, nor by any logic.

With Cimicifuga the case is different. We believe we were the first to point out its relations to this disease. We still believe it to be strictly homœopathic to such conditions. But the mystery is how this patient could have taken twenty drops of the tincture every hour, and even every half hour, without fearful aggravation

*See Vol. 3, Trans, N. Y. State Hom. Med. Soc., 1865,

of her suffering. So far as we can judge it did agravate her condition at first, in some respects, at least, and we are quite certain, from our experience, that such doses were entirely unnecessary.

How far the action of the Bromide may have counteracted the effect of the Cimicifuga we cannot say. Certainly, however, the well understood benumbing, stupefying influence of the former upon the peripheral, and probably upon the central, nervous system, would be quite likely to limit the effect of the latter.

We feel quite sure that if the Doctor, or any other man, will take twenty drops of the tincture of Cimicifuga every hour for a few days, he will find himself at the end, anything but convalescent, and quite inclined to diminish that dose in the treatment of the sick.

We have obtained prompt and very gratifying results from the use of Cimicifuga, in this form of disease, but have never given more than a single teaspoonful of a solution of five drops of the tincture to a half glass of water.

In spite of the happy and speedy recovery of this patient staring us in the face, we must say that the polypharmacy, indulged in by the Doctor, renders his case almost entirely uninstructive to the homœopathist. We must consider such treatment not only extremely hazardous, unhomœopathic, and unscientific, but one which we trust the Doctor, if he claims to be a homeopath, seldom indulges in, as well as one in which we hope no one will imitate him.

W. S. S.

HELMINTHIASIS.

F. B. SMITH, M. D., OWOSSO, MICH.

August 10th I was called in haste to see the little son of E. T. Zimmerman whom I found with the following symptoms: Has had chill, convulsions and fever every afternoon for ten days. Has been under allopathic treatment without benefit from the beginning. The chill is followed by from one to three convulsions and high fever. Heat mostly in the face and head; pain in the stomach and abdomen; pupils somewhat enlarged; constant rubbing of the nose; restless sleep with grinding of the teeth; sudden starts; abdomen bloated. I gave Cina 200 in water a teaspoonful to be taken every two hours.

August 17. Patient much better, gave Sach. lact.

August 18. Patient still improving. Has had no more chills nor convulsions.

August 19. Patient dismissed.

Those who have been in the habit of giving Cina in the lower dilutions will be much surprised to see how much better the 200 will do the business in all cases where Cina is indicated.

Book Notices, etc.

A DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, BY JOSEPH WORCESTER, L L. D. Published by Messrs. Brewer & Tileston, Boston, Mass.

Our attachment to Webster does not hinder us from recognizing the merits of the dictionary of Dr. Worcester. In etymology, orthography and pronunciation, it is clear and accurate.

Editors "New York Evening Post" say of this work;-"We have received from Messrs. Brewer & Tileston, of Boston, "A Dictionary of the English Language, by Joseph E. Worcester, LL, D.," in a magnificent quarto volume of 1,854 pages. The first appearance of this work, ten years ago, was an era in English lexicography.

It was the first English dictionary which had any claim to be regarded as a presentation of our entire mother tongue, as it exists in the speech and literature of this century, as a fact, and apart from all theories and devices for improving it. In this point of view it was welcomed heartily by scholars, and through their influence rapidly gained favor among the people, so that it became almost at once the generally acknowledged standard of correctness, both in writing and in speaking, both for the form and for the meaning of words. It has now been long enough in use, by thousands of critical minds, to have been tested thoroughly at every point; and it is saying far less than might be sustained to say that it has fully maintained its pre-eminence.

A detailed review of such a work is of course impossible here, and could only be undertaken properly by one who should carefully revise it for a new edition. Such a revision will be needed at no distant day; for although there is no point in which the superiority of this to every other English dictionary is more unquestionable than in its etymology, yet the more careful and thorough study of this subject in late years has created a demand for still more scientific and accurate digest of the results already obtained. Many of the etymologies here given are incomplete or unsatisfactory; some, but very few, can be positively called erroneous. But the true value of such an etymological account of each word as can be given by a general dictionary of the language does not seem to have been kept clearly in view. Thus

curious analogies, speculative derivations, and isolated comparative forms in sister tongues have a very limited value indeed in such a work. The object ought to be to give, in the most general outlines, the history of the word; indicating, in the rough at least, how it came to have the form and meaning it bears.

Dr. Worcester's book is always suggestive and interesting on this head; often full and accurate, bnt it is still far beyond the ideal of an English Lexicon; and much labor must be given to the incorporation in it of the best results reached by recent students of the language, before we have in English a work which can rank with the best dictionaries of the classical tongues, or even with those of the French and German.

But the practical value of such work depends more upon other features than upon its etymology. It is consulted, in ninteen cases out of twenty, to determine either the meaning, the spelling or pronunciation of a word.

In the first of these uses, definition, Dr. Worcester's dictionary has a formidable rival in the later improved editions of that of his predecessor, Dr. Noah Webster. There are a great many words, to a critical mind, better defined in the latter work; which, indeed, exhibits throughout much more ingenuity in detecting and exposing shades of meaning. This ingenuity, however, too often finds distinctions where none exist in usage itself; and, at best, becomes tiresome, if followed for a time in practical use, while in a familiar acquaintance with Dr. Worcester's work from the time of its first appearance, we have found it in scarcely an instance wanting in any good meaning of a good word.

In spelling and pronunciation this book stands alone. There is nothing with which it can fairly be compared, for there is no other known in this country approaching it in comprehensiveness, which has any claim to authority in these respects. Without opening in this paper a controversary which can, at best, be interesting to but a small part of its readers, it is fair to say that a dictionary of any living language ought rather to represent what it is, than what it tends to become; ought to be a conservative power in it, rather than a radical one. It is the business of the faithful lexicographer to report the facts, and if he mixes up his own theories with his report, he diminishes its value and destroys its authority. Dr. Worcester's aim has been to present the form of words, both as written and as spoken, according to the preponderance of usage among the best writers and speakers; and where that usage is divided, to say so without attempting to tuin the scale. This work he has done incomparably better than any one else before him or since; and until that distant day when some able scholar with a still longer life and still greater industry, if these be possible, or at least with more numerous aud efficient assistants, shall have devoted incredible labor to the production of a more complete one, his dictionary is likely to remain in substance the standard of the English Language.

20--June