of a disease, our remedies have been simplified and diminished in number, I therefore feel a reluctance to say much about the treatment of hydrophobia. It is very certain that this, as well as every other complaint, can only be judiciously treated upon general principles; and I shall therefore conclude with a very few cursory remarks upon this part of my subject. We daily see announced in the public prints, some new remedy for this disease; but it has uniformly been found, that all the specifics hitherto recommended, are entirely useless and unavailing. Indeed, when we hear of a specific remedy for any disease, we may with much propriety doubt the truth of its alleged efficacy; for, according to the general acceptation of the term, there is no such thing as a specific remedy for any disease. Whenever I have heard practitioners speak of such remedies, it has always impressed me with a belief, that they were ignorant of the pathology of the complaint for which they would recommend it. It will generally be found, that all those complaints in which these medicines are used, are but imperfectly understood. To this ignorance of the nature of disease, we may attribute the use of such a great variety of remedies, It would be unnecessary even to mention, in this paper, the different plans that have been adopted, for the cure of hydrophobia; for they are well known by almost every practitioner. It is now, I believe, pretty generally conceded, that after the disease is fully formed, any attempt to remove it will commonly fail of success. Such is the force of the morbid impression, and its disorganizing influence on the system, in most cases, that nothing can arrest the fatal termination. It is evident, therefore, that the principal object we should have in view, should be to make use of such remedies as are calculated to prevent the appearance of those symptoms which are indicative of the fatal ravages of the disease. Excision of the bitten part, when attended to soon after the infliction of the wound, has in every instance prevented the approach of the complaint. This should therefore be attended to immediately, in all cases. Whether any medicine could be given internally, to prevent hydrophobic symptoms, after the poison has been introduced into the system, may very justly be doubted. There is, however, some strong circumstantial evidence in support of such an opinion. When we reflect, that many contagious complaints, can be very much mitigated, and the violent symptoms prevented, by a careful attention to precautionary measures, we have additional reasons for believing that such may be the case in hydro phobia, as well as in other diseases. I am acquainted with several instances, which by the admi nistration of scutellaria, either in substance or decoction for several weeks, alternated occasionally by the use of some mild laxative, has apparently prevented an attack of the disease. These experiments have generally been made on animals; they are not, however, of less consequence on that account. In those cases where a number of animals have been bitten at the same time, those to which the medicine was administered have escaped the disease, while those to which none was given, and which were intentionally separated from the others, have all died with rabies. From the known operation of this medicine upon the human system, it is not altogether improbable that it may be advantageously used to prevent those violent symptoms which are the certain precursors of death. Given in moderate portions, it has considerable diaphoretic effect; at the same time it gives tone to the stomach and bowels. The operation of many other medicines is nearly similar, and probably if used with similar intention, would, perhaps, produce the same results. To me it appears very probable, that a strict attention to diet, and the avoidance of every thing of an inflammatory nature, in conjunction with some diaphoretic medicine, and occasional laxatives, might have a tendency to eliminate the morbid poison from the system; or, at least, so far modify the disease as to prevent a fatal termination. After the supervention of convulsive paroxysms, and all the other symptoms indicative of a highly disordered state of the nervous system,palliative, soothing treatment, the use of the vapor bath, and suitable anodynes, and the avoidance of every thing calculated to irritate, promise, in my opinion, greater prospect of relieving the patient, than any of those herculean remedies which are so highly recommended by different authors. ART. VII.--Inquiries and Observations on the Bilious Remitting Fevers of Michigan. By J. V. D. SUTPHEN, M. D. Non ego cuncta meis amplecti versibus opto: PART I.-TOPOGRAPHY. Vir. G. 2 to 42. THE modifications produced by the climate, soil, and natural. productions of a country, essentially affect the character of its diseases, and every medical history must be defective which is unconnected with such topographical detail. Diseases of Alpine regions, although they are nosologically the same, require a different treatment from those occurring on plains or in valleys; and those that appear in the cities of London or Paris vary materially from those of the same name in the highlands of Scotland; indeed, their complete identity is only retained when they occur under the same natural circum stances. Conceiving this fact to be one of importance, the writer is induced to enlarge the plan first intended, by inserting an introductory history of the climate, soil, &c. of the territory of Michigan, and particularly of its south eastern section, where he resided. This particular is noticed to prevent error, as in the northern section of the territory, along Saganaw bay and the straits of Michilimackinac, the climate is much colder, and differs in many other respects. This territory is situated between 42° 15" and 45o 53′′ N. latitude; and 7° 5" and 11° 8" West longitude from Philadelphia. It is bounded on the north by lake Huron, the straits of Michilimackinac, and lake Michigan; on the east by lake Huron, the lake and straits of St. Clair, the river Detroit, and the head of lake Erie; south by the states of Ohio and Indiana, and west by lake Michigan. The face of the country is low, level, and marshy. There is very little of what is popularly known by the apellation of rolling land, and it is without an elevation entitled to the name of a mountain. Seven-tenths of the whole country remains in a state of nature, covered with timber and wild grass. In wet seasons the country is almost literally inundated, which very frequently takes place in the months of March and April; and in some instances continues to the first of June. From this time, there falls but little rain, and not unfrequently a drought sets in, which is oftentimes extreme. Nature, however, has given a substitute, in a dew far surpassing in quantity any thing of the kind I remember to have witnessed in any other part of the United States. The Fogs are frequent and excessive through the summer. soil is generally a black sandy loam, intermixed with crystals of gypsum and decayed vegetable matter (from which it no doubt derives its color) to the depth of about two feet. The soil of timbered land is much darker and considerably deeper than on prairie lands, which have no appearance of having ever been timbered. On such prairies the wild grass rises to the height of five or six feet, which principally remains to decay on the ground, forming a thick and heavy covering of vegetable matter, in every stage of decomposition. On timbered lands, also, there is a stratum of black loam laying upon the natural soil, the formation of which has undoubtedly been in progress for hundreds of years, obviously from the decomposition of the natural products of the soil. The original soil is a light yellowish sandy loam and gypsum in minute crystals, underneath which lies a stratum of blue clay, bedding upon limestone rock. For the most part the soil is very productive, and still more so after a few years tillage. When the earth is turned up for the first time, if it be done in the summer, and more especially towards the latter part of August, it exhales a very unpleasant odor, which may be perceived at the distance of half a mile, if circumstances are favorable. There are but few rivers in the territory of any considerable size and durability, if we except those forming the territorial boundaries; the largest are the Maumee, (Miami of the lakes,) and upper and lower Huron. The others are small, except at the time of a great fall of rain, and even then, so sluggish in their motion, as to carry off very little of the great body of filth, necessarily, from the nature of the country, collecting in and about them. The beds of all streams, except in a few instances, where they pass over limestone rock with more than usual descent, are composed of a loose, soft, black substance, formed, most probably, of decomposed vegetable matter. Creeks, or small streams, are ⚫ more abundant; but these are reduced in number in dry seasons, many of them beving dried up, and many more become almost stagnant. In this state, a great extent of shore, and bottom, is exposed to the action of the sun's rays, contaminating the atmosphere by their fœtid and noxious exhalations. The spring months are wet, cold, and subject to sudden changes of temperature, and not uncommonly, to long continued and heavy rains. The nature of the soil is well calculated to imbibe large quantities of water, and the face of the country is so level, that but a small proportion of the water that falls runs off the land; so that an inundation in miniature is often the consequence. The prevalent winds through the spring, are from the east, north-east, and north, sometimes violent, but commonly gentle, damp, and chilly. The month of June brings quite pleasant weather, with occasional hot days; the nights are almost universally cool, damp, and chilly, so as frequently to render fires agreeable after sun set. The winds, some time in this month, change their generally previous points, for the south-west, and west, one of which courses they hold pretty steadily through the day; at night they usually shift to the north; the succeeding morning, they are again to be found in the west. At this time, the summer fogs and dews commence, but remain rather slight until the middle of July, when they become constant and heavy. The fogs commence rising soon after dark, and attain the height of twenty or thirty feet, above which the atmosphere is very clear, the line between being perfectly distinct. Thus they remain until at, or near daybreak, when this boundary is gradually lost. The month of July is uniformly warm, with respect to the days; the nights are as uniformly damp and chilly. The winds remain westwardly, and now begin to bring an unpleasant smell. The month of August is very similar to July, with an occasional extreme of heat; the dews are very heavy, so that I have almost been persuaded of a fall of rain, against the evidence of my senses, when I have passed more or less of every hour of the night in the open air. The winds still remain at the points south-west and west, and have a faint, sickly, offensive smell; of which I can give no idea better than in the above terms. This wind sweeps a great extent of country, which is almost as low and marshy as the worst part of Michigan, and as luxu-. riant in the growth of vegetables. Of many thousands of square miles laying west of this territory, not one in a thousand has ever been cultivated. What then must be the quantity of decayed and decomposing vegetable matter exposed to the sun's rays, when the stagnant waters evaporate, and lay bare such an extent of surface? and what must be the effect? It must, as a necessary consequence, exhale an enormous quantity of miasmata, which is brought by the west and southwest winds, immediately over the southern part of the territory; which when joined with what must originate from the same kind of lands within the territory itself, must necessarily render the air impure and unhealthy. The autumn months are similar to those of the state of NewYork. The winter season is generally mild; there are very seldom |