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ELEMENTS OF MATERIA MEDICA.

not dissimilar to what arise from brisk electrical sparks, taken from thejoints in quick succession.”

The application of vapour to particular parts of the body is sometimesaccompanied with the simultaneous removal of atmospheric pressure,constituting the air-pump vapour bath, which has been employed in casesof gout, rheumatism, and paralysis. I must refer, for a further accountof it, to Dr. 11. Blegborough’s “ Facts and Observations respecting theAir-pump Vapour Bath .”

The vapour bath is applicable to a great variety of cases, a few only ofwhich can be noticed here. Whenever it is desired to excite the vascularsystem, more especially the cutaneous portion of it, this remedy may beresorted to with advantage. The cold stage of an intermittent, and ma-lignant cholera, are cases which readily suggest its employment. Inrheumatism and gout, in old paralytic cases unaccompanied with signs ofvascular excitement about the head, in various atonic affections of theuterine system—such as some forms of chlorosis and ainenorrlicca, indropsy of old debilitated subjects, in various skin diseases, in scrofula, inchronic liver complaints of long standing, &c. this remedy may be em-ployed, and frequently with advantage.

I ought not to leave this subject without alluding to the extensive usemade of vapour baths in some parts of the world, particularly Russia ,where, we are told, it is customary for the bathers to issue from the bath-ing-houses while quite hot, and to roll themselves naked in the snow,and then return to the bath, not only without any hurtful, but apparentlywith beneficial, effects.

p. Affusion. —Another mode of employing water externally is byaffusion; that is, the pouring of water over some portion of the body. Itis the KaTayyms of Hippocrates .

History. —This practice is of very ancient date: as a hygienic agentand luxury it was practised by the Greeks and Orientalists at a veryearly period, and allusions to it will be found in the Odyssey of Homer .Hot, tepid, and cold affusions, are mentioned by Celsus , in the fourthchapter of the first book, and are recommended in some affections of thehead. This last writer also states, that Cleophantus (a physician wholived about 300 years before Christ) employed the affusion of hot waterin intermittents. For an account of the effects and uses of cold affu-sion, I must refer to the Medical Reports of Dr. Currie, and to a paperby Dr. Copland, in the Medical Gazette, vol. x.

Mode of applying affusion. —In many cases the object is to useaffusion to the head merely. If the patient be able to sit up, let himincline his head over a large vessel, say a pan or tub, and then pour thewater from a height of two or three feet from an ewer or large pitcher.If, however, he be too ill to be removed, he must incline his head overthe side of the bed. In children it will be sufficient to squeeze a largesponge at some height above the head, as recommended by Dr. Copland.In some cases it is necessary to guard against the cold water coming incontact with the chest.

When the object is to apply the affusion to the whole body, the patientmust be placed in a large tub or pan—for example, a bathing-tub orwashing-pan—and then an attendant, standing on a chair, may readilyeffect it. The time that the affusion should be continued will varyaccording to circumstances, from a quarter to two or three minutes; but