The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1808-10-04 00:00:00

CAN/NE .17. D

At no period within our reetillectiort 11113 that
dreadful disease, the kyrlrqpft:Zirc, lxru se, presa-
lent in this country, 111 dunug the last twelve
mourns and it gives us pain to observe, that in-
stances of it are atoned daily °yenning is different
.{wets of the kingdom. On the subject ut Clio hos.-
rible-4nalatly, much has been written, but to very
little purpofie ; many remedies and nostrum* bare
been recommended as specifics agairist its deplor-
able effects. How fallacious the hopes which they
hold forth have almost invariably proved, the
poignant regrets of the relati‘es of eumberless
victims, snatched prematurely freer their reunites,
unit fmm the world, sufficiently ettest. It L, there-
fore, with a, much the more satisfaction that we
call the avition of stedicid men to a discovery-
eimouncerl in lischer's inters-dim( Pic/are to./
&olio, to %hien we tidy& too. Muds publicity clue
not bc. given.
'Floe ' biting* or the rEstriet of liarja de Cass-
tulle, in the southern part of the province, powers
an excellent remedy against the Lite or the viper,
composed of the sea-holly (eryegires eoskpe#re),
vipers bugloss fecivium ca/gore), mad-wort /sly*.
snot spisostool, and Cretan balm (seelissoCretica),•
iu tin following wanner :
plantl art taken when they are beginniiir, to
run to seed, mid dried in the shade till all their hu-
midity is evaporated. On this each is separately
pounded, the powder is passed through a hair sieve,
mixed in elicits! parts, cud pat away in well-corked
bottles. It is to be observed, that none of the
roots crust be employed, except those of the Sea-
holly, which possess very great strength.
With respect to the use of this remedy, it 14 in-
dispmsahly necessury that it should he adiniuis-
tered i tttt nedaitely after the iofliction of the wound.
The common thise for a man is one scruple, for a
dog a drachm ; and the vehicle used for both is
wine or water. No partieraler diet need be ob-
served, only the powder must be taken morning and
evening fur nine days successively.
From time i weren't), ial, the inhabitants of the
above-mentioned district have made use of this
powder, ace specific for the Lite of vipers, with uni-
versal success ;,till at length the celebrated Cava-
Mlles resolved to by its effects against the bite of
mad-dogs. lie lost no time in communicating his
ideas to the physicians and mediettl WWII in the
province, and had the sander:boil to see that his
Phialithropie views were productive of the happiest
results.

Thus, for instance, at the farm de los Puehole,
in the district of tile little town of Sierra den Gar-
ceran, a man of sixty, named Miguel Puig, and at
bay twelve years old, named Vitu Sorelkt, were, in
January, 1796, bitten, the one on the. hand, the
other on the cheek, in such a manner, that both
lost a coitsidrable quantity of blood. Tile phy-
sician of tile place, Don Illas hales, was not ►ant
for till three dots after the accident; he neverthe-
less resolved to try the powder, which produced ef-
fects that surpassed his expectation.
lu fact, the two patients perfectly recovered of
the bites. without manifesting the slightest symp-
toms of hydrophobia, and till the present time cm
dining an interval of six years, not the least
alteration has been observed in their health. The
a, tual madness of the dog seem► to have been fully
proved, I':rr several goats aml sheep, which were
likewise bitten by him, died hi 40 days, with all
the sign+ of the most complete hydrophobia.
Iu i 7.49, at the village of 'Fornesa, in the dis-
trict of the saine town, a man of 55, named Fran-
cisco Basil, his daughter, Manuel& Beset, aged
Iwenty-three, and another man, named Joaquin
Fauns, were bitten, the two former on the hand,
and the latter on the middle finger. Beset and his
daughter immediately applied to Don Thomas Su-
hater, the surgeon of their village, who furnished
, them with powder sufficient for nine days. On
the contmry, Faure, who lived at another village,
looked upois his wound as a mere trifle, and took
no farther notice of it.

What was the consequence? Biting and his
daughter were perfectly cured, and have for these
three years experienced not the least alteration in
their health ; whereas the unfortunate Fauro died
sixty days after the accident, with all the symptoms
of the most confirmed hydrophobia.
Another mad-dog in Sierra den Garceran, had
bitten several other dogs, pigs, ;.e. The powder
was aihuitiistered to some of them for eleven succes.
Hive days, and till the present day, during tlw spare
of nearly two years, no ill consequences whatever
have been observed. All the autinals to whom the
powder was not given, died raving made in twenty-
tit e days.
One dog, to whirls it was found impossible to ad-
minister more than four doses, did hot go mad ;
but fell into a kind ut lethargy, and refused to
eat ; till at length hu died on the Sixtieth day, hut
without any of the symptoms of actual hydropho-
bia.

So much for the experiments with a remedy,
which, as far as I know, has never been included
among the six or seven medicines fur preventing
the consequences of the bite of mad dogs. It
seems, however, to he so mach the more de.erving
of the attention of the Pliveleiatis of every country,
since its efficacy against the venom of the viper is
fully confirittril by the experience of ages.
• Under this name the plant is 441orribed by some bota-
nists, and among t►e peat by Lianas* ; Lot Cavasiilles proses,
(ruin the structure of the calm, and Whet' eircasentanees,
I nal it i. protw?h the _Vrpara wnri/•!a[ See ok Con-
a., Near; ave. Madrid, taw. No. %. p. sus.

A Letter from iin Officer in the Mediterranean
says:—.l The Spaniards it, this neighbourlinnd arc
victorious in every action ; the Freuelt have raised
the siege of Saragossa nud Cerona, leaving behind
them all their ertillerv, baggage, tents, and am-
munition, &c. with aliout 401)0 men killed at each
place. I was at Figueroa the othrr day; there they
are very strong, having shout Calo9 tarn; but it
is impolial,le for the Spaniards to retake it without
starving them out. They are siirreuuded by elbow
30.600 patriots. The desertion• from the French
army are numerous. owing to the Spaniards giving
no •Inarter. .41 Barcelona the French have not
inure dam 31:00 men, but .they have plenty of pro-
visions : and the Castle of )114utjui is iuipregnable.
BONAPA-NTE Wirt. the reason. the French troops
are qtlittiug Sputa is. that au rpiilquaic disorder has
made-its appearance, which all the skill of Itise..y-
bichnes teeuerals; could not pet a stop to."