The Sun.
London, England, 1854-08-15 00:00:00

PREVENTION OF CHOLERA. •

TO THE EDITOR OW THE SUN.

SIR,—It cannot be too generally known that nothing
is so important during the visit of cholera as at once
checking the premonitory diarrhoea which invariably
precedes it. This is often neglected, from being fre-
quently unattended with pain, or any alarming symptom,
till the attack has assumed a malignant form, when ex-
perience shows how little, frequently, medical aid can
avail. The premonitory diarrhoea, however, if properly
attended to, usually yields without any difficulty. The
treatment I have found to he, without an exception,
successful, is the dilute sulpieuric acid in half drachm
doses, combined with fifteen drops of laudanum and
eight of the tincture of capsicum, taken in a glass of
water ; one or two doses being usually sufficient.
The only troublesome symptom which remains is sick-
ness of stomach, which, however, is removed by hydro-
cyanic acid given in doses of one drop, at the interval of
an hour.

The second evening after, I would recommend five
grains of calomel to be taken, followed in the morning
by the ordinary black draught, which serves to restore
the system to its proper tone.
The avoidance of fruit of all kinds cannot be too much
enjoined, no less than temperate and regular habits.
I am, Sir, yeurs obediently,
R. AUSTEN ALLEN, M.D.,
Somerset-street, Portman-square.

GINGER USLFUL AS A PREVENTIVE

A GAIIVST Llj OL ERA.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE BUN.
SIR,—As a visitation of Asiatic cholera is now
occasioning some alarm in this country, and with our
army in the East, I trust the following communication
will not be considered altogether uninteresting to your
readers :

In 1834, the Ist battalion of the Rifle Brigade (600
strong) was in barracks at Halifax, in Nova Scotia.
In the month of July the cholera broke out with great
virulence, and %he mortality in the battalion was very
severe, upwards of 100 men, besides women and chil-
dren, having been swept off in about six weeks.

Under aii-order froM Lieut.-General Sir John Camp-
bell the battalion was then removed into an encamp-
ment near a wood, a few miles distant from Halifax,
the cholera patients only, with the necessary attendants,
remaining in the hospital.
Many men were labouring under attacks of diarrhoea
and premonitory symptoms of cholera at the time of the
removal.

The diet and clothing of the men were carefully at-
tended to; they were required to wear a flannel belt
round the loins, and a decoction of ginger, which was
called ginger tea, was directed to be taken daily.
The course pursued in preparing and administering it
was this :—The battalion was divided into messes of 12
men. A quarter of a pound of root ginger was supplied
daily to each mess. It was boiled for about three
quarters of an hour in water sufficient to supply each
mau with a pint twice a day, and the tea was taken
warm ever morning and evening.
No malt or spirituous liquors were allowed to be con-
sumed, with this exception only that under proper regula-
tions small quantities of brrndy were permitted to be
supplied medicinally to some of the men by the sergeant
of the officers' mess.

The effect upon the health of the men was most strik-
ing. Toe sick gradually recovered. Only a few new
cases of diarrhoea occurred, and those were of a slight
nature, and during the time of the encampment (a period
of 6 or 7 weeks) the battalion lost but one man, Corporal
Biby.
Now the Corporal had been left in the hospital in
attendance on the sick, and did not join the battalion
till a month after it had been encamped. He was soon
afterward-, attacked with cholera and died. Aitogetl-er
his services at the hospital had occupied eight weeks.
In his case, therefore, the change of residence and treat-
ment cannot be considered to have had a fair trial.

The regiment wag uncle; the command at Captain, now
Colonel, Kelly, who, I belinve, is, or was lately, the
Commander of the Chatham district.

Captain, afterwards M.:jor, Warren, if this should
catch his eye, will recollect the circumstance of the death
of the poor Corporal, for he read the funeral service on
his burial in the wood.

COLOURS-SERGEANT IN 1834 OF
COMPANY No. 4.

LECTURES TO THE INDUSTRIAL CLASSES.

POLYTECHNIC LVSTITU,TION.

Last night the first of a series of weekly lectures, spe-
cially intended for the industrial classes, was delivered
in the large theatre of this popular institution, by the
Rev. Bath Power, to a very crowded and attentive
audience, which, in addition to the class for whom the
lecture was principally intended, a large number of the
most eminent scientific men resident in the metropolis.
The Polytechnic has recently come under an entirely
new management, represented by Professor Pepper, and
with a view of rendering it of greater practical and na-
tional value than heretofore, it has been resolved, in
addition to other improvements, to throw it open on
Monday evenings to the industrial classes of all
workshops and factories and their families on a pay-
ment of sixpence, provided they produce a ticket
signed by the foreman or superintendent of the works
to which they belong. Books of these tickets have
already been furnished to many factories, and will, it is
stated, shortly be available at most of the workshops in
the metropolis. The programme for the ensuing three
months includes lectures on the chemistry of the non-
metallic elements, on frictional electricity, on the manu-
facture of sugar, on mechanics, geology, and physiology
as connected with health, by eminent professors, and
cannot fail to be equally useful and instructive.
Dr. SAYER, who was called to the chair, said it was
just a month since the member for Nottingham (Mr.
Walter) presided at a meeting at which the idea was
thrown out of these lectures, and they were now as-
sembled to listen to the inaugural lecture by the Rev.
Bath Power, on the advantages of a knowledge of science,
illustrated 1;3, experiments.
Mr. Powell, in the course of a very eloquent and
pertinent lecture, forcibly showed the importance of
scientific knowledge to the industrial classes as indi-
viduals, and for the sake of scientific progress gene-
rally. Numerous were the lamentations of employers
over the ignorance which at present unfortunately
prevailed among that class. We bad, in fact
in our factories and workshops, a race of intellectual
Sampsons with sealed eyes— who, could they be enabled
to look intelligently at the processes in which they were
engaged, and to reason inductively from what they ob-
served, would give to practical science an inventive power
of which we had at present scarcely any conception. In
the course of the lecture, a series of chemical experiments
of great interest, value, and beauty, were introduced,
under the superintendence of Professor Pepper, with the
most complete success. One of the most brilliant was
the " modern Greek fire,"
which, as the lecturer humour-
ously remarked, made the setting of the Thames on
fire no longer a joke, but a reality. By dashing a
small bottle of sulphuric ether with a few particles
of metal potassium into a flat cistern, a bright
flame was produced, which
illuminated the whole
theatre. The two experiments, however, which ex-
cited the greatest attention, curiosity, and applause,
were, first, one In which Professor Pepper, atter wetting
his fingers in ammonia, dipped them into a crucible of
molten lead, and let the metal run off in the shape of
bullets into the shallow cistern of water. The second
was the laying of four pieces of red hot iron on four
bricks, and the passage over these by one of the attend-
ants barefooted, without the sli(shtest injury. This is a
discovery by the professor, the secret of which was not
disclosed last night, as it will be given in paper to be
other, a tap
read before the Royal Society shortly. Ata the close of
the lecture a cordial vote of thanks wasgiven to the
lecturer, and also to the chairman, who suitably re-
sponded. In the gallery there was afterwards exhibited,
M. Dubose 's illuminated fountain.
firstloe rf y t
voltaictiom a n
is then turned on from a
cylinder containing water, and which absorbing the whole
of the light, falls into a vase placed below like a
stream of molten gold or fire, as the operator chooses to
alter the colour by means of coloured glass. This is
really 'a beautiful and striking invention, and last night
elicited frequent and enthusiastic plaudits. Upon the
Afoofrsthttrheeeagmal
whole, the new management of the Polytechnic have
inaugurated their reign in a very spirited manner, and
will, we trust, secure the success they deserve.

----------
that St. George's-hall shall e
ILL—It is now arranged
opened on the 19th of
September, obPutSTt.heGbEeolßiecfleiebiA
:
that the Queen will not be
preeent. The wish of her Majesty, however, is to be
sounded through the medium of the Earl of Sefton,
and, in the event of the an
expressing a desire to
inaugurate the building, any day about the specified
time, which may suit her Majesty better, will be fixed.
The chances nevertheless, are at present against
the Royal 'Family being in
attendance and it
is possible that the stir which was made in
the House of Lords a fortnight back, by Lord Camp-
bell, at the instigation of the members the Northern
Bar, may have decided the point. Her Majesty's
punctuality is notorious, and, if
she had felt a wish to
be present, her desire would have been known ere
this. The arrangements, therefore, will proceed on the
supposition that we shall not be honoured by the
face of Royalty, notwithstanding Prince Albert's ex-
clamation to the Sovereign three years ago, as he was
leaving the hall for the railway opposite, "Let us take
another view of this beautiful building. , It has been de-
cided, so far, that there shall be two performances—one
in the morning, and another in the evening—the first to
consist ofthe Hallelujah Chorus, the Coronation Anthem,
and other musical pieces ; and the second of an Oratorio.
Miss Clara Novello, whose success in the first-named
piece at the opening of the Sydenham Palace astonished
and delighted every one will be the prima donna on the
occasion, while Sir Henry Bishop will wield the baton,
and Dr. Wesley will guide the organ—an instrument
so vast that it requires the aid of steam to bring out its
volume in perfection. A chorus of 200 performers will
swell the enormous mass of sound. We see it stated
that all the admissions aro to be paid for, the price half-
a-guinea per head, and that the members of the cor-
poration aro to have no advantage over the public,
beyond the selection of the seats which they and
their families may desire to occupy, before the general
ballot for seats takes place. As the proceed., alter the
payment of expenses, are to be handed over to the
&iarlth•s, this is the regular course to pursue ; but
rumours ab mad that the proposed arrangement is not
satisfactory to certain members of the Council, and
with that body rests the ultimate coatrol of the affair....
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