The daily national Whig. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1847-1849, 1849-05-15

outstiip the modetns in invention; ior m
the Philosophical Collections, Wulferus
gives the account Of "a woman buried at Nu-
remburg, whose grave being opened forty
three years after her death, there was halrI
found issuing forth plentiiurly through the
cleits Of the coffin, nsomuch that there was
some reason 10 imagine the coffin had some
ltme been covered all over with hair. Mr
Arnold gives the relation Of man hanged
for theft, who in a little time, while yet he
hung upon the gallows, had his. body strangely.
covered over with hairs"
There Is common saying Iwll scarcely
venture to call il an opinion) that janndiced
people see things yellow
How common to hear Of the aundlced
eye, as another word fer prejudice il being
Of course implied that the subject sees
through cololed medium II occasionally
does happen that person having the iaun-
dice sees objects yellow, but this is rather
the exception than the rule, and seems TO be
dependent on some enlarged and torinons
vessel crossing the transparent part OF the
eye when the vision has been previously
impaired by some disease DIR Watson
mentions this subject in his valuable lectures
on the Practice Of Physic. " Yon are
aware" says he, "oi the vulgar notion
that TO aundiced eye all things appear yell
low. II is an old notion, Tor we find i ex-
pressed by Lu4retius--' Lurida pr;eterea
fiunt quncunque tnentur arquatl.' lleber-
den was disposed to regard this as mere
poetca fiction, but certainly it is sometimes,
though very rarely indeed, fact" lie
goes on TO say that he has been assured By
medical man OF his own acquaintance the.
objects appeared coored TO him in Lis own
experience of the complaint; also that DIR.
Mason Good saw things yellow when he
was iaundiced DR.. Elliotson also relates
one or two cases. In 1926 he had a case
in St. Thomas Hospital, where there was
a slight opacity Of the transparent part Of
ono eye, through which ran two large yes
sells, and with this eye the patient saw vel
low; but with the other eye he saw things
of their natural color. In 1927 he had a
patient who, saw things yellow with both
eyes, but he had inflammation Of the eyes.
In 1881 he had another case. He further
mentions that Dr., Pemberton saw this &C.
currence twice; but sufficient has been said,
and the explanation seems 10 me satisiae-
tory--namely, that in the cases where d.
jects appear yellow, there must exist soiRe
inflammation OF the cornea, or some opacity
with enlarged vessels.
i OF CONSUMPTION.
i Fortunately people are in general more
disposed to consider their constitutional pow
err, good than otherwise, and this in degree
that would indeed be amusing, il il were
not for the gravity ef the subject A pa
tent will say to you, "Really, doctor, have
never known what it is TO have moments
entire ease taese many years: ] must have
had an excellent constitution originally; and
do you know, It is my firm opinion that Pm
sound yet. IL Icould only get rid Of this
cough, ] should be quite welln Speeches
Of this sort are made over and over again
by people who have every possible appear
ance Of having the worst constitutions i'm
aginable, and in fact have had every pcssi-
bic evidence themselves of such mperfection
of physical power Some Of the most con-
frmed forms Of scrofnla show themselves
by succession Of slow, diseased actions
Inflammation Of the eyes, engagements Of
the glands in the neck, abscesses, diseased
hips, and perhaps finally consumption
these are the people who must have had
originally excellent constitutions! The mere
they have suffered, and do suffer, the more
they praise their constitutions they imagine
that the diseases have come, one after the
other, like the ghosts in Macbeth
Another and yeta seventh I'll see no more-zand
yet the eighth appears.
1t never enters their minds. that poor COR
stitution is the cause Of all these visitations,
rather than The bnlwark AGAINST which. they
are impotently directed
That consumption is catching is a popular
opini'n, which, in this country at least, is
not recognized by the profession. believe
such an opinion, however, TO be generally
entertained in some parts Of the continent,
especially in Spain, Portugal and Italy.
They even burn the clothes Of those who
have died Of the disease, to prevent risk Of
contagio'. II is true that a husband and
wife will every now and then die consecu-
lively Of this complaint but this is not
more than we shnuId have been led 10
expect PRIOR; for ii not unfrequeGtly
must happen that consumptive families will
ntermarry. think, indeed, the frequen-
cy Of these cases Of apparent contagion,
is n OF greater than what might be sup
posed likely to occur from mere coinci-
dence in disease which is so widely didus-
ed. II must be admitted, also, that the anx-
iety and griel experienced by the survivor
in case Of the first death will do much 10
hasten the complaint; and thus the appears
ance Of contagion will be heightened by the
rapidity Of the succession. Further, there
is is an idea prevalent that consumption is
cured by an asthma: | conceive this 10 be
altogether erroneous Asthmatic people are
no doubt often considered by the public as
consumptive, and it then bee mes matter
Of surprise that these people continue to live
year after year. Sometimes these asthmat-
II