further trial, I have no doubt, will convince mankind, that it is more to be depended on than any other remedy. . The effects from immerfion in water are much the fame with thofe produced by the stronger fedatives: but it must be allowed that dipping has fometimes failed, and that, if carried to the extreme, as is advised, it is at all times a moft hazardous cure. The phyfician's intention will be much better anfwered by large and repeated dofes of opium; and, therefore, when these can be had, dipping fhould never be pre fcribed. 2. Specifics. We know of no medicine, at prefent, that can poffibly act upon a poífon of any kind, that has once gotten into the fyftem, in fuch a manner as to deprive it of the fimulus, by which it offends the organs of fenfe, and throws into diforder the whole habit. Hence, ftrictly fpeaking, there is no antidote against any virus. Thofe, that are called fo, do not deftroy the poifon, but only defend the nerves against its action; or, as mercury in the venereal difeafe, expel it out of the body; or do both, as opium in thefe cafes, in which, at the fame time that it allays irritation, it also opens the pores of the skin. 3. Evacuants. The poifon is ufually attempted to be expelled by the fkin and kidneys. Some phyficians depend greatly on diuretics for the cure of the malady in queftion: but we fhall be told by thofe, I believe, whom experience has taught, that fudorifics are of much greater use. Mercurials, by carrying off the virus through the falivary glands, or by throwing it out by fome other exit, have frequently done confiderable fervice. II. Inflammatory appearances, a drynefs of the muscular, visceral, and nervous parts, and, in particular, a congeftion of blood in the lungs, have been obferved on opening thofe that have died by the bite of a mad dog. By thefe, therefore, we are directed to ufe the antiphlogistic method: 1. To open a vein. 1. It is generally proper to take away blood: the lungs are unloaded," and the brain is relieved by that operation. If the fymptoms of inflammation, however, fhould not run high, plentiful bleeding, though advifed by many, cannot be right: and when opfum is given in large quantities we ought to ufe the lancet very cautiously. 2. An emetic fhould always be given: in thefe cafes the bile collects in the ftomach, where, unlefs it be thrown out, it is fure to do very great harm. A brifk purge often does good. 3. How much is done by diincents in fevers of every kind, no medical man can be ignorant. Here, there' fore, when liquids of no fort will pafs by the mouth, cooling clyfters fhould be adminiftered. The following will be found an ufeful mode of introducing water into the body: Let the patient, previously hood-winked that he may not fee the water, of which, it is fuppofed, he now has a dread, fit in a luke-warm bath up to his chin fome length of time, that the bibulous veffels on the furface of the fkin may abforb the watery particles, and carry them into the fyftem. This must be often repeated, otherwise it will fail to produce the intended effect. This bath will, befides, bring on a fweat; and hence be ufeful in two ways. Dr. Mead laughs at the notion of putting the patient into warm rather than cold water; but furely his laughter is without reafon. III. Experiment has fhewn, that feveral things which feem to poffefs no very powerful virtues have wrought cures in perfons that have been bitten by a mad dog. Two of the most famous remedies of this kind we shall here confider: the Pulvis Antilyffus of Dr. Mead, and the Chinese receipt. The afb-coloured ground liver-wort, the bafis of the firft, contains, as appears from the Doctor's analyfis, a good deal of alkaline falt: hence it acts as a diuretic; and hence arife its good effects, if it really ever produced any. The pepper, perhaps, the other ingre 2. To cleanfe the firft paffages: dient, might promote the difcharge by and the skin. We fee, therefore, that a better medicine might be prepared of Y 2 fuch fuch things as poffefs these properties in a higher degree. As to the Eaft-India Powder, its utifity fprings chiefly from the mufk which it contains: it is certainly greatly inferior to opium alone. Upon the whole, then, it should feem, that the cure of Canine Madness depends on fedatives and fudorifics, ufed in conjunction with the auxiliaries above-mentioned, bleeding, the temperate bath, &c. &c. That, of all the medicines which have hitherto been tried, opium is the moft efficacious in this difeafe; and that, at prefent, that only deferves the name of a specific. For the benefit of your readers in general, I have drawn up the following plan of treatment: this mode, I am confident, if duly followed, will be found effectual in anfwering the purposes of prevention and cure in the two ftages of this distemper: METHOD OF TREATMENT. The firft endeavour, when a perfon has received a bite from a dog or any other animal that is known to be mad, is to prevent the poifon's getting into the body, by inftantly fucking the wound, or washing it with falted water, vinegar, and the like. I know of no better wafh in this cafe than the ftale of the perfon that is bitten. An immediate and thorough washing or fucking of the wound will fet afide the ufe of the knife, and render excifion unneceffary, The bleeding, unless very profufe, fhould not be checked. The wound may be sprinkled with a very fmall quantity of powdered Spanifh flies, and dreffed afterwards with dry lint. Thefe flies are not to be afed at any future dreffing. They are, by far, a better application than precipitate. But, notwithstanding this timely wathing or fucking, fome particles of the infectious matter may poffibly get into the fyftem: hence we fhould guard the body against their effects, and attempt to throw them out. Therefore, let the bitten perfon keep himself quiet: and let his diet be cooling and temperate. It may be right to abftain from animal food: but a little auftere wine, fuch as red port, cannot do any injury. Let a ftrong tea be made of balm, mint, and horehound, twice the quantity of the two former to the latter; and let a little lemon or orange juice be added to it; or, if that cannot be had, let vinegar be used. Of this tea let the patient drink at pleasure. Let twenty grains of Virginian fnakeroot, one grain of emetic tartar, and one of opium, be rubbed together into a powder: this let him take in the evening, or fooner, according to the time of receiving the bite, and let him drink after it a little wine whey made warm. Let the perfpiration which it will bring on be encouraged; and let the patient's linen, if this difcharge fhall have been great, be changed. Let this powder be repeated three fucceffive nights; and let the patient rub in two drachms of mercurial ointment, twice a day, till a falivation is brought on. All this time the bowels are to be attended to; and, if bound, to be loofened. On the fourth day, if fymptoms of infection do not appear, thefe means are to be difcontinued: and the patient must go into the cold bath. It would be advifeable to go into water of a temperate heat at firit. He muft take the Peruvian bark, either in decoction or powder, or both together. Gentle exercife fhould be used, and he should be kept as chearful as poffible. By a ftrict obfervance of this method, the Hydrophobia, no doubt, will be kept off: if, however, either from entirely neglecting or not employing in time thefe remedies, this dreadful fymptom fhould appear: bleed, if the difficulty of breathing, and ftrength and fulness of the pulfe be great; attending to the cautions given above. Vomit, with a ftrong dofe of ipecacuanha; and, when the retching is over, give the following medicine, every three hours: A bolus, made of mufk, fifteen grains, and of opium, two grains, by the help of mucilage of Gum Arabic. Throw up nitrous clyfters; and pat the patient into the warm bath fpoken of above. Give occafionally fifteen or twenty grains of nitre, made into a bolus, When When the dread of water is removed (and these remedies, we are confident, will remove it) the patient should drink largely and repeatedly of the tea already mentioned; and the opiate bolus may be difcontinued: the warm bath may be exchanged, in the manner advifed in the firft ftage, for the cold: and the Peruvian bark with the vitrio lic elixir may be taken. By these means, in a fhort time, the perfon bitten will be perfectly cured. The medicines we have prefcribed are in the dofe, in which they are to be taken by grown up people: they may be eafily proportioned to the age of the patient by dividing them into halves, quarters, &c. TO THE EDITOR OF THE LONDON MAGAZINE. SIR, P. A S you have informed the Public, in the Addrefs prefixed to the London Magazine for July; that you propofe to allot a department to papers on Medicinal Inquiries, I fend you the following account of a cure for the Dropfy which proved very fuccefsful in America. If it meet with your approbation, by inferting it, you will oblige, your obedient fervant, REDMUND BURKE, CURE FOR THE DROPSY. HE military hofpital, in South THE the principal furgeon, was committed Mr. Burke found that the ufual methods, with draftic remedies, were very feldom effective, even when tonics interpofed, and that they frequently brought an anafarca to an afcites. For a rheumatic complaint, fome time before, Mr. Burke himself had taken the tincture of gum guaiacum, and obferved that it operated as a brifk purge, and promoted urine and perfpiration, in a very confiderable degree; while, agreeable to its character in the Materia Medica, it increased his ftrength, his fpirits, and his appetite. Hence he concluded, that a medicine which pof feffed fuch eminent tonic powers, as well as evacuant, would be eminently ferviceable to patients, who laboured under a difeafe of weakness and accumulation. His fuccef He made the attempt. even furpaffed his expectations. The medicine was used in all the hospitals, and, with a proper regimen, found to be a more certain cure for the Dropfy than bark for intermittent fevers. The discharge of the water fome times was fo rapid that it was judged neceffary to apply a flannel fwathe round the body, in order to compress the veffels, left there fhould be a deficiency of blood at the ventricles of the heart, and its motion fhould not be excited. One of the dropfical patients, who was a man of quick feelings and a lively temper, was fo elated with a relief, at once fpeedy and unexpected, that he went with a party of friends, and drank till he was in a state of in-. toxication. The liquor threw him almoft into a ftate of infanity, and, to fhew his courage, he tore off the fwathe. The utility of the bandage was immediately proved. The patient fell down fuddenly, and inftantly expired, R. B. THE THE ENGLISH THEATRE, AND REGISTER OF PUBLIC ENTERTAINMENTS. THE THEATRE-ROYAL IN THE HAY-MARKET. R. Colman as the feafon advances feems to gain frefh vigour, and to open new fources for the entertainment of the public: -Viresque acquirit eundo. On July 26th a new Comedy appeared, called THE YOUNG QUAKER, which is the production of Mr. O'Keeffe, the favourite farce-writer of the day, his Son-in-Law, and Agreeable Surprize, being (and it must be owned, very defervedly) the most popular pieces on the modern stage. The winter before the laft Mr. O'Keeffe, for the first time, beat up for higher game, and attempted a comic opera. His Banditti was allowed to be pleasant, but it was held to be overloaded with pun, and PROLOGUE TO THE Spoken by Mr. OLD Crab, a critick, looking o'er our bill, Farce is bis province, and a farce with mufick. Our bard, 'tis true, firit woo'd the public bere, the town fent it back to the author's clofet for correction. In the laft feafon the opera was again brought forward materially altered and amended, and under the new title of The Caftle of Andalufia. Its merit has been too well fubftantiated by the moft undeniable proof to require our comment; it hitherto has been, and we doubt not it will continue to be, a favourite with the public. Mr. Colman's prologue was precifely fuch an introduction as the piece demanded. We fhall infert it, for the entertainment of our readers, who will find it difficult to determine, whether they fhould most admire the manager's judgement or his ability. YOUNG QUAKER. PALMER. Take breath, to-night-ceafe wind, and catgut Your lungs, your nimble elbows quiet keep! And you (To the audience) who fit in many an Enthron'd above (Galleries) or on the bench below; (Boxes.) Good men and true of our dramatic pannel, The following were the characters: Mr. Palmer. Sadboy Clod, Twig, Zachariah Sadboy, Primrose (under the af fumed name of Old Mr. Parsons. FEL Mr. Edwin. Pink, Mrs. Millefleur, Mrs. Webb. 'The 2783. THE ENGLISH THEATRE. The YOUNG QUAKER is extremely entertaining, though by no means a puritan comedy either in converfation or manners. Like most of Mr. O'Keeffe's pieces, it exhibits an infinity of fun, arifing from a pleafant mixture of inge. nious equivoque, pointed witticifm, and ftrong humour, the natural offspring of a pregnant fancy and a luxuriant imagination, but it is fomewhat outre, and, like all other produce of a rich foil, it has its weeds and its tares, as EPILOGUE TO THE 269 well as its corn, its wine, and its oil. The fable juftifies what the prologue fays was the author's original inten. regularity and gradation, the texture tion, to write an opera. It wants the and the firmnefs that the plot of a comedy ought to have, and is perfectly operatical. and flowed from the manager's pen, The epilogue was happily conceived, whofe fertility in productions of this kind has fcarcely been equalled. YOUNG QUAKER. Spoken by Mifs FRODSHAM, in the character of DINAH. NO more nam'd Primrose, I'm my Reuben's And Dinah Sadboy I am call'd for life. Aug. 12. This evening a new dra- Showing at once, in state and splendour vain, Ye, who in marriage wealth and grandeur feek, To with thy faithful Dinah too might change. PROLOGUE TO THE BIRTH-DAY, Spoken by Mr. PALMER. WHEN fate on fome tremendous act seems And Nature labours with the dread event, ven. In a long feries of bright glories dreft, A BRUNSWICK came to guard our rights and On this great day, our glorious annals tell, Prince of Arragon, The self-fame day, the fame aufpicious mora, Upon his natal hour what triumphs wait! Long, very long, Great George, protect the land The characters were thus reprefented: Seraphina, Mr. Palmer. Mrs. Bannifter. The |