Page images
PDF
EPUB

of his American friends which lay at that time within his reach!

Treaties and Conventions.-In discussing the various treaties which have borne reference to neutral privileges, the author casts an eye of distinguished favour on the armed neutrality of 1780. It deserves, he says, to be particularly recorded, because it attracted general attention, and was regarded as the first step towards the establishment of a new maritime code. This notable document declared that all belligerent property, with the exception of contraband stores, should be safe from capture when on board a neutral; and that no port could be pronounced to be in a state of blockade unless there was evident danger, from the presence of ships of war, in any attempt on the part of the neutral to enter. Planned by France and Russia, and in concert with Denmark, this bold and decisive. convention was successively adopted by Sweden, Holland, Prussia, Austria, and even by our antient ally, Portugal. Energetic, however, as it is, M. DE R. is not yet satisfied; because it does not abolish the right of search, nor pronounce the declaration of the commander of the neutral convoy-ship to be conclusive. At this rate, we can scarcely expect the Russian treaty of June 1801 to rank high in his estimation; and he accordingly passes it over in a few words, lamenting bitterly that the fire of Nelson's artillery should have destroyed the seeds of the new maritime coalition. With the over-bearing conduct of England, he contrasts (Vol. i. p. 146.) the liberal and indulgent tenor of the French edict on neutral trade, which was passed in the beginning of the American war, known by the name of the Réglement de 1778. Here, he says, was an example of moderation in the season of prosperity, France consenting to the free conveyance of enemy's property on board of neutrals at the time when, allied with Spain, she might be considered as the mistress of the sea: but we can by no means subscribe to the assertion that France in 1778 either was, or believed herself to be, the preponderating naval power. However strong in numbers, she was conscious of inferior efficiency; the vigour of Chatham and the victories of Hawke having left an impression not easily effaced. We decline to enter on the merits of particular treaties, and shall conclude by remarking that the rules which at present govern the decisions of our high court of admiralty are by no means in consonance with M. DE RAYNEVAL'S tenets; and that Sir William Scott, or, as he calls him, le docteur Scott, is roughly handled on several occasions. The first-rate authors are treated with equally little ceremony; Vattel is run down; and Lampredi is almost his only favourite. Mons. Jenkinson,' (the late APP. REV. VOL. LXVII,

I i

Lord

Lord Liverpool) is declared, as may well be supposed, a enemy to all that is fair and candid in maritime law.

The second volume is little better than a compilation. After a long analysis of Selden's Mare clausum, we are presented with a still longer translation of a "Discours par Mons. Jenkinson" on neutral trade, published so far back as 1757. This is followed by the official papers relative to our rupture with Holland in the year 1780; and the Dutch answer to our declaration of war on that occasion brings this publication of M. DE RAYNEVAL to a close. We can scarcely flatter this Gallic jurist with the prospect of extended fame from his labours. His style is remarkably diffuse, and full of repetitions; while his selection of documents is little to be commended either for the choice or the quantity. We have no doubt, however, that he is satisfied that he has done much better than if he had followed our old-fashioned admonitions about impartiality. He belongs to the class of meritorious persons who may be termed "wise in their generation;" and of the object of his writings our readers will be at no loss to form an opinion from the following sentence in his introduction, which shall serve as a conclusion to our review:

Napoleon, by his wisdom and his power, has fixed the lot of the Continent; he has destroyed the seeds of dissension and of war; and the only species of glory, which it remains to him to acquire, is that of being the author of a maritime code which shall fix the freedom of the sea on a just and immutable basis, and confer security on the navigation and trade of the four quarters of the globe.'

ART. IV. Clinique Chirurgicale, &c.; i. e. Clinical Surgery, or Memoirs and Observations relative to this and other Branches of the healing Art. By PH. J. PELLETAN, Consulting Surgeon to their Imperial and Royal Majesties, Knight, Member of the Legion of Honour, and of the French Institute, &c. &c. &c. 8vo. 3 Vols. Paris. 1810. Imported by Dulau and Co.

Price 21. 28.

THE HE work of M. PELLETAN offers many claims to our attention. If we may judge from the long list of honorary titles which is affixed to his name, the author holds the first rank in his profession; he has been for a number of years engaged in extensive practice, public and private; and he assures us that these volumes may be considered as the faithful result of the knowlege which he has gained. Although devoted to the improvement of the surgical art from an early age, he appears to have resisted the desire of becoming an author until a late period of life; and after all the experience which his situation.

was calculated to afford him, he still manifests that kind of sollicitude respecting the value of his performance, which would create in our minds a strong presentiment in its favour. He informs us, in the preface, that he has not adopted the plan of constructing a complete treatise on any part of the art, because this would be to suppose that no person had previously supplied any thing valuable on the same subject, and because it would have been necessary to copy what has been before written; thus multiplying books, with which the shops are already filled, and which scarcely survive their authors.

I have on this account,' he says, resolved to write only me moirs on all those parts of surgery, in which my experience and observation seem to enable me to contribute some improvement. I have followed the method of the old Royal Academy of surgery, to which our art is indebted for its lustre and its elevation: but this difference subsists between their publication and mine, that the Academy received the contributions of all the learned men who wished to correspond with it, while I have depended on my own personal experience. All the facts which are related are my own; I have abstained from bringing forwards any others, both that I might leave to every one all that belonged to him, and that no person might blame my conduct.'

If by this plan of insulation an author deprives himself of many sources of knowlege which might confirm or extend his own experience, it must be considered as, in a certain degree, adding to the authenticity of his work, and to the confi dence with which we enter into his views and opinions.-The last paragraph of the preface is so truly French, that we cannot avoid offering it for the amusement of our readers; remarking, at the same time, that it is the only specimen of flummery which we have noticed through the whole production:

I must say a word respecting the titles with which my name seems over-loaded at the head of this work. Most of them indicate the sources whence my surgical experience has been derived; and it was necessary to cite them, in order to attest the origin and to furnish the warrants of this experience: but the titles which are most dear to my heart I owe to the munificence of the hero who govern us. Ought I not to be proud of having received them from him? Can I ever forget the high honour of having resided about the person of this great man? I then admired him in silence: now the universe celebrates his glory, and all the human race enjoys his beneficence. May his happy posterity equal in number the stars of the firmament, and enjoy the immortality of which the pledge has been transmitted to them by the greatest of heroes!'

One of the first subjects on which the author treats is aneurysm, a highly interesting topic, and which has received particular attention in this country. We consequently felt curious to observe how far the opinions and practice of M. PELLETAN agreed

Ii 2

with

with those which are generally adopted by the English surgeons. He divides his cases into two classes, internal and external; meaning under the first head to include those aneurysms that are seated in parts beyond the reach of an operation. The attempt to cure an internal aneurysm we have always regarded as altogether impracticable and absurd; and yet such an attempt was made by him, and, as it would appear, not without a degree of success. The practice is confessedly taken from Valsalva, who is stated to have performed a cure of at least one case of this disease. Yet the fact, although resting on the indisputable authority of Morgagni, seems to have been overlooked; and the patients have been consigned to their fate, without even the idea of the possibility of their escape. M. PELLETAN himself entered on the plan of treatment with no very sanguine expectations. He says that the practice of Valsalva was rarely successful; and that the history of the facts is neither sufficiently detailed to be useful, nor sufficiently exact to inspire the confi dence which is necessary in such a case: but, when a fatal termination would otherwise be inevitable, we are warranted in following the least ray of hope. An interesting detail of fourteen cases is here given, in which the cure of internal aneurysm was attempted; and we shall state the result in the words of the author, which we consider as conveying nearly a correct idea of the deductions that may be drawn from the facts:

It follows from this memoir, 1st. That it is a truth long acknowleged, that aneurysm of the internal arteries is one of the most important and dangerous diseases, and which, from its nature, is necessarily fatal. 2d. That art can, however, apply a remedy with more or less success. 3d. That this remedy consists in the treatment indicated by Valsalva, from a hint of Hippocrates; that is, in the combination of all the means proper to procure a gradual weakening of the patient to an extreme degree, but which does not immediately endanger life. 4th. It is accomplished by an absolute repose of the body and of the mind, a strict regimen, the evacuation of blood from the arm, leeches, calming and cooling beverages, the application of ice, and of cold and astringent substances. 5th. That these applications must be combined and employed in proportions according to the temperament of the patient, and to the importance and urgency of the disease. 6th. That they are not to be misapplied in cases which do not leave any hope of success, but that even then, prudently employed, they are palliatives which relieve the distress, and may postpone the fatal termi nation. 7th. As to the event, three patients have obtained a radical and unequivocal cure. In one case, the cure being completed, the patient relapsed, after the space of a year, in consequence of his intemperance. In another, the disease, after having been cured at the origin of the aorta, was formed again along the descending part of this vessel. With respect to Mad. Marchel, at combated the disease with astonishing vigour; it triumphed many times, and

after

after many relapses, even at moments which did not appear to leave any resource; and the patient at length sank only in consequence of the extreme complication with which she was attacked. We have seen also, that, in subjects which have necessarily perished, relief has been obtained and death deferred by a judicious plan of treatment, when the disease could be discovered and rendered apparent.'

As an exemplification of M. PELLETAN's treatment of such cases, we shall give an abstract of one of those which terminated favourably. A man 61 years of age, a porter at the theatre, and also a crier of fish, of a sanguine temperament, and in the habit of drinking freely, was suddenly seized during sleep with an acute pain in the upper and right side of the chest. The acute pain soon subsided, but a permanent uneasiness was left, so considerable as to prevent him from following his usual occupations; and he was received into the Hotel-Dieu, with a strongly pulsating tumor of about six inches in circumference. The pulsation was accompanied with severe pain, which extended to the shoulder-blade and to the occiput. No doubt appears to have existed in the minds of those who saw the patient, that he was affected with an aneurysm of the arch of the aorta. In the course of the first four days, he was copiously bled, morning and evening; on the 5th day he was bled once only, when the pulse appeared to be sufficiently reduced: but it became more tense again on the 7th day, when he was bled twice more. During this period, he was subjected to a very rigid diet; while a mixture of linseed meal and vinegar was applied to the tumor, and renewed as often as it grew warm. This treatment had, in eight days, a wonderful effect; the pain and pulsation disappeared; the weakness of the patient did not impair his health; and he was occupied quietly with the objects around him, without uttering a complaint, or expressing any uneasiness.' The strictness of his regimen was now relaxed by degrees, and in four weeks he felt so well that he could no longer be detained in the hospital. He then spent some months in the country, and returned to Paris in a state of high health; with no farther vestige of his disease, than a slight and deep-seated pulsation, at the place where the crossing of the aorta causes its beating to be felt in the most natural state." The man remained in perfect health for two years, when he died of a pectoral complaint, which did not seem to have any connection with the aneurysm.

This is the outline of the history which is related by M. PELLETAN, and we do not see any sufficient ground for doubting its accuracy; unless we conclude, in the first instance, that the cure of an internal aneurysm is in itself absolutely impossible. That the derangement which is produced in many cases of aneurysm,

Ii3

« PreviousContinue »