Tommasini,1 on the Action and Use of certain remedies generally regarded as Sedative.

The third period of Brunonianism in Italy commences with the publication of the Prolusion of Tommasini, already noticed, in which the views that had been propounded by the Italian pathologists, during the previous periods, and particularly those of Rasori and of Tommasini himself, are set forth under the designation of the New Italian Doctrine of Medicine. The correctness of the principles of this doctrine was subjected to an elaborate discussion, soon after the publication of the Prolusion, by Spallanzani, nephew of the celebrated naturalist, and a few years afterwards, by Geromini.3

Subsequently to the publication of Tommasini's Prolusion, the event which seems to have given the greatest impulse to the new Italian medical doctrine, was the issuing, first in 1819, and again in 1821, by the Society of Sciences resident at Modena, of a theme for a prize-essay, in the following terms. "To determine whether the ideas that are given in the modern schools of medicine, of Excitability and of Excitement, are sufficiently accu

Sugli effetti della Digitale Purpurea di Linneo. Mem. letta alla Soc. Med. Chir. di Parma al 1° Dec. 1806. (Dissert. ed Altri Scritti. t. iii. 5. Bologna, 1823.)

Sull' azione deprimente o Contro-stimolante di alcuni rimedj. Mem. letta, &c., al 1° Maggio, 1809. (Ibid. iii. 73.)

Ricerche sull'azione de Vescicanti e de' Rubefacenti ed esame della cosi detta azione Rivellente. Nel Giorn della Soc. Med. Chir. de Parma, ii. 1806. (Ibid. iv. 197.)

2 Lettere Critiche sulla Nuova Dottrina Med. Italiana. Reggio, 1818.

3 Saggio di un Anal. dei Fondamenti dell' Odierna Dottrina Medica Italiana, n. Annali di Omodei, 1822. (Vol. xxi. and xxii.)

rate and precise; and, in case they be not so, to determine what variations ought to be made in respect of either of them; and from thence to deduce what are the precise ideas that ought to be formed of Diathesis, both hypersthenic and hyposthenic, of Irritation, of Stimuli, of Contro-stimuli, and of Irritating powers." None of the essays given in on the first of these occasions seem to have been considered as entitled to the first prize, but an accessit was adjudged to that of Guani; on the second occasion, this theme elicited no fewer than ten essays; and of these there were printed those of Emiliani' and of Bufalini, to which the first prize and an accessit were awarded. The discussion of the comparative merits of these various essays, and of the doctrines contained in them, called forth a number of additional treatises, particularly from the pens of Bergonzi, Geromini," Bufalini, &c.

During the same period there were published a variety of essays and treatises on the different pathological and therapeutical questions involved in the socalled New Medical Doctrine. Among these may be particularly noticed that of Penolazzi on the Theory of Irritation; that of Guani on Contro-stimulus, and

1 Mem. in risposta al quesito propos. dalla Societ. Ital. Modena, 1821.

Risposta al Tema proposto dalla Soc. Ital. di Scienze residente in Modena, &c. Firenze, 1824.

3 Intorno al Tema proposto dalla Soc. Italiana, &c. Firenze,

1824.

4 Confronto Crit. d. Memorie di Emiliani e di Bufalini. Parr ma, 1824.

5 Dottrina Medica Bufaliniana Compendiata e Discussa. 8vo. Milan, 1826.

6 Intorno alla Medicina Analitica Cicalate. Milan, 1825.

7 Saggio sulla Teoria dell' Irritazione. Padova, 1817.

8

Irritative Diseases; those of Amoretti on the Vital Principle; that of Rolando on the different species of Excitability and Excitement, &c. ; those of Rasori,* Emiliani, Puccinotti, and Tommasini' on Inflammation; and those of Pistelli on the Nature of Inflammation, and on Diathesis. Nor could a summary of the medical literature of Italy during this period be satisfactory, that did not include the more systematic elementary outlines of pathological science, in which the medical literature of no country is more, if equally rich; such as those of Gallini," Acerbi," Fanzago," Bufalini," Vulpes," Dalla Decima, &c.

14

1 Del Contro-stimolo, e delle Malattie Irritative. n. Comment. Med. di Brera, 1819. (v. Raccolta, tom. v. 77.)

2 Nuova Dottrina Medica della Vitalita e dello Stimolo. Torino, 1818.

Discuss. Med. Filos. sul Principio e sulla Potenza o Forza Vitale. Torino, 1823.

3 Cenni Fisio-patologiche sulle differente specie d' Eccitabilita ed Eccitamenti, sull' Irritabilita, e sulle Potenze Eccitanti, Debilitanti ed Irritative, &c.

4 Teoria della Flogosi.

1821.

5 Della Infiammazione Commentario. Modena, 1824.

6 Del Processo Flogistico, e di alcune altre proprieta della Flogosi, 8vo. Roma, 1821.

7 Della Infiammazione, e della Febbre Continua, Considerazioni Patologico Pratiche. Pisa, 1820. 3d ediz. Bologna, 1827.

8 Sulla Natura della Infiammazione Ric. Patolog, &c., Annali Univ. di Medicina, t. xi. p. 5. Rifless. Crit. sulla cosi detta Diatesi dei Medici Moderni, &c. &c., negli annali cit. 1821, t. xx. p. 5. 9 Saggio di Proposizioni Elementari di Patologia.

10 Annotazioni di Medicina Pratica. Milano, 1819.

11 Istituzione Patologiche, 1813; sec. ediz. Livorno, 1824. 12 Fondamenti di Patologia Analitica. Pavia, 1819.

3d ediz., 1828-1830.

13 Istituzioni di Patologia Generale. 2da ediz. Napoli, 1830. 11 Instituzioni di Patologia Generale. Padova, 1819.

Of the questions arising out of the examination of the Brunonian doctrines that have chiefly engaged the attention of Italian pathologists, and been subjected by them to animated and intelligent discussion, the following may be enumerated as among the principal:

:

1st, Whether there exists in the animal economy such a property as was recognised by Brown under the name of Excitability; if so, whether it should be regarded as of a single or manifold nature; what are its characters; whether it be liable to waste, and capable of repair? &c.

2d, Whether the Fluids be primarily liable to morbid or pathological conditions; and, if so, what influence these conditions exercise in producing the various diseases of the economy?

3d, Whether all the powers which act on the economy exercise, as Brown alleged, one common mode of operation, viz., Stimulation; or whether they operate variously?—and in connection with this inquiry the doctrine of the existence of a class of substances which operate, directly, in a manner the reverse of that of stimulation, viz., Contro-stimulants; and the question, whether particular substances act directly on particular parts of the economy-such as the heart, the lungs, the bowels, the kidneys, &c., so as to modify the manner in which they execute their functions?

4th, On what foundations the doctrine of Diatheses rests; and the propriety of the substitution, by Rasori, of the Diatheses of Stimulus and Contro-stimu

lus, in place of those of Sthenia and Asthenia, which Brown had proposed?

5th, Whether there exists a general morbid state of the economy different from the diatheses of sthenia and asthenia, or of stimulus and contro-stimulus, such as Guani proposed to designate by the term Irritation; and whether there exist powers or agents which operate on the economy by inducing that state, or by removing it?

6th, Whether a disease can undergo a change in respect of its diathesis, from sthenia to asthenia, or vice versa, during its progress?

7th, Whether the opposite diatheses of sthenia and asthenia may coexist in different parts of the economy?

8th, What are the proper grounds of distinction between Universal and Local diseases; and, particularly, whether the circumstance of being attended or unattended by diathesis constitutes this distinction?

9th, Whether there exist other elements of the variety which diseases exhibit besides degrees of sthenic or asthenic diathesis; and, particularly, what importance is to be attached to the Forms of diseases, as marked by their nosological characters; and to their Pathological Conditions, or the visible or invisible morbid alterations of the solids and fluids which produce them?

10th, What are the grounds of distinction between Organic and Dynamic diseases; and whether there must not exist, in all diseases, some change in the organic constitution of the subject?

11th, Whether there exists such a state as Indirect debility?