11. "SOWDER'S SPRING" (Lincoln County, Ky.).-The composition of this water was found in 1000 grains

Grains. 0.506'

.3751

2.989

1.566

.298

.398

1.000

.021

7.153

The Crab Orchard salts, procured by evaporating the above water, are composed as follows

12. "BRYANT'S SPRING," No. 1 (Lincoln County, Ky.).—It was found to have the following composition in 1000 grains

13. "BRYANT'S SPRING," No. 2 (Lincoln County, Ky.).—Composition in 1000 grains

14. "BRYANT'S SPRING," No. 3.-Composition in 1000 grains

The free carbonic acid and sulphuretted hydrogen present in the water were not estimated; a weak saline sulphur water.

15. "BRYANT'S SPRING," No. 4 (Lincoln County, Ky.).—Composition in 1000

16. "STONE'S SULPHUR SPRING" (Lincoln County, Ky.).-Composition in 1000

The free carbonic acid and sulphuretted hydrogen were not estimated.

' Held in solution by carbonic acid.

17. "A WELL In front of BRYANT'S HOUSE" (Lincoln County, Ky.).—Composition

The amount of free carbonic acid in this water was not estimated.

THE JERKS, OR, AS IT HAS BEEN CALLED, EPIDEMIC EPILEPSY.In this account of epidemics, I shall begin with the first, so far as I know, and certainly the most remarkable epidemic which has visited the State of Kentucky; remarkable alike for the extent of country overrun, the number of persons affected, and the strangeness of the phenomena exhibited. I allude to a number of affections which were, at the time, called "bodily exercises," and which attended a great religious excitement from 1799 to 1805. The propriety of introducing a history of these affections into a history of epidemics, may very properly be questioned by many; but it seems to me by no means inappropriate, because it manifested all the characteristics of an epidemic, if we except "a peculiar constitutio aris." Whether or not that was present, or if present, what were its properties, we are as ignorant as we are of the same facts in any other epidemic. The history of these things, too, is equally interesting to the physician and psychologist.

For the following account of these strange affections, we are indebted to the History of the Presbyterian Church in Kentucky, by the Rev. Robert Davidson, who had collected the facts detailed by many writers who were personally connected with them, and who differed widely among themselves as to the character and causes of these affections. Among these writers, I may mention McGready, McKee, Hodge, Stuart, McNamar, Cleland, Marshall, Stone, and especially Rice and Lyle.

History. During the years 1797-98, considerable interest upon the subject of religion was excited in that region of country em

Held in solution by carbonic acid.

bracing the southern portion of Kentucky, and northern part of Tennessee, then called the Green River Settlements. This excitement was temporary, but was renewed in 1799, in a very remarkable degree. In the summer of that year, at a sacramental meeting in a Presbyterian congregation on Red River, the public services were animated, and tears flowed freely; but nothing special was observed until Monday morning. Whilst Mr. Hodge was preaching, a woman in the extreme end of the house, unable to control the violence of her emotions, gave vent to them in loud cries. At the close of the morning service, the people showed no disposition to leave their seats, but wept in silence all over the house. Such was the state of things when Mr. McGee, a Methodist minister, arose to speak. Too much overcome by his feelings to preach, he expressed his convictions that a greater than he was preaching; and exhorted the people "to let the Lord God Omnipotent reign in their hearts." Upon this, many broke silence, and the vociferations of the woman above mentioned were tremendous. The minister, after a brief debate in his own mind, considered it his duty to disregard the usual orderly habits of the denomination, and passed along the aisle shouting and exhorting vehemently. The clamor and confusion. were now increased tenfold; the flame was blown to its height; screams for mercy were mixed with shouts of ecstasy, and a universal agitation pervaded the whole multitude, who were bowed before it as a field of grain before the wind. Now followed prayer and exhortation; and the ministers found their strength taxed to the utmost to keep pace with the demands of this intense excitement.

Thus commenced the "bodily exercises," or, as they were familiarly called, "jerks," from the most common form in which they appeared, which spread like wildfire through Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, and into the Carolinas.

The excitement was so great, that the young and old, the male and female, the industrious and the lazy, the religious and the profligate, neglected all ordinary duties and went thirty, forty, fifty, nay, hundreds of miles to attend these "sacraments," as they were called. Of course, in a sparsely settled country, no accommodations could be found for such multitudes. Hence the origin of camp-meetings, of which we will speak hereafter. This excitement may be said to have reached its height in 1801, when, between May and August, six camp-meetings were held, varying in duration from four days to a week. From this time there was an abatement of this epidemic, for a few years gradual, subsequently more marked;

but I understand that in some sections of the country sporadic cases continue to be occasionally observed.

In undertaking to give the causes of this strange affection, I feel that much must be left to conjecture; and I shall not be at all surprised if the attempt shall be judged unsuccessful. Many persons considered that all the forms of jerks were occasioned by a direct influence of the Holy Spirit, and some enjoyed very comfortable reflections in consequence; supposing themselves, or their friends, peculiarly favored of heaven. Although many, especially of those affected at the beginning of the epidemic, gave, through their subsequent lives, a very satisfactory evidence of a Christian life, yet there were too many instances, which even at the time and afterwards, exhibited feelings utterly inconsistent with holiness, or even decent deportment, to allow for a moment of such a solution. We cannot conceive that the Spirit of God working in a man would be directly opposed to the same Spirit speaking in the Word: that that Spirit which requires all things to be done "decently and in order," would give rise to the most disorderly conduct and to the utmost confusion.

Others believed that these exercises were from Satanic influence. But we are again met by the same inconsistencies and incompatibilities. There seems to be no doubt that many thus affected were really converted to God, as their after life testified. This, of course, would be inconsistent with the plans of Satan. The course of symptoms, also, were entirely inconsistent with any of that gentleman's desires; as they are not known to give rise to poignant convictions of sin and piercing cries for mercy.

Again, they were ascribed to deception. This is decidedly negatived by the fact that many of the actions were performed with a celerity which it was almost impossible to conceive, much less execute by the power of the will. Again, nothing could exceed the vexation and mortification felt by numbers who found themselves unable to restrain the various "exercises" which, in their own eyes, were supremely ridiculous. The scoffer, the persecutor, the blasphemer, the infidel-no less than the devotee, who sincerely strove to be quiet; who braced themselves up with premeditated resolution, or treated the work as a delusion, were seized with paroxysms which they could not prevent.

To enable us to form an estimate of the causes of these excitements, we must look into the previous state of society, and the customs of the people. By recurring to the earlier history, we see