word of four letters, itis, pronounced always etis, means flame-like, or reddish, and when any part of the body is permanently redder than it ought to be, in consequence of too much blood being in the arteries of that part, as in the white of the eye, when injured, that part is said to be inflamed, and it is not only flame-like in appearance, but is also warmer than natural: the word itis, then, invariably means, when attached to the name of any particular part of the body, that such a part has more blood in its small blood-vessels than is natural. Thus, the word Bronchitis, means simply more blood in the small blood-vessels which spread themselves over the inside walls of the branches of the windpipe, than there ought to be. These branches of the windpipe are called Bronchi, or bronchial tubes, from a Greek word Brecho, which means to moisten, because the ancients thought, as solid food was conveyed into the stomach by the gullet, which is behind the windpipe, so fluids were conveyed into the system by means of the windpipe and its branches, thus, itis added to Bronchi, means more blood than is natural in the small blood-vessels which spread out over the inner walls of the branches of the windpipe, being an admirable illustration of the beautiful correctness, succinctness, and expressiveness of medical terms, "hard" as they are generally thought to be, ten letters being made to express what would otherwise require twenty-five words.

The philosophy, then, of Bronchitis is, the smaller blood-vessels spread out over the inner walls of the branches of the windpipe being so congested, clogged up with blood, that the thinner watery portions of the blood are made to ooze through the pores into the bronchi; hence, in the first stages of bronchitis, there is a water

ing of the nose, which is a part of the air-passages; as the clogging goes on, it begins to ooze out more, accumulation takes place, the bronchial tubes begin to be filled, the air cannot pass freely through them, into and out of the Lungs, and the patient complains grievously of "fullness," of "oppression," of a "cord-like feeling across his breast," of a "want of breath," and, without relief he would soon die, but Nature comes to his aid by an instinctive cough, which is nothing more than a sudden forcing of air through a bronchi, for the purpose of loosening and carrying before it, the obstruction, that is, the oozed-out substance just spoken of, just as boys at school, by a sudden and forcible breath, cause a feathered arrow to be ejected through a long reed; hence, the three inevitable and universal symptoms of Bronchitis, difficult breathing, violent coughing, and large expectoration of a most gluey, tenacious, sticky, pearly-like substance, sometimes half a pint or more in a day, for days and weeks in succession. It is often so sticky, adheres so closely to the insides of the Bronchi, that the efforts of Nature to dislodge it by cough become so violent and exhausting, that the patient feels that if he had to cough a single time more, he would die, and falls back on his bed, perfectly exhausted and helpless, and wringing wet with perspiration, only to be renewed again in a short half hour or less, day and night, for weeks together, unless relieved. At this stage of the malady, relief and cure are prompt, uniform, and permanent, by simply giving such mild medicines as will dilute this tough, adhering substance, and thus make its detachment from the sides of the Bronchi easy; the next step is to give other remedies which will afford additional strength to the capillaries, by which they will be able to transmit

larger quantities of blood, until equilibrium is restored; this is to be done by thinning the blood, diminishing its quantity, and improving its quality, thus strengthening the whole system, and in proportion, every part of it. But if neglected, instead of being cured at this point, the clogging goes on, as in Throat-Ail-the blood-vessels burst, ulceration begins, the parts are eaten away, large quantities, not of a glairy, pearly look, are spit up, but of a heavy, yellow, darkish, greenish, or rusty-color-a tea-cup full or more in a day, the drains of the system tend that way, as drift-wood tends to a broken part of a mill-dam, and the patient, imagining that he is spitting away his lungs, concludes that they must be almost entirely gone, and gives up all hope of life, yet he can be cured at this point, and in a fortnight be walking the streets, because the lungs themselves were not touched by disease, it had not reached that far; but now, if there is further delay, ulceration rapidly progresses, and Bronchi, Lungs and all, break down toge ther in death.

THE PHILOSOPHY OF CONSUMPTION.

Consumption is a disease of the lungs themselves, which are little cells or bladders at the extremity of the branches of the windpipe, are of all sizes, from that of a pea, downwards; and millions in number; when the blood-vessels which spread out on the inside of these little cells, as a vine spreads over a wall, become too full of blood, the thinner portion oozes out, as before described in Throat-Ail and Bronchitis, and stands at first, a clear little drop, then thickens, increases, hardens, and becomes a hateful tubercle! and two results follow. It has become a foreign body, small as a crumb of bread

though each tubercle be, yet like a crumb of bread which has "gone the wrong way," it excites a tickling cough, trifling at first, but constantly increasing in violence to the end of life; thus cough is the general attendant of consumption, from its stealthy access, to its dreadful

end.

A second result of the presence of tubercle is, that each one takes up a little room, no larger perhaps than the head of a pin, yet when these amount to thousands, the room for air in the lungs is materially diminished; hence consumptives not being able to take in air enough, always complain of so easily "getting out of breath," of being "so easily tired."

And here let the reader's attention be drawn to what the Author considers the happiest thought of modern times, the most magnificent application of a scientific principle ever made, as to medicine, dimly outlined by Abernethy, but not matured and made practical until within a very few years, that of determining the begin ning of Consumption, to be at a point when the lungs first begin to consume the first cubic inch less of air than they ought to do, which is generally long before the slightest cough has ever been observed. To do this, two things are necessary. 1st. To know how much air any given man's lungs hold when in full and healthful operation. 2d. To be able to measure the amount accurately, infallibly, mathematically, down to a single cubic inch. It is sufficient to say here, that the first is certainly known, and that the second is as certainly and demonstrably done. Each person requires a given amount of air, in proportion to age, size, sex, &c., but every person of given physical requirements must consume the same minimum amount of air, or disease is

inevitable. It is easy then to perceive, that if a man should measure two hundred cubic inches of air in health, he would, if half his lungs had consumed away, measure only one hundred inches; and so of any other proportion, larger or smaller. And as the lungs begin to be filled up with tubercles, long, long, before they begin to consume away; and, as previous to the consuming process, every body knowing anything at all medically, knows that consumptive disease is permanently removable, it follows demonstrably, that if proper means were used when the breath FIRST BEGINS to fail, that consumption is, at that stage, as certainly curable. as certainty can be affirmed of any therapeutic agency on record. And if the public could be induced to take up this fact, and act upon it rationally and practically, and could prevent its being turned into ridicule by ignorant and unprincipled peripatetic lecturers, not one need die of consumption, where thousands now do.

The Author dislikes hobbies, and will not here further insist upon the application of the principle in certainly determining the first, faint, far-off approaches of consumptive disease, but will state that to the judicious application of this principle, with the aids of auscultation and general medical experience, he owes the ability to give the plain, and specific written opinions of a previous page, every one of which time has confirmed.

GENERAL HISTORY OF THROAT-AIL.

The general history of the beginning, progress, and end of a case, is as follows:

An uneasy feeling is present in the upper part of the throat, causing a frequent tendency to swallow, as if