these is some peculiar subduing action on
the no less peculiar inflammation—probably in some such way as cayenne pepper acts on the stomach in yellow fever,
or on the pharynx in angina. I have
hitherto found that where the charcoal is
given in frequent and sufficiently large
doses, the bad odour of the breath is
completely obviated ; and, in conclusion,
I may remark that the convalescence to
full or usual health has been always
rapid.

Post Mortem Autopsies.

No. 1.

• • Aged four years, died on the
    twelfth day of the disease, or rather from
    the date of the false membrane commencing to form on the tonsils and posterior
    pharynx. On laying open the neck, thorax and abdomen, the various viscera, viz.,
    the larynx, trachea, and bronchi, the
    lungs, heart, liver, spleen, pancreas, intestines and all investing membranes and
    tissues seemed in perfectly sound, or normal condition. But the stomach, oesophagus, pharynx and tongue, on being removed from the body, and carefully laid
    open, displayed as follows :—Tongue considerably loaded with a dark brown fur—the pharynx in its entirety, even to the
    rim of the glottis, but no involvement farther of the air passages—exhibited a very
    deep blush of low unhealthy coloured inflammation, but unattended by the slightest abrasion of the mucous covering, and
    without even a speck remaining of the
    supposed leathery-like membrane, which
    prevailed in the first and progressive
    stages of the disease. The upper portion of the oesophagus, to the extent of a
    couple of inches, had an unusually rough
    and reddish aspect in various patches of
    its circumference, but the space therefrom
    downwards, to about three inches of its
    gastric termination, there was no remarkable deviation from the usual healthy state.
    But these three inches indicated a great
    degree of morbid inflammation ; and,
    moreover, had somewhat the aspect, here
    and there, of being stained, or dyed with
    inky-coloured fluid ; yet the inner coat of
    this, though somewhat thickened,
    was
    neither pulpy to the touch, nor loosened
    from its tissues. The stomach, as it lay
    in situ, was considerably collapsed, but of
    natural appearance, though to the touch
    rather flaccid.

When opened, not much
over an ounce of a dark coloured fluid was
found—probably an admixture of port,
with the altered gastric secretion, as
shortly before death she had taken a
small quantity of that wine. The cardiac
portion, and beyond that to within little
more than an inch of the pyloris, the villous coat had lost its rugosity, was greatly
softer to the touch than natural, and was
dotted over with dark, adherent, olive-coloured spots, varying in size from a
half inch diameter to that of a pin’s head.
One portion of the tissue was quite gone,
say about the size of a sixpence, and that
immediately below the cardiac opening.
In most parts the attachment of this
membrane to the muscular coat was so
slight that it could be removed easily
therefrom by light friction of the
finger and thumb. But the whole
of the coat, excepting the said small circumference around the pyloris, was thickened, and to the touch pulpy, while that
pyloric portion appeared and felt to be
quite in a normal, healthy condition.
Hence, as there was not the slightest abrasion of the investing mucous membrane
of the pharyngeal apparatus, it is a fair
inference that the stomach was the primary and chief seat of the disease.

No. 2.

• • Brother of No. 1, aged ten years ;
    complained first on the night of 10th
    July (after exposure for an hour or two,
    to a cold rainy night), of some pain of
    throat, which, on the succeeding
    morning, exhibited apparent ulceration of the
    tonsils, and was, by account, treated accordingly ; but died, with the usual symptoms of diphtheria, on the eighth day.
    The body was opened twenty-four hours
    after death. The viscera of the thorax
    and abdomen seemed in normal state ;
    but on removing the tongue, pharynx,
    oesophagus, and stomach, and opening
    and examining these, the following morbid appearances were observed :—

Tongue not much, but somewhat covered with a dark fur—the entire pharynx
more or less covered, particularly the posterior division, with cream-coloured
lymph matter of toughish consistence,
and, in some parts, about a line or more
in thickness. This had no firm adhesion
to the subjacent soft parts ; and though
there was no actual abrasion of the natural
mucous membrane, that of the tonsils, and
the surface of these also, were so indented
as on first inspection to look like small
irregular clean ulcers. The air passages
were in a natural healthy state, though the
pharyngeal inflammation extended to and
involved the rima glottidis. The oesophagus exhibited a few patches of inflammation of the mucous membrane, particularly at and about its gastric termination.
In other respects it was in usual integrity.
The stomach was somewhat distended
with flatus, and contained also a few