* Not less than eight cases of death are recorded in one of the London journals, as having occurred within a short time, in England, from the use of lobelia by a class of practitioners, who exclaim against mercury as a poison; yet in looking over many journals for years, I have for a long time, to the best of my recollection, met with no recorded instance of death from mercury.

Mercury, however, should not be used in all cases, or under all circumstances of inflammation. Except in hepatic affections, I never use it when the disease is slight, temporary, and readily curable; nor, indeed, in severe or chronic cases, when I have reason to think that they will yield readily to the ordinary antiphlogistic treatment. in the highest stage of excitement, during the first few days of the disease, it is not usually indicated. it does not so readily affect the system, probably because absorbed with more difficulty; and, if it succeed in making the mouth sore, does not seem to possess the same power of subverting the morbid action as at a later period, while it adds its own general excitation to that of the existing disease. it is best, therefore, in common vigorous inflammations, to employ first the ordinary antiphlogistic measures, as bleeding, purging, the antimonials, local bleeding, the warm bath, low diet, etc. in very many instances, these will be found sufficient for the cure. Not unfrequently, in the progress of this treatment, when opium at night becomes admissible, I administer, with this narcotic and ipecacuanha, from one to three grains of calomel each evening at bedtime, with a view partly to a more ready mercurialization, should that become necessary, and partly to a slight alterative influence, which may tend to sustain the hepatic function, render the bowels more soluble', and exercise a gentle excitation of the secretions generally. But, should the disease not have assumed a favourable aspect, and should it appear in any degree threatening about the fourth or fifth day, I then give the mercurial with a view to its full effects upon the system, regulating the dose and the frequency of repetition, in accordance with the degree of supposed danger. in general, from four to twelve grains of calomel in the twenty-four hours are sufficient, which, when opium and ipecacuanha are not contraindicated, may usually be combined with one or both of these medicines, so as to obviate purgation, cause a tendency to the skin, and add in other respects to the comfort of the patient. in very urgent cases, the mercurial may be increased; but more than a grain every hour, upon an average, can very seldom be given with benefit, as even this quantity is more than is likely to be absorbed.

There are other special inflammations in which, from their rapid course - or great danger, or from the peculiar facility with which they yield to mercury, this medicine should be used from the outset, though they may exhibit no tendency whatever to the typhoid character. To this category belong endopericarditis, peritonitis, severe submucous and pseudomembranous laryngitis, pseudomembranous croup, hepatitis, and iritis; and perhaps meningitis may be added to the list. in these affections, when severe, immediately after the first bleeding, a cathartic consisting of calomel, wholly or in part, should be administered, and this should be immediately followed by smaller doses of calomel or blue mass, given at such intervals as to bring the system as quickly under the mercurial influence, as may be consistent with a prudent caution against excessive salivation. The quantity administered, during the day, may be the same as before recommended for acute inflammation in general; and, as in that, the mercurial should be associated with opium and ipecacuanha, when these are not contraindicated.

To pseudomembranous croup, hepatitis, and iritis the above remarks are peculiarly applicable. The first of these affections is so frequently, and so speedily fatal, unless the progress of the exudation can be checked, the second, when severe, is so apt to end in a disorganizing suppuration, and the third so much endangers the integrity of vision, that as speedy an impression as possible should be made by the mercurial.

In pseudomembranous croup, from the moment that its nature has been ascertained, the mercurial plan should be commenced. After a purgative dose of calomel, one-quarter or one-half a grain may be given, every half hour or hour, until the desired effect is produced, or the remedy can obviously be no longer of use. it acts by subverting the inflammatory process, and thus preventing the further exudation of coagulable lymph from the membrane, which now secretes mucus, and thus produces a separation of the fibrinous layer, and facilitates its expulsion by energetic emetics. The doses above mentioned are preferable to larger; as they will be less apt to purge, and consequently more liable to be absorbed, which is the object desired. The enormous doses which have sometimes been given probably defeat their own end. if they do not purge, much the larger proportion must lie inert in the bowels.

In iritis, mercury is an almost certain remedy, if used in time, not only when the disease is of syphilitic origin, but also in cases originating in the ordinary causes of inflammation. it should be given immediately, and steadily persevered with to salivation; but not to the exclusion of other antiphlogistic measures.

Hepatitis is probably the special inflammation in which mercury shows its most extraordinary antiphlogistic powers. With due depletion, and early employed, it is an almost certain remedy in the acute form of the disease, as it occurs in this climate.

In chronic inflammations, which have resisted the ordinary antiphlogistic method, mercury should be employed without hesitation; and will often be found to produce the most prompt and happy effects. Diseases of this kind, after a duration of months, will not unfrequently enter into an immediate course of amendment upon the establishment of the mercurial influence, though a considerable time may be required for effecting a complete cure. in these, it will often be sufficient to commence with from half a grain to a grain of calomel, or from two to five grains of the blue mass, three times a day, the dose being increased, if no observable effect is produced, in a few days. . it is highly desirable not to bring about too powerful an effect on the mouth, as the patient thus becomes disgusted with the remedy, and it may be impossible to persevere with it a sufficient length of time to effect a complete cure. The neglect of this caution is probably one of the most frequent causes of failure with mercury in chronic diseases. it has already been said that, from the experiments of Orfila, it may be concluded that mercury is usually expelled from the system very quickly; no evidence of its presence being discoverable, as a general rule, after eight or ten days. (See page 262.) This is too short a period for the complete subversion of a fixed chronic disease. Hence, when the local effect is so violent as to necessitate the suspension of the medicine, it is all eliminated before it has produced the desired effect; and the disease, if moderated for a time, is not eradicated, and may afterwards resume all its original activity. in order thoroughly to cure certain chronic inflammations, it is advisable to sustain a moderate influence of the mercurial, not only for weeks, but sometimes for several months. This remark is strongly applicable to chronic hepatitis, in which mercury is by far the most efficient remedy, but in which it has often failed, I believe, from being too urgently pressed at first. As chronic hepatitis occurs with us, when not already advanced to suppuration, it almost invariably yields to a carefully managed mer-curialization, sufficiently long continued, and aided by the usual measures. Blue pill is here preferable to calomel, and should be so given as to produce only the slightest effect on the gums, simply sufficient to indicate that it is acting.