316 Nobel Enventions. New Method of extracting Opium from the Stomach, by Mr. JUKES. MR. E. JUKES, a surgeon in Westminster, has published, in the London Medical Journal, an account of a new method of extracting opium from the stomach, when taken inadvertently, as in the late unfortunate case of the Primate of Ireland, or as a poison. Mr. Jukes's motives for having recourse to this new method were that, when the vitality of the stomach, in such cases, has been so far reduced by the narcotic drug, so that that organ is insusceptible to the stimulus of an emetic, or is so enfeebled as to be incapable of assuming the actions necessary to vomiting, then it is incumbent on the surgeon to resort to mechanical means for dislodging the poison from the stomach. For this purpose, he used the apparatus which we are now about to describe. 1st, Take a hollow flexible tube of elastic gum, about twenty-five inches in length, and half an inch in diameter, having three equidistant longitudinal grooves, of an inch and a half in length around its extremity. Within each groove, three holes, which perforate the tube, of one-eighth of an inch diameter (though, perhaps, it might be as well to make them oblong, like the eye of a catheter,) and rather less than half an inch asunder. The opposite extremity of the tube to be fitted with a small screw, to be adapted to the other part of the apparatus. 2d. An elastic bottle, capable of holding a quart in measure, armed with a short pipe and stop-cock, similar to a hydrocele bottle, the extremity of which may bẹ screwed into the end of the tube above mentioned. Method of extracting Opium from the Stomach. 317 With such a simple apparatus, Mr. Jukes conceived that the stomach might be emptied when emetics have been tried in vain: and he proposed to use it in the following manner: The tube having been carefully passed down to the greater curvature of the stomach, the elastic bottle being filled with water of the temperature of 150° of Fahrenheit's thermometer, is to be screwed into it; and the stop-cock being opened, the contents of the bottle is to be gently urged through the tube into the stomach, by the surgeon, or an assistant, compressing the bottle between his hands. By removing this pressure, the bottle, by its elasticity, recovers its original form and dimensions, and, consequently, performs the office of an exhausting pump, by which means the fluid is again drawn back into it, and, of course, removed from the stomach. Mr. Jukes advises the water to be used of the high degree of temperature mentioned, with the view of obtaining some effects from its stimulus. It is well-known that there is no stimulant capable of rousing the suspended functions of animal bodies so certainly as heat. But, besides this, distending the stomach with water is more likely to mix the poison with that liquid, and thereby render it more easily abstracted. It is proper to remark, that it will not be necessary to inject the stomach in this manner, except in those instances where the patient has become comatose; if he remain sensible, he should be directed to drink copiously of hot water previously to the introduction of the tube into the stomach. Since this method was first projected in May last, Mr. Jukes has performed many experiments on dogs; and, also, by experiments on himself and others, has satisfac torily proved that the apparatus is fully competent to the purpose of drawing off the contents of the stomach safely and effectively. The apparatus which he now uses consists of an elastic hollow tube, a quarter of an inch in diameter, and two feet and a half in length, having affixed at one extremity a small globe of ivory, with several perforations; the other extremity is adapted, either by a screw or plug, (the latter is preferable,) to an elastic bottle of sufficient size to contain, at least, a quart of liquid, having a stop-cock fitted to it, similar to a hydrocele bottle; or, instead of the bottle, a pewter syringe of an equal capacity, adapted to the flexible tube in the same manner. The operation by the syringe is performed more quickly, and may,perhaps, therefore, by some be preferred. In cases where a surgeon has neither bottle nor syringe, the tube alone might be made to answer the purpose, by the operator applying his mouth to its extremity, and thereby instituting the office of a syphon. In using the instrument, Mr. Jukes places the patient on the left side, and having passed the tube either by the mouth or nostril into the stomach, he injects from the bottle a quart of the water, heated as before mentioned, and withdraws it in the manner above stated. Polytechnic and Scientific Entelligence. GREAT BRITAIN. Surrey Institution. THE lectures for the season began at this Institution on the 1st of November, as announced in a former number: on which day Mr. JENNINGS delivered a long and; Mr. Jennings's Lecture at the Surrey Institution. 319 laboured discourse on THE HISTORY AND UTILİTY OF LITERARY INSTITUTIONS, to a crowded and very respectable audience. As the public prints have, during the month, done ample justice to this interesting lecture, we give the outlines of it to our readers, in prefe rence to any disquisition on its merits; and this we are enabled to do by immediate communications from Mr. JENNINGS himself. The Lecture was divided into two sections; namely, HISTORY and UTILITY. Man is the only being upon the earth which has the power of communicating, what has been called, aggre‐ gate existence, thereby imparting his knowledge to his contemporaries and to posterity; hence, he is a PROGRESSIVE BEING. Man is also a being eminently social and imitative: "The sphere for action is the sphere for man." The disposition to impart knowledge seems almost instinctive; but is, nevertheless, in some minds, almost quiescent: imparting the knowledge we have acquired should be, therefore, insisted on as a Duty. Literature is necessary to our effectual happiness: proofs may be found of this truth, in Turkey, Abyssinia, Egypt, Ireland, and Scotland. Literary Institutions ought to embrace the whole circle of useful knowledge: useful knowledge is that which, whether directly or indirectly, contributes to our well-being and happiness: hence, in Literature, much knowledge may be directly amusing only, and yet, indirectly, extremely useful, by giving a proper relaxation, or direction, and tone, to the mind. The most ancient book is the Bible; it deserves our marked and respectful attention, even as a specimen of the earliest literature. The Jews had their historians, their chroniclers, their prophets, and poets. The Egyptians made also, in an early period of the world, great progress in some of the sciences; but it was reserved for Greece, under the auspices of Plato and other sages, to evince the progress which philosophy and literature had made. It was in Greece that academies were first instituted. Rome followed the example of Greece, in establishing academies and lyceums. To the declension of the literature of Greece and Rome, succeeded a long night of gothic and monkish ignorance, without mind and without knowledge. The scarcity of books, and their dearness, in the dark ages, is almost incredible. The Literary Institutions of the present day, the cheapest of all the known methods of diffusing knowledge. The art of printing (in the fifteenth century,) assisted in unfolding a series of novel and important dramas. The Italians first established academies. The family of the MEDICI, in the fifteenth century, contributed greatly to the diffusion of a taste for letters. Of the academy of the Lyncei, GALILEO was a member. The Academie Française was established, in France, in 1635. The Royal Academy of Sciences, in 1666. FONTENELLE was secretary to this Academy forty-two years. The Institute of France was established in 1795. After noticing the Royal Spanish Academy, instituted in 1713, and the Athenæum, in 1820, a brief view of the chief Literary Institutions of this country was given. The Universities obtained only a passing notice; the Royal Society, the Royal Academy of Painting, and the Society of Arts, were also briefly mentioned; but our INSTITUTIONS, emphatically so called, demanded and obtained more minute detail. The Literary Institutions of Liverpool required par |