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    m&O . - . THiE X . EA 01 EK . [ No . 295 , Saturday ,

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    M'CORMAC ON CONSUMPTION . On the Nature , Treatment , and Prevention of Pulmonary Consumption , and ineitlentally of Scrofula , with a demonstration of the cause of the disease . By Henty M'Cormac , M . D . Longman and Co . Rhvieweks are supposed to be omniscient ; but we assure the reader th a ' such a supposition is not correct . Reviewers are mortal men , mortal !! ignorant . Authoritative " We " often wants a basis for authority ,- the " ablest editors " are frequently condemned to speak of matters about wMct they really have not a very profound knowledge : to judge strategetical movements , having never seen a battle-field ; to decide upon diplomatic schemes , having never seen a protocol ; and to review books of travels , having never travelled beyond Bow-bells .

    This reflection is forced upon us many times during the season , and arises orce more at the sight of Dr . M'Cormac ' s Treatise on Consumption . The book is too interesting to be pushed aside ; yet if we review it , we pretend to knowledge—we who never saw a tubercle , and never wrote a prescription A confession of ignorance may derogate from our dignity , but it will explain why our review will be a report , and not a criticism . Dr . M'Cormac believes that he has discovered the true cause of consumption , and that it is not , as usually believed , an hereditary diathesis ( or taint ) but arises from a vice in the respiratory process . The reader will , doubtless , stare at this statement of consumption not being hereditary . Let him hear Pr M'Cormae : —

    Louis states thnt ho could only ascertain that one in ten was born of parents , cither father or mother , who died of phthisis . If wo consider , however , the very great frequency of phthisis , it will not appear that these ratios , even the first , arc very striking ' It by no means - " ollowa because a pnrent dies of phthisis , that his or her oflspring must necessarily contract it . Neither does it necessarily fullow when the offspring of a p hthisical individual are attacked with phthisis , that even hero the phthisical tendency vfW hcouittiry . At this very moment , 1 am acquainted with several individuals in the » P " parent , and I bolievo real , enjoyment of absolute health , whoso parent * on botli sife died of phthisis ! And wo all know how many there arc who die of phthisis , none of whoso parents over laboured under it . Tubercle is very seldom indeed discovered in the now-born , so rarely indeed , that although tubercles " have been , by tliflVjrciit observers , difccove vcl in tho foetus , the occurrence mav bo practically regarded as non-oxlstant

    Andral has supposed that there may bo an hereditary tendency , that tho tuberc ulous cachexy may be inherited , but unless tho same caUMO which produced phthisis in t ™ purer ; , also bo at work iii tho ollttprlntf , bo neither will tho latter evince tho diooflse , Ou terin parilius , it might seem reasonable to conclude that tho children of consump tive or scrofulous pnrents should bo oftoner a fleeted with phthisis than other * . Chlltl rei ) , however , as a general rule , aro not born tuberculous , and although instance- ;! of incipM " congenital tubercle lmvo been pointed out by LangstulF , llusHon , Dupuy , I ' npnvol'W , lUiiz , and others , I will distinctly undertake to assert , that unless in the very rare in * fitaiico of beuig born tuberculous , and oven hero tho result is ante partum not poat pM " turn , children will not become ho unless through tho operation of some e . v- 'ilinff c . iuso , and very especially tho immediate efficient cause , which must , V'j * ' " out exception , in every instance concur , if it bo not , as I bolievo it to b » i '

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    instead of embtingi in aBrahminical spirit , statutes craftily devised to separate class &om class , simply methodise .. the suggestions of experience , and leave the community to take its own way to fortune . Mr . Oliphant penetrated to this farthest of the Far West across Lake Superior . Though land was on no side visible , he . was there , steaming over What seemed a sea , fifteen hundred miles from the ocean , and bound on a Voyage -of four hundred more . IJpon the shore at Masquette iron mines were recently discovered . Immediately private enterprise fixed upon the spot , works were opened , and a trade began to circulate through the district . At the western extremity of the lake—Fond du Lac—the River St . Louis debouches , with the City of Superior near its mouth . At this point Mr . Oliphant began to note the aspects of a country perfectly new to culture and colonization . Solid masses of forest overspread the neighbouring land ; in the " City , " the hotel was a barn , and many of the habitations were mere tents ; yet an acre in this region doubles its value in a year . Superior stands at the head of the Lake Navigation of North America . It will be the entrepot of the states beyond . There is no rival harbour -within ninety miles . The fine river St . Louis is a road prepared to bring down the produce of the western territories . Up this stream Mr . Oliphant proceeded in a canoe , and his narrative which has previously led us through Canada , becomes here romantic and pictorial . On both banks the vegetation drooped over the water in tropical brightness and profusion ; the landscapes were varied and green ; the glimpses of rude life were such as amazed the earliest explorers of America . Among the peculiarities of the region Mr . Oliphant describes the following : As nearly as possible in the centre of the continent of North America , and at an elevation of about 1800 feet above the level of the sea , extends a tract of pine-covered table-land about 100 miles square , and which probably contains a greater number of small la ' xes than any other district of the same size in the world . It is called J-es Hauteurs des Terres , and is , in fact , the transverse watershed between the Hudson ' s Bay and the St . Lawrence waters , and those which run into the Gulf of Mexico . In ¦ one of its tiny lakes ( Itasca ) the Mississippi takes its rise , and flows due south . In another close to it the Red River finds its source , and runs north to Lake Winnipeg ; while there are others , not many miles distant in a southerly direction , whose waters have an easterly outlet , and , after a short but rapid course , lose themselves in Lake Superior . He had no . t reached this place in his canoe ; from the St . Louis the frail vessel was carried by the Indians , through immense and dreary woods , to Sandy Lake . The Indian race exists here , as it does not exist in many parts of America , and justifies the poetical description of Fennimore Cooper . Mr . Oliphant shall take the portrait of a forest chief : — He was the most perfect specimen of a Chippeway " brave " that I had yet seen : a magnificent fellow , standing proudly erect under his plume of hawk ' s feathers , that betokened a warrior , who had taken in his day many a Sioux scalp . His red blanket , worked with many devices , was thrown gracefully over his shoulder ; his belt was garnished with tomahawk and scalping-knife , and in his hand he held a handsome y mounted rifle . His feet were encased in richly embroidered moccasins , with fringed leggings reaching to the thigh . Altogether , his costume exhibited a combination of ribbons , feuthers , beads , and paint , which was wonderfully becoming . Near him , in a respectful attitude , stood his attendant , likewise armed to the teeth , and carrying a formidable and curiously-shaped war-club , such as I had never seen before , and a redearth pipe , -with a long fl ; it stem , ornamented with coloured hair . The Winnebagoes preserve their antique customs—not as theatrical exhibitions to justify extortion from the stranger , but in their integrit 3 : — In the centre of the village stood the medicine-pole , decorated as usual with skins and streamers , and near it a long oval bower , which from its position , was probably the medicine-tent , in which are performed those singular rites which Free Masons affirm connect the Winnebagoes to their fraternity . It is certain that there is a societ 3 in the tribe , the secret of which is kept most sacred , and one object of which is to relieve the poor . The members of this society , or medicine-men , are held in very high estimation by the tribe , They enjoy this distinction by virtue of possessing the medicine-stone , which they are supposed to carry in their stomachs . When new members are to be initiated , this stone is vomited up and placed in the medicine-bag , and tho candidates for admission aro struck wit ' i it upon the breast , and , from all accounts , aro thus thrown into a sort of mesmeric sleep , during which they are supposed to learn the mysteries of the society , and on awaking from which they become medicine-men , with the stone in its proper locality . In addition to these " curious ceremonies , they also religiously keep up the scalp and Var dances of their forefathers , and retain their barbarous habits in spite of tho attempts of missionaries and others to civilize and educato them . Why should the missionaries endeavour so sedulously to wean the Indian from his wandering habits and fix him to the soil ? For him the life of the hunter is the wisest , until a civilized people clear the ground , and leave him no arena . In " Minnesota " this process is fast developing itself . On the banks of the Elk river , Mr . Oliphant was surprised to find numerous farm-houses , and fields encroaching on the old hunting grounds of the Sioux : — Great numbers of tho settlers aro who Germans , come penniless to Minnesota , settle r tpon a piece of land , which they improve to the value of fifty dollars a-year , at the « Hne time earning a livelihood for themselves liy obtaining employment in the neighbourhood . When at the end of five years they have thus expended two hundred and fcfty Hollars on their land , tho Government presents them with sixty acre ? , arid they thenceforward sei up as email farmers on their own account . Tho territory is thus becoming rapidly populated b y an industrious and enterprising class , who appreciate tho good policy which haa doviaed ouch liberal and ndvantngeous terms to tho emigrant . A good illustration of the rapidity with which these fnr West settlements grow is supplied by the city of St . Paul . Ita first dwelling-iionao was erected in the autumn of 1847 . There are now , clustering round this youthlul patriarch house , manufactories , shops , newspaper offices , numerous churches , and an university , which was opened in 1851 , and contains a hundred pupil 3 : — i Indeed , Minnesota seems determined to bo in ndvnnce of tho age , for two sections in every township have boon appropriated for tho Bupporl of common schools , no other State having previously obtained moro than one section in each town » liip for such n ; " purpose , - * k— * ' ^ E ^ ° ^ tno ? 6 inal name of tliis locality , but as it grew in extent , fro people increased in pride , and their " little skew dftngular lots , about as

    large as a stingy card of gingerbread , broke in two diagonally , " were known collectively as St . Paul . The first paper proposed wal the Epistle of St . faul ; but the inhabitants objected and insisted on having the Minnesota Pioneer . The editor , in an early number , related that on a raw , cloudy day in April , 1849 , he found himself at the bottom of the cliff—the town being an Underclifif ' ,-with his press , types , and printing apparatus , his ideas and topics , but not a shed for shelter , and not an acquaintance in the neighbourhood . However he put up in a room , " as open as a corn-rick , " and issued a first number . After that he got a lot in what he supposed would be the middle of the town , having " calculated that the two ends would probably unite there , " - and building a dwellinghouse , lived in it through the next year , without having it lathed or plastered . Such was the origin of St . Paul , and such the commencement of the Pioneer , which , in the language of the editor , has " advocated Minnesota , morality , and religion , from the beginning . ' * . In this far west town , not more than five years old , there are four daily four weekly , and two tri-weekly journals , all advocating " Minnesota , morality and religion , " and outstripping in number Manchester and Liverpool together . There are four hotels , at least twelve handsome churches , a population of about eight thousand souls , and " an academy of the highest grade for young ladies . " Of course , this spirited city is praised by the citizens as" The prettiest country lying wild that the world can boast of , got up -with the greatest care and effort by old dame Nature ten thousand years or more ago , and -which she has been improving ever since . " Thence and you may ride , says Mr . Bond of Minnesota , — " Across rolling prairies of rich luxuriance , sloping away in the wide blue dreamylooking basin of the Minnesota , the loveliest view of broad fair voluptuous Nature , in all her unconcealed beauty , that ever flashed upon mortal vision , to Henderson . " Colonel Brown , who " looked like a full cross between a gridiron and a steel-trap , " gave Mr . Oliphant a lecture . What have we to say to it ? Wai , you Britishers air ' cute—you go on the high moral ticket . You call annexation robbery and territorial aggression ; but there ain ' t a power in creation that's swallowed more of other people's country without choking than you have when nobody -was looking perticler . And now you're a-going to fight civilization , by protecting the most barbarous power in Europe , and for liberty , by allying yourself with a French despot and a Mahommetan tyrant ; but chaw n ? e , if liberty ain ' t along sight better off in the hands of that old ' possum Nicholas than such mealy-mouthed hypocrites . You understand stabbing great principles in the dark . —you do ! Liberty ' s all bunkum with you . If it ain't , what do you go cringing and scraping to all the despots in Europe for , when you could raise the hull continent in the cause of freedom if you had a mind to ? \ Vhj don ' t you choke off your privileged classes , and sot your oppressed white niggers free , and give back the black niggers in the Indies the country you ' ve robbed ' em of , instead of screeching at us , and comimg over here with your long faces , and almighty jaw , and unremittin lies , about slavery and Cuba ? There ' s no sin in creation your no-souled , canting , bellows-winded Parliament won ' t commit , if they can make a darned cent by it-There is a great mass of valuable information in Mr . Oliphant ' s boot ) set forth in a most varied and entertaining style .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 17, 1855, page 1110, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2115/page/18/