The public should be warned against the advertisements of charlatans who take advantage of the desperate mental condition of syphilitic patients. The dangers of faulty diagnosis, and of unscientific and inadequate treat ment, are very grave. Persons suffering from venereal disease should avoid reading popular, and even supposedly scientific medical books. Misconcep tions usually result ; and many a fairly harmless disease is aggravated by imaginary fear and the resultant mental depression.
VENTRILOQUISM.—The art of speaking in such a manner that the sounds seem to come from some person other than the speaker. By strongly compressing the vocal cords, by bringing the epiglottis down over the opening to the larynx, and by moving the lips so slightly as to be almost imperceptible, adepts in this art are able to simulate voices which apparently come from a distance. Long ago the belief was current that the voice actually pro ceeded from the interior of the abdomen ; and it was popularly supposed that a demon which inhabited the abdominal cavity gave vent to the sounds. Hence the name : ventri, " belly," /ocutio, " speaking." The average itinerant ventriloquist, as a rule, merely changes his voice by altering the character of its pitch, at the same time directing the attention of his audience to some puppets which he manipulates, thereby aiding the illusion. The true ventriloquist, however, needs no accessories. He can apparently cause a strange voice to proceed from some other part of the room, from the street, or from the cellar. The art of ventriloquism may be mastered by taking respiratory exercises. One must inhale deeply, allow the breath to escape very slowly, and control it with the laryngeal muscles and with the muscles of the palate, moving the lips as little as possible.
VERATRUM.—The American green hellebore, or swamp-hellebore (Veratrum viride). The rhizome and rootlets arc utilised in medicine, as they contain a number of powerful alkaloids, the two most important of which are jervine and veratroidine. These two alkaloids have quite distinct actions on the body. The most noticeable effect from a moderate dose, and that for which the drug is usually employed, is a slowing and softening of the pulse. Both alkaloids contribute to this result, the jervine acting on the heart itself, and indirectly on the blood-vessels, while the veratroidine acts on the nervous mechanism controlling the heart. The lowering of the arterial pressure is usually accompanied by more or less sweating, and by a reduction of temperature. After a large dose the pulse finally becomes weak and rapid, and there is marked muscular prostration, incessant retching and vomiting, faintness and vertigo, perhaps going on to unconsciousness and death. Water should be given freely until the patient's stomach is thoroughly washed out. His head should be kept low, and he should be stimulated. External heat should be applied. \Teratrum viride is used when it is desired to lessen the blood-pressure, as in the early stages of pneumonia, pleurisy, and in apoplexy. It is sometimes given in uremia and eclampsia, and in some forms of heart-disease when the heart is acting too vigorously. The tincture is given in doses of 5 to 20 drops