Poor girl! she is about to have, if she have it not already, a stealthy and hitherto almost painless disease; stealthy, because it is so far a comparatively painless malady. Deep in the loins there has been the smouldering fire of disease, which is to result in what is called "Lumbar abscess." This grievous malady, which in _many instances_ begins not less insidiously than I have mentioned, is found on inquiry not to have been _wholly_ without some of those premonitory signs which, in obedience to the beneficent laws of the animal economy, almost invariably precede even the most insidious malady. Inquiry generally elicits that, however little complained of, there has been at times more or less of uneasiness, if not pain, felt in the loins; that it has not been so much lately; but that it has become less in force or frequency, since the appearance of some swelling, which may be in the loins, or some other part, lower or more or less distant. It is a malady very commonly connected with diseased spine, but frequently without any such complication; and it is curious that Mr. Abernethy at first met with as many as, I think, eight cases in succession, which were not complicated with any disease of the spine. Under any circumstances, it is a serious malady, and usually, when the collection bursts, or is opened, severe constitutional symptoms supervene, which, though not without exceptions, gradually usher in what Armstrong calls "The slow minings of the hectic fire," and destroy the patient. Now, Mr. Abernethy's plan was intended to prevent this last and dreaded issue. The chief points of excellence in his recommendations are— First, the emphatic recognition of the constitutional origin and nature of the malady; Secondly, the consequent necessity of a greater attention to the general health of the patient; And lastly, if it could not be dispersed, to relieve the interior of its contents, so that its extensive surface should never be exposed. The mode of proceeding was extremely simple, and there is no doubt that a great many lives have been saved by the practice thus recommended. I have heard, however, that some surgeons think the merits of the plan overrated, which I can only suppose explicable on the ground that it has been imperfectly followed out; and I am the more disposed to this view, because nothing can be more _entirely opposed_ to Mr. Abernethy's principles and intentions, than the treatment of many cases _said to have been treated_ after Mr. Abernethy's plan.