For some years past I have been acquainted with a remedy that antidotes the effect of alcohol very prettily, as I will show. I enter upon the subject in this place, because it deserves to be widely known, and also because in the treatment of gout, the alcoholism not infrequently bars the way. The remedy I refer to is the distilled spirit of acorns--_Spiritus glandium quercus_. My first account will be found in my "Diseases of the Spleen," where _Spiritus glandium quercus_ is dealt with as a spleen medicine. I speak of set purpose of the homoeopathic antidote, because alcoholism is a disease, and as such must be met by specific medication. Some of Rademacher's patients complained to him that while taking his acorn medicine they felt in their heads somewhat as if they were drunk; but as Rademacher did not believe in the law of similars--indeed, knew but little about it--their complaint had no ulterior significance to him, but still it struck him as worthy of record. "A few, but not many, of those who take it immediately feel a peculiar sensation in the head, which they say is like they feel when they are drunk, the sensation lasting only a minute or two." Now, in the light of the homoeopathic law, this symptom is eminently suggestive, but whether any one beside myself has ever noticed this symptom I am not aware. Rademacher had previously related the following brilliant cure. * * * He says that in order to get a clear idea of the action of the remedy he caused to be prepared a tincture of acorns, of which he gave a teaspoonful in water five times a day to an almost moribund brandy toper, who had long been suffering from a spleen affection that at times caused him a good deal of pain, and who, at the time in question, had severe ascites and whose lower extremities were dropsical up as far as the knees. Our author was of opinion that the affection was a primary disease of the spleen, and reasoned that if the tincture of acorns cured the spleen the kidneys would duly resume work and the ascitic and anasarcous state would disappear. He soon found he was right; patient at once began to pass more urine, but he complained that every time he took a dose of the medicine he got a constriction about the chest, and this Rademacher ascribed to the astringent quality of the acorns, and to avoid this he had the tincture of acorns distilled. The administration of this distilled preparation was not followed by any unpleasant symptom, and the quantity of urine passed increased still more, the tension on the præcordia slowly lessened and this inveterate drunkard got quite well, much to the amazement of everybody, Rademacher included, for he did not at all expect him to recover.