In the chapter on the mulberry, or oxalate of lime diathesis, Dr. PROUT gives a number of cases, from which he draws the following conclusions: "1st. That this form of disease occurs in both sexes; that it may exist before puberty, and at all ages between that and 40 or 50, at which time it seems to occur most frequently; but that no case occurs beyond the age of sixty. Hence that it is probably not a disease of old age. "2nd. That it is not incompatible with gout, but seems occasionally to be associated with it. I have also seen it connected, as lithic acid frequently is, with a tendency to cutaneous disease. "3d. That this variety of calculous affection occurs in individuals of sound constitutions, and who ordinarily enjoy good health; and that it rarely occurs a second time, except at long intervals, during which the intermediate health is good; which latter facts, it may be proper to observe, are confirmed by other observers, and particularly by Mr. BRANDE and Dr. MARCET. "4th. That the urine is acid, and apparently but slightly deranged in this form of calculus, and remarkably free from all sorts of sediment and gravel. "5th. That as renal calculi of the oxalate of lime often subsequently acquire considerable magnitude in the bladder, it may be inferred, that the formation of this compound is connected with a distinct diathesis, excluding the existence of other diatheses, and that is not an accidental occurrence, happening in common with many others to the urine. "6th. That from the dissection of calculi, formerly mentioned, it appears that the oxalate of lime diathesis is preceded and followed by the lithic acid diathesis; a circumstance which seems to be peculiar to these two forms of deposite, and which, when taken in conjunction with the other circumstances, already related, appears to show, that they are of the same general nature; or in other words, that the oxalic acid merely takes place as it were of the lithic acid, and by combining with the lime naturally existing in the urine, forms the concretion in question. "7th. That the diathesis being of a similar nature, the principles of treatment adapted for counteracting the original tendency to it must be also similar, that is to say, of an antiphlogistic character; great attention being at the same time paid to the digestive and assimilative functions." p. 137, et seq. The diagnostic signs of the oxalate of lime diathesis are very obscure, as will appear from the following extract: