Nor can it be supposed that, although obedient to the previous directions, the vast mass of fat existing in the body of an obese person will disappear in the course of a few hours. They who are exceedingly anxious to get rid of it speedily, whether for appearance sake, or because it is productive of inconvenience, infirmity or ill-health, must make use, at the same time, of those medicinal agents which help its removal. Among substances having an affinity for fat, the alkalis hold a prominent position; and these, when administered in the usual medicinal doses, are productive of no inconvenience, but increase rather than lessen the appetite, and aid the removal of fat. Soap pills have been in vogue for centuries, for the cure of portal obstruction. Vichy water is also recommended. The free alkali contained in the soap pills and in vichy water, is the active agent in such cases. Many persons are known to have grown thin while using Vichy water; and, on the other hand, many thin persons have resumed their natural _embonpoint_ under its use. An emaciated patient, suffering from liver disease, will regain his normal weight, on recovery from the disease, whether using Vichy water or not. Cullen, in his Elements of the Practice of Physic, mentions a Dr. Fleming, who had sometimes succeeded in reducing obesity by the use of soap pills; and the author himself recommends, for the same purpose, abstinence, together with the use of alkalis, that is, to eat as little as possible of the least nutritive food, such as vegetables, and to drink water. The author states, as the result of his observation, that fat persons must not be bled; that loss of blood only weakens the system, and favors an increase of obesity. Another author speaks of the value of alkaline baths in the treatment of the obese. Under the head of "Obesity," in the Dictionary of Medicine and Practical Surgery, we find the following:--"Our colleague, Dr. Melier, has witnessed the speedy reduction of great obesity in a lady, under the use of bicarbonate of soda and soda water, which had been prescribed with another object in view. If this effect should prove constant, we might be inclined to agree with him, that alkaline substances are capable of inducing saponification of fat in the living body, and that the resulting compound, being more soluble, is more readily absorbed. Whatever may be the explanation, it would be well to repeat the experiment, and we shall endeavour to do so upon the first opportunity."