Caustics are, in fact, the weapon of the quack, and although they may have a legitimate sphere in surgery, it is very limited; zinc chloride, for instance, has occasionally been used in a strong solution or paste as a caustic under special circumstances. Although portions of a tumour may be removed by caustic application, it is impossible to eradicate the whole in this way, as the cancerous process is extending into adjacent parts. The formula of the quack—“cancer treated without the knife”—appeals with great force to the public who do not know the terrible long-drawn-out agony which those treated with caustics have to undergo. Of this a vivid description was given by a well-known naturalist, the father of a distinguished man of letters, in a little book in which he related the suffering of his own wife; she was treated by an American cancer-curer by caustics. The process of “cure” lasted several months, and the result may be summed up in the statement that “suffering never ceased from the beginning of the operation till her spirit was freed from the worn-out body.” CHAPTER XIII. REMEDIES FOR EPILEPSY. The nostrums which appear to be most advertised at the present time for the treatment of epilepsy afford a good example of the fact which has been previously pointed out that in some instances the vendors of secret preparations make use of drugs in common use by the medical profession for the treatment of some particular disorder; this is, of course, only possible when the symptoms are well-marked and easily recognised. As will be seen from the analyses given below of a number of nostrums advertised as remedies for epilepsy it was found that all, with one exception, contained bromide salts, that is to say, a drug the effect of which is described and discussed in every medical work dealing with the disease; nevertheless, the advertisers endeavour to lead the purchaser to believe that the preparations possess peculiar virtues unknown to the medical profession. The exceptional preparation contains vervain (_Verbena officinalis_) which held a place in the old pharmacopœias and herbals, chiefly as an astringent application to wounds or as a lotion for sore mouth. Dodoens (1572) says it is good for headache applied as a plaster, while Gerarde (1633) mentions its use as a garland round the head for the same condition, but he disapproves of the many old wives’ tales told regarding it which tend to sorcery, and are such as honest ears abhor to hear; indeed, he hints that some assert that the “divell did reveal it as a secret and divine medicine.” According to Pliny, vervain was gathered by the Druids of Gaul and Britain at the rising of the Dog Star, when neither sun nor moon shone, with the left hand only, and after libations of honey. When thus obtained it was said to vanquish fevers and other distempers, to be an antidote to the bite of serpents, and a charm to conciliate friendship. Paris speaks of it as in his own time the