Volume Eleven - Pre-Victorian to the Present Day - some more aspects - Random Rants, Notes and Articles No. 1 . . .

1878 - Patent - Jacob Scott Matthews, Penarth. ‘‘ Improvements in apparatus for manoeuvring ships.’’ - Monthly List of Patents—Communicated by Messrs. Wm. P. Thompson & Co., British and International Patent and Trademark Agents and Consulting Engineers, 6, Lord Street, Liverpool. - 'To facilitate the turning or manoeuvring of steamships, a transverse propeller is employed at the bow of the vessel, and can at pleasure be rotated in either direction by means of the main engines and without reversing. A spindle carrying a pulley from which the transverse propeller is driven by a strap carries a bevel wheel at its lower end, which can be thrown in or out of gear with one or other of the pinions on the main shaft of the engines.' - The Nautical Magazine [240] [684] January 1878 Volume 4.

1888 - Tetanus Successfully Treated with Strophanthus - William W. - aged twenty-three, ballast man at the Penarth Docks, came under my care on Feb. 18th, 1888, suffering from severe burning pains between the shoulders, extending down the spine. Abdomen rigid ; spasms of body, chest, arms, thighs, and legs ; jaws locked ; countenance anxious ; face and mouth contracted ; pulse quick and wiry ; temperature (108°). He was in appearance a well-developed man ; height 5ft. 8in.

He stated that about three weeks previously he had the nail of the little finger of the left hand torn when at work, from which he suffered severe pain, and believes that it was frost-bitten while following his employment (the cause of his illness).

Being constipated, I gave him a full dose of white mixture, which he had great difficulty in taking on account of the locked state of his jaw. I also prescribed a mixture containing large doses of bromide of potash and hyoscyamus, to be taken every hour for some days ; and ordered liniments and poultices to be applied to the spine, abdomen, legs, and feet. The urine was dark and scanty, without any deposit.

Beef-tea, mutton broth, milk-and-water, and lemonade were given often, as only very small quantities could be taken at a time. No improvement taking place, I was determined to give strophanthus a trial, and for this purpose employed tabloids containing two minims in each ; one was given every three hours, it being with difficulty placed in his mouth, and cold water was taken after each tabloid.