Pennsylvania, it was found that marked weakness, stupor, and lowering of bodily temperature were produced by poisonous doses. On the nervous system colchiceine decreases reflex activity, not by depressing the sensory nerves, as does its sister alkaloid, colchiceine, but by acting upon the motor nerve-trunks. When 10 milligrammes (grain) of the drug were injected into the jugular vein of a dog weighing 13 pounds (6 kilos) there was produced a slight slowing of the pulse, probably due to stimulus of the peripheral ends of the vagus nerve, as was proved by the fact that the previous administration of large doses of atropine prevented the colchiceine from decreasing the cardiac rate.

As

colchiceine is a substance which is difficult of preparation, and is frequently impure, the following cuts of the crystals under the microscope, as obtained by Marshall for Ferrer, are of very considerable interest.

15

Cold Packs.-Blagovêshchenski has studied the effects of general cold packs on healthy persons. He found that they produce increased nitrogenous metabolism, increased assimilation of nitrogen, increased loss by the skin, and that they diminish the quantity of nitrogen retained in the body. They slow the pulse and respiration and raise the arterial pressure and lower the temperature. Lastly, they increase the appetite and cause the patient

Packs; Coffee

Coronillin; Creolin

to sleep well, giving him increased strength, and making him feel as if he were enjoying particularly good health.

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Mar.

Coffee. That this drug, so commonly used in every-day life, is capable of producing serious symptoms, has been proved during the past year by an instance in which a strong and vigorous man employed 2 cupfuls, or about 25 ounces, of the ground berries in a strong infusion. Two hours and a half after drinking the liquid, dizziness came on, followed by severe cardiac pains and tremors, at first localized, afterward distributed over the entire body; at the same time there was great flushing of the face, palpitation of the heart, nausea, and vomiting. Six hours afterward the tremors were still intense, especially in the face and hands, the muscles of the mouth being so involved that speech was difficult. The face was deeply suffused and the forehead covered with sweat. Although there was much pain over the heart the heart-sounds were normal and the pulse was at 100 and very full and bounding. Micturition was very frequent and profuse. The treatment consisted in the administration of 6 drachms of bromide of potash in two doses, which produced sleep and complete convalescence in three days.

Coronillin. This is a new alkaloid whose physiological action seems to be chiefly expended upon the heart, and which has been studied by Gley and Schlagdenhauffen, who have reached the så17 3, following results: In a dose of 0.005 gramme (grain) it acts identically with digitalis upon the heart of a frog. Upon the dog which was chosen to represent the mammalia, it first accelerated and afterward slackened the pulse. As this slackening of the pulse was found to be completely set aside by previous section of the vagi nerves, and by the previous administration of large doses of atropine, it of necessity follows that the effect of the drug must be exercised through the inhibitory centres in the medulla. Upon arterial pressure it was found to produce a marked increase, but, after the dose, there was finally a persistent fall. In exactly the same way as digitalis produces low arterial pressure by preventing the heart from expanding sufficiently to expel any quantity of blood, coronillin would seem to affect the circulation.

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Nos. 257,258,88

Creolin.-Sirena and Alessi have carried out some experiments with creolin to determine its action upon the comma bacillus of Koch, and in consequence report the drug as being of

great value in cholera. They found that an addition of from 8 to 10 drops of a 3-per-cent. aqueous solution of creolin is sufficient to completely sterilize a pure culture in broth. Again, that 1 to 4 drops of the same solution added to 90 drops of the infected broth will prevent the development of the germ, and, while 1 to 3 drops of the solution retard the development of the microbes, 4 or more prevent it entirely. One of the most important conclusions reached by these investigators is that, as solutions of creolin are apt to lose their efficacy, fresh solutions should be used whenever a decided effect is desired.

Apr.

Creasote. The question as to whether the antidotes consisting of the soluble sulphates, which are so efficacious in carbolic acid poisoning, would be equally effective in poisoning by creasote, derived from beech-wood, has been studied by me 112 during the past year. It will be remembered that these substances unite with carbolic acid, forming sulphocarbolates which are virtually innocuous. In these experiments it was found that animals receiving very large poisonous doses of creasote could invariably be saved if soluble sulphates in sufficient quantity were administered.

15

Nov.

Enemata.-Aristoff has experimented on healthy individuals by administering enemata of about of a quart (.75 litre) of warm water, and determining the amount of nitrogenous assimilation before and during the treatment. He found that the assimilation was increased except in cases where the subject was suffering from constipation, under which circumstances it was diminished.

Lazarevich has investigated the effects of copious cold enemata, employing as the subjects of his experiments 10 healthy persons, 17 patients suffering from chronic disease, and 15 patients with acute affections. The subject was kept in bed for at least four hours before the enema, and numerous observations made of the temperature in different situations, of the blood-pressure by Basch's sphygmomanometer, and of the pulse and respirations, both before and after the enema. This was administered by a long rectal tube, the temperature of the injected water varying in different cases from 20° C. (68° F.) to 5° C. (41° F.). The general results obtained were, that the temperature was lowered, and did not usually attain its former height until about half an hour after the enema had been evacuated. There was also found to be a marked decrease in the blood-pressure, occurring at the time of injection, and

persisting till about half an hour after the evacuation. The pulse and respiration were slowed, and they had not usually regained their original rate half an hour after the enema had been evacuated.

Jan. 15

Eschscholtzia Californica.-This plant grows largely in the State of California, and possesses certain sedative properties. Chemical analysis by Ter-Zakariantz shows that it contains a basic substance giving all the reactions of morphia. In a series of experiments upon animals it was found that the alcoholic extract causes general prostration, stupor, accelerated respiration, and slow heart-beat. When administered to patients the results obtained were identical with those produced by morphine, but no inconvenience was complained of even when it was administered for so long a period as sixteen consecutive days. It was noted that, while the sedative effects were not particularly strong, the drug continued in force for a considerable time after its administration ceased. The dose for a human being is 40 to 160 grains (2.5 to 10 grammes) a day in mixture, syrup, or pill of the alcoholic extract.

Apr.

Ether. The statement of Kratschmer, that the arrest of respiration in the early stages of ether anæsthesia depends upon the local irritant action upon the peripheral filaments of the trigeminal nerve in the upper air-passages, has been contradicted by me during the past year. 112 In a series of investigations it was found that the same arrest occurs if ether be held over an opening in the trachea, the trigeminal nerve being carefully protected from the action of the fumes. Kratschmer is undoubtedly correct in supposing that a trigeminal irritation and consequent reflex spasm of the glottis is one cause of the arrest of breathing, but it cannot be due entirely to this cause. A large factor, which is constantly present, consists in irritation of the sensory filaments of the vagus nerve.

Exalgine, or Methylacetanilide.-Exalgine, or methylacetanilide, is an aromatic toxic derivative, capable of acting energetically upon sensibility and the motor nerve-system, and later upon the respiratory and circulatory system. In toxic doses it acts upon the blood-globules like all poisons of the same class, and diminishes the energy of the gaseous changes therein. Gaudineau states that it kills in doses of 45 centigrammes (7 grains) per kilogramme (2 pounds) of weight of the animal; the equivalent toxic power is therefore very high. In mortally toxic doses, the

67

Sept.15

animal exhibits violent convulsions and insensibility; it dies quickly from asphyxia. In toxic, not mortal, doses, 20 centigrammes (3 grains) per kilogramme, convulsion phenomena are observed. The temperature is not reduced except when administered in small repeated doses during several hours. With feverish patients, to which the remedy has been administered, more accentuated troubles have been observed. It acts first upon the sensibility; its action upon thermogenesis comes later on and is accessory.

Glycerin. According to the clinical researches of Pavy, glycerin increases the polyuria of diabetes almost one-half, and for this reason he thinks it is not to be employed in this class of cases as a substitute for sugar. Again, the experiments of Luchsinger and Weiss have seemed to show that the administration of this substance increases the amount of glycogen in the liver to a very considerable extent; while, on the other hand, the researches of Eckhard and Luchsinger have also proved that glycerin very frequently tends to prevent glycosuria when brought about by puncture of the so-called diabetic centre in the floor of the fourth ventricle, if the drug be given hypodermically. Luchsinger, therefore, believes that while glycerin might increase the amount of glycogen, it also prevents its transformation into sugar by inhibiting the amylolytic action of the hepatic ferment. Eckhard believes that the hypodermic injection of glycerin produces such radical changes in the blood and general system that no conclusion can be made of the proper influence exerted by it. In an exceedingly useful and interesting paper, both from a physiological and clinical stand-point, Ransom, v of London, has recently gone over this work in a satisfactory manner, and has tried, with considerable success, to unravel the somewhat complex function of the part, as well as the equally complex opposing statements of investigators. He points out that one element of fallacy in all these experiments is the fact that glycerin, when given hypodermically, must reach the liver so slowly and in such a diffused state as to be almost powerless, and, in consequence, he introduced the glycerin into the alimentary canal. All the experiments seem to have been made in a most painstaking and careful manner, and, as we have not space for their detail, we must pass them by in order to reach the results attained. They are as follow: 1. Certain forms of glycosuria may be checked by glycerin. 2. Glycerin acts more efficiently

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