THERAPEUTICAL RECORD.

Digital Compression successfully employed in a Case of White Swelling.-The success of digital compression of the principal artery in limbs attacked with inflammation has suggested to Dr. Giachich the idea of adopting this plan in order to allay some very acute pains produced spontaneously in the knee affected with white swelling. At the end of a quarter of an hour, during which the femoral artery was compressed, the patient ceased to suffer. This rapid improvement induced the physician to continue the experiment, and for twenty days this plan was adopted night and morning, the result being that the patient became enabled to move the joint, which had up to that time been entirely motionless.

Powder for Chronic Coryza.†-M. Mounerat has for some time observed that subnitrate of bismuth might be employed with advantage as a local application in the acute stage of coryza. When the affection has become chronic, it no longer yields to the bismuth salt employed alone. In such cases, Dr. Sobrier states that he has found it useful to add the iodide of sulphur. His formula consists of four grammes of subnitrate of bismuth, eight grammes of powdered liquorice, and thirty centigrammes of iodide of sulphur. He prescribes ten or twelve pinches or more during the day, according to the results obtained.

Formula for the Eau Saint Jean, a topical resolvent application.-The name of Eau Saint Jean has been given to an old preparation used as a local application in cases of traumatic lesions, with or without division of tissues. MM. Corbet and Rouget, after having tried this application on a great number of patients, consider it to be much superior in its effects to the other liquids prescribed in the same circumstances, such as aromatic wine, Goulard water, camphorated spirit, &c. The following formula for the Eau Saint Jean is given in the Swiss Echo Médical:'-Sulphate of zinc three grammes, sulphate of copper one gramme, dissolved in a quart of water; then twenty-five centigrammes of saffron are to be added, together with fifty centigrammes of camphor dissolved in alcohol. The ingredients are to be left to macerate for fortyeight hours, then filtered and preserved in a close vessel for external use. This preparation is employed in lotions and fomentations, either pure or combined with water. It diminishes suppuration, masks or destroys the fetor of contused wounds, and is very serviceable in the treatment of sprains, dislocations, and fractures. To the other advantages of this liquid must be added its extreme cheapness, which must especially recommend it in the treatment of the poor.

On the Use of Garlic and Lemon-juice in Cases of Membranous Angina.§-Dr. Cazin, of Boulogne-sur-Mer, gives an instance of membranous angina (diph theria) successfully treated by garlic. The patient was a young lady, aged fifteen, who presented an extreme degree of swelling of the throat; the whole of the pharynx was covered with a membranous exudation, which was only partially diminished by caustic; the nasal fosse were affected and poured out an abundant secretion (a symptom always considered unfavourable in the Boulogne epidemic), the pulse was small, the anxiety very great, and the strength was almost exhausted. The citro-alliaceous wash, and draughts of

* Giornale Veneto, Dec. 1858, + Ibid.

† Bull. Gén. de Thérap., Oct. 30th, 1858.

§ Ibid.

the same kind, were immediately prescribed. From the first day of this treatment there was a marked improvement, the pulse became stronger, the local symptoms were relieved, the membranous exudations were gradually detached, the swelling of the neck was reduced, the throat and nasal fossæ became free, and convalescence was established at the end of five days.

On the Treatment of Croup (Tracheal Diphtheria) by large and rapidly repeated doses of Tartar Emetic.*-The epidemic of croup still continuing its ravages in Paris, a variety of measures are employed to subdue this terrible disease, and M. Bouchut relates the history of three cases in the Hôpital Sainte Eugénie, where emetics were given with success. In all these cases the emetic was administered in the following form :-Gum water 100 grammes, syrup of poppies fifteen grammes, tartarized antimony fifty to seventy-five centigrammes. Half a tablespoonful to be given every hour. After relating the details of these cases, the reporter comes to the conclusion that the cure was unquestionably due in each instance to the use of the tartarized antimony. But it is not enough to prescribe the emetic in the dose of five to ten centigrammes, as is usually done; the salt should produce a powerful dynamic shock, often repeated. For this purpose it is necessary to give it at first in the dose of fifty centigrammes to one gramine (a gramme is about fifteen grains troy) with a little syrup of poppies, and to repeat it every half hour in teaspoonfuls; by this plan the children vomit frequently, and thus have a chance of recovering. If, on the contrary, the tartar emetic is digested, there is superpurgation, and the salt only throws the patient into a state of dangerous prostration. To these remarks it may be added, that in one of the cases related, the nurse in the ward seeing a fit of suffocation ensue, and which she supposed to be due (as it really was) to the presence of a laryngeal false membrane, doubled the dose of the tartar emetic at this critical period, and made the patient also swallow two glasses of tepid water. Under the influence of this prompt measure, the child made a violent effort, and threw up a mem branous tube of the length of about two inches.

On a Method of Preserving Sulphate of Iron.t-To preserve the crystallized protosulphate of iron from superoxidation and transformation into persulphate, M. Hoorn advises the following process:-The salt is dissolved in a small quantity of water, is slightly warmed, and stirred until the complete cooling of the liquid. The crystals are then collected and dried rapidly at the ordinary temperature, or the crystalline powder thus obtained is compressed at different interval between folds of blotting-paper, and then placed in a vessel hermetically closed and filled up to the neck. M. Haakman points out another method which succeeds in preserving the protosulphate of iron for an indefinite time without alteration; this consists in placing the crystals in alcohol of medium density, and when they are required for use, it is sufficient to wipe them with a cloth and press them between folds of blotting paper.

On the Combination of Iodine with the Extractive Principle of Plants.—It is generally considered necessary to make use of an excipient containing tannin when it is desirable to make iodine enter into any preparation. But some recent researches have proved to M. Chaix that all vegetable substances possess the singular property of assimilating iodine, and forming a true combination with this metalloid. If this observation should prove to be correct, the practitioner would not need to inquire, when choosing vegetable extracts, whether they do or do not contain tannin, but would merely prescribe those

L'Union Médicale, April 5th, 1859.

Bulletin Général de Thérapeutique, March 30th, 1859.

Ibid.

which are the best indicated by the nature of the disease. M. Chaix has published some formula for iodine preparations in the 'Gazette Médicale' of Lyons, as syrup of iodized Curaçoa, iodized syrup of walnut-leaves, &c., and he states that syrup of iodized hop, of iodized gentian, of iodized quina, and of iodized sarsaparilla may be prepared in the same manner.

Treatment of Nervous Headache by Hydrochlorate of Ammonia.*-Hydrochlorate of ammonia has been lately recommended by some English physicians in certain cases of headache and obstinate neuralgia, and Dr. Barrallier, physician of the navy at Toulon, has made some observations confirming the beneficial effects of this salt in some of the painful affections of the head. He met with varying success, however, some of the cases seeming not to be amenable to the treatment. The conclusions he has drawn are:-1. That the mixture containing hydrochlorate of ammonia almost constantly dissipates the fits of idiopathic headache, and of that which is consecutive to an unusually abundant menstruation. 2. That it is powerless in relieving fits of hemicrania dependent on irregularity or suppression of menstruation. 3. That its use has been attended with pretty good results in cases of cranial pain dependent on functional derangement of the stomach, and also in accidental nervous headache. 4. That it has relieved headaches consecutive upon reiterated attacks of intermittent fever, such as are observed at the decline of severe fevers, and in the course of the period of irritation of typhus. 5. That its action is not remarkable, except when it is given at the period when the pain is most intense.

BOOKS RECEIVED FOR REVIEW.

The Climate of Brighton. By William Kebbell, M.D. London, 1859. pp. 187.

A Guide to the Treatment of Diseases. of the Skin. By Thos. Hunt, F.R.C.S. Fourth Edition. 1859. pp. 246.

Homœopathy and Hydropathy impartially appreciated. By Edwin Lee, MD. Fourth Edition, enlarged. London, 1859. pp. 155.

Sur la Réunion des Fibres Nerveuses Sensibles avec les Fibres Motrices. Par G. Gluge et A. Thiernesse. (Extrait des Bulletins de l'Académie Royale de Belgique.)

Annales de la Société Anatomo-pathologique de Bruxelles. Bulletins No. I. et II. Bruxelles, 1859.

Lectures on the Diseases of Infancy and Childhood. By Charles West, M.D. Fourth Edition, revised and enlarged. London, 1859. pp. 755.

L'Ami de la Religion. Nouv. Série. pp. 85. Phthisis and the Stethoscope; or, the Physical Signs of Consumption. By R. P. Cotton, M.D. London, 1859. pp. 80.

On Diseases and Injuries of the Joints. By Thomas Bryant, F.R.C.S. London, 1859. pp. 273.

A Practical Account of General Paralysis. By Thos. J. Austin, M.R.C.S. London, 1859. pp. 225.

The Indian Lancet. Nos. 1-4. 1859. The Christian Examiner and Church of Ireland Magazine. Jan. 1859.

Cleveland Medical Gazette. No. 3.

Statistics of Smallpox and Vaccination in the United Kingdom. By W. Moore, M.B. Dublin, 1859. pp. 14.

Aerztliche Brichte Des K. K. Krankenhauses Wieden, vom Solar Jahre 1856 und 1857. Wien, 1858-1859.

Guy's Hospital Reports. Third Series. Vol. V.

Om Uræmi. Akademisk Afhandling af S. Gustaf Troilius. Stockholm,1858. pp. 56.

Researches on the Intimate Structure of the Brain, Human and Comparative. First Series, on the Structure of the Medulla Oblongata. By J. Lockhart Clarke, Esq., F.R.S. London, 1858. (Phil. Trans.)

The Journal of Mental Science. Edited by Dr. Bucknill. October, 1859.

Report on the Pathology, Therapeutics, and General Etiology of the Epidemic of Yellow Fever at Lisbon, during the latter half of the year 1857. Blue Book. By Dr. Lyons. London, 1859.

On the Electric Condition of the Egg of the Common Fowl. By John Davy, M.D., F.R.S.

Archives of Medicine, No. 4. Edited by Lionel S. Beale, M.B., F.R.S.

A Manual of Operative Surgery on the
Dead Body. By Thomas Smith, F.R.C.S.
With Illustrations. 1859.

A System of Instruction in Qualitative
Chemical Analysis. By Dr. C. R. Fresenius.
Fifth Edition. Edited by J. L. Bullock,
F.L.S. London, 1859.
pp. 310.

Bulletin Général de Thérapeutique, April 15th, 1859.

THE

BRITISH AND FOREIGN

MEDICO-CHIRURGICAL REVIEW.

APRIL, 1860.

PART FIRST.

Analytical and Critical Reviews.

REVIEW I.

1. Notes on Hospitals. By FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE. London, 1859. pp. 108.

2. On the Defects with reference to the Plan of Construction and Ventilation of most of our Hospitals for the Reception of the Sick and Wounded. By JOHN ROBERTON, Esq., Surgeon. (Reprint.) 1856. Pp. 17.

3. A few Additional Suggestions, with a view to the Improvement of Hospitals. By JOHN ROBERTON, Esq. (Reprint.) 1858. pp. 26. 4. Report of the Commissioners on Regulations affecting the Sanitary Condition of the Army. 1858. pp. 605.

5. Report on the Formation and General Management of Renkioi Hospital, on the Dardanelles, Turkey. By E. A. PARKES, M.D. 1857. PP. 64.

6. Regulations affecting the Sanitary Conditions of the Army. Published by the War Department. pp. 249.

THERE is, perhaps, no topic which has received less specific attention from the great bulk of the medical profession than that which relates to the site and construction of hospitals appropriated to the cure of the injured and the sick. Hygiene has not, until very recently, been systematically taught in our schools of medicine. With the honourable exception of the London University, we do not know where hygiene is even recognised as taking part in the curriculum of a medical education. Can we wonder, then, if the great bulk of our profession do not find themselves up to the mark in all that is now being so successfully brought before the public in the important department of sanitary science? Nay, more, we are sorry to see some

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