PRESENCE OF MERCURY IN A TAPEWORM COMING FROM A SYPHILITIC PATIENT UNDER MERCURIAL TREATMENT. -A butcher boy treated at Brême and at Gottingen, by mercurial inunctions, having passed two scolices per anum, was treated with male fern, which caused the evacuation of two tenias (mediocanellatá), whose grey coloration caused the presence of mercury to be suspected. Chemical analysis having demonstrated that such was really the case, microscopical examination gave the following result: Treated with glycerine, each proglottis showed the metallic deposit in the vas deserens, in some of the vasa efferentia, and in the vesiculæ seminales. It was so pronounced in the oviduct that even to the naked eye it presented the appearance of a dark streak. The vagina looked like a dark tube, although on section the narrowed caliber was still found to exist. The walls of the uterus also contained a certain quantity, while the ovary itself was quite free. After staining by means of eosine and other coloring matters, longitudinul and transverse sections revealed the fact that the entire parenchyma of the tænia contained particles of mercury, equally distributed. On the integument these were collected principally in the grooves or depressions, which was particularly the case in the neighborhood of the suckers; to the naked eye the head of the worm seemed blackish. Previous observations had already drawn attention to the dark color of the head in certain tape-worms, but this wae due to a granular pigment deposited in the cellular tissue, and bearing no resemblance to the mercurial deposit mentioned above as being present in the external tegument of the head of the tænia. In the same way it cannot be mistaken for the collections of pigment which Leuckart has noticed in the vagina, since he has himself stated that these collections were found only in old proglottides, while those found in the Gottingen case were situated in young and living proglottides. The remark DIABETIC FOOD.-An eminent French authority describes a new food stuff for diabetic patients, containing an abundance of nitrogenous substances, and It is made entirely free from starch. from the embryos of corn. M. Danysz, the discoverer of this new bread, has succeeded in isolating the embryo from its farinaceous indosperm, and has also been able to remove from the embryo all oily or other substance calculated to injure its flavor. The product is described as being highly nutritious, easily digested and agreeable to the palate. In many of the Paris hospitals this bread is now used for diabetic patients.--Cin. Med. Journal. USES OF COFFEE.-It is asserted by men of high professional ability that when the system needs a stimulant, noth ing equals a cup of fresh coffee. Those who desire to rescue the drunkard from his cups will find no better substitute for spirits than strong, new-made coffee, without milk or sugar. Two ounces of coffee to one pint of boiling water makes a first-class beverage, but the water must be boiling, not merely hot. Bitterness comes from boiling too long. If the coffee required for breakfast be put in a granitized iron kettle over night, and a pint of cold water be poured over it, it can be heated to just the boiling point, and then set back to prevent further ebullition, it will be found that while the strength is extracted, the delicate. aroma is preserved. As our country consumes nearly ten pounds of coffee per capita, it is a pity not to have it made in the best manner. It is asserted by those who have tried it, that malaria and epidemics are avoided by those who drink a cup of hot coffee before venturing into the morning air. Burned on hot coals, it is a disinfectant for a sick-room. By some of our best physicians it is considered a specific in typhoid fever.-The Epicure. Saccharin is now a commercial article, and not a very expensive one, either. It is not only employed as a medicine, but also as a food, in place of cane sugar. The objection to its insolubility has been overcome by a correspondent of the Scientific American, who forms by aid of heat a solution of one drachm of saccha rin in one pound of glycerin. The "syrup," as it is called, or glycerite, as it should be designated, can be used to sweeten all kinds of fruits and drinks. As glycerin is of itself a food, we do not see why the new preparation may not come into general use. We would like to hear from any of our readers who try it.-Meyer Bros., Druggists. The employment of women as drug clerks won't pan out. A customer recently asked one, "Have you large black nipples?" She fainted. NOTES AND COMMENTS. Tait recommends that in malformations of the genital organs where the sex cannot be determined, the individual should be brought up as a male, because less harm will be done if a mistake has been made. An insane puerpera endeavored to commit suicide by cutting off her head, beginning the incision posteriorly. She succeeded in exposing the spinal cord, and died the sixth day from septicemia. Neur. Cbl. The number of insane in Paris admitted to the special infirmary for such cases has increased from 3,084 in 1872 to 4,449 in 1888. Alcoholic insanity is said to be twice as frequent as it was fifteen years ago. In three cases of idiopathic, universal pruritus in the practice of Dr. Wertheimber, (M. Med. Woch.) two tablespoonfuls of a 3% solution of sodium salicylate t. i. d. effected a rapid and per manent cure. Goodell (Standard) treats most cases of puerperal eclampsia, actual or threatened, by injections of chloral hydrate into the bowel, preceded by bleeding if there be plethora. If labor have begun he gives chloroform and delivers, otherwise he only interferes when compelled. DR. BRUNO, the pathologist of Charity Hospital, New Orleans, has not had Osler's and Councilman's success in finding the hæmatozoön of Laveran in the blood of many cases of malarial fever that he has examined.-Ibid. DOCTOR FLINT is quoted as saying: "I have never known a dyspeptic to recover vigorous health who undertook to live after a strictly regulated diet, and I have never known an instance of a healthy person living according to a strictly dietetic system who did not become a dyspeptic."-Ibid. CHEMICALLY INCOMPATIBLE. Wife (to "hubby," who has been out night before)-Why, dear, what makes you look so sour this morning? Hubby-I drank three glasses of milk last night and got caught in a thunder-storm coming home.-Pacific Med. Journal. The new anæsthetic, bromide of ethyl, is not such a harmless drug as it was at first announced to be, two fatal cases being recently reported. It seems better adapted to the needs of dentistry than general surgery. The deadly coal gas is being utilized in Paris to kill dogs. The vagrant animals are crowded into a closed box into which the gas is forced, and allowed to remain for three or four minutes, which is sufficient for the extinction of all signs of life. It is neater and quicker than drowning. SHRADY THE WISE.-The New York Medical Record in an editorial on the recent Medical Congress at Berlin, says that "only those who have an axe to grind, or those little fellows who do so love to rub up against the big fellows, ever attend medical congresses; the wise ones stay at home." Shrady staid at home,-ergo-Daniel's Texas Med. Jour. The following is perhaps the most thoroughly drastic effect ever produced by medicine: The doctor bowed courteously to the lady whom he had seen the night before on her debarkation from the ocean steamer, and for whom he from the iron and acts as an antifermentative. Besides, experience appears to confirm the theoretical inference that it proves its power as an absorbent in cases of anæmia complicated with glandular enlargements.-Jacobi in Archives of Pediatrics. Dr. R. J. Levis, of Philadelphia, says that in his experience the lives of sufferers with phthisis are rendered more tolerable by a residence in Florida, than in any other climate with which he is acquainted. Much of their trouble is due and catarrhal annoyances, all of which to bronchial irritation, pneumonic pains are palliated, whilst pulmonary hemorrhages are less frequent and more modeberculosis or preliminary in it, are cured rate. Many conditions mistaken for tuby a winter in Florida.-Record. CAMPHORATED NAPHTHOL.-This mixture is composed of one part of naphthol and two parts of camphor, triturated together dry. Délsesquells discovered that naphthol liquifies in camphor, and M. Bouchard has shown the considerable antiseptic power of naphthol, and its great advantage of being non-toxic. He advises the use of camphorated naphthol as a topical antiseptic, having used it in many cases of excoriations, wounds and ulcerations, and in diphtheria as an application to the throat.-Jour. Amer. Med. Asso. According to the Med. Record, an Italian patient in one of Dr. Shrady's wards in St. Francis Hospital, deliberately chewed a you have, had ordered a compound cathartic pill. nal. The syrup of the iodide of iron is well tolerated by the youngest infants; as many drops as the baby has months may be given three times a day up to eight or ten drops a dose. It is well tolerated by the stomach, in which the iodide is freed and fever thermometer, swallowed the greater portion of it before he was made to understand that the instrument was not intended as a medicine. The editor thinks it was lucky he had no subsequent increase of temperature, which would make it necessary to risk another thermometer in that way. But then, how could the temperature rise when the thermometer went down?-Peoria Medical Monthly. MENSTRUATION IN THE MALE.-Paul Albrecht (L' Anomale, 1890, III, Deutsch. Med. Zeit.) draws attention to the fact that white blood corpuscles appear in the urine of men at regular intervals, are present three or four days, and then disappear. This he interprets as a kind of menstruation. The idea is not a very strange one, for it is a known fact that men with excessive hypospadias menstruate. He offers this as another proof of the independence of menstruation and ovulation. It is to be hoped that further investigation will afford a clearer exposition of the subject. FOR VARICOSE VEINS. B. Barii chlorid, Aquæ destill, Ol amygdala dulc. gr. xv. q. 8. dr. ij. dr. i. Dissolve barium in water by shaking, then add fatty mixture. Rub on the dilated veins three times a day.-The Doctor. A PHYSICIAN SUES A TEMPERANCE ADVOCATE.-Dr. F. A. Barnett, of Lebanon Junction, Ky., has sued the editor of a temperance journal for libel on account of an article charging him with trafficking in liquor under the guise of prescribing it for his patients. The doctor denies these statements, and charges that they were maliciously made. He denounces the statement as false and libelous, and asks to be awarded a judgment, for ten thousand dollars for the damage which he has sustained in his church and profession by reason of the publication.-San. Reports. To be used once daily after washing the hands in warm water. If desired, the mixture may be made more agreeaable by the addition of a perfume.Med. News. WOMEN DOCTORS.-Women who practice medicine, suffer from inconveniences at times (Lancet- Clinic), as for instance. A man rang a door bell of a female physician at night, crying: "Quick! Tell the doctor to hurry, as my wife is about to be confined." Then the husband of the female physician, who had opened the door, responded: "It is impossible for the doctor to go at this She is about to be confined moment. herself." APPLICATION FOR BLACKHEADS AND PIMPLES.-Take of Oxide of zinc, Resorcin, Starch, aa 1 dram. Petrolatum, yellow, 2 drams. Mix. Apply a thin coating to the affected parts, letting it remain on twelve hours, and rub off with oil. It is best applied at bed-time.-Ind. Pharm. A pupil in one of our public schools complied recently in the following manner, with a request to write a composition on the subject of a physiological lecture to which the school had just listened: "The human body is made up of the head, the thorax and the abdomen. The head contains the brains when there is any. The thorax contains the heart and lungs. The abdomen contains the bowels, of which there are five, a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes w and y.-S. M. Journal. Mix. Paint the affected part by means of a c. h. pencil, several times a day, or apply on linen cloth.-Ind. Pharm. DRAWBACKS TO THE USE OF THE NEW ANTIPYRETICS. Dr. Goldman contributes a valuable article pointing out the dangers of the lately-introduced substitutes for quinine. An excellent résumé is given of the literature of the subject, especially of antipyrin, antifebrin, and phenacetin, and others of the group, but these, being the most prominent, are especially considered. Every physician who uses any of this class of remedies would do well to read the original communication in the Medical Bulletin for June, 1890. in wasting diseases. They hold that, first and last, consumption is a food disease, and must be treated, if treated successfully, from this stand point. They claim forty per cent. of permanent arrests, thirty-nine of partial arrest, and only twenty-one non-arrests. Out of one hundred cases only nine were not improved by the treatment.-The Medical Bulletin. PRESCRIPTION FOR IRRITABLE BLADDER.-Dr. E. L. Tunstall recommends the following mixture in cases of irritable bladder: R.-Potassium citrate, 4 drachms. each 1 oz. oz. Water sufficient to make, 3 ozs. One teaspoonful in a wineglassful of water, three or four times daily.-Mediical Summary. To smooth out a wrinkled diploma, apply a coating of hot paraffin to the back, and before it is entirely cold, smooth out the wrinkles with a common smoothing iron; place the diploma between two clean panes of glass larger than the diploma, and weigh it down for several days before replacing in the frame.-Meyer Bros. Druggist. INHALATION FOR INFLUENZA.—Dr. Horace Dobell in the British Medical Journal recommends the following inhalation for the new influenza : |