vaccinated ones died and three of the ten vaccinated. The death of the prepared animals was attributed to a supplementary injection of strychnine which proved too strong. M. Nocard repeated these experiments by following a somewhat different method. He prepared a pure culture of tetanic bacilli from a lamb. Then he took ten rabbits and injected under the skin of each, for five days in succession, ten drops of a solution of sulphate of strych nine of the strength of 1 in 1,000. inoculated the ten with his bacillary culture, controlling the experiment by at the same time inoculating ten untouched rabbits with the same culture. The result, however, was that they all died in from three to five days. He repeated the experiment with slight modifications, but the result was not less disastrous. The conclusion, therefore, was obvious.

He next

Identity of Human and Animal Diptheria. In support of this proposition, M. Delthil points out that diphtheria may be met with in many different animals with symptoms almost identical.

The bacillus of the di-ease in man, when inoculated on animals, multiplies with rapidity, and the disease itself may be tran-mited to man with its original characters. From these facts, and from the history of the disease, M. Delthil concludes it is identical in man and animals. He records thirteen personal observations. and cites in addition several facts noted by different observers, all of which go to show that the transmission of diphtheria from animals, and especially from birds, to man has taken place under circumstances often diverse and little thought of. In conclusion, he urges that if the identity and transmis-ibility of human and animal diptheria are admitted, it follows that stables, poultry-yards, dovecots, etc., are verv likely to contain the germs of the disea-e, and to favor in consequence its spread. He therefore urges the necessity for a thorough and constant inspection of all markets, poultryyards, and dwellings where domestic animals and fowls may be kept, and he points out that the initiative in this re-pect has already been taken in Germany, Italy, and Switzerland.

Statistics of the Pasteur Institute. During the month of September, according to the report just issued, there were 158 persons treated at the Pasteur Institute. Of these 49 were bitten by dogs proved by experiment to have been rabid, 93 by animals recognized as rabid after veterinary examination, and 16 by animals suspected of rabies. Of the animals, 141 dogs and 17 cats.-Paris Correspondent, Ibid.

TREATMENT OF OZENA AND OTHER FORMS OF RHINITIS. The treatment should commence with the nasal douche. The crusts always ac

cumulate in the night, and we therefore employ the douche in the early morning. The temperature of the water used for dissolving the saline or other ingredients of the douche should be from 92° to 98° F., and should be tested by the patient's hand before using it. The sulpho-carbolate of soda (two drams to the pint) and an equal weight of bicarbonate of soda or common salt, with from two to ten grains of carbolic acid, is a very good form of douche. As much as two or three pints of this solution are required in many cases, the quantity being regulated by the patient's sesne of relief and the feeling that the crusts have been removed. The syphon douche tube may be used in those cases in which the crusts are easily detached and small in size, while for more severe cases a Higginson's syringe fitted with a nasal nozzle is preferable. While using the douche the patient should breathe only through the mouth, which should be kept wide open. The pharynx is thus shut off from the naso pharynx, and the stream passes round the septum and out through the opposite nostril. The nozzle should be passed alternately into the right and left nostrils, and thus a reversed current is produced and the effect is greater. The crusts often cling obstinately to the nasopharynx, and when this is the case it is well to use the post-nasal syringe as well as the douche. In some cases a post-nasal throat brush will be required before the viscid adherent crusts can be detached.

Many other antiseptic solutions, however, beside the one mentioned above have been used with good effect, and it is desirable to change the form of antiseptic from time to time, some cases requiring stronger and some weaker forms of douche solution. Permanganate of potash is often used, and is a good deodorant; but it has the disadvantage of staining the upper lip and the margins of the alæ, and it leaves indelible stains on the handkerchiefs and any other linen with which it comes in contact. Pain is sometimes complained of during the employment of the douche. This may be due to the solution having too low a temperature, or to its being too concentrated or too irritating in quality. Pain may also be caused by a prolonged use of the douche, the membrane becoming more sensitive as it becomes more healthy and less coated by secretions. As soon as there are indications that the secretions are becoming more healthy, less viscid, and less copious, the douche should be discontinued or used at longer intervals There is good reason for believing that the olfactory region has sometimes been injured and its function impaired by the too energetic use of the douche, and cases have been adduced which seem to show that injury

of the ear has been occasioned by the same cause. It must, however, be borne in mind that chronic rhinitis is almost always associated with defects of smill and often with impaired hearing. Some practitioners altogether discard watery solutions for clean-ing the nostrils. Dr. McClellan, of Chicago, is one of these. He uses hot vaseline as a spray by means of Rumbold's apparatus, and asserts that it is useful in all the various forms of rhinitis, that it "produces no local irritation," and is "much more powerful than the water douche in effecting good results." This remedy can be used effectually by the surgeon alone, whereas the douche is easily applied by the patient, and at more convenient times than would be possible for the use of Rumbold's spray. Side by side with the above mentioned remedies the course of chronic fetid rhinitis may be influenced by the application of sprays of an antiseptic character. The douche alone is not sufficient to overcome the fetor, and it is necessary for the comfort of the patient and those around him that it should be persistently combated by sprys containing various antiseptic remedies. Iodoform may be used in an ointment in the proportion of two grains to the dram of vaseline. The odor of this drug, however, is very offensive to some people, and the ointment should be used only at night. During the day a spray containing iodine and carbolic acid in solution is most convenient, and whenever the stench is severe a chlorine solution freshly made gives very good results. In one of the worst cases that I have seen nothing overcame the fetor so well as sulphurous acid (the Pharmacopeia solution) 1 part to 20 of water, the same solution being applied by means of a throat brush to the naso-pharynx. The patient should live much in the open air, take regular exercise, and be suitably clothed, as free action of the action of the skin and warmth of the surface seem to influence the course of the disease in a favorable direction. A dry climate is also desirable.-Mr. W. S. Watson, Ibid.

THE NECESSARY PEROXIDE OF HYDROGEN. Stop suppuration! That is the duty that is imposed upon us when we fail to prevent suppuration.

As the ferret hunts the rat, so does peroxide of hydrogen follow pus to its narrowest hiding place, and the pyogenic and other micro-organisms are as dead as the rat that the ferret catches when the peroxide is through with them. Peroxide of hydrogen, H2O, in the strong 15-volume solution, is almost as harmless as water, and yet, according to the testimony of Gifford, kills anthrax spores in a few

minutes.

In abscess of the brain, where we can not thoroughly wash the pus out of tortuous canals without injuring the tissues, the H2O2, injected at a superficial point, will follow the pus and throw it out too in a foaming mixture. It is best to inject a small quantity, wait until foaming ceases, and repeat injections until the last one fails to bubble. Then we know that the pus cavity is chemically clean, as far as live. microbes are concerned.

In appendicitis we can open the abscess, inject peroxide of hydrogen, and so thoroughly sterilize the pus cavity that we need not fear infection of the general peritoneal cavity if we wish to separate intestinal adhesions and remove the appendix vermiformis. Many a patient who is now dead could have been saved if peroxide of hydrogen had been used when he had appendicitis.

This single means at our disposal allows us to open the most extensive psoas abscess without dread of septic infection following

In some cases of purulent conjunctivitis we can build a little wall of wax about the eye, distroy all pus with peroxide of hydrogen, and cut the suppuration short. Give the patient ether if the H2O2 causes too much smarting. It is only in the eye, in the nose, and in the urethra, that peroxide of hydrogen will need to be preceded by cocaine (or ether) for the purpose of quieting the smarting, for it is elsewhere almost as bland as water.

It is possible to open a large abscess of the breast, wash it out with H2O2, and have recovery ensue under one antiseptic dre-sing without the formation of another drop of pus.

Where cellular tissues are breaking down, and in old sinuses, we are obliged to make repeated applications of the H2O, for many days, and in such cases I usually follow it with balsam of Peru; for balsam of Peru, either in fluid form or used with sterilized oakum, is a most prompt encourager of granulation.

If we apply H2O, on a probang to diphtheritic membranes at intervals of a few moments, they swell up like whipped cream and come away ea-ily, leaving a clean surface. The fluid can be snuffed up into the nose and will render a fetid ozena odorless.

It is unnece-sary for me to speak of further indications for its use, because wherever there

is pus we should use peroxide of hydrogen. We are all familiar with the old law: "Ubi pus, ibi ev cua," but I would change it to read: "Ubi pus ib evacua, ibi hydrogenum peroxidum infunde." That is the rule. The exceptions which prove the rule are easily appreciated when we have them to deal with.

Peroxide of hydrogen is an unstable compound, and becomes weaker as oxygen is given off, but Marchand's 15-volume solution will retain active germicidal powers for many months, if kept tightly corked in a cool place. The price of manufacturer's preparation is about 75 cents per pound, and it can be obtained from any large drug house in this country. When using the H2O, it should not be allowed to come in contact with metals if we wish to preserve its strength, as oxygen is then given off too rapidly.

H2O, must be used with caution about the hair if the color is a matter of importance to the patient, for this drug, under an alias, is the golden hair bleach of the nymphs du pave, and a dark-haired man with a canary-colored moustache is a stirring object.-Dr. Robt. T. Morris, Journ. Amer. Med. Association.

POISONS PRODUCED BY BACTERIA.-A few weeks ago we referred editorially to some experimental work of Roussy upon the pathology of fever, in which he demonstrated what appears to be a fever producing albuminoid, which he termed " pyretog nin." We have now to mention the labors of Brieger and Fränkel (Berl. Klin. Wochenshr., Centralblatt für Phyciologie) upon the toxic substance produced by the diphtheria bacillus of Löffler.

Pure cultures of the bacillus were prepared in large quantity in pepton broth with or without the addition of glycerine. Roux and Yersin had previously separated the toxic substance from bouillon cultures and believed that it belonged to the class of enzyms, a conclusion which the writers can not indorse. They succeeded in obtaining the substance dry, and class it among the albuminod bodies, the "toxalbumen," as they name them.

The cultures were at first passed through a Chamberlain clay filter. The germ free, lemon yellow, clear filtrate proved to be very poisonous to animals, and produced symptoms similar to those caused by inoculation with the bacillus, including the peculiar paralytic phenomena of diphtheria. When heated to 60° C. it lost most of its toxic properties. It resisted acidifying with sulphuric acid, and steaming to 50° C. An examination for ptomaines and volatile bases gave a negative result. It also failed to diffuse through membranes into water or a solution of sodic chloride. It was precipitated

by ammonic sulphate and sodic phosphate as well as absolute alcohol, the latter method being the one usually employed. After dialysis and drying in vacuo the substance was obtained as a snow-white, amorphous, granular powder, easily soluble in water, from which it was not thrown down by boiling, sodic sulphate, sodic chloride, magnesic sulphate, plumbic acetate, or by dilute sulphuric acid even when heated. It is precipitated by carbonic acid or other reagents that throw down albuminous bodies. With Million's reagent a red color was produced, as well as the biuret and xanthroprotein reactions. The plane of polarized light was rotated to the left. From these various reactions the writers conclude that this substance is closely related to serum albumen, though the ultimate organic analysis showed a composition closely allied to pepton, with the following percentages: C. 45.35, H. 7.13, N. 16.33, S. 1.39, O. 29.80.

This body in a pure state was very poisonous, two and a half milligrams for each kilogram of body weight of the animal experimented with proving fatal, though sometimes only after weeks or months. (This confirms earlier observations by Roux and Yersin.) Very small quantities injected subcutaneously caused abscess and necrosis, and later wasting of the body.

The authors believe that this "toxalbumen" is produced from the albumen of the infected part in the ordinary diphtheritic process, and in this connection recall the "ichthyotoxicum" which A. and N. Mosso obtained from the serum of the murex, and the poisonous albuminoids obtained from plants by Kobert and Stillmark.

Further experiments were frequently hindered by the fact that cultures lost their virulence and stopped producing the poisonous substances. In cultures that had lost their virulence an albuminoid body was found that could be distinguished from the other by its dark brown color and non-toxic properties.

It will be seen from the foregoing that great progress has been made in isolating the peculiar toxic substances produced by micro-organisms. It

appears now as though it would soon be necessary to admit, as suggested by Vaughan, before the pathogenic character of micro-organism can be said to have been established, that its peculiar toxic product shall have been isolated and studied.-Jour. Am. Med. Assoc ation.

LISTER ON THE ACTUAL STATE OF ANTISEPTIC SURGERY.-(Tenth International Medical Congress.) Since Koch made known his method of the culture of microbes on solid media, there has been considerable extension of our knowledge of micro-organisms, and of the

means by which the animal organism defends itself against them. Metchnikoff has demonstrated that the migratory cells nourish themselves like amebæ, and have a special taste for bacteria which they absorb and digest, thus preventing their indefinite propagation. He calls these migratory cells" phagocytes." This theory explains much that seems mysterious in regard to the relation of micro-organisms with wounds. For example, in the operation for hare-lip the posterior termination of the wound is constantly bathed in saliva which contains numerous kinds of septic bacteria. Yet these bacteria do not penetrate the fibrin which glues together the two cut surfaces, which they certainly would do if the surfaces were composed of a chemically inert surface devoid of life. This is due to the "phagocytic" action of the cells which are present in the lymph soon after its effusion.

This theory also explains why the use of silk ligatures which have not been subjected to antiseptic preparation may not be tollowed by unpleasant consequences. Zeigler has shown that leucocytes penetrate rapidly into the very small spaces between plates of glass or other foreign bodies which are chemically inert and have been introduced into the tissues. These leucocytes ought, therefore, to be also able to gli le into the intervals among the fibers of the silk thread, and to destroy all the microbes which are able to lolge there.

The success attained by Bantock and Lawson Tait without the use of antiseptics appears a stumbling block. But in reality the practice of these surgeons is not devoid of antiseptic means. They purify their sponges; they observe strict cleanliness; this is certainly an antiseptic precaution. They wash the peritoneum with pure water in order to free it from coagula without wounding the peritoneal surface by rubbing it with sponges.

The drainage of the peritoneum is another antiseptic measure; moreover, it is necessary to avoid the application of strong and irritating antiseptic solutions to the peritoneum. But it would be wiser to assure, by means of anti-eptics, the entire absence of microbes from the hands and instruments; as to the water use for the toilet of the peritoneum, it is better to have recourse to a feeble sublimate solution (1 to 10,000, for example) than to simple boiled water.

In the surgery of the rest of the body the employment of stronger antiseptic solutions does not present the same inconveniences.

As to the spray, Lister regrets that he formerly recommended it to destroy the microbes of the air. There is not -ufficient time for the microbes

lose their vitality in the vapor of the spray.

Since he has abandoned the spray, Lister surrounds the site of the operation with cloths soaked with antiseptic solutions. If, besides the spray, wishes and irrigations are abandoned, vigilance ought to be redoubled.

Reasoning by analogy from subcutaneous wounds, Lister say that a wound made under antiseptic precautions could be immediately sealed by covering the line of union by an antiseptic varnish. But he claims that carbolic acid by irritation excites a secretion of serum so abundant that its issue neces-itates an opening. Hence the drainage of wounds.

After the recent method of treating wounds with sublimate, the secretion is less and drainage less necessary.

As to external dressings, some surgeons have thought to unite simplicity and security_by using cotton wad ling sterilized by heat. But this walding, being simply aseptic, only prevents infection as long as it is dry; once wet through to its external surface by secretions, it may become a septic mass, and there are always wounds where the secretion will remain abundant.

In some cases a perfectly antiseptic dressing may be a matter of life and death; for in these cases with abundant secretions only antiseptic chemical can prevent the development of septic organisms. With this end in view, Lister employs a combination of the cyanides of zinc and mercury, which is a sufficiently strong antiseptic, and is moreover non irritating.-Transla'ed by Dr. F. Neuhoff, St. Louis, La France Med., Weekly Medical Review.

CARBON FOR PHTHISIS.-The Vienna correspondent of the Medical Press, September 3, 1890 writes that journal that Julius Pick, of Landskron, Bohemia, again brings forward the carbonic therapeutics as a succes-ful remedy for phthisis. This is a form of treatment that was recognized by Traube in 1860, Zenker in 1886,and accepted by Virchow as rational. Since that time many inquiries have followed up the pathological anatomy, with the view of unraveling the anthraco-is. It was found that the coal dust penetrated to the lymphatics in the lung tissue as well as the alveolar cells, blood-vessels, and bronchial glands, where it lay quietly without doing any harm, but in other ca-es brought about infl ummatory changes from the irritation. Statistics were collected by Hirt, Merkel, and others regarding the health of miners and the effects of coal dust, which was found to be relatively good.

A table by Hirt give phthis's as 1.3 per cent. These are striking re-ults, and gave rise to much speculation at the time, some attributing the favorable results to the lamp soot,

others to the sulphurous gas. The immunity to phthisis of the North Bohemian miners has always been and is still a matter of great surprise.

Coburn and Crocq's results given at the Seventh Congress of Hygiene were not so favorable, unless in mines where a large amount of sulphurous gas was emitted. This led to an examination of another carbon dust worker, the chimney sweep, and 83.6 per cent were found healthy; among those who had followed the profession for upward of ten years the result was 93.6 per cent healthy. Hirt and Merkel confirmed these figures by repeated examination. This might be termed the ancient history of miners' phthisis, but Julius Pick commenced in 1889 to draw our attention to the tree d‹ m of phthisis among the North Bohemian miners, who are certainly favored with this immunity. Pick commenced his investigations by inquiring if the alimentary canal had no influence in obtaining this result, as the dust would be conveyed with the food and drink thither, where it would dep sit the contained gas and act as an antiseptic conservative, and now asks the question if it be not rational to expect that an organ long kept under the influence of an antiseptic will strongly re-ist the colonization or development of any infecting germ or tubercu lar bacillus, and more so when we find the carbon soot of the lamp distributed along the lymphatic tract and interstitial tissue of the lung commonly attacked by the microbe. How to prove the practicability of this treatment by an artificial production of pulmonary anthracosis without running the risk of an i flammatory result was to Pick the first difficulty. To overcome this. he commenced with inhalations of soot in a nascent state by means of a spirit lamp, burni, g rectified oil of turpentine. The flame was covered with a glass funnel, into which was arranged wood charcoal, while the patint had a tube from this to the mouth for breathing directly. By this arrangement the Soot entered the mouth and lungs as in the mines, where part was swallowed and taken into the alimentary canal. In another case he prescribed tablets of lamp smoke containing a centigram.

Twenty-four hours after ten or fifteen inspirations of this apparatus the sputa was found black, and proved that it had entered deep into the alveoli of the lung. With this apparatus he has administered the fuligo inhalation without the least inconvenience or annoyance to the patient for five or six weeks twice a day. Fuligo is a wide term, if not defined. Pick understands this to be the soot from a chimney where wood is burned, but to get quit of all remaining organic remains he subjects the raw

material to a kind of roasting process, which might properly be termed fuligo depurata, a black, light powder having no effect on the tubercular process of the lung, which it does not irritate, and seemingly has no marked utility beyond the theoretical presumption of a disinfectant. This was the result of his first experiment. The next step was to have this fulgo depurata saturated with a gas taken from coal as well as wood, which he terms fuligo empy heumatica, which is also easily borne when depurated.-Med. and Surg. Rep.

ACUTE ANTERIOR POLIO-MYELITIS-Oppor tunities for the examination of the spinal cord in recent cases of polio-myelitis are comparatively so infiequ nt that every advantage should be taken of them when they do arise Dr. R. T. Williamson, of the Manchester Royal Infirmary, has published (Medical Chronicle for September) a detailed account of such a ca-e, where death occurred suddenly five weeks from the commencement of symptoms. The patient was a young man, twenty-two years old, who first complained of numbness in the right hand, the feeling soon extending to the right leg and the left side, and on the third day being followed by complete paralysis of arms and legs. The knee jerks were ab-ent. There was no anesthesia, and the sphincters were not involved. Rapid mu-cular atrophy then ensued, but he was commencing to regain some power when death occured. The le-ions tound by Dr. Williamson in the spinal cord may be thus summarized: In the lumbar region, a patch of cell infiltation in the outer half of each anterior horn, compo ed of small round leucocyte bodies and large oval or round nucleated cells. At the periphery of the patch the blood-vessels were gr atly distended, and their peri vascular sheaths full of round cells. There were no true hemorrhages. No nerve cel s were visible in the area which corresponded to the region of the anterolateral, postero-lateral, and central group of ganglion cells. Such cel's still existed in the inner part of the cornu, but those bord ring on the patch were shrunken and deformed. The network of nerve fibers was destroyed by the infiltration, but in the white matter no degenerate fibers were seen. contrast between the anterior and posterior nerve roots was striking. In the former the fibers were scanty, separated by cells and their myelin broken up into tragments. while the latter exhibited very slight changes indeed. The dorsal region of the cord showed only slight cell infiltration and va-cular distension in the outer part of the anterior hori s, where a few nerve cells were shrunken. In the cervical region the changes were much as in the

The