-employment of alcohol in the treatment of fevers should be regarded not as a dietetic but invariably as a medicinal measure. Space does not permit the discussion of the treatment of complications, nor of the management of convalescence. If perforation occurs during or after the period of defervescence, nam ›ly, in the fourth week or later, laparotomy should be performed. Med. News. does that of any other. The fact remains, however, that papain has powerful digesting action at at ordinary temperatures-50°-70°F. Dr. Martin has published, at some length, a series of carefully made experiments on the nature and action of papain in the Journal of Physiology, Vols. V. and VI, and the results of the following experiments, where they run parallel with his, closely corre spond with the results obtained by this author. In each of the following experiments the digestion mixture consisted of 1 gramme of pure dry fibrin SOME LABORATORY NOTES ON PAPOID in powder, which was boiled in 20 cc. of water DIGESTION. For some time it has been known that the stems, leaves and unripe fruit of a plant called Carica papaya contain a ferment capable of digesting proteids. This plant is found in the East and West Indies and in South America. The natives of many localities where this plant is indigenous make a practice of rolling their fresh meat in caraca leaves to make it tender and easier of digestion. From the juice of this plant Dr. Finkkler, of Bonn University, has made an albuminous preparation containing the ferment, which is now attracting much attention under the name of Papoid. Wurtz, however, was the first to isolate the ferment, to which he gave the name of papain, and ascribed to it certain definite and characteristic reactions. About 90 per cent. of commercial papoid is soluble in water; the residue consists chiefly of coagulated albumen. The solution contains globulin, but it is highly probable that the ferment is quite independent of this albuminoid, as the globulin may be precipitated, leaving in the solutian a large part, if not all, of the ferment. As papoid contains the ferment papain and also some albumen on which it may act, care must be taken to keep it dry. The unsatisfactory results obtained by some in its use are no doubt due to previous exposure of the sample to moisture. A solution of papoid will always give the peptone reaction on standing a few hours. The greatest differences of opinion have been expressed by different experimenters as to the conditions most favorable to the activity of papoid. Albrecht (Schmidt's Jhrbuch, Bd. 190) states that papain digestion is hastened by the presence of hydrochloric acid. Wurtz, on the other hand shows that papain digestion is essentially a neutral one, which is most rapid and thorough at a temperature of about 40°. Rossbach has recorded a few experiments-at variance with most othersin which he claims that this ferment is not more active in a warm solution than in a cold one. As papain is a vegetable product, this seems highly probable, but the careful experiments of Dr. Sidney Martin fully prove that a moderate degree of heat increases the activity of this ferment just as it and allowed to stand for 12 hours to soften. To this was added 10 cc. of a 1 per cent. solution of the ferment to be used, and standard acid or alkali to required strength, making the whole mixture up to 50 cc. The digestions were carried on in an incubator kept at a constant temperature of 3738°C., and at the end of a variable time the undissolved fibrin was filtered off on a small, tared filter, and after thorough washing was dried at 100° to constant weight. Thus the undigested fibrin could be weighed in the same condition as before it was submitted to the action of the ferment, and any experimental error caused by the presence of a variable quantity of moisture was eliminated. It is not easy to understand how relative digestion can be accurately determined by those who experiment with proteids of such indefinite and variable composition as "hard-boiled ," "fresh meat," and " freshly coagulated albumen"; yet many of the published results on papoid digestion have been based on experiments in which their substances were weighed before and after the action of the ferment. egg, In these experiments a 5 per cent. solution of papoid or of pepsin was added to the undivided membrane, and the whole kept wet during the time specified. The membrane was reduced to a clear fluid jelly by papoid, but only partially attacked by the pepsin under the same conditions. EXPERIMENT VIII.-Does acid destroy the proteolytic action of papoid as it does that of trypsin? To ascertain this, .2 grm. of papoid was added to 1 gramme of fibrin in a .3 per cent. solution of hydrochloric acid in duplicate. Both mixtures were made up to 50 cc. and left in the incubator for three hours. At that time one mixture was estimated and the other made faintly alkaline with sodium carbonate and left in the incubator for 13 hours longer The acid mixture showed no digestion, no reaction indicating peptones could be obtained. At the end of 13 hours the other mixture gave a residue of .23 grm, showing that 77 per cent. had been digested. The proteolytic ferment of papoid is therefore not destroyed by being kept in an acid medium for three hours at blood heat; its action is only suspended. The conclusions to be drawn from these experiments are obvious. Papoid evidently contains a powerful preteolytic ferment which resembles trypsin both in the conditions under which it is most active and and in its mode of digestion. It corrodes the fibrin, dissolving each piece away from the surface to the centre, does not gelatinize the whole mass like pepsin. Moreover, one can readily obtain leucin in the products of digestion. Tyrpsin could not be obtained by the writer, but its presence was determined by Dr. Martin, who worked with larger digestion mixtures. Papoid, as shown in Experiment II, is quite inactive in small quantities in an acid medium of .3 per cent. hydrochloric acid. A certain amount-3 to 7 per cent. of the fibrin-was dissolved by it, but no true digestion occurred, as peptones in any quantity were absent. The results of Experiment in acid its functions are only suspended, the ferVIII, however, show that although it is inactive This is interesting, in view of the frequent use of papoid for treatment of dyspepsia. If the stomach be normally acid, its activity will probably be suspended entirely; if, however, the acidity be very slight, papoid will probably act Its greatest action, however, takes place in the small intestines, where the medium is alkaline or neutral. The ferment is most energetic in a faintly alkaline medium, about .2 per cent. of sodium carbonate. ment is not killed. Comparing its digestive power with that of pepsin and pancreatin, Experiment I shows that in a neutral medium its activity is far greater than pepsin, but it is inferior to it in an acid medium. Under the conditions that have been found to be most favorable to their respective functional activity, papoid is but little, if at all, inferior to either pepsin or pancreatin. Papoid is especially useful for the removal of diphtheritic membrane. The conditions present in the pharynx are just those which retard the action of pepsin and pancreatin, but do not influence papoid. The medium in which it is required to act is practically a neutral one and the temperature low, there is present, besides, a large excess of the products of digestion which does not affect papoid--indeed it is most energetic in a concentrated medium. Moreover, papoid has been shown clinically to lessen very greatly the disagreeable fetor of the disease. Painting on a 5 per cent. solution, freshly made, every two or three hours has been found to give the best results; the fetor disappears in a few hours and the membrane in from 12-18 hours becomes thin and glairy. It would seem to be especially indicated in those forms of dyspepsia in which peptic digestion is greatly impaired and where the secretion of gastric juice is very weak. Papoid, therefore, promises to be a powerful auxiliary in combating those great diseases-diphtheria and dyspepsia.-R F. Ruttan, M.D., in Can. Med. and Surg. Jour. DR. LAUDER BRUNTON finds that small doses of strychnia are very useful in neurasthenic insomnia. phery. Repeat this treatment daily for a few minutes at a time. For very obstinate cases, use flying blisters locally, and internally iodides of potassium and colchicum. The great secret of applying plaster-of-Paris bandages is to have all the sizing out of the material used, so when a piece of muslin to be used is thrown upon water it sinks readily; if it does this it will readily absorb water and plaster and will set quickly; a little salt added to the water is an advantage; a roller made of lint is better than cotton to be applied next to the part. (Dr. Allis.) Prof Parvin says the term placental souffle is still used improperly by many physicians instead of uterine souffle, the correct desigation; that the placenta is not concerned in the sound is proved by the fact that the souffle is heard some days after confinement, and has been heard in uterine fibroids. The sound is synchronous with the pulse of the mother, and of very little value as a sign of pregnancy. Professor Parvin advises that prolapse of the vagina be treated by astringent injections, having the bladder frequently emptied, especially if a cystocele is associated with the prolapse, which is frequently the case, and apply a suitable elastic ring pessary; if the pessary is uncomfortable or cannot be worn, a large tampon of absorbent wool, dipped in a solution of tannin and glycerin, introduced in the morning and removed at night, may suffice. For a case of simple goitre of six months' standing, Prof. Da Costa prescribed liq. iodinii comp., gtt. iij, three times a day, gradually increased to ten or fifteen drops three times a day. Locally: zij. gtt.v. M. In exophthalmic goitre a murmur is heard over thyroid gland; in simple goitre murmur is absent. Dr. Allis has devised a very ingenious drainage tube for draining the thoracic cavity. It is made by taking a piece of ordinary rubber tubing of proper size, quartering lengthwise about one inch, passing the divided portion through a piece of adtubing, and turning the cut euds down and securhesive plaster previously perforated the size of ing them by another similar picce of plaster, the two adhesive surfaces approximating. tubing is inserted it is even with the surface of When the the body and kept there by the plaster, not inconveniencing the patient in any degree, who can move without danger of displacement. simple contrivance is easily made, and has been used with satisfaction in the wards of Jefferson College Hospital.-Col. and Clin. Rec. This 1 ACTION OF ANTIPYRINE. TINEA DECALVANS A NERVOUS DISEASE. peried, much to the detriment of their studies, and perhaps of their future career, particularly as even dermatologists are divided among themselves as to whether the matter is contagious or not. Professor Hardy, the well known dermatologist, took up the subject, and stated that although he never dis covered a parasitic peculiar to the malady in question, yet from his vast experience he had every reason to believe that it was contagious, and this hypothesis was confirmed by the fact that since measures have been taken to exclude children so affected from schools the cases have become much less frequent in them. Dr. Cornil, the distinguished histologist, does not believe in the contagiousness of tinea decalvans in the majority of cases, for no one as yet has discovered either a mushroom or a micro organism which may be looked upon as the peculiar agent of the disease. To this Dr. Hardy retorted that it does not follow that because no micro-organism was discovered in tinea decalvans it can be affirmed that this affection was not contagious, for although the microbe of measles and of scarletina has not been seen, no one will contest the contagious nature of these maladies.— Paris correspondent Med. Rec. At the meeting of the Academy of Medicine, last week, Dr. A. Robin, the newly elected member, read a paper on the action of antipyrine on nutrition. The paper contained a continuation of the researches he had undertaken in 1885 and in 1886. The deductions from these researches may be summarized as follows: 1. Antipyrine first acts on the nervous system, the excitability of which it moderates, not in a purely dynamical manner, but in acting on its elementary nutrition. 2. It diminishes the organic disintegration, and still more lowers the organic oxidations, whence the production of an excess relative to the lithic acid and of the nitrogeneous extractive materials, which are less soluble, and consequently with more difficulty eliminated than urea. It is probable that this influence on the general nutrition is the immediate consequence of the effects of antipyrine on the nervous system, as almost all depressing medica ments of the nervous activity act in nearly the same manner. 3. Antipyrine possesses also an antiseptic property very marked, even at a feeble dose, and which appears to be as manifest in the organism, and without any injury to it, as in the experiments of the laboratory. The author further observes that these three propositions indicate what should be the applications of antipyrine. It acts against pain, against painful cardiopathies and agina pectoris. As regards its administration in the treatment of fevers, Dr. Robin considers it very much compromised, as its beneficial action in these cases is very doubtful. Thus, for instance, while endeavoring to diminish disintegration, we must do everything to favor the oxidation of the disintegrated products, because the oxidations give birth to soluble residues. As antipyrine does not fulfil this indication, it should not be employed in The editors of most religious journals are, as a this or any other fever. From these considera- rule, men of such intelligence that they will hardly tions, and from its special action on the element attribute to trade-jealousy alone the objection pain, Dr. Robin suggests that the substance now which medical men have to the recommendation known by the name of antipyrine would be more of "sure cures " for baldness, fits, rupture, concorrectly termed "analgesine," "neurasthe-sumption, and so on, to persons who are apt to nine." Professor Verneuil observed that he had been rather successful in the treatment of surgical septicemic fevers by antipyrine, which Dr. Robin, however, considers a corroboration of his conclusions respecting the therapeutic properties of this drug. At the same meeting of the Academy, Dr. Ollivier read a paper in which he endeavored to prove that " pelade," or tinea decalvans, was a non-contagious and non-parasitic malady, and that its origin was purely nervous. He therefore considered it inexpedient, and even cruel, to prevent pupils affected with the malady from attending their schools, and sometimes for a lengthened QUACK ADVERTISEMENTS IN RELIGIOUS NEWS PAPERS. From time to time medical men and medical journals have protested against the prostitution of the columns of religious newspapers to the use of advertisers of quack nostrums. This protest does not apply to temperately worded representations of what seems to have been accomplished by, or what may reasonably be expected of, a remedy or device for the cure of disease or injury. But it does apply to advertisements couched in language which bears the stamp of falsehood on its face, or which is of such a character as to arouse suspicion in the mind of an intelligent man, uninfluenced by a money consideration. regard their religious teachers as safe guides in matters of health and disease; and who are not sufficiently familiar with the subtleties of the newspapers business to distinguish between the responsibilities of the editor and those of the publisher. As a fact most readers of periodicals have the impression that the advertisements they contain are endorsed by the editor. Advertisers rely upon this fact; and we cannot understand the casuistry which satisfies the conscience of a man who edits a periodical, ostensibly devoted to religion, which replenishes its coffers with the price of palpable falsehoods. If it were true that a religious paper could not be financially successful without taking money for the advertisement of worthless or delusive remedies, a course might be suggested worthy of the main object of these papers. But it is not true; for there are a few happy illustrations of the fact that, even in a religious newspaper, "honesty is the best bolicy." We call the attention of our large circle of readers to this matter, in the hope that they will use their influence to put an end to what we regard as a serious blemish in religious newspapers, and one which injures the good reputation which they ought to enjoy. And we call the attention of those religious newspapers to which our remarks may apply to this matter, in the hope that we shall not have to recur to it in a more explicit manner. -Med. and Surg. Reporter. REVELATIONS OF PREHISTORIC TARTAR.-Some curious evidences of the diet of our prehistoric ancestors of the "stone age were recently brought before the Odontological Society of Great Britain by Mr. Charles White. Whilst examining some dolicho-cephalic skulls found in a "long" barrow near Heytesbury, in Wiltshire, Mr. White was struck with the thought that as particles of food become imprisoned in the dental tartar, sealed up in a calcareous cement, and can be made to reveal themselves on solution of this material, it would be an interesting revelation if the tartar found on these teeth of the stone age could be made to give up its secrets in a similar manner. He accord ingly carefully decalcified some small portions with dilute hydrochloric acid and examined the sediment under the microscope. The sediment consisted of small, drab-colored masses, apparently composed chiefly of altered and disintegrated epithelias scales mixed with the contents of starch cells. Throughout these masses were scattered grains of sand in great abundance; polarized light showed these to be of two kinds, some being composed of silex and others of quartz or granite. Their presence was to be accounted for by the method of grinding corn between two gritty stones practised in those times, and the grinding surfaces of the teeth were worn down in the most extraordinary manner from the same cause. Besides these, scattered through the sediment, Mr. White was able to identify portions of husks of corn, hairs from the outside of the husks, spiral vessels from vegetables, husks of starch, the point of a fish's tooth, a conglomeration of oval cells, probably of fruit, barblets of feathers, portions of wool, and some fragments of cartilage, together with some other organic remains which he failed to recognize. "Long" barrows are considered by archeologists to be older than the round barrows, and it is thought probable that they contain the relics of the earliest inhabitants of Britain of whom any sepulchral monuments exist. This opinion is based upon the fact that no weapons or instruments of metal of any kind have ever been found in them, though weapons of bone and stone are occassionally met with. The pottery, also, found in them is of the rudest kind, and quite devoid of ornament. The fact that vegetable tissue should be found in such a state as to be easily recognizable after the lapse of probably not less than three thousand years, is certainly remarkable; whilst the presence of fragments of wool and feathers would seem to indicate that these people were accustomed to eat their food in an uncooked condition. Brit. Med. Jour. SALT IN MILK FOR CHILDREN.-Dr. Jacobi says that the physiological effect of chloride of sodium is very important, no matter whether it is directly introduced through the mother's milk, or added as a condiment to cow's milk, or vegetable diet. Both of the latter contain more potassium than sodium, and neither ought ever to be given to the well or sick, without the addition of table salt. A portion of that which is introduced may be absorbed in solution; another part is, however, broken up into another sodium salt and hydrochloric acid. Thus it serves directly as an excitant to the secretion of the glands and facilitates digestion. Therefore during diseases in which the secretion of gastric juice is interfered with, or in the beginning of convalescence, when both the secreting faculties and the muscular power of the stomach wanting, and the necessity of resorting to nitrogenous food is apparent, an ample supply of salt ought to be furnished. which may get into the intestinal canal unites with the sodium of the bile in the duodenum, and assists in producing a second combination of chloride of sodium, which again is dissolved in the intestines and absorbed. Its action in the circulation is well understood; it enhances the vital processes, mainly by accelerating tissue-changes through the elimination of more urea and carbonic acid. The excess of acid A very important fact is also this; that the addition of chloride of sodium prevents the solid coagulation of milk by either rennet or gastricjuice. The cow's milk ought never to be given without table salt, and the latter ought to be added to women's milk when it behaves like cow's milk in regard to solid curdling and consequent indigestibility. Habitual constipation of children is also influenced beneficially, for two reasons: not only is the food made more digestible, but the secretions of the alimentary canal, both serous and glandular, are made more effective by its presence.-Archives of Pediatrics. THE ETIOLOGY OF TYPHOID FEVER.-Dr. Quine's views on typhoid fever are summarized by the |