Page images
PDF
EPUB

"In conclusion I must allude to a work published lately by the physicians of Schneeberg, which is very interesting to us. These gentlemen observed that the majority of all the cases of death among the Schneeberg miners (75 per cent.) were caused by lympho-sarcoma of the lungs. According to them, by the inhalation of dust, Arsenic, in its nearly insoluble combination with Cobalt, is conveyed undecomposed to the bronchial glands, and becoming liberated sets up there a state of irritation which causes these glands to swell. Other arsenical compounds, as for instance the combination with Sulphur, do not have this effect. If this be really the case, which can hardly be doubted after the careful observations of these physicians, and after Cohnheim's post-mortem investigations, then this is one of those cases where a disease may be caused by the same remedy as cures it, which Hahnemann has made use of for the establishment of his theory. may remind my readers of the well-known observation that we can cure chronic eczema by the same chemical irritant as can inflame the skin, e.g. tar. In like manner we may imagine that Arsenic has an irritating affinity to the lymphatic glands which enables it, on the one hand, when applied for a long time, to bring healthy glands into a morbid state of formative activity, and on the other to bring back to the normal state morbid processes occurring in the gland."

I

Though not very well expressed, this is a distinct recognition of the homœopathic therapeutic rule enunciated by a candidate for the doctor's degree in the University of Strassburg, and not disapproved by his old-school teachers.

Dr. Talbot's Treatment of Burns.

What is wanted as a dressing is something which will preserve the skin and hold it intact until the new one has formed, that is, usually less than one week. After experimenting with a large number of substances, I am convinced that there is nothing equal to what I have recommended several times, and which I here repeat, the covering of the burn with a mixture of equal parts of white of egg and sweet oil thoroughly beaten together. If the skin is broken or displaced it should be carefully brought

• Der Lungenkrebs (lymphosarkom) die Bergkrankheit in den Schneebergen Gruben von Bergarzt Dr. Härting und Dr. Hesse.-Vierteljahressch. f. gerichtl. Mediz. u. offentl. Sanitätswesen. B. lxxxi, pp. 102 and 313, 1878.

to its original position, and if there is a vesication the serum should be removed by puncturing with a fine needle and applying gentle pressure, then the parts should be freely covered with this mixture, which forms a kind of paste, and, to give greater security, strips of fine muslin or gauze saturated with the dressing may be laid over the wound. This should not be removed until the new cuticle has fully formed and become sufficiently firm to bear exposure to the air. If further vesication takes place under the dressing, the serum should again be removed, as also any pus, if it should form, and then more of the dressing should be applied. If through motion or other cause the wound becomes exposed-and daily care is required to avoid this-more of the mixture should be promptly applied. The dressing should completely cover, and even extend beyond, the part injured, and generally by the third day the edges may be trimmed off with scissors, and by from the sixth to the tenth day the whole dressing can be removed, leaving a perfectly formed cuticle without blemish or scar. I can speak with great confidence of this treatment, for, after an experience of more than twenty years in a large number of cases, I have never been disappointed in its results.-(New England Med. Gaz., July, 1883.)

The Magnet in Paralysis.

Dr. G showed in the Paris Medical Society a patient, a woman, æt. 57, whose sensory, tactile, and motory hemiplegia had heen cured in nineteen days, after metallo-therapeutic examination had shown that magnetic iron was the suitable remedy. A forty-pound horse-shoe iron magnet was fixed on the affected All the symptoms, as defective sensation of the skin, loss of smell and taste, numbness of the affected half, also colourblindness and complete muscular paralysis went off. The patient had previously derived no benefit from applied electricity. (Gaz. hebd. de med. et chir., quoted in Memorabilien, Neue Folge iii, 4th Heft, p. 221.)

arm.

Condylomata of Penis.

Nussbaum recommends for the smaller flattened condylomata washing twice a day with salt water and sprinkling with Calomel. The Calomel is chemically transformed into Bichloride of Mercury,

and the condylomata disappear without pain. (Memorabilien, N. F. iii, Heft 4, p. 231.)

Magisterium Bismuthi in Eczema.

Landgraf relates a case of extreme moist eczema of both hands that had been present for a long time. Mag. bism. (about twenty grammes) was spread in a thick layer on the affected parts and loose gloves drawn over it. The very next day there was a great improvement. The pain and ill-feeling were gone; no more œdema or secretion; the ulcers clean; the lymphatic cords not to be felt. In a week both palms were covered with fresh epidermis. As successfully and rapidly cured was a child of four with Crusta lactea, which covered almost all the face. The scabs were removed and the moist places powdered with Mag. bism. The remedy was equally successful in intertigo of the folds of the skin of the neck and back of thigh. (Memorabilien, N. Folge iii, Heft 4, p. 224.)

Bromine in Diphtheria.

Hiller (Deutsche Med. Wochensch., May 30th, 1883) employed it at the Charité Hospital, Berlin. He uses a solution of four parts Bromine, iour of Bromide of Potassium, and 2000 of water, for inhalation. To prevent the gas entering the eyes and nose, a glass cylinder must be used for inhaling. He also applies a solution of to 1 per cent. to the throat. The throat is painted every half hour, the gas inhaled every quarter hour. The membrane is removed in twenty-four hours, and a tendency to return easily kept in check by renewed applications. Bromine and Pot. bromid. have been frequently recommended in diphtheria, by Metcalfe in 1861 (Med. Times and Gaz., 1, 1861), by Schütz and Gottvald in 1862, by Goldsmith in 1863 (Lancet, ii, 1863, p. 525), by Post in 1876 (Med. Times and Gaz., i, 1876, p. 588). In the homœopathic school it has been successfully used by Ozanam, Meyhoffer, Teste, Rentsch, Sorge, Windelband (in alternation with Hepar). These physicians mostly recommend it to be given in the more material doses, and Teste makes the interesting remark that milk neutralises the action of Bromine, so that it must not be given when treating a patient with this drug.

Papayotin in Diphtheria.

Csoner (Deutsche Med. Wochensch., May 30th, 1883), treated a case of severe diphtheria in a boy (morning temp. 104°) by painting the throat with a 4 per. cent solution of Papayotin, and the patient made a rapid recovery.

Duboisina in Exophthalmos.

Phillips (Brit. Med. Journ., May, 1883, p. 958) mentions that he treated a woman, æt. 39, who had a large goitre, exophthalmos, palpitation, systolic bruit, and oedema of the legs, with th of a grain of Duboisina sulphate three times a day. She improved very considerably, but the medicine caused looseness of bowels, and made her tipsy and sleepy. Perhaps it might have been given in still smaller doses with effect. We know that Belladonna (and Atropine) in very small doses have produced equally good effects in exophthalmos, and its action seems to be in many respects very similar to that of Duboisina.

Codeia in Diabetes.

Bradbury (Brit. Med. Journ., May, 1883, p 864) tells of the case of a man, æt. 69, who had been passing urine in excess for two and a half years. He had darting pains in head and giddiness, also signs of cataract in both eyes. Sp. gr. of urine 1037, quantity of sugar large. Under half a grain of Cod. daily the urine was reduced in seven days from fifty-two to forty-eight ounces. Under one grain daily in ten days the quantity of urine was forty ounces daily. For the next six weeks he got one and a half grain daily, and the urine was reduced to forty ounces; under two grains daily it fell to thirty-three ounces. R. S. Smith (Brit. Med. Journ., September, 1881, p. 474) considers Codeia almost specific in diabetes. The dose in which it ought to be given seems to be as yet undecided. Some practitioners give ten to fifteen grains three times a day, while others say that one grain a day often causes unpleasant effects. Brunton advises it to be given in doses of from one quarter to one half of a grain three times a day. We have employed it in the first decimal dilution with good effect. Opium has long been employed by the old school in diabetes, and it is said with benefit. VOL. XLI, NO. CLXVI.-OCTOBER, 1883.

CC

Coze (Brit. Journ. of Hom., xvii, p. 553) injected Opium into the jugular vein of rabbits, and finding that the formation of sugar in the system was largely increased thereby, illogically concluded that therefore Opium would be of no use in diabetes. Pavy found that Opium, Morphia, and Codeia have all the power of checking the formation of sugar in diabetes, but Codeia most of all. It is perhaps not necessary to separate the Codeia from the Opium in order to obtain its good effects, but if large doses are required, then it would certainly be an advantage to get the specific alkaloid of the Opium without the narcotic principles with which it is combined in Opium.

Veratrum viride in Typhoid.

Nelson (Archives of Med., April, 1883) says he has given this drug in small doses in every case of typhoid he has treated during the last ten years, and has not lost a case. He says that it lowers the pulse and temperature, reduces the danger of hæmorrhage to a minimum, and convalescence is frequently established at the end of the second week. His doses are one to two drops of the tincture every hour. Ver. vir. has been employed with success by practitioners of our school in typhoid (Brit. Journ. of Hom., xl, p. 288).

Atropia in Earache.

The Boston Journal of Chemistry says that Dr. A. D. Williams orders a solution of Atropia to be dropped into the painful ear, allowing it to remain there from ten to fifteen minutes. It is then made to run out by turning the head over, and wiped away with a dry rag. From three to five drops should be used of the solution, which should be warmed to prevent shock. Under three years old it should consist of one grain to the ounce, and over ten years of four grains to the ounce of water. In adults almost any strength may be used; and all ages will bear stronger solutions in the ear than in the eye. A few applications will usually stop the pain. In acute suppurative inflammation of the middle ear and acute inflammation of the meatus, Atropia will only slightly palliate the suffering; but in the recurring nocturnal earache of children it is practically a specific.* (Medical Times.)

* This treatment of otalgia is not always without danger, see p. 411.

« PreviousContinue »