literally cooked, and his finger-nails came off. Mr. Pratt was His parents On WATER IN OBESITY.-Dr. Lorenzen, of Erlangen, has been discussing the influence of liquids on obesity. The first experiment was made on himself. For a period of nine years he drank a large quantity of Erlangen beer daily. During four years of the period the daily quantity consumed amounted to 10 litres, or 2 gallons 1 pints, or about 22 pounds weight; during the remainder of the period the quantity ranged from 5 to 7 litres in addition to 1 litre of wine. In this way he succeeded in increasing his body weight by 78 pounds, and the usual unpleasantnesses of obesity made their appearance. shutting off the liquids his weight fell 14 pounds in seven days. If, however, more water was taken, but without alcohol, the weight increased again. Within five weeks he reduced himself to the extent of 23 pounds, the chest measurement diminished by 7 ctm., and that of the abdomen by 13 ctm., and the difficulties attending respiration disappeared. Similar experiments carried out on colleagues, who were likewise heavy men, had similar results. The disappearance of fat on withholding fluids he endeavors to explain on the hypothesis that the cells whose province it is to decompose albumen, when a large quantity of fluid is taken, now expend part of their energy in the combustion of fat. The fat they consume is replaced by fat from the tissues.--Medical Press. OPERATION FOR A NEW BLADDER.-Tizzoni and Poggi, of Bologna, have devised and carried out an extremely ingenious operation for the purpose of "restoring" the bladder in cases where it is partially destroyed by disease. The object of the operative procedure is to replace the bladder by means of a substitute, that substitute being a portion of intestine. The operation (on an animal) was performed in two stages, an interval of about a month elapsing between them. The first part of the operation consisted in the cutting out of a portion of the intestine, the two ends from which it was taken being immediately sutured; the mesentery was left attached to the excised portion. The ends of this portion were then closed so as to form a sac; one end was then brought down and fixed to the neck of the bladder. The second portion of the operation consisted in separating the ureters from the bladder, excising the latter organ, suturing the intestinal sac in the position of the bladder, and grafting the ureters on to its posterior wall. For a few days there was incontinence of urine, but after about a fortnight the sphincter regained its power and the animal recovered completely. In consequence, however, of the small size of the new bladder, micturition was necessarily very frequent. They propose to repeat this operation on another animal, taking care to excise a larger portion of intestine, so as to imitate more nearly the normal capacity of the bladder.-Lancet. BINIODIDE OF MERCURY AS AN ANTISEPTIC.-Dr. RogéeSaint Jean-d'Angely states that biniodide of mercury is not irritant to wounds and a more powerful antiseptic than carbolic acid. It has no odor and an alcoholic solution 1: 300 is soluble in all proportions in warm water. Lister's dressing is expensive and not adapted for use in armies. Since 1885 the author has employed exclusively the biniodide with dressings of cotton and gauze, and in 108 operations (32 major) had only one death.-Translated from Lemaine Medical. A DISINFECTANT OF AIR.-According to M. Keldyche, who has just published the results of a series of experiments on the air drawn from his hospital wards, air which has been saturated with eucalyptol will no longer give rise to colonies of bacilli in gelatine. The spores of fungi are able to pass unharmed, but as their action on the higher animals is probably limited, it is not a matter of much importance. If confirmed by independent observation, this valuable quality renders the drug worthy of widespread employment, for no other disinfectant is known which can be relied upon to effect its purpose without rendering the air irrespirable, besides acting very injuriously on furniture, clothing, etc.-Medical Press. ANTISEPTIC DRESSINGS.-By Dr. F. Poncet. The author, after inoculating a series of gelatine tubes with the following dressings Carbolized lint, borated lint, sublimate peat, sublimate cotton, found that the only tube which remained free from germs was that inoculated with the sublimate peat. In another series of experiments he used the following dressings : Bichloride lint, heated to 170° C., plain lint, heated to 170°, simple bichloride gauze, peat, and cotton. The tubes containing the heated lint and those containing the bichloride peat alone remained sterile. The author's conclusions are as follows: The sublimate peat possesses good antiseptic qualities, but the superheated lint is thoroughly aseptic and is cheaper. Heat is the best, simplest, and most efficient germicide. Mr. Poncet further states that all dressings should be heated within a sterilizer a few hours before using.-Translated from Progres Medicale. BACTERIA IN DISEASES OF THE EYE.-This subject was fully discussed at the Seventh Congress of Ophthalmology, Heidelberg, August 11th, 1888. Dr. Lebert in his paper stated that the majority of diseases of the eye are of bacterial origin. Owing to the exposed position of the eye, the microbes usually come from the outside. The suppurative inflammations which follow injuries or operations on the eye are generally due to the action of organisms of the order staphylococcus or streptococcus. The non-inflammatory diseases are mainly produced by morbific material of bacterial nature carried in the blood stream, such as septic emboli. Diffusion of microbes through the lymphatics is less frequent, and it is probable that sympathetic ophthalmia is a microbial inflammation transmitted through the lymph spaces of the optic nerve sheath to the healthy eye. The wounding of the ciliary body does not of itself produce sympathetic ophthalmia, the latter being always due to an infection of the wound. Foreign bodies within the eye, especially copper, may give rise to non-parasitic suppurative inflammations. In these cases extraction may be performed without fear of sympathetic ophthalmia.- Translated from Deutsche Medicinische Wochenschrift. THE CONTAGIOUSNESS OF ALOPECIA.-The committee appointed by the Academy of Medicine in Paris, to consider the question of the contagiousness of alopecia areata, has just rendered its report. The rules enjoined upon those afflicted with this disease in the public schools, etc., could hardly be more rigorous if it were scabies which ailed the children, and indicate the conviction in the minds of the committee that this disease is contagious.-Philadelphia Medical Times. CARBOLIZED CAMPHOR is the name of a preparation that is used by Dr. Gaucher, one of our Paris hospital physicians, in the treatment of diphtheria. M. Gaucher looks upon diphtheria as a local accident that precedes general infection, which is sure to come on from the presence of the false membranes on the pharynx; and he thinks that the membrane should be destroyed at once, and at all risks. He takes from five to ten grammes of carbolic acid, and from 20 to 30 grammes of camphor, dissolved in 60 grammes of alcohol at 36 degrees, and then adds an equal volume of sweet oil; this caustic solution is applied on a little cotton wound on a probe, and the false membranes are rubbed with it until they are detached, when the denuded surface is touched with the solution, and the operation is repeated morning and evening. During the intervals a solution of carbolic water is used to wash out the throat (100th). M. Gaucher reports 16 cures in 16 serious cases he had, but states that the method is very painful, even when the throat is first touched with a solution of cocaine of two or three per cent. It is, however, a method that should be tried in adults, as children would not support the pain.-Paris Letter, Philadelphia Medical Times. PROGNOSIS FROM THE RAPID FALL OF TEMPERATURE IN TYPHOID-FEVER.-There are two distinct forms observable in the decline of temperature in typhoid-fever: the rapid and the gradual. A simple fall of fever must not be mistaken for a real decrease of the fever. In such cases a sudden change, which Jaccoud calls a relapse, often follows after a short interval. Only when the temperature falls gradually to 981, the normal condition, can the patient be considered safe from a sudden relapse. When the temperature falls rapidly it must go below 981, 97.9, 97 before the patient can be considered free from danger. This rule may be applied in a general way to the termination of all fevers, of erysipelas, etc.-Jour. de Medecine de Paris. INDEX. Accident Association, U. S. Mutual, | Cholera and Quarantine, Wise, 212. 258. State Boards of Health, 41, 45; Atkinson, W. B., M.D., The Infant- Cholera Bacillus, Differential Diagno Cholera, Ten Years of, in Calcutta, 143. Cigarette-Smoking, Poisonous Effect Cinchona in Java, 384. Climate of Siberia, Kennan, 39. Corrosive Sublimate, The Value of, as Dead, The, Disposal of, Chadwick, 309. Babcock, S. E., C.E., Aeration of Wa Dietetic Management of the Summer Bacteria in Diseases of the Eye, 571. Bartley, E. H., M.D., Sewer-Air Dis- Beef Peptonoids, 164. Bell, A. N., A. M., M.D., Some Obser- Bladder, A New, Operation for, 569. Brooklyn, Public Education in, 251. Canaries Subject to Diphtheria, 565. Chadwick, E., C.B., Disposal of the Diarrhoea of Infants, Meigs, 163. Diphtheria, Origin of, from Birds and Disinfectant, A, of Air, 570. Earle, C. W., M.D., Artificial Foods, Edson, C., M.D., Water-Supply of Education in Relation to Health, Education, Public, in Brooklyn, 251. Engadine, The, and Davos, Roosa, 314. |