ifttyxtw d
fl?
glfilifiil
aofl CM-
Action of Salts of Iron on the Blood.?In the Journal of Anatomy and Physiology for November, there is an extremely interesting paper, by Dr. James Blake, of California, on this subject, Some of the distinctions drawn by the author between the protosalts and the persalts are of the highest interest. For example, he tell us that the protosalts evidently tend to diminish the irritability of the heart, while the persalts
to have little or no effect of this kind. The action of the on the nervous system shews itself in slower respiration?a peculiar state of quietness in which the animal does not wish to move. Agaia, the protosalts give rise to changes in the blood, which prevent its coagulation after death ; while the salts of the peroxide do not at all interfere with it3 coagulation, but indeed, as Dr. Blake thinks, render the clot firmer. The quantities required to produce death (iri dogs) aro different for the two sets of salts, for which GO or 70 grains of the protosalt can be held in the blood without serious consequences; 5 or 6 of the persalts will destroy life. These experiments of Dr. Blake shew us how much inquiry yet remains to be made in this department of therapeutics. seem
protosalts
Prevention of Convulsions,?In
a
recent number of the
Archives dc Physiologic, Dr. Brown Sequard describes seven cases, in which irritation of the sensory nerves was found to allay tetanic spasm and convulsions. The irritation of the sensory nerves was effected by violent flexion of the great toe. Ho considers that this is an instance of the same kind of action that in the stoppage of' the heart's action by irritation of we have the vagus. He is also of opinion that the arrest of an epilepfit tic by irritating centripetal nerves is due to a like process.
THE INDIAN MEDICAL GAZETTE.
24
explanation of the influence of a ligature in generally received impression is that by this means the passage of the aura towards the brain is prevented; hut Dr. Brown Sequard explains it by the supposition that the ligature simply creates an irritation which counteracts the
This offers
a new
epilepsy.
The
effect of the first one.
Death from
Covering
the Skin with Varnish.?It is well
known to physiologists that death is produced by varnishing the skin wholly. The cause of death, however, is by no means M. Laschkervitsch, of St. Petersburg, has, howso well known. ever, made some recent experiments (Reicherts Archiv, 18G8, p. 61), which seem to show that death is produced by loss of heat from the surface. He found that a varnished animal, when surrounded by cotton-wadding, suffered no injury, but died when the wadding was removed. He found the blood-vessels beneath the varnish very much dilated, and supposes, therefore, that this dilatation promotes the loss of heat by the integument. He demonstrates that the old view that asphyxia results is incorrect. This he did by placing an animal in an atmosphere of hydrogen, taking care to cover the animal's mouth with an elastic funnel communicating with the external air ; while under these conditions the animal lived for six hours without any injurious consequences.
Viannet"'(inne ^
The Law of Contagion-?At Academy of Sciences on the 9th
the
meeting
of the
-jj
Fiench
of November, M. presented a third and last memoir on this subject, especially relation to cow-pox and small-pox. M. Chauveau asks how ^ is that in diseases of the same order as those mentioned, the is transmissible from a distance and the second is not. explains this difference by asserting that the quantities infecting corpuscles is different in the two diseases. If pox was accompanied by the development of as large a nurn of corpuscles as small-pox, it would be equally transtnissi ^ from a distance. The disease (either?) may be given by some of these corpuscles to enter the air respired by aninia >, but more readily still by mixing them with the food or drink.
Vaginismus.?The
'
1, 1SG9*'
2nd, that the stumps were simply covered with plaster, M. Maisonneuve bandages them in the usual saturates the bandages in antiseptic liquid. Had this the pressure would have been more distributed, and manometer been used, it is likely that much undue pressure have been avoided.
The Clause and Treatment of very troublesome affection to which Dr. Marion Sims directed so much " attention in his Clinical Notes on Uterine Surgery," has been made the subject of a very valuable paper by Professor Scanzoni, of "NVintzburg, who gives a new explanation of the origin of the disease, and proposes a substitute for Sims' operation, which he thinks a very sanguinary one. Professor Scanzoni's paper is reprinted in the Bulletin Generate dc Therapeutique for October and to be read those 31st, interested in the question. ought by The professor attributes all the abnormal contractibility of the to an tenderness of the organs resulting sphincter inflammatory from the unsuccessful copulative efforts of an inexperienced husband. His treatment is, therefore, in accordance with this view. He first prescribes absolute contiuence on the part of the woman, warm baths of about 26? Reaumur are given night and morning, and Goulard's water, also warm, is applied in compressers placed between the labia. After a few days, when much of the tumefaction lias subsided, the soi-e parts of vaginal orifice are touched daily with a solution of nitrate of the silver (20 grains to the ounce). Next, a suppository, about the size of the little finger, composed of extract of belladonna and cacao bitter, is introduced into the vagina. After about three weeks of this treatment a cure is effected; then Professor Scanzoni This he effects at first by commences bis process of dilatation. the use of the conical glass speculum. There is in the comin mencement a little difficulty introducing this, but a little force overcomes it, and the speculum passes into the vaginal cavity freely, and may be left, therefore, according to the patient's sensations, for from ten minutes to half an hour, or an hour. "While the process of dilatation is going on, he uses the warm baths, and applies the nitrate of silver when requisite. At the end of six or eight weeks, a patient is well, and coition may Professor Scanzcmi is so take place with little difficulty. of the husband in these cases, sceptical as to the experience " confier u la femme l'introduction that he recommends him du penis dans le vagin."
Maisonneuve's Method of Treating Stumps after Amputation-?In an excellent volume of medical cases, called the Liverpool Medical and Surgical Reports, edited by Dr. F. T. Roberts and Mr. R. Harrison, there is an account of two opera-
[January
tions treated in this way by Mr. Robert Hamilton. The author's results, obtained by the exhaustion of air from the stump, were not satisfactory; and he is disposed to condemn the process, on the three following objections:?(1) the uniform compression of a stump has the disadvantage of producing an engorgement of the capillaries where the pressure ceases; (2) the amount of suction exercised upon the cut tissues every time the air is exhausted causes an excessive exudation, which is seen in the quantity of fluid drawn off during the first 24 hour3 into the receiver, much of this fluii consisting of reparative material; 1,3) an air-tight india-rubber bag interferes with the normal action of the skin, there is no evaporation, and the hand becomes very hot. It is necessary, however, to remark in reference to the way in which Mr. Hamilton carried out M. Maisonneuve's plan, firstly, that no manometer was employed, as M. Maisonneuve insists on, to estimate the exact degree of atmospheric pressure to which the limb was submitted ; aad,
irs^
c0^cr
allow^o
Tubercular Meningitis detected witli the
Opthalmoscope-
opthaltnoscopo
?M. Bouchut alleges that by means of the he can, in this disease, detect the presence of tubercles on t retina and choroid. Several antopsies have confirmed his observation. He has also detected the tubercles in infants, in whom its existence had not been dreamt of. M. Bouchut has al?? ne pointed out what he stated to be a new affection, which terms miliary choroidean atrophy.
The Muscular Structure of the Auriculo-Ventricular Valves.
?Herr Dr. Gussenbaner recently laid a memoir before the Royal Academy of Vienna on the above subject. He shewed that the opinions of Kiirschner and Joseph were correct, and that muscular fibre in these structures is not confined to animals, but is found in man also.
The
Pathology
of (Edema.?Herr Rokitansky lately pre-
sented to the above Academy a memoir by M. W. Young, on the subject of the oedematous alteration of the skin. He shewed that the injection of nitrate of silver and Prussian blue into the lymphatic vessels of the cedematous skin of the fingers, the knee, and the scrotum, proved that these vessels formed in the corium multiple layers disposed in net-works.
The
Physiological
Action of Ethyl-and
Methyl-Strychnia-
?This problem in scientific physiology has already been solved by Messrs. Fraser and Crum-Brown, of Edinburgh, and has been taken up?apparently independently, at all events without reference to their predecessors?by M. M. Jolyet and Cahouss French chemists. These observers arrive at very many identical results with those obtained by the Scotch phvsiologists. Iodide of ethyl-strychnia was introduced into the' foot ?of a and soon its showed effects. These frog effects, however were quite different from those of ordinary strychina. At first the animal jumped about the laboratory, but after a few moments its movements became slower and less frequent, and subsequently it became completely paralysed, so far as locomotion was concerned. Respiration had ceased, but, strange enough, the heart continued to beat. In this state of half death the animal remained for nearly 48 hours, and then recovered. In the case of doo-s, the effects were different. It took much larger doses to result, and then convulsions were originated. These were not, however, like tetanic spasms, and they came on slowly, and at very long intervals, neither did the animals die. "Whilst 4 centigrammes of iodide of strychnia killed a dog, it took 20 centigrammes of ethylstrychnia to even produce non-fatal convulsions, and twice this amount of the methyl-strychnia compound.?Comptes Mendus, November 2nd.
product 'any
The Structure of the Placenta-?Herr "W. Reitz published a paper on the structure of the human placenta.
has
He that the recent villosities of this organ are not invested into are epithelium. They prolonged filaments, which, dilated, become hollow and filled with micter, but in which neither nitrate of silver nor any other agent reveals the limits of distinct cells. At this period of its development the cell is composed only of a hollow mas3 of proto-plasm studded with nucler, and connected with which is one blood vessel. It divides, later on, into many segments. Herr Reitz affirms the existence of muscular fibres of the non-striated variety on the human placenta. states
with
fl?
glfilifiil
aofl CM-
Action of Salts of Iron on the Blood.?In the Journal of Anatomy and Physiology for November, there is an extremely interesting paper, by Dr. James Blake, of California, on this subject, Some of the distinctions drawn by the author between the protosalts and the persalts are of the highest interest. For example, he tell us that the protosalts evidently tend to diminish the irritability of the heart, while the persalts
to have little or no effect of this kind. The action of the on the nervous system shews itself in slower respiration?a peculiar state of quietness in which the animal does not wish to move. Agaia, the protosalts give rise to changes in the blood, which prevent its coagulation after death ; while the salts of the peroxide do not at all interfere with it3 coagulation, but indeed, as Dr. Blake thinks, render the clot firmer. The quantities required to produce death (iri dogs) aro different for the two sets of salts, for which GO or 70 grains of the protosalt can be held in the blood without serious consequences; 5 or 6 of the persalts will destroy life. These experiments of Dr. Blake shew us how much inquiry yet remains to be made in this department of therapeutics. seem
protosalts
Prevention of Convulsions,?In
a
recent number of the
Archives dc Physiologic, Dr. Brown Sequard describes seven cases, in which irritation of the sensory nerves was found to allay tetanic spasm and convulsions. The irritation of the sensory nerves was effected by violent flexion of the great toe. Ho considers that this is an instance of the same kind of action that in the stoppage of' the heart's action by irritation of we have the vagus. He is also of opinion that the arrest of an epilepfit tic by irritating centripetal nerves is due to a like process.
THE INDIAN MEDICAL GAZETTE.
24
explanation of the influence of a ligature in generally received impression is that by this means the passage of the aura towards the brain is prevented; hut Dr. Brown Sequard explains it by the supposition that the ligature simply creates an irritation which counteracts the
This offers
a new
epilepsy.
The
effect of the first one.
Death from
Covering
the Skin with Varnish.?It is well
known to physiologists that death is produced by varnishing the skin wholly. The cause of death, however, is by no means M. Laschkervitsch, of St. Petersburg, has, howso well known. ever, made some recent experiments (Reicherts Archiv, 18G8, p. 61), which seem to show that death is produced by loss of heat from the surface. He found that a varnished animal, when surrounded by cotton-wadding, suffered no injury, but died when the wadding was removed. He found the blood-vessels beneath the varnish very much dilated, and supposes, therefore, that this dilatation promotes the loss of heat by the integument. He demonstrates that the old view that asphyxia results is incorrect. This he did by placing an animal in an atmosphere of hydrogen, taking care to cover the animal's mouth with an elastic funnel communicating with the external air ; while under these conditions the animal lived for six hours without any injurious consequences.
Viannet"'(inne ^
The Law of Contagion-?At Academy of Sciences on the 9th
the
meeting
of the
-jj
Fiench
of November, M. presented a third and last memoir on this subject, especially relation to cow-pox and small-pox. M. Chauveau asks how ^ is that in diseases of the same order as those mentioned, the is transmissible from a distance and the second is not. explains this difference by asserting that the quantities infecting corpuscles is different in the two diseases. If pox was accompanied by the development of as large a nurn of corpuscles as small-pox, it would be equally transtnissi ^ from a distance. The disease (either?) may be given by some of these corpuscles to enter the air respired by aninia >, but more readily still by mixing them with the food or drink.
Vaginismus.?The
'
1, 1SG9*'
2nd, that the stumps were simply covered with plaster, M. Maisonneuve bandages them in the usual saturates the bandages in antiseptic liquid. Had this the pressure would have been more distributed, and manometer been used, it is likely that much undue pressure have been avoided.
The Clause and Treatment of very troublesome affection to which Dr. Marion Sims directed so much " attention in his Clinical Notes on Uterine Surgery," has been made the subject of a very valuable paper by Professor Scanzoni, of "NVintzburg, who gives a new explanation of the origin of the disease, and proposes a substitute for Sims' operation, which he thinks a very sanguinary one. Professor Scanzoni's paper is reprinted in the Bulletin Generate dc Therapeutique for October and to be read those 31st, interested in the question. ought by The professor attributes all the abnormal contractibility of the to an tenderness of the organs resulting sphincter inflammatory from the unsuccessful copulative efforts of an inexperienced husband. His treatment is, therefore, in accordance with this view. He first prescribes absolute contiuence on the part of the woman, warm baths of about 26? Reaumur are given night and morning, and Goulard's water, also warm, is applied in compressers placed between the labia. After a few days, when much of the tumefaction lias subsided, the soi-e parts of vaginal orifice are touched daily with a solution of nitrate of the silver (20 grains to the ounce). Next, a suppository, about the size of the little finger, composed of extract of belladonna and cacao bitter, is introduced into the vagina. After about three weeks of this treatment a cure is effected; then Professor Scanzoni This he effects at first by commences bis process of dilatation. the use of the conical glass speculum. There is in the comin mencement a little difficulty introducing this, but a little force overcomes it, and the speculum passes into the vaginal cavity freely, and may be left, therefore, according to the patient's sensations, for from ten minutes to half an hour, or an hour. "While the process of dilatation is going on, he uses the warm baths, and applies the nitrate of silver when requisite. At the end of six or eight weeks, a patient is well, and coition may Professor Scanzcmi is so take place with little difficulty. of the husband in these cases, sceptical as to the experience " confier u la femme l'introduction that he recommends him du penis dans le vagin."
Maisonneuve's Method of Treating Stumps after Amputation-?In an excellent volume of medical cases, called the Liverpool Medical and Surgical Reports, edited by Dr. F. T. Roberts and Mr. R. Harrison, there is an account of two opera-
[January
tions treated in this way by Mr. Robert Hamilton. The author's results, obtained by the exhaustion of air from the stump, were not satisfactory; and he is disposed to condemn the process, on the three following objections:?(1) the uniform compression of a stump has the disadvantage of producing an engorgement of the capillaries where the pressure ceases; (2) the amount of suction exercised upon the cut tissues every time the air is exhausted causes an excessive exudation, which is seen in the quantity of fluid drawn off during the first 24 hour3 into the receiver, much of this fluii consisting of reparative material; 1,3) an air-tight india-rubber bag interferes with the normal action of the skin, there is no evaporation, and the hand becomes very hot. It is necessary, however, to remark in reference to the way in which Mr. Hamilton carried out M. Maisonneuve's plan, firstly, that no manometer was employed, as M. Maisonneuve insists on, to estimate the exact degree of atmospheric pressure to which the limb was submitted ; aad,
irs^
c0^cr
allow^o
Tubercular Meningitis detected witli the
Opthalmoscope-
opthaltnoscopo
?M. Bouchut alleges that by means of the he can, in this disease, detect the presence of tubercles on t retina and choroid. Several antopsies have confirmed his observation. He has also detected the tubercles in infants, in whom its existence had not been dreamt of. M. Bouchut has al?? ne pointed out what he stated to be a new affection, which terms miliary choroidean atrophy.
The Muscular Structure of the Auriculo-Ventricular Valves.
?Herr Dr. Gussenbaner recently laid a memoir before the Royal Academy of Vienna on the above subject. He shewed that the opinions of Kiirschner and Joseph were correct, and that muscular fibre in these structures is not confined to animals, but is found in man also.
The
Pathology
of (Edema.?Herr Rokitansky lately pre-
sented to the above Academy a memoir by M. W. Young, on the subject of the oedematous alteration of the skin. He shewed that the injection of nitrate of silver and Prussian blue into the lymphatic vessels of the cedematous skin of the fingers, the knee, and the scrotum, proved that these vessels formed in the corium multiple layers disposed in net-works.
The
Physiological
Action of Ethyl-and
Methyl-Strychnia-
?This problem in scientific physiology has already been solved by Messrs. Fraser and Crum-Brown, of Edinburgh, and has been taken up?apparently independently, at all events without reference to their predecessors?by M. M. Jolyet and Cahouss French chemists. These observers arrive at very many identical results with those obtained by the Scotch phvsiologists. Iodide of ethyl-strychnia was introduced into the' foot ?of a and soon its showed effects. These frog effects, however were quite different from those of ordinary strychina. At first the animal jumped about the laboratory, but after a few moments its movements became slower and less frequent, and subsequently it became completely paralysed, so far as locomotion was concerned. Respiration had ceased, but, strange enough, the heart continued to beat. In this state of half death the animal remained for nearly 48 hours, and then recovered. In the case of doo-s, the effects were different. It took much larger doses to result, and then convulsions were originated. These were not, however, like tetanic spasms, and they came on slowly, and at very long intervals, neither did the animals die. "Whilst 4 centigrammes of iodide of strychnia killed a dog, it took 20 centigrammes of ethylstrychnia to even produce non-fatal convulsions, and twice this amount of the methyl-strychnia compound.?Comptes Mendus, November 2nd.
product 'any
The Structure of the Placenta-?Herr "W. Reitz published a paper on the structure of the human placenta.
has
He that the recent villosities of this organ are not invested into are epithelium. They prolonged filaments, which, dilated, become hollow and filled with micter, but in which neither nitrate of silver nor any other agent reveals the limits of distinct cells. At this period of its development the cell is composed only of a hollow mas3 of proto-plasm studded with nucler, and connected with which is one blood vessel. It divides, later on, into many segments. Herr Reitz affirms the existence of muscular fibres of the non-striated variety on the human placenta. states
with
