Missouri Botanical Garden PETER H. RAVEN LIBRARY Pagination Note: Since many of the items lack a specific page number, the page number displayed online refers to the sequentially created number each item was given upon cataloging the materials. ^£epz ^ Botanical copyright reserved garden cm 1 M!SS>UH! V:0' GEORGE Bi'.' 286 MARYLAND MEDICAL JOURNAL eration was performed. In the first a young man was suffering from acute rheumatism, with considerable peri- cardial effusion, The dyspnoea was extreme, and in order to relieve this symptqm paracentesis of the sac was decided upon. The needle of an aspi- rator was passed in at the fourth In- tercostal space, and about two ounces of blood-stained fluid were removed. The dyspnoea ceased almost immedi- ately, there was no recurrence of the effusion, and the patient recovered rapidly. In the second case the pa- tient was aged fifty, very anaemic, and emaciated. There was effusion into the left pleura and into the pericardi- um On the sixth day of treatment the pericardium was aspirated, and thirteen and a~half ounces of clear fluid were removed. The relief was im- mense, but in two days it was found necessary to repeat the operation. Fifteen ounces were removed, but the patient died on the fourth day, the fluid having rapidly reaccumulated. At the post-mortem examination thirty ounces of fluid were found in the sac The wounds made by the needle had healed, and no trace of inflammation could be found in the course of that instrument. Kummell recommends that a preliminary puncture should be made with a Pravaz syringe, which can be done without danger. The punc- ture should be made about two inches from the left margin of the sternum, in one of the spaces between the car- tilages of the fourth and seventh ribs. The puncture is best made with a hol- low needle, of the diameter of about one-twelfth of an inch. — Med. and Surg. Reporter. Dr. Stuart Eldridge, Gen. Hos- pital, Yokohama, Japan, calls the at- tention of the profession to the great advantages of asbestos roofing felt as a material for plastic splints and other molded apparatus. In a brief state- ment he gives the qualities in which it excels those nowin vogue. I. It is rendered perfectly soft and flexible by , . . / / , s brief immersion in water of a temper- ature easily borne by the hand. 2. It retains its plasticity long enough to allow of careful adaptation, while its stiffness is instantly restored by a dash of cold water. 3. While soft it does not change dimensions, so often the case with gutta percha. 4. It remains unchanged after indefinite exposure to the heat and moisture of the body, nor is it affected by any of the ordin- ary lotions applied in cases of wound or fiacture. 5. It is perfectly antisep- tic on account of the coal tar with which it is saturated, a quality which would of itself commend its use in compound fracture. 6. It is so cheap that its cost is hardly worth mention- ing even in large institutions. — N. V. Med . Record. The Harm Tanner’s Fast has done is thus depicted by a Frenchman : “This prodigious fast will not fill the ‘ stomachs of the starving. There is no need to make such experiments ; the wretched make them every winter. Dr. Tanner has done the poor a great deal of harm. The familiar appeal, * My God. sir, pity me ; I’ve eaten nothing for two days,’ will never more have any effect on us.” — American Practitioner . Barber-surgeons.— Paul Broca, who was a capital raconteur , told the fol- lowing anecdote of himself. He was in Seville, and wishing to be shaved he applied to . a barber whom he chanced to know. After the conclu- sion of the operation the barber de- clined to accept any pay on the ground that confreres should not accept fees of one another. — Ibid. Lady Hariet Scott Bentick has given $20,000 to the International Hospital at Naples, in order to enable the committee to buy or build premi- ses of their own. It is among the conditions of this gift that an English- speaking physician and an English nurse be always kept at the hospital. — Ibid. Botanical cm copyright reserved garden MARYLAND MEDICAL JOURNAL. On the action of bromide of ethyl in hysteria and epilepsy. 1st. In the cases of hysterical patients the attacks have been almost constantly sup- pressed when the drug was adminis- tered at the beginning of the attack. 2nd. In cases of epilepsy the attack being at the tonic period, the action of bromide of ethyl was manifested in some cases by the cessation of the convulsions and the production of a complete muscular resolution; the attacks have often appeared to dimin- ish in intensity and duration, some- times the effect has not been appre ciable. — Amer. Journal Medical . Sci- ences . Burns and Frostbites* — Dr. H. G. Boyland in discussing this subject* classifies burns under three heads by a difference in degree : 1st. Inflamma- tion without exudation under the epi- • dermis. 2d. With exudation, blisters, etc. 3d. Death of the parts, gangrene. Frostbite is said to admit of an identi- cal classification and the progress of of the affection is regarded as almost precisely the same, although the pro- cesses brought about by burning are more of an acute and active character, while those caused by freezing are more torpid. Attention is also called § to the fact that the most intense effect of cold upon the general system (frost asphyxia) is doubtless due to the same direct cause as sunstroke, namely, congestion of the brain. Dr. Boyland makes his treatment consistent with his pathology, treating both affections at first by cold. He gives bicarbonate of soda its proper place, however, as practically the best dressing for all ordinary burns.— Med. and Surg. Reporter. New Books Received. — “ Nasal Catarrh.” By Beverley Robinson, A. M., M. D., Lecturer upon Clinical Medicine at the Bellevue Hospital Medical College, N. Y. Wm. Wood & Co., Publishers, New York, 1880. For sale by Henry Fleetwood, Balto. “ Diseases of the Pharynx, Larynx 285 and Trachea.” By Morell Macken- zie, M, D., London. Wood’s Library of Standard Medical Authors. Pub- lished by Wm. Wood & Co., New York City, 1880. For sale by Henry Fleetwood, Baltimore. “A Treatise on Diseases of the Eye.” By J. Soelberg Wells. New Edition. Published by Henry C. Lea & Co., Philadelphia. “ Slight Ailments, their Nature and Treatment.” By Lionel S. Beale, M. B., F. R. S., Fellow of the Royal Col- lege of Physicians. Presley Blackis- ton, Philadelphia, 1880. pp. 346. Price $1.50. Treatment of Prolapsus Ani in Children. — Dr Basevi (Giornale In- ternazionalle delle Science Me die he, Fasc. 9) employs the following treat- ment in chronic cases of this affection. He first cauterizes lightly the protrud- ing portion with nitrate of silver and then reduces it, administering after- ward, with the view of checking any tendency to enteritis, an enema of tannic acid, alum, and ice-cold water. Should this treatment prove insuffi cient, the child is placed on a bed with the nates upward, and steadied by two assistants, one of whom fixes the upper part of the body while the other holds the knees elevated and somewhat abducted. The prolapsus having been reduced, the nates are brought together, and two strips of diachylon plaster, each about two inches wide, are passed from one tro- chanter to the other in as close prox- imity as - possible" to * 4 fi^^i^inaeum. To keep them in place, a spica band- age is applied around the lower por- tion of the body, and a piece of gutta percha is added to protect the plaster from the contact of fecal matter. The apparatus may be left in position for two weeks. — London Medical Record . Paracentesis of the Pericardium. — Dr. Kummell, of Berlin, relates, in Berliner Klinische Wochenschrift , 23, 1880, and Med. Rec ., July, 1880, the history of two cases in which this op- ) OhC Botanical cm copyright reserved garden . A~ ^

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