N. MATERIA MEDICA, THERAPEUTICS, AND HYGIENE. 557 



determine whether a larger quantity of the morphine can be 

 used with a proportionate reduction in the quantity of chlo- 

 roform ; and whether, by combining the substances in differ- 

 ent ways, very important results may be produced both in 

 causing anaesthesia and preventing the sensation of pain. 2 

 A, March 23, 1872, 350. 



GLYCERINE FOR VACCINE LYMPH. 



In the prevalence of the small-pox in many of the cities of 

 the United States, our readers will excuse our reference to 

 the application of glycerine as a vehicle for the long preser- 

 vation of vaccine lymph, and for the almost indefinite exten- 

 sion of its employment during the period of epidemic visita- 

 tion. The use of this substance, as practiced in Germany 

 with the utmost success, makes it possible, by preserving 

 lymph for a great length of time in considerable quantity, to 

 meet such sudden emergencies as that of treating an entire 

 city or large army. In numerous instances a reliable vacci- 

 nation has been performed after the lapse of two years with 

 the lymph thus prepared. Besides its preservative power, it 

 is said that glycerine facilitates the operation of vaccination ; 

 the mixture, in consequence of the dilution, being far more 

 efficacious and more easily employed than when water is used 

 for this purpose. Indeed, the glycerine lymph has been 

 found to act more certainly and more completely than when 

 unmixed fresh lymph is employed. This may arise from the 

 coagulability of the blood being diminished by contact with 

 the glycerine, and the lymph being rendered more easily ab- 

 sorbable. 



The purity of the glycerine for this purpose is a matter of 

 prime importance, any adulteration being sure to cause more 

 or less irritation. As a test in this case, we are recommend- 

 ed to mix equal volumes of rectified sulphuric acid of a spe- 

 cific gravity of 1.83 with the glycerine. If the latter be pure, 

 an elevation of temperature takes place, the mixture in some 

 rare instances becoming of a pale brown. It remains, how- 

 ever, quite clear, and, at the most, a few air-bubbles will be 

 visible, not increased by continued stirring. The impure 

 glycerine, however, immediately on being mixed with the 

 acid, gives rise to a gas resembling carbonic acid gas in a 

 clear fluid. After this gas has been removed, and the mixt- 



