N. MATERIA MEDICA, THERAPEUTICS, AND HYGIENE. 593 



tion of heart which, as is well known to physiologists, is inva- 

 riably inert, now, under the influence of delphinium, exhibits 

 spontaneous and continued rhythmical contractions. 15 A, 

 November 9, 1872, 453. 



PUKITY OF THE WATER OF THE UPPER HUDSON. 



The Water Commissioners of the city of Albany lately em- 

 ployed Professor C. F. Chandler, the well-known expert in 

 such matters, to make a report upon the water of the Hud- 

 son River above Albany, with a view of ascertaining its 

 availability for the supply of that city. He reports that the 

 most critical scrutiny has failed to reveal any thing to sight, 

 taste, smell, or chemical examination that can be considered 

 as throwing the slightest suspicion upon the purity of the 

 water of the Hudson, or on its fitness for a wholesome bev- 

 erage; and, furthermore, that, owing to an unusual combina- 

 tion of circumstances, the aeration of the water, so necessary 

 to render it palatable, has been accomplished thoroughly by 

 Glenn's Falls, the Falls of the Mohawk at Cohoes, and by the 

 State Dam at Troy. Report of C. F. Chandler. 



A NEW FEBRIFUGE. 



A new febrifuge, said to be an excellent substitute for qui- 

 nine, is reported to have been discovered in France, which 

 is much cheaper than quinine. This substance consists of 

 the green leaves of the laurel, or Laurus nobills, which are 

 dried in a close vessel on a fire, and are afterward reduced 

 to fine powder, of which one gramme, or 15.5 grains, may be 

 taken as a dose in a glass of cold water. Forty-six and a 

 half grains, it is asserted, are sufficient to effect a cure, and 

 it has even been successful in African fevers of long stand- 

 ing, against which quinine was ineffectual. 



EFFECTS OF USING* BROMIDE OF POTASSIUM. 



Long-continued use of the bromide of potassium has, as is 

 well known, a tendency to produce certain nervous diseases, 

 which, according to Carles,present themselves under five dif- 

 ferent forms. The first is represented by acne ; the second 

 by ulcers of a dull yellow, having an offensive odor; third, 

 red blotches, like purpura; fourth, by furuncles ; fifth (the 

 rarest of all), exhibits the appearance of eczema. Hitherto 



