N. MATERIA MEDICA, THERAPEUTICS, AND HYGIENE. 555 

 ANAESTHESIA IN OPERATIONS ON THE EYE. 



In referring to the great importance of anaesthetics in di- 

 reet operations upon the eye. Dr. Schweigger, of Berlin, in- 

 sists upon the necessity of selecting one that will permit the 

 patient to be kept sometimes for at least an hour under its 

 influence, without involving any danger to life or health; 

 since it is not merely sufficient to render the patient uncon- 

 scious, but the cornea must be so insensible as to allow the 

 contact of the finger, or the introduction of the instrument, 

 without the excitement of reflex action in the eyelids and 

 muscles. The use of chloroform in such cases he considers 

 very undesirable, ether being much superior in safety. He 

 states, however, that whatever be the anesthetic employed, 

 a strict watch should be kept over the patient, and especially 

 upon the state of the pupil. A moderate dilatation of this 

 should warn the operator to be very careful, while a sudden- 

 ly occurring and wide dilatation is always a sign of impend- 

 ing asphyxia. The moment this is observed, or when the res- 

 piratory movements are insufficient or arrested, the tongue 

 should be drawn out of the mouth by means of a hooked for- 

 ceps. The respiratory movements, which had been arrested 

 by the falling back of the root of the tongue on the epiglottis, 

 are then resumed. To this, the most simple and longest- 

 known procedure, Dr. Schweigger attributes his having been 

 able to restore several patients who were in a most danger- 

 ous condition. 20 A, November 15, 1873, 55G. 



POLLUTION OF RIVERS BY MANUFACTORIES AND CITY SEWAGE. 



The great attention recently given to these sources of dis- 

 ease and discomfort, by various European governments, seems 

 more than justified, according to an exhaustive summary, by 

 Fischer, of the results of these investigations. Thus, the ref- 

 use water of almost all industrial establishments contains 

 more or less matter in solution, or suspension, calculated to 

 render it unwholesome and unfit for many purposes. The 

 nitrogenous organic material, however, seems specially ob- 

 jectionable. Tanneries contribute so much of this that their 

 interdiction near large cities is suggested. Paper mills, in 

 the washings of the rags and of the esparto grass, also furnish 

 a liquid prone to putrefaction. The refuse water of sugar 



