M. MATERIA MEDICA, THERAPEUTICS, AND HYGIENE. 5 73 



be properly skinned. An experiment of this kind was once 

 made by Dr. Totten, of New York, who prepared a solution of 

 one dram of carbolic acid, one and a half ounces each of gly- 

 cerine and a dilute alcohol, and injected it into the mouth, the 

 rectum, and under the skin of a large cormorant. The bird 

 was kept on board ship until it reached New York, a period 

 of about two months after its capture, and was then sent to 

 a taxidermist, who found it to be in a perfect condition, and 

 he was able to mount it as satisfactorily as if it had been but 

 just killed. 



CAEBOLIC ACID IX SNAKE POISONING. 



Nature informs us that, according to recent French inves- 

 tigations, the application of carbolic acid after the bite of a 

 viper is a remedy both for local and general poisoning. The 

 acid is to be used in the proportion of two* parts to one of 

 alcohol, and must be applied at once, since if given internal- 

 ly or applied to the wound at a late period it has no effect. 

 It is believed to act, not by neutralizing the poison, but by 

 contraction of the small vessels, thus preventing absorption. 

 12 A, July 20. 



COLOMBIAN CUBE OF THE BITE OF A POISONOUS SEEPENT. 



A native of Colombia has lately announced that the bite 

 of a poisonous serpent can be cured by simply dropping 

 melted sealing-wax upon the fang-marks, the result being a 

 slight cautery, and a complete^ exclusion of the air in conse- 

 quence of the adhesion of the wax. 12 A, August 10, 287. 



CARBOLIC ACID NOT A PERFECT DISINFECTANT. 



A writer in the English Mechanic advises its readers not 

 to put implicit faith in carbolic acid as a disinfectant, as he 

 believes its merits to have been greatly overrated. As a de- 

 odorizer he considers it far inferior to ordinary chloride of 

 lime, the effect lasting only a short time. He finds that the 

 vapor of chlorine is very much superior for the purpose, as it 

 always destroys the vitality of infectious and diseased germs, 

 which carbolic acid does not. To completely disinfect an 

 apartment that has been occupied by a patient suffering un- 

 der small-pox, typhus fever, or other disease, it is only neces- 

 sary to vacate the apartment after stopping up the openings, 



