166 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



and entitled, " Kou-kin-i-tong" General Account of Ancient and 

 Modern Medicine, and refers to the practice of a celebrated phy- 

 sician, Ho-a-tho, who flourished between the years 220 and 230 of 

 our era. It states, that, when about to perform certain painful opera- 

 tions, "he gave the patient a preparation of hemp," (Hachich), and 

 that at the end of a few moments "he became as insensible as if he 

 had been drunk or deprived of life." After a certain number of days 

 the patient was cured, without having experienced the slightest pain 

 during the operation. In a subsequent notice he also shows that the 

 same physicians use the hydropathic system as a cure for certain dis- 

 eases; among others, chronic rheumatism. Comptes Rendus, Jan. 29. 



NAPHTHA VS. CHLOROFORM. 



PROFESSOR SIMPSON has been testing the properties of naphtha, 

 which seems to be as good as ether for inducing temporary insensibi- 

 lity. Professor S. administered the naphtha to two patients, a man and 

 a boy, on whom Mr. Milter performed the painful operation of ex- 

 tracting portions of necrosed bones from the tibia, by perforating the 

 newly-formed shell with the trephine, and removing the sequestra 

 with the forceps. The sleep induced was deep and tranquil, and the 

 breathing was less stertorous than when chloroform is employed ; but 

 it was remarked, that the effect of the naphtha upon the heart's action 

 was much greater, the pulse becoming extremely rapid and flut- 

 tering, thus rendering it less safe as an anaesthetic agent than chlo- 

 roform. 



INHALATION OF HYDROGEN GAS. 



M. VAN ALSTEN, of Rotterdam, has recently fallen a victim to his 

 devotion to science. He was the author of a work on chemistry, and 

 was desirous before finishing it of testing to what dem-ee a man iniuht 



o o c^ 



without danger inhale hydrogen gas. He tried the experiment on his 

 own person, and, in spite of all the exertions of his physicians, he 

 died in a few hours. Atlienccum, June. 



NEW METHOD FOR THE EXTRACTION OF SUGAR FROM SUGAR- 

 CANE AND BEETS. 



THE most extraordinary and valuable discovery which has been 

 made during the year 1849 is undoubtedly that of M. Melsens, Pro- 

 fessor of the State Veterinary and Agricultural College of Belgium, 

 relative to the extraction and clarification of cane or beet sugar. The 

 success which has attended this gentleman's experiments has caused 

 the greatest sensation among the manufacturers and statesmen of 

 France and Belgium. This could not be otherwise in countries 

 where so large a capital is invested in the growth of beets, and the 

 manufacture of sugar from them, in the refining of exotic sugar, and 

 the important collateral interests to which they have given rise. A 

 committee of the most distinguished scientific men of France and 



