562 ANNUAL RECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



the liquid enters anew from the now positive electrode. By 

 frequently repeating this reversal large quantities of the 

 liquid can be introduced. Mr. Munk has in this way trans- 

 ferred fatal quantities of strychnine solution through the un- 

 broken skin of young dogs, and has introduced chinin and 

 iodide of potassium into his own arm in such quantities as 

 to be readily detected in the excreta. The essential points, 

 therefore, in such operations are that the liquid substance be 

 placed at both electrodes, and that the direction of the cur- 

 rent be frequently reversed. 18 A, August 28, 1874, 614. 



DIABETES HEREDITARY.^ 



According to Dr. Schmitz, diabetes, that much -dreaded 

 disease, is almost always the result of congenital predisposi- 

 tion ; mental anxiety, severe pain, injuries of various kinds, 

 etc., whether they affect the nervous system or not, being- 

 powerless to bring about the affection without an inherited 

 tendency to it. 20 A, December 5, 1874, 635. 



ACTION OF JABORANDI. 



Mr. Martindale, of University College Hospital, England, 

 gives an account of an experiment upon himself of the 

 physiological action of the new Brazilian drug, jaborandi, 

 which has been highly commended as a sudorific and siala- 

 gogue. An infusion of sixty grains of the bruised leaf, in 

 live ounces of water, was prepared, and the equivalent of 

 about fifty grains swallowed by Mr. Martindale. In a very 

 short time he felt an increased circulation and an uneasiness 

 in the head, with a rapid secretion of saliva. In a quarter 

 of an hour he perspired freely, and the perspiration and sal- 

 ivation rapidly increased to such a degree as to blur his eye- 

 sight. The pulse rapidly rose from 96 to 104; the per- 

 spiration poured out from all parts of the body, the saliva 

 for a time required almost constant ejection, and the speech 

 was affected so that articulation was difficult and indistinct. 

 After a time vomiting came on, which threw off a portion of 

 the solution of the jaborandi. There were many uncomfort- 

 able symptoms attendant upon the experiment, which, how- 

 ever, passed off after a time. The saliva collected during the 

 experiment weighed nearly sixteen ounces, in addition to a 

 quantity which flowed on the pillow while the patient slept. 



