N. MATERIA MEDICA, THERAPEUTICS, AND HYGIENE. 615 



N. MATERIA MEDICA, THERAPEUTICS, AND 



HYGIENE. 



SIGNS OF DEATH. 



Dr. Hugo Magnus, assistant physician to the hospital at 

 Breslau, suggests that the tying of a tight ligature around 

 one of the fingers will determine whether a person supposed 

 to be dead is so in reality. If life be not extinct the extrem- 

 ity of the finger soon becomes red, the depth of the color in- 

 creasing to dark red and violet, while the skin above the liga- 

 ture remains white. This is easily understood, as, if there be 

 any circulation of the blood, the ligature prevents the return 

 of the venous blood, while the arteries still continue to con- 

 vey it to the capillaries. A test so simple can be applied 

 without difficulty, and seems to be quite decisive. 13 A, 

 December 1,1812,451. 



CUKE FOR_ CATARRH. 



Although a catarrh of itself is not to be classed with the 

 dangerous diseases, it is always troublesome, and if the bron- 

 chise become affected, a favorable termination, especially with 

 aged persons, is not always certain. A remedy for this afiec- 

 tion, as suggested by Dr. Hagar, is as follows : Five parts of 

 carbolic acid, six of aqua ammonise (specific gravity 0.960), 

 ten of distilled water, and fifteen of alcohol are to be mixed 

 together in a wide-mouthed bottle, half filled with cotton or 

 asbestos, and snufied up from time to time from the bottle. 

 After a thorough trial of this prescription, Dr. Brand states 

 that it shortens the first stage of the disease, prevents the 

 second, and alleviates all the symptoms. He j^refers, however, 

 to apply it by inhalation through the mouth as well as the 

 nose, by pouring a few drops on porous paper, and holding it 

 in the hollow of the hand before the face, with the eyes closed. 

 9 (7, 1872, VI., 87. 



THEORY OF " TAKING COLD." 



Professor Rosenthal gives the following explanation of the 

 pathogenic action of exposure to cold. Suppose an individual 



