618 ANNUAL EECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



as ferment upon the liquid constituents of the virus, which, 

 becoming decomposed, show their poisonous effect when re- 

 ceived into the circulation of the blood. Mr. Cohn promises 

 to test this hypothesis experimentally, and to communicate 

 the results. 19 (7, 1872, xxix., 231. 



TREATMENT OF INTEEMITTENT FEVER BY CARBOLIC ACID. 



Dr. Declat announces to the Academy of Sciences of Paris 

 a new method of treatment of intermittent fever, the success 

 of which has been tested upon cases conducted in France, 

 Hungary, Algeria, Senegal, India, etc., and which, after a 

 few days of trial, sometimes with a single application, has 

 succeeded in causing a disappearance of the fever. The ad- 

 vantages of the treatment are that it may be applied at any 

 time, and that there are no counter-indications on the part of 

 the nervous system, the intestinal apparatus, etc. The brain 

 and the stomach, so frequently affected by the use of quinine, 

 are not interfered with by the new medicine. 



The method in question consists in the hypodermic injec- 

 tion of carbolic acid, introduced under the skin of the chest, 

 the belly, the inside of the thighs, etc. The first day of the 

 treatment four injections are to be used of one hundred drops 

 of carbolic acid of one per cent., the next day three injec- 

 tions, and two the day after. 



The author states that the first operation always diminish- 

 es the fever, and frequentl}^ cures it entirely ; the second is 

 sometimes merely a jorecautionary measure, and the third is 

 even less necessary. As an additional precaution in some 

 cases, especially if there are indications of cachexy and de- 

 cided visceral engorgement. Dr. Declat prescribes the use 

 every day of twenty to twenty-five centigrammes of jDure 

 carbolic acid, either in sweetened water or in the form of a 

 special sirup. 6 D^ December 2, 1872, 1489. 



ORIGIN OF GOITRE. 



The commonly accepted hypothesis in regard to the origin 

 of goitre and the reason of its special development in certain 

 districts of England (namely, the hard-water or limestone re- 

 gions) is not considered satisfactory by Mr. Lebour, as his 

 own researches have shown that, while at points in certain 

 limestone districts it is. entirely wanting, in others it is very 



