622 ANNUAL KECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



merous products of coal - tar. If four or five drops of this 

 substance be sprinkled on a handkerchief and inhaled, a sen- 

 sation of great fullness of the head is experienced, accompa- 

 nied by a pricking of the skin and redness of the face and 

 ears, and, if continued for any considerable time, conscious- 

 ness is lost for a season. It is said, however, that this appli- 

 cation will prevent a threatened attack of an epileptic fit, if 

 the patient is sufficiently aware of its approach to apply the 

 remedy in time. It is also asserted to be very serviceable in 

 preventing attacks of asthma consequent upon heart-disease, 

 and even of angina pectoris, stopping both at once, and pos- 

 sibly tending to reduce the violence and frequency of the at- 

 tacks. 



Its secondary efiects are considered not at all injurious, 

 and the dose of four drops is said to be perfectly safe. 

 Amer. Jour, of Med. Scie^ice^ October^ 1871. 



PEODUCTIOX OF OPIUM IN GERMANY. 



The production of opium has greatly increased in Wtir- 

 temberg, Germany, during the last year, and it is remarked 

 that the juice is even richer in morphia than the best brought 

 from India. Seeds of the most valued species of poppy from 

 Asia Minor were in no respect superior to the indigenous. 

 14 (7, vol. cciv. 



THERAPEUTIC QUALITIES OF HYOSCYAMUS. 



In an article by M. Oulmont upon the therapeutical action 

 of hyoscyamine in convulsive and spasmodic affections, be- 

 ing a continuation of a former paper by him, published two 

 years since, on the physiological action of this substance, tlie 

 following conclusions are presented: 1. Hyoscyamine repre- 

 sents all the active principles of henbane, and the fixity of its 

 composition allows its being employed with a precision that 

 is not attainable with henbane in substance. 2. It should be 

 given at first in small doses (two milligrammes per diem), 

 whether in the form of pills or hypodermic injections, but 

 the dose may ultimately be increased to ten or even twelve 

 milligrammes per diem. 3. It should be continued even after 

 the supervention of slight symptoms of intoxication (as dry- 

 ness of the throat, and dilatation of the pupils) ; but if these 

 become more serious, and cerebral symptoms are produced, 



