278 THE JOURNAI. OF PHARMACOLOGY. 



SuLPHONAL Poisoning. According to Dieterich {Therep. Mon- 

 ats.) sulphonal is by no means so free from toxic action as is generally 

 supposed. At least thirty cases of death from the use of the drug have 

 been recorded in medical literature, he says. The dose which produces 

 these harmful effects appears to be very variable. Uestreicher quotes a 

 case in which a patient took 1,500 grams of sulphonal in six years with- 

 out any ill eft"ects. On the other hand, Schulz reports a case which 

 ended fatally, in which only 16 grams were given in a month, and Hel- 

 weg, another fatal case resulting from the administration of 90 grams 

 in three months. •Numerous similar cases have been recorded. In the 

 majority of these, the patients were in a weakened condition, anaemic, 

 with nnich inijjaircd digestion, so that the sulphonal, which, in healthy 

 individuals is dissociated and re-absorbed with dilTficulty, in these cases 

 acquired a cinnulative actitrn which terminated disastrously. The 

 symptoms of poisoning are intestinal pain ,nausea and constipation. 

 The urine is colored a deep cherry-red. Tliis coloration is often the 

 lirst indication of tlie commencement of tla- toxic action. 



Elec'J'rtc Light and the Eye. Roy (Med. Nezits) reviews a 

 number of cases of traumatisms to the eye caused by electric light 

 Mashes. These generally caused temporary blindness lasting a few 

 moments, and upon examination there was found more or less retinal 

 irritation with contraction of the pupil and conjunctivitis. Pain was 

 often severe and came on several hours after the accident. Ihe author 

 quotes Wildmark's researches to show that the irritation is due to the 

 ultra-violet rays, which, as is known, exert a similar influence on tht- 

 skin. This raises the question as toi whether this same cause is not 

 responsible for the X-ray injuries to the skin. According to the obser- 

 vation of Dr. Roy, the Welsbach gas light has proven more satisfactory 

 than the electric light, even the incandescent form but its intensity 

 should be modified by proper shading. This is explainable under the 

 hypothesis that domestic lights are injurious in proportion to the amount 

 of ultra-violet rays they contain. 



Anii.in Poisoning. Landouzy and Brouardel (Prcsse Med.)' 

 call attention to the widespread use of the anilin dyes in the arts and the 

 possiljility of poisoning when the articles so prepared are taken into 

 the mouth. They report several cases of cliildren poisoned by sucking 

 the yellow stain from their shoes, which it transpired, was obtained by 

 the use of yellow anilin dye. They draw the attention of hygienists and 

 medico-legal experts to the possibility of this form of poisoning. 



