THE JOURNAL OF PHARMACOLOGY. 



Thyroids — Their Use in Other Dis- 

 eases than Cretinism. — In cretinism 

 the use of thyroids is followed by 

 distinct blood changes. Anemia im- 

 proves rapidly and when the correct 

 dose has been attained this improvement 

 becomes permanent, says Dr. Koplik in 

 Arch. Paed. for July. In the blood the 

 red bloodcells are increased. In the 

 bones the growth is not at all uncertain. 

 The influence of the thyroid on the nerv- 

 ous system and on the subcutaneous 

 structures and their nutriment is striking. 

 The writer then follows by reporting 

 cases of lipomatosis universalis, hydremic 

 anemia, marked simple anemias ; these 

 cases being in children. 



The treatment in general was for the 

 initial dose, x / 2 grn. twice daily, and at 

 the end of a week the dose was increased 

 to the same dose thrice daily, then later 

 four times daily, and finally the dose was 

 made 2 grn. daily, and kept up for the 

 entire summer. In conjunction the use 

 of iron was beneficial. 



Tincture of Monsonia in Dysentery. 



— Monsonia, an annual plant belonging 

 to the Geraniaceae, is commonly used in 

 the treatment of dysentery in South Af- 

 rica. Dr. J. Maberly, of Birmingham 

 {Med. Week, V. p. 132), who was for 

 some time in practice in the Transvaal, 

 near Johannesburg, used this drug with 

 the greatest success in about a hundred 

 cases. The whole plant, including the 

 flower tops of either M. ovata or M. 

 Burkei, was used in the preparation of 

 an alcoholic tincture. The root, how- 

 ever, seems to be very nearly inactive 

 and should not be employed. 



Under the influence of this tincture, in 

 doses from 8 to 15 gme. every four or six 

 hours, the symptoms of dysentery im- 

 proved more rapidly than under any 



other treatment, more rapidly in par- 

 ticular than with ipecacuanha admin- 

 istered after the Brazilian method. The 

 effects appeared also to be equally good 

 J n acute and in chronic cases. Out of 

 ten patients who were suffering from 

 chronic dysentery, nine recovered and 

 one died. This was a child, whose death 

 was the result of coma, coming on in 

 consequence of the extreme weakness 

 produced by the prolonged intestinal af- 

 fection, the dysentery itself having al- 

 ready been cured by the drug. 



Dr. M. found that tincture of mon- 

 sonia cured acute dysentery, on an aver- 

 age, within two days, chronic dysentery 

 within eight or ten days. This tincture, 

 therefore, appears to exert a specific ac- 

 tion on the morbid agent of dysentery. 

 It is also, apparently, a sedative in all 

 abdominal pain, having proved success- 

 ful in calming, to a considerable extent, 

 the violent pain caused by chronic in- 

 flammation of the uterine adnexa. 



The Therapeutic Employment of 

 Digitoxin Crystal. — V. Starck (Munch, 

 med. Woch., Jan. 26, 1897) reports a 

 series of fourteen cases in which he 

 has employed digitoxin crystals within 

 the last six months, with a success equal 

 to that reported by Aubel, Masius, Went 

 zel, and Unverricht. 



He employed the drug in the form of 

 tablets containing about 1-256 of a grn. 

 (^ milligram) as supplied by the manu- 

 facturers. The fourteen cases comprised 

 ten cases of valvular failure, two of myo- 

 carditis, one of fatty heart, and one of 

 arterio-sclerosis with passive congestion of 

 the kidney. The tablets were well borne 

 in all cases, and there were no symptoms 

 of irritation. 



In the case of fatty degeneration the 

 digitoxin had no effect. In one of the 



