THE MICROSCOPE. 103 



Mtc:U0tis. 



Some Remarks on Desiccated Blood. — There can be no doubt 

 as to the desirabiHty of nitrogenized food in a concentrated form, 

 which is easily assimilated by the system and is therefore readily 

 retained by a weakened stomach, in the treatment of wasting dis- 

 eases and especially in those cases of phthisis, syphilis and cancer, 

 in which there exists a difficulty or even total inability of deglutition. 

 It is here that we require an article of food which shall be so con- 

 stituted that it can be taken up by the system and utilized for the 

 nourishment of the tissues, without necessarily going through the 

 process of gastric digestion, but which may be absorbed directly 

 either by the mucous membrane of the large intestine, as in cases 

 w'here it is necessary to feed the patient by nutritive enemata, or by 

 the skin or finally by the mucous membrane of the respiratory tract. 



For a number of years past I have experimented with and used 

 the different extracts of beef and malt as they appeared in the 

 market, with variable results in the treatment of laryngeal phthisis 

 complicated with dysphagia, and have lately been induced to tr\' a 

 new preparation called desiccated blood. The first case in which I 

 used the preparation was one of general debility and want of tone, 

 and one in which ordinarily I would have given cod liver oil and 

 beef extracts. The desiccated blood seemed, however, to meet all 

 the requirements, and the patient is apparently improving under it. 

 Two other cases which came under my care at about this time, one 

 a case of phthisis v.ith extensive ulcerations of the epiglottis, making 

 deglutition extremely painful, and the other one of syphilitic ulcera- 

 tion of the larynx accompanied also by dysphagia, promised to be 

 good subjects to observe the action of desiccated blood in. I 

 accordingly ordered for each an injection into the rectum of one 

 drachm of the blood dissolved in the requisite amount of salt and 

 water, four times a day, while at the same time I ordered inhalations 

 from the steam atomizer of a solution of one-half drachm of the 

 blood in three ounces of the salt and water, and one ounce of gly- 

 cerine in the twenty-four hours. No other treatment, except local 

 applications to the ulcerations in the larynx, was instituted for ten 

 days. During that time both patients did well and there was an 



