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DRUGS, NEW. 



within the United States was shown to be 

 $89,924. Making allowance for special gifts 

 not reported, it was believed it would be not 

 less than $100,000. The State Boards had em- 

 ployed 160 missionaries, and these had visited 

 and assisted 1,099 places, of which 204 were 

 new places; had organized 68 churches; and 

 returned 6,641 accessions, of which 3,818 were 

 by baptism. 



The receipts of the Christian "Woman's Board 

 of Missions for the year had been $16,620, of 

 which $10,583 were credited to the general 

 fund, and the rest to "special," "church exten- 

 sion," "memorial," and "endowment" funds; 

 besides which a balance of $4,085 was returned 

 from the previous year. The expenditures had 

 been $20,456. The endowment fund amounted 

 to $8,187. The society sustained missionary 

 work at Helena and Deer Lodge, and Ana- 

 conda, Mont. ; Corvallis, Or. ; Burnett, Neb. ; 

 and in Jamaica and India. In Jamaica it was 

 erecting missionary buildings and returned eight 

 schools. The work in India was still in the be- 

 ginning. 



DRUGS, NEW. Alveloz. During the latter part 

 of 1884, U. S. Consul H. L. Atherton, of Per- 

 nambuco, Brazil, forwarded to the Department 

 of State information obtained from Dr. R. Ban- 

 deiro, of Pernambuco, respecting an alleged 

 cure for cancer. Dr. Bandeiro said that Tery 

 little is known about the plant excepting that 

 it belongs to the Euphorbiacem, and was de- 

 scribed first by Muller in " Flora brasiliensis," 

 1875, with the name Euphorbia heterodoxa. It 

 grows spontaneously in the whole north of 

 Brazil, where it is known by different names; 

 most commonly as alveloz, arveloz, or aveloz. 

 The natives of Brejo (Fra Madre Deos) ap- 

 ply to wounds the juice flowing from a piece 

 of broken or cut stem, after washing the in- 

 jury with decoction of tobacco-leaf. The fresh 

 juice is preferred, as it soon coagulates and ac- 

 quires, a bad odor. Salicylic acid, however, 

 preserves it, and, when so preserved, it seems 

 to give satisfactory results. Barao de Santa 

 Cruz, a chemist, by treating the juice with wa- 

 ter and then with absolute alcohol, obtained a 

 resin that seemed to contain the active prin- 

 ciple. This resin has a powerfully irritating ac- 

 tion, and has been employed with vaseline in the 

 proportion of one or three parts per hundred. 

 Dr. Bandeiro says the action of the drug ap- 

 pears to be escharotic, and mentions cases of 

 cancroid and epithelioma of the face cured by 

 its use. A sample of the drug, or its prepara- 

 tions, having been furnished, the Department 

 of State placed it in the hands of the Surgeon- 

 General of the U. S. Marine-Hospital Service, 

 who afterward reported the results of its trial 

 on a number of cases. One of lupus of the 

 face, which had resisted treatment for many 

 years, recovered in a few days. Dr. Bandeiro 

 says that its use in ulcerated sarcoma or carci- 

 noma has not given the results that many phy- 

 sicians had hoped for. 



Anisic Acid, occurring in prismatic, colorless 



crystals, soluble in alcohol and ether, is ob- 

 tained by oxidation of oil of anise, and is re- 

 ported to have medicinal and antiseptic prop- 

 erties similar to those of salicylic acid. 



Antipyrine (= CaoHisN^Oa = dimethyloxyqui- 

 nizine) is a derivative of coal-tar, or of a hy- 

 pothetical base called quinizine. It was dis- 

 covered by Ludwig Knorr, of the University of 

 Erlangen, and was first experimented with to 

 determine its physiological action by Donne, of 

 Berne. W. Filehne first made use of it thera- 

 peutically (" Zeitschrift f. klin. Med.," vol. vii). 

 It is used in the form of hydrochlorate, a grayish- 

 white, crystalline powder, which turns yellow- 

 ish-gray on prolonged exposure to air. Solu- 

 ble in three parts of cold water, one-half part 

 of warm water, and one-half part of alcohol. 

 Faint tarry odor ; slightly bitter taste ; some- 

 times adulterated with kairine. Iodized iodide 

 of potassium and nitrous acid give a reddish 

 and greenish discoloration, respectively, with an 

 aqueous solution of one in ten thousand. Urine, 

 acidulated with sulphuric acid, gives a reddish- 

 brown tint with iodized iodide of potassium 

 when antipyrine is present. Alkalies liberate it 

 from solution. Perchloride of iron gives a red- 

 dish discoloration. Potassium chlorate causes a 

 yellowish deposit. Antipyrine does not alter the 

 blood, and it appears in the urine after about 

 thirty-six hours. It is used in 4oses about 

 twice the size of those of sulphate of quinine, 

 and may be given by the mouth, by the bowel or 

 hypoderinically, causing little or no disturbance 

 by the latter mode. Its effects continue about 

 twelve hours, and are most decided and rapid 

 when it is injected under the skin. It some- 

 times causes vomiting, chills, and excessive 

 perspiration, but these, are said to be most 

 liable to follow the use of a poor article. It 

 also causes, occasionally, an eruption on the 

 skin resembling that produced by sulphate of 

 quinine. Altogether it seems to be a safe 

 remedy for the reduction of fever, if used with 

 discretion and care. It does not appear to 

 abort or in other ways influence the course of 

 a disease. It may be given best by the mouth 

 in a sirup of tolu, raspberries, or lemon, or in 

 simple elixir, compound elixir of taraxacum, or 

 in wine, but in the latter case should be mixed 

 just before it is given, to avoid precipitation of 

 the coloring-matter of the wine. It has been 

 used to the amount of one hundred and ninety 

 grains in twenty-four hours, and its employ- 

 ment in typhoid fever, pneumonia, rheumatism, 

 etc., creates a demand in Europe equal to about 

 a fifth of that for sulphate of quinine. 



Bichloride of Mercury and Urea is proposer! by 

 Dr. Joseph Schutz as a remedy for syphilis, 

 and has the advantage of cheapness and of not 

 causing pain or other local disturbance when 

 employed in solution hypodermically. The so- 

 lution is said to keep for at least a week. 



Boldine, an alkaloid obtained from Peumus 

 boldus, a South American tree, is recommend- 

 ed by Dujardin-Beaumetz, of Paris, as an agent 

 for producing sleep. 



