Vol. XXrV. No. .",.] 
POPULAR SCIENCE NEWS. 
47 
drugs are among those most frequently employed — 
and, when occasion warrants it, in large doses. 
The chief objection to antipyrin is the scarlatiniform 
eruption it is liable to produce when given in farge 
doses, especially in the case of young girls. 
Second to antipjrin (and inferior to it only be- 
cause of its insolubility) he placed methylacetani- 
lid, or exalgine. It is more active than antipyrin 
and causes no eruption. The ordinary dose — four 
grains two or three times daily — may be increased 
to twenty grains in obstinate cases. Insoluble in 
c water, it is to be given in alcoholic solution. The 
following formula was suggested : 
. R. Exalgine, 2.50 grams. 
Essence of peppermint, 10 grams. 
Linden water, 120 grams. 
Syrup of orange flowers, 30 grams. 
M. One tablespoonful, (four grains), morning 
and night. 
The remedy has a wide range of applicability. It 
seemed to aflford relief whatever might have been 
the cause of the pain. In three cases of cardialgia, 
with anginous seizures, the speaker had observed 
its benefical action, and Gaudiman, in neuralgia, 
had known it to fail Iiut three times in thirty-two 
cases. 
Phenacetin, to which he accords third place, is 
sparingly soluble, and but slightly toxic. It; is of 
special value in the neuralgias of the hysterical. It 
is best given in capsules — the dose being about 
seven grains once or twice a day. 
Acetanilid he placed last, not because of defi- 
ciency in power to relieve pain, but on account of 
the alarming c_\;anosis it sometimes produces. The 
remedy, however, was often employed for months 
without causing more than li passing — and harmless 
— discoloration of the skin and mucous menbrane. 
The close inter-dependence of different parts of 
the body, and the folly of any "specialism" in medi- 
cine which ignores that inter-dependence, is well 
shown by cases of obstinate cough reported by Dr. 
A. C. Palmer {iVorth Carolina Medical Journal.) 
One case was that of a patient, forty-five years oI3, 
suffering from an almost continuous cough with little 
or no expectoration. After careful e.xamination of 
the chest and larynx, accident led to an examination 
of the ears, where there was found decided inflam- 
mation, with hypericsthesia of the drum membrane 
so intense that a touch or even a draught of air was 
sufficient to bring on a characteristic paroxysm of 
the cough. All other treatment was now discontin- 
ued, attention being directed solely Xd relieving the 
. condition of the ears." Under treatment of this 
s. local affection of a comparatively distant and ob- 
scurely-related part of the body, the cough entirely 
disappeared. Afterwards two other cases suffering 
from disagreeable and obstinate cough came under 
Dr. Palmer's care. In one of these cases repeated 
consultations had been held for some supposed lung 
trouble. The real seat of the lesions in both cases 
proved to be the ears, which were affected by 
eczema of the external auditory canal, with inflam- 
mation extending down to the drum. 
Dr. Lindenborn, physician to the Municipal 
Hospital, Frankfort-on-the-Main, claims for dithio- 
salicylate of soda, a new antirheumatic with which 
he has been experimenting, the following advan- 
tages over ordinary salicylate of soda : It has a pow- 
erful action; the requisite dose is smaller; it has no 
bad effect on the stomach, heart, or great vessels ; it 
does not cause collapse nor humming in the ears. 
Conceding that I'arther experimentation with this 
agent is desirable, "it suffices for him to have drawn 
the attention of the profession to a preparation which 
may, he confidently hopes, be of avail in the often 
long and tedious treatment .of some rheumatic 
affections." 
Ilueppe, who has been testing the same substance 
as a disinfectant and antiseptic, pronounces it much 
superior to salicylate of soda. 
Dithiosalicylate of soda is an isomeric substance 
consisting of two molecules of sajicylic. acid bound 
to two molecules of sulphur. 
Dr. Kolinsky calls attention {Graefe's Archiv.) to 
some undesirable effects produced by naphtjialin, 
which has been coming into use considerably of 
late in the treatment of diarrhoea. It is said to 
cause small extravasations in the choroid and in the 
ciliary body of the eye, which are followed — if the 
naphthalin is continued — by ecchynioses and white 
patches in the retina, and finally by a cloudiness in 
the lens, and crystals in the vitreous humor. The.se 
effects Dr. Kolinsky explains by attributing to 
naphthalin the property, of producing nutritive 
changes in the blood which occasion degeneration 
of the blood-vessels. The eye being a highly vas- 
cular organ, is easily affected by this vitiated state 
of the blood. 
M. Clemens (Joiirnnt de Medicine de /iordeaiij) 
reports good results in the treatment of ingrowing 
toe-nails, by the employment of tin-foil, such as is 
used for enveloping chocolate and other food pro- 
ducts. A single or double sheet of the tin-foil is 
introduced between the nail and the ulcerated tis- 
sues beneath, by the aid of an instrument with a thin 
blade. The tin-foil is kept in place by wax, which 
is moulded over the parts. M. Clemens attributes 
the beneficial effects to the chemical, rather than 
the mechanical action of the tin-foil. 
Contagiousness OF Tuberculosis. — Dr. Leudet 
of Paris, according to the Paris correspondent of 
the Journal of the American Medical Association, 
states that in the families he has known personally 
and attended for the last twenty-five years, out of 
112 widowers and widows, whose marital compan- 
ions had succumbed to phthisis, seven onlv were 
affected by tuberculosis, lie therefore concludes 
that contagion, even between married couples, is 
extremely rare. 
A Paris pharmacist, says the Medical Record, 
was recently called upon to dispense a mixture con- 
taining sixty grains of antipyrin and seventy-five 
grains of chloral in half an ounce of water. An 
oily precipitate was immediately thrown down, re- 
sembling neither antipyrin nor chloral in taste, but 
suggesting that of coriander seed. A mixture of 
antipyrin and quinine is also incompatible, both 
substances being at once precipitated from the 
solution. 
According to Dr. Edw. N. Whittier, of Boston. 
(iVfW Remedies), a comparison of antipyrin and 
acetanilid shows the following points of difference : 
ANTIPYRIN. ACETANILID. 
Action more rapid, but Generally more prolonged 
more transitory. and powerful. 
More diaphoretic. More diuretic. 
Depressing after effects. Stimulating. 
Gastro-intestinal irritant. Non-irritating. 
Easily toxic. Rarely toxic. 
Large dose. Small dose. \ 
Expensive. Cheap. 
These results, though not uniform, are, in his 
opinion, sufficiently so to cause, in general, a prefer- 
ence- for acetanilid in febrile cases. 
Regulated Diet. — According to the Medical 
Brief, (N. V., Feb., 1890), Dr. Flint says : "1 have 
never known a dyspeptic to recover vigorous health 
who undertook to live after a strictly regulated diet, 
and I have never known an instance of a healthy 
person living according to a dietetic system who 
did not become a dyspeptic." 
For nocturrial incontinence of urine, a combina- 
tion- of bromide of potassium and tincture of bella- 
donna is recommended ( Therapeutische Monatshefte) 
as superior to either of these agents alone. Ten 
grains of the bromide, together with ten to twenty 
drops of the tincture of belladonna should be taken 
before retiring. 
Annidalin, a new substitute for iodoform, is a 
preparation made by the action of iodine upon an 
alkaline solution of thymol. It is of a red color, 
and, on exposure to light or in the presence of 
moisture, liberates iodine. 
A Chicago boy, sutlering from paralysis, was 
treated {Times and Rer/ister) by laying bare the 
spinal column and removing a clot of blood which 
had collected there. 
Stammerers, s;tys the Tim.es and Register, are 
advised to keep silent for ten days, then to speak 
in whispers only for ten days more, and (inally to 
return to the ordinary voice gradually. 
A .MAN arrested in New York City for supposed 
intoxication, was found to be suffering from a pecu- 
liar and obscure brain trouble. He is unable to 
keep awake, and seems to be in a fair way to sleep 
himself to death. — Times and Register. 
Massage wits a fine art with the Chinese about 
the time Moses was perfecting his plans for the 
exodus from Egypt. — Times and Register. 
The Supreme Court of New Hampshire has de- 
cided that the law of that State, requiring a license 
for the practice of medicine, surgery, and dentistry, 
is unconstitutional. 
BACTERIA, BACILLI, MICROCOCCI, AND 
MICROBES. 
Webster thinks microbes of not sufficient impor- 
tance to receive mention in his ponderous lexicon, 
but in this belief he is poorly supported by scientists 
of today. We cannot blame the compilers of this 
work for shirking the task of definition, for the 
query "what are bacteria, microbes, etc..'" would 
elicit the greatest variety of answers, according to 
the authorities consulted. 
We confess to being sadlj' at sea when questioned 
regarding the differences or shades of difference in 
the meaning of the several terms taken as a text. 
It is therefore pardonable to quote a few of the more 
interesting statements contained within a papw 
recently read by Mr. F. Davis before the Chemists' 
Assistants' Association, in London. By the free- 
dom with which he uses the terms, it would seem 
that microbes, bacteria, and bacilli are the same, 
and though enthusiasts may apply subtle and hair- 
splitting differences, the uninitiated are not thereby 
concerned. 
Mr. Davis describes bacteria as being slender 
little rods, about one-three-thousandth inch long, 
and about one-twenty-thousandth inch in diameter. 
Though in form the bacteria closely resemble one 
another, in their manner of motion there is a vast 
difference, which has led to their classification as 
Vihriones, having a wave-like motion, Oscillarice, 
oscillating motion, etc. Just previous to the period 
of multiplying, the bacterium becomes quiescent, 
