MISCELLANEOUS SERA AND EXTRACTS 69 



thyroid gland, investigators have attempted to formu- 

 late a method of treatment upon rational lines of or- 

 ganotherapy. In 1899 Otto Long employed the milk 

 of thyroidectomized goats, believing that this pos- 

 sessed some property antagonistic to the gland secre- 

 tion. Under the name of rodagen, a powder was pre- 

 pared from the milk of thyroidectomized goats, 50 per 

 cent, of which was composed of the active constituent 

 of the milk and 50 per cent, sugar of milk. The dose 

 of this is 1 to 3 drachms a day. Considerable improve- 

 ment was noted following its use in some cases, but no 

 disappearance of the exophthalmos, the goitre, or the 

 tachycardia. Others have employed antithyroid serum 

 from the blood of thyroidless sheep in doses of 1 to 5 

 c.c. daily. This had no conspicuous effect. Thyroi- 

 dectin, a powder consisting of the desiccated blood of 

 thyroidectomized animals, has also been used, it is 

 claimed, with marked benefit in some cases of exoph- 

 thalmic goitre. The dose is one or two 5-grain cap- 

 sules three times a day. None of these preparations 

 can be said to have fulfilled expectations. 



Crotalin in Epilepsy, — The apparent improve- 

 ment in an epileptic after being bitten by a rattlesnake 

 led Spangler to treat a number of epileptics by injec- 

 tions of increasing doses of rattlesnake poison or cro- 

 talin. Spangler reported a certain number of favora- 



