78 



POPULAR SCIENCE l^EWS. 



[May, 1888. 



the sun's rays by means of straw mats or woven 

 branches, and are afterward transplanted in fur- 

 rows about eighteen centimeters wide and eight 

 deep, about one foot apart from each other, the 

 interspaces being planted with maize, which pro- 

 tects by its shade the young plants. Under the 

 beneficial influence of the sun and rain, the growth 

 of the young tree is rapid ; it blossoms at the end 

 of from four to six months, and soon yields seed 

 The coca-tree attains its complete height (two 

 meters and a "half on an average) at the end of 

 about five years. 



Attempts have been made to acclimatize it in 

 Europe, but so far without success. Frail speci- 

 mens may be found in the botanical gardens of 

 Paris, London, aud other large cities, and also at 

 the establishments of some of the great horticul- 

 turists of Belgium. Corsica and Algiers seem to 

 possess the climatological conditions necessary for 

 the perfect development of the coca, and for that 

 reason it is in these two countries where we should 

 pursue our efforts of culture. 



The plant commences to give its first crop at the 

 end of about one year and a half. The gathering 

 must be done in dry weather; it is generally con- 

 fided to women, and consists simply in detaching 

 each leaf with the fingers. The leaves are collected 

 in aprons, stored with care under awnings or in 

 bags, sheltered from rain and dampness, dried, and 

 then packed. In 1851 the annual production of 

 coca-leaves in Bolivia was estimated to be over 

 400,000 certos (4,600,000 kilograms), of which 

 three-fourths came from the province of Yungas 

 In 1850 the Bolivian Government collected a reve- 

 nue from coca of not less than 900,000 francs; in 

 1859 the sum went up to 1,500,000 francs. 



We quote from Paul Marcoy's " Voyage in the 

 Region of the Titicaca," published in Around 

 the World, May, 1877: "Of all the valleys of the 

 group of Carabaya, Ituata is the one where the 

 coca is cultivated on the largest scale. They were 

 then in full harvest; peons and peonnes followed 

 each other through the plantations of that shrub, 

 so dear to the natives that a decree of 1825 had it 

 placed in the coat-of-arms of Peru, together with 

 the vicugna, and the cornucopia, or horn of plenty. 

 Men and women carried, slung over their shoul- 

 ders, cloths in which were placed the leaves they 

 had gathered one by one. These leaves, spread out 

 on large mattings, were exposed to the sun's rays 

 for two or three days, and then packed up in 

 bags of about one meter in size, and sent over the 

 entire territory. This harvesting of coca is for the 

 natives of the valleys an occasion of great rejoicing, 

 as is for our farmers their harvest and vintage 

 time. On the day when all the crop is gathered in, 

 both .sexes meet, and celebrate it by dancing, drink- 

 ing, and various sports. " — From Mariani §■ Co.'s 



Treatise. 



— • — 



THE FUNCTIONS OF THE SUPRA-RENAL 



CAPSULES. 

 The question of the uses of the supra-renal 

 capsules is one that has heretofore quite baffled 

 the researches of physiologists; the weight of 

 opinion being, that they were ftetal or rudimen- 

 tary bodies, having no especial function in the 

 adult life of man A careful study of the subject, 

 however, has recently been made by Dr. C. A. 

 Macmunn (^The British Medical Journal, Feb. 4, 

 1888), with the result of furnishing a very plausi- 

 ble theory as to these organs, and of rehabilitating 

 them into functional importance in the economy. 



Dr. Alacmunn shows, first of all, that from the 

 point of view of comparative anatomy the supra- 

 renal capsulas are not rudimentary structures, but 

 that they increase in relative size and anatomical 

 complexity with the rise in the scale of animal 



life. They are formed in part from the ectoderm 

 and in part from the mesoderm. The ectodermal 

 part is furnished by sympathetic ganglia, and it 

 forms the medullary or nervous portion of the 

 gland. The mesodermal part forms the cortical 

 or glandular portion. In mammals this part pre- 

 dominates, making of the capsules an essentially 

 glandular organ. The increase in size and impor- 

 tance of the supra-renals in birds and mammals, as 

 compared with fishes and reptiles, corresponds 

 with the increase of the respiratory pigments. 



As to the physiological chemistry, there have 

 been found certain chromogens (Krukenberg), be- 

 sides hippuric and taurocholic acids — benzoic 

 acid, taurin, and inosit. The presence of these 

 products indicates a very active downward or retro- 

 grade metamorphosis. 



Dr. Macmunn has found, by spectroscopic test, 

 the bands of haemochromogen or reduced hajmatin 

 Now, this substance is never found in any but ex- 

 cretory fluids of the body (liver, bile). Hence it 

 is concluded that the supra-renals have an excretoiy 

 function. He also found substances, such as his- 

 toha;matin, which are antecedent to the hajmochro- 

 mogen. This fact supplied additional evidence 

 that the capsules were excretory bodies. 



If these glands are excretory, it ought to follow 

 that in Addison's disease, involving the supra-re- 

 nals, and impairing their function, the urine would 

 contain incompletely metabolized pigments. This 

 is exactly what he did find. In the urine of Addi- 

 son's disease he observed a peculiar pigment which 

 he calls uroh-Timatin, or, more strictly, " urohae- 

 mato porphyrin." This pigment is only found in 

 the urine when an excess of effete haimoglobin is 

 present in the circulation, ,so that the blood-glands 

 are unable to use it up, or when, the hemoglobin 

 being normal, the blood-glands aie diseased and 

 cannot reduce it, as in cirrhosis of the liver, Addi- 

 son's disease, and Ilodgkin's disease, involving the 

 supra-renal capsules, and causing bronzed skin. 

 Since in many cases in which he found this pig- 

 ment the only glands diseased were the supra- 

 renals, these, he thinks, must be blood-glands. 



In cases of Addison's disease there are often very 

 severe nervous symptoms of a depressive character, 

 combined with hyperthermia or subnormal tem- 

 perature. The symptoms sometimes resemble 

 those of sepsis. Foa and Pellacani found that 

 aqueous and alcoholic extracts of the supra-renals 

 injected into the veins of rabbits produced toxic 

 phenomena of a severe and characteristic type 

 The poison was of a septic nature, cau.sing, finally, 

 paralysis of the spinal cord and of the bulbar cen- 

 tres. It was believed to be a nitrogenous, non- 

 crystallizable substance, akin to Panum's septic 

 poison. The conclusion is, that another function 

 of the supra-renals is to remove or use up certain 

 poisonous metabolites that accompany the worn- 

 out pigments. 



Summarizing the foregoing, therefore, it is con- 

 cluded that the supra-renals are blood-glands hav- 

 ing the function of removing effete pigments and 

 effete proteids. When the organs in question are 

 diseased, these products circulate in the blood, 

 producing, on the one hand, pigmentation of the 

 skin, on the other, the depressive effects of a sep- 

 tic poison . 



As the supra-renals are not the only blood -glands, 

 it does not follow that serious phenomena always 

 result from their disease. Their duties may be 

 performed by other organs having allied function. 

 — Medical Record. 



Fumigation is said to have originated with 

 Acron, a physician of Agrigentum, who caused 

 great fires to be lighted, and aromatics to be thrown 

 into them, to purify the air. 



MEDICINE FOR THE IMAGINATION. 



What we have said of hypnotism, and particu- 

 larly of suggestion, may lead the reader to under- 

 stand the virtue of medicine for the imagination, 

 of which the importance has already been inti- 

 mated by earlier writers. Deslon asked why, if 

 medicine for the imagination was the most effec- 

 tive, it should not be employed. 



We must be permitted to dwell for a moment 

 on this medicine for the imagination, which is 

 entitled to the name of suggestive therapeutics. 

 The process is as follows: Influenced by a per- 

 sistent idea, suggested by external circumstances, 

 a paralysis is developed. The physician makes 

 use of his authority to suggest the idea of an in- 

 evitable, incontestab'.e cure, and the paralysis is 

 cured accordingly. This cure, as well as the 

 development of functional disturbance, was directly 

 effected by an idea. An idea may therefore be, 

 according to circumstances, a pathogenic and a 

 therapeutic agent. This notion is not new; but, 

 since it was misinterpreted, it has remained un- 

 fruitful. 



The most important of the organic disturbances 

 produced by an idea is an experiment on vesication, 

 perfoi med by Focachon, a chemist at Chaimes. He 

 applied some postage-stamps to the left shoulder of 

 a hypnotized subject, keeping them in their place 

 with some strips of diachylon and a compress; at 

 the same time he suggested to the subject that he 

 had applied a blister. The subject was watched, 

 and when twenty hours had elap.sed, the dressing, 

 which had remained untouched, was removed. The 

 epidermis to which it had been applied was thick- 

 ened and dead, and of ayellowi.sh-whitecolor; and 

 this region of the skin was puffy, and surrounded 

 by an intensely red zone. 



It was in 18G9 that Russell Reynolds first noted 

 the existence of motor and sensory disturbances, 

 developed under the influence of an idea. The 

 motor disturbance sometimes consists in spa.sm8, 

 in ataxic or inco-ordinated movements, and more 

 frequently in paralysis, which affects the upper 

 limbs. Erb gives to these symptom s the name of 

 imaginative paraplegia. 



The type of this paraplegia is afforded by Rey- 

 nolds's first observation, which concerned a young 

 woman who was affected by paraplegia under the 

 following circumstances : She lived alone with her 

 father, who had undergone a reverse of fortune, 

 and who became paralytic in consequence of pro- 

 tracted anxiety. She supported the household by 

 giving lessons, which involved long walks about 

 the town. Influenced by the fatigue caused by so 

 much walking, it occurred to her that she might 

 herself become paralyzed, and that their situation 

 would then be terrible. Haunted by this idea, she 

 felt a growing weakness in her limbs, and after a 

 while was quite unable to walk. The pathology 

 of the affection was understood by Reynolds, who 

 prescribed a purely moral treatment. He finally 

 convinced his patient that she was able to walk ; 

 and, in fact, she resumed the practice. — From 

 " Hypnotism in Disease and Crime," by MM. Binet 

 and FfiK^i in Popular Science Monthly for April. 



[Specijilly compiled for the Popular Science News.'] 



MONTHLY SUMMARY OF MEDICAL 

 PROGRESS. 



BY W. 8. WELLS, M.D. 



Sin ]\IoRELL Mackenzie, in a letter published 

 in a late issue of the Australasian Medical Gazette, 

 commenting on a paper by Dr. Scot-Seiveking on 

 tracheotomy, says, "I agree with nearly every 

 thing in it, but I wish to raise my voice against 

 the use of chloroform. I have performed the oper- 

 ation of tracheotomy between seventy and eighty 



