46 



POPtTLAR SCIENCE NEWS. 



[March, 1889. 



tions upon patients with Diabetes, is revived by a 

 case reported by Dr. Alfred Hoffa in tlie Munchener 

 Med. Wochenschrift , and whicli conveys tlie warn- 

 ing tliat it is iinsaie to operate, not only on those 

 whose urine contains sugar, but also on those who 

 have been apparently cured of this condition. 



Tlie patient was a man 60 years of age, who had 

 suffered some years \\'ith Diabetes and Albuminuria. 

 He had been treated at Carlsbad, and for the last 

 two years had passed no sugar in his urine, although 

 there was still a trace of albumen. He consulted the 

 Doctor on account of a cancer in the rectum. An 

 examination of the urine at this time showed not a 

 trace of sugar, and but very little albumen, and the 

 patient's general condition being excellent, the can- 

 cerous growth was removed. 



The immediate results of the operation were good. 

 The patient recovered promptly from the anaesthetic. 

 He had a full, strong pulse, and no fever. The 

 wound behaved well, and there was at no time any 

 sign of septic infection. Despite these apparently 

 favorable conditions, the patient did not continue to 

 do well. The urine drawn by catheter on the even- 

 ing following the operation showed to the Doctor's 

 surprise, 2.4 per cent, of sugar. 



During the night the patient was very restless, and 

 seemed to be suffering from Iodoform poisoning. 

 The next morning the sugar was again absent from 

 the urine. The Iodoform dressing was removed 

 and Sublimate gauze substituted. During the three 

 following days the urine contained considerable ! 

 iodine, but no sugar, and the patient seemed in a 

 fair way to recover. At the end of this time, how- 

 ever, as the iodine began to disappear, the sugar 

 returned. The man soon after this became coma- 

 tose and died. 



The editor of the Med. Record calls attention to 

 two interesting points in this case. First, the 

 reappearance of sugar in the urine immediately 

 after the operation, although there had been no 

 traces of it for the two preceding years. 



The .second point is the apparent influence of the 

 Iodoform upon the excretion of sugar in suppressing 

 it. Immediately after the operation the urine con- 

 tained sugar in considerable amount, but as soon as 

 the symptoms of Iodoform poisoning appeared, the 

 excretion of sugar ceased, and began again only as 

 the effects of the Iodoform gradually abated. 



Moleschott has recommended the drug as a most 1 

 efficient remedy in Diabetes, and while Dr. Hoffa's , 

 case would seem to confirm tnis estimate, he states 

 that he feared to continue the Iodoform lest he 

 should kill his patient, in view of a somewhat similar 

 case reported by Rinne two years ago, having ter 

 minated fatally from Iodoform poisoning. 



{Boston Med. and Surg. Jour.), Dr. M. Price read a 



paper criticising amputations near the ankle-joint, 

 and the so-called Osteoplastic resection of the foot 

 and also knee-joint amputations. He claimed that 

 where an artificial limb is intended to be worn, the 

 point of election is either six inches above or six 

 inches below the knee-joint, as this gives the best- 

 shaped stump for appearance and comfort. 



The object of amputation should be, in his opin- 

 ion, to secure the future usefulness of the limb, and 

 this is best attained by amputation at the point of 

 election named, instead of trying to save a few inches 

 more, which may be a source of suffering and incon- 

 venience to the patient all his life. He exhibited a 

 patient who walked upon two artificial legs without 

 crutch or cane, but does not give the point of elec- 

 tion in this case. It would seem that it would be 

 all-important to preserve the knee-joint whenever 

 practicable, by selecting the lower point of election. 



minutes. At this rate an eel weighing five pounds 

 would contain enough poison to kill ten men. 



The blood of animals thus poisoned cannot be 

 made to coagulate just as after a serpent's bite. The 

 blood of the eel, however, is inert when taken into 

 the stomach, and it loses its toxic properties when 

 heated. 



For the relief of pain caused by the dressing of 

 Ulcers, Burns, Fistula, etc.. Dr. McReddie, {British 

 Med. Jour.), uses a two per cent, solution of cocaine, 

 and sprays it upon the surface as it is exposed for 

 renewed dressing. This acts almost immediately, 

 aud the dressing may then be continued, with very 

 little pain, and, in case of burns, with much less 

 shock. 



The solution should, in such cases, be used warm. 

 In the case of fistuhe a few drops should be poured 

 over the sinews before they are packed. With a 

 two-per-cent solution there is little fear of constitu- 

 tional effects, and it will be found to act as well and 

 as quickly as a much stronger one. 



A CASE of successful excision of the pylorus is re 

 corded by Drs. Goldenhorn and Kolatschewsky of 1 

 Odessa, {Berlin Klin. Woch.). The patient was a I 

 lad 15 years old, who came under treatment for ex- j 

 treme dilatation of the stomach following an attack 

 of pain and vomiting eight years previously. 



The diagnosis was simple stricture of the pylorus, 

 an unusual event in so young a subject, and after 

 due preparation Dr. Kolatschewsky performed the 

 operation of excision. The patient made a good re- 

 covery, slightly prolonged by the formation of an 

 abscess at the seat of suture. The portion of the 

 stomach removed included 2.5 centimetres of tne 

 lesser, and 4.5 centimetres of the greater curvature. 

 The mucous membrane was thickened and thrown 

 into folds, which, at the pylorus itself, formed 

 polypoid masses, completely blocking the orifice. 

 This condition doubtless resulted from the cicatriza- 

 tion of an ulcer seated at the pylorus. 



Neudorfer, in a recent pamphlet on Cancer, re- 

 gards the disease as curable, in many cases, by med- 

 icinal treatment. The excision of a carcinoma, as 

 of a hard chancre, is, as a rule, not far-reaching 

 enough to prevent infiltration of the surrounding 

 tissues with the specific microbes and cells. 



There are climates favorable for the cure of cancer, 

 as there are those for the cure of phthisis. On the 

 plateau of Mexico, and at the Cape of Good Hope, 

 cancer is an exceptional disease. 



In Xeudorfer's opinion, the principal ofiice for the 

 surgeon is not the extirpation of the neoplasm, but 

 the medicinal treatment of the cancer cachexia, 

 much like the treatment of phthisis and syphilis. 



Creasote, which has been found to stimulate the 

 nutrition of the blood corpuscles, is of equal value 

 in cancer and phthisis. He has obtained decided 

 results in the treatment of cancer with the following 

 preparations : — R. — Creasoti puri ; Sodii Bicarb ; 

 Olei Morrhu.x', aa, — 5V.— M. Put in 100 gelatine 

 capsules. Take three capsules three times daily 

 after each meal. 



A very eligible substitute for creasote is creolin, 

 as it is not only cheaper than the former but is also 

 a stimulant of digestion. He prescribes : 



Creolin — M. XV. — Ext. GlycyrrhiziE, q.s. ut ft 

 Pil No. 100. Sig : Three pills three times daily. 



Locally, Dr. Neudorfer prescribes with the above 

 pills : — R. — Creolin : — Ichthyol : — Iodide of Potash, 

 aa. — Gr.XV — Vaselin : — Lanolin, aa. Gr. Xj. M. F. 

 Ung. Sig: Rub into the part three times daily. 



Neudorfer claims three actual cures of cancer ob- 

 tained with this treatment. 



At a late meeting of the County Med. Society, 



M. Mosso, of Turin, having carried out a series of 

 experiments with the blood of eels, finds that it 

 possesses marked, poisonous properties. Even to 

 the tongue it has an insupportable acridity, and a 

 very small quantity of the serum is sufficient to kill 

 a dog. Haifa cubic centimeter injected beneath the 

 skin of a dog weighing 35 pounds, killed it in four 



Dr. B.SRR, {Provincial .Wed. Jour.), calls attention 

 to the necessity for limiting the imbibition of fluids 

 in cardiac weakness. When the heart is feeble, or 

 there is a mechanical obstacle to the circulation, 

 the fluid accumulates in the vessels, dilutes the 

 blood, hydrates the tissues, lessens osmosis, and in- 

 creases the work of the heart by augmenting the 

 mass of the blood. All the liquid taken into the 

 stomach must pass through the right heart, except 

 the little that passes by the bowels, and all but that 

 which is exhaled by the lungs, must pass through 

 the left heart before it can be excreted. 



Sir Morell Mackenzie lately visited the Edinburgh 

 Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital, and, in the course of 

 a short clinical lecture on Acute and Chronic Ton- 

 silitis, expressed his preference for guiacum as a 

 remedy at the outset. He has the guiacum made 

 into lozenges containing about three grains each. 

 Nine cases out often will rapidly get well, if one of 

 these lozenges is given every two hours at the com- 

 mencement of the attack of tonsilitis. He some- 

 times also applies locally, a little bismuth and 

 opium, or an eighth of a grain of morphia with a 

 quarter of a grain of starch, because the problem is 

 not only to cure the patient, but to keep him com- 

 fortable till he is cured. 



Sometimes the guiacum causes some diarrhoea, but 

 this is rather an advantage, and the morphia usually 

 soon checks it, as well as allays the slight stinging 

 sensation produced by the guiacum upon the throat. 

 He uses this treatment in acute inflammations of 

 any part of the back of the throat, and after an ex- 

 perience of fully twenty years pronounces it really 

 specific. 



At a recent meeting of the Med. Soc. Dist. Co- 

 lumbia, Dr. Toner mentioned a case of malingerv, 

 in which the tongue was used in the perpetration of 

 fraud. In an institution for females, of which he 

 had charge, a patient presented a black tongue, 

 greatly exciting the sympathy of all around her. A 

 careful examination revealed no other symptom ex- 

 cept the abnormal color. Taking the handle of a 

 spoon, he scraped the whole black mass off without 

 difficulty. Suspicion dwelling in the mind of Dr. 

 Toner, a watch upon the girl's movements detected 

 that she used stove-blacking to produce the result. 



Dr. NlC0LAi,((?az. Medicate), has obtained very 

 favorable results from the use of Chloral Hydrate in 

 the night-sweats of phthisis. Before retiring every 

 night, the entire body of the patient was sponged 

 with the following: — R. — Chloral Hydrate — 3ij— 

 Alcohol: — Water: — aa, § iij. M. Should this not 

 suffice, the patient's night-dress is saturated with 

 this solution, and then allowed to dry before putting 

 on at bedtime. 



In a communication to the ild. Med. Jour., Dr. 

 Edward Anderson, of Rockville, recommended the use 

 of the Bitart. Potass, in the latter stage of gestation, 

 as a preventive of Puerperal Eclampsia. This has 

 been endorsed by the Gyn. and Obst. Soc, of Balti- 

 more, and now the Doctor adds, that the bitartrate 

 will not only prevent convulsions during pregnancy, 

 but will also prevent their occurrence in Bright's dis- 

 ease, and in albuminaria following scarlet fever. 



