198 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XVII. No. 427 



ject, but is intended to be suggestive to other investigators. I do 

 not now attempt to collate recent evidence on the changes in the 

 blood. In order, however, to account for the destruction of the 

 red corpuscles, the formation of the pigment, and for the phe- 

 nomena of intermittent fever, I see no need for the micro-organism 

 which is alleged to be parasitic in the blood, in intermittent fever. 

 It seems to me that all of the phenomena can be accounted for 

 about as well without the parasites as with ; but it seems to be a 

 general fact in nature, that, whenever a highly organized being 

 commences to break down, there are generally organisms that 

 await the occurrence ; and, when the breaking-down process is of 

 elements microscopic in size, I believe that micro-organisms are 

 generally there. I accept the evidence of the eminent men who 

 have reported that they are present in the blood in intermit- 

 tent fever. 



But if we grant that malarial fever is caused by micro-organisms 

 parasitic in the blood, it has remained to be explained how it is 

 that the micro organisms only cause intermittent fever under cer- 

 tain conditions of the atmosphere. That intermittent fever does 

 occur under some conditions, and does not occur under other con- 

 ditions, has long been positively known. I claim that the statistics 

 which I have collected prove what those conditions are, and that 

 the relation of those conditions to intermittent fever is quanti- 

 tative and causal. I refer more especially to the evidence relative 

 to the half million and more cases of intermittent fever which 

 occurred in the United States armies during the war in 1863-64, 

 and to the evidence of the recorded experience of physicians in 

 Michigan during eight years.' 



HEALTH MATTERS. 

 Ether-Drinking. 



Me. Ernest Hart, editor of the British Medical Journal, has 

 lately published some statistics and important information relative 

 to the above subject. The matter is of very great value, directly 

 and indirectly, says Henry Conkling, M.D., in The Brooklyn 

 Medical Journal for April. It calls attention to the internal use 

 of a remedy which, as a powerful cardiac stimulant, has been used 

 but little of late. The published statistics have been collected, in 

 part personally, and also by communication with medical men, 

 clergymen, and others in the various parts of Ireland where the 

 custom prevails. 



The earliest history of the habit goes back to 1842. The greatest 

 amount of ether used for drinking-purposes was iii 1876. A few 

 years after this date there was a diminution in the consumption ; 

 but it has since increased, until at the present time the amount 

 nearly equals that of 1876. The majority of the ether (methylated 

 ether) comes from large English houses, being sent sometimes to 

 wholesale Irish firms, who retail it, or directly to the smaller 

 dealers. It is put up in stoppered bottles or metal vessels. It is 

 sold to the consumers in groceries, taverns, and public-houses, 

 selling for two cents (United States money) for two drams. Its 

 very small cost enables the dose to be frequently repeated. From 

 two drams to half an ounce is the amount usually drunk; and this 

 is repeated from two to six times during the da3% depending on 

 the personal habits. One or two cases of confirmed drinkers are 

 mentioned where one pint of ether was generally used, when on a 

 debauch, in divided doses. 



The amount that produces intoxication depends on the individ- 

 ual. The ether is drunk in a single swallow, sometimes diluted, 

 and again taken pure. The intoxicating effects are quickly pro- 

 duced, and quickly pass away. It is possible, therefore, as the 

 author observes, for an habitue to become intoxicated many times 

 in a short period. 



A small dose causes a feeling of exhilaration, the drinker laugh- 

 ing, dancing, and being quite wild in his movements. If the small 

 dose be not exceeded, there is no period of marked depression fol- 

 lowing the stimulation ; but in larger quantities a state of stupor 

 is frequently present, and, as the effect passes away, a feeling of 

 weakness is left. 



1 Diagrams and statUtlcs were given by Dr. Baker in support of Ms posi- 



It will be seen, in reading the individual accounts given in the 

 paper, that mania is a marked feature very commonly presented, 

 the drinkers often becoming very violent. 



In moderate amounts, no lesions anatomical in their nature are 

 produced. Of the two intoxicants alcohol and ether, the former 

 probably causes more bodily derangement. 



In ether-drinkers who have continuously consumed large quan- 

 tities, a train of nervous and circulatory disturbances is generally 

 present. Emaciation has been observed in certain cases, and 

 occasionally the skin is of a cyanotic hue. The more moderate 

 drinkers generally suffer from various forms of stomach troubles. 

 In all cases there has been observed a marked change, in the way 

 of deterioration, in the moral character. 



The relation of ether to insanity was also investigated. No sat- 

 isfactory evidence of the drug being directly causative could be 

 gathered, but physicians to certain of the insane-asylums regarded 

 it as detrimental in all cases where there was latent insanity. 

 Death is probably not hastened in any great degree, although, 

 by interfering with nutrition, the general health may become im- 

 paired. 



Attention is called to the fact that there is danger to the user 

 from having the drug near the fire or lights of any kind. The 

 author believes that the practice probably prevails in certain parts 

 of large cities. 



It is interesting to observe how common the use of ether as an 

 intoxicant must be, in the districts investigated, when the public 

 conveyances are frequently impregnated with its odor. 



This curious and novel paper teaches one valuable therapeutic 

 lesson : the effect of the drug has been shown to be rapid and 

 transient. In its use, therefore, as a cardiac stimulant, this point 

 should be recollected, and no long Intervals should go between 

 the time of giving the various doses. Its rapid action makes ether 

 a safe and valuable remedy for hypodermic use in conditions of 

 syncope. 



Poisonous Mussels. 



A case of fatal poisoning of a mother and four children from 

 poisonous mussels is reported by Sir Charles A. Cameron, M.D., in 

 the British Medical Journal for July 19, 1890, and republished in 

 The Brooklyn Medical Journal for April. 



The first symptoms came on in twenty minutes after eating the 

 stewed mussels. These were a prickly ("pins and needles") pain 

 in the hands. Five persons ate of the dish, one lightly ; and in 

 one hour afterward one of the children died, and an hour later 

 the mother and three other children. One child and the servant 

 recovered. 



The chief symptoms were vomiting, dyspnoea, swelling of the 

 face, loss of co ordination of movements, and convulsions. The 

 patients died asphyxiated. The mussels were fresh, and were 

 obtained from a pond which was a mixed salt and fresh water 

 pond, and received some sewage. The mussels, on examination, 

 were found to have large livers and brittle shells. A leucomaine 

 was extracted from the liver of the mussels which resembles 

 Brieger's mytilotoxine (CjHsNOj). The liver seemed to be the 

 seat of the poison, which had been before noticed by M. Dutertre 

 of France. The cause of this peculiar disease, the author thinks, 

 is due to the foul water in which the mussels lived. 



The livers of these mussels were examined microscopically by 

 Dr. McWeeney, and in a preliminary note published in the British 

 Medical Journal of Sept. 13 he describes at least five different 

 organisms appearing in his cultures, one of which, he thinks, is 

 the specific organism of the poison. 



The important lesson is, that mussels from stagnant or sewage- 

 laden waters should not be eaten. 



Influenza in the German Army. 



The medical department of the Prussian War Office has fur- 

 nished statistics of the epidemic of influenza from the medical 

 records of the German Army, an extract from which is given in 

 The Boston Medical and Surgical Journal for March 36. The 

 name "grippe" is supposed to be derived from the Polish word 

 " chrypka," which means catarrh. The epidemic appeared in the 

 army suddenly at the end of November, 1889, and in March was 



