58 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XXII. No. 548 



Two only are parasitic upon the goplier: (1) a large tick, which 

 fastens itself upon the skin of the animal or to the sutures of the 

 shell; (2) a gigantic acarus, a quarter of an inch in length, which 

 does not remain upon the body of the gopher but attacks it 

 within the nest, which, like the bed-bug, it never quits. Some of 

 the burrows are infested with these blood-sucking mites and 

 others appear to be entirely free from them. 



The dung of the gopher furnishes food to five beetles and one 

 interesting caterpillar of a moth. All of these are new and pe- 

 culiar forms, presenting characters that indicate subterranean 

 habits of life. A large wingless cave cricket, apparently a Pha- 

 langopsis, swarms in all the burrows. 



Three predatory beetles, one of which, a new species of Anthi- 

 ous, may prove to be a prowler from without, have been found 

 within the galleries. 



A very large specimen of the whip-tail scorpion (Telephonus) was 

 found in one of the burrows. It was living in a short gallery of 

 its own, which opened into the nest of the gopher at the lowest 

 level. A minute Pseudo-scorpion is also found at the lower end 

 of some of the burrows. 



A flea of undetermined species, of which a single specimen 

 was found in one of the holes, may prove to be an intruder, left 

 behind possibly by some mammalian visitor. 



The following is a review of the animal parasites and mess- 

 mates of the gopher: 



Vertebrate. 



1. The gopher frog, Bana areolata cesopus. 



Articulates. 



1. Copris, new sp. Feeding upon dung of gopher. 



2. Ontliophagus, sp. Feeding upon dung of gopher. 



3. Sax>rinus, new sp. Feeding upon dung of gopher. 



4. Suprinus, sp. Feeding upon dung of gopher. 



5. Apliodius, new sp. Feeding upon dung of gopher. 



6. Staphylinide, probably a Philonthus. Predatory. 



7. Tricliopteryx, sp. A species found also outside. 



8. Anthicus, new sp. One specimen only. 



9. Pyralid moth. Caterpillars feeding upon dung. 



10. Cave cricket (undetermined). 



11. Acaride parasite of the gopher (undetermined). 



12. Gopher tick (undetermined). 



13. Pseudo-scorpion (undetei'mined). 



14. Whip-tail scorpion. Predatory intruder. 



15. Flea, probably a mammalian parasite. 



Most of the insects have been submitted to Mr. E. A. Schwarz, 

 of the Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C, and to 

 him I am indebted for the determinations given above. 



NEW METHODS OF TREATING THE SICK. 



BY WILLIAM C. KKAUSS, MJ3., BUFFALO, N.T. 



On June 1, 1889, Professor Brown-Sequard presented a com- 

 munication to the Societe de Biologie of Paris on a new method of 

 therapeutics. It seems that Brown-Sequard had been at work on 

 this project for many years, for, in 1869, he expressed a belief that 

 if it were possible to inject spermatic fluid into the veins of old 

 men they would experience a rejuvenation, sexually, mentally, 

 and physically. After repeated experiments upon rabbits, dogs, 

 and guinea-pigs, he, in a true scientiflc spirit, injected some of the 

 testicular fluid into his system, and his experiences and results form 

 the most interesting part of bis memorable communication to this 

 learned society. "The author of this communication, now 72 

 years old, has for the past twelve years watched his physical 

 powers slowly and continually decline. The laboratory work has 

 become laborious and heavy, and after each meal I have been 

 obliged to take a short nap. After the third injection a complete 

 change took place. The work in the laboratory has become 

 agreeable, not the least fatiguing, and after three and a half hours 

 of such work I have been able to edit a memoir. The dynamo- 

 meter showed an increase of 6.7 kilogrammes, the bowels re- 

 gained their former activity, and, in short, I have regained all that 

 I have lost." 



These results, coming from one of the ablest physiologists in 

 France, yea, of the world, were in an incredibly short space of 

 time dispatched to all corners of the earth, and Brown-Sequard's 

 " Elixir of Life," erroneously called, was being tested by hundreds 

 of doctors and would-be scientists. 



Enthusiastic reports are not easy to corroborate, and the Elixir 

 of Life was doomed to bitter disappointment. At first encourag- 

 ing results were reported by a class of observers least fitted to test 

 the virtues of the new discovery, but in a short time the whole 

 proceedings were looked upon with disdain and distrust. 



Not so in France, Brown-Sequard published several later reports 

 with equally good results, and the experiments were further con- 

 ducted by some of his co-workers and students. The hypodermic 

 injections of testicular juice gave encouraging results in angemia, 

 organic diseases of the brain and spinal cord, cachexia, tubei'cu- 

 losis, and in many of the chronic diseases. It was also found that 

 ovarian juice gave nearly the same results as did the testicular juice. 

 Thyroid juice. It has been definitely proven that removal of 

 the thyroid glands from a dog will be followed by death. Gley, 

 in his experiments, decided to inject the juice of thyroid glands 

 in dogs thus deprived of these glands, and, instead of dying, they 

 recovered without any serious difliculties. In the human family 

 it has been found that after removal of the thyroid gland or the 

 destruction of this gland through disease, that a certain train of 

 symptoms will develop, which had received the name of myxoe- 

 dema, a disease characterized by swelling of the face, body, and 

 extremities, loss of hair, sub-normal temperature, etc. Horsley 

 attempted to transplant the thyroid gland of animals to these 

 patients, and met with partial success. Dr. Murray of Newcastle, 

 England, then injected hypodermically a glycerine extract of 

 thyroid gland into patients suffering with myxoedema, and his 

 eS'orts were rewarded with beneficial results. Brown-Sequard 

 and D'Arsonval were conducting similar experiments about the 

 same time with equally good success. It was found, however, 

 that the injection of this substance was followed in many cases 

 with pain, inflammation, and abscess formation. To overcome 

 these hindrances, Fox of Plymouth and Mackenzie advised and 

 practised the treatment of myxcedema by feeding with sheeps' 

 thyroid glands, and the results seemed to be in every way satis- 

 factory. 



The writer has had a little experience in treating two cases of 

 myxoedema, but he has been unable to attain anything like the 

 results claimed by the English and French writers. In fact his 

 exi^erience has been negative, not even obtaining temporary im- 

 provement. 



MacAlisterof England has treated cases of pseudo-hypertrophic 

 paralysis with injections of thymus gland extract; also a case of 

 lymphadeuoma with a mixture of red and yellow marrow, with 

 seemingly good results. 



Dieulafory of Paris has injected extracts of the cortical portion 

 of the kidney into patients suffering with Bright's disease. He 

 proposes the name Nephrine for this particular fluid 



Comby and Dieulafory have also injected the extract of pancreas 

 in cases of diabetes, with temporary good results. 



Spermine is the name of another fluid extract derived from 

 Brown-Sequard's testicular juice, its action seems to be similar to 

 the testicular juice, acting upon the motor areas of the cerebro- 

 spinal axis, increasing the strength of the arms and legs, regulating 

 the sexual, urinary, and digestive functions, and in improvement 

 of the general sensibility. 



American experimenters have not been idle during the rise of 

 this^Ji de siedc therapeutics. There are now houses in New York 

 manufacturing animal extracts known as cerebrine, meduUine, 

 testiculine, musouline, and other newly-coined-word remedies 

 which have been recommended in the various diseases of the 

 human body. Personally, the writer has had experience with 

 cerebrine only, and, if he has noticed any results, they have been 

 but temporary. Perhaps they do not even deserve the name 

 "result," only a reaction had set in. Those of the writer's friends 

 who have had experience with these remedies have also obtained 

 negative results. The injection of water and glycerine has suc- 

 ceeded in accomplishing exactly what the animal extracts have 

 done. 



