APIS. . 



this solution being injected into the birds. In all cases the results were the 

 same as when stung by the bees. These birds are very susceptible, showirig 

 the effects almost immediately after receiving two or three stings, and die in 

 a short time. 



"Phisalix claimed that there were three distinct active principles in the 

 poison: — 



"ist. An inflammatory principle. This he finds by experiment is de- 

 stroyed by heating to lOO degrees C. ; the poison exposed for fifteen min- 

 utes to the heat of boiling water no longer causes the local symptoms. 



"2. A convulsive principle. This is similarly shown to be destroyed 

 by a continued heating at 100 degrees C. 



"3. A stupefying principle. This was destroyed by a heat of 130 de- 

 grees C. 



"Apis has a direct action on the heart, usually described as a pressure, 

 and heaviness, accompanied by a drawing-down pain; respiration becomes 

 heavy, followed by nausea, pain in the head, and fainting. Paralysis was 

 the first symptom noted in the experiments on sparrows. When the in- 

 jection was made in the foot, the member becanie inactive. This was fol- 

 lowed by convulsions; the convulsive action continued for from two to five 

 hours, and was followed by somnolence, stupor, and troubled' respiration, 

 which were the last symptoms noted before death. In a case where a man 

 received about one hundred stings from black bees in a few minutes, prin- 

 cipally on the face, hands, and arms, the following conditions were noted: 

 In fifteen minutes he had violent palpitation of the heart, and buzzing in 

 the ears. This was followed in half an hour by a. tingling sensation in his 

 limbs, as if he were going to sleep, while, as he expressed it, his heart beat 

 so fast that his ears felt as if the drums would burst. A little later every- 

 thing seemed to get black at once. He felt faint, and his friends thought 

 he was dying. His lips and finger tips (under the nails) became purple. 

 An hour later his heart slowed down, and a severe chill followed. That 

 night he felt a peculiar sensation all through his body, which appeared in 

 different places, but more especially in his head, back, down his spine, in 

 the limbs, and then back to the head again. There was some pain in the 

 region of the heart for two weeks' afterward. 



"Therapy.— ^Apis has proven useful in chronic ovarian pains, and re- 

 lieves the stinging, burning sensation in mammary cancer. In dropsy or 

 enlargement of cellular tissue with fever, it is of value. In malignant scar- 

 latina, where the tissues are of a purplish color, it is indicated. In urti- 

 caria, where coldness, vomiting, and diarrhoea are present, it is our most 

 valuable remedy; while in diphtheria and erysipelas it is always indicated. 

 It will promptly relieve edema of the throat and nasal passages, and re- 

 tention and suppression of urine in children. In those cases of irritable 

 bladder, with tenesmus and frequent but scant micturition, with soreness 

 and burning, it may be depended upon." 



The Specific use of Apis, as recorded by recent authorities on the 

 clinical use of the drug may be expressed by the following reproduc- 

 tions :* 



By John M. Scudder, M. D. 



"Itidications for Apis are frequently found in diseases of the skin, and 

 also in diseases of the bladder and urethra. Women are sometimes afflicted 

 with sensations of heat and burning pains in the bladder and urethra, ac- 

 companied by an almost constant desire to urinate. In this unplea'sant 



* These extracts are often but fragments of detailed articles. The works mentioned should 



the- shplvejl of everv ohvsician. 



be on the shelves of every physician 



6 



