250 
POPTJLAE SCIENCE EEYIEW. 
All the cases observed by this physician were easily cured by simple treat- 
ment so soon as the patients were removed from the vapours developed in 
the manufacture of aniline. By protecting the skin with proper clotliing, by 
inducing cleanly habits, and by improving the ventilation of the manu- 
factory, this peculiar form of bronchitis seems to be removed, except when 
the wind takes a certain direction. — See Medico-Chirurgical Review, for 
October, 1864. 
Action of Mineral Waters on Sinn Diseases. — hi. Eichard, one of the 
candidates for the French Academy’s medico-chirurgical prize, selected the 
above as the subject of his thesis, and from the latter we abstract the follow- 
ing deductions drawn by the author : — 
1st. Mineral waters act directly and locally in removing skin diseases, by 
checking the congestion of the integument. 
2nd. They combat rather the altered products of the blood and con- 
sequences of skin diseases than the parasites which produce these maladies. 
3rd. The operation of mineral waters upon the external mtegument is not 
confined to the diseased tissues, but extends also to the healthy ones ; tliat 
of compounds of iodine, chlorine, and mercury, such as used in ordinary 
medicine, on the contrary, is confined to the injured parts, and tends to the 
elimination of the morbid element. 
4th. In certain cases the mineral waters should be administered as internal 
medicines, their local action bemg, in such instances, too diffused, and 
leaving it probable that a return of the malady may take place after its 
apparent cure. Besides, the cutaneous absorption of medicines is, to 
say the least, exceedingly problematical. — Vide Comptes Rendus, LIX., 
No. 15. 
Electrical Action of Mineral Waters. — A rather original and, we must 
confess, in our opinion, more ingenious than probable, hypothesis has been 
started by M. Scoutetten, to account for the influence of spa-waters upon 
the system. This savant attributes the operation of mineral waters to the 
development of electric currents wliich act upon the blood and tissues. From 
an inmiense series of experiments he has “ demonstrated ” (?) that all 
“ waters ” determine an electric current which passes from the developing 
medium to traverse the body immersed in it ; thus all spa-waters are negative 
to the body which is plunged in them, but the intensity of the current varies 
with the character of the water. The water of rivers has a feeble electric 
current, but that of purely mineral springs, on the contrary, engenders a very 
powerful current, — in some instances deflecting the needle of the galvano- 
meter as much as 70°, 80°, or even 90°. It appears that sulphur waters are 
most energetic in this respect. His more important conclusions may be thus 
summed up : — 
1st. Mineral waters develope all the phenomena of excitation, the latter 
being due to the electricity developed by their contact with the body. 
2nd. They (determine a medicinal action which varies according to the 
nature of the minerals. 
3rd. They exert a peculiar local action upon the skin, especially in 
regard to the production of eruptions. — Vide Comptes Rendus, LIX., 
No. 13. 
Blue Organic Colouring Matter in Pus. — ^A very curious case, in which the 
