SCIEISTIFIC SEMMAIiY. 
95 
act nearly as well when Applied to the wounds themselves. — Co7nptes-Hendus 
for Nov. 30. 
Creatine in Milk. — In a note to the French Academy^ M. Commaille 
announces that he has obtained creatine from putrefied whey. This is^ 
without doubt^ derived from creatine by dehydration, so that, according to 
M. Commaille, the latter substance must be a constituent of new milk. Its 
presence has not been hitherto made out on account of the large quantity of 
other matters with which it is united in new milk. M. Commaille finds in 
the presence of creatine a new analogy between milk, blood, and meat, and 
doubts whether creatine is an excrementitious matter. 
hifluence of Vei'atrwn 07i the Heai't. — M. Oulmont, who has been con- 
tinuing his experiments on the physiological action of Veratrmn viride and 
on its therapeutical effects, recently read his second paper on these subjects 
before the French Academy of Medicine. He finds that the resinous extract 
in doses of about a centigramme every hour lessens and steadies the pulse, 
and considerably diminishes the temperature. Tie has tried it in pleurifcis, 
pneumonia, and typhoid fever, and while it gave bad results in the first and 
third, it proved of immense service in the second. 
Muriate of Aimnonia as a cure for Neuralgia . — Many of our non-profes- 
sional readers have no doubt heard of sal-ammoniac as a remedy for certain 
forms of toothache, and perhaps have tried it with advantage. There has 
hitherto been a great dearth of scientific information on the action of this 
remedy. We therefore direct attention to an able paper on Muriate of 
Ammonia in certain nervous disorders,” which has been written by 
Dr. F. E. Anstie of Westminster Hospital. Dr. Anstie shows that while 
the muriate is surprisingly beneficial in some cases it is inert in others. 
But he recommends that it be given a fair trial. Our own observations 
fully accord with Dr, Anstie’s published views. — See The Tractitioner for 
December. 
Vih'iones developed after administration of Cyclamine. — In the third num- 
ber of the Archives de Physiologie, M. Yulpian describes some experiments 
made on frogs by injecting the active principle of Cyclamen Europceum 
beneath the skin. After death the blood is found loaded with vibriones, 
and these in some cases are seen within the substance of the corpuscles 
themselves. 
Methyl- and Ethyl- Strychnia. — MM. Jolyet and Cahours have, in a recent 
number of the Co^nptes-Re^idus (November), at last recognised the splendid 
inquiries of Messrs. Fraser and Crum Brown. But singularly enough they 
express an opinion to the effect that this field of research — the influence of 
substitution on the physiological effects of alkaloids — is especially their own. 
We don’t agree with them. 
Devonshire as a health-resort. — As one of the chief peculiarities of the 
Devonshire climate is supposed to be its moisture, we would refer those of 
our readers who are anxious to obtain some scientific knowledge of the 
hygrometric facts to a valuable paper on the rainfall of Devonshire, by 
Mr. W. Pengelly, F.R.S., in the Transactions of the Devotishire Associa- 
tion for the Advancement of Science for 1868. After giving numerous care- 
fully drawn up tables, the author says : In brief, Devonshire stands first 
among the English and Welsh counties, and in descending order thirteenth 
