28 
ABSTRACTS AND GLEANINGS IN BOTANY, 
structure, having the extremities obtusely rounded. They are developed from 
spores, and may be straight, coiled, or arranged in curves. Dr. Salisbury states 
that he has found these filaments in the bed of chancres and in the blood of 
persons affected with secondary syphilis. The Cryptci syphilitica finds a fertile 
soil in the connecting tissues. The Cxypta gonorrhoea, also an algoid plant, 
having a filamentary form, according to Dr. Salisbury, is limited in its invasion 
to the epithelial tissue, whilst the Crypta syphilitica is mainly confined to the 
connective, cartilaginous, and osseous tissues. Several figures of these algoid 
vegetations are appended to Dr. Salisbury’s paper.— Med. Times and Gazette. 
Gentian Hoot as a Dilator. 
Professor Winckel, in Rostock, recommends (Deutsche Klinik, 1867) the Radix 
Gentianse rubrse as a new, simple, and cheap means of dilatation for surgical and 
gynecological purposes. His attention was first directed thereto by an article 
of John Jacob Haeberl, published in 1834, in which the author states, that 
having operated for atresia uteri and desiring to keep open the orifice made by 
the trocar, he introduced a good firm plug of Radix gentianse, and that on the 
following day he found no small difficulty in withdrawing the same, which had 
increased to twice its former size. According to Dr. Winckel’s observations 
the gentian root has the following advantages over laminaria :—(1st.) Its cheap¬ 
ness, the ease with which it can be obtained, and the fact that the physician 
can so easily cut plugs and bougies of any size to suit his requirements. (2nd.) 
Its somewhat smaller power of absorption, as compared with laminaria, is com¬ 
pensated by our being able to obtain larger pieces of it (one and one-half to two 
inches in diameter) so that it can be used for the dilatation of openings already 
too large for laminaria. (3rd.) The fact of its remaining free from smell consti¬ 
tutes an immense advantage, for even laminaria, though in a much less degree 
than sponge-tents, often becomes quite fetid. 
The Radix gentianse may therefore be used with special advantage in strictures 
of the vulva, vagina, and uterus; for tamponing the uterus in smaller haemor¬ 
rhages, for the induction of abortion, for dilatation after operations for atresia 
of the genital organs. Whether it is also applicable to stricture of the urethra, 
to affections of the lachrymal ducts, etc., remains to be seen.— All. Med. C. Ztg ., 
1867 ; Memorabilien. 
On the Relative Value of the Rhizoma and Radical Fibres of 
Podophyllum Peltatum in the Manufacture of Podophyllin, 
BY WILLIAM SAUNDERS. 
In commerce it is well known that samples of the rhizoma of Podophyllum 
peltatum , freed from the radical fibres, are preferred, and command a higher 
price ; and also that the presence of an unusually large proportion of fibres is 
regarded as an evidence of inferiority. This preference may, in some cases, 
originate from the fact that the fibres are often associated with a considerable 
quantity of dust and other foreign matter, but however clean they may be 
made, the prejudice still exists in their disfavour. 
To determine how far this objection is grounded on any deficiency of strength 
in the fibres as compared with the rhizoma, the following experiments were 
tried:— 
Eight ounces of the rhizoma, carefully freed from fibres, were ground in a 
Swift’s drug-mill sufficiently fine to pass through a sieve of twenty-five meshes 
to the inch. Eight ounces of root fibres, free from rhizoma, were treated in a 
similar manner. These were each moistened with four ounces of alcohol, and 
packed in separate percolators. After macerating for twenty-four hours, fresh 
