Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Sept.,  1889. 
Disinfection  in  Medicine. 
487 
inoculated  with  the  bacillus  of  blue  pus,  and  the  urine  passed  by 
them  until  the  time  of  their  death  collected  and  filtered  through 
porcelain.  To  make  quite  sure  that  no  microbes  were  present  in  the 
urine,  it  was  sown  in  culture  media,  but.  with  absolutely  negative  re- 
sults. Some  of  the  urine  thus  free  from  organisms  was  then  injected 
every  second  day  into  three  rabbits,  which  received  205  cc,  145  cc , 
and  140  cc.  respectively.  One  rabbit  was  killed  by  an  accident,  the 
other  two,  at  the  end  of  from  twelve  to  fifteen  days,  were  affected 
with  a  paralysis  of  the  posterior  limbs,  exactly  like  what  is  produced 
by  inoculating  under  the  skin  the  pyocyanic  microbe.  Later  on  these 
two  rabbits,  together  with  two  control  rabbits,  were  submitted  to  an 
intravenous  inoculation  of  about  1  cc.  of  a.  culture  of  the  pyocyanic 
bacillus.  The-eontrol  animals  died  speedily,  the  other  two  remained 
well.  This  experiment  not  only  proves  that  the  chemical  product  of 
the  pyocyanic  bacterial  life  is  protective  against  the  disease  ;  it  proves 
that  it  is  it  and  not  the  bacterium  which  causes  the  symptoms ;  and, 
lastly,  it  proves  that  some  if  not  all  of  the  toxic  product  is  eliminated 
by  the  kidneys,  and  thus  affords  another  instance  of  the  advantage 
and  necessity  of  a  much  more  extended  and  critical  examination  of 
the  urine  in  disease  than  we  have  been  accustomed  to  make. 
"  Can  all  these  men — some  of  the  ablest  in  their  several  walks — be 
deceived  ?  " 
I  omit  observations  by  Dr.  Carter  on  some  applications,  appar- 
ently of  a  specific  nature,  of  calomel,  and  on  the  value  of  chlorine  in 
certain  diseased  conditions  of  the  intestines ;  and,  as  I  have  extracted 
already  so  largely  from  this  paper,  I  shall  merely  refer  to  the  theory, 
rather  suggested  than  put  forward,  that  disinfection  is  in  general  a 
process  of  oxidation. 
James  jNiven. 
Cocoannt  as  a  Taenicide. — Parisi,  of  Athens,  reports  several  cases 
in  which  the  endocarp  of  the  cocoanut  acted  as  an  efficient  tsenicide.  No 
preparatory  treatment  is  necessary.  The  patient  drinks  the  "  milk,"  and 
then  eats  the  endocarp  of  the  nut.  This  is  followed  by  a  feeling  of  abdomi- 
nal uneasiness  and  pain,  slight  diarrhoea,  and  finally  the  expulsion  of  the 
taenia  after  some  hours. — Jour.  Amer.  Med.  Assoc.,  March  9. 
Tincture  of  Iodine  a  Cure  for  Warts.— Dr.  Imossi,  of  Gibraltar, 
has  been  treating  warts  with  internal  doses  of  tincture  of  iodine  in  ten  cases, 
all  of  which  resulted  favorably.  The  dose  given  was  ten  drops  in  half  a 
glass  of  water,  twice  a  day.  A  slight  emaciation  of  the  patient  will  be 
regained  as  soon  as  the  treatment  is  discontinued. — Med.  News,  Aug.  24, 1889. 
