Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  "1 
Nov.,  1881.  j 
Varieties. 
Lemon  Juice  in  Diphtheria. — Dr.  J.  R.  Page,  of  Baltimore,  in  the 
New  York  "Medical  Record,"  May  7th,  1881,  invites  the  attention  of  the 
profession  to  the  topical  use  of  fresh  lemon  juice  as  a  most  efficient  means 
for  the  removal  of  membrane  from  the  throat,  tonsils,  etc.,  in  diphtheria. 
In  his  hands  (and  he  has  heard  several  of  his  professional  brethren  say  the 
sahie)  it  has  proved  by  far  the  best  agent  he  has  yet  tried  for  the  purpose. 
He  applies  the  juice  of  the  lemon,  by  means  of  a  camel's  hair  probang,  to 
the  affected  parts  every  two  or  three  hours,  and  in  eighteen  cases  in  which 
he  has  used  it  the  effect  has  been  all  he  could  wish. — 3Ied.  and  Surg.  Rep. 
Cannabis  Indica  in  Migkaine. — What  the  bromides  and  belladonna 
are  to  epilepsy,  cannabis  indica  is  to  migraine.  The  principle  of  treatment 
laid  down  is  to  maintain,  by  the  use  of  small  doses  of  the  agent,  a  con- 
stant influence  upon  the  nervous  system  for  a  long  time,  the  same  as  is 
required  in  epilepsy  by  the  use  of  the  bromides.  At  first,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  no  appreciable  effect  is  observed,  and  not  until  the  use  of  the 
remedy  is  persevered  in  for  many  weeks,  and  the  nervous  system  kex^t 
under  its  influence  for  a  considerable  time,  will  the  patient  find  an  appre- 
ciable diminution  in  the  severity  and  frequency  of  the  attacks.  It  is  well 
to  commence  with  one-fourth  grain  of  the  extract,  before  each  meal,  for 
the  first  fortnight ;  the  dose  may  be  increased  to  the  third  of  a  grain  for 
the  second  fortnight,  to  be  augmented  to  a  half  grain  at  the  end  of  four 
weeks.  This  amount  will  generally  be  sufficient,  and  should  be  faithfully 
continued  for  several  months.  Success  here  is  only  obtained  by  jDcrsever- 
ing  effort. — Chicago  Med.  Jour,  and  Exam.^  from  Ohio  Med.  Jour.,  Sept. 
Cure  of  Goiter  by  Hydrofluoric  Acid. — Dr.  Edward  Woakes 
gives,  in  the  "Lancet,"  a  detailed  account  of  a  number  of  cases  of  goiter 
cured  by  fluoric  (hydrofluoric  ?)  acid  internally.  He  begins  treatment  with 
15  minims  of  a  one-half  per  cent,  dilution  of  the  acid,  three  times  a  day, 
and,  if  necessary,  increases  the  dose  to  20,  30,  40,  or  even  70  minims,  and 
extends  the  time  to  several  months.  His  results  are  quite  remarkable, 
even  in  cases  that  had  resisted  iodine,  bromine,  iron,  etc.  In  a  few  it  was 
conjoined  with  injections  of  tincture  iodine.  Very  few  failed  to  be  reason- 
ably benefitted,  and  in  85  per  cent,  the  cure  was  decided. — Independent 
Practitioner,  from  South.  Med.  Record,  1881,  p.  310. 
The  Disinfecting  Potency  of  Carbolic  Acid. — The  amount  of  pure 
acid  required  to  destroy  the  vitality  of  bacteria  (10  grains,  experiment  No. 
42)  is  equal  to  about  17  pounds  in  a  room  12  feet  square  and  12  feet  high 
(capacity  1,728  cubic  feet),  and  to  fulfill  the  conditions  of  the  experiment 
in  disinfecting  on  a  large  scale  it  would  be  necessary  to  scatter  this  amount 
over  the  floor  of  a  room  having  these  dimensions,  and  to  suspend  articles 
to  be  disinfected  near  the  floor  for  at  least  six  hours,  care  being  taken  that 
all  apertures  were  closed  so  that  the  fumes  of  the  acid  might  not  escape. 
Experiment  No.  43  shows  that  four  times  this  amount  (68  pounds)  of 
"crude"  acid  placed  upon  the  floor  of  a  room  of  the  same  dimensions 
