44  A  Resume  of  Recurrent  Topics.      { A  jaSyfiOT™' 
A  RESUME  OF  RECURRENT  TOPICS. 
By  Wii,i,iam  B.  Thompson. 
The  Avoirdupois  of  Odors. — The  ingenious  are  never  idle.  There 
need  be  but  few  lost  moments  to  the  industrious  mind.  The  power, 
volume,  weight  of  odors. can  be  relatively  compared,  it  is  claimed, 
by  the  amount  of  organic  matter  obtainable  by  reducing  this  to 
condensation  and  solution.  Dense  and  heavy  odors  must  assail  the 
nerve  filaments  in  our  nasal  organ  with  a  ponderosity  greater  than 
those  of  a  lighter  or  more  ethereal  kind.  Experiments  may  be 
made  by  thoroughly  impregnating  the  warmed  and  dried  air  of  a 
closet  or  compartment  with  a  chosen  odor.  Something  is  certainly 
diffused  when  our  sense  detects.  What  is  it  to  be  thus  appreciable  ? 
Is  it  organic  matter?  This  being  granted,  it  must  have  weight. 
After  a  prolonged  diffusion  of  the  odor  in  the  air  of  the  closet  or 
room,  it  is  suddenly  filled  with  the  vapor  of  water,  and  finally 
cooled,  when  the  condensate  is  collected.  This  is  to  be  examined 
for  amount  of  organic  matter,  and  comparisons  instituted.  The 
actual  utility  of  this  does  not  appear  except  in  the  light  of  scientific 
interest ;  ordinary  tests  are  all  physical.  We  may,  however,  desire 
to  know  whether  the  volume  of  natural  odor  in  the  plant  species  can 
be  intensified  by  natural  means.  The  power  and  diffusiveness  of 
fragrance  must  have  a  basis  of  considerable  materiality  to  be  so 
permanent  and  enduring.  Does  it  exist  there  as  we  recognize  it,  or 
is  it  not  rather  the  result  of  the  subtle  chemistry  in  which  the  oxygen 
plays  the  most  important  part  ? 
Eucaine. — This  new  therapeutic,  similar  to  cocaine,  is  a  laboratory, 
not  a  vegetable,  product.  Sixty-seven  letters  are  required  to  con- 
stitute its  correct  scientific  orthography.  An  abbreviated  prescrip- 
tion for  such  an  article  will  not  be  criticized  for  ambiguity.  The 
derivation  of  eucaine  would  seem  to  invest  it  with  an  antiseptic 
character.  Its  solubility  in  aqueous  media  is  very  free.  It  does  not 
present  that  tendency  to  fermentative  change  or  to  decomposition 
as  many  vegetable  alkaloids  in  solution  are  prone  to  do.  Some  ob- 
servations have  been  made  as  to  the  comparative  toxic  effect 
with  cocaine,  eucaine  being  less,  and  its  onset  and  intensity  less. 
The  pharmaceutical  preparations  will  include  an  ointment,  but  its 
chief  uses  will  be  those  of  a  mydriatic,  and  as  an  anaesthetic  (10  per 
cent,  solution)  in  minor  dental  surgery.    Its  composition  is  said  to 
