VARIETIES. 
87 
is what we must chiefly attend to, relying more on this remedy when it is 
absent, and less when it is present. 2. The remedy frequently arrests the 
progress of the disease when only in the first stage. 3. It rarely arrests it 
when in the second stage, although it may retard it. 4. The third stage is 
not favorably influenced by the oil. 5. The oil should be administered for 
a considerable time ; and, if a good effect results, it should be suspended 
awhile, to be again resumed. Thus, it may be given for two months, and 
then suspended for a fortnight, resumed for a month, and re-suspended for a 
fortnight again, so as gradually to reduce the length of the intervals during 
which it is given. 6. The clear, slightly smelling, nearly tasteless oil, is 
less efficacious than the brown, thick, strong oil. — British and Foreign 
Medico- Chirurgical Review, October, 1850, from Bull, de Thcrapeutique, 
xxxviii. p. 490. 
On Linseed Oil in Haemorrhoids . By M. Van Ryn. — M. Van Ryn be- 
lieves, that, in general, surgical treatment is too hastily resorted to in this 
affection, and he wishes to bring under the notice of the profession a remedy 
he has found of great efficacy during twenty five years. It consists in the 
administration of two ounces of fresh linseed oil every morning and even- 
ing; and so rapid is the amendment generally, that the remedy is seldom 
continued longer than a week. Sometimes the stools are somewhat in- 
creased in quantity, but neither vomiting nor any other ill effect is produced. 
The only precaution the while, is the abstinence from alcoholic drinks and 
too stimulating a diet.- — Ibid, from L' Union Medicale. 
Method of hardening Objects in Plaster of Paris, and rendering them like 
Marble. — Take 2 parts of stearine, 2 parts Venitian soap, 1 part pearlash, and 
24 to 30 parts of solution of caustic potash. The stearine and the soap are cut 
into slices, mixed with the cold ley, and boiled for about half an hour, con- 
stantly stirring. Whenever the mass rises, a little cold ley is added. The 
pearlash, previously moistened with a little rain-water, is then added, and 
the whole boiled for a few minutes. The mass is then stirred until cold, 
when it is mixed with so much cold ley that it becomes perfectly liquid, and 
runs off the spoon without coagulating and contracting. Before using this 
composition, it should be kept several days well covered. It may be pre- 
served for years. Before applying it to the objects, Ihey should be well 
dusted, the stains scraped away, and then coated by means of a thick brush 
with the mass as long as the plaster of Paris absorbs it, and left to dry. The 
coating is then dusted with leather or a soft brush. If the surface has not 
become shining, the operation must be repeated. — Archiv der Pharm., Ivi. 
p. 327. 
Process of Engraving upon Ivory. — The process used to cover ivory with 
ornaments and designs in black consists in engraving in the ivory itself, and 
then filling in the designs with a black hard varnish. 
