Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  | 
Nov  ,  1882.  J 
Varieties. 
583 
fact,  so  far  from  looking  on  carbolic  acid  as  a  destroyer  of  bacteria, 
the  author  looks  on  it  as  the  best  material  for  preserving  their  lives  ! 
Sixthly — The  experiments  hitherto  made  upon  the  cadaveric  alka- 
loids have  not  solved  the  question  as  to  whether  the  odorous  volatile 
alkaloids  evolved  during  putrefaction  are  poisonous  or  not,  seeing  that 
the  products  of  putrefaction  introduced  into  the  body  in  these  experi- 
ments contain  bacteria  to  which  the  resulting  poisonous  effects  may  or 
may  not  be  attributed.  After  trying  many  experiments,  the  author 
simply  introduced  a  number  of  frogs  into  a  vessel  the  bottom  of  which 
w^as  covered  with  a  layer  of  tlie  normal  meat  solution  already  men- 
tioned. When  putrefaci  ion  first  set  in,  although  large  quantities  of 
sulphuretted  hydrogen  and  other  fetid  products  were  evolved  and  the 
liquid  swarmed  with  bacteria,  the  frogs  did  not  seem  to  suffer  in  the 
slightest  degree,  although,  had  an  infinitesimal  portion  of  the  liquid 
been  injected  into  an  elephant,  the  animal  would  infallibly  be  poisoned. 
The  same  liquid  kept  for  two  months  and  then  being  harmless  when 
injected  subcutaneously,  killed  the  frogs  in  a  few  minutes  when  they 
were  compelled  to  breathe  its  vapor.  There  is,  therefore,  no  parallel- 
ism between  the  toxic  properties  of  a  putrefying  liquid  and  of  its  ema- 
nations. On  the  contrary,  they  seem  to  be  in  inverse  ratio ;  that  is  to 
say,  the  newer  the  liquid  the  more  toxic  it  is,  the  older  the  liquid  the 
more  toxic  are  its  exhalations. 
Seventhly — The  small  quantity  of  these  volatile  toxic  alkaloids, 
which  is  sufficient  to  kill  animal  life  when  breathed,  shows  them  to 
rival  nicotine,  prussic  acid  and  other  powerful  poisons  in  their  viru- 
lence. 
Eighthly  —  The  author's  experiments  show  why  accidents  have 
arisen  when  bodies  have  been  exhumed  after  having  been  buried  for  a 
long  time,  The  air  of  old  cemeteries,  although  nearly  free  from 
microbes,  is,  nevertheless,  extremely  poisonous.  The  volatile  products 
of  putrefaction  generated  by  microbes  appear,  therefore,  to  play  an 
important  part  in  contagious  and  infectious  diseases.  —  The  Chemists^ 
Journal,  from  Comptes  Rendus. 
VARIETIES. 
Oleates  in  the  Dermatoses. — Dr.  Shoemaker  read  a  paper  at  the 
recent  mectinjj^  of  the  Pennsylvania  State  Medical  Society,  in  whicli  he 
claim(!d  the  following  advantages  for  the  oleates  over  ordinary  ointments: 
