Am.  Jour.  Pharm. ) 
Dec,  1882.  j 
Varieties. 
631 
-als  suffering  from  acute  alcoholism  this  drug  may  and  must  be  given  in 
large  doses  to  insure  success.  While  in  some  cases  three  centigrams  of  sul- 
phate of  strychnia  injected  by  demi-centigrams  in  the  course  of  a  day,  suf- 
:fice  to  relieve  an  attack  of  delirium  tremens,  in  other  instances  more  will 
Ibe  required.  To  an  individual  affected  with  delirium  tremens,  symptom- 
atic of  a  varioloid,  M.  Luton  has  given  hypodermically  in  fifteen  hours, 
seven  centigrams  of  strychnia  sulphate,  with  real  benefit  and  without  acci- 
dents of  strychnism.  M.  Luton  is  of  the  opinion  that  in  the  alcoholic, 
because  of  an  acquired  tolerance,  there  is  no  absolute  limit  to  the  employ- 
ment of  strychnine.  The  principal  point  is  to  divide  the  dose  so  as  not  to 
inject  more  than  a  centigram  at  a  time.  An  interval  of  two  hours  suffices 
to  exhaust  the  primitive  or  dangerous  effects  of  the  poison.  It  is  necessary 
also  10  watch  the  patient  closely,  and  to  stop  the  remedy  as  soon  as  the 
delirium  has  ceased,  and  ^leejy  has  appeared,  for  from  this  time  on  inertia 
of  the  cord  no  longer  exists,  and  the  cumulative  effects  of  the  drug  might 
•otherwise  suddenly  manifest  themselves.— CAic.  Med.  Bev.,  Nov.  1. 
Pelletierine  Tannate. — Dr.  Berenger-Feraud  ("Bulletin  Generale de 
Therapeutique,"  translated  in  the  "Medical  Times")  communicates  the 
results  of  the  various  kinds  of  treatment  for  the  removal  of  the  tapeworm  : 
Oil  of  turpentine,  male  fern,  pumpkin  seed,  kooso,  pomegranate  root  bark 
and  pelletierine  tannate.  This  last  he  considers  the  most  powerful  of  all 
agents,  as  complete  success  was  obtained  in  forty-six  per  cent,  of  the  cases. 
As  soon  as  proof  of  the  presence  of  the  intruder  is  obtained  the  patient  is 
put  upon  milk  and  bread  for  the  next  two  meals.  On  the  next  morning 
before  rising  an  infusion  of  ten  grams  of  senna  leaves  in  one  hundred  grams 
of  water  sweetened  with  thirty  grams  of  syrup  of  orange  peel  is  adminis- 
tered. An  hour  later  the  patient  takes  half  the  dose  of  pelletierine  diffused 
in  twice  its  weight  of  water.  The  patient  should  lie  still  with  closed  eyes 
to  prevent  nausea  and  vomiting.  Half  an  hour  later  the  rest  of  the  drug  is 
given.  After  another  half  hour  thirty  or  forty  grams  of  castor  oil  are  given. 
Should  there  be  no  stool  an  hour  afterward  purgative  enemata  are  given. 
Success  in  this  treatment  appears  to  lie  in  the  rapidity  of  the  purgation. — 
Chie.  Med.  Bev.,  Oct.  15. 
The  Poison  of  Mushrooms.— Prof.  Roufick,  of  Breslau,  has  lately  made 
experiments  on  the  common  mushroom,  of  which  the  following,  published 
in  the  "British  Medical  Journal,"  are  the  results:  All  common  mush- 
rooms are  poisonous,  but  cooking  deprives  them,  more  or  less,  of  their 
poisonous  qualities.  The  repeated  washing  with  cold  water  which  they 
usually  undergo  to  clean  them  takes  away  a  portion  of  the  poison,  and 
boiling  does  the  rest ;  but  the  water  in  which  they  have  been  boiled  is 
highly  poisonous,  and  should  be  carefully  gotten  rid  of.  Experiments 
made  on  dogs  showed  that  if  a  dog  ate  one  joer  cent,  of  its  own  weight  of 
raw  mushrooms  it  fell  sick,  but  recovered  ;  if  it  ate  one  and  a  half  i)er  cent, 
the  poison  has  a  more  violent  but  not  fatal  effect,  and  if  it  ate  two  per  cent, 
it  was  inevitably  fatal.  The  water  in  which  mushrooms  had  been  boiled 
was  far  more  poisonous  than  even  the  raw  mushrooms,  while  the  mush- 
rooms thus  boiled  could  be  taken  without  hurt  to  the  amount  of  ten  i^er 
