440  Practical  Notes  from  Various  Sources.  {Amsi£t.?i887arm 
PRACTICAL  NOTES  FROM  VARIOUS  SOURCES. 
By  the  Editor. 
Test  for  watered  milk. — The  readiness  with  which  diphenylamine  is 
rendered  deep  bine  by  nitric  acid  and  other  oxidizing  agents  was 
pointed  out  by  A.  W.  Hoffmann,  in  1864.  Since  well  water  always 
contains  more  or  less  nitrates,  Szilasi  (The  Lancet,  June  11th,)  recom- 
mends the  detection  of  such  water  in  milk  by  the  following  simple 
test :  About  twenty  minims  of  solution  of  sulphate  of  diphenylamine 
are  placed  in  a  small  porcelain  vessel,  and  a  few  drops  of  the  milk  to 
be  examined  are  added  to  it.  If  the  milk  contain  even  five  per  cent, 
of  average  well  water  a  blue  tinge  will  gradually  distinctly  appear. 
Sulphate  of  diphenylamine  is  very  cheap,  so  the  test  may  be  readily 
tried. 
Capsules  of  creasote  and  Tolu  balsam  have  been  successfully  employed 
by  Dr.  Sommerbrodt  (Berl.  Min.  Woch.,  N.  15)  in  the  earlier  stages 
of  phthisis.  Each  capsule  contains  0.05  gm.  (f  grain)  of  creasote  and 
0.02  gm.  (J  grain)  of  balsam  of  Tolu.  With  due  caution  in  the 
beginning  of  the  treatment,  the  system  becomes  quickly  accustomed 
to  the  medicine.  Some  patients  have  taken  from  600  to  2000  of  such 
capsules  during  the  continuance  of  the  treatment. 
Oxalic  acid  has  been  found  by  Dr.  F.  Poulet  (Phil.  Med.  Times)  to 
be  a  valuable  emmenagogue ;  it  was  employed  as  follows  : 
R    Acidi  oxalici  1.0 
Aquae    100.0 
Syr.  cortic.  aurantii  am  30.0 
M.  Sig.   A  teaspoonful  every  hour. 
Atropine  santonate  is  recommended  by  Bourbelon  (Med.  and  Surg. 
Pep.)  as  a  staple  compound,  the  solution  of  which  produces  no  irrita- 
tion when  applied  to  the  eye,  whilst  its  power  of  dilating  the  pupil  is 
the  same  as  that  of  atropine  sulphate.  One  drop  of  solution  of 
atropine  santonate  containing  one  part  in  2000  of  water  dilates  the 
pupil  in  six  minutes,  and  the  action  is  maintained  for  a  period  varying 
from  ten  to  twenty-four  hours.  Atropine  santonate  has  not  been 
hitherto  obtained  in  a  crystalline  state.  It  appears  in  the  form  of  a 
white  powder  which  has  no  hygroscopic  properties.  It  is  requisite  to 
observe  that  the  santonate  and  its  solutions  ought  to  be  preserved  in 
flasks  of  yellow  glass,  in  order  to  avoid  the  action  of  light  and  the 
formation  of  photosantonic  acid.    If  the  solution  is  made  with  cam- 
