MISCELLANY. 
173 
Compresses are to be dipped in this solution, and applied to the parts 
affected ; each compress is to be covered by a second, moistened in strong 
vinegar. The compresses are to be renewed as they become dry, and 
the application continued until the liquid is all used ; about which time 
the cure will be completed. In some very rare cases, a continuance of 
the application is required. 
We will observe that the treatment proposed by M. Napoli is not new, 
and that the use of chloride of lime against the itch was printed ; and the 
following formula given in 1827, by M. Derheims, pharmaceutist at St. 
Omeers. 
Dry chloride of lime, 3 ounces. 
Common water, 1 pound. 
Prepare a solution, to be used as a lotion for the arms and legs twice 
a-day. According to M. Derheims, the cure is effected in from six to ten 
days, which is a good result, as Dr. Mellier has proven that the duration 
of treatment in twenty cases was sixteen days. M. Derheims also states 
that the chloride prepared by passing chlorine through a solution of lime, 
and which contains an excess of chlorine, is more active, and produces 
more favorable results. — Ibid, 
Chemico-Legal researches on Morphia.* — Iodic acid has been offered as 
a test to indicate the presence of morphia; as this has the property of de- 
priving the acid of oxygen, as thus liberating iodine. Davidson denies the 
utility on this point, after the following observations : 
While examining, some months since, the urine of a patient, he ascer- 
tained that on adding a portion of iodic acid, the urine acquired the odor of 
iodine; and starch with it produced an azure tint. I then examined, says 
he, what element of urine possessed this property. I tried both urea and 
uric acid, and discovered that the latter only produced this effect, and 
could thus be recognized in the urine of healthy persons, as well as in that 
of the sick. I afterwards examined the effects of iodic acid on the serum 
of blood, and obtained the same effects, but more slowly, and the color 
was less deep than with the urine of persons in health. All the albumi- 
nous fluids which I examined gave the same results, the only difference 
being in the intensity of color. I observed the same facts with regard to 
the serum of the brain of a man dead of typhoid fever, in the liquid 
evacuated by paracentesis after peritonitis, of ascites, in the serum of the 
milk of a heifer, &c. The serum of blood, even when mixed with four or 
five parts of water, gave, with iodic acid and starch, the same color, but 
not so well as when undiluted. 
* Rep. delle Scienze Fisico-Med. 1840. 
