6l2 
Current  Literature. 
/  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
December,  191 7. 
twenty-four  hours  and  the  ratio  is  taken  of  its  toxicity  to  both  of 
these,  phenol  has  a  coefficient  ten  times  better  than  flavine  when  the 
antiseptic  acts  on  the  microbes  in  serum  and  250  times  better  when 
the  bactericidal  action  is  estimated  in  pus.  (From  the  Lancet,  Lon- 
don, through  the  Journal  of  the  American  Medical  Association.) 
No  Need  to  Fear  Botulism  in  Properly  Prepared  Products. 
— According  to  the  bacteriologists  of  the  United  States  Department 
of  Agriculture  there  is  no  danger  that  the  type  of  food  poisoning 
known  as  "  botulism "  will  result  from  eating  fruits  or  vegetables 
which  have  been  canned  by  any  of  the  methods  recommended  by  the 
United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  provided  such  directions 
have  been  followed  carefully. 
In  case  of  any  doubt  as  to  whether  the  contents  of  a  particular 
can  have  spoiled,  the  safest  plan  is  to  throw  it  away,  although  all 
danger  of  botulism  may  be  avoided  by  boiling  the  contents  of  the 
can  for  a  few  minutes,  since  the  Bacillus  botulinus  and  the  toxin  or 
poison  which  it  produces  are  killed  by  such  treatment,  since  the 
spores  of  B.  botulinus  are  killed  by  heating  for  one  hour  at  175  de- 
grees Fahrenheit.  No  canned  food  of  any  kind  which  shows  any 
signs  of  spoilage  should  ever  be  eaten. 
The  Therapeutic  Value  of  Cinnamon. — Dr.  W.  B.  Drum- 
mond  {British  Medical  Journal,  June  9)  states  that  essence  of  cin- 
namon in  twenty-five-drop  doses  is  one  of  the  most  effective  rem- 
edies for  coryza.  With  reference  to  the  claim  made  for  cinnamon 
as  a  preventive  of  measles,  Dr.  Drummond  reports  that  he  gave  as 
much  powdered  cinnamon  as  would  lie  on  a  six-pence  night  and 
morning  to  twenty  children  in  a  hospital  ward  who  had  been  ex- 
posed to  infection  by  a  nurse  having  German  measles,  and  that  at 
the  end  of  four  weeks  no  second  case  of  German  measles  had  oc- 
curred.   {The  Australasian  Journal  of  Pharmacy.) 
The  Paraffin  Treatment  of  Burns. — Surgeon-Colonel  Hurd, 
in  the  Lancet,  June  2,  states  that  he  has  used  a  preparation  made 
according  to  the  following  formula  for  nearly  a  year,  with  highly 
satisfactory  results : 
Resin  .. 
Beeswax 
Paraffin 
1  part. 
1  part. 
4  parts. 
