28o 
Progress  in  Pharmacy. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
June,  1914. 
offer  for  the  first  time  a  logical  explanation  of  deaths  observed  in  the 
human  being. — /.  Am.  M.  Assoc.,  igi4,  vol.  62,  pp.  1392,  1393. 
Crotalin. — Anderson,  John  F.,  reports  a  fatal  case  of  bacterial 
infection  from  the  use  of  the  venom  of  Crotalus  horridus  dissolved 
in  water.  He  also  reports  the  examination  of  95  ampoules  of  cro- 
talin solution  prepared  by  four  different  firms,  35  of  which  (38.8 
per  cent.)  were  found  not  to  be  sterile. — /.  Am.  M.  Assoc.,  1914, 
vol.  62,  pp.  893-895. 
Crotalin.  (Yawger,  N.  S.) — Report  on  six  cases  of  epilepsy 
treated  with  crotalin.  Two  patients  were  uninfluenced;  two  were 
worse  during  the  treatment ;  one  early  in  the  course  developed  such 
intolerant  toxic  symptoms  that  further  experimentation  was  unjus- 
tified, and  the  last  patient  died  two  and  a  half  months  after  treatment. 
— /.  Am.  M.  Assoc.,  1914,  vol.  62,  pp.  1533-1535. 
Cymarin. — A  glucoside  obtained  from  Canadian  hemp,  said  to 
have  an  action  on  the  circulation  somewhat  similar  to  digitalis  and 
to  be  an  efficient  diuretic. — Sudd.  Apoth.-Ztg.,  1914,  vol.  54,  p.  62. 
Diachylon.  (Editorial.) — Newcastle-on-Tyne  pharmacists  have 
done  one  of  the  best  things  that  we  have  heard  of  recently,  by  re- 
solving to  stop  the  sale  of  diachylon  plaster  in  the  lump,  or  any  other 
form  which  may  be  taken  internally.  They  have  come  to  this  reso- 
lution after  hearing  from  Mr.  T.  Maltby  Clague  particulars  of  the 
cases  of  lead  poisoning  among  women  due  to  diachylon.  Mr.  Clague 
has  had  excellent  opportunities  in  his  investigations  with  Sir  Thomas 
Oliver,  M.D.,  of  seeing  the  damage  that  is  done  by  diachylon,  and 
he  considers  that  all  self-respecting  registered  chemists  should  refuse 
to  sell  the  stuff  to  anyone.  Its  legitimiate  use  as  a  plaster  is  so  trifling 
nowadays  that  the  public  would  suffer  little  inconvenience  if  they 
could  not  buy  it  from  pharmacies  conducted  under  the  act  of  1908. — 
Chem.  and  Drug.,  1914,  vol.  84,  p.  458. 
Erepton  is  a  product  prepared  by  the  digestion  of  meat  and  con- 
sisting largely  of  amino-acids  thus  produced.  It  is  prepared  by  the 
successive  action  of  pepsin-hydrochloric  acid,  trypsin  and  erepsin 
on  meat  freed  from  fat  and  tendon ;  the  end-product  is  then  desic- 
cated. Erepton  is  a  brownish,  hygroscopic  powder,  easily  soluble 
in  water  and  having  an  odor  and  taste  suggestive  of  meat  extract. — 
/.  Am.  M.  Assoc.,  1914,  vol.  62,  p.  1559. 
Eusitin. — Tablets  containing  the  mucin  substances  obtained  from 
Althcea  rosea  syriens.  Intended  for  use  in  the  treatment  of  obesity, 
the  employment  of  those  tablets  being  based  upon  their  property  of 
