ArebJrurrVP?9aoom'}      Editorial  Notes  and  Comments.  101 
Many  attempts  have  been  made  to  free  tobacco  from  its  nicotine,  but  no  one 
as  yet  has  completely  solved  the  problem.  Stern1  thinks  the  method  of  Ger- 
old  the  best  yet  devised.  It  consists  in  treating  tobacco  with  a  decoction  of 
tannic  acid  (15  grammes)  and  oil  of  origanum  (30 grammes);  water,  750  c.c,  to 
be  boiled  down  to  550  c.c.  After  the  tobacco  has  nbsorhed  the  liquid  it  is 
treated  with  moderate  pressure  and  heat.  With  cigars  made  from  tobacco  thus 
prepared,  Stern  has  experimented  with  patients  who  were  non-smokers  and 
got  practically  no  disturbance  of  the  heart,  respiration  or  nervous  system. 
Bulletin  des  Sciences  Pharmacologiques  is  the  title  of  a  new  pharmacological 
journal  which  contains  the  names  of  over  forty  collaborators  who  are  well 
known  in  pharmaceutical  and  medical  circles. 
Bacteriology. — It  is  a  matter  of  great  concern  that  pharmacists  generally  ap- 
preciate the  value  of  vaccination  and  the  treatment  of  diphtheria  by  antitoxin. 
It  is  a  matter  of  record  how  in  Germany,  where  in  1871,  with  a  population  of 
50,000,000,  there  were  lost  over  140,000  lives  by  smallpox,  and  there  is  at  the 
present  time,  since  vaccination  has  been  rendered  compulsory  in  that  country,  a 
mortality  which  from  the  same  cause  has  dwindled  to  an  almost  nominal  figure. 
"  The  anti-vaccinationists  claim  that  the  ravages  of  disease  have  been  stayed, 
not  by  means  of  vaccination,  but  because  of  the  great  advances  made  in  muni- 
cipal and  domestic  hygiene.  This  contention  is,  to  a  very  large  extent,  an  idle 
one  ;  personal  cleanliness  and  good  sanitation  may  effect  something  in  this 
direction.  In  the  case,  however,  of  a  susceptible  person  directly  exposed  to  the 
contagion  of  smallpox,  these  would  be  but  slender  reeds  on  which  to  lean. 
Effective  vaccination  is  the  only  reliable  safeguard.  Much  of  the  objection 
urged  formerly  against  vaccination  was  for  the  reason  that  it  was  often  care- 
lessly performed  and  that  the  lymph  was  frequently  not  aseptic  and  conse- 
quently calculated  to  induce  infection.  With  the  introduction  of  carefully 
prepared  glycerinated  vaccine  lymph,  all  fear  of  danger  from  these  sources  has 
been  completely  eliminated,  and  if  lymph  thus  prepared  is  used.in  place  of  the 
old-fashioned  points,  no  unpleasant  effects,  such  as  sore  arms,  fever  or  scars, 
will  follow  vaccination.  We  would  earnestly  impress  upon  the  minds  of  our 
readers  that  vaccination  does  not  only  concern  the  individual,  but  is  a  matter 
of  the  highest  importance  to  the  public  at  large,  and  parents,  guardians  and 
employers  who  do  not  insist  on  its  performance  are  guilt}-  of  a  grave  derelic- 
tion of  duty."2 
At  the  last  meeting  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  the  Section  on 
State  Medicine  had  some  interesting  papers,  followed  with  discussion,  on  the 
Treatment  of  Diphtheria  with  Antitoxin.  In  Denver,  the  mortality  from 
diphtheria  has  been  reduced  from  287  per  cent,  in  1894,  before  the  antitoxin 
was  employed,  to  8-8  per  cent,  in  1898.  In  the  city  of  Chicago  the  yearly 
average  of  deaths  from  diphtheria  for  1886  to  1895  was  1,417  ;  between  1896 
and  189S,  the  yearly  average  was  reduced  to  851 — thus  an  annual  saving  of  566 
lives.  The  statistics  for  all  parts  of  this  country,  as  well  as  abroad,  show  a 
similar  reduction  in  mortality  for  diphtheria  since  the  employment  of  the 
treatment  with  antitoxin.  "  By  the  timely  and  intelligent  employment  of  the 
antitoxin,  epidemics  can  be  controlled,  severe  cases  are  rendered  mild  and 
xMed.  Rev.  of  Reviews,  April,  1899  ;  Pediatrics,  July,  1899. 
-Pediatrics,  1899,  p.  410. 
