Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
April,  19 1 8. 
Current  Literature. 
305 
cake  meal,  together  with  fats  and  " protein-free  milk"  or  the 
authors'  "  artificial  "  salt  mixture,  several  broods  of  vigorous  young 
have  been  produced,  and  these  young  have  grown  normally  on 
diets  the  same  as  those  on  which  their  parents  were  raised.  This 
is  a  further  demonstration  of  the  nutritive  efficiency  of  this  legume, 
in  striking  contrast  with  the  adverse  results  obtained  with  kidney 
beans  and  garden  peas.  The  soy  bean  is  the  only  seed  hitherto  in- 
vestigated, with  the  possible  exception  of  flax  and  millet,  which 
contains  both  the  water-soluble  and  the  fat-soluble  unidentified 
dietary  essentials  or  vitamins.  This  fact,  taken  with  the  high  physio- 
logic value  of  the  protein,  lends  a  unique  significance  to  the  use  of 
the  soy  bean  as  food.    (Journal  of  Biological  Chemistry,  Baltimore.) 
An  Effective  Treatment  for  Canine  Distemper. — Canine 
distemper  is  one  of  the  most  prevalent  and,  with  the  exception  of 
rabies,  the  most  fatal  of  all  diseases  of  the  dog.  It  is  a  disease  of 
the  growing  dog,  but  adult  animals  are  not  immune  to  it.  In  treating 
it  strict  attention  should  be  paid  to  diet,  no  meat  should  be  given, 
carbohydrates,  dog  biscuit,  boiled  rice,  stale  bread,  vegetables,  milk, 
and  meat  soup  fat  strained,  may  be  fed.  Tonic  drugs  such  as 
strychnine  (1/500  Gr.),  quinine,  iron,  arsenic,  glycerophospates, 
nuclein,  may  be  used  in  connection  with  the  hypodermic  treatment 
described  below.  Acetanilid,  aconite,  drastic  cathartics,  and  di- 
uretics must  be  avoided.  After  numerous  experiments  on  all  avail- 
able medicines,  vaccines  and  antitoxins  for  the  treatment  of  this 
condition  only  two  remedies  have  been  found  that  proved  of  excep- 
tional value.  These  are  Echinacea  and  Inula.  The  compound  of 
these  two  was  originated  five  years  ago  by  a  New  York  physician 
for  the  treatment  of  human  tuberculosis.  ■  It  is  shown  that  the  two 
work  synergistically  to  increase  the  natural  resistivity  of  the  blood 
towards  invading  organisms  much  as  nuclein  does  only  much  more 
pronouncedly.  The  phagocytic  power  of  the  leukocytes  is  increased 
and  therefore  the  opsonic  index  is  raised.  The  proportion  between 
the  red  and  white  corpuscles  is  normalized  by  the  compound.  It 
acts  favorably  in  leucopenia  and  hyperleukocytosis ;  it  exerts  a  cer- 
tain destructive  influence  upon  the  coccus  group  of  microorganisms 
and  effectively  eliminates  the  toxins  from  the  body.  For  distemper 
it  is  to  be  administered  intramuscularly  in  the  thigh  every  twenty- 
four  hours  in  doses  from  2  to  10  mils  according  to  the  size  of  the 
dog.   If  given  subcutaneously  an  abscess  is  likely  to  develop.  Five 
