428  Advances  in  Pharmacy.  {Am'j£ner'i9?8rm" 
Investigation  showed  that  iodides  do  not  appear  to  be  absorbed  by 
the  stomach  at  all.  The  iodide  content  in  the  blood  rose  after  each 
dose  and  soon  dropped,  proving  that  to  keep  a  patiesnt  under  the 
influence  of  the  iodide  many  doses  at  frequent  intervals  are  necessary 
over  an  entire  day.  Elimination  with  the  urine  reaches  its  height 
in  about  two  hours ;  of  course,  the  length  of  the  interval  depends  on 
the  promptness  with  which  the  stomach  contents  are  passed  along. 
Whether  the  iodide  is  taken  on  a  full  or  empty  stomach  makes  con- 
siderable difference.  When  the  patient  is  on  a  constant  diet  the 
drug  does  not  seem  to  modify  the  viscosity  of  the  blood ;  the  litera- 
ture on  the  action  of  this  drug  in  this  regard  contains  conflicting 
statements  based  on  tests  without  control  of  the  diet.  The  influence 
of  iodides  on  the  heart  action  failed  to  reveal  any  change  in  the  blood 
pressure  or  pulse  rate  even  when  the  blood  contained  amounts  of 
the  drug  much  above  the  therapeutic  dosage.  When  the  iodide  con- 
tent of  the  blood  was  advanced  to  a  very  high  figure,  the  heart 
action  was  depressed  and  the  blood  pressure  dropped,  as  the  blood 
was  thus  rendered  hypertonic.  The  investigator  comes  to  the  con- 
clusion that  the  therapeutic  action  of  iodides  in  circulatory  disturb- 
ances has  no  experimental  basis.  Any  benefits  from  its  use  at  all 
suggests  a  syphilitic  origin  for  the  disturbance.  (Ugeskrift  for 
Laeger,  No.  4,  p.  139,  19 18,  by  J.  Buchholtz,  through  /.  A.  M.  A., 
April  20,  1918.) 
Effects  of  Flavine  in  Wound  Treatment. — In  view  of  the 
publicity  that  flavine  has  had  in  the  last  few  years  from  the  military 
base  hospitals  as  a  surgical  dressing,. a  recent  report  of  its  use  cannot 
be  without  interest.  All  cases  were  dressed  with  a  1-1,000  solution 
of  acriflavine  in  sterilized  physiological  salt  solution.  It  was  used 
to  irrigate  wounds  at  each  change  of  dressings  and  also  in  gauze 
packs  inserted  in  the  wounds  and  in  the  outer  gauze  dressings.  The 
cases  treated  were :  ( 1 )  those  in  which  infection  and  sepsis  were 
active  and  not  under  control  when  treatment  was  begun;  (2)  those 
in  which  infection  and  sepsis  had  been  controlled  and  repair  had 
already  begun  before  flavine  was  employed.  In  cases  in  which  in- 
fection and  sepsis  were  active  and  uncontrolled  the  use  of  flavine 
following  suitable  operative  measures  had  no  beneficial  effect  on  the 
subsequent  progress  of  the  case  in  so  far  as  control  of  sepsis  is 
concerned.  Any  differences  noticed  were  unfavorable.  In  quite  a 
number  of  cases  in  which  sepsis  had  already  been  controlled  and 
