324 
Varieties. 
(Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
t     July  1, 1872. 
The  plant,  which  belongs  to  the  Compositce,  is  an  erect,  branching  annual, 
growing  about  twelve  or  fourteen  inches  high,  and  having  small  yellow  flower- 
heads  at  the  ends  of  the  branches.  It  is  well  known  for  the  peculiarly  pungent 
taste  of  its  leaves,  on  which  account  it  is  frequently  cultivated  in  some  tropica^ 
countries  for  use  as  a  salad  and  potherb.  It  is  known  as  Para  grass  ;  in  Japan 
it  is  called  Ho  Ko  So.— Med.  and  Surg.  Reporter,  June  .1,  1872. 
Xylol. — Richard  Moffett,  M.D. — This  is  a  new  remedy,*  recently  discovered 
by  a  German  chemist,  and  is  used  at  the  Royal  Hospital  in  Berlin,  in  the  treat- 
ment of  small-pox.  It  is  found  in  wood-tar  and  coal-gas  naphtha.  My  first 
experience  in  the  use  of  the  remedy  was  in  the  following  case.  I  was  called  to 
Mrs.  Sophia  H.,  a  German  woman,  aged  forty-two  years,  on  March  27.  She 
was  suffering  with  preliminary  symptoms  of  small-pox,  which  in  a  few  days 
developed  into  the  confluent  form.  My  usual  treatment  failed  to  give  any  relief 
whatever,  and  she  was  fast  sinking.  On  April  8  her  pulse  was  155,  respiration 
40,  tongue  brown,  dry,  and  hard  ;  the  ends  of  her  fingers  and  nails  were  purple, 
and  her  face  was  entirely  covered  with  black  scabs.  The  tonsils  and  parotid 
glands  became  so  much  affected  that  it  was  with  the  greatest  difficulty  that 
anything  could  be  swallowed.  She  suffered  from  great  restlessness,  and  was 
unable  to  obtain  sleep  even  after  taking  large  doses  of  chloral  and  morphia. 
Having  obtained  some  of  the  new  remedy, — xylol, — I  determined  to  try  it  in 
her  case.    I  gave  her  the  following  prescription  : 
B.    Olei  Xylol.,  . 
Fulv.  Acacias, 
Syrupi  Simplic. 
Aquas,  aa, 
S. — A  teaspoonful  every  two  hours. 
.    gtt.  cc; 
q.  s. 
I  called  the  next  day,  and  found  her  sitting  up  in  bed.  All  the  graver  symp- 
toms had  disappeared.  Her  tongue  was  quite  moist,  pulse  98,  respiration  22. 
She  told  me  the  medicine  relieved  her  at  once  ;  and  her  husband  said  that  after 
taking  three  doses  she  went  to  sleep,  and  slept  for  four  hours. 
April  14. — The  patient  is  quite  talkative,  and  can  swallow  without  difficulty. 
From  this  time  forward  her  convalescence  was  uninterrupted.  At  this  date, 
April  19,  she  is  able  to  go  about  the  house,  suffering  only  from  a  partial  loss 
•of  the  right  eye.  She  was  vaccinated  when  an  infant,  but  bore  no  mark.  I 
have  tried  this  remedy  in  a  number  of  cases  since,  and  its  use  has  always  been 
attended  with  the  most  happy  results. — Philad.  Med.  Times,  June  15,  1872. 
Cimicifuga  Racemosa  as  a  Preventive  of  Small-Pox. — Dr.  G.  D.  Norris,  at  a 
recent  meeting  of  the  Alabama  State  Medical  Association,  "  stated  that  during 
the  prevalence  of  small-pox  in  Huntsville,  certain  families,  at  the  instance  of 
some  one  unknown,  had  resorted  to  the  free  use  of  the  tea  of  the  Cimicifuga 
■racemosa,  or  black  snakeroot  of  the  United  States  Pharmacopoeia  (cohosh),  as 
*See  Amer.  Journal  of  Pharmacy,  1872,  April,  172. 
