Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  ) 
June  1, 1872.  j 
Varieties. 
325 
a  preventive  of  small-pox.  In  the  families  using  the  Cimicifuga,  there  occurred 
no  case  of  the  small-pox,  though  some  were  exposed  to  the  disease.  In  the 
same  families,  Dr.  Norris  vaccinated  the  members,  but  without  effect  so  long 
as  they  continued  the  use  of  the  cohosh  ;  after  ceasing  to  use  the  tea  as  a  pro- 
phylactic, he  again  vaccinated  them,  when  the  specific  effects  of  the  vaccine 
virus  were  produced.  He  submitted  the  results  in  these  cases  as  new,  and  not 
without  interest  to  the  profession." — Med.  News  and  Library,  June,  1872,  from 
Atlanta  Med.  and  Surg.  Journ.,  April,  1872. 
Old  Rubber. — A  fortune  awaits  the  happy  inventor  who  shall  teach  manu- 
facturers to  restore  old  rubber  to  the  condition  in  which  it  was  before  vulcani- 
zation, for,  with  that  secret  there  would  be  practically  no  consumption  of  this 
invaluable  article.  The  thing  has  been  done,  and  successfully,  and  we  have 
ourselves,  says  the  "Commercial  Bulletin,"  seen  pieces  of  vulcanized  rubber 
possessing  great  strength  and  elasticity  which  were  made  entirely  from  old  car 
springs  ;  but  it  has  never  been  accomplished  on  a  large  scale,  and  awaits  the 
enterprise  and  ingenuity  of  some  new  Goodyear  to  develope  it. 
Meantime,  old  rubber  has  its  uses.  By  a  system  of  steaming  and  passing 
between  rollers,  it  is  reduced  to  a  semi-plastic  state,  and  in  this  condition  is 
used  in  combination  with  a  coarse  fabric  for  heel  stiffening,  a  purpose  for  which 
it  is  admirably  adapted,  its  waterproof  qualities  being  of  especial  value.  There 
is,  in  a  neighboring  city,  a  factory  devoted  entirely  to  this  branch  of  manufac- 
ture, where  several  hundred  tons  of  old  rubber  of  all  kinds  are  consumed 
annually. 
Old  rubber  is  also  largely  used  to  mix  with  new  raw  material  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  all  kinds  of  rubber  goods.  It  serves  to  give  bulk  and  weight,  and  if  it 
does  not  increase,  it  certainly  does  not  lessen,  the  strength  of  the  fabric.  It 
may  also  be  mentioned  that  powdered  soapstone,  white  lead,  terra  alba,  and 
other  heavy  substances  enter  largely  into  the  composition  of  almost  all  rubber 
goods,  the  use  of  which  becomes  apparent  when  it  is  remembered  that  they  are 
generally  sold  by  weight. — Scientific  American,  May  25,  1872. 
The  Use  of  Glycerin  as  a  Solvent  in  Hypodermic  Injections. — Dr.  M.  Rosen- 
thal calls  attention,  in  the  "Wiener  Medizinische  Presse"  for  January  7,  1872, 
to  the  power  which  glycerin  possesses  to  dissolve  various  of  the  substances 
which  are  ordinarily  used  in  hypodermic  medication.  Its  solvent  powers  are 
greater  than  those  of  water,  and  are  very  much  increased  by  heat.  Thus,  a 
fluidrachm  of  glycerin,  when  heated,  will  readily  dissolve  twenty  grains  of  the 
sulphate  of  quinia,  from  ten  to  twelve  grains  of  the  acetate  or  muriate  of  mor- 
phia, and  ten  grains  of  the  extract  of  opium.  Morphia  may  be  added  to  a 
solution  of  quinia  in  glycerin  without  causing  a  precipitate.  It  will  also  dissolve 
from  half  a  drachm  to  one  drachm  of  the  iodide  or  bromide  of  potassium,  and 
four  grains  of  corrosive  sublimate.  These  substances  are  not  precipitated  as 
the  liquid  cools  ;  on  the  contrary,  the  solution  will  remain  clear  and  fit  for  use 
during  at  least  a  year. — Boston  Med.  a?id  Surg.  Journ.,  June  6, 1872,  from  Med. 
Times. 
