Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  ) 
Apr.  1,  1874.  J 
Varieties. 
191 
Action  of  the  Waters  of  the  Seine  and  Ourcq  upon  Lead. — M.  Fordos. — 
The  author  finds  that  the  waters  of  the  Seine  and  Ourcq  attack  lead,  though 
more  slowly  than  distilled  water.  The  action  is  more  rapid  the  more  finely  di- 
vided the  metal.  New  lead  is  less  rapidly  attacked  than  old.  The  product  of 
the  action  of  these  waters  consists  of  carbonate  of  lime  and  carbonate  of  lead, 
and  these  waters,  after  this  reaction,  contain  no  lead  in  solution,  or  merely  an 
infinitesimal  quantity. — Ibid. 
Poisoning  by  Cantharidal  Collodion. — Dr.  Ernst  Schwerin,  of  Berlin,  reports 
a  case  {Berliner  Klinische  Wochenschrift)  of  poisoning  with  cantharidal  collo- 
dion. The  patient,  a  woman  aged  twenty-three  years,  swallowed,  through  mis- 
take, fifteen  drops  of  the  preparation.  After  about  an  hour  had  elapsed  she 
was  attacked  with  cramps  in  the  lower  part  of  the  abdomen,  for  which,  pre- 
viously to  sending  for  a  physician,  numerous  household  remedies  were  used. 
The  doctor  upon  his  arrival  found  the  patient  running  about  the  room,  with  the 
arms  crossed  upon  the  abdomen,  stopping  after  every  few  steps  to  void  a  few 
drops  of  urine,  the  passage  of  which  was  attended  with  intense  pain.  At 
times  she  fell  into  a  species  of  catalepsy.  The  pulse  was  small  and  of  mod- 
erate frequency.  For  some  days  albumen  was  found  in  the  urine.  Under 
treatment,  she  at  the  end  of  a  few  days  was  entirely  recovered.  It  is  inter- 
esting to  notice  that  the  sexual  passion  was  not  at  all  excited  by  the  drug 
and  this  goes  to  confirm  the  opinion  of  later  observers,  that  the  older  phy- 
sicians were  mistaken  in  attributing  aphrodisiac  qualities  to  it. 
Medical  Times)  Feb.  14,  1874.  Wm.  Ashbridge,  M.  D. 
Croton  Chloral  Hydrate  (The  Lancet,  January  31,  1874.) — Mr.  J.  Burney 
Yeo,  after  a  number  of  systematic  observations,  has  come  to  the  following  con- 
clusions : 
1.  In  croton  chloral  hydrate  we  possess  a  remedy  of  remarkable  efficacy  in 
some  cases  of  neuralgia  of  the  branches  of  the  nervus  trigeminus.  2.  It  has 
also  the  power  of  affording  relief  in  other  obstinate  forms  of  neuralgia.  3.  It  is 
of  use  in  certain  cases  of  diffused  muscular  rheumatism.  4.  It  has  but  little 
effect  in  purely  rheumatic  cases.  5.  In  cases  of  localized  pain  and  other  ner- 
vous symptoms  which  we  find  in  the  class  of  persons  we  are  in  the  habit  of  call- 
ing hysterical,  this  drug  is  of  little  or  no  use.  6.  Its  efficacy  in  procuring  sleep 
seems  very  variable  in  moderate  doses.  Two  grains  will  produce  sleep  in  some 
sensitive  females,  while  ten  grains  will  not  even  cause  drowsiness  in  non-sensi- 
tive males.  7.  It  is  very  valuable  in  some  forms  of  irritative  and  spasmodic 
cough,  and  there  is  scarcely  any  remedy  likely  to  prove  more  valuable  for  the 
relief  of  the  distressing  night-cough  of  chronic  phthisis. 
The  dose  varies  from  one  to  ten  grains.  From  two  to  five  grains  may  be 
given  every  hour,  or  the  smaller  dose  every  half  hour,  until  fifteen  grains  have 
been  taken.    At  present  it  hardly  seem3  safe  to  go  beyond  that  dose. 
The  subcutaneous  injection  of  twelve  grains  in  a  cat  produced,  after  long  un- 
consciousness, a  series  of  epileptic  convulsions  and  death. — Philada.  Medical 
Times,  March  21,  1874. 
