576  Aerated  Water  containing,  etc.  {%S;'mfK* 
which  here  skirt  the  Volga,  fringing  with  gold  the  clouds  that  crown 
the  summits  of  those  glowing  hills,  and  lighting  up  the  whole  expanse 
of  the  river  with  liquid  glittering  fire.  There  is  no  fixed  duration 
for  a  6  cure'  at  Samara.  The  average  stay  of  patients  is  two  months, 
but  as  koumis  is  rather  a  diet  than  a  medicine,  their  stay  is  often  pro- 
longed beyond  this  period.  The  weather  is  the  chief  regulator  in  this 
respect.  Fine  hot  weather  is  considered  essential  for  a  'cure.'  June, 
July  and  August  are  the  finest  months.  The  koumis  establishments, 
of  which  there  are  three  principal  and  several  smaller  ones  at  Samara, 
are  situated  at  distances  varying  from  six  to  twelve  versts  (four  to 
eight  miles)  from  the  town,  and  are  composed  not  of  single  blocks  of 
buildings,  but  of  little  detached  houses,  mostly  built  of  wood,  contain- 
ing from  two  to  six,  and  rarely  as  many  as  eight  rooms  each,  the 
whole  connected  with,  that  is,  surrounding,  a  larger  building,  which 
is  the  kursaal  of  the  little  colony,  or,  where  a  kursaal  does  not  exist, 
a  central  kitchen,  which  ministers  to  the  culinary  requirements  of  the 
whole.  When  there  is  a  kursaal,  the  patients  can  either  dine  there 
at  a  table  d'hote,  or  separately  in  their  own  apartments. 
"  I  have  used  the  term  6  colony'  to  describe  these  koumis  establish- 
ments. It  best  depicts  the  effect  which  they  produce  on  one  at  first 
sight.  There,  in  the  midst  of  the  desert  steppe,  with  few  signs  of 
human  habitation  around,  you  suddenly  come  upon  a  little  wooden 
oasis,  surrounded  by  a  paling,  and  dotted  about  with  a  number  of 
little  single-storied  wooden  houses,  resembling  overgrown  mushrooms, 
with  zigzag  walks  or  terraces  cut  in  every  direction,  and  queer-look- 
ing people,  men  and  women,  walking  about — all  drinkers  at  all 
watering-places  are  peripatetics — with  a  quart  bottle  in  one  hand  and 
a  large  mug  in  the  other,  and  you  know  that  you  are  at  a  koumis 
establishment." — Pharm.  Journ.  and  Trans.,  October  24,  1874. 
AERATED  WATER  CONTAINING  TRIBASIC  PHOSPHATE  OF 
LIME.* 
By  M.  Cheveier. 
Various  considerations  led  the  author  to  consider  the  tribasic  phos- 
phate of  lime  to  be  the  best  suited  for  administration  where  the  use 
of  phosphate  is  indicated.  He  therefore  sought  a  solvent  in  which 
it  could  be  administered  without  altering  its  composition.    This  he 
^Abstracted  from  the  Repertoire  de  Pharmacie,  vol.  ii,  p.  455. 
