Am.  Jour.  Plmrm.  ) 
Sept.,  1885.  J 
Varieties. 
459 
in  ether,  petroleum  benzin  and  water  and  freely  soluble  in  alcohol, 
chloroform,  benzol  and  acidulated  water.  The  salts  are  amorphous, 
and  their  solutions  give  precipitates  witli  the  alkaloidal  group-reagents. 
Sulphuric  acid  or  sugar  and  sulphuric  acid  impart  a  brownish  color 
with  a  faint  reddish  tint ;  warm  syrupy  phosphoric  acid  dissolves  the 
alkaloid  with  a  dingy  violet  color;  vanadio-sulphuric  acid  and  Froehde's 
reagent  give  no  characteristic  color  reactions. 
Experiments  made  on  different  animals  by  Dr.  Salmonowitz  (Thesis, 
Dorpat,  1885)  show  the  poisonous  action  of  myoctouine  to  resemble 
that  of  curare;  the  alkaloid  is  rapidly  resorbed  and  eliminated  through 
the  urine,  to  some  extent  also  with  the  fseces. 
VARIETIES. 
Use  of  Potassium  Bichromate.— Giintz  ("  Memorabil.")  speaks  highly 
of  this  drug  in  cases  of  syphilis  which  resist  treatment  with  mercury, 
and  in  which  the  constitution  has  been  badly  broken  down  by  the  disease. 
Not  only  is  there  a  complete  absence  of  general  disturbance  after  the  use 
of  chromium,  but,  according  to  the  writer,  the  cure  is  rapid  and  complete. 
The  daily  amount  which  he  employs  is  half  a  grain  of  potassium  bichro- 
mate, divided  into  four  doses.  Giintz  denies  tliat  headache  ever  followed 
the  use  of  the  drug.— iV^.  Y.  Med.  Jour.,  June  6,  1885. 
Permanganate  OF  Potassium  in  Amenorrhea.— Dr.  E.  J.  Doering,  of 
Chicago,  says,  on  this  subject:  (1)  Permanganate  of  potassium  in  doses  of 
from  two  to  four  grains,  is  an  efficient  emmenagogue,  if  administered  for  a 
period  of  not  less  than  two  weeks.  (2)  Its  administration  in  doses  large 
enough  to  be  effectual  is  accomi)anied  by  severe  pain,  which  frequently 
necessitates  a  discontinuance  of  the  remedy,  and  hence  impairs  its  value  as 
an  emmenagogue.  (3)  The  most  etficieut  method  of  administering  the 
drug  is  in  capsules,  taken  midway  between  meals,  and  followed  by  large 
draughts  of  some  pure  mineral  water,  like  Silurian. — Chic.  Med.  Jour,  and 
Examiner. 
Subcutaneous  Injections  of  Cyanide  of  Mercury  in  Syphilis  — 
Prochorow  ("  Wratsch  "Ctrlbl.  f.  Chir.")  reports  eighty  cases  of  syp- 
hilis treated  with  subcutaneous  injections  of  a  one-per-cent.  solution  of  the 
cyanide.  The  average  number  of  injections  required  before  the  disappear- 
ance of  active  symptoms  was  twenty.  Not  more  than  twenty-five  or  thirty 
drops  were  injected  at  a  time.  Only  two  abscesses  resulted  from  nearly 
twenty-seven  hundred  insertions.— iV^.  Y.  Med.  Jour.,  June  13,  1885. 
Antidote  for  Iodoform. —  Dr.  Behring  found  tablespoonful  hourly 
doses  of  a  twenty-per  cent  solution  of  bicarbonate  of  potassium  to  act  as  a 
prompt  antidote  in  iodoform  poisoning.— iowisvz7/e  Medical  News. 
