Am.  Jour.  Pharm.) 
May,  1920.) 
Current  Literature. 
353 
avoids  sugar  and  foods  containing  sugar  as  such,  he  may  take  any 
starchy  food  in  moderation  without  harm,  provided  that  the  protein 
and  fat  content  of  the  diet  are  also  controUed.  He  warns  that  too 
hasty  a  diagnosis  of  diabetes  should  not  be  made  from  the  presence 
of  an  excess  of  sugar  in  the  blood  nor  even  from  an  abnormal  blood 
sugar  curve  after  a  test  meal  of  sugar,  for  other  diseases  may  be  as- 
sociated with  hyperglycemia.  In  the  later  stages  of  nephritis,  for 
example,  the  percentage  of  sugar  in  the  blood  is  usually  high,  often 
equalling  the  amount  met  with  in  severe  diabetes  when  uremia  is 
imminent,  but  the  blood  picture  is  one  of  complete  metabolic  failure, 
and  the  end  products  of  nitrogen  metabolism  are  correspondingly 
increased.  Some  excess  of  sugar  in  the  blood  is  usually  found  in 
patients  suffering  from  carlo  vascular  diseases  with  high  blood  pres- 
sure, even  when  there  is  little  or  no  indication  of  renal  disturbance. 
Carcinoma  is  another  condition  in  which  it  is  said  that  there  is 
often  moderate  hyperglycemia.  (From  Practitioner,  London  104: 
No.  2,  (Feb.  1920);  through  Jour.  Amer.  Med.  Assoc.,  Mar.  27,  1920.) 
Poisoning  by  Oii,  of  Eucalyptus. — Auerbach  reports  a  case 
of  poisoning  in  a  man  of  47  who  had  ingested  about  20  Cc.  of  oil 
of  eucalyptus.  Half  an  hour  afterward  he  was  found  unconscious 
in  bed.  Auerbach  found  the  patient  cyanotic;  with  a  weak,  slightly 
accelerated  pulse,  and  covered  with  a  cold  sweat.  The  pupils  were 
contracted  and  fixed.  The  area  of  cardiac  dullness  was  increased, 
and  breathing  was  shallow.  Ingestion  of  milk  caused  vomiting, 
and  milk  lavage  brought  forth  distinct  evidence  of  eucalyptus  oil. 
The  condition  of  the  patient  slowly  improved,  and  complete  recovery 
followed  on  the  fourth  day.  Auerbach  gives  this  account  of  the 
case  because  he  finds  in  the  literature  few  reports  of  poisoning  from 
oil  of  eucalyptus.  (From  Deutsche  medizinische  Wochenschrift,  Ber- 
lin, Oct.  16,  191 9;  through  Jour.  Amer.  Med.  Assoc.,  Feb.'  14,  1920.) 
Quantity  of  Diastase  in  Normai^  Urine. — The  urine  of  114 
persons  was  examined  by  Saigusa  by  the  one-half  hour  method  of 
Noguchi  and  Wohlgemuth.  The  quantity  of  diastase  thus  deter- 
mined varied  from  8  to  64,  in  the  majority  of  cases  ranging  from  16 
to  32.  It  had,  to  a  certain  extent,  a  relation  to  the  specific  gravity 
of  the  urine.  The  starch  paste  used  by  Saigusa  in  his  experiments 
was  prepared  from  official  potato  starch  by  heating  it  for  a  certain 
time  to  destroy  amylopectin  contained  in  it,  and  then  passing  it 
through  a  filter.    The  author  claims  that  this  starch  paste  could 
