836 
Current  Literature. 
(  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\  November,  1920. 
90  per  cent,  of  all  the  patients  showed  more  or  less  beneficial  effects; 
about  50  per  cent,  exhibited  marked  improvements  in  the  symptoms. 
The  therapeutic  effects  of  benzyl  benzoate  were  not  of  a  curative 
character  but  were  of  a  distinctly  palliative  nature.  (From  Bull, 
of  Johns  Hopkins  Hospital,  Bsiltimore,  12:  No.  4  (July),  1920;  through 
Jour.  Amer.  Med.  Assoc.,  August  28,  1920.) 
Benzyl  Benzoatk  for  Persistant  Hiccough. — The  value  of 
the  new  antispasmodic  benzyl  benzoate  has  lately  been  demonstrated 
in  the  treatment  of  persistent  hiccough.  Three  cases  are  recorded 
which  were  eased  by  the  drug  in  a  very  short  time,  all  of  which 
had  resisted  ordinary  treatment.  One  case  was  cured  by  the  ad- 
ministration of  one  dose  of  25  drops  of  a  20  per  cent,  solution  in  al- 
cohol, equivalent  to  5  minims  of  benzyl  benzoate.  It  is  suggested  that 
the  drug  should  prove  of  diagnostic  value  in  differentiating  hiccough 
of  purely  central  origin  from  that  of  peripheral  origin.  As  the  chief 
effect  is  on  smooth  muscle,  it  should  prove  useful  for  the  relief  of 
the  latter.  Benzyl  benzoate  is  best  administered  in  the  form  orig- 
inally suggested  by  the  author,  namely  a  20  per  cent,  solution  in 
alcohol.  Of  this  solution  the  patient  takes  20  to  40  minims  in  water 
or  milk.  It  is  neither  convenient  nor  advantageous  to  give  the 
drug  in  suspension  in  syrups  or  elixirs;  and  the  administration  in 
capsules  has  produced  irritation  in  some  cases  and  rendered  the 
therapeutic  action  too  slow  in  others.  To  children  the  solution  can 
be  conveniently  given  in  sugar,  water  or  milk.  {Med.  Record;  Lan- 
cet, 199,  512,  1920;  through  Pharm.  Jour  &  Pharmacist,  September 
II,  1920.) 
Infusion  of  ParsIvEy  for  Gall  Stones. — Attention  is  drawn 
by  H.  C.  Kidd  {B.  M.  J.,  Aug.  14,  1920,  p.  244)  to  the  use  of  in- 
fusion of  parsley  in  the  treatment  of  gall  stones.  A  lady  over  70 
years  of  age  had  suffered  for  many  years  from  this  trouble,  with 
severe  colic  and  jaundice.  In  November,  191 8,  she  had  a  pro- 
longed attack,  which  reduced  her  to  the  lowest  extremity.  In  the 
region  of  the  gall  bladder  was  a  large  palpable  mass  in  which  gall 
stones  could  be  felt.  She  was  advised  to  undergo  an  operation  but 
refused ;  and,  having  heard  of  a  friend  who  had  been  cured  by  drink- 
ing infusion  of  parsley,  she  gave  this  remedy  a  trial.  A  double 
handful  of  fresh  parsley  leaves  was  soaked  in  cold  water,  which  was 
afterwards  brought  to  the  boil,  strained,  and  allowed  to  cool.  She 
took  a  pint  and  a  half  daily  of  this  infusion  and  in  time  this  seemed 
