Am.  Jour.  Pharm. ) 
November,  1920.  ) 
Current  Literature. 
837 
to  cure  her.  She  is  now  free  from  pain  and  sickness;  the  mass 
felt  in  the  gall  bladder  has  disappeared,  and  her  general  condition 
is  satisfactory. 
Dr.  Kidd  seems  to  have  been  unable  to  trace  any  reference  in  the 
literature  to  the  use  of  parsley  for  this  purpose,  but  we  would  point 
out  that  "compound  mixture  of  agrimony,"  of  which  parsley  is  an 
important  ingredient,  has  been  in  use  in  the  north  for  many  years 
as  a  remedy  for  gall  stones.  This  mixture  is  an  infusion  containing 
parsley,  barberry,  agrimony,  toad-flax  {antirrhinum),  taraxacum, 
caraway,  chamomile,  and  rhubarb,  the  doses  being  half  an  ounce 
thrice  daily.    (From  The  Prescriber,  October,  1920.) 
Emktine  Bismuth  Iodidk:  A  New  VehicIvK. — The  difficulty  of 
administration  of  emetine  bismuth  iodide  has  always  been  the  fact 
that  a  portion  of  the  drug  is  dissolved  in  the  stomach,  with  resulting 
nausea.  T.  J.  G.  Mayer  (/.  Trop.  Med.,  May  i,  1920)  claims  to 
have  found  a  vehicle  that  will  carry  the  drug  safely  through  the 
stomach.  The  drug  is  rubbed  up  with  16  parts  of  mutton  fat,  the 
mass  moulded  into  rounded  pills  weighing  about  7  grains,  and  each 
pill  covered  with  a  layer  of  mutton  fat,  applied  with  a  paint  brush. 
The  mutton  fat  being  solid  at  body  temperature  is  not  digested  until 
it  is  too  far  beyond  the  pyloric  orifice  to  be  regurgitated  and  cause 
vomiting  or  even  nausea.  Pills  containing  one  and  one-half  grains 
of  the  drug  and  about  seven  and  one-half  grains  of  mutton  fat  are 
about  as  large  as  may  be  conveniently  swallowed.  (From  The  Pre- 
scriber,  October,  1920.) 
MoNARSONK:  A  New  Antisyphilitic. — A  new  arsenical  com- 
pound for  the  treatment  of  syphilis  is  described  by  B.  L.  Wright 
et  al  {Med.  Record,  April  10,  1920).  The  substance  in  question  is 
disodium  monoethylarsone,  CH3CH2AsO(NaO)2,  which  for  brevity 
they  call  monarsone.  It  contains  7  per  cent,  more  arsenic  than  arseno- 
benzol;  is  decidedly  less  toxic  than  the  arsenobenzol  compounds;  is 
perfectly  soluble  in  small  quantities  of  water,  and  may  be  given 
without  danger  in  solutions  containing  0.2  Gm.  per  Cc.  Monarsone 
has  no  haemolytic  action  on  the  red  corpuscles,  and  may  be  given 
intravenously  without  fear  of  extravasation,  as  leakage  causes  no 
untoward  effect.  It  requires  no  special  apparatus  for  its  adminis- 
tration, and  its  solutions  are  so  stable  that  they  resist  oxidation  or 
decomposition  when  boiled  or  subjected  to  the  higher  temperatures 
of  the  autoclave.    (From  The  Prescriber,  October,  1920.) 
