40  Pharmacological  Notes.  {A  January PiS.m* 
investigations  to  show  that  accurate  dosage  with  the  official  pre- 
parations of  belladonna  and  nux  vomica — the  preparations  con- 
tained in  the  B.P. — was  impossible  before  the  recent  revision  of  the 
Pharmacopoeia.  This  was  due  to  the  fact  that  however  carefully 
such  preparations  were  made,  their  strength  varied  widely,  owing  to 
the  difference  in  the  amount  of  alkaloid  contained  in  the  drugs  in  a 
crude  state.  The  alkaloid  contained  in  the  1885  edition  of  the 
British  Pharmacopoeia  varied  from  -gl^  to  ^  of  a  grain.  In  the 
standardized  preparation  of  the  new  edition  of  the  British  Pharma- 
copoeia, published  this  year,  the^vidth  of  the  limit  has  been  greatly 
lessened.  The  largest  dose  of  the  new  tincture,  15  minims,  corre- 
sponds to  T-l¥  of  a  grain  of  the  alkaloid,  the  largest  dose  of  the  al- 
coholic extract  to  ri-Q. — PJiilad.  Med.  Jour.,  November  28,  1898. 
C.  B.  L 
CHLOROFORM  POISONING. 
D.  T.  Marshall,  M.D.  [Medical  News,  November  19,  1898),  reports 
a  case  of  chloroform  poisoning,  in  a  woman  40  years  of  age,  from 
the  internal  administration  of  10  minim  doses  of  chloroform  until 
40  minims  were  taken.  The  patient  was  found  in  a  semi-uncon- 
scious state,  but  could  be  aroused  to  speak  incoherently.  Her  pulse 
was  very  slow  and  irregular,  and  her  respiration  slow  and  sighing, 
and  at  times  stopping  altogether,  but  starting  again  after  vigor- 
ous slapping  of  the  chest.  Hypodermic  injections  of  strychnine, 
digitalis  and  whiskey  in  repeated  doses  were  resorted  to,  the  patient 
receiving  in  the  space  of  an  hour  and  a  half,  strychnine  sulphate, 
•22  grains;  tincture  of  digitalis,  9  minims,  and  whiskey,  4-5  drams. 
In  addition  to  hypodermic  medication,  the  patient's  face  and  chest 
were  bathed  with  cold  water  and  the  chest  was  slapped  with  a  wet 
towel.  Artificial  respiration  by  Sylvester's  method  was. resorted  to 
and  the  feet  were  bathed  in  hot  water.  Later,  the  faradic  current 
was  made  use  of,  applications  being  made  over  the  chest  and  heart. 
Toward  the  end  of  an  hour  the  patient  showed  signs  of  strychnine 
poisoning — risus  sardonicus  and  spasmodic  respiration.  These  symp- 
toms became  very  marked,  but  as  the  patient  again  relapsed  into 
unconsciousness,  the  strychnine  injections  were  repeated.  At  the 
end  of  two  hours  the  effects  of  the  chloroform  subsided,  the  patient 
making  a  complete  recovery  in  two  days.  J.  L.  D.  M. 
