vi 
Notes  and  News, 
(Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
1   February,  18P9. 
ject,  the  writer  says  :  "  We  take  it  to  be  the  duty  of  scientific  men  who  have 
made  a  study  of  the  matter  to  continue  to  place  the  results  of  their  researches 
before  the  public,  so  that  at  least  it  should  not  be  said  that  the  young  slaves 
to  the  tobacco  habit  have  not  had  the  opportunity  of  learning  the  truth." 
In  this  connection  some  instructive  statistics  are  given.  From  measurements 
of  187  of  the  Class  of  1891,  Yale,  it  was  found  that  the  non-smokers  gained  in 
weight  during  the  college  course  10*4  per  cent,  more  than  the  regular  smokers, 
and  6'6  per  cent,  more  than  the  occasional  smokers.  In  height  the  non- 
users  of  tobacco  increased  24  per  cent,  more  than  the  regular,  and  12  per 
cent,  more  than  the  occasional  users.  In  increase  of  chest  girth  the  non- 
users  had  an  advantage  of  267  per  cent,  and  22  per  cent.,  and  an  increase 
of  lung  capacity  of  77*5  per  cent,  and  49  per  cent,  respectively.  These 
observations  are  corroborated  by  statistics  obtained  at  Amherst  during  the 
same  college  year.  The  statement  is  also  made  that  in  France  the  difference 
between  the  students  in  the  polytechnic  schools  who  smoked  cigarettes  and 
those  who  did  not,  in  scholarship,  was  so  great  that  the  government  prohibited 
absolutely  the  use  of  tobacco  in  all  the  schools  under  its  supervision. 
Therapeutic  Action  of  Veratrum  Album  and  V.  Viride. — According 
to  Cartier,  of  Paris,  these  two  species  of  veratrum  have  some  properties  in 
common  and  also  some  that  are  different.  He  finds  that  there  is  too  much 
tendency  to  prescribe  veratrum  without  the  distinctive  title,  which  is  usually 
interpreted  to  mean  veratrum  album,  thus  ignoring  the  peculiar  properties  of 
veratrum  viride.  In  discussing  their  respective  properties,  the  author  states 
that  veratrum  album  is  not  indicated  in  febrile  conditions  or  in  congestions, 
whereas  veratrum  viride  is  usually  recommended  in  acute  inflammatory  fevers. 
— Medical  Counselor,  through  The  Hahnemannian  Monthly,  1898,  p.  796. 
The  Vauje  of  Alcohol  as  a  Disinfectant. — Gomer  {Centrabl.  F.  Gyn., 
May  7,  1898),  reporting  on  a  series  of  experiments  which  he  conducted  at  the 
Women's  Hospital  at  Bale,  concludes  that  alcohol  is  a  much  less  active  disin- 
fectant than  sublimate.  It  fails  wholly  with  the  streptococcus,  and  is  totally  un- 
reliable for  killing  spores.  To  be  of  any  direct  value  as  a  germicide  it  must  be 
used  in  large  quantities,  the  hands  being  completely  submerged  in  it  during  the 
scrubbing.  Merely  wetting  the  skin  with  alcohol  helps  only  by  facilitating  the 
action  of  the  sublimate  solution. —  The  Brooklyn  Medical  Journal,  1898,  p.  766. 
The  Use  of  a  Blue  Glass  Between  the  Source  of  Illumination  and 
the  Objective. — In  artificial  colors,  white  light  is  composed  of  three  primary 
colors,  blue,  red  and  yellow.  This  is  not  true  of  sunlight,  the  primary  or  fun- 
damental colors  of  which  are  composed  of  red,  green  and  violet.  Our  lamps 
generally  emit  a  more  or  less  reddish-yellow  light.  To  correct  this,  use  a  piece 
of  the  proper  blue  glass  obtained  for  the  purpose  from  a  microscopic  dealer. 
The  blue  adds  the  other  primary  and  makes  the  light  practically  white.  After 
becoming  accustomed  to  the  blue  glass  it  will  be  very  uncomfortable  to  use  the 
microscope  without  its  aid.  —  The  Am.  Month.  Micros.  Jour.,  1898,  p.  156. 
Sunstroke  and  Bacteria.— It  is  stated  in  Natural  Science,  May,  1898,  that 
Dr.  IvUgin  Sambon  makes  a  clear  distinction  between  the  cases  reported  as  sun- 
stroke, which  are  due  only  to  syncope  and  those  attended  with  thermic  fever, 
which  he  attributes  to  a  specific  organism.    It  is  shown  that  the  disease  has 
