298 
Cholesterol. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
1       June,  1891. 
urinary  passages  occur  the  dose  should  be  decreased  by  half.  A  few 
drops  of  tincture  of  opium  suffice  to  remove  any  sensation  of  dis- 
comfort which  the  drug  causes.  He  thinks  that  probably  one  to 
half  decimilligramme  (Tfa  to-^-^  gr.)  will,  in  most  cases,  be  found 
sufficient,  and  the  injection  should  be  given  every  other  day. 
So  far  the  experiments  have  been  chiefly  made  in  cases  of  tuber- 
cular disease  of  the  larynx,  and  catarrhal  swelling  of  the  vocal  cords. 
The  extraordinary  quickness  with  which  the  drug  acts  on  tuber- 
cular swelling  of  the  larynx  leads  him  to  the  opinion  that  the 
exudation  so  increases  the  nutrition  of  the  tissue  elements  that  it 
produces  healing  either  by  causing  normal  proliferation,  notwith- 
standing the  presence  of  bacteria,  or  by  removing  the  injurious 
effect  of  the  bacteria.  Probably  the  exudation  of  the  blood  serum 
possesses  the  property  of  killing  bacteria.  There  seems  reason  for 
believing  that  blood  serum  is  destructive  to  bacteria,  and  that  the 
action  of  cantharidin  is  capable  of  producing  the  same  effect  as 
transfusion  with  blood  serum.  Liebreich  suggests  that  substances 
allied  to  cantharidin,  and  produced  from  it,  as  canthro-oxide  and 
cantharene,  should  be  further  examined. 
When  cantharidin  is  dissolved  in  potash  or  soda,  a  pure  canthari- 
dinate  is  not  produced,  a  variable  amount  of  cantharidin  bein<?  mixed 
with  it.  Hence  cantharidinate  of  potash  and  soda  could  not  hitherto 
be  used  in  exact  doses. 
To  prepare  a  cantharidin  solution  for  injection,  Liebreich  mixer  -2 
grammes  of  cantharidin  and  -4  grammes  of  potash,  dry,  and  free  from 
carbonic  acid,  and  most  carefully  weighed;  this  should  be  placed  in  a 
1,000  cc.  measure  with  20  cc.  of  water,  and  warmed  in  a  bath  until 
the  solution  becomes  clear ;  then,  whilst  the  application  of  heat  is 
continued,  water  should  be  added  to  1,000  cc.  Instead  of  potash 
•3  grammes  of  hydrate  of  soda  maybe  used.  Each  cc.  of  the  solution 
(18  minims)  contains  y2-^  of  a  milligramme  of  cantharidin 
CHOLESTEROL.1 
By  K.  Obermuller. 
Two  formulas,  QgH^O  and  C^H^O  (Reinitzer,  1888)  have  been 
ascribed   to  cholesterol   (cholesterin).     The  chief  object  of  the 
present  research  was,  by  the  analysis  of  certain  cholesterol  com- 
pounds, to  determine  which  is  the  correct  one.    The  general  result 
1  Zeit.physiol.  Ckem.,15,  37 — 48;  reprinted  from  Jour.  Chem.  Soc,  1891,  p.  298. 
