Am'juKimrm'}     Gleanings  from  the  Medical -Journals.  349 
A  NEW  METHOD  OF  VACCINATION. 
Dr.  M.  Hutchins,  in  The  Jour,  of  the  Anter.  Med  Assoc.,  writes 
in  an  interesting  manner  on  "  Denudation  vs.  Scarification."  His 
plan  of  procedure  is  as  follows :  The  point  to  be  vaccinated  is 
cleansed.  A  piece  of  cotton  as  large  as  the  desired  denudation  is 
wet  with  liquor  potassae  and  laid  on,  or  a  little  of  the  fluid  is  put  on 
with  the  bottle  stopper.  After  two  or  three  minutes,  or  as  soon  as 
slight  burning  is  felt — it  usually  does  not  burn  at  all — the  cotton  is 
removed,  if  it  was  used — the  soap  mixture  which  has  formed  with 
the  skin  secretions  is  wiped  off  with  a  piece  of  wet  cotton,  though 
this  is  not  essential  to  success,  in  order  to  render  the  next 
step  easier.  Then  an  ink  eraser,  a  toothpick  of  soft  wood,  a  pencil 
rubber,  a  piece  of  gauze  (the  quickest)  or  a  piece  of  damp  cotton  is 
used  to  rub  away  the  softened  epidermis.  The  friction  is  slight,  the 
pain  is  only  a  little  stinging  when  the  sensory  nerve  filaments 
become  exposed.  We  obtain  in  a  few  seconds  a  moist,  shining  sur- 
face, often  a  clear  view  of  the  papillary  vessels,  but  no  bleeding. 
The  vaccine  is  now  applied  and  let  dry  on  in  the  usual  way. 
The  advantages  of  this  method  are  its  practical  painlessness  and 
the  absence  of  terrifying  instruments.  Further,  bleeding  is  a  bar 
to  successful  vaccination.  By  scarification  it  is  difficult  to  stop  short 
of  bleeding,  while  with  denudation  bleeding  is  almost  impossible. 
There  is  also  less  danger  from  an  undesired  infection  from  instru- 
ments or  epidermis  when  this  method  is  employed.  As  to  the  results  : 
A  good  lymph  will  "take,"  an  unreliable  will  not.  Inoculation 
was  successful  in  as  many  cases  vaccinated  by  denudation  as  by 
scarification,  and  increased  experience  will  probably  show  a  much 
larger  percentage  of  success. 
ANTIPYRINE  IN  SCIATICA. 
If  injections  of  antipyrine  do  not  always  relieve  sciatica,  it  is 
because  they  are  not  made  deep  enough,  so  as  to  bring  the  anal- 
gesic actually  into  contact  with  the  nerve-trunk.- — Kuhn,  in  Sent. 
Med.,  March  10. 
FOR  VOMITING  OF  UTERINE  ORIGIN. 
R .    Menthol,  5  grains. 
Elixir  of  pepsin,  1  fluidounce. 
Tincture  of  opium,  iy2  fluidrams. 
Dose  :  Ten  to  twenty  drops,  to  be  taken  before  meals. — Lutaud. 
