522  Gleanings  from  the  Medical  Journals.     { Al oiober Pi8«».m" 
SALT  AS  AN  ANTISEPTIC. 
According  to  the  Cronica  de  Ciencias  Medic  as  de  Filipinas,  the 
insurgents  dress  wounds  with  dry  salt  or  strong  brine,  from  lack  of 
usual  antiseptics,  and  wounds  from  fire-arms  heal  under  it  in  four  or 
five  days. — Jour.  Amer.  Med.  Assoc.,  August  20. 
MODERN  BULLET  WOUNDS. 
"  The  destructive  character  of  the  bullets  when  they  strike  a  hard 
surface,  was  shown  in  the  wounds  treated  during  the  recent  riots  in 
Milan,  states  the  Klin.  Therap.  Wochenschrift,  of  June  26th.  'Every 
arm  or  limb  wounded  had  to  be  amputated ;  every  person  shot  in 
the  trunk  died,  and  whenever  the  skull  was  struck,  the  top  was  lifted 
up  like  the  cover  of  a  box,  and  the  brain  matter  scattered  around." 
— Jour.  Amer.  Med.  Assoc. ,  August  20. 
THE  PARIS  SEWAGE  PARK. 
The  luxuriance  of  the  vegetation  on  these  fields  is  remarkable; 
all  kinds  of  vegetables  and  medicinal  plants  thrive  to  perfection, 
irrigated  with  water  from  the  Paris  sewers,  which  is  so  purified  in 
its  course  that  it  emerges  from  the  "  park  "  limpid  and  pure,  as  visi- 
tors taste  and  exclaim.  There  is  no  perceptible  odor  except  in  the 
midst  of  a  network  of  irrigating  canals,  and  a  few  steps  beyond  it 
is  impossible  to  distinguish  it.  All  fear  of  contaminating  the 
atmosphere  of  the  vicinity  has  proved  groundless.  The  number  of 
bacteria  is  reduced  to  approximate  spring  water,  and  the  authori- 
ties claim  that  the  infection  of  the  Seine  will  diminish  with  increased 
areas  appropriated  for  sewage  parks,  until  it  will  cease  altogether, 
when  all  the  sewer  water  from  the  city  is  spread  out  thus  on  the 
fields.  The  amount  thus  ultilized  is  20,653  cubic  metres  to  the 
hectare;  there  are  795  hectares  (1,964  acres)  devoted  to  the 
purpose. — Jour.  Amer.  Med.  Assoc.,  August  27. 
SPEECH  DEFECTS. 
Scheppegrell  (New  Orleans  Med.  and  Surg.  Jour,  for  August) 
writes  on  the  etiology  and  treatment  of  stuttering,  stammering,  etc., 
and  groups  the  forms  of  speech  defects  in  two  classes :  paralalia 
and  dyslalia,  the  former  referring  to  defective  speech,  lisping,  etc., 
and  the  latter  to  difficult  or  spasmodic  speech,  as  stammering  and 
stuttering.    He  considers  prophylaxis  of  the  utmost  importance, 
