224 
Varieties. 
<  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
I      AprU,  1886. 
abroad,  and  lie  had  been  selected  to  preside  over  the  International  Medical 
Congress,  which  is  expected  to  convene  in  Washington  in  1887. 
Notice  of  the  death  of  the  following  graduates  of  the  Philadelphia  College 
of  Pharmacy  has  been  received : 
James  A.  Armstrong,  Ph.G.  (1855),  M.  D.,  served  in  the  army  during  the  war 
as  surgeon,  and  practised  in  Camden,  N.  J.  for  about  15  years,  holding  during 
a  portion  of  this  time  the  offices  of  coronor,  inspector  for  the  state  board  of 
health  and  examiner  in  pension  cases.    He  died  suddenly  October  30,  1885. 
•Henry  W.  Maitland,  Ph.G.  (1884),  died  suddenly  in  Camden,  X.  J.,  January 
7, 1886,  aged  26  years. 
Thomas  Noble,  Ph.G.  (1858),  served  as  hospital  steward  during  the  war,  and 
was  afterwards  in  the  revenue  service  and  in  the  gas  office  of  Philadelphia. 
His  death  occurred  December  27,  1885,  at  the  age  of  47  years. 
VARIETIES. 
Tannate of  Mercury  containes  a  large  proportion  of  metallic  mercury  and  pos- 
sesses a  pronounced  metallic  taste.  A  medium  dose  is  0*2-0"3  grams  and  0"5 
grams  may  be  administered  without  any  inconvenience.  One  advantage 
claimed  for  the  tannate  is  that  it  produces  no  disturbance  of  the  digestive 
track.  Casanon  employed  the  the  following  formula : — Tannate  of  mercury, 
3  grams ;  extract  of  liquorice,  q.s. ;  divide  into  sixty  pills.  Two  to  be  taken 
twice  a  day  after  food. — Bull.  gen.  Tlier.,  1885. 
Olive  Oil  as  a  Menstruum  for  Cocaine  was  recommended  by  Dr.  Andrews, 
of  New  York,  at  a  meeting  of  the  American  Ophthalmological  Society.  By 
the  plan  of  dissolving  cocaine  in  oil,  longer  contact  of  the  remedy  is  insured, 
and  a  smaller  quantity  of  it  is  required.  Cocaine  salts  not  being  soluble  in 
olive  oil,  the  alkaloid  should  be  used,  only  requiring  a  few  minutes  of  gentle 
heating  in  a  water-bath  to  dissolve  it. 
External  Use  of  Lobelia  Inflata. — Dr.  V.  N.  Eeichard  highly  recom- 
mends the  use  of  lobelia  (Medical  Times,  December  12. 1885)  as  a  local  applica- 
tion for  indolent  sores,  chronic  erysipelas,  and  especially  in  incise  wounds,  in 
which  latter  class  of  cases  it  acts  as  a  haemostatic  and  astringent.  The  mode  of 
employment  of  lobelia  for  this  purpose  in  cases  of  incised  wounds,  no  matter 
how  great  the  hemorrhage,  provided,  however,  it  does  not  require  a  ligature,  is 
to  bring  the  edges  of  the  wound  together,  and  to  hold  them  for  a  few  moments, 
while  a  pledget  of  cotton,  wet  with  tincture  of  lobelia,  is  applied.  Dr.  Eeidhard 
says  that  the  hemorrhage  will  then  cease  and  the  parts  adhere,  and  although 
lobelia  may  not  be  a  germicide,  it  will  so  entirely  close  up  a  wound  as  to  render 
it  perfectly  aseptic. — South  Med.  Record. 
