Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
February,  1906.  / 
Japanese  Lac. 
61 
tense  itching,  and  adds  that  these  malicious  properties  make  the 
study  of  the  lac  very  tedious,  and  he  was  obliged  to  interrupt  the 
studies  on  account  of  individual  sensibilities. 
With  these  statements  before  me,  it  was  not  without  misgivings 
that  I  undertook  the  study  of  the  lac,  and  these  were  not  allayed  by 
my  first  experience.  The  first  sample  received  was  in  a  glass  can  with 
metal  top  which  had  become  sealed  by  the  lac,  and  was  difficult  to 
remove,  but  when  finally  started  was  accompanied  by  a  slight  sound 
of  escaping  gas.  In  about  thirty-six  hours  an  inflamed  spot,  about 
2  centimeters  by  5  centimeters,  appeared  on  my  wrist ;  it  itched 
intensely  for  about  a  week  and  then  disappeared.  Laboring  under 
the  supposition  that  I  was  dealing  with  a  volatile  poison,  I  was  ex- 
tremely cautious  not  to  come  in  contact  with  the  vapors  in  any  form, 
but  supposed  that  I  was  practically  safe  after  the  alcohol  had  been 
distilled  and  the  residue  heated  for  some  time.  While  shaking 
out  an  ether  solution  of  the  alcoholic  residue  with  sodium  carbonate 
solution,  it  was  difficult  to  keep  the  hands  entirely  free  from  the 
solution,  and  no  especial  pains  were  taken  to  remove  it  except  to 
carefully  wash  with  soap  and  water.  However,  after  working  some 
time  with  it,  my  face  began  to  swell  and  continued  until  my  eyes 
were  nearly  closed.  It  extended  over  hands,  arms  and  lower  limbs 
to  the  knees ;  the  desire  to  scratch  was  very  great,  so  that  it  was 
almost  impossible  to  sleep.  This  was  also  true  of  the  face  and  ears 
to  some  extent,  but  here  the  sensation  was  more  that  of  burning. 
After  about  a  week  the  face  became  normal,  and  I  was  able  to 
resume  my  work,  but  the  limbs  continued  to  itch  and  remained 
covered  with  a  fine  rash.  After  several  weeks  I  became  convinced 
that  the  underwear  had  absorbed  some  of  the  poison,  and  though 
frequently  washed  still  retained  it ;  or  that  they  acted  as  an  irritant 
to  the  inflamed  surfaces.  Soft  gauze  underwear  was  then  worn 
next  the  skin,  when  the  flesh  soon  became  normal. 
Dr.  Jadassohn,  Professor  of  Skin  Diseases  in  the  University  of 
Bern,  stated  that  the  above  symptoms  did  not  prove  that  the  poi- 
sonous principle  was  volatile,  and  kindly  volunteered  to  make  the 
physiological  tests  for  me  in  order  to  determine  whether  the  poison- 
ous principle  is  volatile  or  not.  He  found  that  the  rabbit  was  very 
sensitive  to  the  poison.  The  method  of  testing  was  to  rub  a  small 
quantity  of  the  substance  on  the  inside  of  the  ear  for  two  or  three 
minutes.    If  poisonous,  inflammation  appeared  in  from  one  to  five 
