570  Reviews  ayid  Bibliographical  Notices.  {^%^^cXmi^^' 
of  moisture  upon  these  gelatine  sheets  would  seem  to  render  them  more  perish- 
able than  many  other  pharmaceutital  forms. 
In  the  discussion  which  followed  upon  the  eligibility  of  these  medicines,  Prof. 
Maisch  spoke  of  their  having  been  used  in  Germany  and  other  parts  of  Europe 
for  several  years,  and  were  first  suggested  and  introduced  by  Prof.  Almen,  of 
Upsala,  Sweden.  The  elegant  atropine  and  calabar  discs  of  Squire,  and  those 
containing  a  variety  of  concentrated  remedies  made  by  Savory  &  Moore,  are 
similar,  though  of  greatly  superior  workmanship,  and  are  especially  adapted  to 
be  applied  in  the  eye  and  for  similar  applications. 
Prof.  Maisch  called  attention  to  the  recent  observations  in  regard  to  the 
solvent  action  of  citrate  of  ammonia,  potassa,  soda  and  lithia  upon  various  salts 
of  iron  and  bismuth  insoluble  in  water,  and  exhibited  scales  resembling  the 
officinal  pyrophosphate  of  iron,  but  composed  of  phosphate  of  sesquioxide  of 
iron  and  citrate  of  potassa.  This  salt  was  made  by  M.  J.  Creuse,  of  Brooklyn. 
It  is  surprising  how  long  a  time  it  took  to  make  this  discovery,  while  it  has 
been  well  known  for  a  number  of  years  that  soluble  salts  of  iron,  mixed  with 
sufficient  citric  or  tartaric  acid,  are  not  precipitated  by  potassa,  which  has 
generally  been  attributed  to  the  formation  of  a  double  salt.  The  discovery 
by  Robiquet,  in  1856,  of  the  solubility  of  pyrophosphate  of  iron,  and  the  obser- 
vation by  several,  in  1859,  of  the  solubility  of  the  ordinary  phosphate  of  iron 
in  citrate  of  ammonia,  failed  to  provoke  similar  experiments  with  citrate  of 
potassa  and  of  soda,  until  the  present  time,  by  Mr.  Creuse. 
Then  adjourned.  C.  Parrish,  Registrar. 
EEVIEWS  AND  BIBLIOGEAPHIOAL  NOTICES. 
Circular  No.  3,  War  Department,  Surgeon  General's  Office,  Washington,  D. 
(7.,  August  17,  1871.  A  Report  of  Surgical  Cases  treated  in  the  Army  of 
the  United  States  from  1865  to  1871.  Washington  :  Government  Printing 
Office,  1871.    4to.   296  pages. 
The  report  which  has  been  published  for  the  information  and  instruction  of 
the  medical  officers  of  the  army,  has  been  compiled  by  Assistant  Surgeon 
George  A.  Otis,  from  the  returns  and  special  reports  of  medical  officers  made 
during  the  last  five  years.  The  observations  are  classified  in  a  convenient 
shape  for  reference,  and  wherever  it  appeared  desirable,  the  text  is  illustrated 
with  wood  cuts  and  lithographs.  The  total  number  of  wounds,  accidents  and 
injuries  reported  from  July  1st,  1865,  to  December  31st,  1870,  was  61,105  ;  of 
which  number  1,037  cases  have  been  selected  for  the  report  in  question,  which, 
besides  the  strictly  professional  accounts,  contains  also  much  information  of 
general  interest.  We  are  informed,  for  instance,  that  in  Texas,  the  popular 
and  domestic  remedy  for  the  sting  of  the  scorpion  is  a  mixture  of  bruised  garlic 
and  common  salt.  In  the  same  locality  (Point  Isabel)  a  large  bull  dog  was 
bitten  on  the  nose  by  a  rattlesnake.  A  native  remedy,  probably  of  no  value, 
was  used — the  dog's  nose  at  and  in  the  vicinity  of  the  wound  being  severely 
pricked  with  sharp  points  of  the  Spanish  bayonet  (yucca).  A  ludicrous  e  xag. 
geration  of  the  animal's  features  ensued  from  the  swelling  of  the  tissues  about 
the  face  and  head ;  he  seamed  surly  and  ill  for  several  days,  but  erentually 
recoyered. 
