472 
Varieties. 
(  Am.  Jour,  Pharm. 
\      Sept.,  1883. 
becomes  more  liquid,  and  cutaneous  irritation  is  notably  lessened.  During 
convalescence  from  scarlet  fever,  he  believes  that  it  facilitates  desquama- 
tion.—^w^a^o  Med.  and  Surg.  Jour.^  May,  1883. 
Condensed  Milk. — Dr.  Richard  Neale  raises  his  voice  in  the  "Brit. 
Med.  Jour.,"  March  24,  1883,  against  giving  condensed  milk  to  infants. 
"At  times,  given  medicinally,  it  is  of  great  value;  but,  as  a  food,  it  is 
unnatural,  and  sooner  or  later  the  infant  must  suffer  if  thus  fed.  I  have  in 
so  many  instances  seen  the  fatal  results  of  bringing  up  infants  on  the  con- 
densed milk,  that  I  invariably  warn  patients  against  its  continuous  use. 
The  most  robust  looking  child  thus  fed  has  no  vitality,  and  is  frequently 
cut  off  by  an  illness  that,  under  other  circumstances,  would  have  proved 
very  trivial."  We  can  corroborate  his  experience. — Med.  and  Surg.  Rep.^ 
May  5,  1883.   
QuASSiN  AND  ITS  UsEs.— Quassiu  is  the  active  principle  of  quassia 
amara.  It  is  amorphous  or  crystallized.  Both  forms  produce  the  same 
effects  ;  the  former  is  preferable  at  a  dose  of  0*04  to  O'lO  gm.  a  day ;  of  the 
latter  a  dose  above  0*02  gm.  j^roduces  toxic  effects.  In  a  healthy  man 
quassin  produces  during  the  first  days  a  rapid  increase  of  the  appetite,  a 
more  complete  digestion  of  aliments  and  a  rapid  development  of  strength. 
At  a  dose  of  O'Ol  gm.  before  meals,  it  increases  the  alvine  discharges,  and 
therefore  becomes  useful  in  constipation  caused  by  a  feebleness  of  the  mus- 
cular tunic  of  the  intestines.  This  property  is  a  precious  one,  for  it  per- 
mits, in  many  cases,  to  substitute  the  quassin  for  purgatives,  which  fre- 
quently render  the  constipation  invincible,  without  speaking  of  the  returns 
which  most  often  are  produced  after  their  administration.  At  the  same 
dose  of  0'04  gm.  before  meals,  quassin  has  been  given  to  patients  having 
three  or  four  diarrhoeal  discharges  within  twenty-four  hours.  After  eight 
days  of  treatment  the  discharge  became  normal.  Other  experiments  have 
proven  that  quassin  has  a  most  pronounced  diuretic  effect ;  that  it  increases 
the  secretion  of  the  salivary  glands,  of  the  fauces,  of  the  kidneys,  and  also 
of  the  mammary  glands.  Quassin  is  a  bitter  tonic,  aperient  and  stomachic. 
It  must  not  be  administered  during  the  acute  stages  of  diseases,  but  in  the 
general  debility,  the  atonic  dyspepsia,  the  anorexia,  the  chlorosis,  the  spas- 
modic vomiting,  the  long  and  difficult  convalescence,  especially  of  fevers. 
—  Chicago  Med.  Jour.,  May,  1883  ;  Gazette  des  Hopitaux. 
GuACHAMA,  a  tree  which  grows  in  Venezuela,  contains  in  its  bark  and 
Beveral  layers  of  its  wood  an  active  principle.  Guachama  belongs  to  apocy- 
nacese.  The  extract  ("  Progr^s  Medical,"  March  24,  1881),  which  is  of  a 
sombre  brown  color  and  resinous,  resembles  curare,  but  it  is  slightly  soluble 
in  absolute  alcohol,  and  insoluble  in  ether  and  chloroform.  The  principal 
difference  between  the  action  of  curare  and  that  of  extract  of  guachama  iss 
that  the  latter,  according  to  Scheffer  ("Deutsche  Medicinische  Wochen- 
schrift,"  No.  28,  1882),  acts  rapidly  on  the  nerve  centres,  while  the  action 
of  curare  is  slow.  Schiffer  found  that  in  a  case  of  spasmodic  muscular  con- 
traction, the  hypodermic  injection  of  one-sixth  of  a  grain  of  the  solid  extract 
resulted  in  slumber,  at  first  slight,  then  deep,  which  lasted  about  three 
hours  ;  circulation  and  respiration  being  normal.    Reflex  excitability  was 
