GLEANINGS  FROM  FOREIGN  JOURNALS. 
513 
ignited,  but  his  presence  of  mind  served  him  to  jump  into  a  tub  of 
of  water,  which  probably  saved  him  from  death.  After  a  period 
of  great  suffering,  during  which  his  friends  feared  grave  cerebral 
complications,  he  had  recovered  sufficiently  to  be  out  of  danger, 
and  to  explain  the  foregoing  account  of  the  accident.  M.  Reg- 
nauld  asks  how  an  accident  of  this  nature  could  occur  in  the 
laboratory  of  so  prudent  and  skillful  an  operator  as  M.  Adrian, 
so  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  properties  and  dangers  of 
ether  ?  There  was  no  lamp  in  the  laboratory,  and  the  heat  was 
applied  by  steam.  [Probably  the  accident  occurred  by  the  cur- 
rent of  ether  vapor  from  neglected  refrigeration  traversing  the 
floor  of  the  room  through  the  open  door  to  some  source  of 
ignition,  and  then  retraced  its  path  to  the  still.  The  density  of 
ether  vapor  will  admit  of  this  theory,  and  the  open  door  would 
naturally  be  the  direction  of  the  current  in  a  heated  room.] 
Condurango.  The  Repertoire  de  JPharmacie,  for  August,  de- 
scribes this  as  a  contorted,  ligneous  substance,  derived,  probably, 
from  a  convolvulaceous  plant  contorted  like  the  hind  weed.  The 
cortical  part  is  grey  externally  and  yellowish  white  internally. 
It  has  a  weak  aromatic  odor  and  bitter  taste.  The  wood  ap- 
pears to  be  constituted  of  long  white  fibres ;  its  odor  and  taste 
are  less  decided  than  the  bark.  It  is  said  that  the  seeds  of  this 
bind  weed  are  poisonous  and  simulate  the  tetanic  poisons. 
The  medical  authorities  of  Equador  assert  that  condurango 
has  rendered  them  real  service,  when  administered  internally  by 
decoction,  in  cancerous  and  syphilitic  ulcers.  This  is  rendered 
more  probable  as  the  government  of  Equador  has  sent  a  quantity 
of  this  drug  to  be  experimented  on  by  French  physicians. 
Syrup  of  Iodide  of  Potassium  and  Iron  (of  Lahache). 
Take  of  Iodide  of  Potassium       .       .       .    808  grains. 
Iodide  of  Iron  (in  solution  1  to  8)    .    280  " 
Orange  Flower  Water    .       .       .  462 
Simple  Syrup  (concentrated)  .       .      88J  fluidounces. 
Dissolve  the  iodide  of  potassium  in  the  orange  flower  water, 
add  the  other  solution  and  incorporate  the  syrup.    Preserve  it 
cool  and  free  from  light. —  Union  Pharmaceutique, 
88 
