43  o  Varieties. 
A  New  Remedy  for  Hydrophobia. — M,  Lesserteur  has  just  given  publicity  to  a 
plant  which  has  a  great  reputation  as  a  cure  in  the  Kingdom  of  Annam.  This 
plant,  of  which  the  name  is  Hoang-nan,  is  a  kind  of  liana,  closely  akin  to  the  false 
angosturaj  its  efffcts  are  similar  to  those  of  strychnia  and  brucia.  M.  Bouley,  in 
speaking  of  this  new  remedy  in  the  "  Receuil  de  Medecine  Vetferinaire,"  regrets  that 
no  facts  corroborative  of  its  efficaciousness  are  given,  but  is  of  opinion  that  the  pro- 
perty recently  shown  to  belong  to  rabbits  of  easily  contracting  hydrophobia  by  inocu- 
lation should  be  utilized  for  making  experiments  thus  so  easily  performed.  In  refer- 
ence to  this  subject,  M.  Bouley  related  an  anecdote  about  garlic,  a  substance  which 
has  always  had  a  great  reputation  amongst  remedies  against  rabies,  and  is  constantly 
found  as  a  principal  integral  portion  in  a  large  number  of  formulae  long  kept  secret, 
A  young  man  had  been  bitten  by  a  mad  dog,  and  symptoms  of  rabies  speedily 
appeared.  His  family,  in  a  state  of  the  greatest  alarm,  scarcely  knowing  what  to  do 
with  the  sufferer,  shut  him  up  in  a  loft  where  some  garlic  had  been  left  to  dry.  In 
his  delirium  the  poor  fellow  seized  the  bundles  of  garlic,  ate  greedily  of  them,  and 
soon  became  exhausted  and  fell  into  a  deep  sleep.  When  he  awoke  he  was  cured, 
and  the  symptoms  of  rabies  had  disappeared. — Ibid.y  June  5,  1880. 
Disguising  the  Taste  of  Epsom  Salts. — According  to  the  "  Gaz.  des  Hop," 
June  12,  1880,  the  purgatif  T'von  consists  of  sulphate  of  magnesia  20  grams,  water 
40  grams,  and  essence  of  mint  two  or  three  drops.  The  essence  of  mint  com- 
pletely masks  the  disagreeable  taste  of  the  sulphate,  providing  that  the  quantity  of 
the  vehicle  is  inconsiderable. — Med.  and  Surg.  Reporter ^  July  17,  1880. 
The  Decline  of  the  Use  of  Salicylic  Acid  in  the  Treatment  of  Rheumatism.— 
In  a  paper,  read  by  Dr.  Greenhow  before  the  Clinical  Society  of  London,  the  ques- 
tion of  the  value  of  salicin  and  the  salicylates  of  soda  in  the  treatment  of  acute 
rheumatism  was  discussed.  While  admitting  that  these  drugs  gave  great  immediate 
relief.  Dr.  Greenhow  stated  that  they  did  not  lesson  the  complications  of  the  disease  5 
that  they  did  not  lessen  the  time  when  the  patient  was  disabled  5  that  they  left  him 
in  a  more  than  usual  anaemic  condition,  and  that  they  rarely  lessened  the  hyper- 
pyrexia. Several  gentlemen  agreed  with  Dr.  G.'s  views,  more  were  inclined  to  think 
better  of  the  drug  than  he,  and  none  asserted  it  to  be  a  specific. — Med.  Record^  July 
10,  1880. 
Another  Antidote  to  Arsenic. — Dr.  McCaw,  a  Canadian  physician,  suggests  the 
following  formula  as  one  not  generally  known  for  an  antidote  to  arsenic,  and  claims 
for  it  preference  over  all  others  for  two  reasons,  namely,  because  it  forms  the  surest 
antidote,  and  because  the  ingredients  are  always  accessible : 
R     Tincture  ot  chloride  ot  iron,  .  .  ^i 
Bicarbonate  of  soda,  or  potash,  .  .  5i 
Tepid  water,  .  .  .a  teacupful. 
These  are  mixed.  The  sesquioxide  of  iron  is  immediately  formed  in  a  solution 
of  chloride  of  sodium. 
The  mixture  may  be  given  almost  ad  lib'Unm. — The  Southern  Med.  Record,  May, 
1880. 
Am.  Jour.  Ptiann. 
Aug.,  1880. 
i 
