512 Speech Restored by Drink.-Some time ago, according to the daily press, George Shepard of McKeesport, Pa., suddenly lost his powers of hearing and speech. One night he wrote a message to the bartender of the National hotel, asking him for a drink of whisky with something hot in it. He got a glass of whisky with a teaspoonful of black pepper. After drinking it Shepard sat down for a moment, then arose, his jaws working convulsively, and after a desperate effort he astonished all present by talking rapidly and throwing away his pencil and tablet, for which he had no further use. And thus another use is discovered for the "hot sling." Marsden's Paste for Epitheliomata.-Dr. John A. Wyeth believes that a paste composed of Arsenious Acid...... Powdered Acacia.... 2 drachms .18 grains is to be preferred to the knife in the treatment of superficial epitheliomata. The above is made into a paste by adding water just before it is to be used and "should be of the consistency of a rich cream, and applied to the wound on a small piece of cloth, and left on from eighteen to thirty-six hours." The application repeated if necessary, and the strength of the paste may be decreased one-half in arsenic and one-third in cocaine.-Pittsburg Med. Review. Kissing Prohibited in Chicago. Recently Dr. C. F. Reilly, of the Chicago board of health, issued in all earnestness a circular on behalf of the board denouning the practice of kissing. All the horrors of tuberculosis were dwelt upon and the manner in getting the disease is pictured in glowing words. It was said that the malady was communicated by the practice of kissing. After going through the whole list of bacilli to be lurking about the lips, the doctor concluded by declaring that any person who indulged in a kiss should at once wash their lips in carbolized rose water and dry them thoroughly to prevent the possible spread of diseases from osculation. The subject, notwithstanding it seriousness, was too much for the local wags, and they have found such strong support from the younger population that the good the circular was intended to do was neutralized by the ridicule showered upon it. In consequence a symposium of opinions from doctors of renown has been published, and as they uphold almost unanimously the teachings of Dr. Reilly, it is thought that kissing will become literally "forbidden fruit" even in the bosom of Chicago families. A Physician Entrapped and Robbed.-Dr. George Drury, a Brooklyn physician, was the victim of the most audacious as well as well-planned robbery that has been experienced by any practitioner in many a day. He was decoyed to a vacant house, gagged and securely bound, and then stripped of his valuables and money, while a knife was held at his throat. The robbers carried out their plot without a hitch, and had taken flight more than half an hour before Dr. Drury recovered consciousness and released himself from his bonds. The telephone was the instrumentality of the summons in this case. Dr. Drury remembered that he recently had a patient whose name resembled that which was used over the telephone, and made reply that he would give the case his immediate attention. Whether the robbers knew of Dr. Drury's attendance upon a patient bearing the same name as that which they employed, or whether they chanced upon a resemblence, it shows a possible danger in the telephone calls. Look out for the unknown telephone caller, whether the name has a genuine ring or not! It is very easy for a designing rogue to work in with a coachman or other physician's employe and worm out the name of some patient that will fit in with a scheme of robbery. It may safely be predicted that we have not heard the last of this branch of thievish enterprise. Other cities beside Brooklyn will be its field of experiment. The telephone is a great labor saver, but it may be the cause of loss of life to some medical practitioner as well as being the tool of insult and robbery.-Jour. Am. Med. Ass'n. 513 Cycling in Paris.-A Paris correspondent of the Medical Record writes that there are over one hundred thousand cyclists in that city, that nearly all the leading physicians ride, next come the lawyers, then the deputies, officers and even the Institute; the family physician prescribes the exercise as the most health-giving ever devised. Our Art Department.-THE HERALD'S representative in France has just been granted the privilege of reproducing some of the grand and rare old pictures found at Nice and Paris. There will be some fifty subjects in the collection, comprising the work of such artists as Gerome, Chlebowski, Medard, Serres, Perrault, etc., and have never been produced in America. The half-tone engravings from these works of will be ready in time for THE CHRISTMAS HERALD. "Proprietary " Medicines.-In view of the recent action of the committee on advertisements which may or may not be admitted to the pages of the Journal of the American Medical Association, and the decision that only proprietary medicines bearing the formula, or the formula of which must be sent with the advertisement, can be accepted, it becomes necessary to draw the line pretty sharply. It is a hard thing to do, for we all know that there are preparations in general use, and held in high regard by the profession, which are necessarily "proprietary," and must be protected. The manufacturing chemist renders the medical profession a valuable service when he puts up in palatable form and attractive style a combination of remedies which in practice has been found useful; and in order to do this, he goes to great expense. He ought, therefore, to derive benefits from the sales. There is entirely too much hair splitting on this subject, and by men who, like the agitator in this case, Solis Cohen, strain at a gate and swallow a saw mill (as Willis King's Joe would have said). Cohen, we believe, along with Jacobi et al., was in favor of seating, nay, of appointing to office in the International Medical Congress "new code men," that is to say, no code men; men who "homologate" with and recognize and consult with homeopaths, the very worst kind of bad irregulars,-quacks of the purest cheek (and ignorance) serene. And for our part, while the Journal will-must follow the pace set by the Journal of the American Medical Association (at Cohen's behest), we are not going to refuse the advertisement of any legitimate proprietary medicine which has established its claim to recognition and is in general use by the profession. We will draw the line at "patent medicines," i. e., secret medicines, and there is a big difference. Take the viburnum compound of Dr. Hayden for illustration, a popular "proprietary" medicine. Dr. Hayden is a regular physician of long and successful experience, brought up in the strictest school of "regularity." He found by experiment and observation, that a combination of the viburnum and other well known uterine tonics and alteratives was a good thing. He gave his formula freely to the profession, a demand was created for it, and, at great expense, be established a plant to manufacture it on a large scale. He has been a benefactor both to the profession and suffering humanity of the female gender; for his viburnum compound is a good thing, and will do to depend upon. The writer has satisfied himself on this point; and for painful and scanty menstruation, knows of nothing which will give quicker relief. Dr. Hayden is one of the pioneer practitioners of New England, and his experience is justly entitled to respect. We always thought it rather hard on the doctor that, no matter what he may invent or discover, he must not derive any benefit from it; and we think that such quibbling is out of date in this enlightened age. Dr. Hayden will send a bottle of his valuable preparation for trial to any physician who will pay express charges. What we have said above about valuable combinations of well known drugs, and the demand which has warranted manufacture on large scale, applies as well to many preparations: bromidia, listerine, aletris cordial, lapactic pills (S. & D.), a score of P., D. & Co.'s preparations, of Wyeth's, Schieffelin's, Fellow's hypophosphites, etc., all of which are offered the profession through the "Red Back."-Texas Medical Journal. 514 A Comparison.-" A man is known by the company he keeps;" and a medical journal is known by the men who write for it. Sterilizing Milk by Electricity. Two German scientists have discovered that milk may be sterilized by subjecting it to the passage of an alternating electric current. All micro-organisms taken up by the milk from the air, etc., are said to be permanently destroyed by the electric current without affecting the quality of the milk treated to any appreciable extent. Protonuclein.-Over 1000 favorable reports have been received from physicians in hospital and general practice by Messrs. Reed & Carnrick of New York, on the merits of Protonuclein. This preparation is regarded by some as possessing greater therapeutic value than any other product introduced to the profession dur ing this century. In diphtheria, typhoid fever and tuberculosis it has power of exceptional value. The manufacturers are now sending out their clinical record of a hundred and fifty cases which they recently announced to the profession. This, with Professor Chittenden's analysis, will merit the attention of every progressive physician who receives a copy. Cimicifuga in Rheumatism.-Dr. David Hurd is a firm believer in the efficiency of cimicfuga as a remedy for rheumatism of all kinds. He gives from 4 to 6 drops (presumably of the fluid extract) four times a day. The drug, like many others of its kind, possesses irritant properties which in large amounts produce vomiting and purging-a direct method of excretion possessed by the animal organism. In smaller doses it enters the circulation, and then it is only reasonable to suppose that the excretory organs are stimulated to extra activity in throwing the offending substance out of the system. To this increased activity of the emmunctories the improvement in rheumatic affections following the use of cimicifuga must doubtless be attributed.-Med. Age. A Test in Pharmacal “Ethics."-Mr. E. A. Schubert, of Fostoria, Ohio, in the course of a paper on pharmacal ethics, relates this account of a practical test of the professional integrity and competency of retail druggists in a given section of his State a section, by the way, probably the equal in professional intelligence and honesty of the average community in Ohio and other States. "I espoused the thought," remarks Mr. Schubert, "that it would be a capital idea to write a prescription of easy composition and analysis, to see how many druggists would fill it correctly. I set to work immediately mailing to each of fifty physicians one of the prescriptions, at the same time asked him to write it as a prescription of his own, send some friend with it to his druggist to have it filled, a copy taken and returned to me with the compounded prescription. Out of the fifty requests sent out, I received thirty-seven answers. The prescription called for a three-ounce preparation, but placing them side by side I found twenty-three to be three-ounce preparations, seven were in size four ounces, while the rest ranged in size from five to eight ounces. It was to be an emulsion; nineteen were of that composition, the remainder were far from being true to name. In color, when correctly filled, it would be nearly white; of these twenty-two were true in color, while the remainder ranged from a steel gray to nearly all the known hues. The principal active ingredient was the acetate of morphine; thirteen only contained this, the remainder contained the sulphate. Out of the entire number returned, eleven were found to be filled correctly. The remainder were base substitutions, either through ignorance or intention. Of the eleven that were correct, nine came from the hands of Ph. G's, the remaining were compounded by old and reliable druggists in the city. Of the twentysix not properly filled we found five Ph. G's., the remainder were country druggists having very little experience in this line and located, with but few exceptions, in towns of 6,000 inhabitants and less." Can it be possible that this sort of recklessness and ignorance characterizes the profession in other intelligent communities? - Western Druggist. Hypnotic Anti-Spasmodic Anti-Neuralgic CORDIAL PAS-CARNATA MERRELL This preparation contains all the active medicinal constituents of Passiflora Incarnata in concentrated form, and is the result of an extended investigation in our Laboratory. It is the most eligible form for exhibiting the valuable properties of the drug, since from it we have succeeded in eliminating the inert principles invariably present in ordinary preparations of the market. CORDIAL PAS-CARNATA Is a valuable adjunct to the treatment of nervous affections attended with the congestion of the cord and ganglionic centres. As a soporific without narcotic action and as an anti-spasmodic and anti-neuralgic, it is without an equal. Its action i between Morphine and Chloral Hydrate, but it does not depress the system nor derange the stomach. It is devoid of danger, non-poisonous, and may be given in any case where sleep is needed. It is the remedy-par excellence-in infantile convulsions, in diarrhea of children, and in nervous affections of the aged and infirm. In nervous or sick headache, neuralgia of the fifth pair of nerves, in sleeplessness of typhoid and other fevers as well as from overwork so common among professional and business men, it will produce a quiet and dreamless sleep, and at the same time prove a permanent tonic to the nervous system. CORDIAL PAS-CARNATA Is recommended in cases where opium and its preparations, the Bromides, Chloral, etc., cannot be given or are not well borne, and where it is undesirable to lock up the secretions. It is recommended in tetanus, cerebral pain, hysteria of women, dysmenorrhoea, tic douleroux, accelerated respiratory movement, pain in the rectum and neuralgia of the heart. CORDIAL PAS-CARNATA Is prepared for physicians' prescriptions only, and not for popular sale. Printed matter with extended notes furnished to the medical profession only. Samples supplied without charge on payment of expense of delivery. CORDIAL PAS-CARNATA May be ordered of our New York office, No. 96 Maiden Lane, of Geo. In ordering or prescribing, please specify 66 CORDIAL PAS-CARNATA "-" Merrell." NEW PREPARATIONS DIPHTHERIA ANTITOXIC SERUM (Standardized 1000 Immunity Units to each 10 c c.) Vials of 5 c c contains 500 Immunity Units. NO DEATHS. I have treated seventy-two cases of diphtheria in this city with Antitoxin (H. K. Mulford Co.'s) with highly satisfactory results; prompt and complete recovery in all cases. Bacteriologic examinations were made by the Board of of Health, or Dr. Kline. I have also used immunization in over 200 instances, and in no case was diphtheria contracted, although frequently living in the room with the contagion. EDWIN ROSENTHAL, M. D., H. K. MULFORD COMPANY PHILADELPHIA Biological Department CHEMISTS, CHICAGO DEPOT 112 and 114 Dearborn Street |