and new knowledge. It contains a far larger number of words than any other one-volume medical lexicon. It is a new book, not a revision of the older volume. The pronunciation, etymology, definition, illustration, and logical groupings of each word are given. There has never been such a gathering of new words from the living literature of the day. It is especially rich in tabular matter, a method of presentation that focuses, as it were, a whole subject so as to be understood at a glance. The latest method of spelling certain terms, as adopted by various scientific bodies and authorities, have all been included, as well as those words classed as obsolete by some editors, but still used largely in the literature of to-day, and the omission of which in any work aiming to be complete would make it unreliable as an exhaustive work of reference. The publishers announce that, notwithstanding the large outlay necessary to its production on such an elaborate plan, the price will be no higher than that of the usual medical text-book. A New Hand-book for the Physiological Laboratory.- George Wahr, Publisher, Ann Arbor, Mich. The most useful book for the student of histology which has ever been placed in our hands, is a little work recently published, entitled, "Directions for Work in Histological Laboratory, for the Use of Medical Classes in the University of Michigan," by G. Carl Huber, M. D., assistant Professor of Histology and Embryology. The work consists of 119 pages of the most condensed, concise, and carefully arranged matter pertaining to the practical work of the histological laboratory. Such a work not only saves the student an immense amount of labor in note taking, but gives him more information and in a more precise form than he could possibly get by taking notes even from the lips of a very able instructor. The book is interleaved with blank pages, intended to be used in drawing the various objects studied. The latest and most approved methods of investigating the various tissues, together with all the technique connected with histological work, are fully described. The student will find here an accurate description of some of the most recently developed German methods, which cannot be found elsewhere in the English language. The directions are so plain and simple that any one who has had any experience at all in laboratory and microscopic work, can, with a good text-book on histology, work out the subject by himself without the aid of a teacher. Such a course might be undertaken with great profit by many physicians whose medical education was chiefly obtained fifteen or twenty years ago, when histology was in its infancy. Wonderful light upon almost every branch of normal as well as pathological histology has been developed within the last fifteen or twenty years, even within the last ten years; and especially in relation to the histology of the blood, which Ehrlich has worked out with such thoroughness and with such marvelous results. Every physician who wishes to keep himself abreast of the progress of rational medicine, needs to acquaint himself with these researches ; and there is no work with which we are acquainted which opens the way before him so clearly as does this work by Prof. Huber. The profession at large, as well as the prospective members of the medical profession, are greatly indebted to the author of this little work for the painstaking task which he has performed in gathering together in such a compact and lucid form so great a mass of valuable information pertaining to the technique of histological investigation. Pharmaceutical Specialties of the Farbenfabriken vorm Friedr Bayer & Co., Elberfeld, Germany, who, in addition to the remedies herewith described, prepare SULFONAL-BAYER, SALOPHEN, LOSOPHAN and ARISTOL. Physicians who wish to have the published testimony concerning the therapeutic action of these preparations, or information as to their chemistry or physiological action, should address Sole Agents W. H. Schieffelin & Co., NEW YORK. (For the U.S. THE Malted Milk Co., Racine, Wis., are offering to send any physician one of their new desk tools, a ruler, a measure, and paper cutter combined. Horlick's Malted Milk is a very pleasant and highly concentrated food, containing all the nutritive elements in pure, rich cow's milk and cereals, the milk preserved without the use of cane sugar or other hurtful ingredients. Send for a sample and give it a trial. DR. CARL KOLLER, of Vienna, through whose discovery cocaine was first introduced into medicine in 1884, says: "I have used Muriate of Cocaine Boehringer' for some time in my practice, and have achieved entirely satisfactory results through its physiological action. I found it to be a chemically pure preparation, and have never observed any foreign or deleterious effects in its use." PAPOID IN CONSUMPTION.-Knowing the power of papoid to destroy germs in ulcers and on open surfaces, I have employed it in ozena, ulcers of the larynx, and in ulcers and cavities in phthisis pulmonalis. I have used the drug, first by insufflation, but latterly by using the glycerole of papoid by means of an atomizer. Since the eight months of trial I have been more and more convinced of its efficiency in the lesions named.-E. A. Wood, M. D. LOSOPHAN.-Dr. Edmond Saalfeld, of Berlin, recently called attention to the value of a compound of iodine to which the name "losophan" has been applied. It contains 80 per cent of iodine, and presents itself in the form of white needles; it will melt at 250.7° F. It is slightly soluble in water. It dissolves readily in ether, chloroform, benzoil, and also at a temperature of 150° F.in fixed oils. It is useful in old cases of eczema. It cannot be used in acute forms of skin disease, as it is somewhat irritating. It relieves the itching and stimulates the absorption of exudate in chronic eczema. It is also useful in prurigo and urticaria. It is most useful in a one-per-cent solution, three parts alcohol and one part water. As an ointment it may be used in the proportion of one to three per cent. A SUCCESSION TAX LAW.-Albert A. Pope, the great bicycle manufacturer, advocates a succession tax law, as the means of raising funds for the betterment of highways. Such laws already exist in New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, and have existed in England for more than a hundred years. It is a tax on legacies exceeding, in Connecticut, $1000, and in Massachusetts, $10,000. Mr. Pope suggests that in time, the succession tax law might take the place of direct taxation, as it would take but a short time, by means of such a taxation, to pay for the construction of excellent highways in every State in the Union, and then, as the cost of maintenance would be very small, the tax could be devoted to the maintenance of the State, and there would be no necessity for public funds by direct taxation. GLYCOZONE.-Mr. Chas. Marchand has recently developed a new preparation consisting of ozone in combination with glycerine, fifteen volumes to one of glycerine. Dr. Cyrus Edison, in a recent article in the Times and Register (Philadelphia), recommends it for acid dyspepsia, gastric catarrh, nasal catarrh, ulceration of the rectum, fistula-in-ano, follicular pharyngitis, chornic coryza, ulcerative stomatitis, and a variety of similar conditions. If glycozone proves to be as valuable an addition to the profession as peroxide of hydrogen, it will add materially to the fame of its inventor, and will become a staple article with all druggists as there is an enormous demand for more efficient remedies adapted to the treatment of the diseases named. We have not yet found the time to undertake original experiments with glycozone, but will do so at the first opportunity. MALT EXTRACT.-Extract of malt is no longer an official preparation-at least it will very soon not be, as it is one of the dismissed articles from the Seventh Decennial Revision of the U.S. Pharmacopoeia. Why this is " thusly," when it is an article of so much therapeutic value and so largely used, it is not within our province to say. It looks to us as if the Revising Committee were either perfectly satisfied with the quality of the present commercial supplies, or that they despaired of describing or defining the product in such a way as to permit of easily applied tests for limitation and verification of the standard by the ordinary druggist. If the former supposition be the correct one, it is evident that the revising committee based their opinion on the examination of some of the standard brands of malt extract, such as that manufactured by Parke, Davis & Co., which is guaranteed to respond to every test both as to diastatic strength and palatability. Malt extract is a valuable agent in cases in which the conversion of starch is not satisfactorily accomplished by the digestive organs. Recent investigations of the digestive process show that starch should undergo an almost complete conversion in the stomach. This process should at least be carried sufficiently far as to convert starch into erythrodextrine. This opens a large field for the use of malt extracts, especially in cases of hyperpepsia accompanied by fermentation. Investigations made during the last year in the Sanitarium Laboratory of Hygiene of Battle Creek, Mich., show that starch digestion is usually imperfect in cases of hyperpepsia. This investigation included the careful chemical examination of more than 2000 stomach fluids. Many of the saccharine preparations of malt extracts on the market possess very little diastatic powers. In prescribing this agent as an aid to digestion, care must be taken to select a reliable product. |