ignored, inasmuch as it is expected to be present in the hop as ordinarily employed. It is not too much to assert, that the amount of it in different samples varies considerably; and it is certain that its peculiar powdery matter represents the active principles of the entire strobili in a concentrated form. During a recent series of pharmacentical experiments with the powder, he was constantly struck with the remarkable valerian-like odor evolved from the different preparations; and he was interested to find, in the course of subsequent readings on the subject, that M. Personne had discovered valerianic acid in lupuline. In none of the British Pharmacopaia preparations of hop, except the extract, can it be said that the real strength of the drug is removed. The tincture made with proof spirit, which does not thoroughly exhaust the active parts of the scales of lupuline, and the watery infusion, can but inadequately represent the virtues of this medicine. He recommends the following formula: Lupuline, 2 ozs.; spirit. ammon. arom., a pint. Macerate for seven days, agitating occasionally; then filter and add sufficient of the menstruum to make up to a pint. The dose of this is from twenty minims to one fluidrachm. He proposes to call it "tinctura lupulinæ ammoniata." He considers this preparation of the hop as the best we at present possess. According to Christison, the dose of tinctura lupuli should be from one fluidounce to one fluidounce and a half to produce any hypnotic effect; the ordinary dose consists of as many drachms. Dr. Ives, of New York, states that the tincture of lupuline is an effectual hypnotic in restlessness the result of nervous irritability, and in delirium tremens. Some advantage, too, is deprived from the presence of ammonia in considerable quantity, and this whether the preparation be exhibited as a hypnotic, or as a tonic combination of bitter and ammonia.-British Medical Journal.

On the Influence exerted by the Number of the pregnancy, and by the Age of the Woman, upon the Mortality accompanying Parturition.-By J. MATTHEWS DUNCAN, A. M., M. D.

(Dublin Quarterly Journal of Medical Science, February.) The following are the author's general conclusions:"1. The mortality of first labors is about twice the mortality of all subsequent labors taken together.

"2. The mortality from puerperal fever following first labors is about twice the mortality from puerperal fever following all subsequent labors taken together.

"3. As the number of a woman's labor increases above nine, the risk of death following labor increases with the number.

"4. As the number of a woman's labor increases above nine, the risk of death from puerperal fever following labor increases with the number.

"5. If a woman have a large family, she escapes extraordinary risk in surviving her first labor, to come again into extraordinary and increasing risk as she bears her ninth and subsequent children."

The Internal Ileat of the Earth.

A curious fact has been lately brought to notice in regard to the Nevada silver mines. Heat, not water, is the chief enemy encountered after reaching a great depth, and, instead of pumping out water, the companies have to pump in air. A Nevada paper says:

46

"The increase in the heat of our mines is now beginning to give many of our mining companies more trouble, and is proving a great obstacle to mining operations in those levels lying below a depth of one thousand feet, than any vein or pocket" deposits of water yet encountered. A number of the leading companies on Comstock tract are constructing engines to be used expressly for driving fans for furnishing air to the lower levels, forcing it through large tubes of galvanized iron.

"With this great increase of heat in our mines comes a great decrease of water; in fact, in our deepest mine-the Builton, which has attained the depth of twelve hundred feet -not a drop of water is to be seen; it is as dry as a lime kiln, and as hot as an oven. In the lower workings of the Chollar Potosi mine, which are a perpendicular depth of eleven hundred feet below the surface, the thermometer now stands at one hundred degrees-a frightful heat to be endured by a human being engaged in a kind of labor calling for severe muscular exertion. Here, also, we find the water to have decreased till there is at the present time a very insignificant amount, it being necessary to run the pump but four hours out of the twenty-four."

Medical Education in Germany.

The subjoined is an extract from an article with the above caption in the Times & Gazette.

The examination which entitles an M. D. to practice is indeed a severe test of a man's knowledge, the shortest time in which it can possibly be passed being about three months. It is conducted on the same plan throughout the country by examining boards annually chosen by the Government, which hold their sittings in each university town. The members of these boards are partly selected from amongst the teachers of the university and partly from practitioners of renown in the neighborhood.

The examination is divided into five different parts"Stationen "-viz:

1. The anatomico-physiological station.

2. The internal or medical.

3. The external or surgical.

4. The obstetrical.

5. The final.

The anatomico-physiological station commences with the candidate drawing from an urn before him a question upon some anatomical, physiological, and microscopical subject, and then treating at large upon the same, and showing all that he knows about it. After this he is submitted to a viva voce examination by the professor. The question may be upon any of the following subjects, which may be treated either with especial reference to the physiology, anatomy, or historical structure.

The tissues of the human body, their physiological and microscopical properties; the physiology of the organs of circulation, respiration, and digestion; of absorption and secretion; the nervous system and the experimental physiology of nerves and muscles; of movements; of voice and speech; of the senses; and of embryology, etc.

The candidate is alternately examined by different members of the board, these being generally the professors teaching anatomy, physiology, and comparative anatomy. In the course of the examination it may be required of the candidate to make microscopical sections and to demonstrate them under the microscope. When the examiners are satisfied, the candidate is taken to the dissecting room, where a separate compartment is reserved for this purpose. He has here to perform a dissection, the subject of which he again draws by lot, and remains locked up in the room until he

has completed it. His final task is to demonstrate the dissection to the examiner, and to answer any question which may arise in connection with the subject. If the candidate fail to pass, he has to wait until the next session; if, however, he be successful he is permitted to enter the internal station. Here the examination is likewise conducted by two examiners on two different days, by each of whom the candidate is examined practically upon patients in a ward set apart for the purpose, and he is subsequently required to write a detailed account of these cases from a scientific and practical point of view-a task which he has to perform in a separate apartment, without reference to books or notes. After this he meets one of the examiners every day in the ward, and is required to examine different patients, to make the diagnosis, and to continue the treatment of those cases which he has previously examined. If any chance to die, he has to make the post-mortem, and to demonstrate the pathological changes. He is at the same time examined in materia medica, including the therapeutical value of different spas and climates. This lasts for a fortnight, and at its close the candidate enters the external or surgical station. Here the examination is conducted in a similar manner, but, in addition, on one day the candidate is examined on surgical instruments, appliances, and dressing, and on another day upon fractures and dislocations, whilst the last day is devoted to the performance of operations on the dead body.

The obstetrical station is next entered. It is necessary that he should, during his studentship, have conducted at least three labors under the immediate superintendence of the professor or his assistant. The examination in this station commences by the candidate conducting a labor in the presence of the examiner, and attending to the case as long as may be necessary. He likewise meets the examiner in the wards, and is practically examined in the diseases of women and children. One day is again devoted to the determination of the stage of pregnancy amongst a number of preg nant women; whilst upon another day most of the important obstetrical operations are performed upon a dummy. In the last, or final examination, questions on medicine and surgery are again put, if deemed necessary; but there are likewise questions on State medicine, hygiene, and those branches of natural philosophy which have an immediate bearing upon medicine.

Having succeeded in passing through this prolonged and

searching ordeal, the candidate is admitted into the ranks of the profession. The fee for the whole examination required by the State is about ten guineas.- Western Journal of Medicine.

EDITORIAL.

Fatal Poisoning by Gelsemin.

QUITE a large number of cases of poisoning by Gelseminum and its preparations, have been reported since the introduction of this agent, a few years ago. Four or five cases have occurred within the last year, and our city papers have recently recorded another fatal example. This last case is invested with more than ordinary interest from the comparatively small quantity which produced death, not larger in fact than that usually recommended by our authorities, and it becomes a fit subject of inquiry, whether the proper administration of this drug is sufficiently understood.

The facts elicited by the jury of physicians appointed by the Board of Health to investigate the case were, briefly, as follows: The patient, a lady, had been suffering for some time with a pulmonary affection. Her attending physician prescribed four powders, each containing one grain of Gelsemin, with directions, as he states, that one should be taken every night. Accordingly one powder was given at night, and, contrary to directions, a second powder was administered the next morning. Very soon the characteristic effects of poisoning by Gelsemin began to manifest themselves; the patient complained of double vision and heaviness of the eyelids; there was complete muscular relaxation and drowsiness, which soon deepened into a state of profound narcotism. The physicians gave stimulants and resorted to artificial respiration, the galvanic battery, and other means to arouse her, but all their efforts were unavailing. At one time the patient rallied a little, breathing was easier and consciousness partially restored. But she soon relapsed, rapidly grew worse and died in about an hour.

We will not stop here to consider whether the treatment adopted in this case was the most judicious possible. No certain antidote to the poisonous effects of Gelsemin has yet been discovered. Although its action is not physiologically identical with that of any other medicine, yet we presume that the same principles of treatment recom