HOT WATER IN HEART-FAILURE.

Dr. C. R. Johnson writes to Gaillard's Medical Journal, that he was summoned to attend Mrs. A., about forty-seven years of age, the messenger urging him to hurry, and stating that "she was crazy." Knowing Mrs. A. to be of a very hysterical temperament, and finding that pain was the exciting cause of the attack, which he thought nervous and reflex, he at once administered, hypodermically, about one-fifth of a grain of the sulphate of morphia. Waiting half an hour, and there being no change, he gave, per os, fifteen grains of chloral, and in fifteen minutes repeated the chloral, giving ten grains (the chloral was weighed). In about fifteen or twenty minutes after giving the second dose of chloral, the patient became relaxed and quiet. In a few seconds the face became livid, the ears were almost black, and the blood seemed as if settling in the neck in spots. The respiration stopped, and he could detect no pulsation; indeed, she seemed in articulo mortis; he at once applied aqua ammonia to the nostrils, practiced artificial respiration, and attempted to get some brandy down her throat. The power of deglutition was lost however, and he failed utterly to get any swallowed. He now remembered having somewhere read an article on the use of boiling hot water in chloroform poisoning and the consequent syncope. The water was fortunately at hand, boiling on the stove, and though he thought his patient dead, he at once dipped into it a towel, and folding it up, scalding his hands, placed it over the heart; in a few seconds redipped, and again applied the towel. At once, as if by magic, signs of life began to appear, and it was but a few moments till she was breathing naturally, and the pulse was regular and normal. She was now perfectly rational and quiet, and with the exception of a slight nausea, which lasted some three or four hours, had no further trouble. He then examined her heart carefully, but could detect no organic trouble.

A PESSIMISTIC VIEW OF THE THERAPEUTICS OF CHOLERA.-Dr. D. B. Simmons. who has had a large experience in the treatment of cholera in many of the countries of Eastern Asia, from Japan to India, does not entertain a very hopeful view of success in the management of the disease should it visit our land. He is frequently asked what is the best treatment of cholera, and says he is accustomed to preface his answer with the following statement: "The statistics of the late epidemic in Europe furnish a mortality of fifty per cent. My own statistics of the mortality in Asia give the same average rate of fifty per cent. In the former case the majority of the patients received treatment directed by men well informed

concerning all the remedial agents known to modern scientific medicine. In the latter class, however, not one patient in a thousand was seen by physicians of the western school. In fact great numbers of them were not visited by doctors of any school, preferring to put their trust in charms and prayers to their various divinities, having from long experience had quite as much reason for belief in the curative powers of one as of the other. I take it for granted that it is not necessary for me to add the moral to the above."-N. Y. Med. Record.

THE ROSE-COLORED ERUPTION NOT CHARACTERISTIC OF TYPHOID FEVER. Dr. Juhel Renoy relates in the Archives Generales de Medicine for October, 1884, two cases in which the typical rose-colored eruption was present, but in which there was no typhoid fever. In one case there was diarrhea and fever, but the temperature curve was not that of typhoid, and at the autopsy no typhoid lesions were discoverable. The author concludes, therefore, that the presence of the rose-colored lenticular spots is not necessarily a sign of typhoid fever, since the eruption may occur in other febrile conditions. He suggests that possibly the eruption is due to some derangement of the cutaneous secretion--Med. Record, Dec. 27, 1884.

[The editor of this JOURNAL reported a case, several years ago, of sub-acute peritonitis, due to suppuration of an ovarian cyst, in which the symptoms, until towards the close of life, closely resembled those of typhoid fever, even to the occurrence of the rose-colored spots. J. F. B.]

BURNS-Pure carbolic acid applied to a burned or scalded surface instantly relieves all pain and tendency to inflammation. It seems to make very little difference whether the skin is broken or not. If there are blebs filled with serum, evacuate them and with a mop apply the acid all over the surface and a little out on the edge. If the wound has existed for several hours and is suppurating, wash it clean, dry with pressure of a clean, soft cloth, and apply as above. No fears as to its burning need be had. It seems to act as a powerful anesthetic, drying the surface and astringing the vessels; the new, white, burnt (by the acid) skin stays until a new skin forms under it, when it peels off. -Ben. H, Brodnax, M. D., in Miss. Val. Med. Mo.

DIFFICULTY OF DIAGNOSIS BETWEEN PLEURISY AND PNEUMONIA IN CHILDREN.-Dr. J. Lewis Smith related the following case, and requested Dr. Northrup to give an account of the post mortem : An infant, aged eleven months, had been ailing for two months with the whooping-cough. Ten days preceding the 24th of the month the bronchitis accompanying the whooping-cough became aggravated. Then, in addition to capillary bronchitis, there was an almost flat percussion sound over the right side of the chest except anteriorly, where the dullness was less marked. He supposed, therefore, that the child had pleurisy with effusion. The attending physician afterward aspirated the chest and failed to withdraw any fluid. Dr. Smith was obliged, then, to accept the probable diagnosis of pneumonia with thick fibrinous exudation over the lung. The difficulty often existed of distinguishing between pneumonia and pleurisy with effusion in children under fifteen months of age. In the present instance, as in many cases, no enlargement of the affected side could be noticed; not even bulging in the intercostal spaces.

Dr. Northrup then gave the results of the autopsy. The lungs were much more than usually compressed, and were slightly adherent anteriorly. In the pleural cavity was a pint of greenish-yellow fluid containing pus. The lung was so carnified that it scarcely rose to the surface of the water. Dr. Northrup said there were records of as many as from seventy-five to one hundred post-mortem examinations on the books of the asylum in which a mistake had been made between pleurisy and pneumonia in children.-N. Y. Med. Jour.

ERGOT AS A MEANS OF DIAGNOSIS.-Dr. J. W. Elliot in reporting five cases of ovariotomy in the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, notes a use of ergot which seems orginal with him. There was a very hard, immovable tumor, larger than a hen's egg, in the hollow of the sacrum somewhat to the right side. The uterus was three and a half inches deep and in left lateral retroversion. The tumor and uterus seemed blended in one mass. It was very difficult to determine what the tumor was and to what it was attached. To assist in determiuing this point Dr. Elliot administered ergotin pills until the uterus became fully and firmly contracted, when he found that organ harder than the tumor and of decidedly

different consistency; from which he was led to conclude that the tumor was not growing from the uterus but only crowded against it.-Weekly Med. Review.

CHLORATE OF POTASSIUM TO PREVENT ABORTION.-Dr. E. S. McKee reports (Lancet and Clinic) the case of a woman who aborted ten times consecutively, having conceived twice by one husband and eight times by another. These abortions occurred in the period between the fifth and eighth month. Seeking professional aid when pregnant for the eleventh time, Dr. McKee could find no evidence of syphilitic or other disease to account for the repeated abortions. Chlorate of potassium was ordered, in doses of fifteen grains three times a day, and was continued with but few intermissions until the end of pregnancy, when a healthy boy was born.

In the following pregnancy the same treatment resulted in the birth of a healthy boy at term. His opinion is that the abortions were due to fatty degeneration of the placenta, which in the last two pregnancies was prevented by the chlorate of potassium.

FORCE OF LABOR PAINS.-Schatz, at the fifty-seventh meeting of the Gynecological Section of the German Naturalists and Physicians at Magdeburg, asserted that the intra-uterine pressure caused by uterine contraction only in rare instances reaches a height of four inches of mercury, or about four feet of water pressure, equalling about two pounds per square inch; never more than that; generally it reaches only one-half or two-thirds of the maximum.

COCAINE IN VAGINISMUS.-M. Cazin reported to the last meeting of the Paris Surgical Society that a patient, married many years, suffered from such a degree of vaginismus that marital intercourse had never taken place. The vulva and vagina were painted with a solution of cocaine, with the result that the hyperesthesia was so diminished that an attempt was at last successful.

INFLAMED MAMMA.-(Dr. Whitla, Belfast.) R Ext. belladonna, 3j; Glycerin. q.s. Fiat applicat. Sig. A little to be spread upon lint and applied to the inflamed breast and covered with oiled silk.

VOMITING IN PREGNANCY-COCAINE.-A weak solution of cocaine is now recommended for this affection.

EDITORIAL Department.

J. F. BALDWIN, M. D., Columbus,

EDITOR.

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COLLEGE COMMENCEMENTS.

Music was

The Columbus Medical College had its tenth annual commencement in Comstock's Opera House, on the evening of March 3. furnished by Prof. Bayer's orchestra. Rev. W. E. Moore offered prayer. Pres. W. H. Scott delivered the address of the occasion, his theme being a metaphysical one. Degrees were conferred on 18 graduates, by Pres. Moore; after which Dr. Howard Jones addressed the class briefly on behalf of the faculty. He made a very pretty turn by comparing their diplomas to marriage certificates, wedding them to their profession. After adjournment, the students and faculty partook of a lunch prepared for them at Dr. Hamilton's.

No prizes had been offered, and none were awarded.

The number of matriculates, as well as of graduates, for the session just closed, was much smaller than for any previous session since this school was organized.

Starling Medical College celebrated its thirty-eighth anniversary at the same place on the evening of March 4. Music was furnished by the orchestra. Rev. Francis Marsten offered prayer. Diplomas were then conferred by the President of the Board on thirty graduates. Prizes were next awarded as follows: For highest scholarship, $50, to Wilbur F. Hoyt, of Grand Rapids, Mich.; for best thesis, $25, to C. E. Haworth, of Ravenswood, W. Va.; for best report of Prof. Loving's clinics, $25, to C. R. Vanderburg, of Columbus; for best report of Prof. Halderman's clinics, $30 pocket surgical case, to J. L. Sammons, of Alippo, Pa.