unsuitable, and the latter unnecessary. The method of carrying out the practice is exceedingly simple. An ordinary syphon syringe is the only instrument required, though we now use one with a long vulcanite nozzle, specially constructed for vaginal and intra-uterine injection. This is carried up to the fundus, and, with the usual precautions against injecting air, and securing a free return, we inject water as hot as can be conveniently borne by the hand, i. e., about 112° F., in a full stream into the cavity, continuing this until a good contraction is secured, and the water returns quite clear and colorless. Dr. Atthill gives the following as some of the results of his experience in the use of hot water :

I. In cases of sudden and violent hemorrhage in a strong and plethoric woman, it is better first to use cold.

II. Where, from the prolonged and injudicious use of cold, the patient is found shivering and depressed, the beneficial effect of injecting hot water is rapid and remarkable.

III. In nervous, depressed and anæmic women, hot water may at once be injected without previously injecting cold.

IV. In cases of abortion, where, from uterine inertia, the ovum, although separated from the uterine wall, is wholly or in part retained, the injection of hot water is generally followed by the most satisfactory results.

V. Where the injection of the perchloride of iron is considered necessary, previous injection of hot water clears the uterus of clots, etc., permitting the fluid to come directly in contact with the bleeding surface, and lessening the danger of septic absorption.-Chicago Medical Review.

THE EFFECTS OF RECOVERY ON THE DOCTOR'S FEES.

A Dakota Territory doctor relates the following instructive bit of experience. It illustrates a curious psychological fact, which no medical gentleman can fail to have noticed, viz., that generosity is a virtue peculiar to the diseased body. The moral of the story is, strike for your fee while the iron's hot, for when the metal cools the generous soul cools with it:

I was called at midnight to see a gentleman who had just returned from a late dinner, where, in hasty eating, he had

lodged a large fish-bone in his throat. I provided myself with an emetic, oesophagus forceps, and other paraphernalia designed to give him relief, and hurried off to him. I found him pacing up and down with a look of intense distress and anxiety, occasionally running his fingers down his throat and gagging. He told me in tones of despair, that he thought it was all up with him, but begged me, if the least glimmer of hope remained, to proceed at once in my efforts to relieve him. He extravagantly declared that he would give a million dollars to have that fish-bone removed. I assured him that such cases were frequent, and ordinarily not attended with much danger, before proceeding to carry out measures for his relief. His fears underwent some diminution on the strength of this, and he then declared that fifty thousand dollars would no more than repay the skill and art required to extricate the unwelcome intruder. I smiled, and proceeded to introduce the forceps, but after several efforts failed to grasp the bone. His fears again induced him to mention a fabulous sum as the meed of the service that would expel the object of his terrors. I then gave him the emetic; its depressing effects causing his generosity to rise again, barometer-like, to a very high pressure. In a little while, the emetic disburdened him of the greater part of his dinner, and with it up came the fish-bone. He gave a sigh and look of relief, and, solemnly looking toward me, said: Doctor, I would not have that thing in my throat again for five dollars!' My fee eventually resolved itself into the valuable experience' that the occasion afforded me."-Michigan Medical News.

THERAPEUTIC USE OF PILOCARPIN IN SKIN DISEASES.

Professor Pick, editor of the Vierteljahrssehrift fur Dermatologie und Syphilis, gives, in the first number of his journal for the current year, some account of his experience in the use of pilocarpin in certain diseases of the skin. The drug was given in the dose of 0.01 gramme (1-7 grain) in aqueous solution, morning and evening, an hour after meals, the patient being in bed, or, in summer-time, walking about. Increased salivary secretion was first observed, and, a few minutes later,

increased perspiration. In a few cases, one or the other was absent. After three or four weeks, the medicine seemed to lose its effect, so that a larger dose had to be given. No evil effect was noted, and, in some cases, the patient's general health seemed to be improved by the medicine. In psoriasis, no effect whatever seemed to be induced upon the course of the disease. In acute eczema, pilocarpin aggravated the disease, while in chronic eczema some advantage seemed to be gained by its use. In pruritus cutaneus, and particularly in one very severe case of pruritus vulvæ, pilocarpin acted favorably. In a single case of chronic and rebellious urticaria, pilocarpin, given in one-tenth grain dose twice daily, resulted in a cure. In the case of a man suffering from well-marked alopecia areata of six months' standing, a two weeks' course of pilocarpin was followed by the appearance of fine, colorless lanugo, and by the end of twelve weeks the hair was restored. Other cases appeared to be equally favorably effected. In ten cases of alopecia "pityrodes," a favorable result was obtained; so that this remedy may be looked upon as a satisfactory one in cases where a strong hereditary tendency to baldness does not exist.-Phila. Med. Times.

ELIXIR CHLOROFORMI COMPOSITUS.

Dr.

Dr. W. F. McNutt communicates the following formula to the San Francisco Western Lancet as an excellent substitute for the celebrated secret nostrum known as "Collis Brown's Chlorodyne," the objections to which are that it is very expensive in this country; it is not a perfect mixture, as it separates; it is too concentrated to be safe for general use; and, principally, it is a patent medicine, the exact formula for which is unknown. McNutt states that in whooping cough, asthma, emphysema, cough of many phthisical patients, in many cases of hysteria, and especially in many cases of dysmenorrhoea it has no equal. Given as an anodyne, it seldom produces headache or disturbance of the digestion, as does morphine, or depresses the heart's action, as does hydrate of chloral. In diarrhoea accompanied with cramping pains and tormina, in teaspoonful doses, repeated every two or three hours, it generally acts quickly

and satisfactorily. In many cases of diarrhoea in children, a few drops of the elixir, together with a few drops of castor oil and wine of ipecac, in syrup of acacia, makes a most efficient remedy :

A convenient method of preserving ice in the sick room is as follows: Tie a piece of flannel round the mouth of an ordinary tumbler, so as to leave a cup-shaped depression of flannel within the tumbler to about half its depth. In such a flannel cup, ice may be preserved for many hours, and still longer if care is taken to cover the ice over with a piece of flannel. Cheap, open-mesh flannel is preferable, as the water easily drains through it, thus keeping the ice quite dry. When breaking the ice into small pieces, use a common needle. By forcing this into the ice, within a half-inch of the edge all round, it may be broken up easily and noiselessly; indeed, it is quite surprising to one who tries it for the first time. It will break ice more cleanly and more effectually than hitting with a large hammer.-Druggists' Advertiser.

SLEEPLESSNESS.

The following is recommended as a cure for sleeplessness: Wet half a towel, apply it to the back of the neck, pressing it upward toward the base of the brain, and fasten the dry half of the towel over so as to prevent the too rapid exhalation. The effect is prompt and charming, cooling the brain, and inducing calmer, sweeter sleep than any narcotic. Warm water may be used, though most persons prefer cold. To

those who suffer from over-excitement of the brain, whether the result of brain-work or pressing anxiety, this simple remedy has proved an especial boon. Med. Press and Circular.

BROMIDE OF POTASSIUM SPRAY IN WHOOPING-COUGH.

The good effects of bromide of potassium in the treatment of whooping-cough are well-known to all practitioners. According to Dr. Wintreben (La France Medicale), the action of this remedy may be made still more efficacious by bringing it in contact with the mucous membrane of the air passage in the form of spray. The author habitually uses a solution of bromide of potassium, one in twenty, and repeats the application of the spray for one minute after each fit of coughing, when the mucous membrane of the breath passages, free from the mucous which usually covers it, is accessible to the action of the remedy.-Medical Press and Circular.

SALICYLIC ACID AS AN ANTHELMINTIC.

Dr. Tlyin has used this acid successfully in a number of cases of tænia. He begins with 3j. of castor oil in the evening. In the course of the following day the patient takes from 3 ss. to 3j. of salicylic acid, and in the evening another dose of castor oil. Ouly in a single case was it necessary to repeat the treatment.-Meditz. Obozrenie, April, 1880.

SURGERY.

SPINAL DISEASE-METHOD OF APPLYING A PLASTER-OF-PARIS JACKET IN THE RECUMBENT POSTURE.

The following method is a modification of Dr. Walker's, of Peterborough. The best material for the bandages is Victoria lawn, but not too close in texture; and four yards is a convenient length for them. The plaster should be well rubbed into the bandages, but it is desirable to have a considerable quantity besides loose on the surface of the bandages. Shortly before the jacket is to be put on, the patient should have a full meal, thus putting "a pad" of the correct size inside, instead of Sayre's "dinner-pad" outside. The patient, hav