Page images
PDF
EPUB

COCA BASES.-W. H. R., Chicago, Ill., writes to the editor of The Coca Leaf: "In the analysis of Vin Mariani I notice 'Coca bases.' If this means the alkaloid cocaine, why not say so plainly?"

"Coca bases" means precisely what it designates, i. e., alkaloidal bases of the Coca leaf, of which cocaine is but one among many. The several Coca bases, while chemically analogous, differ markedly from each other in physiological action. Thus, while cocaine acts chiefly upon the central nervous system, other Coca alkaloids, as ecgonine, benzoyl ecgonine, hygrine cinnamyl-cocaine, etc., act directly to stimulate muscle fibre, while having little if any anesthetic action, direct or remote.

The alkaloidal yield of Coca varies with the quality as well as with the variety of leaf used. The large Bolivian leaf being rich in cocaine to the exclusion of the other alkaloids, is employed by chemists for the extraction of cocaine, while the small leaf varieties inversely, being low in cocaine and rich in aromatic bodies and those alkaloids which act upon muscle, are employed medicinally for such physiological properties. A blending of these latter varieties of aromatic Coca is employed in the preparation of Vin Mariani. It is the refinement of selection of appropriate Coca from long years of experience and skill in its preservation and manufacture, to which this unique tonic owes its restorative properties.- The Coca Leaf, March, 1905.

AN ANGEL OF LIGHT OR A DEMon of DarknesS-WHICH? Every student of psychology is familiar with the "influence of mind over matter." We see this in the sick-room as physicians we know—"a pleasant face doeth good like medicine," and we are strongly inclined to believe that the personality of the medical attendant has as much to do with his success - either in his institutional or private practice — as his professional attainments. It should be the effort of every practitioner, when he can conscientiously do so, to instil his optimism into the mind of his patient. It is related of a distinguished London physician that he was called to see the wife of a prominent and well-known member of society. (The said physician prided himself on what he was pleased to call his "bed-side manners.") After he had left the sick-room the husband asked his wife how she liked the physician; she besought her husband not to call him again, as he reminded her of the undertaker.—L. D. Mason, M. D., in Journal of Inebriety.

MALARIAL CACHEXIA.-The cachexia resulting from malaria is often persistent, even after the active cause has been controlled. In such cases, Gray's Glycerine Tonic Compound proves of great service in stimulating the reconstructive powers of the blood. The toxins resulting from the malarial hemolysis are rapidly eliminated, and increased impetus is given to the restoration of normal red blood cells.

THE SENSIBLE TREATMENT OF LA GRIPPE AND ITS SEQUELA. The following suggestions for the treatment of La Grippe will not be amiss at this time when there seems to be a prevalence of it and its allied complaints. The patient is usually seen when the fever is present, as the chill, which occasionally ushers in the disease, has generally passed away. First of all the bowels should be opened freely by some saline draught. For the severe headache, pain, and general soreness give one Antikamnia Tablet, or if the pain is very severe, two tablets should be given. Repeat every two or three hours as required. Often a single dose is followed with almost complete relief. If after the fever has subsided, the pain, muscular soreness, and nervousness continue, the most desirable medicines to relieve these and to meet the indications for a tonic, are Antikamnia and Quinine Tablets, each containing two and one half grains antikamnia and two and one half grains quinine. One tablet three or four times a day will usually answer every purpose until health is restored. Dr. C. A. Bryce, editor of The Southern Clinic has found much benefit to result from Antikamnia and Codeine Tablets, administered for the relief of all neuroses of the larynx, bronchial as well as the deep-seated coughs, which are so often among the most prominent symptoms. In fact, for the troublesome coughs which so frequently follow or hang on after an attack of influenza, and as a winter remedy in the troublesome conditions of the respiratory tract, there is no better relief than one or two Antikamnia and Codeine Tablets slowly dissolved upon the tongue, swallowing the saliva.

NEW ORLEANS POLYCLINIC - Post-Graduate Department of Tulane Medical College.-The twentieth annual session opens November 5, 1906, and closes May 18, 1907. This school is intended for practitioners only. All instruction aims to be clinical and practical, and to this end, use will be made of the vast facilities offered at the great Charity Hospital, at the Eye, Ear, Nose, and Throat Hospital, and at the Special Clinics to be held at the Polyclinic.

Physicians in the interior, who, by reason of their isolation, have been deprived of all hospital facilities, will find the Polyclinic an excellent means for posting themselves upon the status of the science of medicine and surgery of the day.

Those desirous of perfecting themselves in any special department or of becoming familiar with the use of any of the allied branches, such as Electricity or Microscopy, will be afforded every facility.

For information address NEW ORLEANS POLYCLINIC, P. O. Box 797, New Orleans, La.

AFTER OPERATIONS.-After an operation, be it simple or severe, it is always good practice to reinforce a patient's vitality. Gray's Glycerine Tonic Compound is eminently useful for this purpose.

THE THERAPEUTIC PROPERTIES OF SENG have been favorably commented on by many practitioners, especially as to its availability in atonic dyspepsia. Dr. J. W. McNabb claims that it is not so good in fermentative dyspepsia, but contends that in all cases dependent on want of tone or lack of peptic secretions it is a valuable remedy. He states that in convalescence from fever, enteric disorders and a general run down condition, the action of Seng is most perfect.

THE NEUTRALITy and General PURITY of the salts entering the composition of Peacock's Bromides have been attested to by eminent chemists. This assurance of its purity and uniformity is of great moment to the general practitioner when he desires to employ a continuous bromide treatment. It is a palatable preparation, and as each fluid drachm contains fifteen grains of the combined bromides, the dose is easily adjusted.

IN PRESCRIBING the products of manufacturing pharmacists, we should be guided to a great extent by the business standing of the manufacturers. No other house in the South or West has a better reputation for strict integrity than the Robinson-Pettet Company, Louisville, Ky. We do not hesitate to recommend the preparations advertised by them on advertising page 17, this issue.

THE SOUTHERN SURGICAL AND GYNECOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION will hold its nineteenth annual meeting at the Hotel Belvidere, Baltimore, Md., on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, Dec. 11, 12, and 13, 1906. Dr. Geo. H. Noble, Atlanta, Ga., President; Dr. W. D. Haggard, Nashville, Tenn., Secretary; and Dr. Howard Kelley, of Baltimore, Chairman of the Committee of Arrangements.

The preliminary program indicates a most pleasant, agreeable, and profitable meeting.

CLOSE OF OUR TWENTY-EIGHTH VOLUME.

WELL, here we are at the close of our labors with our twenty-eighth volume, and although it seems but yesterday since we commenced our journalistic career, we can look back on the past with feelings of sincere gratification that we have been permitted year after year to retain the friendship and esteem of our readers for so long a period. We have from the first issue of this journal earnestly endeavored to make each number and each successive volume better than its predecessor. Just how well we have succeeded is markedly manifested by the continued success that has been accorded. This success is mainly if not altogether due to the kindness and encouragement of the friends we have made, and the ability of our contributors; the appreciation of which we have endeavored to mani

fest by spending more time and money each year in bringing out our publication.

The year now closing, like its predecessors since 1879, has been more satisfactory in every point of view than any that have gone before. The two indices of success in any periodical are its subscription list and its advertising patrons; both of which have reached the highest mark yet in the year now closing.

The year has been an unusually satisfactory one in the South. Notwithstanding we have had in some localities an excess of rainfall, some severe wind-storms, aye, even destructive and devastating tornadoes, yet the crops of all kinds have been unusually large in their yield; and there is more money in the South than at any time in its history. For some years past we have had a phenomenal economical growth in the South; our cities and towns throbbing with new life, our fields teeming with abundant and profitable harvests, our mineral deposits adding their valuable treasures, and manufacturing establishments here and there, all giving an aspect to Southern development far in advance of anything in past years. With the development of our natural resources and the introduction of foreign capital added to our home profits and gains, has come an influx of new people to be added to our natural increase; and the hum of industry, the jar, jam, and jostle of business enterprises on every side, the rush and roar of loaded trains, the crowded sidewalks in any of our Southern cities, all go to more than demonstrate increased and greatly enlarged industries, and a prosperous condition far in advance of any previous times; which with the prospective opening of the great Panama canal, the re-alignment of the commercial routes of the world, and our natural and unsurpassed innate advantages, will draw additional attention to this magnificent portion of a great country, and will result in still larger investments, which will bring increased wealth, prosperity, and population to the South. Industrial success is indeed a present reality.

So with a pleasant year now closing, and a bright out-look ahead, sincerely thanking our many friends and readers for their many kindnesses in the past, we wish them one and all a “right merrie Christmas and a happy New Year."

Reviews and Book Jotices.

PRACTICAL DERMATOLOGY.

A Condensed Manual of Diseases of the Skin; Designed for the Use of Students and Practitioners of Medicine. By BERNARD WOLFF, M. D., Clinical Professor of Diseases of the Skin in the Atlanta College of Physicians and Surgeons; Editor of the Atlanta Journal-Record of Medicine; Ex-President of the Atlanta (Ful

ton County) Society of Medicine; Ex-Secretary of the Georgia State Commission on Tuberculosis, Etc. Illustrated. Standard octavo; 250 pages. Cloth, $2.50; half morocco, $3.50. Cleveland Press, Publishers, 346 Ogden Ave., Chicago, Ill., 1906.

The purpose of this valuable work is to present in miniature the salient features of diseases of the skin. In its preparation the standard text-books as well as the smaller manuals have been freely consulted and the latest and most authoritative views as to the origin, course, and treatment of the diseases considered have been briefly and concisely stated. The book will prove of material service to both students and practitioners. It is handsomely printed, well bound, and most beautifully illustrated. The author has dedicated the work to that master in dermatology, P. G. Unna, of Hamburg, Germany. One hundred excellent formulæ add no little to the value of the work.

RETINOSCOPY, OR SHADOW TEST. By JAS. THORINGTON, A. M., M. D., Author of Refraction and How to Refract; The Ophthalmoscope, and How to Use It; Professor of Diseases of the Eye in the Philadelphia Polyclinic and School for Graduates; etc., etc. Fifth edition, revised and enlarged, with 54 illustrations, ten of which are colored; 8vo, cloth, pp. 67, price $1.00, net. P. Blakiston's Son & Co., Publishers, 1012 Walnut St., Philadelphia, 1906.

The author has presented the principles of the " Shadow Test " in the determination of refraction in the clearest possible manner, and his directions and instructions are admirably conceived and expressed. The student is told in a plain and practical manner just how to conduct the examination, and in the little brochure a remarkably simple and practical description of the “Shadow Test," is presented, which we can most heartily commend.

BLAKISTON'S QUIZ-COMPENDS.

A Compend of Genito-Urinary Diseases and Syphilis, including their Surgery and Treatment, by CHAS. S. HIRSCH, M. D., Assistant in the Genito-Urinary Surgical Department, Jefferson Medical College. 12m0., pp. 351, cloth, illustrated, price $1.00. P. Blakiston's Son & Co., Publishers, 1012 Walnut St., Philadelphia, 1906. Although this is a "compend," the author has endeavored to make it something more than a compend, knowing that many practitioners will gladly welcome a compact work that treats of

« PreviousContinue »