sordes-covered teeth by inspissated mucus and saliva; the tongue dry, or even glazed and hard, brown or black, crusted with a foetid fur. Under such circumstances, a pigment, containing boric acid (30 grains), chlorate of potassium (20 grains), lemon-juice (5 fluid drachms), and glycerine (3 fluid drachms), yields very comforting results. When the teeth are well rubbed with this, the sordes quickly and easily become detached; little harm will follow from the acid present. The boric acid attacks the masses of bacilli and bacteria; the chlorate of potassium cools and soothes the mucous membrane; the glycerine and lemon-juice moisten the parts, and aid the salivary secretion. I consider this application well worth a trial. So much for the soft parts; a word in conclusion regarding the teeth. Few medical men, I suppose, have ever given a prescription for a tooth-powder (such a matter is beneath their notice), and the selection of the ingredients for the various powders and pastes in vogue for the purpose of beautifying and cleansing the teeth is left entirely in the hands of those who certainly should not know better than medical men. I have frequently trespassed on this debatable ground, and recommended a particular dentifrice. In view of the extremely important part the teeth play in the economy of life, I never hesitate occasionally to inquire as to the attention they receive. A tooth-powder should possess certain characteristics; it should be antiseptic, cooling, agreeable to taste and smell, and have no injurious action on the teeth. After use, it should leave the teeth white, and a sensation of freshness and cleanliness in the mouth. As an antiseptic in this connection, nothing can displace boric acid. For years I have used the following powder, and can recommend it: Boric acid, finely powdered, 40 grs.; chlorate of potassium, 3ss; powdered guiacum, 20 grs.; prepared chalk, 3i; powdered carbonate of magnesia, to 31; otto of roses, half a drop. The boric acid in solution gets between the teeth and the edges of the gums, and there it discharges its antiseptic functions; the chlorate and guaiacum contribute their quota to the benefit of the gums and mucous membrane generally; the chalk is the insoluble powder to detach the particles of tartar which may be present, and the magnesia the more soluble soft powder which cannot harm the softest enamel. It is only right to say that boroglyceride (Barff) can replace boric acid in almost all the forms of administration I have enumerated; it is efficacious, sightly, and pleasant to the taste.-A. D. Macgregor, M.B., in Brit. Med. Jour. per DOCTORING AN AFRICAN KING.-The following extract is from the correspondence of the Scottish Geographical Magazine: "It is no joke to be doctor to the King of Uganda, for whenever I took him a new supply of medicine I had always to take a dose myself, and to administer one to seven of the sons who might happen to be present. Should one of the seven unfortunates die within a week, it would be considered that I had attempted to poison the king. If the king had to take a pill, I had always to hold two in my hand; he chose one, and I had to swallow the other, unless I had a friend with me who kindly undertook the office. I soon noticed, however, that Mtesa also chose the smaller, so I arranged accordingly. One day Mtesa played me a nice trick. I had been to the palace to take him a lotion, and had warned him particularly not to drink it. After I had left he sent a page after me with a gourd of mwengi, asking me to taste it, and say if he might have some. I did so, and said, "Yes." being a very hot afternoon, my friend drank the remainder; but it soon became evident that the king had doctored the wine, for my friend became violently sick. It turned out afterward that Mtesa wished to see what effect the lotion would have upon me."-Med. News. It DR. BEDFORD BROWN, writing in the Jour. Amer. Med. Association on the therapeutic action of the oil of turpentine in the more painful affections of the digestive organs of infants and young children, says of this remedy in the dysentery of infancy: In the primary stages of acute dysentery, when the symptoms are violent and accompanied with much fever, tenesmus and pain, the acute features may be much modified by the use of minute doses of mercury (mild chloride), ipecac, and bicarbonate of soda, followed by the tartrate of soda and potash in sufficient quantity to clear the intestinal tract effectually. This procedure relieves the intense engorgement of the mucous membrane of the large intestines promptly before disorganization begins, and diminishes inflammatory action, and improves the state of the secretions. The powers of digestion and the febrile conditions are also benefited by the proceeding. The following formula may then be resorted to with infinite benefit: R Mucilag. acac, fzi; ol. terebinth, fɔ̃ss; ol. ricini, fɔ̃ss; aq. menth. pip., f5iij. M. Sig.-A teaspoonful to a child of six months every three hours. In connection with this treatment, anodyne enemata, composed of tinet. opium and mucilage, should be resorted to, to allay pain and procure sleep. In the advanced stages of this affection, when the fever assumes a depressed type, the general system begins to suffer seriously from emaciation and constant fever, when the tongue becomes red and dry, indicating great general prostration and a tendency to disorganization of the mucous membrane involved in the inflammation, in my experience the turpentine is among the best agents for arresting this state of affairs, and turning the tide in the direction of health and of re-establishing a reparative process. In some cases, in the stages of disorganization, I have combined the oil of turpentine with the oil of yellow sandalwood with positive benefit. It may be found also advantageous to combine the turpentine with other agents of an anodyne, alkaline, astringent or antiseptic character. The local anesthetic or anodyne influence of the oil of turpentine on the gastro-intestinal mucous membrane is very considerable, which adds greatly to its value as a remedial agent in the treatment of this class of affections. ICE CREAM POISONING.-One by one does science take from us our dietetic luxuries and ruthlessly compel us to fall back upon the primitive dietary of our ancestors. Canned fruits have long since been condemned. Preserved meats have developed ptomaines, oatmeal has recently become indigesti ble, confectionery has been found to contain poisonous extracts, and it seems as if articles of food in order to become injurious to health, have only to undergo analysis at the hands of the chemist. This almost invariably renders them poisonous, and therefore unfit for use. It is not surprising therefore, that, after the several cases of unpleasantness following the eating of ice cream, there should arise men who have found evident causes of such accidents. Naturally, there are differences of opinion as to the nature of the poison, some contending that it exists in the flavoring, some that it is ptomaine, and others that it is a microbe which invariably fol lows in the wake of Sunday-school picnics and overtakes its victims at the close of the exercises. Some authorities have held that the microbe of religious picnics is an entirely dif ferent species from that which accompanies Masonic and military encampments, yet it would be impossible at the present stage of the investigation to give an authoritative opinion. One observer has recently so far lost his self-respect as to discard all belief in the germ theory of the affection and asserts that it is nothing else than a species of cholera morbus superinduced by the indiscretions usually committed at such gatherings. This theory will naturally be most summarily squelched by those interested in truly scientific medicine. It would appear that ice cream poison has with few exceptions been active only during the present year and will have its peculiar action only amid the surroundings of the camp ground. It is also true that we have not yet been fully enlightened regarding the properties of this new substance or the methods by which it may be separated and studied. Until such information is forthcoming, it seems hardly possible to protect the public from the wiles of the ice cream manufactPerhaps, indeed, it would do no harm to partake sparingly until competent men have decided just how dangerous it may be.-New Eng. Med. Monthly. urer. THE PROPOSED CONGRESS OF AMERICAN PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS. The recent action taken by certain societies in trying to form a new national society only goes to show that specialism in this country, from the attacks made upon it by the medical press showing up the ridiculous character of its pretensions, is on the retreat, and barring a few devoted to the eye and ear, there will, in a few years, be no such person as a specialist. These gentlemen have no one to blame for this result but themselves. The profession has become tired of being told that the specialist is the only one competent to diagnose and treat any special case. The specialists (many coming out of college without any preliminary practice) flaunt in front of the hard-working general practitioner of years the idea that he is not competent to do what the self-styled specialist can do. This is folly, and the profession have so decided, and the specialists must go. We have no use for them. If they really have at heart the interest of the profession, instead of forming a coalition for self-protection, they would join the special Sections of the American Medical Association. But no, they all want to be big guns, have a little society of their own and pull the wires to suit themselves. Well, wait and see how it will turn out! The future is not hard to predict.-New Eng. Med. Monthly. PRESERVATION OF DEAD BODIES.-Edward I, who died in 1307, was found not decayed 463 years subsequently. The flesh, on the face was a little wasted, but not putrid. The body of Canute, who died in 1017, was found fresh in 1766. That of William the Conqueror and his wife were perfect in 1522. In 1569 three Roman soldiers, in the dress of their country, fully equipped with arms, were dug out of a peat-moss near Aberdeen. They were quite fresh and plump after a lapse of about fifteen hundred years. In 1717 the bodies of Lady Kilsyth and her infant were emboweled and embalmed. In 1796 they were found as perfect as in the hour they were entombed. Every feature and limb was full. The infant's features were as composed as if he had only been asleep for eighty years. His color was as fresh and his flesh as plump and full as in the perfect glow of health. The smile of infancy and innocency was on his lips. At a little distance it was difficult to distinguish whether Lady Kilsyth was alive or dead.-Gaillard's Monthly. OIL OF EUCALYPTUS IN MALARIAL AFFECTIONS.-Dr. J. H. Musser, in a series of valuable tables, details the particulars of seventy-two cases of malarial affections in which the oil of eucalyptus was used, and arrives at the following conclu sions: 1. That the oil of eucalyptus is of decided value in about thirty-three and one third per cent. of all cases of intermittent malarial fever. 2. That the longer the duration of the disease, the less liable is it to do good. 3. That relapses are not prevented by it. 4. That its influence on the spleen has not been demonstrated. 5. That a dose of ten drops four times daily has been a sufficient dose, but that five drops every three hours would be of greater value, possibly. 6. That good results are not obtained as quickly as by large doses of quinine, but that a good effect should be observed within five days at least. - Therapeutic Gazette. DR. BARTHOLOW'S INSULT TO SOUTHERN ILLINOIS.-In the Maryland Med. Jour. for September 4, is found the following extract from Professor Bartholow's address before the University of Maryland Alumni Association in 1882: "An uncouth and ignorant people would not appreciate, would not indeed understand, a polished physician, full of the culture of the schools. Prof. Charcot and Sir William Jenner equipped with all the resources of scientific medicine, would fail to please the people of Egypt in Southern Illinois, when a botanical physician, with lobelia and No. 6, would excite their enthusiastic admiration." This is a gratuitous slander of a most intelligent section of a State renowned for its advance in science and general education. The probabilities are that the requirements of its board of health are becoming too severe for the college in which this man is permitted to act as Dean. The West was |