even ENEMATA IN THE TREATMEnt of DIARRHEA.-In an editorial article the Therapeutic Gazette says: "We believe that large rectal injections, or injections of sufficient size to wash out the sigmoid flexure and colon, are not sufficiently resorted to, particularly in those cases of diarrhea in which a catarrhal element is well marked. In these catarrhal cases it will generally be found that, mixed with the watery portion of the discharge, there is more or less mucus in strings or flakes, which indicates as a rule that a certain amount of the trouble at least is situated in the colon. While the rule is by no means an absolute one, the presence of large quantities of mucus indicates very strongly that the whole trouble is in the larger bowel. It is evident, therefore, that the use of drugs by the mouth is a very indirect way of influencing the diseased area, since the medicament must pass through the esophagus, the stomach, the duodenum, and the small intestine before it arrives at the point where its therapeutic efficacy is to be developed. On the other hand, good results are attained if large clysters are given by means of a hydrostatic syringe elevated not more than eighteen inches or two feet above the rectum. Such treatment will frequently control the movements, limiting them to one or two in twenty-four hours, if the fluid character of the stool remains unchanged. Various substances have been employed dissolved in the water to be injected. Some of them have not only a powerful local action, but in addition are capable on absorption of producing widespread influences throughout the body. Among these may be mentioned salicylic acid and its relatives, nitrate of silver, iodoform, when given in oil emulsion, and some of the vegetable astringents. The substance which has always given us the best results under these circumstances is the sulpho-carbolate of zinc in the proportion of ten to thirty grains to an injection amounting to from two to three quarts. In some instances the water should be tepid, in others it should be as hot as the bowel can stand, and in still others it should be quite cold, the temperature of the injection depending largely upon the acuteness of the inflammatory process and the sensations of the patient, for in the same way that an application of cold water is grateful to a sprained ankle of one individual, while another prefers hot water, so does one patient get comfort from cold injections and another from heated ones. If the water be cold, care should be taken that undue chilling of the body does not result in feeble persons, or if hot, on the other hand, that a mild degree of heat fever is not produced. "The success of this treatment depends absolutely, in many instances, upon the gentleness and care with which the injection is given, and the water must be allowed to trickle into the bowel rather than to enter it with any force, for the three reasons that (1) if force is used, the bowel immediately resists the injection and perhaps forces it out; (2) it becomes so irritable that further injections are impossible; (3) this condition of rectal irritability reflexly causes irritability of the entire intestinal tract in much the same way that rectal ulcer may cause diarrhea, and as a consequence the patient is worse than before the method was attempted. In those cases of chronic diarrhea in which the patient is markedly emaciated and unable to digest much food, so that the condition of impaired nutrition is an important factor in preventing recovery, this method of treatment is to be highly recommended, and it is worthy of note that a small rectal injection, amounting to an ounce or two of iodoform and sweet-oil emulsion, in the proportion of five grains to the ounce, injected into the bowel after a large watery movement has passed away, will relieve any tendency to tenesmus, and by the absorption of a small amount of iodine exercise a useful influence over the catarrhal process which underlies the symptom which we are treating."-New York Medical Journal. PUERPERAL POLYNEURITIS.-Dr. Lunz, of Warsaw, has recorded in a recent number of the Deutsche Medicinische Wochenschrift an interesting case of this rare and peculiar condition, in which the symptoms differed considerably from those usually recognized. In the usual form there is an isolated neuritis of the upper or lower extremities, while the case here mentioned resembles more closely post-diphtheritic paralysis, inasmuch as difficulty in swallowing and diplopia were present, and also, what is rare in diphtheritic paralysis, an affection of the face. With regard to the etiology of the condition, it does not seem to follow only a pathological puerperium. Dr. Lunz believes that cases can be divided into three groups: a pyemic or septic group, in which the neuritis follows some local infection; a cachectic form, which succeeds grave disturbance of nutrition, such as may be produced by loss of blood, persistent vomiting, etc.; and a third group, in which neither infection nor cachexia can be regarded as the cause, but in which the psychical disturbance which the confinement produces is to be regarded as determining the onset, just as it probably does of the puerperal psychoses which occur without puerperal infection. He urges, in conclusion, that obstetricians and psychologists should co-operate to elucidate the obscurities of these important and little understood conditions.—London Lancet. THE TOLERANCE OF THE PERITONEUM.-Dr. H. L. Elsner, of Syracuse, reports the case of a woman who had suffered with a large and troublesome fibroid tumor of the uterus, which had been removed after she had been treated with galvanism and had suffered great losses of blood. The operation was very difficult, and it was thought that under less skillful treatment (the operation had been performed by a New York gynecologist) it must have resulted fatally. She recovered from the operation in four weeks and was able to return to her home with a small abdominal sinus remaining. From this sinus a ligature was subsequently discharged, but, after careful examination, a tumor as large as an orange was found in the right iliac fossa. It was supposed to be of inflammatory origin, and gradually disappeared. Soon afterward another tumor, about as large as the first, was evident in the left iliac fossa. The patient suffered greatly with constipa tion, she gradually became very weak, and finally another abdominal operation was decided upon. Before the day appointed for the operation arrived the patient passed a large quantity of feces and with it a large pad of gauze. The history was a most remarkable one, said the author; the gauze had been left by oversight in the abdominal cavity at the time the tumor was removed, had become encapsulated, had ulcerated its way into the colon, had been carried through the ascending and transverse colon into the descending colon, had there been arrested, and had finally been discharged with the feces, the woman tolerating this foreign body in the abdomen for a period of six months.-New York Medical Journal. THE ETIOLOGY OF LOCOMOTOR ATAXY.-Dr. Pitres, of Bordeaux, has made extensive investigations in the hope of throwing light upon the still doubtful points in the etiology of this disease. His first results were published in a thesis by Dr. Bereni, and comprised 225 cases. The influence of syphilis was found to be great, but not overwhelming, and was by no means in keeping with recent ideas on the subject. In considering those cases in which the etiology was certain there were 125 out of 225, that is 55.5 per cent, and even in many of these cases the syphilis was associated with other causes of tabes dorsalis, as hereditary joint affections, alcoholism, sexual excess, etc., so that the exact percentage which could safely be attributed to syphilis was reduced to 22.33 per cent. Of the other patients about 33.44 per cent had no sign of previous syphilis, and twice during his experience Dr. Pitres has seen tabetic symptoms precede syphilitic manifestations, so that these statistics tend to show that though syphilis is a cause it is not by any means the only one, but that many other conditions also play their part in setting up the the disease. There is also in Dr. Bereni's work a chapter on the investigation of the heredity of tabes, but no direct tendency to inheritance was found.-The Lancet. THE TREATMENT OF TUBERCLE BY EXTERNAL APPLICATION OF GUAIACOL.-Bugnion and Berdez (Revue Médicale de la Suisse Romande) with reference to the surprising results obtained by Bard, Courmont, Box, and others in the treatment of phthisis and even acute miliary tuberculosis with external applications of guaiacol, experimented on nine rabbits as follows: Each received an intravenous injection of 1 cubic centimeter pure cultivation of tubercle bacilli; three were afterward left without any treatment; three had o. g. guaiacol (in almond oil) applied externally every day for three months. Three had 0.2 g. in the same way. The animals were all killed about fourteen days after the treatment was left off. Results and conclusions: (1) External applications of guaiacol lower the temperature in rabbits as in man; (2) in rabbits as in man, guaiacol is absorbed by the skin and excreted in the urine; (3) in rabbits these applications have no influence whatever on the course of acute tuberculosis, for all the animals were affected with an acute miliary tuberculosis at exactly the same stage of development. In spite of this the authors do not consider that the treatment ought to be abandoned in man, as the good results obtained may be explained in other ways, for example, by causing oxidation of the coagulable toxalbumins (Hoelscher and Seifert).—British Medical Journal. RECOGNITION OF TUBERCLE BACILLI IN PUTRID MEDIA.-Perrando (Rif. Med.), experimenting with tuberculous sputa and other tuberculous products kept in a moist atmosphere until they became putrid, arrived at the following results with regard to the morphological recognition of the tubercle bacillus. The material used generally became putrid in two to six days, during which time the bacilli were readily recognized, and indeed often more easily than in fresh sputa. After ten to twenty-five days the chief morphological elements (pus corpuscles, epithelial cells, etc.) could no longer be recognized owing to dissolution. In twenty to forty days the bacilli gradually became more granular and less easily stained by ordinary means. In forty to sixty days the bacilli underwent dissolution, and could no longer be recognized as such. Quite early in the process of putrefaction, minute fibrils of elastic tissue were deposited. Bacteriological examination of the contents of the tympanic cavity often reveals presence of tubercle bacilli in the rare cases where other and more usual parts are unavailable for examination. The conditions of fluid in the tympanic cavity of the dead are not unlike those of the author's experiments. Tubercle bacilli are possibly driven through the eustachian tube into the tympanic cavity during life by coughing.-Ibid. THE DIAGNOSIS OF DIPHTHERIA. Since the important communication of Dr. Roux at Buda-Pesth was made I, doubtless in common with a good many of my confrères, made it a matter of routine to determine bacteriologically the nature of any affection of the throat characterized by a secretion deposited on the tonsils. Hitherto it has only been at the laboratory of the enterprising journal, La Presse Médicale, that the gratuitous diagnosis of these cases has been possible in Paris, although some capable druggists undertake the task at a moderate price. This lacuna in the arrangements for the prompt tackling of diphtheria has induced the municipal council to create a special department for this purpose at the Laboratory of Micrography of the city of Paris, in the Montsouris Observatory. Here the practitioner will be supplied on application with tubes of gelatinized serum and a spatula for the preparation of the culture at the bedside. The tube returned to the laboratory, the result will be transmitted to the medical man within twenty-four hours. The sum of 10,000 fr. was on April 6th voted toward this laudable object.—The Lancet. THE AMERICAN PRACTITIONER AND NEWS. Vol. 20. “NEC TENUI PENNÂ.” SATURDAY, JULY 27, 1895. D. W. YANDELL, M. D., LL.D., and H. A. COTTELL, M. D., No. 2. Editors. A Journal of Medicine and Surgery, published every other Saturday. Price, $3 per year, postage paid. This journal is devoted solely to the advancement of medical science and the promotion of the interests of the whole profession. Essays, reports of cases, and correspondence upon subjects of professional interest are solicited. The editors are not responsible for the views of contributors. Books for review, and all communications relating to the columns of the journal, should be addressed to the Editors of The American PRACTITIONER AND NEWS, Louisville, Ky. Subscriptions and advertisements received, specimen copies and bound volumes for sale by the undersigned, to whom remittances may be sent by postal money order, bank check, or registered letter. Address JOHN P. MORTON & COMPANY, Louisville, Ky. THE NEW WOMAN AND THE .. BICYCLE CRAZE." The medical journals and the secular press with the comic squibmaker and cartoonist are just now reviewing the new woman with her bloomers and bicycle. The result is some sensible suggestions and a great deal of nonsense. Whether the bicycle craze will finally be promotive of good to the race is just now a mooted question. Much may be said wisely for and against the pastime. It must be delightful for any one who is master of his equilibrium, on two wheels a-tandem, to take before sunrise a whirl of five or ten miles upon the lane, pike, or boulevard. And indeed such manly (womanly?) exercise ought to be healthful; but when we see men and women wearily working their way among the various vehicles of a dusty or muddy business street, or hear them boast of riding fifteen or twenty miles without a stop, we may be pardoned a reasonable doubt if good be so secured. Intemperance in physical sport may be as much a menace to the fulldevelopment of the coming man and woman as the intemperances of sloth, appetite, and passion. To say nothing of the accidental features of wheeling, which are at least too numerous, there is much in the stooped position of the rider, the peculiar strain upon the great lumbar and pelvic muscles, and |