Answers to Inquirers, etc.

Dr. A. B. Bishop, Mineral Springs, Ark.: You are right; don't consult with such person.

Dr. H. M. Boyd, Lamour, Dak.: Your patient is doubtless doomed. Try hot electric baths and change to warmer climate.

Dr. C. H. Edwards, Lyons, Ind.: I do not think your case was milksickness. The symptoms of that disease are low, feeble pulse, great prostration, trembling of the abdominal muscles, and a distinct odor similar to a cow's breath. Whisky and sulphur are the reme

dies.

Dr. Frank P. Gray, of East Chicago, Ind., recommends very large doses of veratrum viride for a child. I think, doctor, your dosing is very reckless.

Dr. James G. Phillips, Augusta, Ill., will find drop doses of tinct. aconite rad., every hour or two, with same quantity of fl. ext. ipecac. in alternation, with an occasional moderate dose of cream tartar. a fair random treatment for infantile dysentery.

Dr. W. A. Hammond, Paris, N. Y., vows his love for calomel, but says it does no good in his cases reported. Queer! I use about sixty grains of it each year and am successful.

Dr. L. G. Doane, New York: Will you please give me a little light on the tripod suspension method mentioned in August BRIEF?

Dr. J. A. Hodge, Gayoso, Mo., will try ten drops of tinct. conii every four hours-also ten grains of ammonii iod., three times daily-his case will improve. Give the latter in cascara cordial. A lady from Paducah, Ky., called on me two months ago, whose symptoms fit this case, and she is now well.

Dr. J. Young, Farmington, N. H.: Ir you will try the pil. belladon. et strychnia, one morning and night, and use the old irritating plaster, your case will improve. Probably a suspensory bandage might pipe off a reflex, and a mile walk early every morning would be a fine nerve tonic.

Dr. M. S. Crane, of Newark, N. J., has a case of indolent ulcer that is very stubborn. Doctor, use a wheat-bran poultice for a week, then dress with pulv.

Tamarind for Hemorrhoids.

I have recently had a good many cases of hemorrhoids or bleeding piles, and I have been using the Egyptian tamarind and find it a specific (if there is such a thing). I use the flower or blossom and have had the most excellent results from its positive curative powers, especially in bad cases given up by other doctors.

Prior to using it, I was in the habit of using injections of turpentine, per-chloride of iron, and the ointments of nut gall, oxide zinc, rosemary, acetate of lead, opium, and tannic acid and a great many other astringents, and, while they give temporary relief, the actual or net result is irritating rather than soothing, but most certain are the effects of the tamarind flower. I have noticed, after giving three or four wine glassfuls of the decoction, that the patient is at once relieved of that itching and burning sensation, and the excrement is at once altered by it and the case cured.

I have also used it in nervous, debilitated women with like good results, especially when their sickness has been complicated with costiveness and loss of appetite. In these cases the tonic properties were plainly discernible, and, in my judgment, it is a good tonic laxative also. Infused in water it forms a highly grateful drink in febrile diseases.

The flower makes an excellent face wash, and, for the removal of freckles and pimples, is one of the best. In this present day, when there are so many things for curing diseases, I would like this placed on record for the diseases mentioned, as having the most virtue of any remedies used by the profession. I have not seen anything written on this subject, and would like to hear from all the brother M. D's. to know if any of them agree with me. FRANK P. GRAY, M. D. East Chicago, Ind.

A Small Baby. Mrs. Charles Kent, of Danbury, Connecticut, gave birth, August 17th, 1889, to a male child, weighing exactly one pound. It is the smallest child ever born in the State of Connecticut, or in the United States of America. Child has been named Columbus Kent. Mother and child are thriving. L. G. DOANE, M. D.

New York City.

The Proper Dose of Opiates for Children.

A troublesome question to a great many young physicians is the average or proper dose of opiates for children. A great many of the older ones do not seem to have any special rule for giving the different preparations of this drug.

Will some of your readers give a rule for giving morphine, laudanum, codeia, McMunn's elixir, Papine, that is safe, yet sufficient in amount to do good in relieving pain? Let it be given so that it will be understood just what is a safe dose, from six months up to ten or twelve years of age.

Can we safely give hydrate of chloral to infants, in doses proportioned to an adult dose of fifteen grains? Barnesville, O. G. H. KEMP,

M. D.

Defects in Modern Pharmacy.

A large number of physicians of this country are dependent for their medical supplies upon one of two sources, and they are often unable to account for the absolute failure to obtain results which would naturally follow the exhibition of certain medicaments.

The two sources mentioned are as follows: First, the physician may prepare his own medicines, and many in the country are wholly dependent upon their own exertions and ingenuity for the preparations supplied to their patients; but they are not altogether independent of the wholesale dealer, and as a result they not infrequently find that the drugs which they buy are inferior and fail to give satisfaction. Second, the physician may send all his prescriptions to the local druggist, either to be prepared extemporaneously, or to be dispensed as the special product of some particular drug house. In this case the preparations of the local pharmacists may be defective owing to lack of skill, or an inferior drug may be substituted, but probably the greatest difficulty arises from a lack of attention in compounding, this portion of the work being too often placed in the hands of inexperienced apprentices. True, errand boys must learn to do this kind of work, but it is not fair to expect that they should at once be competent to dispense accurately

powerful medicines where life is at stake. Another factor presents itself in the case of the physician ordering some special preparation, which may or may not be expensive, but occasionally the druggist will be unable to dispense it, and he is tempted to substitute for it another which is said to be JUST AS GOOD."

Several years' close observation has convinced the writer that these faults are too often due to the physician's own negligence, and with proper attention, he should be able to detect any shortcomings on the part of the druggist, or failure of the drugs which he himself dispenses. Certainly nothing is of greater importance to the physician, as his reputation is at stake, and it will frequently be very embarrassing to him when he finds after several days' treatment that the recovery of his patient is delayed by the inferior character of the medicine which he has ordered.

JOHN AULDE, M. D., Demonstrator of Clinical Medicine and of Physical Diagnosis in the Medico-Chirurgical College of Philadelphia.

Philadelphia, Pa.

-[Notes on New Remedies.

Those Worms in the Nose. Coming from our honored senators "rock-ribbed hills of East Tennessee," three years ago, with a reasonable knowledge of medicine and knowing that the coo of the dove, the hoot of the owl, chirp of the cricket, buzz of the spinning-wheel, and the bang of the loom as it wore our "Copperas britches," had filled me chock full of natural philosophy, I was a little surprised to find that I was totally unacquainted, theoretically and practically, with the festive Texas " screw-worm" -cauliphora anthropophiga.

Since Dr. Clark of Reagan, Texas (and doubtless others), will be interested in the experience I give my first acquaintance with screw worms."

66

Asa B., aged seventy-two years, desired to be relieved of an attack of nasal catarrh. Had been troubled with it for several years but it had grown rapidly worse for the last few days, since helping the boys gather some corn. The dust from the dry corn seemed to irritate his nose and make it bleed, he said, and while the boys were gone to the house to unload,

he would rest and take a nap. His pulse was 110, temperature 103°. Complained of fullness in the nose, soreness of throat, pain and tenderness in the chest, worrying cough which raised some blood, and the bowels constipated. Upon probing that fullness in the nose, which was the most distressing symptom and which he described as a sensation that there was a ball there, the diagnosis was made materially easier, for a large "screw-worm" was brought into view and extracted.

It is needless to say that this being my first encounter with that parasite, the treatment was "main strength and awkwardness." With speculum and forceps many were extracted after which he was directed to use a strong solution of carbolic acid. The total number was one hundred and seven. He made a rapid recovery and says he "will try to keep from getting wormy again."

Since the above case I have met them in the rectum, ear, etc., but never with as much surprise as in the case related. Anything which shuts off the air seems to kill them or bring them out; in stock we use the most available thing, e. g., Calomel, sulphur, turpentine, chloroform, solution of carbolic acid, etc., etc.

Forceps in Delivery.

I wish space in your valuable journal, the BRIEF, to report a case of obstetrics.

I was sent for to attend Mrs. N., in her first confinement, but being absent from home attending Mrs. B., in her first con'finement, I, of course, could not go at the time. This was September 10th, 1889, 11 P. M., I got to see Mrs. B., at one A. M., September 11th, she was very sick, but, nevertheless I got my work done in good shape at four A. M., the same morning and started for home. I arrived at home at 6:30 A. M., September 11th, and found that the messenger had been after me for Mrs. N., but had left word for me not to come until I heard from them again and in the meantime they got one Dr. L., to attend the case.

I, supposing the work off my hands, went to bed to enjoy a sleep, but O! what a sad mistake, when asleep about thirty minutes another messenger put in an appearance at my office saying the doctor is wanted at the home of Mrs. N., in a hurry. So I was awakened out of my peaceful slumber, my team was soon at the gate and I got in and drove to the. place, some three miles distant; arrived at about 8 A. M., September 11th. Dr. L., met me at the chip-pile, all in a tremble, and says he: "O! doctor, we have a very bad case here, did you bring your instruments with you for she will have to be delivered with forceps. I have been doing the best that I can but it is no use you will have to use the forceps. I felt the arms and tried to get them turned but it was no use, the placenta had dropped down between the child and the mouth of the womb." Well, I saw the old doctor before me and saw him shaking, as he was all broke up. Thinks I to myself what a fix I am in, for in my hurry, left my forceps at the office, some three miles away, but then it would not take long to get them, and then again what could we do handling the afterbirth, with the uterine forceps, which he said come first.

Well, these thoughts went through my mind with the rapidity of lightning, and I pulled off my coat preparatory to making an examination, and in doing so I found the os uteri dilated to about the size of a silver dollar, with a head pre

sentation the scalp was very thick and quite pulpy with a large amount of hair; this the old doctor had taken for the af

terbirth. Well, the woman was close built and the parts rigid, it was one of the hard cases that the doctor comes to in his daily rounds, or rather his nightly rounds.

Well, the woman had been in labor something over ten hours and she was calling for some one to help her, for God's sake. So I went to my medicine case and got the chloroform and had her commence inhaling it, just enough to ease the pain, and not enough to put her to sleep, but enough to make her talk funny at times, and as soon as I commenced the use of the chloroform the parts began to relax and the pains to get stronger. The face of the child was lying a little to the left side when it reached the perineum, I then, with the forefinger of the right hand in the rectum, raised the chin of the child as much as I could to let it pass, which it did in a short time and the child was born all O. K., and the third stage of labor was completed in a short time and the mother

and child is doing well.

The old doctor, when he saw me getting the chloroform, picked up his medicine case and said that he must go, he had told the ladies in attendance that it was dangerous to give the drug and he would not do it. I asked him to stay, but he would not and I saw that the lady wished him to go. He told the husband at the wood-yard that after I come he would not assume any responsibility, so thus he left me.

My best wishes is for the grand old BRIEF and its family of contributors. L. T. BRANCH, M. D.

Sechlerville, Wis.

Negroes Have Hematuria.

I wish to state for the benefit of the readers of the BRIEF, that negroes frequently have hematuria in this locality. I think from the nature of Dr. Rothrock's case, complicating with pneumonia, that it was not hematuria, the hemorrhage being from some local cause. Long life and prosperity to the BRIEF. J. B. G. LANIER, M. D. Shaw Station, Miss.

Calomel-Bloodletting.

By request of Dr. Swearingen, Colmesneil, Tex., I send in my name as an advocate for the use of calomel when indicated. It will do work in most, if not all, inflammatory diseases that nothing else will do, that I have yet found. I have a case in point. I was called to see Mr. S. W., on the 30th ult., in great haste, saying he was taken suddenly unconscious and was thought to be dead, or dying. I went, and on examination of the patient, I elicited the following: He had a light chill on Wednesday, and another on Friday, the 30th, after which fever arose and he called for water, raised up, drank and fell back unconscious. Upon examination, I found his temperature 102°, pulse 122, respiration 12, breathing heavy, laborious and stertorous. He was perfectly unconscious and very restless. He was horribly sick at stomach, with constant effort to vomit. I found his liver very much enlarged, congested and very dull on percussion nearly as high up as the nipple. His eyes were suffused, temporal vessels were turgid, and felt under the finger like cords.

My diagnosis was remittent fever, of the inflammatory type. I had not bled a man for at least ten years, I guess, but he being a plethoric robust man, the importance of bleeding was soon suggested to me. I, accordingly, corded his arm and opened a vein, and abstracted about a quart of blood. I gave him the following:

Mix in a little water, and give every three hours. Under this treatment, his fever went down. I put him on sulph. quinia in liberal doses every three hours, and he is improving rapidly.

In this case, I saw fit to use both of the condemned remedies, and I think any rational man could not deny but that they were indicated. They used to bleed for everything, and give calomel simultaneously, but now there are some of the profession who want to proscribe both entirely. One extreme is as bad as the other. I am an independent practitioner of medicine, and treat diseases according to my understanding of their pathology and my own experience, regardless of any man's fine-spun theories. When I find a case that needs bleeding and calomel, I don't hesitate to administer both. W. H. NEEL, M. D. Mayfield, Kan.

A Case of Triplets.

On September 1st, 1889, I was called to see Sallie D. (colored), in her eleventh confinement. Age forty-seven (her husband's age sixty-three).

In about two hours after my arrival, the first, a male, vertex presentation, weight seven pounds, cord twelve inches long, was delivered. In about thirty minutes after the first one, the second, a female, footling presentation, weight six and three-fourths pounds, cord fourteen inches long, was born. Then, in ten minutes, a third one, a female, breech presentation, weight five and three-fourths pounds, cord fifteen inches long, made its appearance.

Each had a separate placenta. In about one hour after the first one was born, the mother had a convulsion, though only one. Mother and children are doing well.

If any one of the BRIEF family ever meets triplets from older parents, please give mention of it through our welcome old BRIEF. J. F. COLE, M. D.

Carrollton, Ga.