cus to be removed, thus enabling the food to come in contact with the mucous membrane. (b) Where there is impaired digestion.

3. In excessive secretion of acid; to prevent duodenal dyspepsia.

4. In gastralgia, irritable stomach, nausea or vomiting.

5. In intestinal disorders: (a) In constipation due to indigestion. (b) In diarrhea, as a sedative. (c) In intestinal worms. (This claim the writer has not personally verified, but as the intestinal mucus which shields the worms is removed by papoid, it is easily understood that their removal would naturally result after its administration.)

6. In infectious disorders of the intestinal tract: (a) Where there is abnormal fermentation, by its antiseptic action, which may be heightened by combination. (b) Where there are foreign substances present, its detergent effect may be utilized by cleaning out the debris from the intestinal contents by digestion.

7. In infantile indigestion; here papoid not only readily peptonizes cow's milk, but the resulting curds are also soft and flocculent, resembling those of breast milk.

The dose of papoid ordinarily is one or two grains, but five grains or more may be used, the only objection being that of useless expense and waste, except where very prompt effects are desired.-N. Y. Med. Jour.

Chlorine in Combination with Phenic Acid, the Ideal Antiseptic and Disinfectant.

J. E. Chambers, M.D., Coroner's physician of St. Louis, speaks as follows on this subject:

The term "antiseptic" is no longer doubted as a medical term; nor is there longer a doubt of the value of antiseptics in surgery, midwifery, or the hygiene of the sick room.

The victory of antiseptics is the greatest triumph achieved by scientific medicine in an age of triumphs, and so numerous are the antiseptic preparations that have sprung up, that the question of what antisepsis is, changes to the question of the selection of an antiseptic agent.

The nearer we keep to nature, the fewer mistakes we make. In calling nature to our aid, we find that chlorine, in the shape of the various chlorides, is nature's great antiseptic. Were it not for the chloride of sodium-common salt-in any ocean, it would be one seething mass of corruption, and the present invigorating sea breeze would create a pestilence capable of removing all the higher orders of life from the face of the earth.

Ages before the terms "septic" or "antiseptic" were known or used, our ancestors were practicing antisepsis with chloride of sodium, without knowing the philosophy of its action, and were nearer to nature than many scientists of our scientific era. The antiseptic property of chloride of sodium is inherent in the chlorine, sodium, like lime and mercury, having no antiseptic properties. The more ready a chloride is to decompose and give up its chlorine, the more marked are the antiseptic properties of that chloride. All the chlorides are now classified as antiseptics, while the bases of the various chlorides are usually inert, antagonistic to antiseptic action, or so irritating to the tissues as to unfit them for use in medical or surgical practice.

Chlorine has no rival as an antiseptic, but in its free gaseous form it is difficult to manage, while in its compounds are found the objectionable features of the bases with which it is combined.

Following nature, custom and common sense, it has been a maxim from Biblical days that "cleanliness is next to godliness." Water being easily impregnated with chlorine, “chlorinated water" was highly recommended for cleansing foul ulcers before anything about antiseptics was known.

The cleansing property of water is well known, and the master of antiseptics for medical and surgical practice is a carbolized-chloro-oxide of hydroxyl, known as chloro-phenique. In this preparation are all the elements that go to make up an ideal antiseptic, viz., carbolic acid in sufficient quantity to anesthetize the exposed nerve fibers and to reduce the local temperature, and chlorine gas held in suspension sufficient to destroy all septic material. A ten to twenty per cent. solution is a valuable wash to all ulcerated mucous surfaces, such as the mouth, nose or throat, or as an injection into

vagina, uterus, bladder or rectum in an ulcerated or inflammatory condition of these organs. Its value as a disinfectant cannot be estimated, as it gives off, by evaporation, sufficient of its gases to disinfect the sick room and rid it of all offensive or poisonous odors. If the chlorine odor is offensive to the patient, that objection may be met by any suitable perfume.

Chloro-phenique is strong enough in its undiluted state for any case or condition in surgery or medicine, calling for antiseptics or disinfectants, while minor conditions are met by solutions of various strengths.

In summing up the qualities of chloro-phenique, we find, first, that in its use we are but following nature's laws; second, that it can be made of any desired strength of solution; third, that its disinfectant are equal to its antiseptic properties; and last, but most important, its volatile properties render the atmosphere sterile in the vicinity of the wound to which it is applied, equal to the action of a constant spray.

In conclusion, allow me to say that chloro-phenique, as an antiseptic and disinfectant, has no superior, and we need no other. The International Journal of Surgery.

Reply to "Enlarged Prostate a Myth."

I notice in the April number (Medical World) page 131, an article by J. C. Campbell, M.D., speaking rather disparagingly of the attention given to the subject of enlarged prostate, and exhorting physicians to pay more attention to "contractions. and soreness of the urethra." I do not think there can be too much attention given to that most distressing, and often fatal, disease of the prostate gland and appendages; two fatal cases having come under my observation within a year, reminding me most forcibly of what may eventually be the means of my "taking off." It is true that, whereas I was once "young, but now am old" (nearly 80), yet never have I suffered my urethra to be impaired by the means he would have us believe. I am convinced that this affliction, diseased prostate, is much more prevalent than he would intimate, if I may judge from the inquiries from physicians that my article on the subject (January, 1891) called forth, no less than fifteen having written

of their own cases. If the people throughout the country are afflicted in the same proportion, there must be a great many suffering with it.

The urethral contractions and soreness" he advises us to examine, are very simple ailments and easily treated, compared with a real enlarged prostate, a fact that I think he would duly appreciate if he happened to be a subject of that “enlarged prostate rut" he speaks of.

Now, Mr. Editor, it may appear egotistic in me to further encroach on your space, or patience, in reference to my own case, but as I have already given your readers something of my experience up to January, 1891, I venture to obtrude still further, though the subject may be hackneyed. In that article (January, 1891), I brought saw palmetto into notice, as having helped me more than anything else I had ever tried, and felt very hopeful of its lasting effect, and can now say, that its action on the gland has been effective in preventing further enlargement, but it failed to relieve, except temporarily, irritation of the neck of the bladder, and prostatic portion of the urethra; so I had to use the catheter occasionally.

Some four months ago, my attention was called to a new remedy called "sanmetto," composed of saw palmetto and santal. As a drowning man will "grasp at straws," so I grasped at a bottle of the remedy, and have been using it for about three months, with great relief, for I have no use for the catheter now, and the deposit of mucus, instead of being an inch or more thick in a quinine bottle of urine, as formerly, is now nearly nil, and no pain or irritation in urinating. I think the combination of saw palmetto and santal is a happy idea-the former acting on the gland, and the latter on the mucous membrane of the bladder and urethra.

It may lose its effect, as other things have, but it commends itself to my judgment as covering the pathological conditions better than any other remedy I have tried. For the benefit of those who have written me on the subject, I can say it is pleasant to take the dose, a teaspoonful about three times a day.-H. Knapp, M.D., in Med. World.

The Treatment of Cysts and Abscesses by Papoid and Peroxide of Hydrogen.

The first case was one of sebaceous cyst, having existed for at least ten years and, until recently, given but little trouble. When I opened the sac it was inflamed, partly broken down, and about to open at the site of my incision. Its cavity contained about sixteen to twenty grams of decomposed sebum and pus. I made but a small incision that the fluids might be better retained. The solution employed was as follows, viz. R Papoid, 15 to 20 grams; sodii bicarb., 5 to 10 grams; aquæ, 100 cc.

This injection was allowed to remain from one to eight hours, then pressed out of sac, and a strong solution of peroxide of hydrogen introduced to thoroughly clean the cavity. This was repeated once or twice daily. The patient was irregular in treatment of cyst, otherwise the result would have been obtained earlier. A few weeks of this treatment entirely removed the cyst wall, and satisfactorily cured the

case.

The second case was one of perineal abscess, that owing to the carelessness of the patient had existed for several months, during which period it had been thoroughly injected daily with peroxide of hydrogen solution. The patient was unwilling to remain away from his business, and thus have the necessary rest for cure, and also was troubled with uric acid deposits and calculi in bladder. The abscess improved under above treatment, but would break down occasionally and discharge pus. Several times the urethral floor was perforated by the pus, and urine passed freely through the sinus. I injected a 15 per cent. solution of papoid, of the formula above given, allowing it to remain in the cavity about ten to fifteen minutes. The patient described the sensation at the time, as though many mosquitoes were stinging the sac walls. cleansed the cavity with peroxide of hydrogen solution as before. In a day or so the abscess closed, and remained so for ten days; it then had a slight discharge of pus, but an injection of peroxide of hydrogen was followed by permanent closure of the sinus. This treatment was given three or four months ago.

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