New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-05-14
MEDICAL AND SANITARY NOTES.

the use Of hot air and passive hyperema, inc MS
named having been resorted to some years ago iol
the ailment In question: after trial Tor
Joints In regard to the hot air method whicn mus
RECENTLY attracted so much attention, DR. bae s
acknowledge that while 1t undoubtedly Lessons ~, IN
striking both the pain ana nrodneed by
ths hot air is the active hyperemia though he main
sans better results are oS1 rone by
sm states that he has met ey Tsn Sot air
who declared they received ,ses and has person
ally seen but one patient who was not 20, Sy
the latter Is that the method Of using 1t Is
simpler than in the case OF hot ar; aho
ATMOSPHERE OF A CITY-In paper contrib
uted TO 1.-The Transactions OF the British Institute
OF Preventive Medicine" it Is stated that even IN
suburb the dust particles number some 1o"o PCT
cubic centimetre In the open air. ana 44o" III
quiet room; while in the city the totals per CUBIC
centmetre were 100000 when taken from TOOL
200 900 In a court and about 100000 in a room. III
other words the air of the square mile Is %C per
cent thicker than IN the suburbs f" both
dense and more frequent over the centre IMAM a.
the outskirts But what Is mat though
dust IS the great carrier OF nc roo hns atoms
This being So it is calculated that man could i've
in the metropolis for seventy years and only apsV ~
25 900 900 of microbes into his system IRON
air or about the same number as he drinks In haif
pint of unboed milk
ACETIC ACID IN THERAPEUT1Cs.-Dr. Mors-
tiers, OF Stockton. Cal, communicates to The
Medical World" Philadelphia. some peculiar lacis
concerning the treatment OF consumption In that
locality. The substance resorted TO for this pur-
pose is one Of the simplest namely. the fumes OF
acetc acid or Of fruit or wine vinegar, care De-
ing taken that the fumes used lightly unul
the patient has become we'll used to them This
treatment is continued according to the CONDITION
Of the patient, and may extend over Periou ,e ~
weeks for accomplishing the desired end The last
stage of such disease though not durable is NO 70
sonous is involved ali that is called for is care are
in administering at the first SO not 10 hecn
used to IT, tin hafpint cup is well adapfed foT
the temperature raised until the fumes rise freely,
the same being taken into the lungs as often as
may be considered necessary
DISTILLED WATER.-In forcible terms DR..
Koppe gives an account In the "Deutsche Medi-
cinsche Wochenschrift' Of his Investigations OF
distilled water which article he pronounces a dam
gerous protoplasmc poison. His studies show that
II withdraws the salts from the animal tissues and
causes the latter to swell initiate; isolated living
organic elements cells and all unicelluar organ
isms destroyed In such water, dying, since they
become engorged therein; that is, they lose the
faculty upon which life depends. Of retaining their
Consequently these are allowed to diffuse through
out the water. Similarly, the same poisonous
used as a drink, the sense Of taste being the first
10 protest against the article. with an immediate
movement TO rid the mouth Of what has been
taken; the local poisonous effect of using the water
making itself known by symptoms of catarrh OF
titled water even when freshly distilled is not in
fact absolutely pure while that used In labora-
been kept standing in open vessels mostly in rooms
where CHEMICALS Of every sort abound nd and whose
THE NEW DIAGNOSIS OF DISEASE.-Two
fields at least of explanation made possible by the
fuorescence of vacuum tubes. have been recently
entered and give promise Of noteworthy results.
One of these is the examination Of lung tissue In
the Of consumption-the healthy lung gives
comparatively little shadow In the sciograph while
the diseased tissue has much darker appearance in
the picture and thus 1t is possible to ascertain
actly the part affected and TO attempt palliative or
remedial treatment accordngly.The other recent use
Of this discovery, regarded especially valuable by
the medical profession. is that Of observing the
movements Of the stomach and its contents in the
preliminary digestive process. BY mixing sub
nitrate of bsmuth which is said to be harmless
powder, with the food the movements of the stom-
ach may be by means Of the Horoscope, under
certain conditions. Further, when a focus tube is
through the thorax. the bones are very clearly de-
pcted, while the heart Is seen as definite shadow
In contradistinction to the light area around. This
light is occupied by the lungs, which are not
pass through and give rise to fuorescence the
screen, and though the shadow of the heart Is not
OF uniform degree or intensity, being lgnter at
the margins than toward the centre the outline can
be clearly seen. and its pulsating movements de-
tected
WAR WEAPONS FROM A SURGICAL STAND
POINT--The medical journals abroad publish the
results Of some recent experiments with the new
automatic revolver. which is being adopted by near
ly all European governments. The experiments In
question were made on pine wood, plates OF
iron on a living horse. and on portions of human
corpses at distances varying from II TO $50 yards,
there being however. but little difference between
the effects on living and on dead material. The
hole is from FIVE millimetres in size. and
decreases with the increase in distance the aper-
ture of exit being however. slightly larger than
that OF the entrance. II seems that the effect OF
this weapon the long hollow bones was exactly
three thousand 20 six thousand feet-the bone was
remsn In the Bone the Track of the
bullet invariably forming a smooth channel with
debris while in the event of bullet striking the
skull 1t Invariably shattered the latter AS to pene,
passed through two human trunks and only stuck
IN the third went through pine %9O1 m;lIl
metres thick.
ANTHROPOIOGICAL KINKs.-A curious con-
clusion appears to have been arrived at by an
thropolog1sts who have made special study OF
the human ear. II is even asserted by DR. Lamb
curator in charge OF the Army Medical Museum
that nobody has two ears absolutely just alike all
cars being In fact, faulty In one way OF another-
that is as to size. shape or position 1t is admit
ted too that the organ exhibits traces OF monkey
ancestry, and that among women any aural abb
normaites are much less frequent than among
men. In regard to this latter point. Dr. warner, a
specialist In this line is reported 10 have examined
more than five hundred American school children.
finding five malformed ears among the boys for
every three among the girls. Other writers on this
subject have arrived 1T practically the same con-
illusions. Thus, Schwalbe makes the proportion
two to one. while Wilhelm puts It down as three
TO two and Lannois comedies with Wilhelm; ana
again Fere OF Paris, decides that any such NAL
formations are not found oftener In insane per.
sons than in the for the reason that insanity
is acquired people not being born crazy That very
few persons have perfect ears Is saying based
upon the standpoint OF anthropology, the require
ments of which that the organ be located exact
~ halfway between the front and the back OF the
head its TOP should be a line with the top OF
.lo ~ ~ 81 ifa lobe ON a line with the