The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-04-08
Medical Notes.


stitute in Vienna, the authorities ordered
that all animals experimentally inocu-
lated with the plague. as well as those
that have been made immune to 1t, shall
be killed and ali cultures Of the plague
becilli in Vienna have been destroyed,
even the study Of the disease in cultures
or in animal experiments having Deen
forbidden In an exhaustive article In
the Wiener KIinische Wochenschrift
three authors have written interestingly
and instructively Of this disease. Tho
plague virus enters through the skin and
the mucous membrane of the respiratory
organs, but not through the stomach or
intestines Even slight abrasion of
the skin opens way for the entrance
of these germs. Cultures of the bacIl-
LUIS contain a toxin which increases in
virulence with age and the bodies OF
dead bacteria are also toxic. Rats and
mice are most susceptible and curing
the prevalence of the plague one Of the
most important elements of prevention
Is the determination of rats and mice.
and even cats come under the ban, since
they prey upon these rodents.
One of the most frequently used In
struments In the diagnosis and treatment
of disorders of the stomach is
the stomach tube. One of its
uses is to obtain samples of the
gastric juices for analysis. little silver
bucket being sometimes used for this
purpose. This bucket. attached to a
stout thread, Is swallowed by the pa
tient. and then pulled out by the ply
stefan. Another apparatus Is the gas
trograph, a hollow metal ball so
constructed that at every motion Of the
stomach 1t completes an electric circuit
and thus records the movements on
chronograph. Photographs are now
taken with diminutive camera which
is swallowed and for treatment one of
the new instruments is the intragastric
blower used for sprinkling powders over
the surface Of the stomach.
For measuring sight and hearing there
are many exact methods, but the measure
of the acuteness OF the sense of smell
has been very inexact. Various strong
smelling substances have been used, but
Toulouse believes that camphor is the
best test because solutions may be made
of constant strength, and subjects to De
tested do not notice the odor OF camphor
when entering the room where 1t Is Kept
bottled 1t Is easily washed from the
hands, leaving no odor, and Its Vapor Is
not poisonous He used solutions of vari-
Gus strengths, contained in TASKS. OF
which the patient smells, beginning with
the eakest until he reaches a strength
which he recognizes. He claims that
the odor of camphor should be readily
perceived in a solution Of one part In
1000.
Dr. BIincoe, referring to eye strain. to
which the majority of mankind Is SUD
xxyt,i ph ma
from the constant strain causing a con-
tinual loss of nerve force, headache'
swimming of the head, sleeplessness,
neuralgia, nervous prostration. sick stom-
ach, dyspepsia, constipation, bilious spe Is,
epilepsy, insanity and various obscure
nervous troubles. In any such cases, not
accounted for by other causes, the eye
should be examined by a competent
ocuIist having the necessary apparatus.
Glasses accurately fitted. by enabling the
wearer to use his eyes without strain
ing them, stop the leakage Of nerve force,
and in this way effect cures or greatly
benefit the patient.
Contrary to the widely prevalent opin-
ion, Aufrecht believes that alcohol may
be suddenly discontinued without any
evil effects by persons who have been in
the habit of consuming large quantities
of it. In delirium tremenS. especially
when accompanied by pneumonia, erysip-
elias or injury, the sudden withdrawal or
alcohol leads to good results. AS an
experiment a physician and merchant
both OF whom had habitually consumed
large quantities Of beer every day, alb
stained from all alcoholic liquors during a
period of one month without any symp-
toms of any disturbance
According to Pers OBJ s2rva lions infiam-
nation of the kidneys is hereditary. and
as a proof OF this he records an extremely
interesting family history, in which, in
three generations, in one family. there
were consecutive cases of chronic kidney
disease Where the father was affected
it appeared to be limited to the sons. and
where the mother was affected 1t was lin
tied to the daughters. The author es
not believe that this Is series OF excep-
tional condolences. but thinks that there
is a hereditary predispositIon of the kid
neys to disease.
Virchow. a well-known authority, his
recently expestulated against the tendea-
cy to coin new words in pathology. lie
claims that the only excuse TOR the IL
PRODUCTION OF new name is the discovery
of a new disease. not necessarily a newly
developed one, but one dimly known N
and comprehended In our own day. As
an example he refers to ricketts,, and calls
attention to the popular fallacy that rick
cts is disease of the bones whereas it
is in reality the carriages that are ar
fected.
A new remedy for whooping cough has
been named Antitussln. 1t is composed OF
five parts of difluordiphenyl. ten parts OF
vaseline and eighty-five parts of chemi-
cally pure wool fat After the neck. chest
and back have been well scrubbed with
soap and warm water, and dried with a
coarse towel, quantity Of this ontmeat
about the size of a walnut Is rubbed into
the skin. This has been found useful IN
the treatment of whooping cough. and
also acts favorably in cases Of catar hal
diseases of the throat
DR.. eOsler,- writing upon the now popular
subject of consumption, emphasizes the
question of nutrition which he believes is
the al-important one in the arrest or
cure of this disease. In addition TO the
regulation recommendation Of life In the
open. air he orders as much good nutri-
tious food as can be digested even to
overlooking or stufIlng. To begin with
three raw eggs should be taken, a day.
increasing by one, each week. till one or
even two dozen are eaten a day.
49,
The govt is probably disease OF civil
lization and the result of meat diet
Kronka has made experiments showing
that gout occurs In chickens In ostricheS
and birds Of prey kept in confinement
Hens fed exclusively on meat diet, after
| a period OF from three to live months.
developed govt. with characteristic syfnp-
toms. The equity kidney regularly oc>
Cured but when lime was given the
amount of uric acid was diminished from