Year: 1879

JOIH - Draper III Il IcOeHJ I6cIuIt III
the University of New York, said that
he thought that electricity as a means
of light would soon be general, and that
among other means of its generation,
not only waterfalls but the action of the
tides would be employed. 1t would al
so be used as a means of heating and
cooking, and electromagnetic would
be employed for a rapid and economical
iOcomotiOn.


THE USE OF SPECTACLEs DELAYED
DIR. Cheatham recommends, in the
Louisville Medical Ne1CS, the use of sui
phate of eserine as a means of delaying
the use of spectacles, so that they will
not be required for several years, this
alkalOid having the power of stimulating
the ciliary muscle and thus assisting
accommodation. The strength of solu-
ton recommended is one grain of the
sulphate of eserine to an ounce of water.
One drop of this solution is to be put in
the eye at night, or when required.


IMPURE WATER-TOADs AND SOUR
RELs IN WELLS-The quantity and va
riety of filthy matter which is found de-
posted at the bottom of wells, in some
localities, are astonishing. We recently
had occasion to examine the debris taken
from well which had been cleaned the
year previous, and among the accumu-
latiOns were decaying tOads and squir-
rels. These creatures had been prOba-
bly, attracted by the water, to reach
which they had clambered down the
wall till they reached the solid rock into
which, for several feet, the well had
been eXcavated, when they were precip-
itataH tO tho lnntfOT1 and rO11l6 not 7-a
trace their steps. To Obviate a repeti-
ton of the same annoyance the stone
wall has been removed down to the solid
rock, relaid in hydraulic cement, and
carried some three feet above the surface
of the ground and finished for some dis
tance around the top with cement un-
derlaid with stones. On this solid
foundation curb has been so closely
fitted as to exclude even crickets and
graSshoppers which are so apt to find
their way into wells To those who de-
test impure water and would avoid per
haps the sickness of an entire family,
the above plan, or the adoption of some
better precautiOn against the cOntami-
nation of wells, Is recommended. This
is the season when springs and wells are
usually low of water, and therefore it
is the best time for cleaning the bottom
of the latter and repairing the walls if
found Scientific AnleTicGn.


RECENT FACTS ABOUT ANEsTHETICs
The third report on the action of an
aesthetics to the Scientific Grants Com
mittee of the British Medical Associa-
ton has been made recently, the report
embracing the results of investigating
the blood pressure in animals under the
influence of chloroform, ethidine and
ether. The experiments, which were
made upon rabbits and dogs, seem to
have been performed with great care,
and give rise to the following cOnclu-
sions: Ether, when administered to
animals, has no appreciable effect in re-
ducing blood pressure; chlOrOfOrm and
ethidine have a decided effect in that di-
rectiOn. ChlorOform has sometimes an
unexpected and apparently capriciOus
effect on the hearts action. The Oc-
currence of these sudden and unlocked
for effects is a source of serious danger,
because the blood pressure is with great
rapidity reduced to almost zero, while
the pulsatiOns are greatly retarded or
even stopped. BY ethidine the reduc-
ton of blood pressure is not, so far as
has been observed, through sudden and
unexpected depressions. ChIorofOrm
may cause death by primarily paralyz-
ing either the heart or the respiration
Although not free from danger on the
side of the heart and the respiration,
ethidine is in a very high degree safer
than chlOrOfOrm, inasmuch as the former
does not compromise the heart as does
the latter. A legitimate deduction from
the facts given is that ether is by far the
safest of the three an@esthetics used,
and that ethidine is much safer than
chlorofOrm and equally efficient.