tainly as efficient in altering the condition of the urine, and the mucous membrane of the urinary passages. c. That the same precautions should be observed with regard to belladonna and stramonium, if at any time prescribed in conjunction with alkalies. On Cannabis Indica as a Diuretic. By Dr. J. BRYAN. ("L'Union," 22, 1857, and Schmidt's "Jahrb." Bd. 94, No. 5, 1857.) From a very short notice in our excellect German contemporary, it appears that Dr. Bryan has given the Indian hemp with evident advantage in one case of anasarca, and in two cases of general dropsy, the dose being twenty drops of the tincture every four hours. The effect was marked diuresis, with more or less diminution of the dropsical fulness. In the two cases of general dropsy, however, this marked effect was not produced until the kidney had been acted upon by other diuretics; and therefore it is to be inferred that the hemp acted by keeping up an action already begun. The collective effects of the remedy were improvement of the appetite, relief of pain, and improvement of the spirits. Any more special action upon the nervous system (owing, probably, to the brunt of the action falling upon the kidneys) was absent. On the Neem, or Margosa Tree. By Mr. WARING, of the Madras Medical Service. ("Indian Annals of Medical Science," April, 1857.) The Neem, or Margosa tree, Azadirachta Indica, belongs to the Nat. Order, Meliacea; Linn. Syst., Decandria Monogynia; and is found more or less abundantly throughout the peninsula of India. "All parts of the tree," says Mr. Waring, "are bitter, and nauseous to the taste; this is especially noticed in the bark, the bitterness being accompanied with some astringency, which is very permanent. "For many centuries the Neem tree has been held in the highest esteem by the natives of India, who have applied every part of it to some medicinal use: thus the bark has been regarded as an excellent tonic and anti-periodic, the seeds and the oil obtained from the pericarp (pulp) as an anthelmintic, the bark of the root as an emmenagogue; the gum, which exudes plentifully, as an aphrodisiac; and the leaves, in the form of poultice, as a valuable local application to ulcers and cutaneous affections. "The Taleef Shereef'* (p. 170) contains a very lengthened account of its virtues, of which I shall content myself with a brief summary, reserving a larger space for the consideration of its virtues as observed by European practitioners. The author of the Taleef Shereef' states, from personal experience, that it proves most useful exhibited internally in juram (elephantiasis?), white leprosy,† cutaneous eruptions, and scabies; and he quotes the case of a man, whose whole body was white from leprosy, who in forty days was cured by its use! To old and obstinate ulcers, and to fistula in ano, the local application of the leaves (a decoction of the leaves or of the bark being given internally at the same time) is highly spoken of. The leaves heated and 'applied to swellings and boils, in some cases resolved them, in others expedited suppuration, and in all were beneficial. The addition of salt was found to aid its efficacy.' Fumigation with the decoction of the leaves proves useful, it is said, in the same way, and the water of this decoction is useful in cleansing foul ulcers, and removing pains (rheumatic) from the joints. A decoction of the bark of the root will restore suppressed menses, and if taken with goor (treacle) it will cause abortion. The seeds, bruised and applied to the head, will cure headache; their juice acts as a vermifuge; the juice of the leaf-buds introduced into the eye will cure night-blindness. Other minor virtues are enumerated, but it is not a little singular that no mention is made of the use of the bark in the treatment of fevers. "The Taleef Shereef Trans.," by George Playfair, Calcutta, 1833. + Some information on the use of the Neem in leprosy will be found in Prof. Wilson's excellent paper on that disease, in the "Trans. Med. Phys. Soc. Calcutta," vol. i. p. 27, 216 N.W. REPORT ON MATERIA MEDICA, etc. "Ainslie's account of the tree, excepting that he notices the alleged antiperiodic virtue of the bark, substantially agrees with the above; he adds a fact which I have not seen noticed elsewhere, that a sort of toddy is obtained from healthy young margosa trees, which is occasionally prescribed by the Vytians as a stomachic, in doses of an ounce and a half every morning. "Merat and De Lens* mention this tree, but their account is a mere abstract of the statements of Ainslie." The only part of the tree analyzed is the bark, and here a bitter principle, called aradirine by Mr. Piddington, and margosine by Dr. Cornish, has been isolated; but the analysis has not been repeated, and the principle has not been put to the test of practical experience. The object of Mr. Waring's pages is to direct the attention of European practitioners to this subject, and urge them to try whether the supposed virtues are real or imaginary. At the same time, he refers to experiments already made, and more or less satisfactory-internally, in intermittent fevers, in hysteria, rheumatism, &c.; and externally, in ill-conditioned, obstinate, and sloughing ulcerations, in cutaneous affections, &c. On the Physiological Effect of Alcohol and Tobacco. By Dr. WILLIAM A. HAMMOND, Assistant Surgeon U. S. Army. (" American Journal of Medical Science," October, 1856.) In this paper Dr. Hammond gives the results of a careful series of experiments performed upon himself, in order to ascertain the action of alcohol and tobacco upon the system generally, and more especially upon the metamorphosis of tissue. With respect to alcohol, Dr. Hammond says: "Upon consideration of the foregoing experiments collectively, I arrive at the conclusion that alcohol increases the weight of the body by retarding the metamorphosis of the old tissues, promoting the formation of new, and limiting the consumption of the fat. Viewed in detail, it is seen that, under the use of alcohol, the following effects constantly ensued: 1. The carbonic acid and aqueous vapor given off in respiration were lessened in quantity. 2. The amount of feces was diminished. 3. The quantity of urine was reduced. 4. The urea, chlorine, and phosphoric and sulphuric acids were diminished in amount. These effects occurring when the amount of food was below the quantity required to maintain the weight of the body under the mental and physical exercise taken, were productive of no deleterious results to the system. On the contrary, when the food was sufficient to balance the waste from the excretions, and still more when an excess of aliment over the demands of the organism was ingested, the healthy working of the system was disturbed, and actual disease almost induced. The use of alcohol, even in moderation, cannot therefore be either exclusively approved or condemned. writers that the primary action of alcohol is the retention in the blood of the It has been assumed by several late products of metamorphosis. I am inclined to think this opinion erroneous, and that alcohol, instead of preventing the elimination of the decayed tissues, acts by preventing in a great measures their primary destruction. Dr. Hammond's experiments with tobacco led him to conclude-1st. That tobacco does not materially affect the excretion of carbonic acid through the lungs. 2dly. It lessens the amount of aqueous vapor given off in respiration. 3dly. It diminishes the amount of feces. 4thly. It lessens the quantity of urine, and the amount of its urea and chlorine. 5thly. It increases the amount of free acid, uric acid, and phosphoric and sulphuric acids, eliminated through the kidneys. Tobacco, when the food is sufficient to preserve the weight of the body, increases the weight; and when the food is not sufficient, and the body in consequence loses weight, tobacco restrains that loss. Unlike alcohol, this influence is unattended with any unpleasant effects upon the circulating system, though its action on the brain and nerves is not such as always to be desired. [Dr. Hammond is not an habitual smoker.] When used in greater 66 "Dict. Mat. Med.," vol. iv. p. 209. moderation than in these experiments, this influence would doubtless be greatly lessened." On the Medicinal Use of Sugar. By Dr. F. J. BEHREND and Dr. SIEBER. “Journ. f. Kinderkr.” 1, 2, 1857, and Schmidt's Jahrb. No. 4, 1857.” The authors recommend the medicinal use of sugar as a curative means of great value in diarrhoea and several other affections of children, and they relate two cases of diarrhoea-one in a child aged three years, and another in a child aged four years-in which half an ounce of powdered white sugar, given every hour, soon gave a favorable turn to symptoms of extreme gravity, which had long resisted all the ordinary means of cure. Other evidence is promised, and we wait for this before forming an opinion; but we are quite prepared to agree with the authors in thinking that there are many conditions of diarrhoea, particularly those in which there is a putrefactive tendency in the alvine secretions, where sugar will in all probability prove a most valuable remedy. On the Absorption of Medicated Enemata. By M. BRIGUET. "Rév. de Thérap. Méd. Chir." (January 15, 1857.) M. Briguet's memoir was read before the Parisian Academy of Medicine on the 30th of December, 1857. It relates chiefly to quinine and its salts, and the principal conclusions are the following: 1. Enemata may readily be passed as far as the cæcum, i. e., to a quarter where the powers of absorption are very active. 2. The secretions of the large intestines exert no chemical influence over the substances injected, and nothing is absorbed which was not previously in a state of solution. 3. When a solution containing less than fifteen grains of quinine is injected, a little more than one-third of this quantity disappears by absorption. 4. When the dose of quinine is larger than fifteen grains, it is not well received, and not more than one-fifth or even one-sixth is absorbed. 5. It is very difficult to produce any cerebral symptoms by injecting quinine even in large quantity, and those symptoms are very slight. 6. Absorption is very slow in all cases, and an hour had elapsed before a trace even of the quinine had disappeared from the bowel. In very young people absorption is quicker than in adults. In very old persons there is scarcely even a trace of absorption. 7. In general, enemata containing more than thirty grains of quinine are presently expelled. These conclusions, M. Briguet tells us, apply in a greater or less degree to all the medicinal substances employed as enemata. On the Administration of Cod-Liver Oil, and Substances soluble in it, in Capsules. By Mr. SPENCER WELLS, F. R. C. S. ("Medical Times and Gazette," December 5, 1857.) "I have frequently found," says Mr. Wells, "after ordering cod-liver oil, that the patients have objected very much to its unpleasant flavor. In many cases they have been quite unable to overcome their repugnance to it. In other cases the nausea it has produced had led me to discontinue it. This has been still more often the case when giving quina, or iodide of iron dissolved in the oil. Yet the effects of these solutions, when borne, have been so very beneficial that I was most anxious to overcome the objections to their use on the score of flavor. Some months ago it struck me that there was no reason why the oil should not be taken in capsules like copaiba. I according asked Mr. Bastick, the druggist in Brook-street, to whom we are indebted for our knowledge of the solubility of so many substances in cod-liver oil, to have some of the oil with quina put up by Messrs. Evans and Lescher in their membrane capsules, as I had found their copaiba capsules preferable to any others I ever tried. This was done at once, and Mr. Bastick has for some time past supplied many of my patients with membranous capsules containing cod-liver oil only or holding in solution quina, the iodide of iron, and the biniodide of mercury. Each capsule contains twenty minims of the oil, and the dose of the quina or iodide may be varied. Patients who object very much to the oil, think nothing of taking three, or even half a dozen capsules three times a day. "The combination of biniodide of mercury with cod-liver oil is particularly useful in some of the chronic syphilitic superficial diseases of the skin and mucous membranes. A tenth or twelfth of a grain with a drachm of the oil in three capsules three times a day, I have found to answer admirably in cases of chronic pityriasis and psoriasis, with superficial ulceration of the fauces. In some of the chronic joint affections of scrofulous subjects, the iodide of iron given in the same way, but in larger doses, is also very efficacious. When it is desired to give iron in the oil without iodine, and to give larger quantities, the wafer-paper so much used for taking the cubeb and copaiba paste answers extremely well. A paste may be made of the sesquioxide of iron-the so-called carbonate-by mixing up with it a sufficient quantity of the oil. A teaspoonful of this paste, enveloped in wetted wafer-paper, is swallowed without the least difficulty or unpleasantness by any one who can take a pill. "In many cases of secondary syphilis in persons of broken-down constitution, it is desirable to combine the iodides of mercury and iron. In this combination the iodide of mercury becomes soluble, and it may be given either in the oil in capsules, or in the form of a very elegant syrup which Mr. Bastick prepares. In prescribing this, however, the ordinary dose of the iodide of mercury must be considerably lowered, as the action becomes much more powerful when the salt is made soluble. The syrup is prepared of various strengths; but in the proportion of a quarter of a grain of the iodide of mercury to two grains of the iodide of iron in a drachm of syrup, it will be found extremely useful, and not very disagreeable." Some Remarks on the Physiological Action of the Tanghinia Venenifera. By Dr. KÖLLIKER, of Wurzburg, and Dr. PELIKAN, of St. Petersburg. ("Proceedings of the Royal Society," March 16, 1858.) The famous poison-tree of Madagascar was described for the first time by Aubert du Petit Thouars in his "Genera Madagascarensia," under the name of Tanghinia venenifera. At a later period, Sir W. Hooker published a good description, with a figure of this tree, named by him Cerbera Tanghin (see "Botanical Magazine," pl. 2968), so that nothing is wanted with regard to the botanical knowledge of this plant. On the other hand, the physiological effects of its poisonous parts have not been hitherto investigated. All we know is, that the fruit of the tanghinia is a strong poison, and is used in Madagascar as an ordeal poison in the most strange and revolting way. The only experi ment on animals made by Ollivier, show that twelve grains kill a dog in some hours, but this experiment gave no further insight into the real action of the tanghinia. The poison used by us was the alcoholic extract of the leaves and small stems of the tanghinia, prepared from dried specimens, which Professor Pelikan had received from Count Seyderitz, of Mecklenburg. About one centigram. of this extract was sufficient to show the full effect of the poison on frogs, when introduced into a wound of the back. It acted also when given by the mouth, but in this case a somewhat larger dose was required to produce a full effect. The observed symptoms were the following: 1. First of all, viz., in about five to fifteen minutes, the heart was affected and stopped in its action, in such a way that the ventricle became contracted and very small, whilst the auricles remained dilated, but were also paralyzed. 2. The voluntary and reflex movements were at first not at all affected, but some time-from half an hour to one hour-after the paralysis of the heart, they became weaker and weaker, and gradually ceased totally, without any sign of spasms or tetanus. 3. In the third place, the tanghinia has a great influence upon the voluntary muscles, which become paralyzed. This action begins very soon, and we have been able to show, with the aid of the myographion of Volkman, that as soon |