Vol. 60, 1909 - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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give rise to a slight burning at the seat of
injection, and this speedily disappears.
(Juinine thus introduced acts promptly
and powerfully. Zieuiann has used this
method even in little children. Altogether,
the results have been brilliant. Relapses
have been very rare, even when the drug
has been given by mouth. When the latter
mode of administration must be applied, he
gives the quinine in a mixture containing
chloroform, gum and sugar: and this would
be retained when otherwise the drug would
be rejected.
The administration of quinine by the rectum
is liable to produce vomiting. By the
skin it is too uncertain in action.
Gunshot Wound—Peculiarities.
On 9ih March at the meeting of the Leipzig
Medical Society Rimann showed projection-pictures
of the case of a young woman
wlio had been shot with a revolver.
The fatal wound was in the right temple;
but the interesting point about thecase was
the fact that there was a beautifully stellate
wound of the skin in the centre of the forehead.
On examination of this wound it
was found that the edges of the radiations
were undermined, and that the subcutaneous
tissues under them were blackened by
the powder, although no blacking of the
external surface had occurred. The projectile—a
7 mm. calibre bullet—was found
lying on the bone mushroomed, so that its
hollowed base was like the head of a stud,
lying in a button -hole slit in the integuments.
The peculiarities of this wound
were due to the revolver having been held
in contact with the skin, the explosion-gases
having thus followed the bullet, been obstructed
by it when it became mushroomed,
and then taken the direction of least resistance—laterally.
In the outer table of the
skull three fissures were found, the inner
table being intact.—Muenchener Med.
Woch.
Early Diagnosis oi Gastric Carcinoma.
Marini discusses the cytological examination
of vomited material and of fluid obtained
by washing out the stomach, and
maintains that an aid may be obtained by
this means in the diagnosis of suspected
carcinoma ventriculi. He has himself examined
the contents of the stomach in
thirty-seven cases of carcinoma, and while
he has only found fragments of tumor in
three cases, he has been able to detect isolated
tumor cells in thirty-two cases. He
describes the tumor cells as consisting of
flattened or cylindrical epithelium, and
readily distinguishable from the normal
cells of ihe oesophageal and gastric mucous
THE CHARLOTTE MEDICAL JOURNAL.
membrane. The exact type of cell of course
varies with the type of carcinoma present.
He regards the detection of these cells as
the most reliable means of making a diagnosis
independent of performing an exploratory
laparotomy.— Archiv. fur Verdauungskrankheit.
A Sclenlilic Priest on tlie Danger of
Holy Water.
The sanitary dangers lurking in "holy
water" have often been referred to by medical
men. They have recently been scientifically
studied by a monk, Fr. Augustin
Gemelli, who is himself a highly qualified
medical man. He publishes his results in
the Scuola Cattolica. Each cubic centimeter
of holy water in the basins in the
church of Santa Croce, Turin, taken from
the surface contained 150,001) microbes,
while a cubic centimeter taken from the
bottom contained no less than 6.000,000
microbes. He injected this water into animals
and found that it always killed them,
the causes of death being tuberculosis,
colitis, or diphtheria. He does not think a
daily cleansing with corrosive sublimate
sufficient, but recommends a new form of
holy water receptacle so constructed that
persons instead of dipping their fingers into
it can obtain three drops of holy water by
pressing a button. A vessel of this nature
has been placed in the church of Vergiate,
Milan. Fr. Gemelli turned his attention
also to the grilles in the confessional boxes.
Water which had been used for washing
these only contained 2.5 microbes per cubic
centimeter and when injected into animals
only proved fatal to ten per cent, of them.
— London Lancet.
Cold Affusion in Delirium Tremens.
The author describes the treatment that
he uses in cases of delirium tremens. The
patient is stripped naked and lies on a
blanket over a waterproof sheet. A copious
supply of ice-cold water is provided,
and a large bath sponge dripping with the
iced water is dashed violently on the face,
neck, chest and body as rapidly as possible.
He is then rubbed dry with a rough towel,
and the process is repeated a second and a
third time. The patient is now turned over,
and the wet sponge is dashed on the back
of the head and down the whole length of
the spine two or three times, vigorous fric-
tion with a bath toivel being employed between
cold water applications. By the time
the patient is dried and made comfortable,
he will be fast asleep.—Broadbent, British
Medical Journal.