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U68UPPLRMZNT TO TH 13 t BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL] ANNUAL EXHIBITION.Essence of Beef is put up in round glass pots, correspondingpreparations of chicken, mutton, and vealbeing vended in the same style. Of the same generalcharacter, and specially intended for hospital use, is thefirm's Beef Broth; like the similar preparations of mutton,chicken, and game, it is really a jelly which can be eatenwith a spoon or turned into a fluid to be drunk. Alsouseful at times are the firm's Beef Tea Tabules, since theycan be carried about in the pocket, and with the help of alittle hot water can be converted into beef tea at amoment's notice. Another speciality of value is Brand'sFever Food, a mixture of meat essence, yolk of egg, andfresh cream. It sounds a curious combination, but it iscertainly palatable, and appears to have been carefullythought out on scientific lines. It is intended more particularlyfor use in the tropics, but should be useful anywhere.We also noted Glaxo, a dried milk, which figuredvery creditably in a trial of a number of artificial foods forinfants which was undertaken on a large scale at Sheffieldsome three years ago.THE SACCHARIN CORPORATION, LIMITED (10, Arthur StreetWest, London, E.C.). This firm, which has long beenwell known in connexion with novocain, brought out lastyear a preparation of quite a different order, named Pergonal,and confined its exhibit to this drug, to novocain,and to some tablets for the immediate preparation ofnormal saline. Each of the latter, on solution in half apint of sterilized water, suffices to form a physiologicalsaline solution -with a concentration of 0.8. As forPergonal, this is a solid compound of hydrogen peroxideand boric acid, in the form of a white freely solublepowder. The relative proportions, we understand, arerespectively 12 per cent. and 22 per cent. It was broughtout in order to permit of hydrogen peroxide being storedunchanged for any length of time, and yet ready for therapid preparation for a hydrogen peroxide solution of anydesired strength whenever required. It appears to fulfil thispurpose excellently, and as the therapeutic use of hydrogenperoxide has increased of late years, the preparation isthoroughly worth noting. It is also put up in the form ofmouth pastilles, for use in the course of an oral toilette.As for Novocain, this is almost too well known now torequire description. It is a drug of definite chemical composition,whose value as a local anaesthetic is hardly opento dispute, while its claims to be regarded as the best drugfor use in spinal anaesthesia have been strongly advocated.The choice of a drug for this purpose is a point on whichevery employer of spinal anaesthesia has his own opinion.From a pharmacological standpoint the claims of the principalcompetitors were reviewed at considerable length in areport to the Therapeutic Committee of the BritishMedical Association by Dr. C. N. le Brocq, which will befound in our issue for March 27th, 1909. This investigatorconcluded that novocain was the most satisfactory of theseven drugs with which he experimented, its anaestheticaction being equal to that of cocaine, while its toxicity andirritating effect on the tissues was much smaller. Healso showed that it dissolved very readily, even in coldwater, and formed a neutral solution which could be boiledwithout alteration of its effects. It is also compatiblewith suprarenalin and with strychnine, points of someimportance in spinal anaesthesia. It was shown atBirmingham in solutions of various strengths and also intablets containing suprarenin borate and novocain in dueproportion for use in dental surgery.THEINHARDT'S FOOD COMPANY (6, Catherine Court, TrinitvSquare, London, E.C.). The exhibits of this firm weretwo foods, to both of which we drew attention at the datenow several years ago when they were introduced fromGermany, where they had been well known for a longtime. The one is known as Infantina and the other asHygiama. The former is intended for infants, from birthuntil 2 years of age, and the latter for children and adults,either in health or sickness, and neither of them is costlv.Infantina, or Theinhardt's Infant Food, contains, itappears, 16.1 proteins, 5.0 fat, 53.6 soluble carbohydrates,16.7 insoluble carbohydrates, and 3.4 salts. The compositionof Hygiama is of corresponding character, but theproteins and fats are higher and the carbohydrates lower.In each case the salts represent rather over 1 per cent. ofphosphoric acid. Both a.re intended for use with milk,[SEPT. i6, igi-i.and the Hygiama is flavoured with cocoa. Both preparationsare made, we were informed, from dextrinizedcereals, with the addition of dried cow's milk, lactose, andordinary sugar. The makers claim that by varying theproportion of Infantina, milk, and water a food can beprepared more closely resembling in composition anddigestibility human milk than any other infant's food.It is also suggested that if Infantina is prepared with rice-water instead of milk it makes an excellent food for useduring attacks of infantile diarrhoea, in which the useof milk is contraindicated. Personal experience withHygiama goes to show that a pleasant beverage can beprepared from it with little trouble, and that it canbe turned into a variety of dishes. The firm, we understand,is prepared to supply any medical man whodesires to try its preparations with a sufficient quantityof either of them to gain a thorough knowledge of theirvalue.W. GAYMER AND SONS (Attleborough, Norfolk). There isa popular theory that, while apple trees will grow anywhere,only those growing on certain soils will produceapples from which any satisfactory cyder can be produced.Some support for this belief is offered by the fact that,with one exception, all the counties with a reputation forcyder are contiguous, and in one part of England namely.the west. The notable exception is Norfolk, in whichcounty the firm represented by Messrs. Gaymer and Sonshas been carrying on the manufacture of cyder for tllepast two hundred years. Until some four years ago it didnot concern itself much with markets outside the easterncounties, but it is now a serious competitor to cyder makersthroughout the country. This cyder can be obtained bothin bottles and in barrels, and in both cases a strong pointis that the firm is able to secure year by year a cyder ofclosely corresponding character. It is failure in thisrespect in the cyder trade as a whole which in the past hashelped to diminish the popularity of cyder as a beverage.Messrs. Gaymer's bottled brands number some half dozen,and there is much to be said in their favour from aneconomic and dietetic standpoint. In flavour each ofthe brands differs, as do champagnes, from extra dryto sweet. It is, indeed, with champagne that one ortwo of the brands may quite well be compared, whilechemically their alcoholic contents vary according to thebrand from what in temperance circles are commonlyclassed as non-alcoholic drinks to about 7 or 8 per cent.In respect of their dietetic value there is a good deal ofevidence to show that cyder is a better drink for personsof rheumatic and uric acid tendency, as well as for largemeat eaters, than either wine or beer. This is possiblydue to the presence of malic acid in cyder.ILIFFE AND SONS, LIMITED (22, North Street, London,E.C.). This firm is.the proprietor of the Autocar, one ofthe earliest journals devoted to the automobile industry,and now presumably well known to all users of automobilevehicles, since it deals with the subject on very comprehiensivelines. Its exhibit at Birmingham consisted of anissue of the Auetoca containing features of special interestto medical men, and of a number of miscellaneous publications,either compiled from its columns or preparedspecially. Among them were the Autocar Handbook,which treats of the management and upkeep of moderncars, Faults and Howv to Find Them, a book intendedspecially for those who are either total novices or comparativelyinexpert, and the Autocar Sectional Map fortouring purposes. The special issue of the Autocar, towhich reference has been made, appeared on July 22nd,but reprints of the parts relating to the medical use of carshave been made. One of them would be worth obtainingby any one who is contemplating the question of changinga horse-drawn carriage for an automobile, for he would findtherein a considerable number of records by individualdoctors of their experiences of the precise cost of usingvehicles of different kinds.ALEXANDER RIDDLE AND Co. (36 and 38, CommercialStreet, E.C.). Most medical men who visited the exhibitionat Birmingham were probably already familiar withone at least of the two exhibits of this firm, which is themanufacturer of Stowver's Lisle Jlitce Cordial. The limeis not a very easy fruit to lhandle, but the firm has been