Issue 10, pp. 753-832, October 1861, SMSJ

i nun,1861.] MuGororrhcsa.—In a paper "on the successful treatment of Gonorrhoeaand Gleet without copaiba," by T, W. Cooke ; surgeon to the EoyalFree Hospital, &a, London," the author, in the first or inflammatorystage, uses antiphlogistic and antacid remedies, avoiding saline purgatives,and applying cold lotions. Tn the second stage the treatment (andhere comes in what the author lavs claim to as the great modern improvement,)he trusts to injections of chloride of zinc, \ gr. to grs. iii. adounce, with generous diet. Under those means he informs us that feware not cured within a week, and he has only encountered two cases outattacks of some thousands in which the remedies had failed.Asarum Europium a Remedy tor Drunkards.—Dr. Smirnoffstates that he has become convinced, from repeated trials, that theasarum europceum well deserves the reputation it has obtained inRussia of being an excellent remedy for the effects of drinking. Theinfluence of a continuous abuse of alcoholic drinks is first exerted locally,but afterward- dyspepsia is produced ; and the nutrition and functions ofthe entire economy, especially of the central portions of the nervousling interfered with, the blood itself being loaded with aninjurious foreign material, the dyscrasia potat rem is at last completelyestablished.The asarum fulfils various indications, acting beneficiallyon the alimentary canal in those cases in which the digestivepowers are so much at fault. Its aromatic principle confers upon it astomachic power, and regulates the condition of the intestinal discharges,producing vomiting and purging when given in large doses. Its mostbeneficial action, however, is manifested on the defective appetite, andtfl counteracting the invincible longing for alcohol. The horriblesensations with which the drinker awakes in the morning, and whichcompel him to seek temporary and delusive relief from renewed libations,are much blunted and mitigated by means of a-trong infusionof a>arum and some other nervine e. g. valerian. Its immediateeffect is often to produce vomiting, and sometimes purging ; but thepainful sensations at the epigastrium undergo relief, and the appetitebecomes invigorated, Persons who have been long habituated to alcoholicdrinks cannot, however, have these suddenly suppressed with impunity; and in leg the author gives the asarum in brandy, applyingat the same time a blister or an issue to the pit of the stomach. Bythis means the normal activity of the stomach b< I and thelonging for alcohol diminished. The author, however, cannot agreewith those who would still allow a small quantity of spirits to habitualdrink when the morbid desire for ir bac ppeased. Theeven when it does not succeedin extinguishing the de-ire for alcohol, ah:•the patient ; and it is reinarkab!in which the individualshave been long accustomed to periodical intervals of drunkenness, endingin delirium tremens, how much longer those interval-- will become, and