BERLIN
1
578 Chloride of Ethyl as a Local Anæsthetic. Chloride of methyl, introduced into the domain of thera- peutics as a local anæsthetising agent by Debove, has the inconvenience of being costly and cumbrous, of producing a temperature unnecessarily and sometimes hurtfully low ( - 40° C. ), and, finally, of being explosible. Ethyl chloride, on the other hand, possesses the advantage of being a liquid whose boiling point is 10° C., the mere heat of the hand sufficing to volatilise it, thus doing away with the necessity of the expensive apparatus in which its rival is supplied. M. Monnet of Lyons has had the happy idea of utilising this easy volatility of the ethyl chloride by keeping it for use in glass capsules similar to those in which amyl nitrite is supplied. Each capsule contains ten grammes, and the breaking of the capillary tube in which it ter- minates allows of the escape of the vapour generated by the heat of the hand. The vapour, directed at a distance of twenty centimetres on to the part it is desired to anæsthetise, determines a fall of tem- perature of - 30° C. This new agent will be found useful in such small operations as the opening of abscesses, tooth extraction, avulsion of ingrowing toe-nails, &c. It will also, it is said, allay instantaneously the pain of facial and intercostal neuralgia. The Bill of Mortality at the Pasteur Institute. The statistics of the years 1886-87-88-89 show that of 7893 persons bitten by rabid animals and treated at the above establishment, fifty-three died-a mortality of 0-67 per cent. If patients in whom hydrophobia declared itself after the cessation of the treatment by inoculation be counted, the mortality rises to only I per cent. M. Leblanc tells us that of 336 bitten persons (years 1880 to 1885) treated by cauterisations or on the old expectant plan, thirty-nine succumbed-a mortality of 12 per cent. The Action of Koch’s Liquid on the Monkey. The effects of Koch’s liquid on a quadrumanous animal so vulnerable to the invasion of the bacillus as the monkey have been investigated recently by MM. Henocque and Capitan at the Collège de France and the Hotel Dieu respectively. M. Henocque informs us that when his monkey entered the laboratory (Dec. 21st, 1890) ausculta- tion yielded no physical signs denoting phthisis’. Two days after the first injection a few rales and impaired resonance were noted at the right apex. The third injec- tion determined dulness still more marked, and, in addition, slight dulness at the left apex. From this moment all the symptoms of acute phthisis manifested themselves (cough, anorexia, debility, intense fever), and eight days later the animal died, having lost a tenth of his weight. At the necropsy four tubercular masses of the size of a big pea were discovered in the right lung, the left organ in two- thirds of its extent being the seat of caseous pneu- monia. Surrounding the lesions there were zones of red hepatisation, with marked exudation of red blood- corpuscles. Two guinea-pigs have been inoculated with portions of the pneumonic tissue, and both animals now present signs of cutaneous and glandular infection. The total quantity of fluid received by the monkey was six milligrammes — a quantity apparently quite capable of determining the onset of acute phthisis. M. Capitan’s results differ somewhat from those obtained by M. Henocque. One tuberculous monkey received in ten days three inoculations of one milligramme each. Death ensued on the tenth day, no reaction having been evoked. Tubercles were discovered in the mesenteric glands, the liver, and the spleen, all containing colonies of bacilli. The only pulmonary lesion was a small mass of grey granulations surrounded by an inflamed zone, and . containing a few bacilli in the anterior edge of the left lung. Another monkey, supposed to be tuberculous, has up to the present time received four milligrammes of fluid, and seems none the worse for.it. No reaction whatever was excited ; indeed, the temperature has been noticed to descend 0’5°C. from four to five hours after an inoculation. Paris, March 4th. _______________ BERLIN. (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) Professor Oscar Liebreich. PROFESSOR OSCAR LIEBREICH, whose speech at the Berlin Medical Society is justly attracting so much atten- tion at present, is one of the most eminent of the German pharmacologists. It was by Hoppe-Seyler, a well-known master of the subject, that he was initiated into the mysteries of medical chemistry. His first publication in 1864 announced his discovery of protagon, and was a highly important contribution to the chemistry of the brain. In 1869 he showed that chloral hydrate, which Liebig had discovered thirty-six years before, was an excellent soporific. He was led to this highly important dis- covery by studies of the connexion between the effect of chemical substances and their chemical constitution. Under certain conditions chloral separates into chloroform and formic acid, and Liebreich showed that this separation can take place in the bodies of human beings and animals. This pregnant observation afterwards enabled Liebreich to restore ethylene chloride, trichloride of acetic acid, and butylic chloral to the pharmacopceia ; it also led Kolbe to the discovery of the therapeutic value of salicylic acid. One of Liebreich’s later contributions to practical medicine was the application of lanoline as a basis for oint- ment. He is now engaged in very important investiga- tions. He has observed that the chemical reactions in mixtures are not equally rapid in all parts, and he deems this observation significant in connexion with the biological processes in the cells. He was born at Konigsberg in 1839, and educated there and in Berlin. He left school before finishing the full curriculum, studied chemistry, travelled for two years as a sailor, studied chemistry and medicine, and graduated in 1865. In 1868 he was appointed chemical assistant in the pathological institute here, established himself as a private lecturer in 1869, and was appointed professor in 1871. Virchow on Koch and Liebreich. At a meeting of the city deputies of Berlin last Thursday, at which the project of erecting a convalescent home near Berlin for patients treated by Koch’s method was. discussed, Professor Virchow, one of whose multifarious functions is that of a city deputy, said: 11 Evervbody knows that public opinion as regards the success of Koch’s method, which had somewhat fluctuated of late, has risen again within the last few days. This is due to the presen- tation of Liebreich’s new medicament which was published yesterday, and which has been brought forward with such an abundance of good proofs that one may safely say it i& likely to do at least as much for laryngeal phthisis as. Koch’s medicament, perhaps somewhat more " In the same debate Dr. Strassman stated that, of the 623 patients treated in the hospitals belonging to the city of Berlin, 36 had been cured, while 306 had improved in a greater or less degree. German Death-rates in the Week ending Feb. 14th. Aix-la-Chapelle 23-4, Altona 31-8, Barmen 260, Berlin 25’4, Bremen 17-4, Breslau 25-7, Chemnitz 29-3, Cologne 24-9, Dantzic 24’9, Dresden 17.1, Dusseldorf 24 -6, Elberfeld 23-6, Frankfort-on-the-Main 20-5, Hamburg (with its suburbs) 22’7, Hanover 18-5, Konigsberg 24-0, Krefeld 23’8, Leipsic 16-9, Magdeburg 18-3, Munich 27-4, Niirnberg 26’4, Stettin 28-0, and Stuttgart 22-8. Prostitution in Berlin. The number of women under police control (including medical supervision) in Berlin in 1875 was 2140; at the end of 1890 it had risen to 4068. Professor Koch is expected back in Berlin at Easter, and will probably travel home vid Italy. Professor von Helmholtz has received the distinction of honorary citizenship from his native town of Potsdam. Berlin, March lst. _______________ EGYPT. (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) . Visit of Professor Koch. DR. KOCH landed at Alexandria on February llth at. 8 A.M., and an hour later was at the Arab hospital looking at the cases on which the tuberculin fluid has been used. Dr. Koch reached Cairo on the evening of Feb. 12th, looking very thin and ill after five days’ sea-sickness and all its attendant evils, but the following morning he felt so much better that he insisted on going to Kasr-el-Aini Hospital, where he very good-naturedly devoted an hour and a half to seeing and talking about the cases shown to him by Messrs. Milton and Sandwith. Among some twenty cases
Transcript of BERLIN
578
Chloride of Ethyl as a Local Anæsthetic.Chloride of methyl, introduced into the domain of thera-
peutics as a local anæsthetising agent by Debove, has theinconvenience of being costly and cumbrous, of producing atemperature unnecessarily and sometimes hurtfully low( - 40° C. ), and, finally, of being explosible. Ethyl chloride,on the other hand, possesses the advantage of being a liquidwhose boiling point is 10° C., the mere heat of the handsufficing to volatilise it, thus doing away with the necessityof the expensive apparatus in which its rival is supplied.M. Monnet of Lyons has had the happy idea of utilising thiseasy volatility of the ethyl chloride by keeping it for use inglass capsules similar to those in which amyl nitrite is
supplied. Each capsule contains ten grammes, andthe breaking of the capillary tube in which it ter-minates allows of the escape of the vapour generatedby the heat of the hand. The vapour, directed at adistance of twenty centimetres on to the part it isdesired to anæsthetise, determines a fall of tem-perature of - 30° C. This new agent will be found usefulin such small operations as the opening of abscesses, toothextraction, avulsion of ingrowing toe-nails, &c. It willalso, it is said, allay instantaneously the pain of facial andintercostal neuralgia.
The Bill of Mortality at the Pasteur Institute.The statistics of the years 1886-87-88-89 show that of
7893 persons bitten by rabid animals and treated at theabove establishment, fifty-three died-a mortality of 0-67 percent. If patients in whom hydrophobia declared itself afterthe cessation of the treatment by inoculation be counted,the mortality rises to only I per cent. M. Leblanc tells usthat of 336 bitten persons (years 1880 to 1885) treated bycauterisations or on the old expectant plan, thirty-ninesuccumbed-a mortality of 12 per cent.
The Action of Koch’s Liquid on the Monkey.The effects of Koch’s liquid on a quadrumanous animal
so vulnerable to the invasion of the bacillus as the monkeyhave been investigated recently by MM. Henocque andCapitan at the Collège de France and the Hotel Dieurespectively. M. Henocque informs us that when hismonkey entered the laboratory (Dec. 21st, 1890) ausculta-tion yielded no physical signs denoting phthisis’. Two
days after the first injection a few rales and impairedresonance were noted at the right apex. The third injec-tion determined dulness still more marked, and, in addition,slight dulness at the left apex. From this moment all thesymptoms of acute phthisis manifested themselves (cough,anorexia, debility, intense fever), and eight days later theanimal died, having lost a tenth of his weight. At thenecropsy four tubercular masses of the size of a big peawere discovered in the right lung, the left organ in two-thirds of its extent being the seat of caseous pneu-monia. Surrounding the lesions there were zones ofred hepatisation, with marked exudation of red blood-corpuscles. Two guinea-pigs have been inoculated withportions of the pneumonic tissue, and both animalsnow present signs of cutaneous and glandular infection.The total quantity of fluid received by the monkeywas six milligrammes — a quantity apparently quitecapable of determining the onset of acute phthisis.M. Capitan’s results differ somewhat from those obtainedby M. Henocque. One tuberculous monkey received inten days three inoculations of one milligramme each.Death ensued on the tenth day, no reaction having beenevoked. Tubercles were discovered in the mesentericglands, the liver, and the spleen, all containing colonies ofbacilli. The only pulmonary lesion was a small mass ofgrey granulations surrounded by an inflamed zone, and
. containing a few bacilli in the anterior edge of the leftlung. Another monkey, supposed to be tuberculous, hasup to the present time received four milligrammes of fluid,and seems none the worse for.it. No reaction whateverwas excited ; indeed, the temperature has been noticed todescend 0’5°C. from four to five hours after an inoculation.
Paris, March 4th. _______________
BERLIN.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
Professor Oscar Liebreich.PROFESSOR OSCAR LIEBREICH, whose speech at the
Berlin Medical Society is justly attracting so much atten-tion at present, is one of the most eminent of the German
pharmacologists. It was by Hoppe-Seyler, a well-knownmaster of the subject, that he was initiated into themysteries of medical chemistry. His first publication in1864 announced his discovery of protagon, and was a highlyimportant contribution to the chemistry of the brain. In1869 he showed that chloral hydrate, which Liebig haddiscovered thirty-six years before, was an excellentsoporific. He was led to this highly important dis-
covery by studies of the connexion between the effectof chemical substances and their chemical constitution.Under certain conditions chloral separates into chloroformand formic acid, and Liebreich showed that this separationcan take place in the bodies of human beings and animals.This pregnant observation afterwards enabled Liebreich torestore ethylene chloride, trichloride of acetic acid, andbutylic chloral to the pharmacopceia ; it also led Kolbe tothe discovery of the therapeutic value of salicylic acid.One of Liebreich’s later contributions to practical medicinewas the application of lanoline as a basis for oint-ment. He is now engaged in very important investiga-tions. He has observed that the chemical reactions inmixtures are not equally rapid in all parts, and he deemsthis observation significant in connexion with the biologicalprocesses in the cells. He was born at Konigsberg in 1839,and educated there and in Berlin. He left school beforefinishing the full curriculum, studied chemistry, travelledfor two years as a sailor, studied chemistry and medicine,and graduated in 1865. In 1868 he was appointed chemicalassistant in the pathological institute here, establishedhimself as a private lecturer in 1869, and was appointedprofessor in 1871.
Virchow on Koch and Liebreich.At a meeting of the city deputies of Berlin last Thursday,
at which the project of erecting a convalescent homenear Berlin for patients treated by Koch’s method was.discussed, Professor Virchow, one of whose multifariousfunctions is that of a city deputy, said: 11 Evervbodyknows that public opinion as regards the success of Koch’smethod, which had somewhat fluctuated of late, has risenagain within the last few days. This is due to the presen-tation of Liebreich’s new medicament which was publishedyesterday, and which has been brought forward with such anabundance of good proofs that one may safely say it i&likely to do at least as much for laryngeal phthisis as.
Koch’s medicament, perhaps somewhat more " In the
same debate Dr. Strassman stated that, of the 623 patientstreated in the hospitals belonging to the city of Berlin, 36had been cured, while 306 had improved in a greater or lessdegree.
German Death-rates in the Week ending Feb. 14th.Aix-la-Chapelle 23-4, Altona 31-8, Barmen 260, Berlin
25’4, Bremen 17-4, Breslau 25-7, Chemnitz 29-3, Cologne24-9, Dantzic 24’9, Dresden 17.1, Dusseldorf 24 -6, Elberfeld23-6, Frankfort-on-the-Main 20-5, Hamburg (with itssuburbs) 22’7, Hanover 18-5, Konigsberg 24-0, Krefeld23’8, Leipsic 16-9, Magdeburg 18-3, Munich 27-4, Niirnberg26’4, Stettin 28-0, and Stuttgart 22-8.
Prostitution in Berlin.The number of women under police control (including
medical supervision) in Berlin in 1875 was 2140; at theend of 1890 it had risen to 4068.
Professor Koch is expected back in Berlin at Easter, andwill probably travel home vid Italy.
Professor von Helmholtz has received the distinction ofhonorary citizenship from his native town of Potsdam.
Berlin, March lst. _______________
EGYPT.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
. Visit of Professor Koch.DR. KOCH landed at Alexandria on February llth at.
8 A.M., and an hour later was at the Arab hospital lookingat the cases on which the tuberculin fluid has been used.Dr. Koch reached Cairo on the evening of Feb. 12th, lookingvery thin and ill after five days’ sea-sickness and all itsattendant evils, but the following morning he felt so muchbetter that he insisted on going to Kasr-el-Aini Hospital,where he very good-naturedly devoted an hour and a halfto seeing and talking about the cases shown to him byMessrs. Milton and Sandwith. Among some twenty cases
