Miscellaneous.

Illinois Eclectic Medical Society

To every Eclectic in the State, the appeal to be present without fail, at the meeting of the State Society this year, comes with unusual force. There must be a large attendance. Several important matters of interest will come up and among them the question of holding all the sessions of the society in Chicago. This must be voted down, and the members from the state at large must be present to vote against the measure. The session will be held at the Sherman House.

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A German writer has improvised a dressing for wounds by adding two per cent of salicylic acid to powdered sugar. He sterilizes the sugar by heating it to 300° F., stirring it constantly in order to keep it in the powdered form. With the powder the acid is thoroughly combined and he dusts this powder freely on wounds which are slow in granulating. It stimulates granulation and cicatrization. It is best employed in simple wounds before they have begun to granulate and should not be applied upon burns.

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A suggestion is made by The American Journal of Surgery, that seems to be a practical one in the treatment of the distressing thirst which follows abdominal operations. This is accomplished by inserting a small tube into the anus and connecting this with a fountain syringe which is hung just a little above the level of the hips, allowing the normal salt solution to run very slowly, and as nearly as possible continuously into the rectum, so that during the period of two or three hours the patient will receive a small quantity of water. The quantity introduced must be so small as to not irritate the rectum.

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Dr. Watkins says that he uses libradol as an application to swollen and inflamed hemorrhoids. It reduces the swelling and relieve the pain. He advises it regularly for those who have piles in which pain is apt to occur quite severely at times. He has the patient use it as an ointment to relieve the pain. In my own practice I have found that it will produce nausea more quickly when applied within the rectum than when applied to almost any other locality.

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In the pain of bruises and sprains, Dr. Whitford applies libradol on a cloth, wrapping it snugly about the sprained part and keeping it in place with adhesive straps, changing the dressing once or twice a day. It gives much comfort.

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Dr. Waugh, in Gaillard's Southern Medicine, gives his treatment of a case of prostatic irritation with the alkaloids, illustrating his treatment with two cases.

To stimulate the formation of urea, he gave 1/12 of a grain of lobelin four times a day, for irritation of the duodenum and mycosis, he gave the sulpho-carbolate of copper; for the irritation of the bladder and affection of the urinary passage, he gave the ⅙ of a grain of arbutin before each meal and ½ a grain at bedtime.

As a direct medicine to the prostatorrhea, he directed that five drops of a mixture consisting of fifteen grains of urophen and fifteen grains of thymol-iodid in an ounce of fluid petroleum be injected into the gland every day.

One of the patients had considerable nervous irritation and for that condition sedatives were added in addition to the above treatment. This condition is not readily cured, and any suggestions that are made as to its successful treatment, will be gladly received.

In the treatment of local ulcers, it is a good plan to irrigate the ulcer with a hot normal salt solution, the irrigating fluid fall from a height of five or six feet.

The irrigation should be made every day at first, and later when the surface assumes a healthy appearance, once a week will be sufficient.

Ellingwood's Therapeutist, Vol. 2, 1908, was edited by Finley Ellingwood M.D.