Miscellany. [Volume: 2, Issue: 2, September, 1860, pp. 129-136]

PERISCOPE OF MEDICAL AND GENERAL SCIENCE.

133

The following method is recommended (ibid.) for moulding chloride
of zinc into sticks for the purpose of cauterization. "Soften guttapercha in boiling alcohol, and incorporate it with finely pulverized chloride
of zinc in a warm porcelain mortar, taking equal parts of each. Then
roll rapidly on a porphyry slab, to the diameter of a quill, and divide in
fragments, each of which shall be pointed at one end. Keep these in a
wide-mouthed bottle in powdered lime. These sticks remain perfectly
hard, are easily handled, cauterize with great regularity, and act as a
sponge through which the chloride will slowly exude, becoming liquid by
the action of the air and the skin."
In a paper on the physiological action of the chlorate of potash, translated for the Boston Med. and Surg. Jour., (August 9th,) it is stated that
"DR. ISAMBERT experimented upon himself and others with the following
results. He found —st. That the chlorate of potash is absorbed and
eliminated with great rapidity, and that it is eliminated unchanged, (still
in the form of a chlorate,) and consequently cannot furnish oxygen to the
system, as has been supposed. 2d. That the principal channels for its
elimination are the salivary glands and kidneys. Traces of it are detected
in the saliva within five minutes of its ingestion, and ten minutes later in
the urine. At the end of a half hour the process is at its maximum
intensity, and it persists from fifteen to thirty-six hours. The duration of
the elimination does not seem to depend upon the dose. It was nearly
the same with doses ranging from one to twenty grammes daily. Dr.
Isambert has detected it in the milk of two nurses who were taking it as a
medicine. He has found it in the nasal mucus, the tears, and perspiration.
Its presence in the faecal matters he regards as doubtful, but thinks there
is reason for believing that it passes into the bile."
In addition to other facts, Dr. I. mentions the following as the result
of his observations on this subject: "Doses of from one to four grammes
daily produced no appreciable results. Doses of eight or more grammes
induced a decided impression, lasting two or three hours; this was
accompanied by a saline taste, apparently identical with that of the
chlorate of potash. Although less powerful than a mercurial salivation,
the results of over-stimulation were apparent in a weakness of action of
the salivary glands for five or six succeeding days. A slight alteration in
the voice was noticed. The intensity of the salivary excitation was proportional to the dose administered."
DR. H. B. BURNHAM records (ibid., July 19th,) a very interesting case of
salivary calculus, which occurred in a man " aged forty-eight years, of spare
habit and slender constitution, who some fourteen years since was seized with
a severe pain under the left side of his tongue. He applied to his family
physician, who could give him no satisfactory information as to the cause
or nature of his complaint; neither could he afford him any relief. He
was induced to consult other physicians in his vicinity, and he did so with
like results. In the mean time, a small tumor made its appearance on
the under side of his tongue, near or at the seat of pain. He went to
Boston and consulted the late Dr. -, who informed him that his
disease was cancer, and gave him but little encouragement as to any permanent relief. He returned to his home, determined to abide the result
of what he then supposed an incurable disease. From that time until
about the first of February last, he has suffered paroxysms of severe and
excruciating pain at different times. The tumor gradually increased in