1300

of air and dangerous in concentrations of 1 in athousand. It is moreover very volatile, boiling at46° C., and yielding a vapour which will fire at125-135° C.-not very much above the boiling pointof water. The flash point of the liquid is belowminus 20° C. Most chemists who have used carbonbisulphide as a laboratory solvent have experienceof the readiness with which it will ignite when onlyordinary precautions are taken, and of the chokingsmell of the sulphur dioxide produced when it burns.A liquid which easily yields a highly poisonous andinflammable vapour and a poisonous product ofcombustion is, clearly, a source of danger to thosewho use it, and compulsory notification of carbonbisulphide poisoning in accordance with the order ofthe Secretary of State of Dec. 31st, 1924, is obviouslya wise precaution.

EVIPAN AND ASTHMA

SINCE evipan is at the present time finding greatfavour, particularly for use on patients whose respira-tory mechanism is at fault, its effect in a case reportedin the -MM’H. medizin. Wochenschrift of Feb. 16th

(p. 257) is noteworthy. The patient was a womanof 39, a subject of pulmonary tuberculosis and ofasthma, on whom it was desired to perform a shortgynaecological operation. Evipan in a 3 c.cm. dosewas injected over a period of six minutes-i.e., at arate slower than usual. The respiration came to astandstill and it was only after intravenous injectionof 10 c.cm. coramine and the performance of artificialrespiration that it was restarted after some minutes.That the author, Dr. P. Feldweg, regards this ex-

perience as a warning against the use of evipan onasthmatic subjects is made clear in the significanttitle of his article, " Bei Asthma kein Evipan " !

CONFERENCE ON VITAMIN STANDARDISATION

AN international conference on vitaminstandardisation is being held this week at the LondonSchool of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, under theauspices of the Permanent Commission on BiologicalStandardisation of the Health Organisation of the

League of Nations. The following are taking part inthe Conference, over which Prof. E. Mellanby is

presiding : Prof. J. C. Drummond (University College,London); Prof. H. V. Euler (Stockholm) ; Prof. L. S.Fridericia (Copenhagen); Prof. B. C. P. Jansen

(Amsterdam) ; Prof. P. di Mattei (Pavia) ; Prof. E. M.Nelson (Washington, D.C.); Prof. E. Poulsson (Oslo) ;Madame L. Randoin (Paris); Prof. H. Steenbock

(Wisconsin); Prof. A. Szent-Gyorgyi (Szeged) ;with Dr. W. R. Aykroyd (League of Nations,Geneva) and Miss H. Chick, D.Sc., TechnicalSecretaries. The following are attending the Con-ference as observers : Dr. M. H. Brown (ConnaughtLaboratories, University of Toronto); Miss K. H.Coward, D.Sc. (Pharmaceutical Society of GreatBritain); Mr. P. Hartley, D.Sc. (National Institutefor Medical Research); Dr. Lormand (LaboratoireNational de Controle des Medicaments, Paris) ;Dr. Mendez (Instituto Tecnico de Farmacobiologie,Madrid); Dr. M. Tsurumi (Japanese Delegate tothe Health Committee of the League of Nations);Dr. A. Jung (University of Bale). This Conferenceis the second of its kind. The first Conference, heldin 1931, established standards and units for vitaminsA, B, C, and D, which have since been widely usedin many countries throughout the world. Althoughthe standards originally recommended have on thewhole worked well, the rapid advance of scientific

work in this field has made it necessary to review the

findings of the first conference in the light of recentlyacquired knowledge. Several vitamins are now

available in a relatively pure state, and it is probablethat the present conference will recommend the

replacement of the standards chosen in 1931 bypurer preparations than were available at that date,especially in the case of vitamins C and D.

ADRENAL DENERVATION

Dr. Crile is now able to summarise no less than308 cases in which denervation of one or both of the

suprarenal glands has been carried out. He findsthat the unilateral operation, performed in 52 cases,is followed by no ill-effects but is less effective thanthe bilateral ; the latter, however, is occasionallyfollowed by attacks of vomiting and diarrhcea. His308 cases include 76 of neurocirculatory asthenia

(hyperadrenalism), 79 of hyperthyroidism, 37 ofpeptic ulcer, 40 of epilepsy (in some of which adrena-lectomy was done), and a few of diabetes. Theclinical results are stated to be good. Of the patientswith neurocirculatory asthenia, 87 per cent. werecured and 7 per cent. improved. Of those withhyperthyroidism, 95 per cent. were cured. Thetreatment advocated for the majority of thyrotoxicpatients is thyroidectomy, adrenal denervation beingreserved for those with residual or recurrent hyper-thyroidism. In the cases of peptic ulceration, it isstated, cure followed in 93 per cent. and improve-ment in 7 per cent., and Crile does not hesitate torecommend the operation when the customarymedical and surgical treatment has failed. Of the

epileptic patients, 33 per cent. are described as

improved or cured. Adrenal denervation is held tobe contraindicated in established cases of hyper.tension, and has proved useless in Raynaud’s diseaseand scleroderma. The series included two deaths,both due to serious injury to the adrenal glands.

AFTER discussing many aspects of medical education(see report on page 1306) the General Medical Councilappointed a Curriculum Committee with the followingmembership : Dr. H. L. Tidy (chairman); Prof J. B.Leathes ; Prof. J. S. B. Stopford ; Sir George Newman ;Dr. H. G. Dain ; Prof. L. P. Gamgee ; Prof. R. J.Johnstone ; and the president ex officio. This com-mittee is to consider information and proposals receivedby the Council with respect to the revision of thecurriculum, and to report to the Council.

THE Albert medal of the Royal Society of Arts for1934 has been awarded to Sir Frederick GowlandHopkins, president since 1930 of the Royal Society,"for his researches in biochemistry and theconstituents of food." This medal was instituted in1862 as a memorial to the Prince Consort, sometimepresident of the Society, and is awarded annuallyfor distinguished merit in promoting arts, manu.factures, or commerce.

1 Crile, G.: Amer. Jour. Surg., May, 1934, p. 378.

A DISCUSSION on the Nature of Sex and its Socio-logical and Legal Implications will take place in thesection of obstetrics and gynaecology of the Royal Societyof Medicine on Friday, July 6th, at 8.15 P.M., and themembers of the Medico-Legal Society have been invitedto take part. Sir Bernard Spilsbury, president of theMedico-Legal Society, and Lord Riddell will, it is hoped,join in the discussion.