1509TRIBROMOPHENOL BISMUTH IN THE CUBAN CAMPAIGN.

experts was accordingly appointed to study the question ofsewerage seriously, a French engineer named Duvernail

being placed at the head of affairs, but up to the presenttime nothing definite has been concluded except that thedifficulties surrounding the undertaking are almost insur-mountable. We are indebted for the foregoing particularsto a communication recently made to the Society Franchised’Hygiene by Dr. J. Patron Espada, a member of the

professorial staff at the Medical Faculty of Yucatan. As

depicted by Dr. Espada this portion of Mexico is still

suffering from the effects of former political troubles. In

1847 the population of the province was 600,000, but owingto internecine racial war and also partly to several epidemicsof yellow fever it has been diminished by nearly a half. To

recover from such severe depletion requires time, but thereis every reason now to hope that better things are in store.The climate is good if hot, and in other respects thenatural advantages of the country are considerable. Allthat is wanted is firm, enlightened government, and

apparently the materials for this are at hand.

MESOPOTAMIAN MEDICINE.

UNTIL recently the only evidence as to the state of medicalknowledge in ancient Babylonia and Assyria was derivedfrom the lists of ailments preserved in the so-called magicalcuneiform tablets which consist of conjurations againstvarious diseases or injuries and the respective demons sup-posed to be responsible. Now, however, that the study ofcuneiform writing has advanced and the number of textspublished becomes much greater documents are coming tolight appertaining to medical matters. An American student,Dr. Christopher Johnston, has paid some attention to themand from his researches the following notes are mainlyderived. From Assurbannipal’s library have come severalletters from physicians of which four or five are from onename, Arad-nana. One of these is a report to the

king of his brother’s health. A more interesting relicis a tablet regarding a person who seems to have been

suffering from facial erysipelas, though it may have beena case of ophthalmia. The letter, omitting the customaryaddress to Royalty, is as follows : " All goes well in regardto that poor fellow whose eyes are diseased. I had applieda dressing covering his face. Yesterday towards eveningundoing the bandage which held it I removed the dressing.There was pus upon it the size of the little finger tip. All iswell. Let the heart of my lord the king be of good cheer.Within seven or eight days he will be well." Another letter

runs thus : ’’ With regard to the patient who has a bleedingfrom the nose, yesterday there was much haemorrhage.Those dressings are not scientifically applied. They areplaced upon the alse of the nose, oppress his breathing, andcome off when there is haemorrhage. Let them be placedwithin the nostrils then the air will be kept away and thehemorrhage restrained. If it is agreeable to my lord theking I will go to-morrow and give instructions : meantime letme know how he does." This is evidently an instance of apatient suffering from epistaxis. External compression hadbeen tried and failed whereas plugging the nares is

recommended. The name of another Assyrian physician,Iquisa-Aplu, is known because he was by Royal commandsent to minister to a famous general named Kudunu who layill at Erech and he was able to report that he had cured hispatient.

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TRIBROMOPHENOL BISMUTH IN THE CUBANCAMPAIGN.

DR. EMILIO PEREZ NoGUERA communicates to a Spanishmedical journal an account of his successful treatment of

wounds in the Cuban campaign by means of perchloride ofmercury and tribromophenol bismuth or xeroform. This

substance is a yellowish, tasteless, amorphous powder withonly a slight odour, which has been recommended forinternal use as an intestinal antiseptic. It is non-

toxic but has very highly bactericidal powers as a

2 per cent. addition of it to a culture mediumwill destroy the anthrax bacillus, which a 5 percent. admixture of iodoform will not do. In gun-shot wounds Dr. Noguera first employed prolonged-irrigation with a perchloride of mercury solution of the.

strength of one in 1000. He then covered the orifices ofentrance and exit with a thin layer of xeroform, the wholebeing enveloped in sublimate gauze and carbolised cotton-wool, this dressing being changed whenever signs of moisturecould be detected coming through it. Under this treatmentwounds healed in a most satisfactory manner without any pus,20 or 30 days being the longest time required when the sofbparts only had been injured. In the case of wounds inflicted

by the cutlass the same irrigation was practised and the edgeswere brought together with sutures, xeroform being dusted,over the surface and a dressing applied as in the case of gun-shot wounds. All the cases treated in this way healed byfirst intention in from one to three weeks. In one case whereit was impossible to bring the lips of the wound into apposi-tion owing to there being a loss of substance the wound

granulated up from the bottom without the formation of.

pus, healing being complete by the end of a month. Notoxic effects were observed in any of the cases nor was,

there any tendency to form exuberant granulations.In order to see whether an absolutely dry treat-

ment, such as could be applied on the field of battle,would succeed Dr. Noguera selected three fresh cases of

gunshot wounds without injury to any important organ, andinstead of immediately irrigating them he simply swabbedthem out as far as possible with cotton-wool dusted overwith xeroform and dressed them with gauze and cotton-wool.One of these was left for 48 hours and the other two for.three days, all being in an aseptic condition when opened.He also found that when a number of wounded were broughtinto close proximity xeroform dressings prevented any ofthem infecting others. Altogether he is strongly of opinionthat this substance is very suitable for use in militarysurgery.

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THE RECENT FATAL AMBULANCE ACCIDENT IN

LIVERPOOL.

THE coroner for Liverpool, Mr. T. E. Sampson, held aninquiry on May 25th into the cause of the deaths of Michael-Quinn, aged 45 years, and John Young, a member of theLiverpool mounted police. The origin of the fatalities wasas follows. Quinn was walking along the street and eitherfell in front of, or was knocked down by, a hansom cab, onewheel of which went over him. A police constable said thathe was called to Quinn whom he found lying unconscious inthe roadway. After rendering first aid he sent for the

ambulance which arrived from the Stanley Hospital and wasdriven by the deceased man Young. Witness and Mr.

Paddock got Quinn into the ambulance and they startedfor the hospital. He noticed that they were going very fastand both he and Mr. Paddock shouted to Young to go moreslowly. Then it occurred to him that the horse had run

away and presently they were overturned. They got Quinnout and after that he remembered nothing more. Charles

Mallon, a dock labourer, deposed that he saw the ambulanceoverturned through the horse running away and collidingwith a lamp-post. Young was thrown into the road on thotop of his head. The regular driver of the ambulance saidthat the horse was quite quiet and steady, but he thoughtthe driving seat of the ambulance was too high up. Anotherconstable gave evidence that the horse had only one eye.Medical evidence was given to the effect that bot