MEDICAL NOTES.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XCVI, Issue 11051, 1 September 1896, Page 7

MEDICAL NOTES.

TOMATOES AND CANCER. Dr Sidney A. Bontor wrote as follows to the British Medical Journal :—l am constantly being asked by my patients whether tomatoes are injurious or likely to produce cancer; the grounds for fears in this connection being based upon an announcement supposed to have been made in the outpatient department of the Cancer Hospital, warning patients against this vegetable. Will you very kindly informme whether anything is known against them, and whether this announcement ever was made in the Cancer Hospital? The following is the Editorial answer given:—We are informed by Mr Bowreman Jessett that such an opinion has never been expressed by any of the staff of the Cancer Hospital. The committee have constantly received letters upon the same subject, and the emphatic opinion of the medical staff of the hospital is that there is no ground whatever for supposing that the eating of-tomatoes predisposes to cancer. TO ARREST BLEEDING, An instrument which is intended for the i arrest of bleeding in surgical operations, has been perfected by Mr Lawson Tait, of London. A platinum wire, arranged to carry a current of electricity, is inclosed in the blades of a pair of steel forceps or any other requisite instrument, the wire being insulated by a bed of burnt pipe clay. A current of suitable voltage is turned on, the artery seized and compressed, and in a few seconds the tissues and arterial walls are so agglutinated that the passage of blood is rendered impossible. The temperature employed is about 180 deg Pahr., so that it will be seen that the principle is fundamentally different from that of electrical cauterizing instruments. It is stated that by Mr Tait’s instrument the necessity for a ligature is removed, and a new and completely effective method is placed in the hands of the surgeon for the treatment of surface oozing. —Electrical Engineer. ALLEGED CURE FOR CONSUMPTION. Another cure for consumption _ is announced. Mr G. Scarpa, of Turin, claims to have succeeded in the treatment of cavities in consumptive patients by injecting into their interior solutions of pure ichthyol in sterilised water, from Ito 15 per cent. The instrument used is a syringe, containing 10 or 12 cubic centimetres, fitted with several fine needles, which he passes between the ribs at the spot where the cavity lies. These injections are repeated twice a week, first with weak solutions, of which only a gramme is used, and then with stronger solutions of which the dose is gradually raised to 12, ,15, 20, and even 25 cubic centimetres. When this is done, the patient should remain quietly in a recumbent position for a while, and check so far as possible all desire to cough. The injection is generally followed by a moderate rise of temperature that does not last, and gives rise to abundant expectoration. The result of the treatment shows itself after ten or twenty injections by progressive decrease in the expectoration, the number of bacilli is less, the night sweats and fever diminish, appetite and strength return, and the physical signs improve. REPORTED “cure” FOR INSANITY. A New York cablegram in a London paper, says that a wonderful discovery is reported to have been made by Dr Warren Babcock, the head of the St Lawrence State Hospital, viz., the cure under certain conditions of acute delirious mania. The patient suffering from this form of insanity is submitted to an operation in the lumbar region, a puncture being made and a certain quantity of cerebro-spinal fluid withdrawn. The puncture is made between the first and second lumbar vertebras, and the fluid thus obtained is stained by analine dyes to show the presence of bacteria, which are easily discovered. These have been found to be the common germ of croupous pneumonia, showing the delirium to he due to the action on the nerve centres of the brain. The germs occur singly as a rule, and as no other germs resemble these, it has, therefore, been considered unlikely that a mistake has been made. By way of test, a rabbit was infected with these germs, and developed the expected symptoms, and also the watery fluid which was drained from the spinal column, this being done in twenty-two cases. This latter operation, it was also found, resulted in the cure of both paralysis and paresis. These had an ounce and a. half of the fluid drained from the spine, but four ounces were drawn from the insane patients, still leaving the normal quantity and giving relief. Hitherto any interference with the spinal matter meant death. The pressure of this fluid on the brain caused insanity, and its character of acute mania, being thus changed to apparent mental disorder, depends on the action of the germ being simply a physical disease with mental complement. CYCLING AND HEART DISEASE. It is calculated that more than a fourth of our adult population " cycles ” or meditates cycling. Of this fourth a very considerable proportion have reached or passed middle age. It cannot but be that a number of these are the victims of “heart disease.” What is the effect of cycling upon a person with a heart affection? The answer is that everything depends upon the nature of the affection. We have long ceased to regard all heart affections as of an' identical degree of seriousness, and long left off' the unscientific practice of wrapping all victims of heart disease in .metaphorical cotton wool: It is now understood that most . sufferers from cardiac trouble profit, by exercise, and that some are advantaged; by ■a: good-deal of exercise, arid that of a vigorous' kind. Cycling, whilst dangerous in affections of the aortic valves, is often of great service in uncomplicated mitral disease. Of course it must be cycling in moderation. Hill climbing and fast riding are peremptorily excluded, as.is also riding, which causes an approach to breathlessness. The great point for the beginner in such cases is, we hold, that he should spend adequate time and money in pre'iminary tuition, and not he in too great a hurry to he “Off on his own account.” Whilst on this subject we cannot but express surprise at the general incompetence and want of intelligence of the average “ cycle ” tutor. As a rule he is one of the stupidest creatures breathing. There would appear to he an excellent opening for both men and women tutors in this new amusement and recreation. — Hospital. #