STENOCARPINE.

Oamaru Mail, Volume X, Issue 4095, 27 December 1887, Page 2

STENOCARPINE.

This is the name of another anesthetic, which was lately discovered by chance by a veterinary surgeon in America, who | gathered a handful of leaves of the acacia atenocarpine, because it was the only thing at hand, and applied it to the | sprained leg <-f a horse. The wonderful effect produced led' to the application of ihis agency to human beings, and Df Galiborne, instrnctor of opthamology in the New York Polyclinic, gives the following account of his first operation by its means : —A man about fifty years old presented himself for treatment at the Northwestern Dispensary in this city. He was suffering with acute catarrh and I noticed a sebaceous tumor on his forehead over bis left eye. I suggested that it be removed, and after being assured that it would not hurt him he consented to have the operation performed. A piece of cotton was saturated with the eolation of atenocarpine and placed over the tumor, and. in 20 minutes the skin could be pricked without his knowing it, although the parts had been very tender before the anesthetic was applied, la 10 minutes more I made a long incision across the tumor and, dissecting the skin from around it ao that the sac was exposed down to the bone, removed It in toto.

The man remained 'perfectly still during the operation, which is usually a painful one, and only at one time, when I made a deep sweep into the connective tissue,' did he say anything, and then he observed that it prbked a little. ' A, few drops of the solution were instilled into the cat and I continued the operation. It must be remembered that only a 2 per cant solution of the atenocarpine was used, and that a stronger solution would have great paid-killing qualities. Stenocarpine acts on the eyes much in the same manner as atropine (the aotive principle of belladonna), and it will be most useful in treating cases of glaucoma. There has been no trial yet to observe its effects on the system if taken internally, but it is supposed they will be about the same as those of cocaine, while its properties- as an anesthetic far surpass tbwof thatalkaMd. v