Showing papers in "Indian medical gazette in 1929"

Berberine in the Treatment of Oriental Sore.

Abstract: Department of Pharmacology, School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Calcutta. Berberine is an alkaloid chiefly obtained from the bark of Berberis vulgaris and other species of barberry, although it also occurs in certain proportions in hydrastis, calumba, etc. The alkaloid and its salts are bright yellow in colour and possess an intensely bitter taste. This latter property has been made use of in therapeutics and the drug has been used as a bitter tonic. It has also been used in diarrhoea and in the diagnosis of latent malaria (sabutini, 1928), its use in therapeutics, however, being very limited. The alkaloid berberine has the formula C2oH17N04. Its salts?the hydrochloride and the sulphate? are sparingly soluble in water. The latter is the

Nerve Abscess in Leprosy.

Abstract: to the neighbouring tissues and when the nerve sheath is incised the abscess is found beneath the epineurium and between the nerve bundles. The abscess is sometimes localized to one place but at other times spreads up and down the nerve for a distance of two or three inches. Sometimes there may be two small abscesses an inch or two apart with a small sinus connecting the two. The abscess usually contains white cheesy semisolid matter. When examined microscopically, leucocytes, lymphocytes, and \" lepra\" cells are found. A few lepra bacilli are usually found, some in \" lepra\" cells and some lying free. These are usually short forms, only about 2 or 3 }t long, and may be degenerated or dead. In six cases of abscess of the ulnar nerve a different condition was found. Here the nerve

Kurchi Bismuthous Iodide, Its Value in the Treatment of Chronic Amœbic Infections of the Bowel.

Abstract: Holarrliena antidyscntcrica belongs to the natural order Apocynacere, and is a small deciduous tree with white flowers. There are many Sanskrit names for it, the better known being kutajci and kidinga. The other vernacular names are Bengali kurchcc, Hindi kitrcya and dudlii, and Tamil kulappatai. The .seeds are called in Sanskrit indmyava or Indra's seeds, in Hindi tJ>drajaba, and in Persian indrajavatalkh. The Reason why these seeds have been named after the god Indra is due to the following mythological story. The god Indra came to the aid of Rama before they crossed over to Lanka (Ceylon) and defeated the king and demon Ravana in a great battle. After a fight in India, the god Indra noticed the large number of Rama's soldiers, i.e., the monkey army of Hanuman, who had been slain during the fight. Indra in compassion lestored them to life by sprinkling cimrita, or the Y^ter of life, over the dead monkeys, and the yrops that fell on the ground became the seeds lndrayava from which this plant sprang into being.

"Cooly Itch." A purulent folliculitis due to the Trichophyton violaceum variety Indicum.

Abstract: designate a type of pustular folliculitis affecting the lower classes (Indians), viz., coolies, etc., and is seen commonly on the thigh and legs. Unfortunately the use of this term has been extended to any form of purulent dermatitis, including scabies, because few attempts have been made to find the causative organism. Castellani employs the term \" cooly itch \" in a more restricted sense to an extremely irritative dermatitis that commonly attacks the lower classes, and is rarely seen amongst Europeans. He has not been able to find any causative agent, either fungi or in-

Berberine Sulphate in Oriental Sore.

Abstract: Lahore is one of the parts of the Punjab in ^'hich oriental sore is particularly prevalent and ^'e have had many cases of this condition. We llave until quite recently treated the condition by |he application of antimony ointment or methy'ene blue, and by injections of emetine, ihese treatments was of long duration and, theretore, very tedious for the patients, and the success was doubtful. Acting on the suggestion of ^ieut.-Colonel H. W. Acton, Director of the Calcutta School of Tropical Medicine, we have recently used berberine sulphate injections. This treatment has been really remarkably successful so far ; the ulcer heals up as by magic with one (,i two injections only, and even in cases of long standing a marked improvement is seen a few ^ ays after the first injection. Very few need a nird injection. The great advantage of this .reatment is its cheapness and the ease of admin,stration. We have followed exactly the method ^ggested by Colonel Acton; the margin of the

The Significance of the Antimony Test in the Diagnosis of Kala-Azar: Part I-Serum Tests.

Abstract: at once opened up the possibility of this reaction being developed into a test for the diagnosis of kala-azar. A large number of kala-azar and nonkala-azar sera were tested and three papers were published giving the results of this work. The first of these was merely a preliminary note recording the observation of the reaction on which the test was dependent. The second recorded results of the test as compared with the aldehyde test, and showed that the percentage of positive factions with this test was somewhat higher than that with the aldehyde test. In the third paper standards of positivity were laid down, and it ^vas shown that this test was more sensitive than the aldehyde test and appeared much earlier. Fhe variations produced in the test during the course of treatment of the disease were also forked out in a small number of cases. This new serum test held out a promise of being a useful adjuvant in the diagnosis of this disease. As time went on and more and more sera were tested it was found that the test was rarely positive in some non-kala-azar conditions, such as very big enlargement of spleen and liver produced by malaria, advanced tuberculosis, {eiicocythaemia, and in a few cases of leprosy, etc. ^ the meantime Dr. Napier, in charge of the ^ala-azar Research at the School of Tropical Medicine, returned from leave and further work testing the practical utility of the test was jakerj over by him, though the senior author's laboratory carried out all the routine examinatlons of sera sent by the Carmichael Hospital as WeU as the Medical College Hospitals, Calcutta, in Jfder to keep the standards of positivity uniform. Uring this period also Chopra and Choudhury w?rked out the changes in kala-azar serum which gave rise to this precipitation with antimony impounds. The precipitate formed by the interaction of the serum and urea-stibamine was colloidal in character and consisted mainly of_ euglobulin, possibly contaminated with traces

" Kataphylaxia ", a Phenomenon seen Clinically in Filariasis.

Abstract: a localised\" failure of the tissue-defence mechanism, without involvement of the similar tissues in other parts of the body. In 1911-1912 the senior author had the privilege of seeing Sir David Semple's original experiments, which demonstrated the existence of this latter phenomenon. Semple first injected washed spores of the tetanus bacillus into the muscles of rabbits and guinea-pigs, and then, some days or weeks later, gave quinine subcutaneously, but at a different site. The animals developed tetanus and died as a result of the quinine injections. vSemple (1911) explained these results as fol-

Paris Green as an Anopheline Larvicide.

Abstract: Paris green or Schweinfurt's green is a cheniical compound of arsenic, copper and acetic acidIts chemical name is copper aceto-arsenite, its f?r\" mula being 3 Cu H As 03 -jCu (C2 H3 Os)r It is therefore a double salt of copper arsenite and acetate. It is a microcrystalline powder 01 emerald green colour. It is practically insoluble in water. It is perfectly soluble in ammonia a11 concentrated acids. In the pure state it contain5 58.6 per cent, of arsenious anhydride (As2 O*)' Paris green is often adulterated. The percentage content of arsenious anhydride should thereto1^ be ascertained from the dealer when ordering

A Case of Myiasis of a Carious Tooth.

Abstract: garden cooly, particularly strong and healthy. She complained of toothache. On examination the left 2nd upper molar was found extensively carious, all the other teeth being in excellent condition. There was no alveolar trouble near the affected tooth, or elsewhere. On proceeding to clear the carious cavity with a pledget of cotton wool on a probe, about a dozen maggots emerged and were collected. The cavity after cleaning and dressing was plugged with cotton wool and when the pain had disappeared the tooth was extracted and

A Note on the Action of Synthetic Adrenaline.

Abstract: to be separated in a state of purity and it is the only one included in the current edition of the British Pharmacopoeia. It was first isolated from the suprarenal gland by Abel and Crawford (1897) and Takamine first obtained it in a crystalline form. Adrenaline was also the first of the hormones to be synthetised; the synthesis has been attempted in many ways but the method of Scholtz patented by the Farbwerke vorm. Meister, Lucius and Bruning (1904) gives the best results (Unnel, 1928). The synthesis of the racemic compound was first accomplished, but

Observations on the Potency of Indian Digitalis.

Abstract: tain amount is regularly cultivated. It is largely supplied by the cinchona plantations there to the Government Medical Store Depot at Madras and also to the manufacturing pharmaceutical chemists in that Presidency. 2. In Mungpo near Darjeeling where a plantation was started many years ago in connection with the cinchona plantation. The site selected was at an altitude of about 6,000 feet above the sea-level and a great deal

Chemotherapeutic Investigations with Antimony Preparations in the Experimental Kala-Azar of the Hamster.

Abstract: The production of a general kala-azar infection in different laboratory animals, especially in dogs and mice, was a task which succeeded very rarely, until Smyly and Young (1924) discovered that in the Chinese hamster (Cricctulus griseus) infection occurred in practically 100 per cent. Thereafter M. Mayer (1926) showed that also in the European variety of the hamster (Cricetus frumentarius) a positive result could always be obtained. The present writer examined the chemotherapeutic properties of different antimony compounds in infected hamsters. The leishmania strain used was obtained through the kindness of the Institut. 'f. Schiffs-u. Tropen-hygiene, Hamburg. First of all the toxicity of each compound per kilo body-weight was ascertained. The injections were given subcutaneously. For treatment

The History of Tick-Bites in Cases of Tick-Typhus in India.

Abstract: observed by them for long periods. As this has happened to people with full knowledge of the habits of ticks, and who took particular precautions to avoid tick-bites, it is easily understood how likely it is that tick-bites are overlooked by lay persons. Mr. S., a geologist, went to Assam in connection with his professional work, in December 1923, and had occasion to go into the forests in the district of Sylhet. He stayed there for a few