character by which it could be referred to any of the varietal names
given in catalogues, and concluded that it was N. poeticus pure and
simple. Pulmonarias were abundant along the road, as also in the whole
region of the Pyrenees, the character of the leaves varying greatly,
some being spotless, some full of irregular white patches, others with
well defined round spots. They varied, too, from broad heart-shaped to
narrow lanceolate, and I soon concluded that it was hopeless to
attempt any division of the class founded upon the leaves.
Besides the beautiful flowers of Scabious mentioned before, a new
feature in the meadows here was the abundance of Astrantia major. A
pure white Hesperis matronalis was also common, but I saw no purple
forms of it. Geranium phæum also grew everywhere in the fields, the
color of the flower varying a good deal. Hepaticas were not so common
by the roadside here as at Eaux Bonnes, but are generally distributed.
Many of them have their leaves beautifully marbled, and I selected and
brought away a few of the best, in hopes that they may keep this
character. I was struck everywhere by the one-crowned appearance of
the Hepaticas, as if in their second year from seed.
On the mountains, where they were still in flower, I did not find the
colors mixed, but on one mountain they would be all white, on another
all blue. I do not recollect to have seen any pink. Meconopsis
cambrica is common in the Pyrenees. I observe that in Grenier's
"French Flora" the color of the flower is given as "jaune orange," but
I never saw it either in England or in France with orange flowers till
I saw it covering a bank by the side of the road to the Vallee du Lys.
I was too much struck by it to delay securing a plant or two, which
was lucky, for when we returned every flower had been gathered by some
rival admirers.
Another expedition from Luchon is to the Lac d'Oo. This, too, is
famous for flowers; but especially so is a high valley called Val
d'Esquierry, 2,000 ft. or 3,000 ft. above the village d'Oo, at which
the carriage road ends. Botanists call this the garden of the
Pyrenees, and, of course, I was most anxious to see it.
The landlord of our hotel was quite enthusiastic in his description of
the treat in store for me, enumerating a long catalogue of colors, and
indicating with his hand, palm downward, the height from the ground at
which I was to expect to see each color. I was afterward told that he
had never been to the famous valley, being by no means addicted to
climbing mountains.
During the first part of the drive from Luchon we saw hanging from the
rocks by the roadside large masses of Saponaria ocymoides, varying
much in the shade of color of the flowers. This is a plant which I
find it better to grow from cuttings than from seed. The best shades
of color are in this way preserved, and the plants are more flowery
and less straggling. As we got near the end of the carriage road, the
meadows became more crowded with flowers known in England only in
gardens.
Besides such plants as Geranium pyrenaicum growing everywhere on the
banks, the fields were full of a light purple geranium--I think
sylvaticum. Here, too, I noticed Meconopsis cambrica with orange
flowers. Narcissus poeticus was also there, and so were some splendid
thistles, large and rich in color. But the most remarkable part of the
coloring in the meadows was produced by different shades of Viola
cornuta carpeting the ground. We noticed this plant in many parts of
the Pyrenees, but here especially.
From the end of the road I started with a guide for the promised
garden of the Val d'Esquierry. By the side of the steep and winding
path I noticed Ramondia pyrenaica--the only place I saw it in the
Luchon district. Other notable plants were a quantity of Anemone
alpina of dwarf growth and very large flowers, covering a green knoll
near a stream. A little beyond, Aster alpinus was in flower, of a
bright color, which I can never get it to show in gardens. These, with
the exception of a few saxifrages and daffodils of the variety
muticus, were about the last flowers I saw there.
[Illustration: GROUP OF ALPINE FLOWERS]
Promise of flowers there was in abundance. Aconites, I suppose
napellus, and also that form of A. lycoctonum with the large leaves
known as pyrenaicum, were just enough grown to recognize. The large
white Asphodel, called by French botanists A. albus, but better known
in gardens as A. ramosus, which grows everywhere in the Pyrenees, and
the coarse shoots of Gentiana lutea were just showing.
Further on the daffodils were only just putting their noses through
the yellow dead grass, which the snow had hardly left and was again
beginning to whiten, for the rain, which had been coming down in
torrents ever since I left the carriage and had wet me through, had
now changed to snow. Still I went on, in spite of the bitter cold,
hoping that I should come to some hyperborean region where the flowers
would be all bright; but my guide at last undeceived me, and convinced
me that we were far too early, so we went down again, wiser and
sadder, and I advise my friends who wish to see the Val d'Esquierry in
its beauty not to visit it before July at the earliest.
I have still one mountain walk to describe, a far more successful one,
but it must be deferred till another week.--_C. Wolley Dod, in the
Garden._
* * * * *
Turtle shells may be softened by hot water, and if compressed in this
state by screws in iron or brass moulds, may be bent into any shape,
the moulds being then plunged into cold water.
* * * * *
A CENTURY PLANT IN BLOOM.
A huge agave, or century plant, is now blooming at Auburn, N.Y. A few
days ago the great plant became tinged with a delicate yellowish-white
color, as its 4,000 buds began to develop into the full-blown flowers,
whose penetrating fragrance, not unlike that of the pond lily, now
attracts swarms of bees and other insects. The plant was purchased in
1837 by the owner, and was then twelve years old. For half a century
the agave has lain around his greenhouses in company with several
others, and no special care has been taken of it, except to protect it
somehow in winter, that it might be fresh for the next summer's
growth. The plant has always been a hardy specimen, and required
little care. Its whole life, now speedily approaching a termination in
the fulfillment of the end of its existence--flowering--has been a
sluggish course. Its growth has been steady and its development
gradual. Occasionally it has thrust out a spiked leaf until, in size,
it became greater than its fellow plants and took on the likeness of
an enormous cabbage which had been arrested in its development and
failed to attain perfection. Early last April its appearance began to
undergo a decided change. Its resemblance to a cabbage lessened, and
it began to look like a giant asparagus plant. On April 12, the great
fleshy leaves, massed together so as to impress the imprint of their
spines upon one another, began to unfold, and a thick, succulent bud
burst up amid the leaves. Slowly the stalk developed from the bud and
assumed gigantic proportions. Green scales appeared in regular
arrangement about the stalk, marking the points from which lateral
branches were to spring. The thick stalk, tender and brittle at first
as new asparagus, became tough and hard enough to resist a knife, and
its surface assumed the gritty character of the leaves of the plant.
The low roof of the hothouse became an obstruction to further growth,
and had to be removed. Lateral limbs were, at a later period, thrust
out in great numbers, each of them bearing small branches, as do
strawberry plants, on which hang sprays of buds in bunches of from
three to ten, making in all many hundreds, all waiting for the
completion and blooming of the topmost buds. The inflorescence of the
century plant is peculiar, and the appearance of flowers on the lower
branches may be simultaneous with, or consecutive to, the blossoming
on the upper limbs. With the appearance of the lateral outshoots the
great aloe lost its likeness to asparagus, and at present bears
resemblance to an immense candelabra. The plant is now fully matured,
and has a height of twenty-seven feet. There are thirty-three branches
on the main stem, and, by actual count, one of the lateral limbs was
found to bear 273 perfect buds, some of whose green sepals have
spread, revealing the yellowish-white petals and essential parts of
the plant. The ample panicles crowded with curious blossoms are, as,
indeed, the Greek name of the plant--agave--signifies, wonderful.
There is a pathetic view to be taken of the great plant's present
condition. For years it has been preparing to flower, and the shoot it
has sent up is the dying effort. The blossoms carry in them the life
of new plants, and the old plant dies in giving them birth. It is
commonly supposed that this plant, the _Agave Americana_, or American
aloe, blooms only at the end of 100 years, hence the common name
century plant.
Only two plants are on record among the floriculturists as having
bloomed in New York State. Thirty years ago, a century plant, of which
the Casey aloe was a slip, flowered in the greenhouses of the Van
Rensselaer family at Albany. In 1869, a second plant blossomed at
Rochester. At present, two aloes, one at Albany, the other at
Brooklyn, are reported as giving evidences of approaching maturity.
They are pronounced not American aloes, or century plants, but _Agave
Virginica_, a plant of the same family commonly found in sterile soil
from Virginia to Illinois and south, and blossoming much more
frequently. In Mexico the century plant is turned to practical account
and made a profitable investment to its owners. After the scape has
reached its full growth it is hewn down, and the sap, which fills the
hollow at its base, is ladled out and converted by fermentation into
"agave wine," or "pulque," the favorite drink of the Mexicans. This
pulque, or octli, has an acid resembling that of cider, and a very
disagreeable odor, but the taste is cooling and refreshing. A brandy
distilled from pulque is called "aquardiente," or "mexical." The
plant, by tapping, can be made to yield a quart of sap daily. The
fibers of the leaves when dried furnish a coarse thread known as Pita
flax, and when green are used in Mexico as fodder for cattle. Razor
strops or hones are also made from the leaves, which contain an
abundance of silica and give rise to a very sharp edge on a knife
applied with friction across the surface of the dried leaf.
* * * * *
CREOSOTE A SPECIFIC FOR ERYSIPELAS.
Time was when the advocate of a specific was laughed at by the
scientific world, but since it is known that so many forms of disease
are the direct result of some kind of germ life, it is no longer a
misnomer to call a medicine which will certainly and always destroy
the germ which produces so many forms of disease a specific.
In the light of this definition, founded upon the experience of forty
years' successful practice in treating this form of disease with
creosote, the writer is prepared to indorse the heading of this
article. Having used all the different remedies ordinarily prescribed,
they have long since been laid aside, and this one used in all forms
of the disease exclusively, and with uniform success.
In 1863 it was the writer's fortune to spend several weeks in a
military hospital in Memphis as a volunteer surgeon, under the
direction of Dr. Lord. In conversation with him, the use of this
article was mentioned, which appeared new to him, and a case was put
under treatment with it, with such prompt favorable results as to
elicit his hearty commendation, and, at his suggestion,
Surgeon-General Hammond was informed of it.
All injuries, of whatever kind, have been treated with dressings of
this remedy, and where this has been done from the first to last, in
no instance has there been an attack of erysipelas.
The usual manner of application was in solution of six to twenty drops
to the ounce of water, keeping the parts covered with cloths
constantly wet with it. In ulcers or wounds it may be used in the form
of a poultice, by stirring ground elm into the solution, the strength
to be regulated according to the virulence of the attack. Ordinarily,
ten drops to the ounce is strong enough for the cutaneous form of the
disease and in dressings for wounds or recent injuries. If the
inflammation threatens to spread rapidly, it should be increased to
twenty or more drops to the ounce of water.
The antiseptic properties of this remedy render it of additional
value, as it will certainly destroy the tendency to unhealthy
suppuration, and thus prevent septicæmia.
In the treatment of hundreds of cases of erysipelas but one fatal case
has occurred, and that one in an old and depraved system. In the less
violent attacks no other remedy was used, but where constitutional
treatment was indicated, the usual appropriate tonics were prescribed.
There is no question in my mind but that creosote is as much a
specific in erysipelas as quinine is in intermittent fever, and may be
used with as much confidence.--_St. Louis Med. Jour._
* * * * *
A NEW APPARATUS FOR THE STUDY OF CARDIAC DRUGS.
By WILLIAM GILMAN THOMPSON, M.D., New York.
The apparatus was devised by Mr. R.D. Gray (the inventor of the
ingenious "vest camera" and other photographic improvements) and by
myself. I described what was required and suggested various
modifications and improvements, but the mechanical details were worked
out exclusively by him. To test the rapidity of the camera, we
photographed a "horse-timer" clock, with a dial marking quarter
seconds, and succeeded in taking five distinct photographs in half a
second with _one_ lens, which has never before been accomplished
excepting by Professor Marey,[1] at the College de France, who has
taken successive views of flying birds, falling balls, etc., with one
lens at a very rapid rate. His camera was unknown to me until after
mine was constructed, so that as a success in photography alone the
work is interesting.
[Footnote 1: La Methode Graphique (Supplement), Paris, 1885.]
The camera consists of a circular brass box, 5½ inches in diameter and
1¼ inches deep, containing a circular vulcanite shutter with two
apertures, behind which is placed a circular dry plate. Both plate and
shutter are revolved in opposite directions to each other by a simple
arrangement of four cogged wheels moved by a single crank. The box is
perforated at one side by a circular opening, 1¾ inches in diameter,
from the margin of which projects at a right angle a long brass tube
(Fig. 1), which carries the lens. In Fig. 2 the lid of the box has
been removed, and the bottom of the box, with the wheels, springs, and
partially closed shutter, is presented. The lid is double--that is, it
is a flat box in itself. It contains nothing but the dry plate,
supported at its center upon a small brass disk, against which disk it
is firmly pressed by a pivot attached to a spring fastened in the lid.
The aperture in one side of this double lid, which corresponds with
that seen in the floor of the box, may be closed by a slide, so that
the lid containing the plate can be removed like an ordinary plate
holder and carried to a dark room, where it is opened and the plate is
changed. When the lid is replaced this slide is removed, and as the
shutter is made to revolve, the light falls upon whatever portion of
the dry plate happens to be opposite the opening.
By reference to Fig. 2, it will be seen that when the large wheel
which projects outside of the box is revolved by a crank, it turns the
small ratchet wheel, which bears an eccentric pawl. (The crank has
been removed in Fig. 2; it is seen in Fig. 1.) The central wheel has
only six cogs. The pawl is pressed into one of these cogs by a spring.
It pushes the central wheel around one-sixth of its circumference,
when it returns to be pressed into the next cog. While the pawl
returns, it necessarily leaves the central wheel at rest, and whatever
momentum this wheel carries is checked by a simple stop pressed by a
spring upon the opposite side. The central wheel carries a square
axle, which projects through a small hole in the center of the double
lid and fits into the brass disk before alluded to, causing the disk
to revolve with the axle. The disk is covered by rubber cloth; and as
the dry plate is pressed firmly against the rubber surface by the
spring in the lid, the plate adheres to the rubber and revolves with
the disk. Thus every complete revolution of the central wheel in the
floor of the box carries with it the dry plate, stops it, and moves it
on again six times. The velocity of revolution of the plate is only
limited by the rapidity with which one can turn the crank.
The shutter is revolved in the opposite direction by a wheel whose
cogs are seen fitting into those of the little wheel carrying the
eccentric pawl.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.--THE CAMERA MOUNTED.]
The two apertures in the shutter are so placed that at the instant of
exposure of the plate it is momentarily at rest, while the plate when
moving is covered by the shutters. This arrangement prevents vibration
of the plate and blurring of the image. The camera is mounted by two
lateral axles with screw clamps upon two iron stands, such as are in
common use in chemical laboratories. A brass rod attached to the tube
steadies it, and allows it to be screwed fast at any angle
corresponding to the angle at which the heart is placed. It is thus
easy to put a manometer tube in the femoral artery of an animal, bend
it up alongside of the exposed heart, and simultaneously photograph
the cardiac contraction and the degree of rise of the fluid in the
manometer(!). The tube is arranged like the draw tube of a microscope.
It is made long, so as to admit of taking small hearts at life-size.
The stand carries a support for the frog or other animal to be
experimented upon, and a bottle of physiological salt solution kept
warm by a spirit lamp beneath.
[Illustration: FIG. 2.--INTERIOR OF THE CAMERA.]
The whole apparatus is readily packed in a small space. I have already
taken a number of photographs of various hearts and intestines with
it, and the contraction of the heart of the frog produced by
_Strophanthus hispidus_, the new cardiac stimulant, is seen in Fig. 3,
taken by this new instrument. The apparatus has the great advantage
that six photographs of a single cardiac pulsation, or of any muscular
contraction, may be easily taken in less than one second, or, by
simply turning the crank slower, they may be taken at any desired rate
to keep pace with the rhythm of the heart. The second hand of a watch
may be placed in the field of view and simultaneously photographed
with the heart, so that there can be no question about the series of
photographs all belonging to one pulsation.
[Illustration: FIG. 3.--PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE HEART IN MOTION.
1, Normal diastole; 2, auricular systole; 3, ventricular systole. 1,
2, 3 were taken in a half second; 4, 5, 6, same as 1, 2, 3, after
injection of toxic dose of Strophanthus hispidus. 4, 5, 6 were taken
in a half second. The pulse rate was 74.]
I have already called attention[13] to the ease with which these
photographs are enlarged for lecture room demonstration, either on
paper or in a stereopticon, and the ease with which they may be
reproduced in print to illustrate the action of drugs.
[Footnote 13: _Medical Record_, loc. cit.; Recent Advances in Methods
of Studying the Heart, _Medical Press_, Buffalo, March 1, 1886, p.
234; Instantaneous Photographs of the Heart, Johns Hopkins University
Circulars, March, 1886, p. 60.]
* * * * *
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papers heretofore published in the SUPPLEMENT, may be had gratis at
this office.
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