Volume 50 · Issue 03 · 1936

In a previous paper(1) we discussed the harmful effects of distention of the stomach and intestines and described certain simple methods which could be employed to decompress various portions of the gastrointestinal tract. At this time we wish to outline briefly. Our methods of dealing with various intra-abdominal situations in accordance with the principles which have been described. Case records will be cited for illustration.

Paroxysmal hemoglobinuria is an uncommon disease. Up to date there have been hardly 300 cases reported in the literature. The disease has appeared to have been relatively more common in Japan than elsewhere in this part of the world. So far, there is no record of its occurrence among the Chinese. S. Inamori (1) and N. Ito (2) reported two cases from Mukden Medical College Hospital in Manchuria, but the nationality of these two patients was not mentioned.

From the large corns, slightly larger than beans, of a certain species of Chekiang Pei-mu (贝母), probably Fritillariae verticillata, we isolated an alkaloid with M.P. 223-224�?(uncorrected), empirical formula C 19H 32NO 2, temporarily denoted as "Peimunin". It was proved to be an unsaturafed aromatic compound containing ketone =C=O, hydroxyl-OH and amino groups. Again from the small coms, about the size of peas, of another species of Szechuan Pei-mu whose scientific name needed identification, we also isolated another alkaloid with M.P. 165-167�?(uncorrected). As these two kinds of Pei-mu have been used for centuries as remedy for cough, we purposely investigated their pharmacological actions.

From Tang-kuei(当归) of the northwestern part of China, we obtained some saccharose and a small amount of light yellow essential oil by extraction of the crude drug with ether. The essential oil was apparently composed of a mixture of substances with different boiling point and about the same characteristic odour. The boiling point started somewhere around 78�?(uncorrected) and kept on until about 160�?(uncorrected). The oil was proved to be partly unsaturated.

Foreign bodies found in the throat are most often either fish bones or broken pieces of chicken bones. The common sites for foreign bodies in this region are the pillars of the fauces, the crypts of the tonsils, the base of the tongue or the posterior wall of the pharynx. The mouth piece of a Chinese tobacco pipe stabbed deeply into the tissue of the pharynx should be of sufficient interest to report.

In this Journal, Taylor(1) reported in 1934 an indigenous case of malignant malaria in Mukden. The two cases here described are of especial interest not only in that they are indigenous, but also in their mode of transmission.

The presence of Kala-azar in this province has been for some years a debated question. Several have suspected its presence in some cases of enlarged spleen and marked anemia, which are relatively common here, although microscopic proof was lacking. Others doubted its existence not only because no definitely proven case had been reported but also because the supposed transmitting agent, the sandfly, appears to be exceedingly rare in West China.

It is impossible in a short paper to deal with all branches of this subject, so I propose merely to discuss certain important points and to show several illustrative specimens.

The following short clinical records may be of interest to readers of the Chinese Medical Journal. They are notes of twenty-four cases which were operated on for Ectopic Gestation in the Alice Memorial and Affiliated Hospitals. Hongkong, including six cases published in the China Medical Journal July J924, of which an abstract is given.

Blood transfusion as a therapeutic measure is gaining recognition in China. In the Peiping Union Medical College Hospital it has been performed approximately 3,700 times in the ten year period from July 1925 to June 1935 inclusive. Apart from the well known dangers resulting from incompatibility of blood-groups the possibility of transmission of disease to the recipient is an ever present consideration. The present paper deals with two infections, namely, malaria and relapsing fever, which have developed subsequent to blood transfusions in this hospital during the stated period.

In the treatment of tuberculosis of the knee joint, conservative methods are generally preferred in the case of infants and young children, and operative methods in the case of older children and adults. Comparison of the results obtained by the two methods shows that the operative treatment is more certain, more economical and usually allows healing of the local disease to take place in a shorter period of time.

Since the first successful inoculation of infected bIood from man to man by Gerhardt in 1884, this method of malaria transmission is well, known to clinicians and is extensively used as a standard procedure in the treatment of general paralysis of the insane.