The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, September 21, 1902, Page 13

sQCivery Rverl BEE Tn Medigal Scieng: Horel Ree 2 Free Dispensary. me honored repu- ittle bee be recen possess he busy for ma remarkable wrought | properties of bee the exact ef- nacea medical pre- ng of the t even need to So difficult is the gathgr- acid that the the 1 induced to part secreti new believe it to be a valua- as been discovered prac- Most medicines, of t sult of much be precious ng of bees is on the several and in several of The medicinal ties of bee sting: It are also familiar s only of late, however, ties of the bee sting attracted the attention of physi- clans. At present experiments along these lines are being carried forward by one physician near New York, e subject is attracting considerable medicines contain- ' concentrated honey ison, been effectively used for for a variety of serious diseases. s employed in the treatment of hav in drop: in certain diphtheritic throat and for ere is, of course, nothing tement to homeo- f sufferers have taken g as a medicine, and are tak- without knowing the source nce Sting Cured Rheumatism. bborn, even chronic, cases of which have defied ordinary ment for years have been cured, by bee stings. One recent of these cases has of William Snively of near Chambersburg, Pa. had been a sufferer from tism for years, and despite medical treatment had lost the e of both so that he was unable to work. - He chanced to be in his garden jay recently when a swarm of bees acked him viclously stinging him se- verely. Such was the stiffness of his he was practically unable to 1 himself. | poisoning followed, and the ed portion quickly swelled, with the companiment of pain. Later, cure dy Grove was amazed to find that the ic pain and stiffness from which suffered for y ars was disappear- = relief was so great that s he was enabled to re- use of his arms. The e returned to his work, es on with all his old free- The bee sting treatment is reported to be common on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. A man named E. B. Salis- bu: in w living near Chestertown, Md., £ of his experience. says: I have tried the remedy by having ng me at places where the pain s d to start. Twenty-one bees stung 1e in three different places and in less twenty-four hours relief was com- hees s y.u.‘ * These reported cures will appear per- ural to the layman when he to know something of the actuai commercial use of the poison of the honey’ bee. Few persons are familiar with the unusual method employed for extract- ing it. To procure this powerful liquid a num- ber of honey bees are collected and placed in a glass jar. The top of the jar is covered with netting, to allow plenty of air for breathing. The chemist then pro- ceeds to stir up the bees vigorously with a stick. The honey bee is, as a rule, harmless, unless angered. The persistent stirring of a mass of bees drives them to fury and as a result they soon cam- mence viciously to sting. the sides of the jar. A small portion of the poison is thus deposited on the sides of the jar. When the bees cannot be induced to sting any more they are emptied out and the poison is collected and held in solution of alcohol. STINGS NOW PRESCRI BED | TFORMER METHOD OF TREATMENT In its purse state formic acid is extreme- ly powerful. Even when diluted to ex- treme weakness its action on the tissues is very marked. The sensation of being stung by a bee is, of course, familiar and scarcely neceds description. The slightest injection of the poison produces a pow- erful action, both locally and constitu- tionally. The tissues affected by the sting almcst instantly become hard and of whitish color, and rapild swelling quickly follows. It is impossible for the blood to force its way through the swol- len portion. An abnormal amount of this polson in the system will quickly prove fatal to the most robust constitution. In- stances of men and horses being stung to death by bees in a comparatively short time are common. Though the therapeutic value of formic MANNER. OF APPLICAT rog_u THE SUNDAY CALL acid has been neglected or little under- stood, its commercial value is widely rec- ognized. It is utilized in science to pre- serve pathological specimens. Acting upon such specimens much the same as it does upon living tissues, it quickly hardens them, and in this condition they may be preserved for long periods. In other words, the specimens are stung un- til they are hard enough to resist the ac- tion of the air. A similar use of the acid is made by embalmers under the name of ‘“formaline” and . “formaldehyde,” both words being derived from ‘‘formic. A few years ago, it may be recalled, considerable excitement was aroused by the report that formaldehyde was being Some idea of its power may be obtained from the fact that a solution of one part of formic acid to 500,000 parts water is considered an effective germicide. The power of the insignificant little stinging apparatus of the bee, it will be seen, is not one to be trified with. ‘When the effect of the bee sting comes to be more understood it is probable that this novel and very powerful way of tak- ing medicine will be a common practice. Exactly what happens when one has been stung by a bee, whether by accident or as the result of a medical prescription, is as follows: The sting of the bee breaks the skin slightly, so that the aperture which ex- used extensively to preserve milk udes the pofson or natural formic acid in the large cities. THe acid is also reaches the smaller veins. As the poison used as a germicide and disinfectant. is injected it rapldly spreads to the sur- e ) rounding tissue. The action is very rapid. Its effect is both local and constitutional. The injection of the acid causes instant swelling, shutting off the circulation. The local nerve centers are paralyzed. The 2ccompanying pain is extremely sharp. To alleviate this pain and reduce the swelling the sting must be treated lo- cally. It is impossible, with the present limit- ea knowledge of the subject, to explain exactly how this injection of formie acid brings relief, even works a cure, In cases of rheumatism. If such a cure be gen- eral and permanent the inevitable con- clusion is that the effect of the sting is constitutional, since rheumatism is a con- stitutional disease. Dr. Louis B. Couch of Nyack on Hud- son, who has been experimenting along these lines announces that the sting of the bee offers to physicians a rich fleld for original investigation as a therapeutic remedy for rheumatism. Dr. Couch has done much valuable original investigation &nd is the inventor of many surgical in- struments highly considered in the pro- fession. “The polson of the honey bee,” he an- nounced In a recent interview, “has long been known to the profession, if net to the public, as a cure for rheumatism. Its therapeutic value has been familiar to homeopaths for several decades. “It is at present in daily use among them. It has been found by analysis that ' PHOTOGRAPHIC POINTERS FOR AMATEURS. N the development of glass nega- tives it is quite necessary that the tray containing the developer should be kept in motion by gently rocking it to and fro during the whole proc- ess of development, as, if this precaution is neglected, the negative will be very likely to show a streaky or mottled ap- pearance, impossible to remove if once it exists. This gentle movement of the tray keeps the developer in constant motion and prevents the settlement of any undie- solved particles of the reducing agent on the surface of the plate, where, if allow- ed to collect, they would act with greater energy than in other parts and develop- ment would be uneven and imperfect. ‘With the approach of fall and the drop- ping of the leaves from the trees, many beautiful effects will be possible in_pho- tography which cannot be obtained at 2ny other time. These are to be found in the photographing of distant landscapes through the openings in trees and shrubs near at hand, in such a way that while the distant view is plainly to be seen thkrough the open spaces, the boughs and few remaining leaves are fnade to form a border to the picture, which gives strength and character to the foreground and adds to the effect of distance in the rest of the composition. For work of this kind, lenses of long foeus only should be employed, and care must be taken that the lens is stopped dGown small enough so that the nearer objects are sharply defined on the plate. It is also necessary that such work be done on a very stiil day in order to avoid blurring from the movement of the leaves and branches in the foreground. Another charming application of pho- tography is its use for decorative work, and many beautiful subjects abound at this season of the year. In the photo- graphing of clusters of ferns, brakes, meadow grasses, cat-o'-nine-tails and such common subjects as clusters of su- mac, grape vines with bunches of ripened or ripening fruit, or the gracetul mullein stalk common to the hillsides of the coun- try all about, present an endless varlety of material for this work. Carefully se- lected pictures of such studies as the above, even if made on the small size plates, as 314 by 4% or 4 by 5, are often- !mes exquisite when reproduced in direct prints, but by far their greater value lies in the possibility of their use for deco- rative purposes when enlarged to consid- erable proportions and printed on bro- mide papers. The writer has seen several dainty and effective friezes and border decorations that have been made from just such work as this. The selection and atrangement of such subjects are extremely fascinat- ing to any one of an artistic temperament, A collection of such views as this should be made while it is possible to obtain it, and the negatives kept for enlargement at a later time when the 1ong evenings can be devoted to such work. In cases where it is believed that a batch of plates has received longer ex- posure than was intended it is a good plan to bathe the plates before develop- ment in a restraining solution made up of one gram of saturated solution of bro- mide of potash to one ounce of water. If the plates are removed from this bath without washing directly to the devel- oper they will be more thoroughly under control than if the bromide is added to the developer -after the evidence of over- exposure becomes apparent. This treat- ment, however, is only wise for plates which are known to have been overex- posed. Spoiled negatives are the product of all dark rooms, no matter how proficient the workers by whose hands they are pro- duced. Inasmuch as the glass is often available for future uses and as it is very difficult to clean the film from a plate after it has become dry, it is always best, as soon as the negative is discovered to have been lost, to leave it in the hypo bath until all developing operations are over and then remove the film while yet soft and pliable. It will generally be found to leave the glass very easily and if the glass is thus cleaned at this stage of the operation a great deal of unneces- sary time and annoyance are saved later on. It is, besides, an extremely unwise policy to save negatives that are of all degrees of badness, thinking that they may some time be available for use. If a negative is poor on development it should be destroyed and got out of the way at once, and not be allowed to clutter up one's shelves to be always In the way. Developing tray, glass graduates and all dishes used in the’ dark room should be carefully rinsed each time after use. Even with the best of care, however, they will frnm time to time require spe- cial cleansing, as the dust and dirt ac- cumulate and traces of the chemicals re- main even after rinsing. It is well to give them a thcrough cleaning two or three times during the season with a pretty strong bath of sulphuric acid or muriatie acid, allowing this acid to remain in them for several minutes and scrubbing them at the same time with a brush or coarse cloth. After the acid is thrown out they should again be carefully rinsed and put gway to dry, bottom upward. the principal ingredient of the honey 13 virus is formic acid. The acid is ob for commercial purposes, I believe, fro bees, from the glands of stinging nettl from certain kinds of caterpillars, ants, etc. The therapeutic value of honey bee sting is mainly, if not entli due, it seems to me, to this formic “I have bee working on this line investigation for some tme. I have vet decided whether the action of sting of the injection of the acid is I or constitutional. This may only be termined by many actual tests. From experience I am led to believe that it constitutional. “I should like to add a word of warnin to those who are experimenting by tually submitting to the bee sting ment. “It should be borne in mind that t! is some danger in being stung by many bees in any limited space. The ¢ sequent swelli~~ hardness of the t! and inflammation are likely to check circulation because of the pressure on blood vessels. As a resuit, a ce sloughing of the tissues may follow. “A similar result is found in the case boils or carbuncles. When *he ¢irculati of blood is shut off the cores, as they commonly called, mortify and sleoi awav aue to the fact that the cenfi tissues are deorived of their vitally B rortant circulation. Any ome who taken the new cure will greatly obilij me by communicating his observations me.” Dr. W. C. Gilday, in an interview the general subject, said: “This fo acid, though little known to the pul is not unfamiliar to the medical sion. It is a drug of recognized value. is very powerful, being in fact ously caustic, causing intense pain ulceration on coming in contact with skin. The only practical use found it in the profession, so far as I know, as a disinfectant and a preservative. is a powerful preservative and a very ergetic germicide.” e A most ingenious theft is reported one of the rallways in Burma, reports London— Express. The Burmese covering, it must be understood, is a kerchief, often of considerable called “gaungbaung.” Some young d devils attach prickly bushes to long ba boo poles, and when the"mail train they will yell out, which causes the nati passengers to stick their heads out of t] carrfage windows. The train is then from end to end by means of the peoles, with the result that the Bu male passengers arve deprived of gaungbaungs. Some twenty-seven head-dresses were thus acquired by young scamps in one night.