DIABETES MELLITUS IN INFANCY

with ascorbic acid, a dose of 100 milligrammes three times a day being given. Then 20 milligrammes of rutin were given three times a day for two months, and double this dose for another month. Five patients took ascorbic acid throughout the whole period. The results were not very striking. Capillary fragility decreased in only three out of the twelve to any substantial degree. Improvement was noted in the fundal condition of only five eyes out of the twenty-lour examined, and two of the patients who showed such improvement had no change in their general capillary state. In one patient diabetic retinitis regressed while under observation. The authors do not think that clearing up of the retinal damage, which occurred in two eyes, can be attributed to the use of rutin. As they rightly remark the retiological agents in diabetic retinitis are not Simple or single. Perhaps it is too mlJ.ch to expect the administration of a glucoside like rutin to work miracles. All that has been established about it is that it may have the effect of reversing certain tendencies towards functional inefficiency of the capillary walls, but where irreversible changes have taken place too much cannot be expected. The thieving pathological processes which steal our health do not always need an unlocked door to the stable; they seem to be able to pick the lock under our eyes.