The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1899-08-11
LIQUID AIR IN MEDICINE
AND SURGERY.

The subject of liquid air in its appl-
: cation IN medicine and surgery has
been treated ina dispassionatc manner
by DR.. A. Campbell White in The
Medical Record. The general proper
ties of liquid air have already been de-
scribed in the columns of the Scientific
American at considerable length, so
that it is not necessary to dwell upon
this phase Of the subject.
In applying liquid to the tissues of
the body, DR.. White has used it in the
form ola spray and by means of a
swab dipped into the fluid. If spray
of liquid air is applied to the skin, the
part at once becomes anHmic and per-
fectly colorless. If the application is
made only for a few seconds, the color
as quickly returns and the skin is con-
gested for some minutes thereafter.
Within much less than minutes
time, by means of a spray, the part is
frozen as hard rs ice, but strange to
say, IN a few minutes circulation re-
turns without an injury to the tissue.
provided the part is not in the end OF
some extremity. There is no pain in
the application excepting at the very
beginning, but there is slight burn
ing or tingling. It also completely
anasthetizes the part to which it is APP
piled without freezing it solid. DR..
White has tried liquid air as local
an9sthetic in number of cases with
invariable success. 1t has one impor-
tant advantage; that is the absence of
hemorrhages during the operation, en-
abling the operator to apply the dress
ing before any hemorrhage sets in, the
dressing then being sufficient to stop
any oozing. DR.. White has found the
use Of liquid air beneficial in the local
treatment of ulcers, etc. He states
that an abscess, boil or carbuncle in
the early stages is aborted absolutely
with one thorough treatment. Ifit is
more advanced several applications at
intervals of twenty four hours are ne
cessary. Liquid air has also been
used with advantage in cases of sciat-
ica, neuralgia, etc.
An interesting experiment was tried
in a case of ivy poisoning, involving
the entire left forearm and hand. A
band aroul the forearm about three
inches wide was slight, frozen by the
spray, and then the usual treatment
was applied to the entire poisoned area,
including the part which had been
treated with tue liquid air was very
distinct, and this portion was greatly
improved, the intlammatory process
having subsidized A number of other
diseases have also been treated with
liquid air with marked success. Where
no loss of tissue is desirable, liquid air
should be applied by the spray and
not by the swab. DR.. White takes
issue with Mr.. Hampson, whose article
appeared in the Supplement, No. 1926,
entitled Liquid Air" DR.. White is
undoubtedly correct in advising the
greatest possible care in using the new
substance which science has placed at
disposal of the surgeon. Even such
cooling agents as the e,hcr-spray
should be used with great caution, and
liquid air should be applied only by
those who have had some experience in
it's use.
In conclusion, DR.. White considers
that we have reason to hope that we
have in liquid air 4 therapeutic agent
which will remove many otherwise OBJ
stinate superficial LESSONS of the body
and cure some LESSONS which have
hitherto resisted all treatment at our
disposal, including the knife. He is of
the opinion that in the use of liquid air
in medicine, that is to say, in pulmon-
ary diseases, in the reduction Of fever,
ETC., a large field is open which pre-
sents many obstacles at the very start,
and possibly holds out much in the fn-
turc.