Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1903-01-23
E0RMALIN'S new USE.
Successfully Tested In a Case
Of Blood Poisoning.
DISCOVERY OF DR.. O. O. BARR0ws

Ne Saved . DyiaG Woman By Ia
jectins . Solution of the Astissptie
Into Her yeias-There Was .. Is-
mediate Improvemest-Her Ts.-
perature Marked los.
What Is regarded by many physi-
clans as one Of the most important
medical discoveries Of the day has
been made by DIR. Charles C. Barrows.
n gynecologist. who Is one Of the visit
Ing physicians TO Bellevue hospital, In
New York, and has been connected
with that institution for sixteen years.
Revolutionizing the method Of treat
ing blood poison, Dr. Barrows' specific
for such 1t may Defends to rob that
disease of Its terrors and, some mem.
bers OF the medical fraternity believe.
will prove most valuable In other NAL
aides that usually have fatal result.
says the New York Herald. The one
patient whom DIR. Barrows has treated
by his new method was ut the point Of
death when he was called In. Now she
is practically well.
BY destroying the bacteria that ere
ate blood poisoning does DR.. Barrows
ba fife the disease. To do this he es-
chews the use of medicines and lnJects
into the patients veins a weakened So
luton OF what il known as formalin.
10 of fnr
maldehyde gas In water. This gas.
which Is an oxidation of methyl alco-
hol, has strong germicidal qualities, be-
ing stronger than carbolic acid and
only slightly inferior to corrosive sub
Innate. Formalin, its solution In wa.
ter. is a powerful antiseptic and Is fire.
quently applied outwardly in surgery.
For years 1t has been used as a pre-.
servative for food products.
In his observa ton OF the many cases
Of blood poisoning which came under
his notice DIR. Barrows arrived at the
conclusion IL was absolutely necessary
to destroy the bacteria II the disease
was to be fought successfully. In his
search for an agent by which the end
might be gained he thought Of for
malin. and careful study convinced
him 1t might he employed efiicaciously,
with no harm to the patient.
He found his first opportunity Of put
ting his theory to the test In Bellevue
hospital Alice Bentley, negress,
twenty six years old, was taken to the
institution on Christmas day suffering
from blood poisoning. She had fallen
downstairs a month before, injuring
herself severely. When she entered
the hospital, her temperature was 1913
degrees and her pulse was l24. After
the birth Of baby she had Il severe
chill. and her temperature was lO5 de-
grees. She was transferred to the
genealogical ward and her tempera-
ture increased to 1868 degrees. She
became worse daily, and when DIR.
Barrows was called In, on Jan. 2, she
seemed to be at the point of death. She
| was semicssnatose and was muttering
incoherently. Her respiration was rap
id and labored, her pulse ranged from
lOo " IDV ahu aCi tChPCAotohS
los degrees. Never had person in
such condition been known to re-
| cover.
1t was reported to DR.. Barrows that
on Dee. 80 a small portion OF the pa
tents blood had been drawn from her
arm and that DR.. Buxton, a bacteriOl-
ogist connected with the Cornell Med
ical college, had made culture. which
showed the presence of the virulent
bacteria of septic@mia, or streptOcocci.
She had blood poisoning in its most
virulent form. Into one of the large
veins of the right arm DR.. Barrows
tried to inject one liter Of formalin So
luton, Of the strength Of one part Of
formalin to 5000 parts Of water. but
the woman's delirium and restlessness
made this difficult operation and a
small quantity Of the formalin was
lost, about 500 centimeters of the So
luton finding its way into the clrcula-
ton.
| The result was such as to make the
physicians marvel. The temperature
fell almost Immediately, and the pulse
showed an instantaneous Improvement.
This continued, and at 0 O'Clock the
next morning. sixteen hours after the
| injection, the temperature was lOl de-
gyees instead Of l08, and the pulse had
fallen from 100 to 104. But as the day
passed the temperature rose to 1924
degrees and then fell again until It was
| only 95. The next day the patient.
whose general condition had improved,
had a relapse, and her temperature re-
corded 103 degrees.
The day after the injection another
blood culture was made, and 1t was
| found that none Of the bacteria was
present. Thus encouraged, DR.. Bar
rows made another injection Of the
| formalin into the wOman's left arm,
this time Of $50 cubic centimeters.
Again the temperature fell to the nor
NAL. and at no time thereafter did 1t
vary materially. Two days after this
another blood culture was made. and
the bacteria were absent. The woman
became convalescent rapidly, and now
she Is well.
/