Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1903-01-24
FORMALIN'S new USE.
Successfully Tested In a Case
of Blood Poisoning
DISCOVERY OF DR. @. O. BARRows

sERN@
into Her vefns-rhere Was an Inn
mediate I1nprovement-Her Tenn
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 DR.. Charles c. Barrows,
a g~ynecologist, who is one Of the visit
ing physicians to Bellevue hospital, in
New York, and has, been connected
with that institution for sixteen years.
Reyolutlonlzing the method Of treat
ing blood poison, DR.. Barrows' specific
for such It may Defends to rob that
disease Of It's terrors and, some mem
bers Of the medical fraternity believe,
viii prove most valuable in other NAL
aides that usually have a fatal result,
a y the New York Herald. The one
patient whom Or. Barrows has treated
by his new method was at the point Of
death when he was called in. Now she
is practically well.
1N AEHAEO9 Ills Int pQNAEtAA AAl0l wv
ate blood poisoning does DR.. Barrows
battle the disease. TO do this he es-
chews the use of medicines and injects
into the patients Veins a weakened So
luton OF what Is known as formalin.
This Is a 40 per cent solution of for
m%aldehyde 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 it has been used as a pre-
sentative for food products.
In his observation of the many cases
Of blood poisoning which came under
his notice DR.. Barrows arrived at the
conclusion it was absolutely necessary
to destroy the bacteria if the disease
was to be fought successfully. In his
search for an agent by which the end
might be gained he thought of for
him it might be employed eficaciously,
with no harm to the patient.
He found his first opportunity of put
ting his theory to the test in Bellevue
hospital. Alice Bentley, a 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 vas 104.3
degrees and her pulse was 124. After
the birth Of a baby she had a severe
chill, and her temperature was 100 de-
grees. She was transferred to the
genealogical ward and her tempera-
ture increased t 106.S degrees. She
became worse daily, and when DR..
Barrows was called in, on Jan. 2, she
seemed to be at the point of death. She
was semicomatose and was muttering
incoherently. Her respiration was rap
id and labored, her pulse ranged from
$50 to 160 and her temperature was
10S degrees. Never had a person in
such a condition been known to re-
cover.
1t was reported to DR.. Barrows that
on Dec. 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 a culture, which
showed the presence of the virulent
bacteria of septicemia, 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 a difficult operation and a
small quantity of the formalin was
lost. about 500 centimeters of the So
luton finding its way into the circula-
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 8 O'Clock the
next morning, sixteen hours after the
injection, the temperature was 101 de-
grees instead of 10S, and the pulse had
fallen from 1GO to 104. But as the day
passed the temperature rose to 1924
degrees and then fell again until 1t was
only %. The mex day the patient,
whose general condition had improved.
had a relapse, and her temperature re-
corded lO3 degrees.
The day after the injection another
blood culture was made, and it was
found hat 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 it
vary materially. Two days after this
another blood culture was made, and
the bacteria swere absent. The woman
became convalescent rapidly, and now
she Is wen.
when the DAYS Begin to LenQthen.