The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1912-07-11
HOW TO RID The WORLD
) OF DEATH BY LOCKJAW
Drs. Benjamin and Beveridge
Announce Results of MANY
Years Experimentation.
). BOWLING BENJAMIN of

nR. BOWLING BENJAMIN OF
Camden. N. j., says that he has
~ found way to eliminate lock
jaw due to puncture and othe,
mJuries-to eliminate it altogether and
reduce the death rate to nothing-not
merely to cure or prevent the disease
by administration Of tetanus antitoxin
Il know it may be claimed that this
Is a most radical and surprising state.
ment,' DR.. Benjamin writes in the
Medical Record, lone that no physician
ever dared to make before, but it is
excusable if it is the truth. And it is
important not only to the profession,
but to humanity in general So I wish
to offer some proofs which think will
justify the assertion on the unassail-
able grounds that what has been done
can be DONE"
In thirty-three years of practice. saws
Dr. Benjamin, he has treated about
10000 injuries, including rusty nail and
other punctures Of the hands and feet.
and none of his patients has DEVELOPED
lockjaw.
This was accomplished" he adds,
I'm locality where lockjaw is endemic.
twenty cases having been reported in
one year,
Disease Usually Fatal.
DR.. Benjamin notes that the disease
when fully developed is usually fatal.
he says that tetanus antitoxin will
1mmunize If introduced hypodermical-
~ before lockjaw develops or at the
ume OF injury. But" he observes.
''as it is obviously impractical to have
everybody take hypodermic injections
or antitoxin after every little scratch
or wound, the physician is usually CALL
ed to treat the case after it has mani
rested itself by the symptoms: This
is generally too late. Prevention is the
only satisfactory cure"
In the past four years twenty-five
cases of lockjaw have been treated at
the Cooper hospital, DR.. BENJAMIN
says. Livery patient received injections
OF antitoxin, but only two of the TWEEN
V-tWo recovered, (which shows" DR..
benJamln asserts, that the mortality
OF this disease is high even under the
BEST treatment by skilled men,"
NOW for DR.. .Benjamin's preventive.
HIS instructions to physicians in the
Medlcal Record are accompanied by
picture of a screw that looks like a
small anger bit. Have on hand, he
says, such screws of various sizes. to
oe had from any instrument maker.
line smallest should be the size of a
small probe and the largest five-six-
teenths of an inch in diameter. IF
these special instruments are unob
talnable an ordinary threaded alumni.
mum applicator often can be used or
ordinary screws from the hardware
store,
Preventive Treatment.
After sterilizing the field of injury
and irrigating, if the wound is large
and open, DR.. Benjamin inserts q few
drops OF alcoholic solution of cocaine
Then he dips the sterilized screw into
an antiseptic solution, some of which
is retained in the spiral gutter of the
screw and inserts the screw in the
wound. If the skin is hard. like the
sole OF the foot and the mouth of the
wound tightly contracted. he hicks the
skin with knife point The rest of
Dr. Benjamin's instructions follow:
AS the screw is being inserted it is
Kept turning. but held back, so that by
the time it has reached the bottom it
mas been turned enough to have car
rled 1t more than twice as far. 1t is
now given a few more turns. In this
way foreign substances and microbes
are lifted (screwed) out. The instru-
ment is then pulled out and washed in
an antiseptic, then dipped in tincture Of
Iodine, If not large puncture, and then
aorced down to the bottom of the
wound and given a few turns back.
ward. Then the screw is dipped into
carbolized oil zone minim of carbolic
acid to fourteen Of pure olive oiD and
pushed gradually to the bottom of the
wound, turning backward, then un-
screwed out These antiseptics have
the property Of permeating the sur
rounding tissues. Dress the wound in
the usual antiseptic manner. No germs
will live in that wound.
Even when you have tmmunized
with antitoxin this local treatment
should be used in all punctured and
powder wounds for the good reason
that it not only prevents lockjaw by
killing the bacilli. but is equally efica-
c1ous against streptococci (blood poi
son and erysipelas) and staphylococci
(abscess and inf1ammation). My per-
sonal experience has shown this to be
fact.
Deaths From Tetanus.
According to DR.. ]. w. Beyeridge of
Cornell, who has made special study
of tetanus, every one of 1O3 deaths
from tetanus in and near New York
city last wear could havo hoon pro