The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-09-19
WOUND ANTISEPTIC
TO- Be WIDELY USED
Rockefeller Institute Com
pound VIII BE Made for
Military Hospitals.
CAN PREVENT GANGRENE
Special correspordercs 10 Tnr suS.

49,
LONDON. August lS.-The recent re-
port to the French Academy OF Sci
ences by Prof. L%andouzy. dean OF
the faculty Of medicine, Of the work
done by the English chemist Henry n.
Dakin and Dr. Alexis Carrel at the
military hospital at Compiegne. in which
the Rockefeller Institute has installed
Il laboratory, continues to attract med.
cal comment.
The character OF the new antiseptlc
employed by Mr.. Dakin and Dr. Carrel
Is described simply In Mr.. Dakin's orig
nal note to the Academy. The most
powerful a~utiseptic known TO science is
hypocllorlde of lime, but II has so far
been OF little medical use because of its
strong acidity. highly injurious to hu-
man tissue, and the difficulty of pre-
serving II. In order to utilize the
agents unique strength without damag-
ing tissue the experimenters hav5 added
10 II borlc acid as a preservative, and
carbonate OF lime to counterfeit the
acidity.
The new preparation has been thor
oughly used by DIR, Card in severe
cases Of highly infected wounds with
excellent results, the aspect OF the worst
"fN'iNH 'AhAl~llh Idllulg tlil
under the use Of any OF the standard
antiseptiCs. Gangrsne can be prevented
from the outset by It's use.
II IL too much to say that It's use will
make the infection of wounds impossible,
as was said In the first reports Of the
practice in the English papers, for all
war wounds are infected anyway before
they arrive In hospital, and because the
additional progress hus made toward
the perfect antiseptic, which will destroy
all septic agents without itself damag-
ing human tissues in any way, is only Of
relative importance.
Prot. ]. L. Cohen. head OF the organic
chemistry department OF Leeds Univer-
sity. has written to the London Times
a short account OF the new a%ntiseptlc.
Mr.. Dakin was formerly a student at
Leeds, where he took Il degree. Prof.
Cohen states that the preparation is in
expensive and easily prepared. 1t rapid
ly dissolves away necrotic tissue and
sterilizes the wound. the antiseptlc ac-
ton probably depending on the scpara-
ton of chlorine in the nascent condition.
Some OF the materials experimental on
in the Rockefeller laboratory at Com
piegne have been prepared under the
auspices of and with financial assistance
from the Royal Medical Research Com
mittee, and arrangements have been
made at Leeds to prepare the antiseptic
in considerable quantities for use in Eng.
lish military hospitals.
Harvey Littlejohn, dean OF the faculty
OF medicine Of the University of Edin-
burgh, has written to the Times an ac-
count OF an earlier use of the same anti
septic by DR.. Lorrain Smith, professor
OF pathology at Edinburgh, A report
Of DIR, Smiths work was published in
the British Medical Journal of July "a.
Dean littlejohn fnds that the W
preparations are identical,
In his report before his colleagues OF
the Hygiene Committee OF the Chamber
of Deputies, Deputy Lucien Dumont,
himself n physician OF considerable sur
gical experience. stated that he regretted
TO find at Complegne, In the cleanest hos
pital along the whole front, where there
was mot even a smell of drugs" that
DIR. Carrel had only twelve patients for
fifty beds.
The Mdtin reporter who visited DR..
Carrels hospital notes In his story about
the use OF the new antiseptic that the
Rockefeller laboratories are installed In
the bathroom OF one OF the finest private
residences OF Compiegne. Mrs. Carrei
is in charge Of nursing at the hospital.