USE OF ANTISEPTICS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 772, 22 March 1910, Page 5

USE OF ANTISEPTICS.

GIVE NATURE A CHANCE. ■ ; j ; ■ ■. --'.■•■■ l An antiseptic preparation'is invaluable -.! on a farm. Stock of \U kinds are con- j stantly receiving minor injuries, which. j are liable, under unfavourable treat-. ■;- j ment, to develop into persistent and dan- :.'}, serous sores. The old-fashioned remedy 1 of applying any greasy mixture that is . i handy, or, worse still, of making dress- ' ] ings of horse manure, is still (writes the . "Australasian") carried on to an extra- ■'"! •'{ ordinary degree, despite the progress :' made in veterinary science. Very often' ••;.. the treatment given a suffering animal .". j is much worse than the original wound. '-.T.'-i As a rule the inherent vitality : of' an " . ! animal will generally enable it to make ~->! ■ j a quick recovery if nature is only given ■-~. ] a chance. Nothing . more is necessary t i ■very often than to keep the wound clean. ■'■ | But to moke sure of preventing the ' : j spread of inflammation, any cheap anti-.. i- j septic preparation should.be used. In-: , \ flammation, and oven blood-poisoning, is l '.:'.\ liable to follow from the neglect of any '..■.]'■ dirty wound. These are due to changes '}. .. brought about by micro-organisms, which. .<»'■ set up fermentation processes. Antisep-'.';,-" . tics effectually prevent these. Tfiey.are".';:.. \ of various kinds and of various strengths. •■•"-. | Heat and ■ cold, in the case of some or- V ganisms, act as physical antiseptics. Thus, during the process of pasteurisa- >...;! tion is milk raised to a very high tem- .'■• -j perature and then suddenly cooled at a •',*'■ ,i very .low one. ,The frozen storage oi ;.-.:.i all kinds of foodstuffs prevents .putre- i; ] faction. Antiseptics for the prevention ,' | of the decay of tissue in living animals,''/.. •however, are usually chemical sub- ;v ■;. stances, .which are inimical to germ life. /j Preparations of carbolic' acid, boric acid, permanganate. of potash, and zinc com- '. pounds are exceedingly cheap, and little. .'■.;■ I danger is to be apprehended from their ~ j use, oven at the hands of the unskilled. • '. Weak preparations are sufficient to wash. J out any recently-acquired injuries, and . | they do not deteriorate by being kept for . .' a long time unused. . ■•.■ | ;