A NEW ANTISEPTIC

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3175, 28 August 1917, Page 9

A NEW ANTISEPTIC

DISCOVERY AT A BRITISH HOSPITAL

SIR J, BLAND-SUTTON'S TRIALS,

A new and more powerful antiseptic than any before known, w'hieh. was discovered in tho research laboratory at Middlesex Hospital, was. described , .bv Sir John Blnnd-Siitton recently in an address to the- Court of Governors rf tho hospital. The 'new antiseptic is a coaltar dye named flavine, and it is already an assured success. Sir John liland-Suit-ton said that coal-bar had furnished art •ind soionco with many wry Meful products sinco Perkins obtained from it the colour known as raaiwo, 'J'bo synthetic chemist of to-day was a more cunning Inagician than any described' in tho "Arabian Nights." He was able to produce all the colours of the rainbow. Ho ccnld create from tasteless materials snnstMices jive -hundred times swf.«ter than and ,from his magic b,yr he ciral-1 bring fortli powerful drugs like salicyijc ncid, novocaino. and salvarsan. This juggling could produco a powerful antiseptic or 0. deadly high explosive like T.N.'i. These dyes and coal-tar colours hud been of gi-oiit use to anatomists, because- by their nid they hod been able to tinravtl the warp and the woof of living br.dics in health and in disease. Thffio colows also rendered bacteria visible, it was quiite reasonable to believe tnat siino colours- entered into chemical relationship with the protoplasm of the bactma. These bacteria entered initt'il bodii Blind got into the blood. They were conveyed thrown, the naUiral gates and alleys of tho body ami lodged In the tissues. Pasteur discovered their disease-producing propeneitiea, and Lietor. devised menus for preventing their setting into wounds. Lister knew that medical men were inoro or less powerless after tho bacteria, got into tire wounds. The substance he used was crude carbolic acid, which did destroy tho bacteria but damaged tho_ tissues and sometimes killed the patient. They had for years been desiring an antiseptic that would destroy the. bacteria without damaging tho tissues or injuring the patient. They were now approaching that goal. ■ ■ ■ Properties of Flavine. It had been discovered by Dr. Browning in the laboratory at that hospital that ono of these coal-tar dyes, named flavine, possessed the necessary qualities. It destroyed bacteria, it did not destroy tissue, and 6erum increased its potency. A solution of 1 in 1000 had twenty times the antiseptic power of perchlorido .of meionry— a deadly poison. As soon os Dr. Browning discovered it ho was naturally anxious to try if in that hospital, and it had been vary successful. Many of the trials took place in his (Sir John's) own vrards, and be was satisßed that they had got * good thing, but he had felt it Incumbent upon him to mako a trial upon his own linos, for he was more or less sceptical with regard to antiseptics, having nearly all his life been an aseptic surgeon. But he was impressed with this now antisoptie. Dr. Browning gavo him every facility. There were three soptic conditions admitted to hospitals almost daily —acute appendicitis, acute inflammation of the pall bladder, and aeuto disease of the middle ear. In tho very week ho determined to carry out these trials quite a number of these cases were admitted to his wards. They wero 60 serious that he becamo very alarmed and anxious, for he feared that his clean cases would become infected. Indeed, he bcoamo so nliinned thnt he reallv.thought ho rciild havo to cToso tho wur<l. He used Hayine, and in a few days everything was all piano sailing again. Tho plague was stayed, tho putien'ts were iTappy, and 60 were tho sisters. The patienfe recovered, and no others suffered any inconvenience- After such an experlenco ho jnado it his business to see wfiiit was going on in the special departments! Ho got tho lsosit glowing accounts of it from thp oar oopnrEnront. Ho epoko to the ophthalmic aurgeon, and ho was even more in favour o< it, finyin;; !\o could use it without duniago even to tho delicate tissues of tho. eyes of a baby. A littla girl was admitted lo tho hospital whose eyes wero streaming with pus. Sho said the cat's eyes at homo were just like tlieni. Sho was treated with flavine, and m was tho cat. and everything wns all right aguin within forty-eight hours. Sepsis In Army Horses. That prompted him to say a few words about sepsis among tho animals in Franco —the horses and mules uvitU the aimy. Septte disease, gunshot wounds, and a peculiar soptic ulceration <>f the legs gavo a great deal of trouble. It had been arranged to try flavino on tho horses. Ho ltnew there were some eurgeous who jibed at flavino on account of Its colour. Of conrso it had a nigh colour; it was a, vellow <iye. "Monkey brand" would not wash clothes, and flavine would not do everything, but it would kSll bacteria.