278 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



carbolic acid which had been administered to the disease. I have 

 not preserved a record of how these were given, but I am quite 

 sure that it' I had, there is no one in this room who would say that 

 they were sufficient by themselves to cure a bad case of scarlet 

 fever. Convalescence proceeded most satisfactorily. When the 

 peeling stage arrived the entire skin of the child was washed all 

 over from time to time with a 1 per cent, solution of carbolic acid, 

 and he eventually made a perfect recovery without a relapse, and 

 without any of those dreaded after-consequences which are so dis- 

 astrous in many cases. Before, however, he could have been cer- 

 tified as safe for other children to approach, some members of the 

 household displayed a somewhat rebellious spirit towards the re- 

 strictions imposed on communication with the invalid ; and on my 

 return from London one evening I was shocked to learn from my 

 wife, who understood the danger, that several such visits had been 

 paid to the patient when she w r as oft' sentiy. Up to that time, 

 the patient having been at once isolated, and rigorous measures 

 of disinfection carried out all through the house, as well as in the 

 sick-room, the infection bad not spread. But I said at once that 

 all our previous care was now thrown away ; and it proved to be 

 the case, as in a few days the other children were all attacked 

 also. But the enemy being in their case fiercely assaulted by car- 

 bolic acid on his very first appearance, their cases were much 

 milder than the first attack. In the case of a child of about one year 

 old the carbolic acid was applied to his throat by the steam of hot 

 water, which he was made to inhale in every instance with the 

 happiest effect. Eventually the disease was entirely burnt out ; 

 the recoveries were in each case most satisfactory, and in no case 

 were there any 'bad after-results. This instance by itself would 

 not, of course, carry very much weight, but following a case on 

 so great a scale as that I previously described, and the treatment 

 being the direct consequences of the former, and based upon a 

 distinct and intelligible theory, I have thought that you would con- 

 sider it also of some interest. 1 ' 



The chairman said that, however valuable the effects of the 

 experiments carried on by Mr. Hope might be as a fact, there was 

 a great deal more to be done before they could come to the con- 

 clusion that this antiseptic treatment was a proof of the germ- 

 theory. He thought he understood Mr. Hope to say that the 

 chemical action of inorganic medicine was tolerably well under- 

 stood, and he wished to contrast that with the action of organic 

 medicine, such as rhubarb. He did not know, but he thought Mr. 

 Hope must be in possession of more information concerning the 

 chemical therapeutic of the medicines on the body than he (the 

 chairman) was. Nothing puzzled him more at the present mo- 

 ment than the therapeutic action of such a simple thing as a dose 

 of common salts. 



Dr. Baylis, medical officer of health for Birkenhead, said he had 

 had considerable experience during the last 3 or 4 years of the 

 utility of carbolic acid as a disinfectant. He regarded the effects 

 of the experiments made by Mr. Hope as very valuable so far as 

 they tended to illustrate the effects of carbolic acid, as he thought 



