240 Biochemical News, Notes, and Comment 



an electr. cell, a reversing switch capable of carrying loo amperes, 

 and some ordinary insul. electr. cable. The cost is about $250. The 

 cell Stands on a rubber mat to insul. it, and is raised on a low table 

 to enable its contents to be poured out easily. It is filled with cold 

 sea water, and if a current of from 60 to 75 amperes at iio volts is 

 then turned on, a sol. containing 2 parts of sodium hypochlorite or 

 available chlorin to 1,000 parts will be obtained in 5 min. The cost 

 of this sol. works out at 6 cents per hundred gal. The sol. is also 

 excellent as a sterilizer of drinking water (i part chlorin to 1,000,000 

 parts), and as an antiseptic for wounds (used undiluted as produced 

 by the electrolyzer, that is, 2 parts sodium hypochlorite to 1,000 

 parts). Further, in the butcher's dep't its value was soon evident, 

 and also in the laundry for soaking undyed cotton and linen goods. 

 It was added to the water in the swimming bath of the ship in the 

 Proportion of i : 2,000,000, with the result that bacteria present to 

 the number of 2,000 per cc. were reduced to 200. The econ. in 

 replacing expensive coal-tar disinf., such as phenol, by electr. hypo- 

 chlorite will approximately pay for the cost of the cell in the course of 

 a Single trip of three weeks. London letter: Jour. Amer. Med. 

 Assoc, 1916, Ixvi, p. 827. 



DiSINFECTION AND IMMEDIATE OR EARLY UNION OF RECENT 



WOUNDS. The use of Dakin's fluid in the treat. of wounds, about 

 which so much has been said of late, continues to be much discussed 

 in med. soc. At a recent meeting of the Soc. de chir., Dr. Cuneo 

 showed that, in order to disinf. a recent wound and obtain immed. 

 or early union, there is no need to employ almost continuous lavage, 

 lasting possibly several days, with Dakin's fluid. Whenever Cuneo 

 had to treat wounds several hours old, he disinf. and reunited them 

 successfully in the following simple manner: In the case of a seton 

 wound amenable to immed. disinf., by means of a pair of long for- 

 ceps he passed through the wound a gauze compress, soaked in any 

 suitable disinf., such as hydrogen peroxid, undil. or dil., tincture of 

 iodin, 1 : 20, etc. Holding the two ends of this compress, he rubbed 

 it vigorously back and forth through the wound, removing the 

 debris of clothing and other foreign matter. This procedure was 

 repeated 2-3 times. Nine times out of ten the patient developed no 

 complications. If the wound became infec, Cuneo laid it open. In 



