316 THE NEW WORLD OF SCIENCE 



long study and experimentation by Carrel should be carefully 

 and rigidly followed. Dakin's fluid is antiseptic for only a 

 brief period, and to act must be brought into actual contact with 

 the infected tissues, which is best accomplished by rigid adher- 

 ence to the technic as laid down by Carrel. As remarked 

 before, failure follows haphazard, hit-or-miss methods. Many 

 surgeons have failed to get results with Dakin's solution, and 

 have pronounced it valueless, but investigation in such cases 

 usually shows that they have applied it in a way of their own 

 and have disregarded the teachings of Carrel as to its proper 

 methods of use. The surgeons who have followed the method 

 rigidly as recommended are usually successful and become en- 

 thusiastic advocates of this means of controlling infection. 

 Remarkable results in the prompt control and quick sterilization 

 of badly infected wounds have been reported in great numbers, 

 permanent secondary closures then becoming possible and 

 usually proving successful. 



Rutherford Morison, an English surgeon, has advocated the 

 use of a paste composed of Bismuth subnitrate, or carbonate, 

 iodoform and enough liquid paraffin to make a paste this 

 paste being commonly called " Bipp " from the initial letters of 

 its components. The English have used it with success and 

 Morison claims that by a few dressings with it, many wounds 

 can be sterilized at once, while in the remainder the spread of 

 infection can be checked and remedied. 



For the treatment of infected wounds Sir Almroth Wright 

 also introduced his hypertonic salt solution. Normal salt solu- 

 tion, 0.9 per cent, of ordinary table salt in sterile water, has 

 long been used as a cleansing fluid, with perhaps mild antiseptic 

 properties. Wright's Hypertonic Solution is a solution of salt 

 in water in the strength of 5 per cent., over five times the 

 strength of the normal saline. A fresh wound has a coating 

 of lymph from the tissues of the body formed on the wound 

 surface in a comparatively brief space of time. This seals the 

 surface of the wound, and bacteria multiply unhindered beneath 

 this protective coating. The use of five per cent, salt solution 



