48 ANTISEPTICS FOR INTERNAL USE 



operations, such as opening the chest or abdomen, expos- 

 ing joints and tendon sheaths, can be undertaken with 

 greatly diminished risk when proper antiseptic precautions 

 are adopted. 



Carbolic acid is the antiseptic most frequently used in 

 veterinary surgery. Its volatility carries it into the recesses 

 of wounds, and thus in many cases increases its efficacy. It 

 is applied, according to circumstances, in the proportion of 

 one part dissolved in twenty to forty of water ; but besides 

 watery solutions, liniments and antiseptic lints are used. It 

 is employed alone or in conjunction with corrosive sublimate. 

 As an effectual non-poisonous antiseptic and parasiticide, 

 Frohner and other German authorities strongly recommend 

 creolin, which is a derivative of coal-tar. Salicylic acid 

 destroys some ferments, but is not volatile ; it is used 

 especially for the dressing of ulcers and eczema. Boric 

 acid is non- volatile, non-irritant, and is often serviceable 

 for superficial wounds, where frequent dressings are un- 

 necessary, where the more active carbolic acid has for 

 some time been persevered with, and where granula- 

 tions and growth of skin require encouragement. The 

 watery solution of sulphurous acid is cheap and effectual. 

 Chlorinated soda solution is sometimes used. Sanitas, 

 which consists of camphoraceous bodies and peroxide of 

 hydrogen, is a non-poisonous and valuable antiseptic. lodo- 

 form readily parts with its 90 per cent, of iodine, conjoins 

 antiseptic and local anaesthetic actions, and stimulates 

 granulation. It is applied to ulcers and chronic foul wounds. 

 Such poisonous dressings require, however, to be used with 

 some care for dogs, as they are liable to lick them. Iodine 

 tincture undiluted or diluted according to requirements, 

 proves a useful stimulant and antiseptic ; zinc chloride, 

 chinosol, lysol, izal, formalin, naphthol, and thymol are 

 also employed. 



Antiseptics used internally are neither so certain nor so 

 effective as when used externally. Bacteria within the living 

 body are not easily reached or destroyed ; and, moreover, 

 medicines such as corrosive sublimate and carbolic acid, 

 which readily destroy the micro-organisms, are also liable to 

 poison the patient. Cash, however, has found that the 



