168 WOUND TREATMENT 



we must prevent too great an infection, which causes 

 an inflammation and destruction of the capsule and car- 

 tilage, and thereby results in ankylosis. We must also 

 be careful that our antiseptics are not so strong as to 

 cause some irritation to the joint capsule and cartilage, 

 producing inflammation as well as increasing the chance 

 for infection and in so doing hasten the destruction of 

 the part. 



It is a known fact that most of our antiseptics cause 

 irritation to the tissues even in a strength which is too 

 mild to harm bacteria. Our antiseptic then must be one 

 that not only prevents the growth of bacteria but also 

 that does not produce irritation of the tissues. 



We have found pure glycerin to be an agent which 

 produces no visible irritation of the tissues, and we have 

 also found that bacteria fail to multiply upon it. Ac- 

 cording to Eideal on Disinfection and Preservation of 

 Food, bacteria and insects are killed by undiluted 

 glycerin, since, having a very low diffusive power, it 

 causes death by desiccation. Spores with thicker en- 

 velopes resist it indefinitely, and on dilution of the 

 glycerin begin to grow immediately. Cultures made in 

 the laboratory of Streptococcus and Staphylococcus, and 

 mixed cultures from cases of fistulous withers, fail to 

 make any growth on glycerin. The injection, under 

 aseptic conditions, of pure warmed glycerin into the 

 hock or stifle joint of a horse causes the animal no dis- 

 tress, and is followed by no increased heat in the part, 

 no pain upon pressure, and no change in the gait of the 

 animal. 



We find also that when we inject, under aseptic con- 

 ditions, one part of Lugol's solution to four parts of 

 glycerin, or in other words, twenty-per-cent Lugol's solu- 

 tion in glycerin, it fails likewise to cause irritation. 



