240 ON RECENT IMPROVEMENTS IN THE 



the first few days ; and when the Unt was changed, after being soaked for seven 

 days with urine, it was, hke the first dressing, entirely free from ammoniacal 

 smell. The catheter being now removed, the meatus presented the appearance 

 of being completely cicatrized all round ; but at one spot the surface, though 

 smooth, looked so delicate that I thought it prudent to apply one more dressing 

 as before, to protect the tender part from the irritation of putrid urine. The 

 catheter, however, was not reintroduced. Finally, on removing this last dressing 

 five days later, I found the epithelial lining of the meatus obviously firm and 

 sound throughout, and the orifice still freely admitted a No. 9 bougie. Thus, 

 during the five days in which the newly made canal had been left unsupported, 

 no contraction whatever appeared to have occurred — a result which seemed 

 to be explicable by the healing having taken place, as it appeared, without the 

 occurrence of granulation, so that the new tissue which had formed over 

 the raw surface was in so thin a layer that the effect of its shrinking was 

 insignificant. 



Boracic acid may also be sometimes used with advantage in the form of 

 an ointment, for which I would advise the following mode of preparation : 

 Take of boracic acid, finely levigated, one part ; white wax, one part ; paraffin, 

 two parts ; almond oil, two parts. Melt the wax and paraffin by heating them 

 with the oil, and stir the mixture briskly along with the boracic-acid powder 

 in a warm mortar till the mass thickens. Then set it aside to cool, after which 

 it will be found to be a pretty firm solid mass, which is to be reduced to the 

 proper consistence of a uniform ointment by rubbing down successive portions 

 of about on ounce each in a cold mortar. This ointment, when used, is spread 

 very thin upon fine muslin or linen rag, which absorbs more or less of the almond 

 oil and leaves a layer of blended wax and paraffin, flexible at the temperature 

 of the body, and separable from the skin with the utmost ease by the discharge, 

 which is thus not at all confined bv it, but diffuses itself and flows out beneath 

 it, receiving as it goes an abundant supply of the acid to prevent putrefaction, 

 while cicatrization is not materially interfered with by the mild antiseptic, and 

 still less by the perfectly bland wax and paraffin. 



A good example of the value of the boracic ointment was presented by 

 a case of large rodent ulcer of the face lately under my care in the Edinburgh 

 Infirmary, and treated by excision. The disease involving a large extent of 

 the cheek, both eyelids, both nostrils, a considerable portion of the upper lip 

 and part of the lower one, it was impossible to cover the raw surface by a plastic 

 operation. It was therefore of great importance that efficient antiseptic means 

 should be employed ; for there is no more simple or more striking illustration of 

 the value of this principle of treatment than the entire absence of inflam^matory 



