246 ON RECENT IMPROVEMENTS IN ANTISEPTIC SURGERY 



One other use of the boracic ointment remains to be mentioned — namely, 

 as a substitute for oiled silk protective in cases attended with inevitable putridity 

 of the discharge from the interior of the part concerned ; as, for example, after 

 excision of a joint on account of caries attended with sinuses, where the injection 

 of chloride-of-zinc solution has failed to eradicate the septic condition of the 

 interior. Under such circumstances, though it is not possible to prevent 

 putrefaction, it is very desirable to mitigate it, both for the sake of the part 

 itself, and still more in order to avoid as much as possible the contamination 

 of the atmosphere of the ward or sick chamber. But if oiled silk protective is 

 applied beneath the antiseptic gauze, or dry boracic lint employed, the putre- 

 faction present in the pus effused beneath it will continue to advance unchecked ; 

 and unless the dressing be changed daily, the oiled silk will acquire a very foul 

 and irritating character. And even a dressing of wet boracic lint applied next 

 the wound and covered with gutta-percha, though it answers the purpose much 

 better, may become very putrid in the course of forty-eight hours, in conse- 

 quence of the pus accumulating beneath it and so eluding the action of the acid. 

 But if a piece of fine cloth spread with the boracic ointment is substituted for 

 the protective, the discharge, compelled to diffuse itself in a thin layer beneath 

 the ointment, continually receives from it a supply of the acid, which corrects 

 more or less its original putrefaction ; and the result is that after the lapse 

 of two or even three days, the fetor is much less than it is in twenty-four hours 

 under oiled silk protective or water dressing ; and thus, while the atmosphere 

 of the apartment is kept comparatively pure, the patient and the surgeon are 

 saved the disadvantages of needlessly frequent dressing. 



