ACTION OF PROTARaOL 169 



Protargol has recently superseded silver nitrate (which 

 contains 63.5 per cent, of silver) to a considerable extent in 

 medicine because, containing less silver (8.3 per cent.), 

 protargol is decidedly less irritating, is not precipitated by 

 albumin or solutions of sodium chloride, does not discolor 

 the skin and more than equals silver nitrate in certainty 

 and efficiency of action. 



Protargol is particularly applicable in veterinary medi- 

 cine as a bland but powerfully penetrating antiseptic and 

 mild astringent in the treatment of inflammatory conditions 

 of the conjunctival membranes. The drug does not cause 

 the pain, redness, swelling and lachrymation which follow 

 the use of silver nitrate ; nor does it lead to the formation 

 of fibrinous coagula and the production of false membranes 

 and opacities of the cornea seen after the application of 

 silver nitrate. 



A 10-per-cent. solution of protargol induces less flushing 

 of the eye and discomfort than a l-[)er-cent. solution of 

 silver nitrate, and the irritation of a 2 or 4 per cent, 

 solution is not, as a rule, more than would be produced 

 by a one-half grain to the ounce solution of zinc sulphate 

 (Cheney). 



Protargol is indicated in acute catarrhal and purulent 

 conjunctivitis in from one-half to 10 per cent, aqueous solu- 

 tions ; usually in one-half per cent, solution in the catarrhal 

 form, two or three times daily, applied with a camel's hair 

 brush or by instillation ; and in the purulent variety, in 2 or 

 4 per cent, solution with a pledget of absorbent cotton on a 

 probe, or with a camel's hair brush, in conjunction with 

 frequent boric acid irrigations. This new silver combina- 

 tion has also been used with reported success (and the use 

 might apply to canine practice) in human medicine as a 

 non-irritating astringent and antiseptic agent internally in 

 .5 gm. doses, twice or thrice daily, in pills, for the relief of 

 haemorrhages and ulcerations of the alimentary canal, in 

 diarrhoea and in purulent inflammation of the genito-urinary 

 tract. - 



