Iodine as a Skin Disinfectant. 
53 
is impossible save with the full complement of cell organs (macro- 
and micronucleus and cell protoplasm) . 
10. Experiments in cutting Paramecium caudatum were also 
made. Here regeneration of the cell does not occur save under 
exceptional conditions which I shall report at length upon later. 
A frequent result is the formation of monsters with from two to 
fourteen mouths ; an abnormality due to some derangement of the 
cellular mechanism through the removal of a small portion of the 
cytoplasm. 
30 (555) 
Iodine as a skin disinfectant in animal surgery. 
By H. w. Mayes. 
[From the Department of Physiology and Biochemistry, Cornell 
University Medical College, Ithaca, N. Y.] 
In experimental physiology where it is necessary that the animal 
be allowed to recover after the removal of an organ or the estab- 
lishment of a lesion, the operative procedure is carried out under full 
anaesthesia and with aseptic or antispetic precautions as in human 
surgery. The preliminary disinfection of the skin by scrubbing 
with soap and water and the subsequent washing with bichloride, 
carbolic or alcohol, takes considerable time and in most cases must 
be done after the animal is anaesthetized ; besides where the opera- 
tive field includes the head or face there is always danger of the 
eyes being accidentally injured by the irritative fluids. Then again, 
after operation everyone has experienced the difficulty of keeping 
the dressing properly applied to the wound which must be pro- 
tected from outside contamination unless the animal be kept in 
aseptic surroundings — a condition practically impossible in most 
laboratories. Any method, therefore, which will materially 
save time and trouble and at the same time not increase the risk 
is particularly desirable in animal surgery and such a method, I 
believe, is to be found in the use of iodine as a skin disinfectant. 
Iodine was first applied in human surgery about fifty years 
ago by Bryant 1 and Boinet 2 and recently it has come into vogue 
1 Brit. Med. Journ., 191 0, I., p. 1003. 
2 The Lancet, 1910, CLXXIX., p. 1888. 
