Notes on Glycerine. 637 
The glycerine thus applied, for example, to a burn, acts 
beneficially in two ways, viz., Ist, by protecting the injured 
surface of the skin from contact with the air; and, 2nd, by 
softening and lubricating the new skin, so as to facilitate 
its growth, and the restoration of the part to its natural 
condition. 
The local employment of glycerine has, of late years, 
been adopted in a still more important class of cases than 
those just mentioned; M. Demarquay, and some other 
French surgeons, having substituted glycerine for water 
and other dressings in the treatment of wounds, whether 
from accident, or after the performance of surgical opera- 
tions. This mode of treatment is as simple as could well 
be devised. A piece of lint is first thoroughly soaked in 
the glycerine, and then placed in apposition to the surface 
of the wound; over this another piece of lint is placed, 
next above this a compress, and the whole dressing is kept 
im Situ by means of a bandage. The glycerinated dress- 
ing possesses the advantage over the ordinary methods 
employed, that it seldom adheres to the surface of the 
wound, that it can be changed or renewed with the greatest 
facility, and that thereby may be avoided the frequently 
injurious traction which destroys the newly-forming cica- 
trix, retards the reparatory process, and hurts and annoys 
the patient. The glycerinated dressing can also be applied 
more quickly than ordinary dressings with water or cerate, 
and the wound being less exposed to the air, the risk of 
erysipelas or gangrene is proportionally diminished. 
Glycerine is also very extensively used in the treatment 
of affections of the skin. In many of these, more particularly 
in those which are characterised by dryness and harshness 
of the cuticle, glycerine, of itself, effects a speedy improve- 
ment; while in others again it serves a valuable purpose in 
bringing other remedies into direct relation to the morbid 
structures. 
In affections of the eye, glycerine, alone, or in com- 
bination, plays an important part in the local treat- 
ment; while in certain forms of deafness, arising from a 
deficiency of the waxy secretion in the outer meatus of 
the ear, it works often like a charm, when dropped into 
the meatus, so as to lubricate that passage and the external 
surface of the membrana tympani, commonly known as 
the drum of the ear. 
Glycerine, when rubbed upon the surface of the skin, 
effectually protects it from the effects of exposure to the 
