814 
W. L. WILLIAMS. 
than sterile water, and has led some writers to suggest that the 
washing of the milk cistern and sinuses by means of the sterile 
water and milking this out constitutes the real advantage of 
such treatment. 
Two serious obstacles stand in the way. First, the irriga¬ 
tion is incomplete, as the fluid cannot be made to penetrate far 
into the gland, the swelling of the lacteal cells filling the acini. 
Only i to 2 pints usually can be injected at a time into a quar¬ 
ter of the udder of a cow, and this we can not imagine as com¬ 
ing into intimate contact with the great secretory area. 
Second, antiseptics irritate the gland seriously, so that the more 
common members of this group of drugs dare not be introduced 
into the udder of a strength to cause the death or check the 
multiplication of bacteria. 
Corrosive sublimate, carbolic acid, etc., are not allowable un¬ 
less in cases of extensive suppuration where the solution comes 
in contact with virtually or actually an abscess wall. Peroxide 
of hydrogen has given us the best results among this class of 
agents. But we must confess that the drug theoretically su¬ 
perior to all others, we have neither tried nor seen an account 
by others of its trial. It seems clear to us that the best prepara¬ 
tion possible for this use is iodoform, which being compara¬ 
tively insoluble would remain in the gland for some time, 
gradually liberating iodine and inducing no irritation, but acting 
as a local anodyne. It should be injected dissolved in one of 
the lighter fats, olive oil, liquid vaseline, or butter fat. We 
hope to give this remedy an early test. 
Disinfection by external application—that is, by cutaneous 
absorption over the gland—has always held an important place 
in the treatment of inammitis. The skin now becomes the 
irritated part, if any, and any disinfectant which will not injure 
the cutaneous covering of the gland becomes available, while 
those which are most readily absorbed possess the highest value. 
So Bang and others extol highly iodine and camphor, while 
from the same standpoint others commend turpentine as an ex¬ 
ternal application. 
