Am.  Jour.  Pharm."! 
August,  1902.  J 
Gasometric  Analysis. 
389 
iodoform,  etc. ;  this  is  not  done  in  an  incised  wound,  as  it  would 
prevent  the  approximation  of  the  edges  of  the  wound. 
In  the  case  of  a  wound  caused  by  the  bite  of  an  animal  it  should 
be  cauterized  by  nitric  acid.  Nitrate  of  silver  is  worse  than  useless, 
because,  through  the  formation  of  an  albuminate  of  silver,  its  action 
is  greatly  limited,  and  the  caustic  may  not  penetrate  to  the  bottom 
of  the  wound  ;  in  fact,  some  of  the  poison  may  be  locked  up  at  the 
bottom.  Sulphuric  and  phosphoric  acids,  through  their  affinity  for 
water,  are  unnecessarily  severe.  Popular  superstition  demands  the 
killing  of  a  dog  at  once  to  prevent  his  victim  from  acquiring  hydro- 
phobia; this  is  decidedly  unwise,  as  it  prevents  a  decision  as  to  the 
dog  being  rabid ;  the  dog  should  be  securely  chained  but  not  killed. 
Those  wounds  which  the  druggist  will  be  called  to  treat  will  not 
need  to  be  redressed  inside  of  three  days,  and  in  many  cases  a  week 
may  be  allowed  to  intervene. 
Some  of  you  may  object  to  antiseptic  surgery  on  account  of  the 
close  attention  which  must  be  given  to  details,  but  in  actual  practice 
these  are  not  burdensome,  and  the  knowledge  once  acquired  becomes 
a  mere  routine.  By  no  other  treatment  can  you  assure  your  patient 
of  the  speedy  healing  of  a  wound  without  unpleasant  complications. 
In  conclusion,  let  me  say  that  the  laborer  is  worthy  of  his  hire.  If 
you  perform  your  work  in  a  first-class  manner,  you  should  charge  a 
first-class  price  for  it.  Don't  cut  the  ground  from  under  the  phy- 
sician's feet  by  charging  only  a  nominal  fee. 
GASOMETRIC  ANALYSIS.1 
By  Frank  X.  Moerk. 
Two  years  ago  the  writer  presented  before  this  association  a  paper 
on  gasometric  analysis,  in  which  a  simple  and  inexpensive  apparatus 
was  described  which  had  given  very  satisfactory  results.  For  those 
estimations,  as  in  the  case  of  the  nitrites,  in  which  all  air  has  to  be 
removed  from  the  apparatus  in  order  to  obtain  correct  results,  the 
former  paper  contains  the  necessary  details,  and  no  change  has  been 
suggested ;  on  the  other  hand,  for  the  estimation  of  urea,  hydrogen 
dioxide  and,  particularly,  for  the  estimation  of  the  substances  to  be 
1  Read  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Pennsylvania  Pharmaceutical  Associa- 
tion, June,  1902. 
