Am.  Jour.  Pha*m. 
Jan.,  1887. 
Bismuth  Subiodide. 
SUBIODIDE  OF  BISMUTH. 
By  Joseph  W.  England,  Ph.  G. 
Head  at  the  Pharmaceutical  Meeting,  December  21. 
Some  ten  years  ago,  Dr.  A.  Sidney  Reynolds,  of  this  city,  through 
Mr.  R.  F.  Fairthorne,  a  graduate  of  this  College,  introduced  into  hos- 
pital practice  the  use  of  bismuth  subiodide  (or  more  correctly,  oxyio- 
dide),  in  the  local  treatment  of  chronic  ulcers,  syphilitic  sores,  eruptions, 
etc.,  etc.,  and  found  it  to  be  a  most  efficient  remedial  application,  more 
effective  than  iodoform,  with  none  of  the  "  saffron-like  and  almost  in- 
suppressible  odor,"  so  characteristic  of  that  latter  antiseptic.  It  was 
employed  to  a  limited  extent,  but  its  high  cost  militated  effectually 
against  its  more  general  adoption. 
Recently,  Dr.  Reynolds  has  published1  the  results  of  his  experiments 
for  the  past  ten  years  and  expressed,  most  fully,  the  applicability  of 
this  chemical  as  a  dressing  and  as  a  perfect  substitute  for  iodoform,  cal- 
omel, bismuth  subnitrate  and  others  in  vogue.  He  claims  that  "it 
will  control  inflammation,  allay  irritation,  suppress  suppuration,  pro- 
mote granulation  and  induce  cicatrization.  It  has  been  found  to  be 
almost  a  specific  in  gonorrhoea,  in  various  septic  and  specific  mucous 
inflammations,  oral  and  nasal  catarrhs,  ophthalmias,  etc.,  in  chan- 
croids, rectal  ulcers,  etc.,  and  in  the  various  cachectic  and  dyscrasic 
ulcerations.  Internally,  it  is  strongly  recommended  in  gastric  ulcers, 
gastritis  and  in  typhoid  fever." 
It  has  been  freely  and  extensively  used  in  the  venereal,  surgical  and 
other  departments  of  the  Philadelphia  Hospital  for  the  past  two  or 
three  months,  and  Dr.  E.  Matlack,  of  the  resident  staff,  thus  express- 
es himself  upon  the  results  of  his  experience  :  "  The  subiodide  of  bis- 
muth would  seem,  in  internal  medication,  to  be  indicated  in  all  those 
conditions  for  which  the  subnitrate  of  the  same  metal  is  at  present  em- 
ployed, and  locally,  its  action  can  best  be  compared  to  that  of  iodoform, 
possessing  as  it  does,  anaesthetic  and  sedative  properties,  but  superior  to 
that  agent,  in  that  it  is  not  poisonous  by  absorption,  it  is  free  from  all 
odor  and  it  suffices,  when  a  less  quantity  is  used,  to  cover  the  same  ex- 
tent of  surface."  Experiments  are  now  being  made  by  Dr.  E.  O. 
Shakespeare,  Curator  of  the  pathological  department  of  the  same 
institution,  touching  its  relative  germicide  value  in  comparison  with 
that  of  iodoform  and  others,  the  results  of  which  will  be  announced  at 
a  later  date. 
1  The  subiodide  of  bismuth  in  the  treatment  of  ulcerations.  Med.  News,  Oct. 
9, 1886,  p.  303. 
