Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  j 
September,  1917.  J 
Carrel-Dakin  Solution. 
397 
proper  understanding  of  chemical  processes.  This  happened  in 
1774.  Scheele  termed  the  first  substance  " oxymuriatic  acid"; 
thirty-seven  years  later,  Sir  Humphry  Davy  classified  the  first  of 
these  substances  as  an  element  and  gave  it  the  name  "chlorine." 
Although  Gay-Lussac  and  Thenard  were  the  first  to  suggest  that 
from  its  behavior  it  might  be  regarded  as  an  element,  Davy 
proved  it. 
The  practical  value  of  this  discovery  and  the  important  role  that 
chlorine  has  played  in  the  development  of  chemistry  cannot  be  over- 
estimated, and  now  that  its  value  as  a  germicide  has  been  proved 
and  its  practical  application  made  possible  by  the  researches  of 
Carrel,  the  danger  of  death  from  infection  has  been  wonderfully 
reduced.  Knowledge  of  the  disinfecting  and  germicidal  action  of 
chlorine  is  not  by  any  means  recent.  Chlorine  water  has  been 
recommended  for  years  locally  as  a  stimulant  and  disinfectant  for 
wounds  and  ulcers.  However,  its  irritating  nature  and  the  severe 
pain  produced  when  applied  to  wounds  has  militated  against  its  gen- 
eral use  in  surgical  procedure.  Some  years  ago  it  was  discovered 
that  very  attenuated  solutions  of  this  gas  were  efficient  for  the 
sterilization  of  swimming  pools,  but  its  use  for  this  purpose  has 
been  discarded  for  the  copper  sulphate  treatment  of  the  water. 
Like  in  everything  else  the  personal  equation  plays  a  very  important 
part  in  the  handling  of  chlorine  gas  for  the  disinfection  of  a  swim- 
ming pool ;  while  one  man  would  exercise  great  precaution  and  care 
in  carrying  out  the  technic  for  the  treatment  of  the  water,  others 
would  be  rather  lax  in  varying  degrees,  with  the  result  that  while  the 
water  would  probably  be  thoroughly  sterilized,  it  would  also  be  ex- 
ceedingly irritating  and  painful  to  the  eyes.  In  the  copper  sulphate 
treatment  of  the  water  this  condition  is  not  so  prone  to  occur. 
It  may  be  of  interest  to  know  that  as  early  as  1846  the  disin- 
fecting properties  of  chlorine  were  proven  by  the  successful  em- 
ployment of  it  in  eradicating  an  epidemic  of  puerperal  fever  in 
Vienna.  In  this  case  bleaching  powder  was  used.  Undoubtedly 
the  ideal  germicide  for  combating  infection  that  occurs  in  most 
wounds  is  one  that  has  the  power  of  destroying  not  only  bacteria 
but  spores  as  well,  and  is  only  local  in  its  action  and,  therefore,  with- 
out danger  to  the  host.  It  seems  that  the  hypochlorites  have  this 
power.  As  a  matter  of  fact  they  have  been  recognized  by  public 
health  workers  as  the  most  potent  germicides  that  we  have,  and  yet 
their  use  in  general  surgery  has  been  limited  for  reasons  that  are 
