Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  j 
November,  19 17.  ' 
Antiseptics  and  the  War. 
495 
British  Medical  Journal,  Jan.  20,  1917).  Since  then  numerous  other 
observations  have  been  made  with  the  flavine  compounds  and  the 
investigations  have  proven  most  valuable.  For  technical  reasons, 
the  substance  first  experimented  with  under  the  name  of  "  Flavine," 
has  been  termed  "  Acriflavine."  This  was  to  avoid  confusion  with 
an  existing  commercial  vegetable  dye  "  Flavine,"  and  the  German 
registered  and  trade  marked  product  "  Trypaflavine,"  an  antiseptic 
originally  made  for  and  used  by  Dr.  Ehrlich.  Quite  recently,  a 
new  member  has  been  added  to  the  series  under  the  name  of  "  Pro- 
flavine." The  latter  is  at  present  being  manufactured  in  England 
on  a  large  scale,  as  it  is  easier  to  produce  than  "  Acriflavine,"  and 
likewise  more  active. 
Chemically  the  flavines  are  members  of  the  acridine  group,  the 
first  product  being  the  chloride  of  diamino  methyl  acridinum.  They 
are  stable,  non-toxic,  non-irritating  and  water  soluble,  being  used  as 
a  dressing  in  dilutions  of  1  :iooo  or  1  12000,  depending  upon  the 
treatment,  while  in  few  instances  the  dry  product  itself  has  been 
employed.  Clinical  experiences  have  shown  that  this  series  of  anti- 
septics exert  a  slowly  progressive  bactericidal  action,  and  that  these 
compounds  are  enhanced  in  their  potency  by  the  presence  of  serum 
almost  to  tenfold,  a  feature  which  promises  to  bring  them  into  more 
extensive  usage,  for  it  is  a  known  fact  that  the  antiseptic  and  bac- 
tericidal properties  of  substances  commonly  used  are  diminished 
when  in  contact  with  serum.  In  addition,  the  flavines  are  also  less 
harmful  to  the  tissues  and  do  not  interfere  with  the  natural  de- 
fensive mechanism.  This  latter  property  enables  the  effective  usage 
of  higher  concentrations  than  ordinarily  are  employed  with  other 
substances. 
Brilliant  Green — Malachite  Green. — Two  other  dye  prod- 
ucts which  have  been  extensively  exploited  and  used  in  this  war  are 
brilliant  green  and  malachite  green. 
Brilliant  green  has  been  employed  in  a  1  :iooo  dilution,  either 
with  water  or  physiological  salt  solution.  The  latter  solution  has 
been  used  both  as  a  lotion  or,  when  soaked  up  in  gauze,  as  a  dress- 
ing in  practically  all  kinds  of  wounds  and  on  all  kinds  of  tissue. 
Although  differing  from  flavine,  by  loosing  part  of  its  bactericidal 
properties  in  serum,-  it  is  nevertheless  potent,  non-irritating  and  de- 
void of  general  toxic  action.  Some  have  used  it  as  a  flush  in  con- 
junction with  Wright's  salt  pack  treatment  or  with  the  Dakin- 
Carrel  method,  claiming  that  the  results  are  better  than  the  use  of 
