218 
Current  Literature. 
(  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
*-      March,  1918. 
being  innocuous,  produces  very  deleterious  effects  on  the  entire 
process  of  healing,  killing  successive  layers  of  the  reacting  tissue 
element,  including  the  essential  vascular  mechanism.  The  flavine 
treatment  of  wounds  is  associated  with  small  formation  of  pus,  slow 
epithelial  ingrowth,  delay  in  all  the  processes  of  repair,  lingering  of 
organisms  on  the  wound  surface,  some  diminution  in  the  local  and 
general  reaction  to  infection.  The  only  favorable  feature  has  been 
that  the  patient  is  apparently  protected  in  some  way  from  the  ab- 
sorption of  toxic  products.  Whether  this  is  due  to  the  disturbance 
of  vascularity  or  to  flavine  rendering  toxic  products  nontoxic  has 
not  been  determined.  The  authors  are  convinced  that  the  employ- 
ment of  flavine  and  other  dyes  as  if  the}"  supplied  royal  roads  to 
success  must  be  regarded  as  retrograde  steps. — (E.  F.  Bashford, 
J.  N.  J.  Hartley  and  J.  T.  Morrison. — British  Medical  Journal,  Lon- 
don, reprinted  from  The  Journal  of  the  American  Medical  Associa- 
tion.) 
Solvent  Actiox  of  Antiseptics. — As  the  erosive  action  of 
Dakin's  solution  is  an  important  factor,  experiments  were  conducted 
by  Taylor  and  Austin  to  compare  its  solvent  action  with  that  of 
certain  other  chlorinated  antiseptics.  The  solvent  action  of  the 
various  substances  employed  was  tested  by  adding  50  Cc.  of  each 
solution  to  5  Cc.  of  an  emulsion  of  macerated  liver  tissue  to  a  100 
Cc.  bottle.  Chloramin-T  solutions,  hypochlorite  solutions,  chlor- 
inated oils  and  dichloramin-T  were  tested.  From  the  results  ob- 
tained by  the  authors  considerable  stress  is  laid  on  the  relatively 
great  solvent  action  of  Dakin's  hypochlorite  solution  as  contrasted 
with  the  more  recent  and  more  stable  chloramins  of  Dakin.  It  also 
seems  probable  that  to  its  greater  ability  to  dissolve  necrotic  tissue, 
plasma  clot,  and  leukocytes  it  owes  its  chief  claim  to  preference 
over  the  chloramins  in  the  treatment  of  infected  wounds.  The  re- 
sults also  show  that  the  solvent  action  of  Dakin's  hypochlorite  solu- 
tion in  the  degree  of  alkalinity  used  clinically  is  due  primarily  to 
its  hypochlorite  content.  The  slight  alkalinity  of  Dakin's  solution, 
while  in  itself  without  solvent  action,  does,  however,  increase  the 
effectiveness  of  the  hypochlorite.  Chloramin-T  failed  in  these  ex- 
periments to  exhibit  any  solvent  action  not  explicable  as  an  effect 
of  the  alkalinity  of  the  solution  in  which  it  was  dissolved,  and  di- 
chloramin-T was  wholly  without  solvent  action.  The  results  of 
these  experimental  studies  do  not,  therefore,  support  the  clinical 
