444 
Antiseptics. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
June,  19 18. 
tain  bacterial  infections  we  can  help  the  recuperative  powers  of  the 
body  and  in  others  we  cannot.  We  may  be  acting  on  a  toxin  pro- 
duced by  the  bacteria  and  circulating  in  the  blood,  or  we  may  destroy 
some  toxic  agent  formed  by  the  blood  itself,  or  may  merely  stimu- 
late a  protective  reaction  in  the  body  fluids.  Many  theories  have 
been  advanced  as  to  the  conditions  found  in  acute  toxaemia.  A  toxin 
of  protein  origin  has  been  held  accountable.  Again,  an  increase  in 
the  acidity  of  the  blood,  due  to  the  production  of  butyric  and  kindred 
acids  by  the  bacteria.  A  later  suggestion  by  Wright  is  that  the 
antitryptic  power  of  the  blood  is  reduced;  this  allows  the  trypsin  to 
prepare  a  suitable  medium  for  the  growth  of  the  bacteria  in  the 
blood  itself  and  the  patient  is  overwhelmed  by  an  acute  invasion  of 
the  actual  organisms.  The  subject  is  much  too  large  to  enter  into  in 
a  paper  like  this.  I  merely  indicate  it  to  show  the  sort  of  problems 
that  the  chemist  is  asked  to  solve  in  pathological  or  physiological 
chemistry. 
Take  the  question  of  toxins.  In  a  rabbit  of  2  kilos  weight  there 
is,  say,  100  Cc.  of  blood.  Such  a  rabbit  can  stand  without  incon- 
venience, say,  for  a  very  safe  estimate  20  Cc.  eusol  intravenously ; 
this  contains  0.05  Gm.  HCIO ;  obviously  0.05  Gm.  of  hypochlorous 
acid  in  100  Cc.  of  blood  can  have  no  possible  action  as  a  direct 
antiseptic.  On  the  other  hand,  ricin,  a  vegetable  protein  poison  ex- 
tracted from  castor-oil  beans,  very  closely  resembling  the  bacterial 
toxins,  when  administered  intravenously  to  a  2-kilogram  rabbit  in 
a  dose  of  0.001  Mgm.,  kills  the  animal.  A  very  small  amount  of  hypo- 
chlorous  acid  would  suffice  to  neutralize  this  dose,  if  it  could  reach  it. 
Hitherto  the  treatment  of  conditions  due  to  organic  toxins  has 
been  based  on  the  conception  of  a  specific  antidote ;  for  example, 
take  diphtheria.  The  method  of  treating  the  disease  is  to  inject 
into  the  patient  the  serum  of  an  animal  which  has  been  rendered 
highly  immune  to  the  diphtheria  toxin.  This  serum  has  the  power 
of  neutralizing  the  toxin,  but  it  is  a  specific  power;  it  cannot  neu- 
tralize the  toxin  produced  by  other  organisms,  e.  g.,  tetanus.  The 
interest  of  the  method  of  treatment  by  intravenous  injection  of  hypo- 
chlorous  acid  lies  in  the  fact  that  we  are  able  to  introduce  into  the 
blood  a  considerable  quantity  of  a  strong  chemical  reagent  which 
will  act  in  a  general  and  not  a  specific  manner. 
The  chemical  reaction  between  hypochlorous  acid  and  blood  is 
naturally  very  complex.  When  hypochlorous  acid  or  hypochlorites 
act  on  proteins,  the  first  products  are  chloramines.    In  these  com- 
