284 
External  Preparations. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
June,  1903. 
& .    Morphin  tartrate 
Distilled  water 
gr.  lxxx  5] 
3  xxv  ioo' 
The  apomorphin  and  ergot  injections  are  directed  to  be  recently 
prepared. 
Schimmelbusch,  director  of  Bergmann's  clinic  in  Berlin,  states 
(1893)  that  moisture  is  one  of  the  essentials  for  germ  life,  while 
"dryness"  is  one  of  its  greatest  enemies,  and  therefore  dry  dress- 
ing is  always  preferable  to  wet,  except  where  the  wound  secretion 
is  viscid  and  purulent  and  where  the  antiseptic  material  is  employed 
for  packing  deep  or  incised  wounds.  It  seems  that  the  majority  of 
surgeons  prefer  dry  dressing  for  aseptic  wounds,  but  wet  or  moist 
dressing  for  septic  wounds,  such  as  result  from  great  laceration,  etc. 
This  question  would  go  entirely  beyond  the  scope  of  pharmaceutic 
discussion  and  is  presented  only  to  demonstrate  the  necessity  for  a 
distinction  between  wet  and  dry  gauze  and  surgical  dressings. 
While  under  the  circumstances  it  may  be  inadvisable  to  recognize 
antiseptic  gauze  in  the  Pharmacopoeia,  the  admission  of  aseptic  gauze 
would  be  highly  desirable,  either  simply  defined  as  to  its  character 
and  properties,  as  the  "  tela  depurata "  in  the  German  Pharma- 
copoeia and  also  "  gossypium  purificatum  "  in  the  U.S. P.,  or  prefer, 
ably  by  giving  directions  for  the  purification  of  the  commercial 
gauze,  as  is  done  in  the  French  codex  by  a  process  like  the  follow- 
ing: 
Gauze  of  the  required  weight  and  mesh  is  boiled  in  water  for  ten 
to  fifteen  minutes,  expressed,  and  washed  two  or  three  times  in  cold 
water.  The  expressed  gauze  is  then  allowed  to  macerate  in  solu- 
tion of  chlorinated  soda  for  one-half  hour,  pressed  and  macerated  in 
water  containing  1  per  cent,  hydrochloric  acid,  rinsed  in  cold  water 
several  times,  pressed,  and  dried  in  a  closed  vessel  or  sterilizer. 
The  gauze  is  quickly  formed  into  rolls  of  the  required  dimensions 
and  immediately  transferred  to  sterile  receptacles,  preferably  of 
tinned  iron  which  are  hermetically  sealed. 
ANTISEPTIC  GAUZE. 
CARBASUS  ASEPTICUS. 
) 
