Am.  Jour.  Pliarm.  ) 
March,  1911.  J 
Surgeons  Grit  Soap. 
Ill 
absolutely  accuracy  in  all  matters  relating  to  drugs  and  this  can 
only  be  secured  through  official  recognition  of  some  standard  and 
a  method  of  assay.  Where  accuracy  of  assay  cannot  be  absolute 
it  certainly  is  no  unworthy  ideal  to  ask  in  behalf  of  the  sick  for 
relative  accuracy  and  uniformity  such  as  biological  assays  and 
standards  will  give  and  I  hope  that  it  is  not  too  visionary  to  think 
that  biological  methods  at  least  for  the  digitalis  group,  for  ergot 
and  for  suprarenal  gland  preparations  may  be  adopted  by  the 
Pharmacopoeial  revision  committee. 
SURGEONS  GRIT  SOAP. 
By  John  K.  Thum,  Ph.G. 
Pharmacist  at  the  German  Hospital,  Philadelphia. 
The  thorough  cleansing  of  the  surgeon's  hands  previous  to  a 
surgical  operation  is  of  the  utmost  importance.  Vigorous  rubbing 
with  soap  and  hot  water,  and  plenty  of  it,  is  the  usual  initial  perform- 
ance in  sterilizing  the  hands  of  the  operator. 
Lately,  in  place  of  the  ordinary  hard,  soft,  or  liquid  soap,  some 
surgeons  are  using  a  grit  or  pumice  soap.  For  reasons  that  are 
obvious,  all  dirt  and  foreign  matter  adhering  to  the  hands  are  more 
easily  and  readily  removed. 
For  some  reason  the  manufacturers  of  these  pumice  soaps  make 
them  exceedingly  alkaline.  As  can  be  easily  imagined  this  excess  of 
free  alkali  is  very  prone  to  destroy  the  epidermis  and  render  the 
hands  of  the  surgeon  sore  and  unsightly.  For  this  reason  the 
surgeon  at  the  institution  with  which  I  am  connected  has  ceased  to 
use  the  commercial  pumice  soap  and  instead  is  using  one  of  our  own 
mianufacture. 
This  soap  was  made  by  boiling  cottonseed  oil  with  strong  solution 
of  sodium  hydroxide  for  one-half  hour,  adding  a  small  quantity  of 
alcohol  to  facilitate  saponification,  and  precipitating  the  soap  with 
a  20  per  cent,  solution  of  common  salt.  Common  salt  not  only 
separates  the  soap  but  it  also  rids  it  of  nearly  all  free  alkali.  The 
mixture  was  then  thrown  on  a  strainer  and  allowed  to  drain.  The 
precipitated  soap  was  then  washed  with  distilled  water  and  ex- 
pressed. Powdered  pumice  was  next  added  and  thoroughly  incor- 
porated. The  soap  was  then  put  into  a  suitable  mold  and  placed, 
well  covered  with  gauze,  in  a  cool  dry  room,  to  harden. 
