178 
Medicated  Gauzes. 
{Am.  Jour.  PharmJ 
April,  1911, 
THE  EXTEMPORANEOUS  PREPARATION  OF 
MEDICATED  GAUZES. 
By  George  M.  Beringer,  Jr.,  P.  D. 
A  few  years  ago  the  writer  was  called  upon  to  prepare  iodoform 
gauze  bandages  for  an  emergency  order.  This  led  to  an  examina- 
tion of  the  literature  upon  the  subject  and  experimentation  upon 
improved  methods  for  the  preparation  of  such  gauzes  as  are  in 
common  use.  The  results  of  the  investigation  are  presented  in  this 
paper. 
The  earliest  type  of  antiseptic  gauze  was  that  of  Lister,  made 
by  soaking  the  material  in  a  melted  mixture  of  resin,  paraffin  and 
phenol.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  such  a  ' '  messy  "  preparation  as 
this  has  long  since  passed  from  the  American  market.  Many  recent 
foreign  works,  and  a  few  of  our  own,  however,  still  retain  the  for- 
mula. Some,  also,  give  a  similar  formula  for  the  preparation  of 
iodoform  gauze,  and  the  common  method  practised  to-day  is  to 
distribute  the  iodoform  over  the  surface  of  the  gauze  in  the  form  of 
a  starch  paste  suspension  with  glycerin.  While  this  is  better  than 
the  resin  method,  I  believe  that,  aside  from  the  required  antiseptic, 
the  less  foreign  material  contained  in  a  surgical  dressing  the  better. 
Such  material  not  only  lessens  the  absorbent  qualities,  but  may  be 
irritant  and,  surely,  restrains  the  activity  of  any  antiseptic  with 
which  it  may  be  combined. 
Another  point  worthy  of  note  is  the  incompleteness  of  many  of 
the  published  formulas.  One  authority  gives  a  formula  for  bichlo- 
ride gauze.  The  amount  of  liquid  directed  for  impregnation  is 
one  fluid  ounce  and  contains  2  grains  of  mercuric  chloride.  No 
amount  of  gauze  is  specified.  If  the  resulting  preparation  is  to  be 
of  the  usual  i  to  1000  strength,  about  2000  grains  of  gauze  will 
be  required.  The  amount  of  liquid  directed  will  hardly  perceptibly 
moisten  this,  yet  the  directions  are  "  Immerse  for  twelve  hours  " — 
"  Wring  out "  and    Allow  to  dry  as  far  as  the  glycerin  will  permit." 
The  first  rational  method  appears  to  have  been  proposed  by 
H.  Helbing  in  1889.  He  recommended  ether  or  a  mixture  of  ether 
and  alcohol  for  the  preparation  of  an  extended  list  of  gauzes.  This 
was  ideal  in  so  far  as  no  foreign  material  remained  in  the  finished 
product,  but  the  cost  of  the  solvent,  the  danger  from  fire,  and  the 
unpleasant  effects  upon  the  operator  precluded  any  extended  com- 
