Am.  Jour,  Pharm.  1 
April,  1911.  / 
Medicated  Causes. 
179 
mercial  application.  However,  in  recent  years,  the  reduced  cost  of 
ether  and  other  solvents  and  the  improvement  of  mechanical  appli- 
ances for  manipulation  should  have  caused  a  general  adoption  of  the 
method,  but  it  seems  to  have  been  overlooked. 
In  the  case  of  the  iodoform  gauze  bandages  first  mentioned, 
ether  was  tried,  but  had  to  be  abandoned,  because  of  fire  risk  and 
its  effects  upon  the  operator.  A  solvent  similar  in  diffusive  proper- 
ties to  ether  was  sought  and  found  in  acetone.  The  tightly  rolled 
bandages  were  saturated  to  the  core  in  a  few  minutes  after  pouring 
the  solution  upon  them.  Furthermore,  they  dried  perfectly  and 
evenly  as  fast  as  they  could  be  rewound.  The  same  method  has 
been  applied  to  a  number  of  other  gauzes  with  equal  success.  The 
vapors  do  not  seem  to  have  any  ill  effect  upon  the  operator. 
When  one  remembers  how  long  the  name  absorbent  gauze  has 
been  used,  it  seems  strange  that  a  method  of  preparation  based 
entirely  upon  the  absorbent  qualities  has  not  been  more  generally 
used.  Yet  the  majority  of  the  published  formulas  direct  an  excess 
of  liquid  to  be  applied  and  subsequently  removed  by  expressing  to 
a  given  weight,  and  drying,  losing  sight  of  the  fact  that  an  amount 
of  liquid  just  short  of  saturating  the  material  would  quickly  and 
evenly  diffuse,  and  evenly  distribute  the  medicament.  The  appli- 
cation of  this  principle  prevents  the  uneven  distribution  of  the 
medicament  as  caused  by  the  evaporation  of  a  large  amount  of 
liquid,  when  heavy  and  slowly  volatile  from  the  lower,  or  when 
light  and  quickly  volatile  from  the  upper  portions  of  the  material 
suspended  for  drying.  Obviously,  it  would  have  the  added  advan- 
tage of  lessening  the  exposure  of  the  product  to  septic  contamina- 
tion, as  well  as  that  of  bringing  it  into  the  class  of  extemporaneous 
preparations  by  the  saving  in  time  effected. 
Before  proceeding  with  the  individual  formulas,  it  might  be  well 
to  describe  the  gauze  used  and  the  necessary  precautions  to  secure 
asepsis,  even  though  they  present  nothing  new.  The  older  directions 
required  the  removal  of  the  resins  and  fats  from  the  gauze  by  solu- 
tions of  soda  or  potassa  and  its  bleaching  by  chlorinated  lime  or 
soda.  It  was  then  directed  to  be  washed  with  hydrochloric  acid 
and  finally  with  water.  Suitable  material  can  now  be  had,  already 
prepared,  in  the  market.  A  satisfactory  product  contains  about 
twelve  threads  to  the  centimetre  both  on  the  woof  and  on  the  warp, 
and  is  conveniently  used  in  widths  of  about  90  cm.  (i  yd.).  One 
metre  of  this  weighs  about  25  Gms.    It  should  be  free  from 
