22 
Disinfectants. 
f  Am  Jour.  Pharm 
1      Jan.,  1883. 
made  upon  tlie  point  by  MM.  Pean  and  Baldy  at  the  hospital  of  St. 
Louis,  with  very  successful  results. 
The  hydrogen  peroxide,  in  solutions  containing  from  two  to  six  times 
its  volume  of  oxygen,  according  to  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  was 
used,  both  externally,  as  a  dressing  for  wounds,  ulcers,  etc.,  and  also 
given  interually  in  certain  affections,  in  doses  of  from  three  to  five 
grains,  containing  six  times  its  volume  of  oxygen.  As  a  result  of  their 
experiments  MM.  Pean  and  Baldy  consider  themselves  justified  in 
stating : 
1.  Hydrogen  peroxide  containing,  according  to  circumstances,  from 
two  to  six  times  its  volume  of  oxygen,  appears  to  be  capable  of  advan- 
tageously replacing  alcohol  and  carbolic  acid. 
2.  It  can  be  employed  externally,  for  the  dressing  of  wounds  and 
ulcerations  of  all  natures,  in  injections  and  in  vaporizations,  and  inter- 
nally. 
3.  The  results  obtained,  even  in  the  case  of  the  largest  operations, 
are,  up  to  the  present,  in  the  highest  degree  satisfactory.  Not  only 
fresh  wounds,  but  also  old  ones,  proceed  rapidly  to  cicatrization,  and 
reunion  by  first  intention  of  amputation  wounds  appears  to  be  encour- 
aged by  this  mode  of  dressing. 
4.  The  general  as  well  as  the  local  state  appears  to  be  favorably 
influenced. 
5.  The  advantages  of  hydrogen  peroxide  over  carbolized  water  are 
its  not  having  any  poisonous  effect  nor  unpleasant  odor,  while  its  appli- 
cation is  entirely  painless. 
M.  Bert  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  hydrogen  peroxide  for  surgi- 
cal use  must  be  entirely  neutral,  while  that  obtained  from  the  greater 
number  of  dealers  in  chemicals  frequently  contains  a  considerable 
quantity  of  sulphuric  acid,  so  that  its  use  would  not  be  without  danger. 
■ — Amer.  Chem  Jour.,  from  Comptes  rendus,  94,  1383,  and  95,49. 
DISINFECTANTS. 
In  an  article  on  disinfection  Dr.  R.  Koch  remarks  that  the  only 
substances  worthy  of  the  name  of  disinfectants  are  chlorine,  bromine, 
iodine,  mercuric  chloride,  and  perhaps  potassium  permanganate  and 
osmic  acid.  He  finds  that  spores  of  the  bacillus  of  splenic  fever,  kept 
for  many  days  in  5  per  cent,  zinc  chloride  solution,  develop  when 
