A NEW ANTISEPTIC

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2582, 2 October 1915, Page 6

A NEW ANTISEPTIC

' ' HYPOCHLOROUS AOID. , In. connection •' with' the treatment of wounded soldiers,' much, depends on keeping the wounds in a 'healthy condition, so that tho process of healing may be swift and sure. The question of providing adequate supplies of antiseptic solutions and powders, is _ one which the army, medical authorities view as being of prime importance. Recently medical science discovered a new antiseptic, hypochlorous acid, which 'has proved of great value! in treating soldiers' wounds. .It had been known for many years that the hypochlorites, used chiefly as bleaching powder,_ were most powerful germicides of disinfectants. and they liave been used extensively in t'ho'war for purifying water supplies; Possessing this, . knowledce, surgeons set about investigating the component parts of - the material, and as the soldiers' wounds in many cases were dirtj', an effort was made to discover a more powerful antiseptic than those generally in use. Professor Smith .Lorrain, formerly Professor, of Pathology at the Manchester University, took up the hypochlorite question, and, in conjunction with the doctors of the : British medical research committee, he discovered that hypochlorous acid was a much more potent cermicide.' than the hypochlorides, and a method was devised to free the acid for use as an antiseptic. Tho acid, howover, acts best in the form of gas, as it. penetrates further into the tissues than when used in the form of solution. The effect of the acid was tried on a number of patients'in the Edinburgh Hospital, both in a solution and as a powder dusted over the. wounds.,;.the moisture from which causes. evolution of the gas. The results, it is said,- were most satisfactory. A soldier with "serious •' wounds was also treated, and a®; a result Professor. Lorrain Smith and his associates came to' the' conclusion that hypochlorous acid was the most powerful antiseptic known. ; - Its practical advantages for field .use-were, that it could be applied as a dry powder; it could be applied'to' the gauze pad "of the first' field dressing, and, where water' was available, it could bo made up in the form of a solution for general use. Tho> constituents of the powder are clieap, and it is easily prepared; ' Ail interesting feature in the mode of action" of hypochlorous acid, is that iE attracts a flow of lymph or healthy body fluids through the diseased parts, and thus "gets ■ poisonous materials washed out of the wounds from within, outwards. It is claimed that the use of tho new antiseptio, applied as a first-aid dressing, will result in'a new and much brighter phase ill the treatment of wounded soldiers. ; /