PERFUMED ANTISEPTICS.

Manawatu Herald, 8 October 1896, Page 4

PERFUMED ANTISEPTICS.

Vh« Siwnce of China Cinnamon as Powerful as Corrosive Sublimate. Antiseptics have generally a disagreeable odor. Commenting on researches made by French scientists, the New York Her aid says they have shown that many essences are endowed with strong antiseptic qualities that appear in two ways— by direct contact, and even at a distance, on account of their vapor tension. The most powerful of these essences is certainly the essence of China cinnamon, which has almost the same strength as corrosive sublimate, one of the most powerful antiseptics. But these essences in their natural form are very often irritating to the skin, so that M. Locas-Championniere of Paris has been tryin* to find a way to turn the difficulty. With the idea that they are irrit iting because they are insoluble in the different liquids of the body and in water, he dissolved them by means of retinol and obtained in this way preparations that are not at all irritating- Rectified essence of cinnamon is called clnnamol, and 1 per cent solutions or ointments of cinnamol have been tested by the above mentioned surgeon. Dressings are made with the ointment, which does away with all odor, even in infected wounds. He has also tested the essences of geranium and verbena. It ia very desirable that this use of essences should become a common one, as nothing is moredisagreeable in a sick chamber than the odor of the antiseptics which we now use. To introduce perfumery into surgery and medicine is a step that will certainly not displease the patients, and in time of epidemics the regular use of certain forms of perfumery—lavender, cinnamon, verbena and geranium— is to *c recommended.