duoers which have, perhaps, been thoughtlessly That creolin is non-toxic is immensely in its favor adopted and retained. as an antiseptic ; from this fact, other things being It is not overlooked that many other external equal, its advantage over corrosive sublimate, car- conditions have a groat influence upon the mortality bolic acid, and iodoform is great, and the range of of infants. I have only attempted to deal with one its use greatly enlarged, as, for example, it can be influence, which can, without great difficulty, be used with safety in washing out the pleural and controlled. abdominal cavities, as a gargle, and in nasal, uterine, (To be concluded.) vaginal, and bladder douches. In my experience which has not been inconsiderable, I have met Original Articles with nothing which approximated to a toxic effect. In the experiments and experience of others the CREOLIN.1 conclusion has been reached, with one or two ex- to make BY EDWARD O. OTIS, M.D. ceptions, that, used of sufficient strength it either or exter- .At a of I thoroughly antiseptic, internally previous meeting'*' this society it is innocuous to Rosin4 made a short statement which I nally, higher organisms. regarding creolin, and Baunini6 a case or two of had then been for some weeks in the report possible poison- using Surgical where was as a and uterine Department of the Boston Since that ing creolin used vaginal Dispensary. douche in the state. Against these cases time I have continued its use, both and puerperal ° surgically we have the one hundred and of with satisfaction a forty Minopoulos medically, increasing and firmer Munich in which he used conviction of its The of in the Lying-in Hospital, great utility. experience douches of creolin of and two per cent, others as to its use is also and I have one-half, one, accumulating, with no record of also the one therefore it be of interest and ser- solutions, poisoning ; thought might hundred and cases of Born7 with the vice to the society to give a rather more systematic twenty-four and extended account of the and its same results. compound 8 that in about cases of varied with the results which a trial Spaeth says thirty gen- uses, longer eral in which the used was creo- of its virtues has us. surgery antiseptic given lin he met with no toxic results nor does other which first came to be known ; any Creolin, through observer from its use. its use in veterinary medicine, is an organic com- report poisoning of That creolin is a reliable germicide the investiga- pound rather complex composition. Pearson of & of who offer it in tions Esmarch, Eisenberg, Parks, and Sedgwick Co., Hamburg,* the market, Esmarch9 made the of it : 6(5 cent, of abundantly prove. comparative give following analysis per tests of the power of creolin and car neutral hydrocarbonates ; 27.4 cent, germicidal per phenols bolic acid, and found that a solution of the former, (without carbolic acid) ; 2.2 per cent, organic bases ; 4.4 cent. ash. even weaker than one per cent., destroyed tho per of and Prof: H. B. of Harvard Univer- bacilli cholera, typhus, Staphylococcus pyo- My friend, Hill, aureus and surer than a like has made an examination of a genes quicker percent- sity, kindly speci- age of carbolic acid the anthrax men of Pearson's and finds it is a mixture ; bacillus, however, creolin, was rendered inert more the carbolic acid of the sodium salts of some resinous surely by acids, with than creolin. the part of oil of tar known as " irod oil." Al- by he is not he thinks the sodium salts Eisenberg,10 in the Vienna Hygienic Institute, in- though positive, stituted tests also of the of are what is known as " a resin germicidal properties probably Harzseife," this new He tried it with bouillon cul- soap. The oil contains a small amount of carbolic antiseptic. tures of various or cresylic acid. It is obtained from English pit bacteria, Streptococcus pyogenes, coals and in is abrownish- Streptococcus erysipelatus,Staphylococeus pyogenes by distillation, appearance and and the result was in favor of blaek fluid ; soluble in and aureus, others, oily easily alcohol, ether, creolin over carbolic even in the case of an- chloroform ; with water it forms a homogeneous, acid, alkaline white and thrax bacillus. slightly emulsion, milky opaque. Parks u found in the of 1:200 It is of odor and of an creolin, strength tarry aromatic, burning and an efficient friend Prof. taste. The I use is from the firm of 1:1000, germicide. My preparation of the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- William Pearson & who so far Sedgwick, Co., Hamburg, are, has made some with as I the manufacturers of and nology, kindly experiments know, only creolin, me of who the of all creolin for in the biological laboratory that guarantee uniformity composition of institution. To dilute 1400 that bears their In creolin is sewage containing stamp. Germany bacteria to the cubic creolin to two than carbolic, or iodoform centimetre, per cheaper acid, sublimate, ; cent, was and there was no here I think it is about the same price as carbolic added, growth. Again acid. a one-half per cent, creolin in a solution of pepsin bacteria to the cubic centimetre Creolin is claimed to be — and the evidence seems containing 6,435 all Lormuscan 12 makes the to the claim — a and stopped growth. gen- verify non-poisonous germicide eral statement that the of creolin ; one of the most deodorants tc germicidal power antiseptic perfect ; is ten times that of carbolic and its action on a certain extent a haunostatic ; and possessing qual- acid, ities which diminish secretion and 4 Therapeutische Monntähefto, Octobor, 1888. promote granula- 5 Ccnlralblatt tur üvnäkologio, 1888, 21. tions. Moreover, it exercises a most effeel 8 Mitiicluuiei' Mod. 1888, 45. happy i Wochenschrift, and mucous mem CeiitralblnttfUr ('yniikologio, 1888, No. 20. upon unhealthy pus-secreting 0 Milncucner Mod. wclinscfir., 1888, No. 4. branes. Finally, it is a non-irritant. 9 Ccntralblatt für lîactcriologie und l'araaitenkunde, IUl. II., 1887, 10,11. 1 Head boforo tho lloston Sooioty for Medical Observation ° Wien. Mcd. Wclmchr., 1388, xxxvili. 17-19. February 4. 1830. 11 of the 2 Study of Some l'yogcnic Uuctcria and of the Ucrmicldal Boston Med. and August 1888. 3 Surg. Jour., 9, Activity of Certain Antiseptics. Medical News, Dec. 1,1888. Contralblatt f\l=u"\r Chirurgie, 1888, No. 21. ' Moniteur du l'racticlen, March 25,1888. The Boston Medical and Surgical Journal as published by The New England Journal of Medicine. Downloaded from nejm.org at UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA on July 24, 2016. For personal use only. No other uses without permission. From the NEJM Archive. Copyright © 2010 Massachusetts Medical Society. the spores is even more pronounced than that of burns of the second and third degree, varicose the sublimate. ulcers, wounds where there was not union by first The marvellous deodorant power of creolin is an- intention, says he was not only satisfied with the other of its excellent attributes. Rausche *" refers results but indeed surprised to see how rapidly the to the remarkable deodorizing effect a one per cent, sloughs disappeared and healthy granulations ap- creolin solution produced in the case of an enor- peared. The change was more rapid I hau when mous, filthy, stinking carcinoma when other means sublimate, iodoform, or carbolic acid was used, lie bad failed. The odor was not only destroyed, also narrates a case of amputation of the thigh I'm' he says, but there was an evident and continued pyaemia, where the pysemic fever continued and diminution of pus. We all know, in such eases sloughing went on in the stump in spite of appli- as this, how very difficult it is to prevent odor. cations of iodoform, sublimate, and the like, Minopoulos,14 in his obstetric clinic, found creolin finally, when the patient was nearly in extremis, a most excellent deodorant in cases of abortion with he applied gauze soaked in a two per cent, creolin evil-smelling discharge; be used for this purpose emulsion. Two days thereafter the condition of tampons soaked in a one per cent, solution of the patient and wound was entirely changed. The creolin) and allowed them to remain twenty-four granulations were healthy, under which the bone hours. In o/.tena Pleskoff w found that the odor Stump quickly disappeared. Tho sloughs were quickly disappeared, together with the cessation of quickly thrown off; the fever soon subsided; and the formation of crusts, by the use of creolin. In- the pulse grow stronger. Twenty days later heal- halations of creolin vapor in cases of phthisis with ex- ing was nearly accomplished. pectoration and odor are reported by Klamann10 to Altered and unhealthy mucous surfaces, as in reduce the expectoration and destroy the odor. So of chronic naso-pharyngeal catarrh, cystitis, chronic the bad odor of cystitic urine. »Tessner17 narrates a gonorrhoea, tracoma, and the like, both in the quan- ease of chronic cystitis, in which after sublimate in- tity and quality of the secretion, change under the jections and other means had failed, he used a one- use of creolin, and the character of tho mucous half per cent, solution of creolin, which at first pro- membrane tends towards a more normal condition. duced a strong burning which later disappeared. I shall later give results and opinions as to its use In the afternoon of the same day on which the in the special mucous"membranes. A creolin solu- creolin was used he found a very different picture, tion may, and generally does, produce at first a he says: the patient presented an appearance of burning sensation, which, however, soon disappears well-being ; and when the urine was drawn if was in most cases if the solution is not too strong.