Method of using the chlorides of soda, either for dressing ill-conditioned sores, or as a means of purifying unhealthy places, and of disinfecting animal substances. Transl. by Jacob Porter.

  • Labarraque, A. G. (Antoine Germain), 1777-1850.
Date:
1830
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Method of using the chlorides of soda, either for dressing ill-conditioned sores, or as a means of purifying unhealthy places, and of disinfecting animal substances. Transl. by Jacob Porter. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    For the scald head the chloride should be mixed with only an equal quantity of pure water, and the parts affected be moistened with this liquid twice a day. The lint and cloths, that have been used in dressing fetid ulcers, instantly lose their smell on being dipped into water containing a thir- tieth of the chloride. Great advantages have been obtained from using the chloride very much diluted in water, for all the purposes of the toilet. In a dose of from twenty to twenty-five drops, it acts as a bracing and preserv- ing wash, prevents the spread of herpetic eruptions, and cures cer- tain diseases of the skin. Some lotions, made with the chloride di- luted in from twenty to thirty parts of water, will prevent or cure the leuconhea. It must be used in injections, a physician prescrib- ing, at the same time, the internal treatment adapted to destroy com- pletely the cause of the disease. For carbuncle the chloride of soda should be applied pure; but, in this case, it will be necessary to have recourse to a physician, who will precede the use of this medicine with the means required by the rules of surgery. In order to determine the real nature of the sores, it will be prudent likewise to recur to his experience. Every person affected with a severe disease, or with sores of a bad character, vitiates the air of the chamber where he is confined, both patient and attendants suffering from the unwholesome taints. This air may be purified by mixing a spoonful of the chloride with six spoonfuls of water in a plate, and setting it under the patient's bed : Indeed, several plates of the diluted chloride may be placed in the same apartment, if necessary. In this way, the exhalations will be destroyed as soon as they are produced. It will be necessary to renew daily the chlorated water contained in the plates, and turn it into the vessels where the cloths, that are used for the dressings, are soaked. Whenever it is necessary to attend patients affected with conta- gious diseases, such as small pox and the like, it will be found very beneficial to wash the hands with water containing a twentieth of the chloride, and apply to the nose a bottle containing some of it in a concentrated state. After handling the sick, it will be proper to wash again with the chlorated water.