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ELEMENTS OF MATERIA MEDICA.

fractures accompanied with offensive discharges, to the uterus in variousdiseases of this viscus attended with fetid evacuations; in a word, weapply them in all cases accompanied with offensive and fetid odours.As I have before remarked with respect to chloride of soda (p. 316) theirefficacy is not confined to an action on dead parts, or on the dischargesfrom wounds and ulcers : they are of the greatest benefit to living parts,in which they induce more healthy action, and the consequent secretionof less offensive matters. Furthermore, in the sick chamber, many otheroccasions present themselves on which the power of the chlorides todestroy offensive odours will be found of the highest value: as to counteractthe unpleasant smell of dressings or bandages, of the urine in various dis-eases of the bladder, of the alvine evacuations, &c. In typhus fever, ahandkerchief dipped in a weak solution of an alkaline chloride, and sus-pended in the sick chamber, will be often of considerable sendee both tothe patient and the attendants.

The power of the chlorides (hypochlorites) to destroy infection orcontagion, and to prevent the propagation of epidemic diseases, isless obviously and satisfactorily ascertained than their capability ofdestroying odour. Various statements have been made by Labarraque and others (vide Alcock’s Essay, p. 55, et seq.) in order to prove thedisinfecting power of the chlorides with respect to typhus and otherinfectious fevers. But, without denying the utility of these agents indestroying bad smells in the sick chamber, and in promoting the reco-very of the patient by their influence over the general system, I mayobserve that I have met with no facts which are satisfactory to my mindas to the chemical powers of the chlorides to destroy the infectious mat-ter of fever. Nor am I convinced by the experiments made by Parisetand his colleagues ( Bullet. des Sciences Med. xix. 233) that these medi-cines are preservative against the plague. Six individuals clothed them-selves with impunity in tire garments of men who had died of plague,but which garments had been plunged for six hours in a solution ofchloride of soda. But, as Bouillaud {Diet, de Med. Prat., art. Conta-gion) has truly observed, the experiments, to bo decisive, should havebeen made with clothing which had already communicated the plague tothe wearers of it. In Moscow , chlorine was extensively tried and foundunavailing, nay, apparently injurious, in cholera. “ At the time,” saysDr. Albers ( Lond. Med. Gaz. viii. 410) “that the cholera hospital wasfilled with clouds of chlorine, then it was that the greatest number of theattendants were attacked.” (See also Dierbach , d. neust. Entd. in d. Mat.Med. i. 411, 2 te Ausg. 1837.) Some years ago chlorine was tried at theSmall Pox Hospital, with a view of arresting the progress of erysipelas :all offensive smell, as usual, was overcome, but the power of communi-cating the disease remained behind. {Lond. Med. Gaz. viii. 472.) Bous-quet {Rev. Med. Fev. 1830, p. 264) mixed equal parts of a solution ofchloride of soda and the vaccine lymph, and found that the latter stillpossessed the power of producing the usual cow-pock vesicle. These area few of the facts which are adverse to the opinion that chlorine or thechlorarets possess the power of preventing the propagation of infectious,contagious, or epidemic diseases. In opposition to them there are but fewpositive facts to be adduced. Coster (Richter, Avf. Arzneimittell. Suppl.Band. 539) found that a solution of chloride of soda destroyed the infectiousproperties of the syphilitic poison, and of the poison of rabid animals.