Report on the disinfecting and antiseptic properties of izal : [from the Bacteriological Laboratory, Owens College) / by Sheridan Delépine.

  • Delépine, Sheridan, 1855-1921.
Date:
[1895]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report on the disinfecting and antiseptic properties of izal : [from the Bacteriological Laboratory, Owens College) / by Sheridan Delépine. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    threads not having been exposed to the action of the izal, but having been kept in sterilised water for the same length of time as the other threads had been, were also cultivated in alkaline bouillon. After twenty-four hours at 36° C. the control tubes showed already typical growth of bacillus coli, but there was no growth in any of the tubes containing threads which had been dipped in izal. These tubes were watched for twenty days, and during the whole of that time no trace of growth could be discovered. This absence of growth was tested not only by microscopical examin- ation, but also by plate cultivations in nutrient gelatine and agar. It is therefore evident that izal diluted with 200 parts of water is a safe germicide for micro-organisms as resistant or less resistant than the bacillus coli communis. The bacillus coli communis (or, to be more correct, bacilli having characters associated with that name) is especially suitable for these kinds of experiments; it is constantly fuund in the intestine. Iu several enteric diseases, such as typhoid fever, Asiatic and English cholera, dysentery, it multiplies considerably. In many of these cases it is apparently the cause of severe symptoms or complications. It has become evident of late that bacilli of this type may invade other parts of the body than the intestine, and give rise to severe inflammation (peritonitis, pleurisy, meningitis, hepatitis, abscesses, etc.). It is also found outside the body in all media contamiuated with ftecal matters. Moreover, the bacillus coli has a considerable power of adaptation, growing well on strongly alkaline, or distinctly acid, on vegetable or on animal media, such as blood serum, milk, urine, fseces, etc., etc. It bears drying better than the bacillus of cholera and resists the action of such disinfectants as carbolic acid, formalin, hydrochloric acid, much better than the typhoid bacillus and the cholera vibrio. HI.—Action of Izal on the Staphylococcus Pyogenes Aureus. The staphylococcus pyogenes aureus was selected as being one of the most resistant cocci. It is widely distributed iu external media and is undoubtedly one of the commonest causes of suppuration. It was, therefore, a fair specimen to iisc for testing the value of izal in the treatment of ordinary wounds. In this case fresh cultivations of agar wore made; after being kept for 48 hours in the incubator at 36°C the tubes were left for another 24 hours at the temperature of the laboratory. The growth was then scraped off, and spread thickly on small pieces of sterilised filter paper. The paper so infected was allowed to dry slowly at the ordinary tem- perature, in a sterilised capsule, kept in the dark, for three hours.