Formalin's New Use

He Saved a Dying Woman by Injecting a Solution of the Antiseptic Into Her Veins-There was an Immediate Improvement-Her Temperature Marked 108.

What is regarded by many physicians as one of the most important medical discoveries of the day bas been made by Dr. Charles C. Barrows, a gynecologist, who is one of the visitIng physicians to Bellevue hospital, in New York. and bas been connected with that institution for sixteen years.

Revolutionizing the method of treating blood poison, Dr. Barrows' specific - for such it may be- tends to rob that disease of its terrors and, some members of the medical fraternity believe, will prove most valuable in other maladies that usually have a fatal result, says the New York Herald. The one patient whom Dr. Barrows bas treated by his new method was at the point of death when he was called in. Now she is practically well.

By destroying the bacteria that creates blood poisoning does Dr. Barrows baffle the disease. To do this he eschews the use of medicines and injects into the patient's veins a weakened solution of what is known as formalin. This is a 40 per cent solution of fomaldehyde gas in water. This gas, which is an oxidation of methyl alcohol, has strong germicidal qualities, being stronger than carbolic acid and only slightly inferior to corrosive sublimate. Formalin, its solution in water, is a powerful antiseptic and is frequently applied outwardly in surgery. For years it has been used as a preservative for food products.

In his observation of the many cases of blood poisoning which came under his notice Dr. Barrows arrived at the conclusion it was absolutely necessary to destroy the bacteria if the disease was to be fought successfully. In his search for an agent by which the end might be gained be thought of formalin, and a careful study convinced him it might be employed efficaciously, with no harm to the patient.

He found his first opportunity of putting his theory to the test in Bellevue hospital. Alice Bentley. a negress, twenty -six years old, was taken to the institution on Christmas day suffering from blood poisoning. She had fallen downstairs a month before, injuring herself severely. When she entered the hospital, her temperature was 104.3 degrees and her pulse was 124. After the birth of a baby she had a severe chill, and her temperature was 105 degrees. She was transferred to the gynecological ward and her temperature increased to 106.8 degrees. She came worse daily. and when Dr. Barrows was called in, on Jan. 2. she seemed to be at the point of death. She was semi-comatose and was muttering incoherently. Her respiration was rapid and labored, her pulse ranged from 150 to 160 and her temperature was 108 degrees. Never had a person in such a condition been known to recover.

It was reported to Dr. Barrows that on Dec. 30 a small portion of the patients blood had been drawn from her arm and that Dr. Buxton, a bacteriologist connected with the Cornell medical college, had made a culture, which showed the presence of the virulent bacteria of septicemia, or streptococci. She had blood poisoning in its most virulent form. Into one of the large veins of the right arm Dr. Barrows tried to inject one liter of formalin solution. of the strength of one part of formalin to 5,000 parts of water, but the woman's delirium and restlessness made this a difficult operation and a small quantity of the formalin was lost, about 500 centimeters of the solution finding its way into the circulation.

The result was such as to make the physicians marvel. The temperature fell almost immediately. and the pulse showed an instantaneous improvement This continued, and at 9 o'clock the next morning, sixteen hours after the injection, the temperature was 101 degrees Instead of 108, and the pulse had fallen from 160 to 104. But as the day passed the temperature rose to 102.4 degrees and then fell again until it was only 95. The next day the patient, whose general condition had improved, had a relapse, and her temperature recorded 103 degrees.

The day after the injection another blood culture was made, and It was found that none of the bacteria was present. Thus encouraged, Dr. Barrows made another injection of the formalin into the woman's left arm, this time of 750 cubic centimeters. Again the temperature fell to the normal, and at no time thereafter did it vary materially. Two days after this another blood culture was made, and the bacteria were absent. The woman became convalescent rapidly, and now she is well.