Solution of hydrogen dioxide. Peroxide of hydrogen. "A slightly acid, aqueous solution of hydrogen dioxide, containing, when freshly prepared, about three per cent by weight of the pure dioxide, corresponding to about ten volumes of available oxygen." Barium dioxide, 300 grms., and a sufficient quantity of phosphoric and sulphuric acids with distilled water are the materials from which it is prepared. The resulting solution is a colorless liquid, without odor, slightly acidulous to the taste, and producing a peculiar sensation in the mouth, with a soapy froth. It loses its strength by keeping.

This official preparation may be prescribed by dilution with water, one fourth to one sixth, and the dose is f 3 j—f oz ss.

Hydrogen dioxide is a powerful oxidizing agent, and is therefore destructive of organic poisons and pathogenic organisms. It acts on the gases of decomposition and thus removes foul odors. It has been proved to possess the power to destroy the bacilli of charbon and the microbes of typhoid, cholera, diphtheria, and scarlet fever. It is therefore a powerful antiseptic application, and of great value in the treatment of diphtheria wherever it can be brought in contact with the morbid process. By means of a nasal syringe, it can be applied, diluted one half, to the nasal passages, or undiluted in spray, or by means of a probang to the throat. In scarlet fever, for the throat and nasal manifestations, it is a valuable means of relief. In gonorrhoea it is an excellent injection, destroying the gonococcus and arresting the formation of pus. According to the severity of the symptoms, it may be used in the strength of the official solution or diluted one half or one fourth. It is a good application to soft chancre. For suppurating cavities, discharging abscesses, sinuses, etc., it can be injected freely, destroying foul odors and stopping suppuration.

It is one of the most convenient and least objectionable applications for disinfecting the hands and instruments. For bleaching the hair it is a safe and efficient means. Being an active oxidizing agent, and rapidly losing its properties in contact with organic matter, systemic effects can hardly be produced by it in nearly the same degree. The effects which have been claimed for it as a remedy in various constitutional states are not supported in recent experiences. That its action must be regarded as confined to the point of contact is proved by the effects which ensue there: it coagulates albumin, effervesces freely, and covers the ulcerated surface with a whitish coating. In contact with the mucous membrane a similar action takes place, and this means the more or less complete disintegration of the dioxide, whence it follows that the strong claims put forth regarding its antiseptic powers must be modified. The remarkable assertions published, and which have been embodied in the above remarks, are for the most part based on theoretical considerations.

Authorities referred to:

Andrews, Dr. J. B. The Detroit Review of Medicine and Surgery, December, 1871, p. 571.

Anne, Dr. Henri. Thése de Paris, 1880.

Binz, Prof. Dr. Arch. f. experiment. Pathol, und Pharmacol., for 1884.

Birch, Dr. The Therapeutic Action of Oxygen, London, 1857. The British Medical Journal, December 24 and 31, 1859.

Bricheteau, Dr. F. Bulletin Général de Thérapeutique, vol. lxx, p. 162.

Demarquay, Dr. Essai de Pneumatologie Medicale, etc., Paris, 1866.

Hackley, Dr. C. E. New York Medical Journal, vol. ix, p. 597.

Mackey, Edward. The Practitioner, vol. ii, p. 278.

Pinard, Dr. Annuaire de Thérapeutique, 1881, p. 109.

Smith, Dr. A. H. New York Medical Journal, vol. xi, p. 152.

Waldenburg, Dr. L. Die locale Beliandlung der Krankheiten der Athmungsorgane, Berlin, 1872, p. 690, et seq.