Collodions

Contractile collodion will sometimes avert a threatened eczema, and prevent extension from one already existing, if applied around the margin o"f the lesion. Flexible collodion is a protective only, and may be useful when the exudation is slight. Cantharidal collodion is sometimes employed as an application to an old and obstinate local patch which it is desired to stir up to some degree of activity. Occasionally it hastens a cure - more frequently it does more harm than good. Collodion with five per cent, of iodine will often prove of service in chronic thickened patches, while collodion containing three or four per cent, of salicylic acid will dissolve and remove thickened epidermis from the hands and feet more quickly, perhaps, than any other substance. Salicylic acid, however, should never be used continuously, or during the second stage, when the epithelium is absent, as it tends to prevent the comification of the new epithelium.

Traumaticin is the name in common use to designate a ten per cent, solution of guttapercha in chloroform, and it possesses many advantages over collodion, and may be made use of in connection with oxide of zinc, ammoniated mercury, etc.


Gelatine, mixed with glycerine, and dissolved by heat, has been used as a basis for the incorporation of various drugs applicable to the treatment of eczema. When applied it should be liquefied by heat and painted rather thickly on the parts. It can only be used where patients are confined to the bed, and is not as useful, in my experience, as other applications.