The disadvantages of the first primitive dressings of lint soaked in carbolic acid were soon apparent. The German creosote was also far from ideal, as it irritated the skin, causing ulceration and then suppuration that occasionally resulted in tissue necrosis. It was also almost insoluble in water. Lister began to look for another source of phenol. Lister discovered that Frederick Crace Calvert, an honorary chemistry professor from the Royal Manchester Institution was manufacturing small quantities of phenol at a much finer purity and managed to obtain some. The phenol was in the form of small white crystals which liquified at and were readily soluble in a ratio of 1:20 parts of water and to any extent soluble in oil. The watery solution could be used in a lotion of any strength and be used for disinfection of wounds while the solution in oil that served as a reservoir of antiseptic seemed likely to provide a suitable dressing. Lister began to experiment with the phenol and produced a new dressing made of a putty that consisted of carbonate of lime mixed with phenol mixed with boiled linseed oil in a ratio of 1:4 or 1:6.
The disadvantages of the first primitive dressings of lint soaked in carbolic acid were soon apparent. The German creosote was also far from ideal, as it irritated the skin, causing ulceration and then suppuration that occasionally resulted in tissue necrosis. It was also almost insoluble in water. Lister began to look for another source of phenol. Lister discovered that Frederick Crace Calvert, an honorary chemistry professor from the Royal Manchester Institution was manufacturing small quantities of phenol at a much finer purity and managed to obtain some. The phenol was in the form of small white crystals which liquified at and were readily soluble in a ratio of 1:20 parts of water and to any extent soluble in oil. The watery solution could be used in a lotion of any strength and be used for disinfection of wounds while the solution in oil that served as a reservoir of antiseptic seemed likely to provide a suitable dressing. Lister began to experiment with the phenol and produced a new dressing made of a putty that consisted of carbonate of lime mixed with phenol mixed with boiled linseed oil in a ratio of 1:4 or 16.