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The most popular antiseptic of foreigners in Soviet times is still puzzling.
Bright green knees or a face with emerald dots during chickenpox … In our childhood, such pictures were so familiar that now they cause nostalgia. Where did the miracle cure that cost a penny come from? And why was the secret recipe never taken out behind the Iron Curtain?
A bit of history
A Hungarian physician named Ignaz Semmelweis, who lived in Vienna, was the first who, back in 1847, came up with the idea of sterilizing hands before a complex operation. It was like this: in one department of the maternity hospital, mothers died much more often from childbirth fever than in another. Dr. Ignaz suggested that the matter was in the infection brought by the doctors of this very other department: they often practiced in the infectious unit and performed autopsies in the pathology department. And he invited colleagues to rinse their hands before giving birth in a solution of bleach. Mortality has plummeted! However, the theory of Semmelweis was not believed. They laughed at him, kicked him out of work, and then completely locked him in a psychiatric hospital. And only many years after his death, the Budapest University of Medicine and Sports was recognized as the founder of asepsis and named after him.
The French chemist Louis Pasteur, around 1862, suggested that the occurrence of many infectious diseases is associated with microorganisms, and then proved the connection of deadly ailments with bacteria. Thus, he laid the foundation for microbiology, vaccination and a whole wave of searches by doctors from different countries for all kinds of antiseptic substances for the disinfection of medical instruments.
Finally, a young English chemist, William Perkin, during his Easter holidays in 1856, started experiments with the aim of synthesizing an analogue of quinine, an expensive substance used to treat malaria. And now, having processed aniline in a certain way, Perkin, as a result of a chemical reaction, received a substance of bright purple color, the stains of which could not be washed off clothes. The chemist Perkin was an artist at heart. He liked the color very much! Together with a friend and brother, they realized that they could make a synthetic dye for sale. It was a brilliant business idea, since before that colored fabrics were obtained only with the help of natural dyes, and purple was also very popular and was considered the color of wealth and prosperity. Continuing experiments led to the creation of a whole palette of aniline dyes – yellow, raspberry, purple … And that very green!
The inventor of dyes opened a whole factory for their production, and aniline dyes soon began to be used on an industrial scale. But they also came in handy in medicine. At first, biochemists began to add dyes to preparations so that microorganisms could be better seen under a microscope. And then they discovered that microbes die from these substances. Dyes began to be used as antiseptics, which significantly reduced the mortality rate, and Perkin was made Sir William: the son of a simple builder was awarded the title of knight.
Where are the diamonds?
The price is three kopecks, and the name is truly royal – brilliant green. Where does this discrepancy come from? It’s all about the translation, and, most likely, double. The Latin name for the substance in the form of golden-green crystals, which is dissolved in alcohol, is viridus nitentis. Literally – green shiny. French chemists have translated this epithet into their language as brilliant. And then some unknown Russian translator considered that diamond is the most adequate analogue of the French word. So, of course, there are no diamonds or, say, diamond dust in a bottle with a precious name.
Why are foreigners against
Not that the West is actively protesting against the use of brilliant green. But historically, this tool has not taken root there so much that a Russian baby painted like a green leopard causes genuine amazement among foreign citizens. As, however, and the dense crimson stains of fukortsin, another popular Soviet antiseptic. Meanwhile, the same Castellani liquid, which is fucorcin, but in a colorless version, without the addition of fuchsin, is widely used. Although still more often used abroad ointments with antibiotics. Do you see the difference? A Soviet person should not have to steam because of such a trifle as external aesthetics, while in the West, meanwhile, a practice has developed that does not imply war paint: why emphasize that there are wounds on the skin or some other problems?
There is another reason that you will not buy brilliant green in any foreign pharmacy. The effect of each drug must be confirmed by the results of clinical trials, and no one has conducted such trials for brilliant green. A penny from Soviet first-aid kits simply appeared much earlier than this principle was introduced. And nowadays, it is not profitable to start clinical trials for an old remedy on which you will not earn much.
And yet, iodine or brilliant green?
Depends on the case. Zelenka is a milder antiseptic. In terms of the strength of the effect, it is inferior to iodine – a brown solution of a substance obtained from seaweed. But in many cases it copes with the task just as well. It is believed, for example, that this is the best remedy for chickenpox. In addition, brilliant green does not dry the skin as much as iodine, so it is recommended for babies. In the case of open lesions, iodine, unlike brilliant green, can only be applied to the skin around the wound. But the iodine grid, which is drawn with sprains and bruises, in order to increase the blood flow to the soft tissues, should not be replaced with a grid of brilliant green.