A fair antiseptic I guess. Has mercury in it I'm told. They used to use mercury to cure VD. Probably not enough mercury in mercurichrome to cause any major problems. It hurts because of the alcohol it is cut with.

I have it on good authority that most topical antiseptics like alcohol and peroxide tend to do more harm than good. They aren't any more effective than simple soap and water. Most aren't strong enough to fight off much and they work by randomly destroying cells. Both possible infective agents and the cells in normal healthy tissue.

I know that if I clean out the wound and pour alcohol in it burns like the devil, turns red and swollen. It seems to heal more slowly.

A similar wound that I simply wash out with soap and water and bandage doesn't get so red or irritated and it seems to heal a bit faster.

Neither case seems to have a clear advantage in avoiding infection as long as both were well washed.