CORRESP ONDENCE. 



743 



chairman of the surgical section, and he was 

 courteously allowed all the time and oppor- 

 tunity he desired, which was a good deal, to 

 fully explain his views. But, after all, the 

 section refused to indorse his mode of 

 treating wounds. The presence of germs in 

 the air was not denied ; the views of Pasteur 

 were not disputed ; but the question was, 

 Have these theories, facts if you please, any 

 necessary connection with putrefaction ? 

 The question was and is : Is it true, or not 

 true, that putrefaction cannot take place 

 without the presence of air-gems ? Is it 

 true that animal organic matter, when de- 

 prived of vitality, will remain undecom- 

 posed for an unlimited time unless bacteria 

 seize upon it ; or will it not, by a purely 

 chemical process, decompose ? Decompos- 

 ing organic matter, we know by daily ob- 

 servation, is the abode of low, degraded 

 animal life, and the soil in which low forms 

 of vegetable life take root and grow; but 

 are we to regard this as the cause or the re- 

 sult of putrefaction ? If it be admitted that 

 putrefaction may, under any circumstances, 

 in the absolute absence of bacteria, take 

 place as a chemical process, is it not beg- 

 ging the question to assert that their pres- 

 ence is ever necessary ? Every surgeon 

 knows that putrefaction does often take 

 place in the body beneath an impervious 

 skin. This fact was accounted for by Prof. 

 John T. Hodgen, of the St. Louis Medical 

 College, who was the surgical reporter at 

 the recent congress, upon the subject of 

 antiseptic surgery, on the supposition that 

 the bacteria reached the place of putrefac- 

 tion through the lungs, or stomach, and the 

 blood. He also declared that bacteria had 

 been found in wounds beneath Prof. Lister's 

 most elaborate and carefully - prepared 

 dressings ; and that they must have found 

 their way there through the blood. But 

 Prof. Lister took occasion to repudiate this 

 doctrine. He did not believe the germs 

 arrived at the wound by way of the blood- 

 vessels ; and we can understand why he 

 should reject this theory. The writer of 

 this communication then pointed out the 

 uselessness of Prof. Lister's antiseptic 

 dressing externally, if bacteria could enter 

 by another way. Prof. Lister not only de- 

 nied this theory, but admitted that putre- 

 faction did sometimes take place indepen- 

 dently of bacteria as a chemical process. 

 The writer then submitted, and it is sub- 

 mitted now, that if putrefaction ever takes 

 place without the influence of bacteria, it 

 is impossible to prove that it, in any case, 

 depends upon their presence. 



It is no uncommon experience of sur- 

 geons to see wounds heal rapidly without 

 putrefaction, although no steps are taken 

 to place a barrier to the entrance of air- 

 germs, or to destroy those which may have 

 lodged in the part. Undoubtedly the air is, 



sometimes, especially in badly-ventilated 

 hospitals, loaded with germs of a specific 

 and poisonous nature, which will contami- 

 nate any wound, as the poison of erysipe- 

 las 4 but that common unadulterated air is in- 

 habited by organisms whose existence and 

 operation are essential for putrefaction, re- 

 mains unproved. The value of carbolic 

 acid and similar agents is generally ac- 

 knowledged by the medical profession. 

 They are in constant use, but not with the 

 view of destroying germs. They are found 

 to possess the property of arresting or 

 preventing putrefactive chemical decompo- 

 sition just as common salt has in pre-, 

 serving meat and hence their usefulness 

 in the treatment of wounds. 



When Prof. Tyndall " passes the bounds 

 of surgery and enters the domain of epi- 

 demic disease," and points out the analogy 

 between contagium and fermentation, he 

 gives utterance to views long held by the 

 medical profession. That small-pox, scar- 

 let fever, etc., are developed in the system 

 by " indefinite self-multiplication of germs 

 (zymosis) introduced from without," is a 

 commonly-accepted doctrine. 



In support of the statement that Prof. 

 Lister's antiseptic method is not regarded 

 as essential to the successful treatment of 

 wounds, one fact may be given, although 

 more might be furnished. Prof. Spencer, 

 who occupies the chair of surgery in the 

 Edinburgh University, and who is therefore 

 a colleague of Prof. Lister's, and likewise 

 the author of a highly-esteemed work on 

 surgery, continues to treat wounds without 

 reference to Lister's theories, with results 

 quite as satisfactory as any claimed by 

 Prof. Lister. William Canniff, M. D. 



Toronto, December 12, 1S76. 



INSECTS AND FLOWEKS IN COLORADO. 



To the Editor of the Popular Science Monthly. 



Allow me to express my thanks to Prof. 

 Gray, and Mr. Putnam, in so kindly fur- 

 nishing the facts I asked for in regard 

 to the insects of Colorado. Since my in- 

 quiry was written, Prof. Gray has defined 

 his position in the January number of 

 the American Agriculturist. He does not 

 contend for the general necessity of cross- 

 fertilization as Lubbock, Wallace, and oth- 

 ers have done, but simply that an occasional 

 cross is beneficial. When flowers are not 

 visited by insects, they generally self-ferti- 

 lize. " ' Cross-fertilize if you can, self-ferti- 

 lize if you must,' is Nature's golden rule for 

 flowers." Of course this narrows the ques- 

 tion to the benefits of an occasional cross, and 

 renders much that I have written no longer 

 of account. Of this character is this ques- 

 tion of the quantity of insects in Colorado. 



