THE OUTLOOK FOR THE FUTURE 261 



tracted universal attention, and were soon followed by remarkable de- 

 velopment in the manufacture, isolation, and study of the chemical na- 

 ture of this highly important antibiotic agent. Penicillin fully deserves 

 the designation "Wonder Drug" given to it by the popular press. 



These two epoch-making contributions were rapidly followed by a 

 series of investigations that resulted in the isolation of a number of 

 other antibiotic substances. It was soon recognized that one is not deal- 

 ing here with only two types of chemical compounds capable of destroy- 

 ing various pathogenic bacteria and fungi, but that a new field of science 

 bordering on microbiology, chemistry, and pathology was being opened 

 that was bound to result in many chemotherapeutic applications. The 

 fact that many of these agents, including penicillin, are produced by sev- 

 eral different organisms and, further, the fact that many of these com- 

 pounds are produced in different chemical modifications open to the 

 chemist new fields for the synthesis of types of compounds heretofore 

 unknown, and point out to the medical world new ways of combating 

 infections and epidemics. 



The rapid progress made in the utilization of antibiotic substances in 

 so brief a period of time can best be illustrated by the following two 

 citations : 



On May 4, 1 940, Garrod ( 3 1 5 ) , in discussing the use of antiseptics in 

 wounds, wrote : "Only a few years ago it was thought impossible to kill 

 bacteria within the body with chemicals and likely always to remain so. 

 This belief was shaken by the discovery of a urinary antiseptic which 

 really worked, and it was shattered by the introduction of Prontosil, 

 with all its manifold consequences. Are we still to deny the possibility of 

 killing bacteria which are merely lying on a body surface? " 



Less than four years later, Florey (275) summarized the value of 

 penicillin: "i. As a preventive of infection in wounds, enabling a po- 

 tentially septic wound to be treated in much the same way as an aseptic 

 one, 2. in the promotion of healing in burns and for ensuring the suc- 

 cess of skin grafts, 3. in infections (due to sensitive organisms) either 

 (a) chronic, or (b) of such severity as to render the prospect of death 

 likely, which have not responded to other forms of treatment, 4. in 

 acutfe infections due to sensitive organisms, 5. in the rapid curing of 

 gonorrhoea including sulphonamide-resistant cases, 6. in pneumonia. 



