ANTISEPTIC 286 



but as these are harmful their use is gener- 

 ally prohibited (see PURE FOOD LAWS). The 

 packing of fish in ice ami the curing of cod 

 and herring with salt are familiar antiseptic 

 processes. Alcohol is an excellent antiseptic, 

 especially for household use. It is a good 

 gargle, is useful for external applications, and 

 either in its pure or diluted forms is frequently 

 used in cooking and preserving foods. Wood 

 may be preserved by treatment with creosote 

 or tar, and many other substances may be 

 from decay by antiseptics. 



In Medicine. The use of antiseptics in 

 medicine is related to the germ theory of dis- 

 According to this theory, many diseases 

 are caused by foreign organisms, called bac- 

 teria. To kill these bacteria or prevent their 

 growth is the function of antiseptics. The 

 term disinfectant, while popularly used in vari- 

 ous senses, should be applied only to a special 

 agent used to destroy a definite infection. 



The most important antiseptics now in use 

 are iodine, carbolic acid, peroxide of hydrogen, 

 iodoform, formalin, salicylic acid, bichloride of 

 mercury, arsenic, hypochlorite and various 

 preparations of coal-tar, including lysol. 

 Nearly all of these substances, if taken inter- 

 nally, are extremely poisonous, and if applied 

 externally in too strong solution or too large 

 quantities may cause more harm than good. 

 For these reasons they should be kept in bot- 

 tles or boxes labeled poison, and should be 

 placed where children cannot reach them. 



Pure carbolic acid is sometimes applied to 

 infected living flesh; it completely destroys 

 foreign organisms and even burns away part 

 of the flesh. Surgeons use a solution of one 

 part carbolic acid to twenty parts of water 

 to sterilize their instruments. Bichloride of 

 mercury is usually the last antiseptic applied 

 to the hands of a surgeon before he begins 

 an operation; so powerful is it that a solution 

 of 1 to 2,000 is sufficiently strong to kill any 

 germ. Surgical instruments are also disin- 

 fected by boiling in water or exposure to 

 steam. Iodine is most frequently used as an 

 antiseptic on the patient. For ordinary cuts 

 or wounds, such as those caused by a rusty 

 nail or knife, tincture of iodine is a good 

 remedy. The secret of preventing infection is 

 prompt action. 



The use of antiseptics was introduced in the 

 last quarter of the nineteenth century, chiefly 

 through the efforts of Sir Joseph Lister, Rob- 

 ert Koch and Louis Pasteur (see the records 

 of these men in articles bearing their names). 



ANT-LION 



Their work, however, has led to the so-called 

 nxt pttr method of surgery, which aims to pre- 

 vent transmission of genus to a patient rather 

 than to kill them after they have developed. 

 The reason for this process is that every anti- 

 septic causes some irritation, slight or serious, 

 of the normal tissues of the body, besides de- 

 stroying the infection. Modern aseptic sur- 

 gery, therefore, attempts to eliminate infection. 

 See SURGKHV; also BACTERIA AND BACTERIOLOGY; 

 DISEASE, subhead Germ Theory of Disease; 



PtTKEF ACTION. W.A.E. 



ANTITOXIN, antitok' sin, meaning, liter- 

 ally, attainxt poison, is a substance formed in 

 the blood which possesses the power of neu- 

 tralizing or destroying some particular toxin, 

 or poison. Usually antitoxins are developed 

 by the body as a result of the presence of poi- 

 sonous disease bacteria in the blood, and they 

 are the result of the body's effort to fight off 

 disease. The injection of antitoxin into a 

 healthy person as a protection against a dis- 

 ease sometimes renders him temporarily im- 

 mune from it. For use in medicine antitoxins 

 are usually developed in animals and then 

 injected into human beings. In this case they 

 give the body an extra stimulus in its combat 

 with disease. They have proved of great serv- 

 ice in the treatment of diphtheria and lockjaw. 

 See BACTERIA AND BACTERIOLOGY; SERUM THER- 

 APY; VACCINATION. W.A.E. 



ANTI-TRUST LAWS, the name popularly 

 given to those laws passed for the purpose of 

 regulating or suppressing trusts. The tremen- 

 dous 'power of some modern monopolies, with 

 the frequent abuses of this power, aroused 

 public opinion to demand that some curb be 

 placed on them. Practically every civilized 

 nation now restricts the powers of trusts. For 

 further 'details, see* TRUST, subhead Truxt U.j- 

 ulation. 



ANT-LION, the name given to the larvae 

 (young) of an insect which in its perfect slate 

 resembles a large, four-winged fly like a dragon 

 fly. It is remarkable on account of the ingen- 

 ious method by which it catches ants and 

 other insects on which it feeds. The ant-lion 

 has a large head, somewhat flattened, its hind- 

 body is broad and oval, and its whole body 

 is covered with short, stiff bristles. The mouth 

 is always closed and is provided with strong 

 nippers, the tips of which are- perforated. 

 Down the center of each of the jaws runs a 

 groove or a tube along which the juices of the 

 victim pass into the mouth. Ants or the other 

 insects caught are impaled by the sharp points 



