ANTISEPTICS— PAST AND PRESENT 33 



are already infected before the practitioner gets the 

 chance of treating them. 



Aseptic signifies the absence of sepsis — that is, the 

 absence of micro-organisms of any kind. The term is 

 synonymous with ''sterile/' or *' germ- free. " 



Antiseptic is a term that is often loosely applied: 

 literally it signifies anything opposed to sepsis; in a 

 bacteriological sense, it indicates an agent that retards 

 or prevents the development of bacteria, irrespective 

 of its power of destroying their vitality. But it is 

 often erroneously applied as synonymous with germi- 

 cide, whereas a large number of agents classed as anti- 

 septics are not capable of destroying pathogenic bacteria. 



Disinfectant is a term applied to an agent capable of 

 destroying infective micro-organisms, and so far as path- 

 ogenic bacteria are concerned it is synonymous with 

 germicide. Therefore all disinfectants are antiseptics, 

 but not all antiseptics are disinfectants. 



Deodorant is a term applied to substances that are 

 capable of destroying or removing offensive or unpleas- 

 ant odors, but it does not follow that they possess dis- 

 infecting properties. Many disinfectants, however, are 

 also deodorants. 



Two ''Schools" of Surgery 



It will now be necessary to devote a little attention 

 to the significance of the terms aseptic surgery and anti- 

 septic surgery. 



To such an extent has the subject been debated that 

 two so-called "schools" have resulted, and even the 

 are not in agreement as to the precise sense in which 

 the term aseptic should be employed. There is in fact 

 a decided antagonism between these schools as to the 

 teohnic which is best calculated to bring about success- 



