106 THE AMERICAN MONTHLY [May, 



The greatest benefit which has been derived from bacteriology is prob- 

 ably in the prevention and treatment of boils, abscesses and wounds. 

 All boils and suppurating wounds which are ordinarily met with are 

 caused by certain sorts of l)acteria. It seems to be true that certain 

 chemical substances underpeculiar circumstances also cause suppuration 

 but in every-day life the pus which the surgeon or physician meets with is 

 caused by bacteria. If now a substance is known which kills these 

 bacteria and at the same time does no injury itself, then there will be 

 very little trouble in avoiding suppuration, as it is called. In the old 

 days of surgery, it used to be thought necessary to have a lot of matter 

 come from a wound, but now-a-days it is a disgrace to any surgeon to 

 have suppuration under ordinary circumstances. All sorts of opera- 

 tions, from cutting off a toe or finger up to cutting out the breast or a 

 hole in the abdomen, are now performed, and in no case well managed 

 is there more than a few drops of pus. Sir Joseph Lister was the first to at- 

 tempt what is called aseptic or antiseptic surgerv. He used very suc- 

 cessfully carbolic acid to wash out the wounds he made and then ban- 

 daged them with many layers of carbolized gauze and cotton batting. 

 But Koch found out that corrosive sublimate, even in very weak solu- 

 tions, is much better for killing bacteria, or in other words, is a better 

 antiseptic than carbolic acid. So at the present day corrosive sublimate 

 plavs the main part in the treatment of all sorts of wounds and abscesses. 

 If aboil is just started, it can be aborted by injecting corrosive sublimate 

 into it. If an abscess is fully formed, it can be rapidly cured by using 

 solutions of corrosive sublimate. 



Where surgeons have kept up with the advances in medicine in this 

 respect there is a great deal less suffering and fewer deaths. In the best 

 hospitals there are no longer such scourges as blood poisoning, lock-jaw, 

 etc. So the studv of bacteriology has been of incalculable benefit if we 

 consider this point alone. Since the introduction of antiseptic surgen' 

 lock-jaw never occurs from an operation in the hands of those surgeons 

 who keep abreast with the times. Lock-jaw of ne^v-born infants has 

 been banished where the proper use of aseptics is resorted to. If a new- 

 born infant dies of lock-jaw at the present day. the attending physician 

 is entirely to blame. These precautions are much more easily carried 

 out in a hospital, and it would be much better to have hospitals in 

 America as they have in Europe, so that our dwelling-houses would no 

 longer be infected with disease and where the surgeon could do his 

 work properly. 



Although many important processes and many terrible diseases are 

 caused by bacteria, still we are able to control their action to a large 

 extent, making them do useful work on the one hand, and preventing 

 their injurious effects on the other. I have stated that bv the introtluc- 

 tion of corrosive sublimate solution in the treatment of wounds the 

 surgeon is enabled to perform the most serious operations with abso- 

 lute certainty that he will not produce gangrene, blood poisoning or 

 even suppuration. But the use of disinfectants, as they are called, is 

 not only beneficial in surgery but in other cases as well. And al- 

 though corrosiye sublimate is the best disinfectant known, it cannot al- 

 ways be applied. In some cases it is better to use steam. 



In many cities in Germany they have large steamers constructed so 

 as to subject clothing, bedding, etc., which have been used by persons 

 suffering from small-pox or other infections diseases, to steaming. 



