ON THE ANTISEPTIC SYSTEM 93 



for I knew that the free action of carboUc acid on blood and sloughs had no such 

 deterring influence, and I have long been satisfied that the injection of a strong 

 solution of perchloridc of iron or tannic acid for the cure of naevi produces 

 subcutaneous sloughs, which are imbued with the ingredients injected, and yet 

 disappear, as a rule, without the formation of pus. 



In order to put the antiseptic animal ligature fairly to the test, I made the 

 following experiment : — 



Ligature of the Carotid Artery in the Calf on the Antiseptic System, with 

 Threads composed of Animal Tissue. — On the 31st of December, 1868, I tied 

 the right carotid artery about the middle ol the neck in a healthy calf a few 

 days old, the animal being under chloroform. Ligatures of two different kinds 

 were employed, at an interval of about an inch and a half, the sheath of the 

 vessel being left undisturbed in the intervening part. The cardiac ligature 

 was of home manufacture, composed of three strips of peritoneum from the small 

 intestine of an ox, firmly twisted together into a three-fold cord. The distal 

 thread was of fine catgut, called * minikin gut ' by the London makers. Both 

 had been soaked for four hours in a saturated watery solution of carbolic acid, 

 which swelled and softened them, so that the thread of my own making was 

 too large to enter the eye of the aneurysm-needle except near the ends, where 

 it was thinner than elsewhere. This substantial ligature bore the strain of 

 t^dng well, but the fine catgut broke as I tightened the noose. I did not, how- 

 ever, remove it, but having a second piece at m}^ disposal, passed it round at the 

 the same place, and with gentle traction completed the knot. There were thus 

 two ligatures of the fine gut at the distal site. All were cut short, except one 

 end of the catgut, which I purposely left about three-quarters of an inch long, 

 to give a better opportunity of ascertaining what would become of the foreign 

 material. The antiseptic arrangements were as follows : Before the operation 

 the hair of the part was cut short, and a solution of carbolic acid in four parts 

 of linseed oil (preferred for its cheapness) was rubbed well into the skin, to destroy 

 any putrefactive organisms lying amongst the roots of the hairs ; for any so 

 situated might escape the action of the external antiseptic dressing, and com- 

 municate putrefaction to the discharges, and thence to the interior of the wound. 

 The sponges used in the operation were wrung out of a watery solution of the 

 acid (i to 40), and all the instruments introduced into the wound, together 

 with the fingers of my left hand and the copper wire used for sutures, were 

 treated witli the same lotion, some of which was poured into the wound after 

 the introduction of the last stitch, at one of the intervals left for the escape 

 of discharge, to make sure against the chance of any fresh blood which had 

 oozed out during the process of stitching having regurgitated and taken living 



