274 THE LIFE OF PASTEUR 



would infallibly bring about the death of the patients within 

 a very short time if life in their limbs did not oppose the multi- 

 plication of germs. But how often, alas, is that vital resistance 

 powerless! how often do the patient's constitution, his weak- 

 ness, his moral condition, the unhealthy dressings, oppose but 

 an insufficient barrier to the invasion of the Infinitesimally 

 Small with which you have covered the injured part ! If I had 

 the honour of being a surgeon, convinced as I am of the 

 dangers caused by the germs of microbes scattered on the sur- 

 face of every object, particularly in the hospitals, not only 

 would I use absolutely clean instruments, but, after cleansing 

 my hands with the greatest care and putting them quickly 

 through a frame (an easy thing to do with a little practice), 

 I would only make use of charpie, bandages, and sponges which 

 had previously been raised to a heat of 130 C. to 150 C. ; I 

 would only employ water which had been heated to a tempera- 

 ture of 110 C. to 120 C. All that is easy in practice, and, in 

 that way, I should still have to fear the germs suspended in the 

 atmosphere surrounding the bed of the patient ; but observation 

 shows us every day that the number of those germs is almost 

 insignificant compared to that of those which lie scattered on 

 the surface of objects, or in the clearest ordinary water." 



He came down to the smallest details, seeing in each one 

 an application of the rigorous principles which were to trans- 

 form Surgery, Medicine and Hygiene. How many human 

 lives have since then been saved by the dual development of 

 that one method 1 The defence against microbes afforded by 

 the substances which kill them or arrest their development, 

 such as carbolic acid, sublimate, iodoform, salol, etc., etc., con- 

 stitutes antisepsis', then the other progress, born of the first, 

 the obstacle opposed to the arrival of the microbes and germs 

 by complete disinfection, absolute cleanliness of the instru- 

 ments and hands, of all which is to come into contact with the 

 paient ; in one word, asepsis. 



It might have been prophesied at that date that Pasteur's 

 surprised delight at seeing his name gratefully inscribed on the 

 great Italian establishment of sericiculture would one day be 

 surpassed by his happiness in living to see realized some of the 

 progress and benefits due to him, his name invoked in all 

 operating theatres, engraved over the doors of medical and sur- 

 gical wards, and a new era inaugurated. 



A presentiment of the future deliverance of Humanity from 



