38 PASTEUR AND AFTER PASTEUR 



cases of compound fracture, with a "preliminary 

 note" on the antiseptic method of opening ab- 

 scesses : the title of this paper is A New Method of 

 Treating Compound Fracture, Abscess, etc. : with 

 Observations on the Condition of Suppuration. For 

 the opening of abscesses, he guarded his incision 

 under a veil of carbolised rag, and used a carbolised 

 knife, dropping the veil over the incision as he 

 withdrew his knife : the matter flowed out from 

 under the veil : the dressing was a paste or putty 

 of carbolic acid in oil, with common whitening, 

 spread on block-tin, and kept in place with adhesive 

 plaster ; the lower edge of the dressing was left 

 free, so that the discharge might escape into a 

 folded towel bandaged over the dressing. By this 

 method of the antiseptic veil and putty, he pre- 

 vented the entry of germs from the air into the 

 opened cavity of the abscess ; and thus enabled the 

 cavity to close of itself, by antiseptic drainage. In 

 1867, at the Dublin meeting of the British Associa- 

 tion, he spoke of the value of his method, not only 

 for cases of injury, but for cases of operation : 



" If the severest forms of contused and lacerated 

 wounds heal thus kindly under the antiseptic treat- 

 ment, it is obvious that its application to simple 

 incised wounds must be merelv a matter of detail. 



/ 



I have devoted a good deal of attention to this class, 

 but I have not as yet pleased myself altogether with 

 any of the methods I have employed. I am, how- 



