GERMICIDES, ANTISEPTICS, AND ANTISEPSIS 26l 



Bacteria may be recovered from the blood in all forms of 

 septic infection, such as general sepsis, malignant endocar- 

 ditis, puerperal sepsis, and typhoid fever. Tubercle bacilli 

 are rarely if ever obtained from the blood. 



Staining Blood Specimens. A drop of blood is spread on 

 a cover-glass and stained with the ordinary dyes; but in 

 order to eliminate the coloring-matter of the red corpuscles 

 and bring the stained bacteria more prominently into view, 

 Gunther recommends that the blood, after drying and fixing, 

 should be rinsed in a dilute solution of acetic acid (i to 5 per 

 cent.). The hemoglobin is thereby extracted, and the cor- 

 puscles appear then only as faint outlines. 



Instead of "fixing" by heat, Canon employs alcohol for 

 five minutes, especially in staining for influenza bacilli, which 

 have been detected in the blood. 



Blood Cultures. As large a quantity of blood as pos- 

 sible never less than 10 c.c. is taken from a superficial 

 vein, the median basilic, for example, by means of a sterile 

 antitoxin syringe, a small incision being made through the 

 skin over the vein in order to avoid skin infection. The 

 blood so obtained is immediately transferred to culture-tubes, 

 where the organisms are allowed to develop, and are then 

 studied in the customary manner. 



CHAPTER XXXIV 

 GERMICIDES, ANTISEPTICS, AND ANTISEPSIS 



SUNLIGHT, pure air, and ordinary soap and water are effec- 

 tive disinfectants. Too often the burning of chemicals and 

 the dipping of hands into antiseptic solutions partake of the 

 nature of religious sacrifice, and the more nauseous the odor, 

 the more effective is the incense supposed to be. Much of 

 the perfunctory fumigation by the boards of health after the 



