72 BACTERIOLOGY. 



The first to establish a new era were Semmel- 

 weiss, who may be regarded as the originator 

 of the aseptic method of treating wounds and 

 who recommended the use of chlorine water for 

 cleansing the hands, and the French apothecary 

 Lemaire, who recognized the fact that disin- 

 fectants killed microbes but did not alter 

 unorganized ferments. Lemaire found that 

 carbolic acid was the best agent for disinfection, 

 and this substance was later brought into gen- 

 eral use by Lister for the antiseptic bandaging 

 of wounds. Jalan de la Croix and Koch after- 

 wards brought these empirical methods to the 

 highest point of efficiency ; Koch clearly distin- 

 guished between the action of chemical sub- 

 stances upon vegetative stages and upon rest- 

 ing stages, and between the death of bacteria 

 and simple inhibition of their growth. Both 

 investigators ascertained that the poisonous 

 substance corrosive sublimate was the most 

 effective of all agents, and that chlorine was 

 more serviceable than carbolic acid. Accord- 

 ing to Koch, anthrax spores were prevented 

 from germination by the presence in the 

 nutrient medium of corrosive sublimate, 

 T : 300,000; of hydrochloric acid, i : 1700 ; of sa- 

 licylic acid, i : 1500 ; of potash soap, i : 1000 ; 

 carbolic acid, i : 850 ; quinine, i : 625 ; alcohol, 

 i : 12.5. Only a few substances brought about 



