ON THE ANTISEPTIC PRINCIPLES 277 



its entire thickness; while the lower fragment of the bone, 

 which was broken high up, was protruding four inches and 

 a half, stripped of muscle, the skin being tucked in under 

 it. Without the assistance of the antiseptic treatment, I 

 should certainly have thought of nothing else but amputa- 

 tion at the shoulder-joint ; but, as the radial pulse could 

 be felt and the fingers had sensation, I did not hesitate to 

 try to save the limb and adopted the plan of treatment 

 above described, wrapping the arm from the shoulder to 

 below the elbow in the antiseptic application, the whole 

 interior of the wound, together with the protruding bone, 

 having previously been freely treated with strong carbolic 

 acid. About the tenth day, the discharge, which up to that 

 time had been only sanious and serous, showed a slight 

 admixture of slimy pus; and this increased till (a few days 

 before I left) it amounted to about three drachms in 

 twenty-four hours. But the boy continued as he had been 

 after the second day, free from unfavorable symptoms, 

 with pulse, tongue, appetite, and sleep natural and strength 

 increasing, while the limb remained as it had been from 

 the first, free from swelling, redness, or pain. I, there- 

 fore, persevered with the antiseptic dressing; and, before I 

 left, the discharge was already somewhat less, while the 

 bone was becoming firm. I think it likely that, in that boy's 

 case, I should have found merely a superficial sore had I 

 taken off all the dressings at the end of the three weeks; 

 though, considering the extent of the injury, I thought it 

 prudent to let the month expire before disturbing the rag 

 next the skin. But I feel sure that, if I had resorted to 

 ordinary dressing when the pus first appeared, the progress 

 of the case would have been exceedingly different. 



The next class of cases to which I have applied the anti- 

 septic treatment is that of abscesses. Here also the results 

 have been extremely satisfactory, and in beautiful harmony 

 with the pathological principles indicated above. The pyo- 

 genic membrane, like the granulations of a sore, which it 

 resembles in nature, forms pus, not from any inherent dis- 

 position to do so, but only because it is subjected to some 

 preternatural stimulation. In an ordinary abscess, whether 

 acute or chronic, before it is opened the stimulus which 



