124 A MANUAL OF BACTERIOLOGY 



nails through the feet, and the abdomen well soaked with 

 antiseptic solution, not so much to sterilise the skin as to 

 prevent the hair from getting into the incision ; to obtain 

 complete sterilisation of the skin, it is preferable to clip 

 or shave the hair and then sear with a red-hot iron. 

 Knives, forceps, scissors, etc., should be well boiled in an 

 enamelled iron mug or pie- dish, the water being kept 

 boiling during the progress of the dissection and the 

 instruments rinsed from time to time in it. A little sodium 

 carbonate may with advantage be added to the water. 

 A small enamelled iron fish-kettle with perforated strainer 

 forms an excellent steriliser for instruments, or a surgical 

 instrument steriliser may be used. An incision is made 

 and the skin well reflected and pinned out ; the knife and 

 forceps should then be re-sterilised, or fresh sterile instru- 

 ments taken, for the deeper incision and opening the body 

 cavities ; these again must be re-sterilised, or a third set 

 of instruments employed for incising the organs. 



During the progress of the dissection the condition of 

 the tissues at the seat of the inoculation should be noted, 

 and likewise the conditions of the serous membranes and 

 the various organs. In many diseases the organism is 

 met with most abundantly in the spleen, in others in the 

 blood, and in some at the seat of inoculation. When a 

 systematic examination is made, film specimens and 

 cultures on two or three media, aerobic and anaerobic, 

 should be prepared from the seat of inoculation, the spleen, 

 liver, lungs, and heart-blood, and in some cases from the 

 serous membranes, muscles, or central nervous system 

 in addition, the carcase being in the intervals covered 

 with a bell- jar which has been rinsed in, or with filter- 

 paper moistened with, antiseptic solution. An assistant 

 is often useful or even necessary. The greatest care must 

 be taken to avoid dropping or splashing or otherwise 

 disseminating infective material, any stains being im- 



