ASEPSIS, ANTISEPSIS AND DISINFECTION. 23 
III. ASEPSIS, ANTISEPSIS AND DISINFECTION. 
After it has been discussed what infection is and in what way 
it is brought about, the questions arise: 
First—By what mode and by what means can we prevent 
the infection of a wound? 
Second—How are we to remove an infection already exist- 
ing in the wound? 
In compliance with these two questions we have to con- 
sider two different subjects according to whether the wound is 
already infected or not, and then if our aim is to prgtect a 
wound against infection we speak of an aseptic treatment of 
wounds, while disinfecting or antiseptic treatment of wounds 
is referred to when an already infected wound has to be lib- 
erated from the infection, that is, disinfected, or made aseptic. 
We therefore should not be surprised that the remedies used 
for the prevention of a wound infection are entirely different 
from those used for the removal of an already present infec- 
tion, hence the remedies used in the treatment of wounds are 
divided into two groups, namely: 
First—Bandaging materials. 
Second—Disinfectants. 
1. BANDAGING MATERIALS. 
All substances which are to be used for bandaging purposes 
must possess certain qualities to obtain the desired effects. 
First—They must be porous so as to be able to absorb 
the discharges of the wound. 
Second—They must be free from infectious germs so as not 
to be a source of infection to the wound in itself. 
Third—They must be soft, elastic and flexible so as not 
to cause any pressure on the wound and must adapt themselves 
