PRINCIPLES OF VETERINARY SURGERY 255 



surgeon should prevent such intrusion ; that the bacteria 

 already lodged in the recesses of a wound may be difiScult 

 to dislodge; and that cleanhness in the surgical sense is 

 nothing less than absolute sterilization. The human sur- 

 geon performs his operations in the seclusion of his operat- 

 ing, room, the veterinarian before a criticising public, which 

 fact, particularly, necessitates the adoption of surgical 

 manipulations that will bear investigation. Furthermore, 

 a,septic wounds heal promptly and without complications, 

 while the septic ones undergo varieties of serious compli- 

 cations that require a whole chapter to describe. 



Asepsis and antisepsis in surgery are synonymous with 

 cleanliness in the surgical sense of the word. They signify, 

 chiefly the prevention of infection, but also include the 

 destruction of micro-organisms that have already invaded 

 the surgical or accidental wound. These modern surgical 

 manipulations are based upon well known facts : 



1st. The phenomena which exposed wounds undergo 

 in the process of healing are abnormal. They are patho- 

 logical instead of physiological. They are due to the in- 

 vasion of pathogenic bacteria into the wound^ — the inva- 

 sion of bacteria from vwthout. They are carried into 

 wounds by objects which touch them, such as dusty 

 air, ■ foreign bodies, surgical instruments, the surgeon's 

 hands, etc. 



2nd. Pathogenic bacteria are everywhere, the surgeon 

 pre-supposes. The skin of the patient, the skin of the 

 surgeon, the surgical instruments, the antiseptic solutions 

 and their containers, the surgical dressings^ the dusty air 

 of the environment, the clothing, etc., etc., are known to 

 contain them. Some of these objects which must come 

 into contact with wounds may be aseptic, but the surgeon 

 has no practical method of determining their purity, and 

 hence treats everything as dangerous. 



