ANTISEPTICS^PAST AND PRESENT 41 



for convenience and thus exposed to contamination from 

 several sources. 



Varieties of Wound Infection 



It will now be of advantage to consider as briefly as 

 possible the measures that can be adopted in order to 

 fuliill the indications I have mentioned. In order to 

 fully grasp the importance of attention to surgical clean- 

 liness, and the judicious employment of antiseptics in the 

 treatment of wounds, it will be necessary to consider the 

 micro-organisms of wounds, the modes of infection, and 

 the means by which these can be overcome. 



With reference to micro-organisms, the most important 

 are the pyogenic cocci; these include the following 

 Staphylococci and Streptococci: 



Staphylococcus pyogenes aureus is found in acute 

 abscesses and is responsible for the majority of suppu- 

 rative inflammations. It is occasionally present in gen- 

 eral pyemia, and is often associated with other pyogenic 

 organisms in suppurative processes. It is very resistant 

 to many antiseptics, but is readily detroyed by solutions 

 of the more powerful germicides ; it is very widely dis- 

 tributed, and is found abundantly in the superficial 

 layers of the skin of animals and frequently beneath the 

 fingernails in man. Experiments have demonstrated its 

 power of producing suppuration, both locally and inter- 

 nally, and it has been shown that if the vitality of the 

 parts experimented on has been previously lowered, or 

 the tissues damaged by chemical or mechanical means, 

 infection occurs more certainly and readily. 



Staphylococcus pyogenes alius is similar to but far 

 less virulent in its action than S. aureus. 



Staphylococcus pyogenes citreus is found only in ab- 

 scesses. 



