892 
CARL W. GAY 
performed, the horse being confined on the table and the pas¬ 
tern having been bandaged in sublimate solution for 12 hours 
previous to the operation which was conducted under strict 
aseptic precautions. The wound was sutured and bandaged with 
packs of sublimate. There was not much evidence of suppur¬ 
ation following the operation, but three days afterward tubes of 
bouillon and agar were inoculated from one of the wounds 
which did not heal as readily as the others. These cultures 
were pure of a white micrococcus. 
Case XXVIII .— Clinic No. (Subject.) Jan. 1, 1900. 
Patient was an old bay horse obtained for dissection. The right 
prescapular nerve was sectioned for experimental purposes, 
which necessitated an incision about three inches in length. 
Although antiseptic precautions were taken the wound suppu¬ 
rated. The region of the wound was swollen and tender and 
upon removing the sutures there was quite a little pus dis¬ 
charged, from which tubes of bouillon and agar were inoculated. 
From these cultures were isolated a streptococcus and a white 
micrococcus. 
Case XXIX .—Clinic No. 2422, Patient, a black horse, weight 
1250 lbs., was operated upon for roaring and tracheotomy per¬ 
formed, and a tube left in to facilitate breathing while the oper¬ 
ative wound in the larynx was healing. The wound in the 
trachea suppurated considerably and tubes of bouillon and agar 
were inoculated from the discharge. From these were isolated 
a streptococcus and a white micrococcus. 
Since the destruction of the bacteria over the field of opera¬ 
tion as well as on the hands and instruments of the operator is 
of such fundamental importance in surgical technique, it is 
essential that we know something of the bacteria commonly 
or occasionally found on or in the healthy skin. As the skin is 
so exposed to contamination from the air and external sources 
generally, we might expect almost any species of organism to 
have their habitat there, and such is found to be the case by 
those who have worked on this subject. In 1891 Dr. Wm. H. 
Welch*, of Johns Hopkins University,called attention to a species 
of bacteria, which is found with such regularity in cultures from 
the skin of man, that it may be properly regarded as a regular 
inhabitant of the normal skin. To this organism Welch gave 
* Dennis’ System of Surgery, Vol. I. 
